While Baha'u'llah and the little band that bore Him company were being
subjected to the severe hardships of a banishment intended to blot them
from the face of the earth, the steadily expanding community of His
followers in the land of His birth were undergoing a persecution more
violent and of longer duration than the trials with which He and His
companions were being afflicted. Though on a far smaller scale than the
blood baths which had baptized the birth of the Faith, when in the course
of a single year, as attested by 'Abdu'l-Baha, "more than four thousand
souls were slain, and a great multitude of women and children left without
protector and helper," the murderous and horrible acts subsequently
perpetrated by an insatiable and unyielding enemy covered as wide a range
and were marked by an even greater degree of ferocity.
Nasiri'd-Din _Sh_ah, stigmatized by Baha'u'llah as the "Prince of
Oppressors," as one who had "perpetrated what hath caused the denizens of
the cities of justice and equity to lament," was, during the period under
review, in the full tide of his manhood and had reached the plenitude of
his despotic power. The sole arbiter of the fortunes of a country "firmly
stereotyped in the immemorial traditions of the East"; surrounded by
"venal, artful and false" ministers whom he could elevate or abase at his
pleasure; the head of an administration in which "every actor was, in
different aspects, both the briber and the bribed"; allied, in his
opposition to the Faith, with a sacerdotal order which constituted a
veritable "church-state"; supported by a people preeminent in atrocity,
notorious for its fanaticism, its servility, cupidity and corrupt
practices, this capricious monarch, no longer able to lay hands upon the
person of Baha'u'llah, had to content himself with the task of attempting
to stamp out in his own dominions the remnants of a much-feared and newly
resuscitated community. Next to him in rank and power were his three
eldest sons, to whom, for purposes of internal administration, he had
practically delegated his authority, and in whom he had invested the
governorship of all the provinces of his kingdom. The province of
A_dh_irbayjan he had entrusted to the weak and timid Muzaffari'd-Din
Mirza, the heir to his throne, who had fallen under the influence of the
_Sh_ay_kh_i sect, and was showing a marked respect to the mullas. To the
stern and savage rule of the astute Mas'ud Mirza, commonly known as
Zillu's-Sultan, his eldest surviving son, whose mother had been of
plebeian origin, he had committed over two-fifths of his kingdom,
including the provinces of Yazd and Isfahan, whilst upon Kamran Mirza, his
favorite son, commonly called by his title the Nayibu's-Saltanih, he had
bestowed the rulership of Gilan and Mazindaran, and made him governor of
Tihran, his minister of war and the commander-in-chief of his army. Such
was the rivalry between the last two princes, who vied with each other in
courting the favor of their father, that each endeavored, with the support
of the leading mujtahids within his jurisdiction, to outshine the other in
the meritorious task of hunting, plundering and exterminating the members
of a defenseless community, who, at the bidding of Baha'u'llah, had ceased
to offer armed resistance even in self-defense, and were carrying out His
injunction that "it is better to be killed than kill." Nor were the
clerical firebrands, Haji Mulla 'Aliy-i-Kani and Siyyid
Sadiq-i-Tabataba'i, the two leading mujtahids of Tihran, together with
_Sh_ay_kh_ Muhammad-Baqir, their colleague in Isfahan, and Mir
Muhammad-Husayn, the Imam-Jum'ih of that city, willing to allow the
slightest opportunity to pass without striking, with all the force and
authority they wielded, at an adversary whose liberalizing influences they
had even more reason to fear than the sovereign himself.
Little wonder that, confronted by a situation so full of peril, the Faith
should have been driven underground, and that arrests, interrogations,
imprisonment, vituperation, spoliation, tortures and executions should
constitute the outstanding features of this convulsive period in its
development. The pilgrimages that had been initiated in Adrianople, and
which later assumed in Akka impressive proportions, together with the
dissemination of the Tablets of Baha'u'llah and the circulation of
enthusiastic reports through the medium of those who had attained His
presence served, moreover, to inflame the animosity of clergy and laity
alike, who had foolishly imagined that the breach which had occurred in
the ranks of the followers of the Faith in Adrianople and the sentence of
life banishment pronounced subsequently against its Leader, would seal
irretrievably its fate.
In Abadih a certain Ustad 'Ali-Akbar was, at the instigation of a local
Siyyid, apprehended and so ruthlessly thrashed that he was covered from
head to foot with his own blood. In the village of Takur, at the bidding
of the _Sh_ah, the property of the inhabitants was pillaged, Haji Mirza
Rida-Quli, a half-brother of Baha'u'llah, was arrested, conducted to the
capital and thrown into the Siyah-_Ch_al, where he remained for a month,
whilst the brother-in-law of Mirza Hasan, another half-brother of
Baha'u'llah, was seized and branded with red-hot irons, after which the
neighboring village of Dar-Kala was delivered to the flames.
Aqa Buzurg of _Kh_urasan, the illustrious "Badi" (Wonderful); converted to
the Faith by Nabil; surnamed the "Pride of Martyrs"; the seventeen-year
old bearer of the Tablet addressed to Nasiri'd-Din _Sh_ah; in whom, as
affirmed by Baha'u'llah, "the spirit of might and power was breathed," was
arrested, branded for three successive days, his head beaten to a pulp
with the butt of a rifle, after which his body was thrown into a pit and
earth and stones heaped upon it. After visiting Baha'u'llah in the
barracks, during the second year of His confinement, he had arisen with
amazing alacrity to carry that Tablet, alone and on foot, to Tihran and
deliver it into the hands of the sovereign. A four months' journey had
taken him to that city, and, after passing three days in fasting and
vigilance, he had met the _Sh_ah proceeding on a hunting expedition to
_Sh_imiran. He had calmly and respectfully approached His Majesty, calling
out, "O King! I have come to thee from Sheba with a weighty message";
whereupon at the Sovereign's order, the Tablet was taken from him and
delivered to the mujtahids of Tihran who were commanded to reply to that
Epistle--a command which they evaded, recommending instead that the
messenger should be put to death. That Tablet was subsequently forwarded
by the _Sh_ah to the Persian Ambassador in Constantinople, in the hope
that its perusal by the Sultan's ministers might serve to further inflame
their animosity. For a space of three years Baha'u'llah continued to extol
in His writings the heroism of that youth, characterizing the references
made by Him to that sublime sacrifice as the "salt of My Tablets."
