Baha'u'llah's Mission in Adrianople
A twenty-year-old Faith had just begun to recover from a series of
successive blows when a crisis of the first magnitude overtook it and
shook it to its roots. Neither the tragic martyrdom of the Bab nor the
ignominious attempt on the life of the sovereign, nor its bloody
aftermath, nor Baha'u'llah's humiliating banishment from His native land,
nor even His two-year withdrawal to Kurdistan, devastating though they
were in their consequences, could compare in gravity with this first major
internal convulsion which seized a newly rearisen community, and which
threatened to cause an irreparable breach in the ranks of its members.
More odious than the unrelenting hostility which Abu-Jahl, the uncle of
Muhammad, had exhibited, more shameful than the betrayal of Jesus Christ
by His disciple, Judas Iscariot, more perfidious than the conduct of the
sons of Jacob towards Joseph their brother, more abhorrent than the deed
committed by one of the sons of Noah, more infamous than even the criminal
act perpetrated by Cain against Abel, the monstrous behavior of Mirza
Yahya, one of the half-brothers of Baha'u'llah, the nominee of the Bab,
and recognized chief of the Babi community, brought in its wake a period
of travail which left its mark on the fortunes of the Faith for no less
than half a century. This supreme crisis Baha'u'llah Himself designated as
the Ayyam-i-_Sh_idad (Days of Stress), during which "the most grievous
veil" was torn asunder, and the "most great separation" was irrevocably
effected. It immensely gratified and emboldened its external enemies, both
civil and ecclesiastical, played into their hands, and evoked their
unconcealed derision. It perplexed and confused the friends and supporters
of Baha'u'llah, and seriously damaged the prestige of the Faith in the
eyes of its western admirers. It had been brewing ever since the early
days of Baha'u'llah's sojourn in Ba_gh_dad, was temporarily suppressed by
the creative forces which, under His as yet unproclaimed leadership,
reanimated a disintegrating community, and finally broke out, in all its
violence, in the years immediately preceding the proclamation of His
Message. It brought incalculable sorrow to Baha'u'llah, visibly aged Him,
and inflicted, through its repercussions, the heaviest blow ever sustained
by Him in His lifetime. It was engineered throughout by the tortuous
intrigues and incessant machinations of that same diabolical Siyyid
Muhammad, that vile whisperer who, disregarding Baha'u'llah's advice, had
insisted on accompanying Him to Constantinople and Adrianople, and was now
redoubling his efforts, with unrelaxing vigilance, to bring it to a head.
Mirza Yahya had, ever since the return of Baha'u'llah from Sulaymaniyyih,
either chosen to maintain himself in an inglorious seclusion in his own
house, or had withdrawn, whenever danger threatened, to such places of
safety as Hillih and Basra. To the latter town he had fled, disguised as a
Ba_gh_dad Jew, and become a shoe merchant. So great was his terror that he
is reported to have said on one occasion: "Whoever claims to have seen me,
or to have heard my voice, I pronounce an infidel." On being informed of
Baha'u'llah's impending departure for Constantinople, he at first hid
himself in the garden of Huvaydar, in the vicinity of Ba_gh_dad,
meditating meanwhile on the advisability of fleeing either to Abyssinia,
India or some other country. Refusing to heed Baha'u'llah's advice to
proceed to Persia, and there disseminate the writings of the Bab, he sent
a certain Haji Muhammad Kazim, who resembled him, to the government-house
to procure for him a passport in the name of Mirza 'Aliy-i-Kirman_sh_ahi,
and left Ba_gh_dad, abandoning the writings there, and proceeded in
disguise, accompanied by an Arab Babi, named Zahir, to Mosul, where he
joined the exiles who were on their way to Constantinople.
A constant witness of the ever deepening attachment of the exiles to
Baha'u'llah and of their amazing veneration for Him; fully aware of the
heights to which his Brother's popularity had risen in Ba_gh_dad, in the
course of His journey to Constantinople, and later through His association
with the notables and governors of Adrianople; incensed by the manifold
evidences of the courage, the dignity, and independence which that Brother
had demonstrated in His dealings with the authorities in the capital;
provoked by the numerous Tablets which the Author of a newly-established
Dispensation had been ceaselessly revealing; allowing himself to be duped
by the enticing prospects of unfettered leadership held out to him by
Siyyid Muhammad, the Antichrist of the Baha'i Revelation, even as Muhammad
_Sh_ah had been misled by the Antichrist of the Babi Revelation, Haji
Mirza Aqasi; refusing to be admonished by prominent members of the
community who advised him, in writing, to exercise wisdom and restraint;
forgetful of the kindness and counsels of Baha'u'llah, who, thirteen years
his senior, had watched over his early youth and manhood; emboldened by
the sin-covering eye of his Brother, Who, on so many occasions, had drawn
a veil over his many crimes and follies, this arch-breaker of the Covenant
of the Bab, spurred on by his mounting jealousy and impelled by his
passionate love of leadership, was driven to perpetrate such acts as
defied either concealment or toleration.
Irremediably corrupted through his constant association with Siyyid
Muhammad, that living embodiment of wickedness, cupidity and deceit, he
had already in the absence of Baha'u'llah from Ba_gh_dad, and even after
His return from Sulaymaniyyih, stained the annals of the Faith with acts
of indelible infamy. His corruption, in scores of instances, of the text
of the Bab's writings; the blasphemous addition he made to the formula of
the a_dh_an by the introduction of a passage in which he identified
himself with the Godhead; his insertion of references in those writings to
a succession in which he nominated himself and his descendants as heirs of
the Bab; the vacillation and apathy he had betrayed when informed of the
tragic death which his Master had suffered; his condemnation to death of
all the Mirrors of the Babi Dispensation, though he himself was one of
those Mirrors; his dastardly act in causing the murder of Dayyan, whom he
feared and envied; his foul deed in bringing about, during the absence of
Baha'u'llah from Ba_gh_dad, the assassination of Mirza 'Ali-Akbar, the
Bab's cousin; and, most heinous of all, his unspeakably repugnant
violation, during that same period, of the honor of the Bab Himself--all
these, as attested by Aqay-i-Kalim, and reported by Nabil in his
Narrative, were to be thrown into a yet more lurid light by further acts
the perpetration of which were to seal irretrievably his doom.
