The writings which have been quoted in the foregoing were revealed, for
the most part, in conditions of renewed persecution. Soon after the
exiles' arrival in Constantinople, it became apparent that the honors
showered upon Baha'u'llah during His journey from Baghdad had represented
only a brief interlude. The Ottoman authorities' decision to move the
"Babi" leader and His companions to the capital of the empire rather than
to some remote province deepened the alarm among the representatives of
the Persian government.(68) Fearing that the developments in Baghdad would
be repeated, and might attract this time not only the sympathy but perhaps
even the allegiance of influential figures in the Turkish government, the
Persian ambassador pressed insistently for the dispatch of the exiles to
some more distant part of the empire. His argument was that the spread of
a new religious message in the capital could produce political as well as
religious repercussions.
Initially, the Ottoman government strongly resisted. The chief minister,
'Ali Pa_sh_a, had indicated to Western diplomats his belief that
Baha'u'llah was "a man of great distinction, exemplary conduct, great
moderation, and a most dignified figure." His teachings were, in the
minister's opinion, "worthy of high esteem" because they counteracted the
religious animosities dividing the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim subjects
of the empire.(69)
Gradually, however, a degree of resentment and suspicion developed. In the
Ottoman capital, political and economic power was in the hands of court
functionaries who, with but few exceptions, were persons of little or no
competence. Venality was the oil on which the machinery of government
operated, and the capital was a magnet for a horde of people who flocked
there from every part of the empire and beyond, seeking favors and
influence. It was expected that any prominent figure from another country
or from one of the tribute territories would, immediately upon arrival in
Constantinople, join the throngs of patronage-seekers in the reception
rooms of the pashas and ministers of the imperial court. No element had a
worse reputation than the competing groups of Persian political exiles who
were known for both their sophistication and their lack of scruple.
To the distress of friends who urged Him to make use of the prevailing
hostility toward the Persian government and of the sympathy which His own
sufferings had aroused, Baha'u'llah made it clear that He had no requests
to make. Although several government ministers made social calls at the
residence assigned to Him, he did not take advantage of these openings. He
was in Constantinople, He said, as the guest of the Sultan, at his
invitation, and His interest lay in spiritual and moral concerns.
Many years later, the Persian ambassador, Mirza Husayn _Kh_an, reflecting
on his tour of duty in the Ottoman capital, and complaining about the
damage which the greed and untrustworthiness of his countrymen had done to
Persia's reputation in Constantinople, paid a surprisingly candid tribute
to the example which Baha'u'llah's conduct had been able briefly to
set.(70) At the time, however, he and his colleagues made use of the
situation to represent it as an astute way on the exile's part of
concealing secret conspiracies against public security and the religion of
the State. Under pressure of these influences, the Ottoman authorities
finally took the decision to transfer Baha'u'llah and His family to the
provincial city of Adrianople. The move was made hastily, in the depth of
an extremely severe winter. Housed there in inadequate buildings, lacking
suitable clothing and other provisions, the exiles endured a year of great
suffering. It was clear that, though charged with no crime and given no
opportunity to defend themselves, they had arbitrarily been made state
prisoners.
From the point of view of religious history, the successive banishments of
Baha'u'llah to Constantinople and Adrianople have a striking symbolism.
For the first time, a Manifestation of God, Founder of an independent
religious system which was soon to spread throughout the planet, had
crossed the narrow neck of water separating Asia from Europe, and had set
foot in "the West." All of the other great religions had arisen in Asia
and the ministries of their Founders had been confined to that continent.
Referring to the fact that the dispensations of the past, and particularly
those of Abraham, Christ, and Muhammad, had produced their most important
effects on the development of civilization during the course of their
westward expansion, Baha'u'llah predicted that the same thing would occur
in this new age, but on a vastly larger scale: "In the East the Light of
His Revelation hath broken; in the West the signs of His dominion have
appeared. Ponder this in your hearts, O people..."(71)
It is then perhaps not surprising that Baha'u'llah chose this moment to
make public the mission which had been slowly enlisting the allegiance of
the followers of the Bab throughout the Middle East. His announcement took
the form of a series of statements which are among the most remarkable
documents in religious history. In them, the Manifestation of God
addresses the "Kings and Rulers of the world," announcing to them the
dawning of the Day of God, alluding to the as yet inconceivable changes
which were gathering momentum throughout the world, and calling on them as
the trustees of God and of their fellow human beings to arise and serve
the process of the unification of the human race. Because of the
veneration in which they were held by the mass of their subjects, and
because of the absolute nature of the rule which most of them exercised,
it lay in their power, He said, to assist in bringing about what He called
the "Most Great Peace," a world order characterized by unity and animated
by Divine justice.
Only with the greatest difficulty can the modern reader envision the moral
and intellectual world in which these monarchs of a century ago lived.
From their biographies and private correspondence, it is apparent that,
with few exceptions, they were personally devout, taking a leading part in
the spiritual life of their respective nations, often as the heads of the
state religions, and convinced of the unerring truths of the Bible or the
Qur'an. The power which most of them wielded they attributed directly to
the divine authority of passages in these same Scriptures, an authority
about which they were vigorously articulate. They were the anointed of
God. Prophecies of "the Latter Days" and "the Kingdom of God" were not for
them myth or allegory, but certainties upon which all moral order rested
and in which they would themselves be called on by God to give an account
of their stewardship.
The letters of Baha'u'llah address themselves to this mental world:
O Kings of the earth! He Who is the sovereign Lord of all is come. The
Kingdom is God's, the omnipotent Protector, the Self-Subsisting.... This
is a Revelation to which whatever ye possess can never be compared, could
ye but know it.
Take heed lest pride deter you from recognizing the Source of Revelation,
lest the things of this world shut you out as by a veil from Him Who is
the Creator of heaven.... By the righteousness of God! It is not Our wish
to lay hands on your kingdoms. Our mission is to seize and possess the
hearts of men....(72)
Know ye that the poor are the trust of God in your midst. Watch that ye
betray not His trust, that ye deal not unjustly with them and that ye walk
not in the ways of the treacherous. Ye will most certainly be called upon
to answer for His trust on the day when the Balance of Justice shall be
set, the day when unto every one shall be rendered his due, when the
doings of all men, be they rich or poor, shall be weighed.
...
Examine Our Cause, inquire into the things that have befallen Us, and
decide justly between Us and Our enemies, and be ye of them that act
equitably towards their neighbor. If ye stay not the hand of the
oppressor, if ye fail to safeguard the rights of the downtrodden, what
right have ye then to vaunt yourselves among men?(73)
If ye pay no heed unto the counsels which ... We have revealed in this
Tablet, Divine chastisement shall assail you from every direction, and the
sentence of His justice shall be pronounced against you. On that day ye
shall have no power to resist Him, and shall recognize your own
impotence....(74)
The vision of the "Most Great Peace" evoked no response from the rulers of
the nineteenth century. Nationalistic aggrandizement and imperial
expansion recruited not only kings but parliamentarians, academics,
artists, newspapers, and the major religious establishments as eager
propagandists of Western triumphalism. Proposals for social change,
however disinterested and idealistic, quickly fell captive to a swarm of
new ideologies thrown up by the rising tide of dogmatic materialism. In
the Orient, mesmerized by its own claims to represent all that humanity
ever could or would know of God and truth, the Islamic world sank steadily
deeper into ignorance, lethargy, and a sullen hostility to a human race
which failed to acknowledge this spiritual preeminence.