'Aba-Basir and Siyyid A_sh_raf, whose fathers had been slain in the
struggle of Zanjan, were decapitated on the same day in that city, the
former going so far as to instruct, while kneeling in prayer, his
executioner as to how best to deal his blow, while the latter, after
having been so brutally beaten that blood flowed from under his nails, was
beheaded, as he held in his arms the body of his martyred companion. It
was the mother of this same A_sh_raf who, when sent to the prison in the
hope that she would persuade her only son to recant, had warned him that
she would disown him were he to denounce his faith, had bidden him follow
the example of 'Aba-Basir, and had even watched him expire with eyes
undimmed with tears. The wealthy and prominent Muhammad-Hasan
_Kh_an-i-Ka_sh_i was so mercilessly bastinadoed in Burujird that he
succumbed to his ordeal. In _Sh_iraz Mirza Aqay-i-Rikab-Saz, together with
Mirza Rafi-i-_Kh_ayyat and Ma_sh_hadi Nabi, were by order of the local
mujtahid simultaneously strangled in the dead of night, their graves being
later desecrated by a mob who heaped refuse upon them. _Sh_ay_kh_
Abu'l-Qasim-i-Mazkani in Ka_sh_an, who had declined a drink of water that
was offered him before his death, affirming that he thirsted for the cup
of martyrdom, was dealt a fatal blow on the nape of his neck, whilst he
was prostrating himself in prayer.
Mirza Baqir-i-_Sh_irazi, who had transcribed the Tablets of Baha'u'llah in
Adrianople with such unsparing devotion, was slain in Kirman, while in
Ardikan the aged and infirm Gul-Muhammad was set upon by a furious mob,
thrown to the ground, and so trampled upon by the hob-nailed boots of two
siyyids that his ribs were crushed in and his teeth broken, after which
his body was taken to the outskirts of the town and buried in a pit, only
to be dug up the next day, dragged through the streets, and finally
abandoned in the wilderness. In the city of Ma_sh_had, notorious for its
unbridled fanaticism, Haji 'Abdu'l-Majid, who was the eighty-five year old
father of the afore-mentioned Badi and a survivor of the struggle of
Tabarsi, and who, after the martyrdom of his son, had visited Baha'u'llah
and returned afire with zeal to _Kh_urasan, was ripped open from waist to
throat, and his head exposed on a marble slab to the gaze of a multitude
of insulting onlookers, who, after dragging his body ignominiously through
the bazaars, left it at the morgue to be claimed by his relatives.
In Isfahan Mulla Kazim was beheaded by order of _Sh_ay_kh_ Muhammad-Baqir,
and a horse made to gallop over his corpse, which was then delivered to
the flames, while Siyyid Aqa Jan had his ears cut off, and was led by a
halter through the streets and bazaars. A month later occurred in that
same city the tragedy of the two famous brothers Mirza Muhammad-Hasan and
Mirza Muhammad-Husayn, the "twin shining lights," respectively surnamed
"Sultanu'_sh_-_Sh_uhuda" (King of Martyrs) and "Mahbubu'_sh_-_Sh_uhada"
(Beloved of Martyrs), who were celebrated for their generosity,
trustworthiness, kindliness and piety. Their martyrdom was instigated by
the wicked and dishonest Mir Muhammad-Husayn, the Imam-Jum'ih, stigmatized
by Baha'u'llah as the "she-serpent," who, in view of a large debt he had
incurred in his transactions with them, schemed to nullify his obligations
by denouncing them as Babis, and thereby encompassing their death. Their
richly-furnished houses were plundered, even to the trees and flowers in
their gardens, all their remaining possessions were confiscated;
_Sh_ay_kh_ Muhammad-Baqir, denounced by Baha'u'llah as the "wolf,"
pronounced their death-sentence; the Zillu's-Sultan ratified the decision,
after which they were put in chains, decapitated, dragged to the
Maydan-i-_Sh_ah, and there exposed to the indignities heaped upon them by
a degraded and rapacious populace. "In such wise," 'Abdu'l-Baha has
written, "was the blood of these two brothers shed that the Christian
priest of Julfa cried out, lamented and wept on that day." For several
years Baha'u'llah in His Tablets continued to make mention of them, to
voice His grief over their passing and to extol their virtues.
Mulla 'Ali Jan was conducted on foot from Mazindaran to Tihran, the
hardships of that journey being so severe that his neck was wounded and
his body swollen from the waist to the feet. On the day of his martyrdom
he asked for water, performed his ablutions, recited his prayers, bestowed
a considerable gift of money on his executioner, and was still in the act
of prayer when his throat was slit by a dagger, after which his corpse was
spat upon, covered with mud, left exposed for three days, and finally hewn
to pieces. In Namiq Mulla 'Ali, converted to the Faith in the days of the
Bab, was so severely attacked and his ribs so badly broken with a pick-axe
that he died immediately. Mirza A_sh_raf was slain in Isfahan, his corpse
trampled under foot by _Sh_ay_kh_ Muhammad Taqiy-i-Najafi, the "son of the
wolf," and his pupils, savagely mutilated, and delivered to the mob to be
burnt, after which his charred bones were buried beneath the ruins of a
wall that was pulled down to cover them.
In Yazd, at the instigation of the mujtahid of that city, and by order of
the callous Mahmud Mirza, the Jalulu'l-Dawlih, the governor, a son of
Zillu's-Sultan, seven were done to death in a single day in horrible
circumstances. The first of these, a twenty-seven year old youth,
'Ali-As_gh_ar, was strangled, his body delivered into the hands of some
Jews who, forcing the dead man's six companions to come with them, dragged
the corpse through the streets, surrounded by a mob of people and soldiers
beating drums and blowing trumpets, after which, arriving near the
Telegraph Office, they beheaded the eighty-five year old Mulla Mihdi and
dragged him in the same manner to another quarter of the city, where, in
view of a great throng of onlookers, frenzied by the throbbing strains of
the music, they executed Aqa 'Ali in like manner. Proceeding thence to the
house of the local mujtahid, and carrying with them the four remaining
companions, they cut the throat of Mulla 'Aliy-i-Sabzivari, who had been
addressing the crowd and glorying in his imminent martyrdom, hacked his
body to pieces with a spade, while he was still alive, and pounded his
skull to a pulp with stones. In another quarter, near the Mihriz gate,
they slew Muhammad-Baqir, and afterwards, in the Maydan-i-_Kh_an, as the
music grew wilder and drowned the yells of the people, they beheaded the
survivors who remained, two brothers in their early twenties,
'Ali-As_gh_ar and Muhammad-Hasan. The stomach of the latter was ripped
open and his heart and liver plucked out, after which his head was impaled
on a spear, carried aloft, to the accompaniment of music, through the
streets of the city, and suspended on a mulberry tree, and stoned by a
great concourse of people. His body was cast before the door of his
mother's house, into which women deliberately entered to dance and make
merry. Even pieces of their flesh were carried away to be used as a
medicament. Finally, the head of Muhammad-Hasan was attached to the lower
part of his body and, together with those of the other martyrs, was borne
to the outskirts of the city and so viciously pelted with stones that the
skulls were broken, whereupon they compelled the Jews to carry the remains
and throw them into a pit in the plain of Salsabil. A holiday was declared
by the governor for the people, all the shops were closed by his order,
the city was illuminated at night, and festivities proclaimed the
consummation of one of the most barbarous acts perpetrated in modern
times.