Desperate designs to poison Baha'u'llah and His companions, and thereby
reanimate his own defunct leadership, began, approximately a year after
their arrival in Adrianople, to agitate his mind. Well aware of the
erudition of his half-brother, Aqay-i-Kalim, in matters pertaining to
medicine, he, under various pretexts, sought enlightenment from him
regarding the effects of certain herbs and poisons, and then began,
contrary to his wont, to invite Baha'u'llah to his home, where, one day,
having smeared His tea-cup with a substance he had concocted, he succeeded
in poisoning Him sufficiently to produce a serious illness which lasted no
less than a month, and which was accompanied by severe pains and high
fever, the aftermath of which left Baha'u'llah with a shaking hand till
the end of His life. So grave was His condition that a foreign doctor,
named _Sh_i_sh_man, was called in to attend Him. The doctor was so
appalled by His livid hue that he deemed His case hopeless, and, after
having fallen at His feet, retired from His presence without prescribing a
remedy. A few days later that doctor fell ill and died. Prior to his death
Baha'u'llah had intimated that doctor _Sh_i_sh_man had sacrificed his life
for Him. To Mirza Aqa Jan, sent by Baha'u'llah to visit him, the doctor
had stated that God had answered his prayers, and that after his death a
certain Dr. _Ch_upan, whom he knew to be reliable, should, whenever
necessary, be called in his stead.
On another occasion this same Mirza Yahya had, according to the testimony
of one of his wives, who had temporarily deserted him and revealed the
details of the above-mentioned act, poisoned the well which provided water
for the family and companions of Baha'u'llah, in consequence of which the
exiles manifested strange symptoms of illness. He even had, gradually and
with great circumspection, disclosed to one of the companions, Ustad
Muhammad-'Aliy-i-Salmani, the barber, on whom he had lavished great marks
of favor, his wish that he, on some propitious occasion, when attending
Baha'u'llah in His bath, should assassinate Him. "So enraged was Ustad
Muhammad-'Ali," Aqay-i-Kalim, recounting this episode to Nabil in
Adrianople, has stated, "when apprized of this proposition, that he felt a
strong desire to kill Mirza Yahya on the spot, and would have done so but
for his fear of Baha'u'llah's displeasure. I happened to be the first
person he encountered as he came out of the bath weeping.... I eventually
succeeded, after much persuasion, in inducing him to return to the bath
and complete his unfinished task." Though ordered subsequently by
Baha'u'llah not to divulge this occurrence to any one, the barber was
unable to hold his peace and betrayed the secret, plunging thereby the
community into great consternation. "When the secret nursed in his (Mirza
Yahya) bosom was revealed by God," Baha'u'llah Himself affirms, "he
disclaimed such an intention, and imputed it to that same servant (Ustad
Muhammad-'Ali)."
The moment had now arrived for Him Who had so recently, both verbally and
in numerous Tablets, revealed the implications of the claims He had
advanced, to acquaint formally the one who was the nominee of the Bab with
the character of His Mission. Mirza Aqa Jan was accordingly commissioned
to bear to Mirza Yahya the newly revealed Suriy-i-'Amr, which unmistakably
affirmed those claims, to read aloud to him its contents, and demand an
unequivocal and conclusive reply. Mirza Yahya's request for a one day
respite, during which he could meditate his answer, was granted. The only
reply, however, that was forthcoming was a counter-declaration, specifying
the hour and the minute in which he had been made the recipient of an
independent Revelation, necessitating the unqualified submission to him of
the peoples of the earth in both the East and the West.
So presumptuous an assertion, made by so perfidious an adversary to the
envoy of the Bearer of so momentous a Revelation was the signal for the
open and final rupture between Baha'u'llah and Mirza Yahya--a rupture that
marks one of the darkest dates in Baha'i history. Wishing to allay the
fierce animosity that blazed in the bosom of His enemies, and to assure to
each one of the exiles a complete freedom to choose between Him and them,
Baha'u'llah withdrew with His family to the house of Rida Big (_Sh_avval
22, 1282 A.H.), which was rented by His order, and refused, for two
months, to associate with either friend or stranger, including His own
companions. He instructed Aqay-i-Kalim to divide all the furniture,
bedding, clothing and utensils that were to be found in His home, and send
half to the house of Mirza Yahya; to deliver to him certain relics he had
long coveted, such as the seals, rings, and manuscripts in the handwriting
of the Bab; and to insure that he received his full share of the allowance
fixed by the government for the maintenance of the exiles and their
families. He, moreover, directed Aqay-i-Kalim to order to attend to Mirza
Yahya's shopping, for several hours a day, any one of the companions whom
he himself might select, and to assure him that whatever would henceforth
be received in his name from Persia would be delivered into his own hands.
"That day," Aqay-i-Kalim is reported to have informed Nabil, "witnessed a
most great commotion. All the companions lamented in their separation from
the Blessed Beauty." "Those days," is the written testimony of one of
those companions, "were marked by tumult and confusion. We were
sore-perplexed, and greatly feared lest we be permanently deprived of the
bounty of His presence."
This grief and perplexity were, however, destined to be of short duration.
