Chapter XXVI: Attempt on the Shah's Life, and Its Consequences
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Chapter XXVI: Attempt on the Shah's Life, and Its Consequences
CHAPTER XXVI
ATTEMPT ON THE &SHAH'S LIFE, AND
ITS CONSEQUENCES
THE eighth &Naw-Ruz after the Declaration of the &Bab, which fell on the twenty-seventh day of the month of &Jamadiyu'l-Avval, in the year 1268 A.H.,+F1 found &Baha'u'llah still in &Iraq, engaged in spreading the teachings, and making firm the foundations, of the New Revelation. Displaying an enthusiasm and ability that recalled His activities in the early days of the Movement in &Nur and &Mazindaran, He continued to devote Himself to the task of reviving the energies, of organising the forces, and of directing the efforts, of the &Bab's scattered companions. He was the sole light amidst the darkness that encompassed the bewildered disciples who had witnessed, on the one hand, the cruel martyrdom of their beloved Leader and, on the other, the tragic fate of their companions. He alone was able to inspire them with the needful courage and fortitude to endure the many afflictions that had been heaped upon them; He alone was capable of preparing them for the burden of the task they were destined to bear, and of inuring them to brave the storm and perils they were soon to face.
In the course of the spring of that year, &Mirza &Taqi &Khan, the &Amir-Nizam, the Grand &Vazir of &Nasiri'd-Din &Shah, who had been guilty of such infamous outrages against the &Bab an His companions, met his death in a public bath in &Fin, near &Kashan,+F2 having miserably failed to stay the +F1 1852 A.D. +F2 "About four miles to the southwest of &Kashan, on the slopes of the +F2 mountains, is situated the palace of &Fin, the springs of which have +F2 rendered it a favourite resort of royalty from early times.... In later +F2 times, a gloomier memory has attached to the palace of &Fin; for here, in +F2 1852, &Mirza &Taqi &Khan, the first great minister of the reigning &Shah, +F2 and brother-in-law of the king, was put to death by the Royal order, his +F2 veins being opened in a bath. The place is now deserted." (Lord Curzon's +F2 "Persia and the Persian Question," vol. 2, p.16.) "A lady of the harem was +F2 sent to the Princess, telling her to dry her tears, for that the &Shah had +F2 relented, and that the &Amir was to return to &Tihran or go to &Karbila, +F2 the usual haven for Persians who have lost court favour. `The &khal'at or +F2 coat of honour,' said she, "is on the way, and will arrive in an hour or +F2 two; go therefore, to the bath, and prepare to receive it.' The &Amir all +F2 this time had not once ventured to quit the safety afforded by the +F2 apartment of the Princess, and of her presence. On hearing the joyful +F2 news, however, he resolved to take the advice of this woman, and indulge in +F2 the luxury of a bath. He left the Princess, and she never saw him more. +F2 When he reached the bath the fatal order was revealed to him, and the crime +F2 perpetrated. The &farrash-bashi and his vile crew presented themselves, +F2 and the choice of the mode of death was given to him. It is said he bore +F2 his fate with patience and fortitude. His veins were opened, and he at +F2 length expired." (Lady Sheil's "Glimpses of Life and Manners in Persia," +F2 pp. 251-2.) +P596 onrush of the Faith he had striven so desperately to crush. His own fame and honour were destined eventually to perish with his death, and not the influence of the life he had sought to extinguish. During the three years when he held the post of Grand &Vazir of Persia, his ministry was stained with deeds of blackest infamy. What atrocities did not his hands commit as they were stretched forth to tear down the fabric the &Bab had raised! To what treacherous measures did he not resort, in his impotent rage, in order to sap the vitality of a Cause which he feared and hated! The first year of his administration was marked by the ferocious onslaught of the imperial army of &Nasiri'd-Din &Shah against the defenders of the fort of &Tabarsi. With what ruthlessness he conducted the campaign of repression against those innocent upholders of the Faith of God! What fury and eloquence he displayed in pleading for the extermination of the lives of &Quddus, of &Mulla &Husayn, and of three hundred and thirteen of the best and noblest of his countrymen! The second year of his ministry found him battling with savage determination to extirpate the Faith in the capital. It was he who authorised and encouraged the capture of the believers who resided in that city, and who ordered the execution of the Seven Martyrs of &Tihran. It was he who unchained the offensive against &Vahid and his companions, who inspired that campaign of revenge which animated their persecutors, and who instigated them to commit the abominations with which that episode will for ever remain associated. That same year witnessed another blow more terrible than any he had hitherto dealt that persecuted community, a blow that brought to a tragic end the life of Him who was the Source of all the forces he had in vain sought to repress. The last years of that &Vazir's life will for ever remain associated with the most revolting of the vast campaigns which his ingenious mind had devised, +P597 [Illustrations: VILLAGE OF &AFCHIH, NEAR &TIHRAN. THE HOUSE OF &BAHA'U'LLAH IS SEEN THROUGH THE TREES (LEFT REAR); &BAHA'U'LLAH'S HOUSE IN &AFCHIH, NEAR &TIHRAN] +P598 a campaign that involved the destruction of the lives of &Hujjat and of no less than eighteen hundred of his companions. Such were the distinguishing features of a career that began and ended in a reign of terror such as Persia had seldom seen.