Nor were the Jews and the Parsis who had been newly converted to the
Faith, and were living, the former in Hamadan, and the latter in Yazd,
immune to the assaults of enemies whose fury was exasperated by the
evidences of the penetration of the light of the Faith in quarters they
had fondly imagined to be beyond its reach. Even in the city of I_sh_qabad
the newly established _Sh_i'ah community, envious of the rising prestige
of the followers of Baha'u'llah who were living in their midst, instigated
two ruffians to assault the seventy-year old Haji
Muhammad-Riday-i-Isfahani, whom, in broad day and in the midst of the
bazaar, they stabbed in no less than thirty-two places, exposing his
liver, lacerating his stomach and tearing open his breast. A military
court dispatched by the Czar to I_sh_qabad established, after prolonged
investigation, the guilt of the _Sh_i'ahs, sentencing two to death and
banishing six others--a sentence which neither Nasiri'd-Din _Sh_ah, nor the
'ulamas of Tihran, of Ma_sh_had and of Tabriz, who were appealed to, could
mitigate, but which the representatives of the aggrieved community,
through their magnanimous intercession which greatly surprised the Russian
authorities, succeeded in having commuted to a lighter punishment.
Such are some typical examples of the treatment meted out by the
adversaries of the Faith to the newly resurgent community of its followers
during the period of Baha'u'llah's banishment to Akka--a treatment which it
may be truly said testified alternately to "the callousness of the brute
and the ingenuity of the fiend."
The "inquisition and appalling tortures," following the attempt on the
life of Nasiri'd-Din _Sh_ah, had already, in the words of no less eminent
an observer than Lord Curzon of Kedleston, imparted to the Faith "a
vitality which no other impulse could have secured." This recrudescence of
persecution, this fresh outpouring of the blood of martyrs, served to
further enliven the roots which that holy Sapling had already struck in
its native soil. Careless of the policy of fire and blood which aimed at
their annihilation, undismayed by the tragic blows rained upon a Leader so
far removed from their midst, uncorrupted by the foul and seditious acts
perpetrated by the Arch-Breaker of the Bab's Covenant, the followers of
Baha'u'llah were multiplying in number and silently gathering the
necessary strength that was to enable them, at a later stage, to lift
their heads in freedom, and rear the fabric of their institutions.
Soon after his visit to Persia in the autumn of 1889 Lord Curzon of
Kedleston wrote, in the course of references designed to dispel the "great
confusion" and "error" prevailing "among European and specially English
writers" regarding the Faith, that "the Baha'is are now believed to
comprise nineteen-twentieths of the Babi persuasion." Count Gobineau,
writing as far back as the year 1865, testified as follows: "L'opinion
generale est que les Babis sont repandus dans toutes les classes de la
population et parmi tous les religionnaires de la Perse, sauf les Nusayris
et les Chretiens; mais ce sont surtout les classes eclairees, les hommes
pratiquant les sciences du pays, qui sont donnes comme tres suspects. On
pense, et avec raison, ce semble, que beaucoup de mullas, et parmi eux des
mujtahids considerables, des magistrats d'un rang eleve, des hommes qui
occupent a la cour des fonctions importantes et qui approchent de pres la
personne du Roi, sont des Babis. D'apres un calcul fait recemment, il y
aurait a Tihran cinq milles de ces religionnaires sur une population de
quatre-vingt milles ames a peu pres." Furthermore: "...Le Babisme a pris
une action considerable sur l'intelligence de la nation persane, et, se
rependant meme au dela des limites du territoire, il a deborde dans le
pachalik de Ba_gh_dad, et passe aussi dans l'Inde." And again: "...Un
mouvement religieux tout particulier dont l'Asie Centrale, c'est-a-dire la
Perse, quelques points de l'Inde et une partie de la Turquie d'Asie, aux
environs de Ba_gh_dad, est aujourd'hui vivement preoccupee, mouvement
remarquable et digne d'etre etudie a tous les titres. Il permet d'assister
a des developpements de faits, a des manifestations, a des catastrophes
telles que l'on n'est pas habitue a les imaginer ailleurs que dans les
temps recules ou se sont produites les grandes religions."
"These changes, however," Lord Curzon, alluding to the Declaration of the
Mission of Baha'u'llah and the rebellion of Mirza Yahya, has, moreover
written, "have in no wise impaired, but appear on the contrary, to have
stimulated its propaganda, which has advanced with a rapidity inexplicable
to those who can only see therein a crude form of political or even of
metaphysical fermentation. The lowest estimate places the present number
of Babis in Persia at half a million. I am disposed to think, from
conversations with persons well qualified to judge, that the total is
nearer one million." "They are to be found," he adds, "in every walk of
life, from the ministers and nobles of the Court to the scavenger or the
groom, not the least arena of their activity being the Musulman priesthood
itself." "From the facts," is another testimony of his, "that Babism in
its earliest years found itself in conflict with the civil powers, and
that an attempt was made by Babis upon the life of the _Sh_ah, it has been
wrongly inferred that the movement was political in origin and Nihilist in
character... At the present time the Babis are equally loyal with any
other subjects of the Crown. Nor does there appear to be any greater
justice in the charges of socialism, communism and immorality that have so
freely been levelled at the youthful persuasion ...The only communism
known to and recommended by Him (the Bab) was that of the New Testament
and the early Christian Church, viz., the sharing of goods in common by
members of the Faith, and the exercise of alms-giving, and an ample
charity. The charge of immorality seems to have arisen partly from the
malignant inventions of opponents, partly from the much greater freedom
claimed for women by the Bab, which in the oriental mind is scarcely
dissociable from profligacy of conduct." And, finally, the following
prognostication from his pen: "If Babism continues to grow at its present
rate of progression, a time may conceivably come when it will oust
Muhammadanism from the field in Persia. This, I think, it would be
unlikely to do, did it appear upon the ground under the flag of a hostile
faith. But since its recruits are won from the best soldiers of the
garrison whom it is attacking, there is greater reason to believe that it
may ultimately prevail."
Baha'u'llah's incarceration in the prison-fortress of Akka, the manifold
tribulations He endured, the prolonged ordeal to which the community of
His followers in Persia was being subjected, did not arrest, nor could
they even impede, to the slightest degree, the mighty stream of Divine
Revelation, which, without interruption, had been flowing from His pen,
and on which the future orientation, the integrity, the expansion and the
consolidation of His Faith directly depended. Indeed, in their scope and
volume, His writings, during the years of His confinement in the Most
Great Prison, surpassed the outpourings of His pen in either Adrianople or
Ba_gh_dad. More remarkable than the radical transformation in the
circumstances of His own life in Akka, more far-reaching in its spiritual
consequences than the campaign of repression pursued so relentlessly by
the enemies of His Faith in the land of His birth, this unprecedented
extension in the range of His writings, during His exile in that Prison,
must rank as one of the most vitalizing and fruitful stages in the
evolution of His Faith.
