NOTE B.
THE MARTYRDOM OF MÍRZÁ SEYYID 'ALÍ THE
BÁB'S
MATERNAL UNCLE AMONGST THE 'SEVEN MARTYRS.'
"This year," says Lady Sheil writing in September 1850,
"seven Ba[macron over the a]bees were executed at Tehran
for an alleged conspiracy against the life of the Prime Minister. Their fate
excited general sympathy, for every one knew that no criminal act had been
committed, and suspected the accusation to be a pretence. Besides this
Bábeeism
[page 212]
had spread in Tehran too. They died with the
utmost firmness. Previously to decapitation they received an offer of pardon, on
the condition of reciting the Kelema, or creed, that Mahommed is the Prophet of
God. It was rejected, and these visionaries died steadfast in their faith. The
Persian minister was ignorant of the maxim that persecution was
proselytism1". Amongst these seven - 'the Seven
Martyrs' as they are called by the Bábís - was the Báb's uncle Hájí Mírzá Seyyid
'Alí. The other sufferers were Hájí Mullá Isma'íl of Kum, Mírzá
Kurbán 'Alí the dervish, Áká Seyyid Huseyn of Turshíz the
mujtahid, Hájí Mullá Nakí of Kirmán, Mírzá Muhammad
Huseyn of Tabríz, and Mullá Sádik. of Marágha. Of their martyrdom
the Táríkh-i-Jadíd gives a long and touching account, on which I here
append an abridgement.
What led to this
tragic event was, as stated by Lady Sheil, a report conveyed to Mírzá
Takí Khán the Prime Minister that the Bábís in Teherán meditated a
rising. Thirty-eight persons suspected of belonging to the obnoxious sect were
therefore arrested and cast into prison. After a few days it was decided that
all of these who would consent to renounce or repudiate their connection with
the Báb and his doctrines should be released, but that those who refused to do
so should suffer death.
When this news was
brought to the prisoners, Hájí Mullá Isma'íl of Kum, who was one of the
earliest believers and who had been present at the conference at Badasht
[see Gobineau, pp. 180-184], arose and addressed his
fellow-captives, announcing his own intention of standing firm in the faith even
unto death, and exhorting others like-minded with himself and not hindered by
any impediment to follow his example, "for," said he, "if we do not show forth
the religion of His Highness the Ká'im, who then will show it
forth?" At the same time he declared that those whose faith was weak, or who
were prevented by domestic ties from freely laying down their lives, must judge
for themselves as to the duty incumbent upon them, and decide whether they were
justified in making a formal renunciation of the Báb's doctrine.
1 Lady Sheil's Life and Manners in
Persia, pp. 180-181.
[page 213]
Accordingly of the
thirty-eight prisoners seven (including Hájí Mullá Isma'íl) determined to adopt
the more courageous course, while the others for various reasons were not
prepared to forfeit their lives, and decided to recant. The latter were
therefore released: the former were led out to die.
In spite of the wide-spread sympathy felt for the sufferers there were
not lacking wretches to deride and mock them as they were led forth to the place
of execution1. Some of these threw stones at them;
others confined themselves to abuse and raillery, crying out, "These are Bábís
and madmen." Thereupon Hájí Mullá Isma'íl turned towards them and said, "Yes, we
are Bábís; but mad we are not. By God, O people, it is for your awakening and
your enlightenment that we have foregone life, wealth, wife, and child, and have
shut our eyes to the world and its citizens, that perchance ye may be warned and
may escape from uncertainty and error, that ye may fall to making enquiry, that
ye may recognize the Truth as is meet, and that ye may no longer be veiled
therefrom."
Now when they were come to the
place of execution, one came to Hájí Mullá Isma'íl and said, "Such an one of
your friends will, on condition of your recanting, give a sum of money in order
that they may not kill you. To save your life what harm is there in saying
merely 'I am not a Bábí'?" To this, however, Hájí Mullá Isma'íl would by no
means consent; and, when greatly importuned, he drew himself up and said,
[two lines of Persian/Arabic text]
"O
zephyr! Say from me to Isma'íl2 destined for
sacrifice,
'To return alive from the street of the Friend is not the
condition of love.'"