He was succeeded by &Mirza &Aqa &Khan-i-Nuri,+F1 who endeavoured, at the very outset of his ministry, to effect a reconciliation between the government of which he was the head and &Baha'u'llah, whom he regarded as the most capable of the &Bab's disciples. He sent Him a warm letter requesting Him to return to &Tihran, and expressing his eagerness to meet Him. Ere the receipt of that letter, &Baha'u'llah had already decided to leave &Iraq for Persia.
He arrived in the capital in the month of Rajab,+F2 and was welcomed by the Grand &Vazir's brother, &Ja'far-Quli &Khan, who had been specially directed to go forth to receive Him. For one whole month, He was the honoured Guest of +F1 His title was the &I'timadu'd-Dawlih, the Trusted of the State. (Lady +F1 Sheil's "Glimpses of Life and Manners in Persia," p. 249.) +F2 April 21-May 21, 1852 A.D. +P599 the Grand &Vazir, who had appointed his brother to act as host on his behalf. So great was the number of the notables and dignitaries of the capital who flocked to meet Him that He found Himself unable to return to His own home. He remained in that house until His departure for &Shimiran.+F1
I have heard it stated by &Aqay-i-Kalim that in the course of that journey &Baha'u'llah was able to meet &Azim, who had been endeavouring for a long time to see Him, and who in that interview was advised, in the most emphatic terms, to abandon the plan he had conceived. &Baha'u'llah condemned his designs, dissociated Himself entirely from the act it was his intention to commit, and warned him that such an attempt would precipitate fresh disasters of unprecedented magnitude. &Baha'u'llah proceeded to &Lavasan, and was staying in the village of &Afchih, the property of the Grand &Vazir, when the news of the attempt on the life of &Nasiri'd-Din &Shah reached Him. &Ja'far-Quli &Khan was still acting as His host on behalf of the &Amir-Nizam. That criminal act was committed towards the end of the month of &Shavval, in the year 1268 A.H.,+F2 by two obscure and irresponsible young men, one named &Sadiq-i-Tabrizi, the other &Fathu'llah-i-Qumi, both of whom earned their livelihood in &Tihran. At a time when the imperial army, headed by the &Shah himself, had encamped in &Shimiran, these two ignorant youths, in a frenzy of despair, arose to avenge the blood of their slaughtered brethren.+F3 +F1 "&Shimiran or &Shimran (sometimes used in the plural, &Shimranat) is the +F1 name applied generally to the villages and mansions situated on the lower +F1 slopes descending from Elburz which serve as summer residences to the +F1 wealthier inhabitants of &Tihran." ("Traveller's Narrative," p. 81, +F1 footnote 1.) +F2 &Shavval 28; August 15, 1852 A.D. +F3 "In the morning, the king went out for a horseback ride. Before him, as +F3 usual, went equerries carrying long lances, grooms leading horses with +F3 embroidered saddle cloths, and a group of nomad riders with their rifles +F3 slung over the shoulder and their swords hanging from their saddles. This +F3 vanguard preceded the king in order that he might not be annoyed by the +F3 dust raised by the cavalry, and the king followed along slowly, a little +F3 distance from the retinue of the great lords, chiefs and officers who +F3 accompanied him everywhere. He was near the palace and had barely passed +F3 the small door of the garden of &Muhammad-Hasan, Sanduq-dar or treasurer of +F3 the Savings, when he noticed, at the side of the road, three men, three +F3 gardeners, standing two on the left, and one on the right side, seemingly +F3 waiting for him. He did not suspect danger and rode on. When quite close, +F3 he saw them bow very low and he heard them cry out together, `We are your +F3 sacrifice! We make a request.' This is the traditional formula, but +F3 instead of remaining aloof as is customary, they rushed on him repeating, +F3 `We make a request!' Surprised, the king shouted, `Rascals, what do you +F3 want?' At that moment, the man on his right took hold of the bridle of +F3 the horse and fired upon the king. In the meantime, the two men on the +F3 left fired also. One of the shots cut the collar of pearls adorning the +F3 horse's neck, another riddled with buckshot the right arm and back of the +F3 king. Immediately, the man on the right pulled on the leg of His Majesty +F3 and would have unsaddled him, had it not been that the two assassins on the +F3 left were pulling on the other side. The king