God Passes By Part 10

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 const.i.tute the outstanding features of this convulsive period in its development. The pilgrimages that had been initiated in Adrianople, and which later a.s.sumed 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 p.r.o.nounced 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, ?aji Mirza Ri?a-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 ?asan, 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 ill.u.s.trious "Badi" (Wonderful); converted to the Faith by Nabil; surnamed the "Pride of Martyrs"; the seventeen-year old bearer of the Tablet addressed to Na?iri'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 b.u.t.t 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 ?ihran and deliver it into the hands of the sovereign. A four months' journey had taken him to that city, and, after pa.s.sing 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 ?ihran 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 Amba.s.sador in Constantinople, in the hope that its perusal by the Sul?an's ministers might serve to further inflame their animosity. For a s.p.a.ce 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 Mu?ammad-?asan _Kh_an-i-Ka_sh_i was so mercilessly bastinadoed in Burujird that he succ.u.mbed 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-Mu?ammad 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, ?aji '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 mult.i.tude of insulting onlookers, who, after dragging his body ignominiously through the bazaars, left it at the morgue to be claimed by his relatives.

In I?fahan Mulla Kazim was beheaded by order of _Sh_ay_kh_ Mu?ammad-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 Mu?ammad-?asan and Mirza Mu?ammad-?usayn, the "twin shining lights," respectively surnamed "Sul?anu'_sh_-_Sh_uhuda" (King of Martyrs) and "Ma?bubu'_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 Mu?ammad-?usayn, 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 encompa.s.sing 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_ Mu?ammad-Baqir, denounced by Baha'u'llah as the "wolf,"

p.r.o.nounced their death-sentence; the Zillu's-Sul?an 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 pa.s.sing and to extol their virtues.

Mulla 'Ali Jan was conducted on foot from Mazindaran to ?ihran, 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 I?fahan, his corpse trampled under foot by _Sh_ay_kh_ Mu?ammad 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 Ma?mud Mirza, the Jalulu'l-Dawlih, the governor, a son of Zillu's-Sul?an, seven were done to death in a single day in horrible circ.u.mstances. The first of these, a twenty-seven year old youth, 'Ali-A?_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 Mu?ammad-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-A?_gh_ar and Mu?ammad-?asan. 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 Mu?ammad-?asan 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 a.s.saults 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 a.s.sault the seventy-year old ?aji Mu?ammad-Ri?ay-i-I?fahani, 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 Na?iri'd-Din _Sh_ah, nor the 'ulamas of ?ihran, 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 Na?iri'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 inst.i.tutions.

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 cla.s.ses de la population et parmi tous les religionnaires de la Perse, sauf les Nusayris et les Chretiens; mais ce sont surtout les cla.s.ses 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 ?ihran 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 pa.s.se 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 t.i.tres. Il permet d'a.s.sister 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 Ya?ya, 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 n.o.bles 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 Mu?ammadanism 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, surpa.s.sed the outpourings of His pen in either Adrianople or Ba_gh_dad. More remarkable than the radical transformation in the circ.u.mstances 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 ?ihran, 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 const.i.tute 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 a.s.signed 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 ma.s.s 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 G.o.d'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 n.o.blest pa.s.sages of His Most Holy Book. In these pa.s.sages 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 "va.s.sals" 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 a.s.serts 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 pa.s.s" from his hands, and that "commotions shall seize all the people in that land," unless he arises to help the Cause of G.o.d and follow Him Who is His Spirit.

In memorable pa.s.sages 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 G.o.d, 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 G.o.d"; 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 G.o.d"; warns him to beware lest his sovereignty withhold him from "Him Who is the Supreme Sovereign"; acknowledges the aid extended by his Amba.s.sador in ?ihran; and cautions him not to forfeit the station ordained for him by G.o.d.

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; a.s.serts that "all that hath been mentioned in the Gospel hath been fulfilled"; a.s.sures her that G.o.d 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 pa.s.sage 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 G.o.d 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 pa.s.sage 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 G.o.d 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 Sul?an of Turkey He addressed, shortly after His arrival in Akka, a second Tablet, in which He reprimands him for his cruelty "that hath made h.e.l.l 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 fort.i.tude and detachment; predicts that G.o.d'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 Law?-i-Fu'ad, in the course of His reference to the premature death of the Sul?an'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 (Sul?an '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 pa.s.sages of His Kitab-i-Aqdas and other Tablets He bids the entire company of these ecclesiastical leaders to "fear G.o.d," to "rein in"

their pens, "fling away idle fancies and imaginings, and turn then towards the Horizon of Cert.i.tude"; warns them to "weigh not the Book of G.o.d (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; a.s.serts His superiority in vision, insight, utterance and wisdom; proclaims His innate and G.o.d-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 G.o.d," 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 G.o.d'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 G.o.d" and not to follow "the vain imaginings of the superst.i.tious"; and directs them to lay aside the things they possess and "take fast hold of the Tablet of G.o.d 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 G.o.d, and hath arisen from amongst the dead in this perspicuous Name." In pa.s.sages addressed to its bishops He proclaims that "the Everlasting Father calleth aloud between earth and heaven," p.r.o.nounces 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"; a.s.sures 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 pa.s.sages 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 pa.s.sages 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 G.o.d; announces the conjunction of the river Jordan with the "Most Great Ocean"; a.s.serts 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 a.s.sures 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 pa.s.sages 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 a.s.serts 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 abas.e.m.e.nt," and that they shall behold the punishment which will be inflicted upon them, "as decreed by G.o.d, 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 G.o.d, 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 pa.s.sages 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 a.s.serts 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 amba.s.sadors; 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 const.i.tute 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 princ.i.p.al repository of that Law which the Prophet Isaiah had antic.i.p.ated, and which the writer of the Apocalypse had described as the "new heaven" and the "new earth," as "the Tabernacle of G.o.d," as the "Holy City," as the "Bride," the "New Jerusalem coming down from G.o.d," 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 encompa.s.sed 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 inst.i.tutions 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 G.o.d, 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 inst.i.tutions 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"; p.r.o.nounces them to be His va.s.sals; 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 G.o.d" 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 inst.i.tution of the "House of Justice," defines its functions, fixes its revenues, and designates its members as the "Men of Justice," the "Deputies of G.o.d," 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; antic.i.p.ates by implication the inst.i.tution of Guardianship; bears witness to the revolutionizing effect of His World Order; enunciates the doctrine of the "Most Great Infallibility" of the Manifestation of G.o.d; a.s.serts 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; inst.i.tutes the ?uququ'llah (Right of G.o.d); formulates the law of inheritance; ordains the inst.i.tution of the Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar; establishes the Nineteen Day Feasts, the Baha'i festivals and the Intercalary Days; abolishes the inst.i.tution 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 chast.i.ty, 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 a.s.sures 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 G.o.d'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 G.o.d 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, a.s.suring her that G.o.d 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 a.s.sertion that men "endued with mighty valor" will be raised up in Kirman who will make mention of Him; and finally, His magnanimous a.s.surance to a perfidious brother who had afflicted Him with such anguish, that an "ever-forgiving, all-bounteous" G.o.d 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 const.i.tute 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 G.o.d, 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 G.o.d! 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 encompa.s.sed 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 "Law?-i-Aqdas" (Most Holy Tablet), the "Law?-i-Dunya" (Tablet of the World), the "Law?-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.