The tempestuous winds that swept the Faith at the inception of His
ministry and the wintry desolation that marked the beginnings of His
prophetic career, soon after His banishment from Tihran, were followed
during the latter part of His sojourn in Ba_gh_dad, by what may be
described as the vernal years of His Mission--years which witnessed the
bursting into visible activity of the forces inherent in that Divine Seed
that had lain dormant since the tragic removal of His Forerunner. With His
arrival in Adrianople and the proclamation of His Mission the Orb of His
Revelation climbed as it were to its zenith, and shone, as witnessed by
the style and tone of His writings, in the plenitude of its summer glory.
The period of His incarceration in Akka brought with it the ripening of a
slowly maturing process, and was a period during which the choicest fruits
of that mission were ultimately garnered.
The writings of Baha'u'llah during this period, as we survey the vast
field which they embrace, seem to fall into three distinct categories. The
first comprises those writings which constitute the sequel to the
proclamation of His Mission in Adrianople. The second includes the laws
and ordinances of His Dispensation, which, for the most part, have been
recorded in the Kitab-i-Aqdas, His Most Holy Book. To the third must be
assigned those Tablets which partly enunciate and partly reaffirm the
fundamental tenets and principles underlying that Dispensation.
The Proclamation of His Mission had been, as already observed, directed
particularly to the kings of the earth, who, by virtue of the power and
authority they wielded, were invested with a peculiar and inescapable
responsibility for the destinies of their subjects. It was to these kings,
as well as to the world's religious leaders, who exercised a no less
pervasive influence on the mass of their followers, that the Prisoner of
Akka directed His appeals, warnings, and exhortations during the first
years of His incarceration in that city. "Upon Our arrival at this
Prison," He Himself affirms, "We purposed to transmit to the kings the
messages of their Lord, the Mighty, the All-Praised. Though We have
transmitted to them, in several Tablets, that which We were commanded, yet
We do it once again, as a token of God's grace."
To the kings of the earth, both in the East and in the West, both
Christian and Muslim, who had already been collectively admonished and
warned in the Suriy-i-Muluk revealed in Adrianople, and had been so
vehemently summoned by the Bab, in the opening chapter of the
Qayyumu'l-Asma, on the very night of the Declaration of His Mission,
Baha'u'llah, during the darkest days of His confinement in Akka, addressed
some of the noblest passages of His Most Holy Book. In these passages He
called upon them to take fast hold of the "Most Great Law"; proclaimed
Himself to be "the King of Kings" and "the Desire of all Nations";
declared them to be His "vassals" and "emblems of His sovereignty";
disclaimed any intention of laying hands on their kingdoms; bade them
forsake their palaces, and hasten to gain admittance into His Kingdom;
extolled the king who would arise to aid His Cause as "the very eye of
mankind"; and finally arraigned them for the things which had befallen Him
at their hands.
In His Tablet to Queen Victoria He, moreover, invites these kings to hold
fast to "the Lesser Peace," since they had refused "the Most Great Peace";
exhorts them to be reconciled among themselves, to unite and to reduce
their armaments; bids them refrain from laying excessive burdens on their
subjects, who, He informs them, are their "wards" and "treasures";
enunciates the principle that should any one among them take up arms
against another, all should rise against him; and warns them not to deal
with Him as the "King of Islam" and his ministers had dealt.
To the Emperor of the French, Napoleon III, the most prominent and
influential monarch of his day in the West, designated by Him as the
"Chief of Sovereigns," and who, to quote His words, had "cast behind his
back" the Tablet revealed for him in Adrianople, He, while a prisoner in
the army barracks, addressed a second Tablet and transmitted it through
the French agent in Akka. In this He announces the coming of "Him Who is
the Unconstrained," whose purpose is to "quicken the world" and unite its
peoples; unequivocally asserts that Jesus Christ was the Herald of His
Mission; proclaims the fall of "the stars of the firmament of knowledge,"
who have turned aside from Him; exposes that monarch's insincerity; and
clearly prophesies that his kingdom shall be "thrown into confusion," that
his "empire shall pass" from his hands, and that "commotions shall seize
all the people in that land," unless he arises to help the Cause of God
and follow Him Who is His Spirit.
In memorable passages addressed to "the Rulers of America and the
Presidents of the Republics therein" He, in His Kitab-i-Aqdas, calls upon
them to "adorn the temple of dominion with the ornament of justice and of
the fear of God, and its head with the crown of remembrance" of their
Lord; declares that "the Promised One" has been made manifest; counsels
them to avail themselves of the "Day of God"; and bids them "bind with the
hands of justice the broken" and "crush" the "oppressor" with "the rod of
the commandments of their Lord, the Ordainer, the All-Wise."
To Nicolaevitch Alexander II, the all-powerful Czar of Russia, He
addressed, as He lay a prisoner in the barracks, an Epistle wherein He
announces the advent of the promised Father, Whom "the tongue of Isaiah
hath extolled," and "with Whose name both the Torah and the Evangel were
adorned"; commands him to "arise ... and summon the nations unto God";
warns him to beware lest his sovereignty withhold him from "Him Who is the
Supreme Sovereign"; acknowledges the aid extended by his Ambassador in
Tihran; and cautions him not to forfeit the station ordained for him by
God.
To Queen Victoria He, during that same period, addressed an Epistle in
which He calls upon her to incline her ear to the voice of her Lord, the
Lord of all mankind; bids her "cast away all that is on earth," and set
her heart towards her Lord, the Ancient of Days; asserts that "all that
hath been mentioned in the Gospel hath been fulfilled"; assures her that
God would reward her for having "forbidden the trading in slaves," were
she to follow what has been sent unto her by Him; commends her for having
"entrusted the reins of counsel into the hands of the representatives of
the people"; and exhorts them to "regard themselves as the representatives
of all that dwell on earth," and to judge between men with "pure justice."
In a celebrated passage addressed to William I, King of Prussia and
newly-acclaimed emperor of a unified Germany, He, in His Kitab-i-Aqdas,
bids the sovereign hearken to His Voice, the Voice of God Himself; warns
him to take heed lest his pride debar him from recognizing "the Day-Spring
of Divine Revelation," and admonishes him to "remember the one (Napoleon
III) whose power transcended" his power, and who "went down to dust in
great loss." Furthermore, in that same Book, apostrophizing the "banks of
the Rhine," He predicts that "the swords of retribution" would be drawn
against them, and that "the lamentations of Berlin" would be raised,
though at that time she was "in conspicuous glory."
In another notable passage of that same Book, addressed to Francis-Joseph,
the Austrian Emperor and heir of the Holy Roman Empire, Baha'u'llah
reproves the sovereign for having neglected to inquire about Him in the
course of a pilgrimage to Jerusalem; takes God to witness that He had
found him "clinging unto the Branch and heedless of the Root"; grieves to
observe his waywardness; and bids him open his eyes and gaze on "the Light
that shineth above this luminous Horizon."