was striking his assailants +F3 on the head with his fists, while the jumping of the frightened horse +F3 paralyzed their efforts and delayed their aggression. The royal retinue, +F3 at first dumbfounded, hurried towards their master. &Asadu'llah &Khan, the +F3 grand equerry, and one of the nomad riders killed the man on the right with +F3 their swords. In the meantime, several lords threw down the other two men +F3 and bound them. +F3 "Doctor Cloquet, the court physician, had the king brought quickly into +F3 the garden of &Muhammad-Hasan, &Sanduq-dar; as no one seemed to know what +F3 had really happened, and those who sensed an imminent danger, had no idea +F3 of what a catastrophe it might be. During more than an hour, a great +F3 tumult reigned in the city of &Niyavaran, while ministers headed by the +F3 &Sadr-i-A'zam rushed into the garden. The bugles, the drums, the +F3 tambourines and the fifes were calling the troops together; the &ghulams +F3 came riding at full speed; everyone was giving orders, no one saw, heard or +F3 knew anything. In the midst of this confusion a courier arrived from +F3 &Tihran, sent by &Ardishir &Mirza, governor of the city, to enquire what +F3 had happened and what measures should be taken in the capital, for, on the +F3 previous evening, the rumor had grown into a certainty that the king had +F3 been assassinated. The bazaars, policed by men in arms, had been deserted +F3 by the merchants. All night long, bakeries had been surrounded, everyone +F3 trying to store up provisions for several days, as people do when they +F3 foresee trouble. +F3 "At dawn, as the agitation grew, &Ardishir &Mirza had ordered the gates +F3 of the citadel of the town closed, put the regiment on a war footing, and +F3 pointed his guns, although he did not know who the enemy was; and now he +F3 was asking for orders." (Comte de Gobineau's "Les Religions et les +F3 Philosophies dans l'Asie Centrale," pp. 231-233.) +P600 The folly that characterised their act was betrayed by the fact that in making such an attempt on the life of their sovereign, instead of employing effective weapons which would ensure the success of their venture, these youths charged their pistols with shot which no reasonable person would ever think of using for such a purpose. Had their action been instigated by a man of judgment and common sense, he would certainly never have allowed them to carry out their intention with such ridiculously ineffective instruments.+F1 +F1 Lord Curzon, who regards this event as being "most unfairly mistaken for a +F1 revolutionary and anarchical conspiracy," writes as follows: "From the +F1 facts that &Babism in its earliest years found itself in conflict with the +F1 civil powers, and that an attempt was made by &Babis upon the life of the +F1 &Shah, it has been wrongly inferred that the movement was political in +F1 origin and Nihilist in character. It does not appear from a study of the +F1 writings either of the &Bab or his successors, that there is any foundation +F1 for such a suspicion. The persecution of the government very early drove +F1 the adherents of the new creed into an attitude of rebellion; and in the +F1 exasperation produced by the struggle, and by the ferocious brutality with +F1 which the rights of conquest were exercised by the victors, it was not +F1 surprising if fanatical hands were found ready to strike the sovereign +F1 down. At the present time the &Babis are equally loyal with any other +F1 subjects of the Crown. Nor does there appear to be any greater justice in +F1 the charges of socialism, communism, and immorality, that have so freely +F1 been levelled at the youthful persuasion. Certainly no such idea as +F1 communism in the European sense, i.e., a forcible redistribution of +F1 property, or as socialism in the nineteenth century sense i.e., the defeat +F1 of capital by labour, ever entered the brain of the &Bab or his disciples. +F1 The only communism known to and recommended by him was that of the New +F1 Testament and the early Christian Church, viz the sharing of goods in +F1 common by members of the faith, and the exercise of almsgiving, and an +F1 ample charity. The charge of immorality seems to have arisen partly from +F1 the malignant inventions of opponents, partly from the much greater freedom +F1 claimed for women by the &Bab, which in the Oriental mind is scarcely +F1 dissociable from profligacy of conduct.... Broadly regarded, &Babism may +F1 be defined as a creed of charity, and almost of common humanity. Brotherly +F1 love, kindness to children, courtesy combined with dignity, sociability, +F1 hospitality, freedom from bigotry, friendliness even to Christians, are +F1 included in its tenets. That every &Babi recognises or observes these +F1 precepts would be a foolish assertion; but let a prophet, if his gospel be +F1 in question, be Judged by his own preaching." (Lord Curzon's "Persia and +F1 the Persian Question," pp. 501-2.) +P601