The calumnies with which both Mirza Yahya and Siyyid Muhammad now loaded
their letters, which they disseminated in Persia and 'Iraq, as well as the
petitions, couched in obsequious language, which the former had addressed
to _Kh_ur_sh_id Pa_sh_a, the governor of Adrianople, and to his assistant
Aziz Pa_sh_a, impelled Baha'u'llah to emerge from His retirement. He was
soon after informed that this same brother had despatched one of his wives
to the government house to complain that her husband had been cheated of
his rights, and that her children were on the verge of starvation--an
accusation that spread far and wide and, reaching Constantinople, became,
to Baha'u'llah's profound distress, the subject of excited discussion and
injurious comment in circles that had previously been greatly impressed by
the high standard which His noble and dignified behavior had set in that
city. Siyyid Muhammad journeyed to the capital, begged the Persian
Ambassador, the Mu_sh_iru'd-Dawlih, to allot Mirza Yahya and himself a
stipend, accused Baha'u'llah of sending an agent to assassinate
Nasiri'd-Din _Sh_ah, and spared no effort to heap abuse and calumny on One
Who had, for so long and so patiently, forborne with him, and endured in
silence the enormities of which he had been guilty.
After a stay of about one year in the house of Rida Big Baha'u'llah
returned to the house He had occupied before His withdrawal from His
companions, and thence, after three months, He transferred His residence
to the house of Izzat Aqa, in which He continued to live until His
departure from Adrianople. It was in this house, in the month of
Jamadiyu'l-Avval 1284 A.H. (Sept. 1867) that an event of the utmost
significance occurred, which completely discomfited Mirza Yahya and his
supporters, and proclaimed to friend and foe alike Baha'u'llah's triumph
over them. A certain Mir Muhammad, a Babi of _Sh_iraz, greatly resenting
alike the claims and the cowardly seclusion of Mirza Yahya, succeeded in
forcing Siyyid Muhammad to induce him to meet Baha'u'llah face to face, so
that a discrimination might be publicly effected between the true and the
false. Foolishly assuming that his illustrious Brother would never
countenance such a proposition, Mirza Yahya appointed the mosque of Sultan
Salim as the place for their encounter. No sooner had Baha'u'llah been
informed of this arrangement than He set forth, on foot, in the heat of
midday, and accompanied by this same Mir Muhammad, for the afore-mentioned
mosque, which was situated in a distant part of the city, reciting, as He
walked, through the streets and markets, verses, in a voice and in a
manner that greatly astonished those who saw and heard Him.
"O Muhammad!", are some of the words He uttered on that memorable
occasion, as testified by Himself in a Tablet, "He Who is the Spirit hath,
verily, issued from His habitation, and with Him have come forth the souls
of God's chosen ones and the realities of His Messengers. Behold, then,
the dwellers of the realms on high above Mine head, and all the
testimonies of the Prophets in My grasp. Say: Were all the divines, all
the wise men, all the kings and rulers on earth to gather together, I, in
very truth, would confront them, and would proclaim the verses of God, the
Sovereign, the Almighty, the All-Wise. I am He Who feareth no one, though
all who are in heaven and all who are on earth rise up against me.... This
is Mine hand which God hath turned white for all the worlds to behold.
This is My staff; were We to cast it down, it would, of a truth, swallow
up all created things." Mir Muhammad, who had been sent ahead to announce
Baha'u'llah's arrival, soon returned, and informed Him that he who had
challenged His authority wished, owing to unforeseen circumstances, to
postpone for a day or two the interview. Upon His return to His house
Baha'u'llah revealed a Tablet, wherein He recounted what had happened,
fixed the time for the postponed interview, sealed the Tablet with His
seal, entrusted it to Nabil, and instructed him to deliver it to one of
the new believers, Mulla Muhammad-i-Tabrizi, for the information of Siyyid
Muhammad, who was in the habit of frequenting that believer's shop. It was
arranged to demand from Siyyid Muhammad, ere the delivery of that Tablet,
a sealed note pledging Mirza Yahya, in the event of failing to appear at
the trysting-place, to affirm in writing that his claims were false.
Siyyid Muhammad promised that he would produce the next day the document
required, and though Nabil, for three successive days, waited in that shop
for the reply, neither did the Siyyid appear, nor was such a note sent by
him. That undelivered Tablet, Nabil, recording twenty-three years later
this historic episode in his chronicle, affirms was still in his
possession, "as fresh as the day on which the Most Great Branch had penned
it, and the seal of the Ancient Beauty had sealed and adorned it," a
tangible and irrefutable testimony to Baha'u'llah's established ascendancy
over a routed opponent.
Baha'u'llah's reaction to this most distressful episode in His ministry
was, as already observed, characterized by acute anguish. "He who for
months and years," He laments, "I reared with the hand of loving-kindness
hath risen to take My life." "The cruelties inflicted by My oppressors,"
He wrote, in allusion to these perfidious enemies, "have bowed Me down,
and turned My hair white. Shouldst thou present thyself before My throne,
thou wouldst fail to recognize the Ancient Beauty, for the freshness of
His countenance is altered, and its brightness hath faded, by reason of
the oppression of the infidels." "By God!" He cries out, "No spot is left
on My body that hath not been touched by the spears of thy machinations."
And again: "Thou hast perpetrated against thy Brother what no man hath
perpetrated against another." "What hath proceeded from thy pen," He,
furthermore, has affirmed, "hath caused the Countenances of Glory to be
prostrated upon the dust, hath rent in twain the Veil of Grandeur in the
Sublime Paradise, and lacerated the hearts of the favored ones established
upon the loftiest seats." And yet, in the Kitab-i-Aqdas, a forgiving Lord
assures this same brother, this "source of perversion," "from whose own
soul the winds of passion had risen and blown upon him," to "fear not
because of thy deeds," bids him "return unto God, humble, submissive and
lowly," and affirms that "He will put away from thee thy sins," and that
"thy Lord is the Forgiving, the Mighty, the All-Merciful."
The "Most Great Idol" had at the bidding and through the power of Him Who
is the Fountain-head of the Most Great Justice been cast out of the
community of the Most Great Name, confounded, abhorred and broken.
Cleansed from this pollution, delivered from this horrible possession,
God's infant Faith could now forge ahead, and, despite the turmoil that
had convulsed it, demonstrate its capacity to fight further battles,
capture loftier heights, and win mightier victories.