1
This, as I have heard, was the square called Sabz-i-Meydán, adjoining the
northern limit of the bazaars, but according to the Táríkh-i-Jadíd the
execution took place in the Meydán-i-Sháh
2 According to the Muhammadans it was Ishmael
[Ismá'íl] not Isaac [Is-hák] whom
Abraham designed for a sacrifice to God.
[page 214]
Then he took off his turban and said to the
executioner, "Go on with thy work;" and the latter, filled with amazement,
struck the fatal blow.
The next victim was
Mírzá Kurbán-'Alí the dervish, an old man highly respected and beloved of
all, who had spent the last night in prison in exhorting and encouraging his
comrades and reciting verses appropriate to their condition. So high was the
consideration in which he was held that the Sháh's mother exerted her influence
with her son to have him pardoned, declaring that it was impossible that he
could be a Bábí. So, as he stood there awaiting death, messengers came from the
palace to give him another chance of saving his life. "Thou art a dervish," said
they, "and art a man of excellence and virtue: they have thrown suspicion upon
thee, but thou art not of this misguided people." "I consider myself as one of
the disciples and servants of His Highness [the Báb]," answered
the old dervish, "though whether He hath accepted me into His service or not I
know not." And when they continued to press him and urge him to save his life he
cried, "This drop of blood - this poor life - is nought: were I possessed of the
lordship of the world, and had I a thousand lives, I would freely cast them
before the feet of His friends." So, when they perceived that their efforts were
of no avail, they desisted therefrom, and signified to the executioner that he
should proceed with his work. The first blow struck only wounded the old man's
neck and cast his turban to the ground. He raised his head and exclaimed,
[two lines of Persian/Arabic text]
"O happy
that intoxicated lover who at the feet of the Friend
Knoweth not whether it
be his head or his turban which he casteth!"
Then the executioner
quickly dealt him another blow which slew him.
[page 215]
After him was slain
Áká Seyyid Huseyn the mujtahid of Turshíz, who, returning
homewards from Kerbelá to visit his friends and family, had been arrested in
Teherán. He too died with the utmost firmness and alacrity.
Then came the turn of the Báb's uncle Hájí Mírzá Seyyid 'Alí. A
merchant of his acquaintance wished to ransom him for the sum of three hundred
túmáns, but he declared that to suffer martyrdom was his greatest desire.
Then he took off his turban, and, raising his face towards heaven, exclaimed, "O
God, Thou art witness of how they are slaying the son of Thy Most Honourable
Prophet without fault on his part." Then he turned to the executioner and
recited this verse:-
[two lines of Persian/Arabic text]
"How long
shall grief of separation from him slay me?
Cut off my head, that Love may
bestow on me a head1."
When he had said this
he too submitted himself to the executioner's hands.
After this the other three victims, each in his turn, met their death
with like heroism. Of the martyrdom of one of these not specified by name but
described as "a young Seyyid of pleasing countenance and attractive aspect"; of
the attempt to save him made by Hájí 'Alí Khán the Hájibu'd-Dawla (see p.
52, note 1), who was superintending the execution and was moved to a compassion
rare in him at the sight of so youthful and comely a sufferer; and of the
refusal of the youthful Bábí to escape death and secure wealth, luxury, and a
fair bride as the price of a simple recantation, the Táríkh-i-Jadíd gives
a detailed account, which, notwithstanding its pathetic interest, lack of space
compels me to omit in this place.
When the
executioners had completed their bloody work, the rabble onlookers, awed for a
while by the patient courage of the martyrs, again allowed their ferocious
fanati-
1 Masnaví, Book VI, p. 649, l. 2 (ed. 'Alá
'ud-Dawla).
[page 216]
cism to break out in insults to the mortal
remains of those whose spirits had now passed beyond the power of their malice.