That act, though committed by wild and feeble-minded fanatics, and in spite of its being from the very first emphatically condemned by no less responsible a person than &Baha'u'llah, was the signal for the outbreak of a series of persecutions and massacres of such barbarous ferocity as could be compared only to the atrocities of &Mazindaran and &Zanjan. The storm to which that act gave rise plunged the whole of &Tihran into consternation and distress. It involved the life of the leading companions who had survived the calamities to which their Faith had been so cruelly and repeatedly subjected. That storm was still raging when &Baha'u'llah, with some of His ablest lieutenants, was plunged into a filthy, dark, and fever-stricken dungeon, whilst chains of such weight as only notorious criminals were condemned to carry, were placed upon His neck. For no less than four months He bore the burden, and such was the intensity of His suffering that the marks of that cruelty remained imprinted upon His body all the days of His life.
So grave a menace to their sovereign and to the institutions of his realm stirred the indignation of the entire body of the ecclesiastical order of Persia. To them so bold a deed called for immediate and condign punishment. Measures of unprecedented severity, they clamoured, should be undertaken to stem the tide that was engulfing both the government and the Faith of &Islam. Despite the restraint which the followers of the &Bab had exercised ever since the inception of the Faith in every part of the land; despite the repeated charges of the chief disciples to their brethren enjoining them +P602 to refrain from acts of violence, to obey their government loyally, and to disclaim any intention of a holy war, their enemies persevered in their deliberate efforts to misrepresent the nature and purpose of that Faith to the authorities. Now that an act of such momentous consequences had been committed, what accusations would not these same enemies be prompted to attribute to the Cause with which those guilty of the crime had been associated! The moment seemed to have come when they could at last awaken the rulers of the country to the necessity of extirpating as speedily as possible a heresy which seemed to threaten the very foundations of the State. &Ja'far-Quli &Khan, who was in &Shimiran when the attempt on the &Shah's life was made, immediately wrote a letter to &Baha'u'llah and acquainted Him with what had happened. "The &Shah's mother," he wrote, "is inflamed with anger. She is denouncing you openly before the court and people as the `would-be murderer' of her son. She is also trying to involve &Mirza &Aqa &Khan in this affair, and accuses him of being your accomplice." He urged &Baha'u'llah to remain for a time concealed in that neighbourhood, until the passion of the populace had subsided. He despatched to &Afchih an old and experienced messenger whom he ordered to be at the +P603 disposal of his Guest and to hold himself in readiness to accompany Him to whatever place of safety He might desire. &Baha'u'llah refused to avail Himself of the opportunity &Ja'far-Quli &Khan offered Him. Ignoring the messenger and rejecting his offer, He rode out, the next morning, with calm confidence, from &Lavasan, where He was sojourning, to the headquarters of the imperial army, which was then stationed in &Niyavaran, in the &Shimiran district. Arriving at the village of Zarkandih, the seat of the Russian legation, which lay at a distance of one &maydan+F1 from &Niyavaran, He was met by &Mirza &Majid, His brother-in-law, who acted as secretary to the Russian minister,+F2 and was invited by him to stay at his home, which adjoined that of his superior. The attendants of &Haji &Ali &Khan, the &Hajibu'd-Dawlih, recognised Him and went straightway to inform their master, who in turn brought the matter to the attention of the &Shah.