A temporary breach had admittedly been made in the ranks of its
supporters. Its glory had been eclipsed, and its annals stained forever.
Its name, however, could not be obliterated, its spirit was far from
broken, nor could this so-called schism tear its fabric asunder. The
Covenant of the Bab, to which reference has already been made, with its
immutable truths, incontrovertible prophecies, and repeated warnings,
stood guard over that Faith, insuring its integrity, demonstrating its
incorruptibility, and perpetuating its influence.
Though He Himself was bent with sorrow, and still suffered from the
effects of the attempt on His life, and though He was well aware a further
banishment was probably impending, yet, undaunted by the blow which His
Cause had sustained, and the perils with which it was encompassed,
Baha'u'llah arose with matchless power, even before the ordeal was
overpast, to proclaim the Mission with which He had been entrusted to
those who, in East and West, had the reins of supreme temporal authority
in their grasp. The day-star of His Revelation was, through this very
Proclamation, destined to shine in its meridian glory, and His Faith
manifest the plenitude of its divine power.
A period of prodigious activity ensued which, in its repercussions,
outshone the vernal years of Baha'u'llah's ministry. "Day and night," an
eye-witness has written, "the Divine verses were raining down in such
number that it was impossible to record them. Mirza Aqa Jan wrote them as
they were dictated, while the Most Great Branch was continually occupied
in transcribing them. There was not a moment to spare." "A number of
secretaries," Nabil has testified, "were busy day and night and yet they
were unable to cope with the task. Among them was Mirza
Baqir-i-_Sh_irazi.... He alone transcribed no less than two thousand
verses every day. He labored during six or seven months. Every month the
equivalent of several volumes would be transcribed by him and sent to
Persia. About twenty volumes, in his fine penmanship, he left behind as a
remembrance for Mirza Aqa Jan." Baha'u'llah, Himself, referring to the
verses revealed by Him, has written: "Such are the outpourings ... from
the clouds of Divine Bounty that within the space of an hour the
equivalent of a thousand verses hath been revealed." "So great is the
grace vouchsafed in this day that in a single day and night, were an
amanuensis capable of accomplishing it to be found, the equivalent of the
Persian Bayan would be sent down from the heaven of Divine holiness." "I
swear by God!" He, in another connection has affirmed, "In those days the
equivalent of all that hath been sent down aforetime unto the Prophets
hath been revealed." "That which hath already been revealed in this land
(Adrianople)," He, furthermore, referring to the copiousness of His
writings, has declared, "secretaries are incapable of transcribing. It
has, therefore, remained for the most part untranscribed."
Already in the very midst of that grievous crisis, and even before it came
to a head, Tablets unnumbered were streaming from the pen of Baha'u'llah,
in which the implications of His newly-asserted claims were fully
expounded. The Suriy-i-'Amr, the Lawh-i-Nuqtih, the Lawh-i-Ahmad, the
Suriy-i-A_sh_ab, the Lawh-i-Sayyah, the Suriy-i-Damm, the Suriy-i-Hajj,
the Lawhu'r-Ruh, the Lawhu'r-Ridvan, the Lawhu't-Tuqa were among the
Tablets which His pen had already set down when He transferred His
residence to the house of Izzat Aqa. Almost immediately after the "Most
Great Separation" had been effected, the weightiest Tablets associated
with His sojourn in Adrianople were revealed. The Suriy-i-Muluk, the most
momentous Tablet revealed by Baha'u'llah (Surih of Kings) in which He, for
the first time, directs His words collectively to the entire company of
the monarchs of East and West, and in which the Sultan of Turkey, and his
ministers, the kings of Christendom, the French and Persian Ambassadors
accredited to the Sublime Porte, the Muslim ecclesiastical leaders in
Constantinople, its wise men and inhabitants, the people of Persia and the
philosophers of the world are separately addressed; the Kitab-i-Badi', His
apologia, written to refute the accusations levelled against Him by Mirza
Mihdiy-i-Ra_sh_ti, corresponding to the Kitab-i-Iqan, revealed in defense
of the Babi Revelation; the Munajathay-i-Siyam (Prayers for Fasting),
written in anticipation of the Book of His Laws; the first Tablet to
Napoleon III, in which the Emperor of the French is addressed and the
sincerity of his professions put to the test; the Lawh-i-Sultan, His
detailed epistle to Nasiri'd-Din _Sh_ah, in which the aims, purposes and
principles of His Faith are expounded and the validity of His Mission
demonstrated; the Suriy-i-Ra'is, begun in the village of Ka_sh_anih on His
way to Gallipoli, and completed shortly after at Gyawur-Kyuy--these may be
regarded not only as the most outstanding among the innumerable Tablets
revealed in Adrianople, but as occupying a foremost position among all the
writings of the Author of the Baha'i Revelation.
In His message to the kings of the earth, Baha'u'llah, in the
Suriy-i-Muluk, discloses the character of His Mission; exhorts them to
embrace His Message; affirms the validity of the Bab's Revelation;
reproves them for their indifference to His Cause; enjoins them to be just
and vigilant, to compose their differences and reduce their armaments;
expatiates on His afflictions; commends the poor to their care; warns them
that "Divine chastisement" will "assail" them "from every direction," if
they refuse to heed His counsels, and prophesies His "triumph upon earth"
though no king be found who would turn his face towards Him.
The kings of Christendom, more specifically, Baha'u'llah, in that same
Tablet, censures for having failed to "welcome" and "draw nigh" unto Him
Who is the "Spirit of Truth," and for having persisted in "disporting"
themselves with their "pastimes and fancies," and declares to them that
they "shall be called to account" for their doings, "in the presence of
Him Who shall gather together the entire creation."