To 'Ali Pa_sh_a, the Grand Vizir of the Sultan of Turkey He addressed,
shortly after His arrival in Akka, a second Tablet, in which He reprimands
him for his cruelty "that hath made hell to blaze and the Spirit to
lament"; recounts his acts of oppression; condemns him as one of those
who, from time immemorial, have denounced the Prophets as stirrers of
mischief; prophesies his downfall; expatiates on His own sufferings and
those of His fellow-exiles; extolls their fortitude and detachment;
predicts that God's "wrathful anger" will seize him and his government,
that "sedition will be stirred up" in their midst, and that their
"dominions will be disrupted"; and affirms that were he to awake, he would
abandon all his possessions, and would "choose to abide in one of the
dilapidated rooms of this Most Great Prison." In the Lawh-i-Fu'ad, in the
course of His reference to the premature death of the Sultan's Foreign
Minister, Fu'ad Pa_sh_a, He thus confirms His above-mentioned prediction:
"Soon will We dismiss the one ('Ali Pa_sh_a) who was like unto him and
will lay hold on their Chief (Sultan 'Abdu'l-'Aziz) who ruleth the land,
and I, verily, am the Almighty, the All-Compelling."
No less outspoken and emphatic are the messages, some embodied in specific
Tablets, others interspersed through His writings, which Baha'u'llah
addressed to the world's ecclesiastical leaders of all
denominations--messages in which He discloses, clearly and unreservedly,
the claims of His Revelation, summons them to heed His call, and
denounces, in certain specific cases, their perversity, their extreme
arrogance and tyranny.
In immortal passages of His Kitab-i-Aqdas and other Tablets He bids the
entire company of these ecclesiastical leaders to "fear God," to "rein in"
their pens, "fling away idle fancies and imaginings, and turn then towards
the Horizon of Certitude"; warns them to "weigh not the Book of God
(Kitab-i-Aqdas) with such standards and sciences as are current" amongst
them; designates that same Book as the "Unerring Balance established
amongst men"; laments over their blindness and waywardness; asserts His
superiority in vision, insight, utterance and wisdom; proclaims His innate
and God-given knowledge; cautions them not to "shut out the people by yet
another veil," after He Himself had "rent the veils asunder"; accuses them
of having been "the cause of the repudiation of the Faith in its early
days"; and adjures them to "peruse with fairness and justice that which
hath been sent down" by Him, and to "nullify not the Truth" with the
things they possess.
To Pope Pius IX, the undisputed head of the most powerful Church in
Christendom, possessor of both temporal and spiritual authority, He, a
Prisoner in the army barracks of the penal-colony of Akka, addressed a
most weighty Epistle, in which He announces that "He Who is the Lord of
Lords is come overshadowed with clouds," and that "the Word which the Son
concealed is made manifest." He, moreover, warns him not to dispute with
Him even as the Pharisees of old disputed with Jesus Christ; bids him
leave his palaces unto such as desire them, "sell all the embellished
ornaments" in his possession, "expend them in the path of God," abandon
his kingdom unto the kings, "arise ... amidst the peoples of the earth,"
and summon them to His Faith. Regarding him as one of the suns of the
heaven of God's names, He cautions him to guard himself lest "darkness
spread its veils" over him; calls upon him to "exhort the kings" to "deal
equitably with men"; and counsels him to walk in the footsteps of his
Lord, and follow His example.
To the patriarchs of the Christian Church He issued a specific summons in
which He proclaims the coming of the Promised One; exhorts them to "fear
God" and not to follow "the vain imaginings of the superstitious"; and
directs them to lay aside the things they possess and "take fast hold of
the Tablet of God by His sovereign power." To the archbishops of that
Church He similarly declares that "He Who is the Lord of all men hath
appeared," that they are "numbered with the dead," and that great is the
blessedness of him who is "stirred by the breeze of God, and hath arisen
from amongst the dead in this perspicuous Name." In passages addressed to
its bishops He proclaims that "the Everlasting Father calleth aloud
between earth and heaven," pronounces them to be the fallen stars of the
heaven of His knowledge, and affirms that His body "yearneth for the
cross" and His head is "eager for the spear in the path of the
All-Merciful." The concourse of Christian priests He bids "leave the
bells," and come forth from their churches; exhorts them to "proclaim
aloud the Most Great Name among the nations"; assures them that whoever
will summon men in His Name will "show forth that which is beyond the
power of all that are on earth"; warns them that the "Day of Reckoning
hath appeared"; and counsels them to turn with their hearts to their
"Lord, the Forgiving, the Generous." In numerous passages addressed to the
"concourse of monks" He bids them not to seclude themselves in churches
and cloisters, but to occupy themselves with that which will profit their
souls and the souls of men; enjoins them to enter into wedlock; and
affirms that if they choose to follow Him He will make them heirs of His
Kingdom, and that if they transgress against Him, He will, in His
long-suffering, endure it patiently.
And finally, in several passages addressed to the entire body of the
followers of Jesus Christ He identifies Himself with the "Father" spoken
of by Isaiah, with the "Comforter" Whose Covenant He Who is the Spirit
(Jesus) had Himself established, and with the "Spirit of Truth" Who will
guide them "into all truth"; proclaims His Day to be the Day of God;
announces the conjunction of the river Jordan with the "Most Great Ocean";
asserts their heedlessness as well as His own claim to have opened unto
them "the gates of the kingdom"; affirms that the promised "Temple" has
been built "with the hands of the will" of their Lord, the Mighty, the
Bounteous; bids them "rend the veils asunder," and enter in His name His
Kingdom; recalls the saying of Jesus to Peter; and assures them that, if
they choose to follow Him, He will make them to become "quickeners of
mankind."
To the entire body of Muslim ecclesiastics Baha'u'llah specifically
devoted innumerable passages in His Books and Tablets, wherein He, in
vehement language, denounces their cruelty; condemns their pride and
arrogance; calls upon them to lay aside the things they possess, to hold
their peace, and give ear to the words He has spoken; and asserts that, by
reason of their deeds, "the exalted station of the people hath been
abased, the standard of Islam hath been reversed, and its mighty throne
hath fallen." To the "concourse of Persian divines" He more particularly
addressed His condemnatory words in which He stigmatizes their deeds, and
prophesies that their "glory will be turned into the most wretched
abasement," and that they shall behold the punishment which will be
inflicted upon them, "as decreed by God, the Ordainer, the All-Wise."
To the Jewish people, He, moreover, announced that the Most Great Law has
come, that "the Ancient Beauty ruleth upon the throne of David," Who cries
aloud and invokes His Name, that "from Zion hath appeared that which was
hidden," and that "from Jerusalem is heard the Voice of God, the One, the
Incomparable, the Omniscient."
To the "high priests" of the Zoroastrian Faith He, furthermore, proclaimed
that "the Incomparable Friend" is manifest, that He "speaketh that wherein
lieth salvation," that "the Hand of Omnipotence is stretched forth from
behind the clouds," that the tokens of His majesty and greatness are
unveiled; and declared that "no man's acts shall be acceptable in this day
unless he forsaketh mankind and all that men possess, and setteth his face
towards the Omnipotent One."