They cast stones and filth at the motionless corpses, abusing them, and crying
out, "This is the recompense of the people of affection and of such as pursue
the Path of Wisdom and Truth!" Nor would they suffer their bodies to be interred
in a burial-ground, but cast them into a pit outside the Gate of Sháh
'Abdu'l-'Azím, which they then filled up.
After detailing the occurrences briefly set forth above, the Bábí
historian proceeds to point out the special value and unique character of the
testimony given by the "Seven Martyrs." They were men representing all the more
important classes in Persia - divines, dervishes, merchants, shop-keepers, and
government officials; they were men who had enjoyed the respect and
consideration of all; they died fearlessly, willingly, almost eagerly, declining
to purchase life by that mere lip-denial, which, under the name of ketmán
or takiya, is recognized by the Shi'ites as a perfectly
justifiable subterfuge in case of peril; they were not driven to despair of
mercy as were those who died at Sheykh Tabarsí and Zanján; and they
sealed their faith with their blood in the public square of the Persian capital
wherein is the abode of the foreign ambassadors accredited to the court of the
Sháh. And herein the Bábí historian is right: even those who speak severely of
the Bábí movement generally, characterizing it as a communism destructive of all
order and all morality, express commiseration for these guiltless victims. To
the day of their martyrdom we may well apply Gobineau's eloquent reflection on a
similar tragedy enacted two years later:- "Cette journée donna au Bâb plus de
partisans secrets que bien des prédications n'auraient pu faire. Je l'ai dit
tout l'heure, l'impression produite sur le peuple par l'effroyable
impassibilité des martyrs fut profonde et durable. J'ai souvent entendu raconter
les scčnes de cette journée par des témoins oculaires, par des hommes tenant de
prčs au gouvernement, quelques-uns occupant des fonctions éminentes. A les
entendre, on eut pu croire aisément que tous étaient bâbys, tant ils se
montraient pénétrés d'admiration pour des souvenirs o l'Islam ne jouait pas le
plus beau rôle, et par
[page 217]
la haute idée qu'ils avouaient des ressources,
des espérances, et des moyens de succčs de la
secte1."
With
regard to Hájí Mírzá Seyyid 'Alí the Báb's uncle, with whom we are more
particularly concerned, the Táríkh-i-Jádid gives the following additional
particulars. Before leaving Shíráz (where, as it would appear, he had remained
after the Báb departed to Isfahán) he set all his affairs in order and paid all
his creditors in person, as though in anticipation of a speedy death. Then he
took a tender farewell of all his friends and relatives, besought them to pardon
any fault which he might have committed in regard to them, and set out for
Teherán, apparently with the intention of proceeding thence to Chihrík. to visit
the Báb. Perhaps on his arrival at the capital he was met with the news of his
nephew's martyrdom at Tabríz on July 9th 1850: at all events it would appear
that he continued there till, not two months later, he himself met with a
similar fate.
As the Bábí historian does not
omit to point out, no stronger evidence of the marvellous personal influence of
the Báb over all with whom he came in contact can be found than the devoted
attachment to him manifested by his aged uncle, who, knowing him from his
childhood upwards, and being fully conversant with his daily life, was one of
the first to embrace the faith for which he died. Of the extraordinary purity
and piety of the Báb's life, indeed, we have ample evidence. His bitterest
enemies cannot asperse his personal character. Hence those who knew him best
loved and revered him most. I was fortunate enough to meet at Acre one who was
the Báb's cousin, comrade, play-fellow, and brother-in-law. He was a gentle old
man with light blue eyes and white beard. I begged him to give me some account
of the Báb's personal character. "He was very dignified and gentle in his
manner," replied he, "yet at times, when any attempt to treat him unfairly or
discourteously was made, he could be very stern. Once I remember while we were
engaged in business at Bushire a custom-house officer attempted to
1 Gobineau, Religions et Philosophies
dans l'Asie Centrale, 2nd ed. p. 303.
[page 218]
extort money from him wrongfully and treated
him with disrespect. Thereupon the Báb, finding remonstrance unavailing, struck
his assailant with his slipper once, accompanying the blow with a look of such
majestic anger that the latter instantly became silent and took his
departure."
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