He bids Sultan 'Abdu'l-'Aziz "hearken to the speech ... of Him Who
unerringly treadeth the Straight Path"; exhorts him to direct in person
the affairs of his people, and not to repose confidence in unworthy
ministers; admonishes him not to rely on his treasures, nor to "overstep
the bounds of moderation" but to deal with his subjects with "undeviating
justice"; and acquaints him with the overwhelming burden of His own
tribulations. In that same Tablet He asserts His innocence and His loyalty
to the Sultan and his ministers; describes the circumstances of His
banishment from the capital; and assures him of His prayers to God on his
behalf.
To this same Sultan He, moreover, as attested by the Suriy-i-Ra'is,
transmitted, while in Gallipoli, a verbal message through a Turkish
officer named Umar, requesting the sovereign to grant Him a ten minute
interview, "so that he may demand whatsoever he would deem to be a
sufficient testimony and would regard as proof of the veracity of Him Who
is the Truth," adding that "should God enable Him to produce it, let him,
then, release these wronged ones and leave them to themselves."
To Napoleon III Baha'u'llah addressed a specific Tablet, which was
forwarded through one of the French ministers to the Emperor, in which He
dwelt on the sufferings endured by Himself and His followers; avowed their
innocence; reminded him of his two pronouncements on behalf of the
oppressed and the helpless; and, desiring to test the sincerity of his
motives, called upon him to "inquire into the condition of such as have
been wronged," and "extend his care to the weak," and look upon Him and
His fellow-exiles "with the eye of loving-kindness."
To Nasiri'd-Din _Sh_ah He revealed a Tablet, the lengthiest epistle to any
single sovereign, in which He testified to the unparalleled severity of
the troubles that had touched Him; recalled the sovereign's recognition of
His innocence on the eve of His departure for 'Iraq; adjured him to rule
with justice; described God's summons to Himself to arise and proclaim His
Message; affirmed the disinterestedness of His counsels; proclaimed His
belief in the unity of God and in His Prophets; uttered several prayers on
the _Sh_ah's behalf; justified His own conduct in 'Iraq; stressed the
beneficent influence of His teachings; and laid special emphasis on His
condemnation of all forms of violence and mischief. He, moreover, in that
same Tablet, demonstrated the validity of His Mission; expressed the wish
to be "brought face to face with the divines of the age, and produce
proofs and testimonies in the presence of His Majesty," which would
establish the truth of His Cause; exposed the perversity of the
ecclesiastical leaders in His own days, as well as in the days of Jesus
Christ and of Muhammad; prophesied that His sufferings will be followed by
the "outpourings of a supreme mercy" and by an "overflowing prosperity";
drew a parallel between the afflictions that had befallen His kindred and
those endured by the relatives of the Prophet Muhammad; expatiated on the
instability of human affairs; depicted the city to which He was about to
be banished; foreshadowed the future abasement of the 'ulamas; and
concluded with yet another expression of hope that the sovereign might be
assisted by God to "aid His Faith and turn towards His justice."
To 'Ali Pa_sh_a, the Grand Vizir, Baha'u'llah addressed the Suriy-i-Ra'is.
In this He bids him "hearken to the voice of God"; declares that neither
his "grunting," nor the "barking" of those around him, nor "the hosts of
the world" can withhold the Almighty from achieving His purpose; accuses
him of having perpetrated that which has caused "the Apostle of God to
lament in the most sublime Paradise," and of having conspired with the
Persian Ambassador to harm Him; forecasts "the manifest loss" in which he
would soon find himself; glorifies the Day of His own Revelation;
prophesies that this Revelation will "erelong encompass the earth and all
that dwell therein," and that the "Land of Mystery (Adrianople) and what
is beside it ... shall pass out of the hands of the King, and commotions
shall appear, and the voice of lamentation shall be raised, and the
evidences of mischief shall be revealed on all sides"; identifies that
same Revelation with the Revelations of Moses and of Jesus; recalls the
"arrogance" of the Persian Emperor in the days of Muhammad, the
"transgression" of Pharaoh in the days of Moses, and of the "impiety" of
Nimrod in the days of Abraham; and proclaims His purpose to "quicken the
world and unite all its peoples."
The ministers of the Sultan, He, in the Suriy-i-Muluk, reprimands for
their conduct, in passages in which He challenges the soundness of their
principles, predicts that they will be punished for their acts, denounces
their pride and injustice, asserts His integrity and detachment from the
vanities of the world, and proclaims His innocence.
The French Ambassador accredited to the Sublime Porte, He, in that same
Surih, rebukes for having combined with the Persian Ambassador against
Him; reminds him of the counsels of Jesus Christ, as recorded in the
Gospel of St. John; warns him that he will be held answerable for the
things his hands have wrought; and counsels him, together with those like
him, not to deal with any one as he has dealt with Him.
To the Persian Ambassador in Constantinople, He, in that same Tablet,
addresses lengthy passages in which He exposes his delusions and
calumnies, denounces his injustice and the injustice of his countrymen,
assures him that He harbors no ill-will against him, declares that, should
he realize the enormity of his deed, he would mourn all the days of his
life, affirms that he will persist till his death in his heedlessness,
justifies His own conduct in Tihran and in 'Iraq, and bears witness to the
corruption of the Persian minister in Ba_gh_dad and to his collusion with
this minister.
To the entire company of the ecclesiastical leaders of Sunni Islam in
Constantinople He addresses a specific message in the same Suriy-i-Muluk
in which He denounces them as heedless and spiritually dead; reproaches
them for their pride and for failing to seek His presence; unveils to them
the full glory and significance of His Mission; affirms that their
leaders, had they been alive, would have "circled around Him"; condemns
them as "worshippers of names" and lovers of leadership; and avows that
God will find naught acceptable from them unless they "be made new" in His
estimation.
To the wise men of the City of Constantinople and the philosophers of the
world He devotes the concluding passages of the Suriy-i-Muluk, in which He
cautions them not to wax proud before God; reveals to them the essence of
true wisdom; stresses the importance of faith and upright conduct; rebukes
them for having failed to seek enlightenment from Him; and counsels them
not to "overstep the bounds of God," nor turn their gaze towards the "ways
of men and their habits."