Some of the weightiest passages of His Epistle to Queen Victoria are
addressed to the members of the British Legislature, the Mother of
Parliaments, as well as to the elected representatives of the peoples in
other lands. In these He asserts that His purpose is to quicken the world
and unite its peoples; refers to the treatment meted out to Him by His
enemies; exhorts the legislators to "take counsel together," and to
concern themselves only "with that which profiteth mankind"; and affirms
that the "sovereign remedy" for the "healing of all the world" is the
"union of all its peoples in one universal Cause, one common Faith," which
can "in no wise be achieved except through the power of a skilled and
all-powerful and inspired Physician." He, moreover, in His Most Holy Book,
has enjoined the selection of a single language and the adoption of a
common script for all on earth to use, an injunction which, when carried
out, would, as He Himself affirms in that Book, be one of the signs of the
"coming of age of the human race."
No less significant are the words addressed separately by Him to the
"people of the Bayan," to the wise men of the world, to its poets, to its
men of letters, to its mystics and even to its tradesmen, in which He
exhorts them to be attentive to His voice, to recognize His Day, and to
follow His bidding.
Such in sum are the salient features of the concluding utterances of that
historic Proclamation, the opening notes of which were sounded during the
latter part of Baha'u'llah's banishment to Adrianople, and which closed
during the early years of His incarceration in the prison-fortress of
Akka. Kings and emperors, severally and collectively; the chief
magistrates of the Republics of the American continent; ministers and
ambassadors; the Sovereign Pontiff himself; the Vicar of the Prophet of
Islam; the royal Trustee of the Kingdom of the Hidden Imam; the monarchs
of Christendom, its patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, priests and monks;
the recognized leaders of both the Sunni and _Sh_i'ah sacerdotal orders;
the high priests of the Zoroastrian religion; the philosophers, the
ecclesiastical leaders, the wise men and the inhabitants of
Constantinople--that proud seat of both the Sultanate and the Caliphate;
the entire company of the professed adherents of the Zoroastrian, the
Jewish, the Christian and Muslim Faiths; the people of the Bayan; the wise
men of the world, its men of letters, its poets, its mystics, its
tradesmen, the elected representatives of its peoples; His own
countrymen--all have, at one time or another, in books, Epistles, and
Tablets, been brought directly within the purview of the exhortations, the
warnings, the appeals, the declarations and the prophecies which
constitute the theme of His momentous summons to the leaders of mankind--a
summons which stands unparalleled in the annals of any previous religion,
and to which the messages directed by the Prophet of Islam to some of the
rulers among His contemporaries alone offer a faint resemblance.
"Never since the beginning of the world," Baha'u'llah Himself affirms,
"hath the Message been so openly proclaimed." "Each one of them," He,
specifically referring to the Tablets addressed by Him to the sovereigns
of the earth--Tablets acclaimed by 'Abdu'l-Baha as a "miracle"--has written,
"hath been designated by a special name. The first hath been named 'The
Rumbling,' the second 'The Blow,' the third 'The Inevitable,' the fourth
'The Plain,' the fifth 'The Catastrophe,' and the others 'The Stunning
Trumpet-Blast,' 'The Near Event,' 'The Great Terror,' 'The Trumpet,' 'The
Bugle,' and the like, so that all the peoples of the earth may know, of a
certainty, and may witness, with outward and inner eyes, that He Who is
the Lord of Names hath prevailed, and will continue to prevail, under all
conditions, over all men." The most important of these Tablets, together
with the celebrated Suriy-i-Haykal (the Surih of the Temple), He,
moreover, ordered to be written in the shape of a pentacle, symbolizing
the temple of man, and which He identified, when addressing the followers
of the Gospel in one of His Tablets, with the "Temple" mentioned by the
Prophet Zechariah, and designated as "the resplendent dawning-place of the
All-Merciful," and which "the hands of the power of Him Who is the Causer
of Causes" had built.
Unique and stupendous as was this Proclamation, it proved to be but a
prelude to a still mightier revelation of the creative power of its
Author, and to what may well rank as the most signal act of His
ministry--the promulgation of the Kitab-i-Aqdas. Alluded to in the
Kitab-i-Iqan; the principal repository of that Law which the Prophet
Isaiah had anticipated, and which the writer of the Apocalypse had
described as the "new heaven" and the "new earth," as "the Tabernacle of
God," as the "Holy City," as the "Bride," the "New Jerusalem coming down
from God," this "Most Holy Book," whose provisions must remain inviolate
for no less than a thousand years, and whose system will embrace the
entire planet, may well be regarded as the brightest emanation of the mind
of Baha'u'llah, as the Mother Book of His Dispensation, and the Charter of
His New World Order.
Revealed soon after Baha'u'llah had been transferred to the house of Udi
_Kh_ammar (circa 1873), at a time when He was still encompassed by the
tribulations that had afflicted Him, through the acts committed by His
enemies and the professed adherents of His Faith, this Book, this treasury
enshrining the priceless gems of His Revelation, stands out, by virtue of
the principles it inculcates, the administrative institutions it ordains
and the function with which it invests the appointed Successor of its
Author, unique and incomparable among the world's sacred Scriptures. For,
unlike the Old Testament and the Holy Books which preceded it, in which
the actual precepts uttered by the Prophet Himself are non-existent;
unlike the Gospels, in which the few sayings attributed to Jesus Christ
afford no clear guidance regarding the future administration of the
affairs of His Faith; unlike even the Qur'an which, though explicit in the
laws and ordinances formulated by the Apostle of God, is silent on the
all-important subject of the succession, the Kitab-i-Aqdas, revealed from
first to last by the Author of the Dispensation Himself, not only
preserves for posterity the basic laws and ordinances on which the fabric
of His future World Order must rest, but ordains, in addition to the
function of interpretation which it confers upon His Successor, the
necessary institutions through which the integrity and unity of His Faith
can alone be safeguarded.
In this Charter of the future world civilization its Author--at once the
Judge, the Lawgiver, the Unifier and Redeemer of mankind--announces to the
kings of the earth the promulgation of the "Most Great Law"; pronounces
them to be His vassals; proclaims Himself the "King of Kings"; disclaims
any intention of laying hands on their kingdoms; reserves for Himself the
right to "seize and possess the hearts of men"; warns the world's
ecclesiastical leaders not to weigh the "Book of God" with such standards
as are current amongst them; and affirms that the Book itself is the
"Unerring Balance" established amongst men. In it He formally ordains the
institution of the "House of Justice," defines its functions, fixes its
revenues, and designates its members as the "Men of Justice," the
"Deputies of God," the "Trustees of the All-Merciful," alludes to the
future Center of His Covenant, and invests Him with the right of
interpreting His holy Writ; anticipates by implication the institution of
Guardianship; bears witness to the revolutionizing effect of His World
Order; enunciates the doctrine of the "Most Great Infallibility" of the
Manifestation of God; asserts this infallibility to be the inherent and
exclusive right of the Prophet; and rules out the possibility of the
appearance of another Manifestation ere the lapse of at least one thousand
years.
In this Book He, moreover, prescribes the obligatory prayers; designates
the time and period of fasting; prohibits congregational prayer except for
the dead; fixes the Qiblih; institutes the Huququ'llah (Right of God);
formulates the law of inheritance; ordains the institution of the
Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar; establishes the Nineteen Day Feasts, the Baha'i
festivals and the Intercalary Days; abolishes the institution of
priesthood; prohibits slavery, asceticism, mendicancy, monasticism,
penance, the use of pulpits and the kissing of hands; prescribes monogamy;
condemns cruelty to animals, idleness and sloth, backbiting and calumny;
censures divorce; interdicts gambling, the use of opium, wine and other
intoxicating drinks; specifies the punishments for murder, arson, adultery
and theft; stresses the importance of marriage and lays down its essential
conditions; imposes the obligation of engaging in some trade or
profession, exalting such occupation to the rank of worship; emphasizes
the necessity of providing the means for the education of children; and
lays upon every person the duty of writing a testament and of strict
obedience to one's government.
Apart from these provisions Baha'u'llah exhorts His followers to consort,
with amity and concord and without discrimination, with the adherents of
all religions; warns them to guard against fanaticism, sedition, pride,
dispute and contention; inculcates upon them immaculate cleanliness,
strict truthfulness, spotless chastity, trustworthiness; hospitality,
fidelity, courtesy, forbearance, justice and fairness; counsels them to be
"even as the fingers of one hand and the limbs of one body"; calls upon
them to arise and serve His Cause; and assures them of His undoubted aid.
He, furthermore, dwells upon the instability of human affairs; declares
that true liberty consists in man's submission to His commandments;
cautions them not to be indulgent in carrying out His statutes; prescribes
the twin inseparable duties of recognizing the "Dayspring of God's
Revelation" and of observing all the ordinances revealed by Him, neither
of which, He affirms, is acceptable without the other.
The significant summons issued to the Presidents of the Republics of the
American continent to seize their opportunity in the Day of God and to
champion the cause of justice; the injunction to the members of
parliaments throughout the world, urging the adoption of a universal
script and language; His warnings to William I, the conqueror of Napoleon
III; the reproof He administers to Francis Joseph, the Emperor of Austria;
His reference to "the lamentations of Berlin" in His apostrophe to "the
banks of the Rhine"; His condemnation of "the throne of tyranny"
established in Constantinople, and His prediction of the extinction of its
"outward splendor" and of the tribulations destined to overtake its
inhabitants; the words of cheer and comfort He addresses to His native
city, assuring her that God had chosen her to be "the source of the joy of
all mankind"; His prophecy that "the voice of the heroes of _Kh_urasan"
will be raised in glorification of their Lord; His assertion that men
"endued with mighty valor" will be raised up in Kirman who will make
mention of Him; and finally, His magnanimous assurance to a perfidious
brother who had afflicted Him with such anguish, that an "ever-forgiving,
all-bounteous" God would forgive him his iniquities were he only to
repent--all these further enrich the contents of a Book designated by its
Author as "the source of true felicity," as the "Unerring Balance," as the
"Straight Path" and as the "quickener of mankind."
The laws and ordinances that constitute the major theme of this Book,
Baha'u'llah, moreover, has specifically characterized as "the breath of
life unto all created things," as "the mightiest stronghold," as the
"fruits" of His "Tree," as "the highest means for the maintenance of order
in the world and the security of its peoples," as "the lamps of His wisdom
and loving-providence," as "the sweet smelling savor of His garment," as
the "keys" of His "mercy" to His creatures. "This Book," He Himself
testifies, "is a heaven which We have adorned with the stars of Our
commandments and prohibitions." "Blessed the man," He, moreover, has
stated, "who will read it, and ponder the verses sent down in it by God,
the Lord of Power, the Almighty. Say, O men! Take hold of it with the hand
of resignation... By My life! It hath been sent down in a manner that
amazeth the minds of men. Verily, it is My weightiest testimony unto all
people, and the proof of the All-Merciful unto all who are in heaven and
all who are on earth." And again: "Blessed the palate that savoreth its
sweetness, and the perceiving eye that recognizeth that which is treasured
therein, and the understanding heart that comprehendeth its allusions and
mysteries. By God! Such is the majesty of what hath been revealed therein,
and so tremendous the revelation of its veiled allusions that the loins of
utterance shake when attempting their description." And finally: "In such
a manner hath the Kitab-i-Aqdas been revealed that it attracteth and
embraceth all the divinely appointed Dispensations. Blessed those who
peruse it! Blessed those who apprehend it! Blessed those who meditate upon
it! Blessed those who ponder its meaning! So vast is its range that it
hath encompassed all men ere their recognition of it. Erelong will its
sovereign power, its pervasive influence and the greatness of its might be
manifested on earth."
The formulation by Baha'u'llah, in His Kitab-i-Aqdas, of the fundamental
laws of His Dispensation was followed, as His Mission drew to a close, by
the enunciation of certain precepts and principles which lie at the very
core of His Faith, by the reaffirmation of truths He had previously
proclaimed, by the elaboration and elucidation of some of the laws He had
already laid down, by the revelation of further prophecies and warnings,
and by the establishment of subsidiary ordinances designed to supplement
the provisions of His Most Holy Book. These were recorded in unnumbered
Tablets, which He continued to reveal until the last days of His earthly
life, among which the "I_sh_raqat" (Splendors), the "Bi_sh_arat" (Glad
Tidings), the "Tarazat" (Ornaments), the "Tajalliyat" (Effulgences), the
"Kalimat-i-Firdawsiyyih" (Words of Paradise), the "Lawh-i-Aqdas" (Most
Holy Tablet), the "Lawh-i-Dunya" (Tablet of the World), the
"Lawh-i-Maqsud" (Tablet of Maqsud), are the most noteworthy. These
Tablets--mighty and final effusions of His indefatigable pen--must rank
among the choicest fruits which His mind has yielded, and mark the
consummation of His forty-year-long ministry.
Of the principles enshrined in these Tablets the most vital of them all is
the principle of the oneness and wholeness of the human race, which may
well be regarded as the hall-mark of Baha'u'llah's Revelation and the
pivot of His teachings. Of such cardinal importance is this principle of
unity that it is expressly referred to in the Book of His Covenant, and He
unreservedly proclaims it as the central purpose of His Faith. "We,
verily," He declares, "have come to unite and weld together all that dwell
on earth." "So potent is the light of unity," He further states, "that it
can illuminate the whole earth." "At one time," He has written with
reference to this central theme of His Revelation, "We spoke in the
language of the lawgiver; at another in that of the truth seeker and the
mystic, and yet Our supreme purpose and highest wish hath always been to
disclose the glory and sublimity of this station." Unity, He states, is
the goal that "excelleth every goal" and an aspiration which is "the
monarch of all aspirations." "The world," He proclaims, "is but one
country, and mankind its citizens." He further affirms that the
unification of mankind, the last stage in the evolution of humanity
towards maturity is inevitable, that "soon will the present day order be
rolled up, and a new one spread out in its stead," that "the whole earth
is now in a state of pregnancy," that "the day is approaching when it will
have yielded its noblest fruits, when from it will have sprung forth the
loftiest trees, the most enchanting blossoms, the most heavenly
blessings." He deplores the defectiveness of the prevailing order, exposes
the inadequacy of patriotism as a directing and controlling force in human
society, and regards the "love of mankind" and service to its interests as
the worthiest and most laudable objects of human endeavor. He, moreover,
laments that "the vitality of men's belief in God is dying out in every
land," that the "face of the world" is turned towards "waywardness and
unbelief"; proclaims religion to be "a radiant light and an impregnable
stronghold for the protection and welfare of the peoples of the world" and
"the chief instrument for the establishment of order in the world";
affirms its fundamental purpose to be the promotion of union and concord
amongst men; warns lest it be made "a source of dissension, of discord and
hatred"; commands that its principles be taught to children in the schools
of the world, in a manner that would not be productive of either prejudice
or fanaticism; attributes "the waywardness of the ungodly" to the "decline
of religion"; and predicts "convulsions" of such severity as to "cause the
limbs of mankind to quake."