To the inhabitants of Constantinople He, in that same Tablet, declares
that He "feareth no one except God," that He speaks "naught except at His
(God) bidding," that He follows naught save God's truth, that He found the
governors and elders of the city as "children gathered about and
disporting themselves with clay," and that He perceived no one
sufficiently mature to acquire the truths which God had taught Him. He
bids them take firm hold on the precepts of God; warns them not to wax
proud before God and His loved ones; recalls the tribulations, and extols
the virtues, of the Imam Husayn; prays that He Himself may suffer similar
afflictions; prophesies that erelong God will raise up a people who will
recount His troubles and demand the restitution of His rights from His
oppressors; and calls upon them to give ear to His words, and return unto
God and repent.
And finally, addressing the people of Persia, He, in that same Tablet,
affirms that were they to put Him to death God will assuredly raise up One
in His stead, and asserts that the Almighty will "perfect His light"
though they, in their secret hearts, abhor it.
So weighty a proclamation, at so critical a period, by the Bearer of so
sublime a Message, to the kings of the earth, Muslim and Christian alike,
to ministers and ambassadors, to the ecclesiastical heads of Sunni Islam,
to the wise men and inhabitants of Constantinople--the seat of both the
Sultanate and the Caliphate--to the philosophers of the world and the
people of Persia, is not to be regarded as the only outstanding event
associated with Baha'u'llah's sojourn in Adrianople. Other developments
and happenings of great, though lesser, significance must be noted in
these pages, if we would justly esteem the importance of this agitated and
most momentous phase of Baha'u'llah's ministry.
It was at this period, and as a direct consequence of the rebellion and
appalling downfall of Mirza Yahya, that certain disciples of Baha'u'llah
(who may well rank among the "treasures" promised Him by God when bowed
down with chains in the Siyah-_Ch_al of Tihran), including among them one
of the Letters of the Living, some survivors of the struggle of Tabarsi,
and the erudite Mirza Ahmad-i-Az_gh_andi, arose to defend the newborn
Faith, to refute, in numerous and detailed apologies, as their Master had
done in the Kitab-i-Badi', the arguments of His opponents, and to expose
their odious deeds. It was at this period that the limits of the Faith
were enlarged, when its banner was permanently planted in the Caucasus by
the hand of Mulla Abu-Talib and others whom Nabil had converted, when its
first Egyptian center was established at the time when Siyyid
Husayn-i-Ka_sh_ani and Haji Baqir-i-Ka_sh_ani took up their residence in
that country, and when to the lands already warmed and illuminated by the
early rays of God's Revelation--'Iraq, Turkey and Persia--Syria was added.
It was in this period that the greeting of "Allah-u-Abha" superseded the
old salutation of "Allah-u-Akbar," and was simultaneously adopted in
Persia and Adrianople, the first to use it in the former country, at the
suggestion of Nabil, being Mulla Muhammad-i-Furu_gh_i, one of the
defenders of the Fort of _Sh_ay_kh_ Tabarsi. It was in this period that
the phrase "the people of the Bayan," now denoting the followers of Mirza
Yahya, was discarded, and was supplanted by the term "the people of Baha."
It was during those days that Nabil, recently honored with the title of
Nabil-i-'Azam, in a Tablet specifically addressed to him, in which he was
bidden to "deliver the Message" of his Lord "to East and West," arose,
despite intermittent persecutions, to tear asunder the "most grievous
veil," to implant the love of an adored Master in the hearts of His
countrymen, and to champion the Cause which his Beloved had, under such
tragic conditions, proclaimed. It was during those same days that
Baha'u'llah instructed this same Nabil to recite on His behalf the two
newly revealed Tablets of the Pilgrimage, and to perform, in His stead,
the rites prescribed in them, when visiting the Bab's House in _Sh_iraz
and the Most Great House in Ba_gh_dad--an act that marks the inception of
one of the holiest observances, which, in a later period, the
Kitab-i-Aqdas was to formally establish. It was during this period that
the "Prayers of Fasting" were revealed by Baha'u'llah, in anticipation of
the Law which that same Book was soon to promulgate. It was, too, during
the days of Baha'u'llah's banishment to Adrianople that a Tablet was
addressed by Him to Mulla 'Ali-Akbar-i-_Sh_ahmirzadi and
Jamal-i-Burujirdi, two of His well-known followers in Tihran, instructing
them to transfer, with the utmost secrecy, the remains of the Bab from the
Imam-Zadih Ma'sum, where they were concealed, to some other place of
safety--an act which was subsequently proved to have been providential, and
which may be regarded as marking another stage in the long and laborious
transfer of those remains to the heart of Mt. Carmel, and to the spot
which He, in His instructions to 'Abdu'l-Baha, was later to designate. It
was during that period that the Suriy-i-_Gh_usn (Surih of the Branch) was
revealed, in which 'Abdu'l-Baha's future station is foreshadowed, and in
which He is eulogized as the "Branch of Holiness," the "Limb of the Law of
God," the "Trust of God," "sent down in the form of a human temple"--a
Tablet which may well be regarded as the harbinger of the rank which was
to be bestowed upon Him, in the Kitab-i-Aqdas, and which was to be later
elucidated and confirmed in the Book of His Covenant. And finally, it was
during that period that the first pilgrimages were made to the residence
of One Who was now the visible Center of a newly-established
Faith--pilgrimages which by reason of their number and nature, an alarmed
government in Persia was first impelled to restrict, and later to
prohibit, but which were the precursors of the converging streams of
Pilgrims who, from East and West, at first under perilous and arduous
circumstances, were to direct their steps towards the prison-fortress of
Akka--pilgrimages which were to culminate in the historic arrival of a
royal convert at the foot of Mt. Carmel, who, at the very threshold of a
longed-for and much advertised pilgrimage, was so cruelly thwarted from
achieving her purpose.