The principle of collective security He unreservedly urges; recommends the
reduction in national armaments; and proclaims as necessary and inevitable
the convening of a world gathering at which the kings and rulers of the
world will deliberate for the establishment of peace among the nations.
Justice He extols as "the light of men" and their "guardian," as "the
revealer of the secrets of the world of being, and the standard-bearer of
love and bounty"; declares its radiance to be incomparable; affirms that
upon it must depend "the organization of the world and the tranquillity of
mankind." He characterizes its "two pillars"--"reward and punishment"--as
"the sources of life" to the human race; warns the peoples of the world to
bestir themselves in anticipation of its advent; and prophesies that,
after an interval of great turmoil and grievous injustice, its day-star
will shine in its full splendor and glory.
He, furthermore, inculcates the principle of "moderation in all things";
declares that whatsoever, be it "Liberty, civilization and the like,"
"passeth beyond the limits of moderation" must "exercise a pernicious
influence upon men"; observes that western civilization has gravely
perturbed and alarmed the peoples of the world; and predicts that the day
is approaching when the "flame" of a civilization "carried to excess"
"will devour the cities."
Consultation He establishes as one of the fundamental principles of His
Faith; describes it as "the lamp of guidance," as "the bestower of
understanding," and as one of the two "luminaries" of the "heaven of
Divine wisdom." Knowledge, He states, is "as wings to man's life and a
ladder for his ascent"; its acquisition He regards as "incumbent upon
every one"; considers "arts, crafts and sciences" to be conducive to the
exaltation of the world of being; commends the wealth acquired through
crafts and professions; acknowledges the indebtedness of the peoples of
the world to scientists and craftsmen; and discourages the study of such
sciences as are unprofitable to men, and "begin with words and end with
words."
The injunction to "consort with all men in a spirit of friendliness and
fellowship" He further emphasizes, and recognizes such association to be
conducive to "union and concord," which, He affirms, are the establishers
of order in the world and the quickeners of nations. The necessity of
adopting a universal tongue and script He repeatedly stresses; deplores
the waste of time involved in the study of divers languages; affirms that
with the adoption of such a language and script the whole earth will be
considered as "one city and one land"; and claims to be possessed of the
knowledge of both, and ready to impart it to any one who might seek it
from Him.
To the trustees of the House of Justice He assigns the duty of legislating
on matters not expressly provided in His writings, and promises that God
will "inspire them with whatsoever He willeth." The establishment of a
constitutional form of government, in which the ideals of republicanism
and the majesty of kingship, characterized by Him as "one of the signs of
God," are combined, He recommends as a meritorious achievement; urges that
special regard be paid to the interests of agriculture; and makes specific
reference to "the swiftly appearing newspapers," describes them as "the
mirror of the world" and as "an amazing and potent phenomenon," and
prescribes to all who are responsible for their production the duty to be
sanctified from malice, passion and prejudice, to be just and fair-minded,
to be painstaking in their inquiries, and ascertain all the facts in every
situation.
The doctrine of the Most Great Infallibility He further elaborates; the
obligation laid on His followers to "behave towards the government of the
country in which they reside with loyalty, honesty and truthfulness," He
reaffirms; the ban imposed upon the waging of holy war and the destruction
of books He reemphasizes; and He singles out for special praise men of
learning and wisdom, whom He extols as "eyes" to the body of mankind, and
as the "greatest gifts" conferred upon the world.
Nor should a review of the outstanding features of Baha'u'llah's writings
during the latter part of His banishment to Akka fail to include a
reference to the Lawh-i-Hikmat (Tablet of Wisdom), in which He sets forth
the fundamentals of true philosophy, or to the Tablet of Visitation
revealed in honor of the Imam Husayn, whose praises He celebrates in
glowing language; or to the "Questions and Answers" which elucidates the
laws and ordinances of the Kitab-i-Aqdas; or to the "Lawh-i-Burhan"
(Tablet of the Proof) in which the acts perpetrated by _Sh_ay_kh_
Muhammad-Baqir, surnamed "_Dh_i'b" (Wolf), and Mir Muhammad-Husayn, the
Imam-Jum'ih of Isfahan, surnamed "Raq_sh_a" (She-Serpent), are severely
condemned; or to the Lawh-i-Karmil (Tablet of Carmel) in which the Author
significantly makes mention of "the City of God that hath descended from
heaven," and prophesies that "erelong will God sail His Ark" upon that
mountain, and "will manifest the people of Baha." Finally, mention must be
made of His Epistle to _Sh_ay_kh_ Muhammad-Taqi, surnamed "Ibn-i-_Dh_i'b"
(Son of the Wolf), the last outstanding Tablet revealed by the pen of
Baha'u'llah, in which He calls upon that rapacious priest to repent of his
acts, quotes some of the most characteristic and celebrated passages of
His own writings, and adduces proofs establishing the validity of His
Cause.
With this book, revealed about one year prior to His ascension, the
prodigious achievement as author of a hundred volumes, repositories of the
priceless pearls of His Revelation, may be said to have practically
terminated--volumes replete with unnumbered exhortations, revolutionizing
principles, world-shaping laws and ordinances, dire warnings and
portentous prophecies, with soul-uplifting prayers and meditations,
illuminating commentaries and interpretations, impassioned discourses and
homilies, all interspersed with either addresses or references to kings,
to emperors and to ministers, of both the East and the West, to
ecclesiastics of divers denominations, and to leaders in the intellectual,
political, literary, mystical, commercial and humanitarian spheres of
human activity.
"We, verily," wrote Baha'u'llah, surveying, in the evening of His life,
from His Most Great Prison, the entire range of this vast and weighty
Revelation, "have not fallen short of Our duty to exhort men, and to
deliver that whereunto I was bidden by God, the Almighty, the
All-Praised." "Is there any excuse," He further has stated, "left for any
one in this Revelation? No, by God, the Lord of the Mighty Throne! My
signs have encompassed the earth, and my power enveloped all mankind."