These notable developments, some synchronizing with, and others flowing
from, the proclamation of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, and from the internal
convulsion which the Cause had undergone, could not escape the attention
of the external enemies of the Movement, who were bent on exploiting to
the utmost every crisis which the folly of its friends or the perfidy of
renegades might at any time precipitate. The thick clouds had hardly been
dissipated by the sudden outburst of the rays of a Sun, now shining from
its meridian, when the darkness of another catastrophe--the last the Author
of that Faith was destined to suffer--fell upon it, blackening its
firmament and subjecting it to one of the severest trials it had as yet
experienced.
Emboldened by the recent ordeals with which Baha'u'llah had been so
cruelly afflicted, these enemies, who had been momentarily quiescent,
began to demonstrate afresh, and in a number of ways, the latent animosity
they nursed in their hearts. A persecution, varying in the degree of its
severity, began once more to break out in various countries. In
A_dh_irbayjan and Zanjan, in Ni_sh_apur and Tihran, the adherents of the
Faith were either imprisoned, vilified, penalized, tortured or put to
death. Among the sufferers may be singled out the intrepid
Najaf-'Aliy-i-Zanjani, a survivor of the struggle of Zanjan, and
immortalized in the "Epistle to the Son of the Wolf," who, bequeathing the
gold in his possession to his executioner, was heard to shout aloud "Ya
Rabbiya'l-Abha" before he was beheaded. In Egypt, a greedy and vicious
consul-general extorted no less than a hundred thousand tumans from a
wealthy Persian convert, named Haji Abu'l-Qasim-i-_Sh_irazi; arrested Haji
Mirza Haydar-'Ali and six of his fellow-believers, and instigated their
condemnation to a nine year exile in _Kh_artum, confiscating all the
writings in their possession, and then threw into prison Nabil, whom
Baha'u'llah had sent to appeal to the Khedive on their behalf. In
Ba_gh_dad and Kazimayn indefatigable enemies, watching their opportunity,
subjected Baha'u'llah's faithful supporters to harsh and ignominious
treatment; savagely disemboweled 'Abdu'r-Rasul-i-Qumi, as he was carrying
water in a skin, at the hour of dawn, from the river to the Most Great
House, and banished, amidst scenes of public derision, about seventy
companions to Mosul, including women and children.
No less active were Mirza Husayn-_Kh_an, the Mu_sh_iru'd-Dawlih, and his
associates, who, determined to take full advantage of the troubles that
had recently visited Baha'u'llah, arose to encompass His destruction. The
authorities in the capital were incensed by the esteem shown Him by the
governor Muhammad Pa_sh_ay-i-Qibrisi, a former Grand Vizir, and his
successors Sulayman Pa_sh_a, of the Qadiriyyih Order, and particularly
_Kh_ur_sh_id Pa_sh_a, who, openly and on many occasions, frequented the
house of Baha'u'llah, entertained Him in the days of Ramadan, and evinced
a fervent admiration for 'Abdu'l-Baha. They were well aware of the
challenging tone Baha'u'llah had assumed in some of His newly revealed
Tablets, and conscious of the instability prevailing in their own country.
They were disturbed by the constant comings and goings of pilgrims in
Adrianople, and by the exaggerated reports of Fu'ad Pa_sh_a, who had
recently passed through on a tour of inspection. The petitions of Mirza
Yahya which reached them through Siyyid Muhammad, his agent, had provoked
them. Anonymous letters (written by this same Siyyid and by an accomplice,
Aqa Jan, serving in the Turkish artillery) which perverted the writings of
Baha'u'llah, and which accused Him of having conspired with Bulgarian
leaders and certain ministers of European powers to achieve, with the help
of some thousands of His followers, the conquest of Constantinople, had
filled their breasts with alarm. And now, encouraged by the internal
dissensions which had shaken the Faith, and irritated by the evident
esteem in which Baha'u'llah was held by the consuls of foreign powers
stationed in Adrianople, they determined to take drastic and immediate
action which would extirpate that Faith, isolate its Author and reduce Him
to powerlessness. The indiscretions committed by some of its over-zealous
followers, who had arrived in Constantinople, no doubt, aggravated an
already acute situation.
The fateful decision was eventually arrived at to banish Baha'u'llah to
the penal colony of Akka, and Mirza Yahya to Famagusta in Cyprus. This
decision was embodied in a strongly worded Farman, issued by Sultan
'Abdu'l-'Aziz. The companions of Baha'u'llah, who had arrived in the
capital, together with a few who later joined them, as well as Aqa Jan,
the notorious mischief-maker, were arrested, interrogated, deprived of
their papers and flung into prison. The members of the community in
Adrianople were, several times, summoned to the governorate to ascertain
their number, while rumors were set afloat that they were to be dispersed
and banished to different places or secretly put to death.
Suddenly, one morning, the house of Baha'u'llah was surrounded by
soldiers, sentinels were posted at its gates, His followers were again
summoned by the authorities, interrogated, and ordered to make ready for
their departure. "The loved ones of God and His kindred," is Baha'u'llah's
testimony in the Suriy-i-Ra'is, "were left on the first night without
food... The people surrounded the house, and Muslims and Christians wept
over Us... We perceived that the weeping of the people of the Son
(Christians) exceeded the weeping of others-- a sign for such as ponder."
"A great tumult seized the people," writes Aqa Rida, one of the stoutest
supporters of Baha'u'llah, exiled with him all the way from Ba_gh_dad to
Akka, "All were perplexed and full of regret... Some expressed their
sympathy, others consoled us, and wept over us... Most of our possessions
were auctioned at half their value." Some of the consuls of foreign powers
called on Baha'u'llah, and expressed their readiness to intervene with
their respective governments on His behalf--suggestions for which He
expressed appreciation, but which He firmly declined. "The consuls of that
city (Adrianople) gathered in the presence of this Youth at the hour of
His departure," He Himself has written, "and expressed their desire to aid
Him. They, verily, evinced towards Us manifest affection."
The Persian Ambassador promptly informed the Persian consuls in 'Iraq and
Egypt that the Turkish government had withdrawn its protection from the
Babis, and that they were free to treat them as they pleased. Several
pilgrims, among whom was Haji Muhammad Isma'il-i-Ka_sh_ani, surnamed Anis
in the Lawh-i-Ra'is, had, in the meantime, arrived in Adrianople, and had
to depart to Gallipoli, without even beholding the face of their Master.
Two of the companions were forced to divorce their wives, as their
relatives refused to allow them to go into exile. _Kh_ur_sh_id Pa_sh_a,
who had already several times categorically denied the written accusations
sent him by the authorities in Constantinople, and had interceded
vigorously on behalf of Baha'u'llah, was so embarrassed by the action of
his government that he decided to absent himself when informed of His
immediate departure from the city, and instructed the Registrar to convey
to Him the purport of the Sultan's edict. Haji Ja'far-i-Tabrizi, one of
the believers, finding that his name had been omitted from the list of the
exiles who might accompany Baha'u'llah, cut his throat with a razor, but
was prevented in time from ending his life--an act which Baha'u'llah, in
the Suriy-i-Ra'is, characterizes as "unheard of in bygone centuries," and
which "God hath set apart for this Revelation, as an evidence of the power
of His might."
On the twenty-second of the month of Rabi'u'_th_-_Th_ani 1285 A.H. (August
12, 1868) Baha'u'llah and His family, escorted by a Turkish captain, Hasan
Effendi by name, and other soldiers appointed by the local government, set
out on their four-day journey to Gallipoli, riding in carriages and
stopping on their way at Uezuen-Kueprue and Ka_sh_anih, at which latter place
the Suriy-i-Ra'is was revealed. "The inhabitants of the quarter in which
Baha'u'llah had been living, and the neighbors who had gathered to bid Him
farewell, came one after the other," writes an eye-witness, "with the
utmost sadness and regret to kiss His hands and the hem of His robe,
expressing meanwhile their sorrow at His departure. That day, too, was a
strange day. Methinks the city, its walls and its gates bemoaned their
imminent separation from Him." "On that day," writes another eye-witness,
"there was a wonderful concourse of Muslims and Christians at the door of
our Master's house. The hour of departure was a memorable one. Most of
those present were weeping and wailing, especially the Christians." "Say,"
Baha'u'llah Himself declares in the Suriy-i-Ra'is, "this Youth hath
departed out of this country and deposited beneath every tree and every
stone a trust, which God will erelong bring forth through the power of
truth."
Several of the companions who had been brought from Constantinople were
awaiting them in Gallipoli. On his arrival Baha'u'llah made the following
pronouncement to Hasan Effendi, who, his duty discharged, was taking his
leave: "Tell the king that this territory will pass out of his hands, and
his affairs will be thrown into confusion." "To this," Aqa Rida, the
recorder of that scene has written, "Baha'u'llah furthermore added: 'Not I
speak these words, but God speaketh them.' In those moments He was
uttering verses which we, who were downstairs, could overhear. They were
spoken with such vehemence and power that, methinks, the foundations of
the house itself trembled."
Even in Gallipoli, where three nights were spent, no one knew what
Baha'u'llah's destination would be. Some believed that He and His brothers
would be banished to one place, and the remainder dispersed, and sent into
exile. Others thought that His companions would be sent back to Persia,
while still others expected their immediate extermination. The
government's original order was to banish Baha'u'llah, Aqay-i-Kalim and
Mirza Muhammad-Quli, with a servant to Akka, while the rest were to
proceed to Constantinople. This order, which provoked scenes of
indescribable distress, was, however, at the insistence of Baha'u'llah,
and by the instrumentality of Umar Effendi, a major appointed to accompany
the exiles, revoked. It was eventually decided that all the exiles,
numbering about seventy, should be banished to Akka. Instructions were,
moreover, issued that a certain number of the adherents of Mirza Yahya,
among whom were Siyyid Muhammad and Aqa Jan, should accompany these
exiles, whilst four of the companions of Baha'u'llah were ordered to
depart with the Azalis for Cyprus.
So grievous were the dangers and trials confronting Baha'u'llah at the
hour of His departure from Gallipoli that He warned His companions that
"this journey will be unlike any of the previous journeys," and that
whoever did not feel himself "man enough to face the future" had best
"depart to whatever place he pleaseth, and be preserved from tests, for
hereafter he will find himself unable to leave"--a warning which His
companions unanimously chose to disregard.
On the morning of the 2nd of Jamadiyu'l-Avval 1285 A.H. (August 21, 1868)
they all embarked in an Austrian-Lloyd steamer for Alexandria, touching at
Madelli, and stopping for two days at Smyrna, where Jinab-i-Munir,
surnamed Ismu'llahu'l-Munib, became gravely ill, and had, to his great
distress, to be left behind in a hospital where he soon after died. In
Alexandria they transhipped into a steamer of the same company, bound for
Haifa, where, after brief stops at Port Said and Jaffa, they landed,
setting out, a few hours later, in a sailing vessel, for Akka, where they
disembarked, in the course of the afternoon of the 12th of
Jamadiyu'l-Avval 1285 A.H. (August 31, 1868). It was at the moment when
Baha'u'llah had stepped into the boat which was to carry Him to the
landing-stage in Haifa that 'Abdu'l-_Gh_affar, one of the four companions
condemned to share the exile of Mirza Yahya, and whose "detachment, love
and trust in God" Baha'u'llah had greatly praised, cast himself, in his
despair, into the sea, shouting "Ya Baha'u'l-Abha," and was subsequently
rescued and resuscitated with the greatest difficulty, only to be forced
by adamant officials to continue his voyage, with Mirza Yahya's party, to
the destination originally appointed for him.