The news of the arrival of &Baha'u'llah greatly surprised the officers of the imperial army. &Nasiri'd-Din &Shah himself was amazed at the bold and unexpected step which a man who was accused of being the chief instigator of the attempt upon his life had taken. He immediately sent one of his trusted officers to the legation, demanding that the Accused be delivered into his hands. The Russian minister refused, and requested &Baha'u'llah to proceed to the home of &Mirza &Aqa &Khan, the Grand &Vazir, a place he thought to be the most appropriate under the circumstances. His request was granted, whereupon the minister formally communicated to the Grand &Vazir his desire that the utmost care should be exercised to ensure the safety and protection of the Trust his government was delivering into his keeping, warning him that he would hold him responsible should he fail to disregard his wishes.+F3 &Mirza &Aqa &Khan, though he undertook to give the fullest assurances that were required, and received &Baha'u'llah with every mark of respect into his home, was, however, too apprehensive +F1 See Glossary. +F2 Prince Dolgorouki. +F3 "When I was in chains and fetters, in the prison of &Ta, one of thine +F3 ambassadors assisted Me. Therefore hath God decreed unto thee a station +F3 which none but Himself can comprehend. Beware lest thou change this lofty +F3 station." (&Baha'u'llah's Tablet to the Czar of Russia.) +P604 for the safety of his own position to accord his Guest the treatment he was expected to extend.
As &Baha'u'llah was leaving the village of Zarkandih, the minister's daughter, who felt greatly distressed at the dangers which beset His life, was so overcome with emotion that she was unable to restrain her tears. "Of what use," she was heard expostulating with her father, "is the authority with which you have been invested, if you are powerless to extend your protection to a guest whom you have received in your house?" The minister, who had a great affection for his daughter, was moved by the sight of her tears, and sought to comfort her by his assurances that he would do all in his power to avert the danger that threatened the life of &Baha'u'llah.
That day the army of &Nasiri'd-Din &Shah was thrown into a state of violent tumult. The peremptory orders of the sovereign, following so closely upon the attempt on his life, gave rise to the wildest rumours and excited the fiercest passions in the hearts of the people of the, neighbourhood. The agitation spread to &Tihran and fanned into flaming fury the smouldering embers of hatred which the enemies of the Cause still nourished ill their hearts. Confusion, unprecedented in its range, reigned in the capital. A word of denunciation, a sign, or a whisper was sufficient to subject the +P605 innocent to a persecution which no pen dare try to describe. Security of life and property had completely vanished. The highest ecclesiastical authorities in the capital joined hands with the most influential members of the government to deal what they hoped would be the fatal blow to a foe who, for eight years, had so gravely shaken the peace of the land, and whom no cunning or violence had yet been able to silence.+F1 +F1 Renan, in his work entitled "Les Apotres" (p. 378), characterises the great +F1 massacre of &Tihran, following on the attempt made on the life of the +F1 &Shah, as "un jour sans pareil peut-etre dans l'historire du monde." (E. +F1 G. Browne's introduction to "A Traveller's Narrative," p. 45.) "The number +F1 of martyrdoms which have taken place in Persia has been estimated at ten +F1 thousand. [This estimate is conservative. Many place the number at from +F1 twenty to thirty thousand. [This estimate is conservative. Many place the +F1 number at from twenty to thirty thousand, and some even higher.] Most of +F1 these occurred during the early history of the faith, but they have +F1 continued with diminishing frequency, even down to the present time." +F1 (M. H. Phelps' "Life and Teachings of &Abbas Effendi," introduction, p. +F1 36.) "Amongst the documents referring to the &Babis in my possession is a +F1 manuscript copy of an article in German published on October 17, 1852 in +F1 No. 291 of some German or Austrian newspaper of which, unhappily, the name +F1 is not noted. I think that I received it a good many years ago from the +F1 widow of the late Dr. Polak, an Austrian doctor, who was a physician to +F1 &Nasiri'd-Din &Shah at the beginning of his reign, and who is the author of +F1 a valuable book and several smaller treatises on Persia and matters +F1 connected therewith. It is chiefly based on a letter written on August 29, +F1 1852, by an Austrian officer, Captain von Goumoens, who was in the &Shah's +F1 service, but who was so disgusted, and horrified at the cruelties he was +F1 compelled to witness that he sent in his resignation. The translation of +F1 this article is as follows: `Some days ago we mentioned the attempt made +F1 on the life of the &Shah of Persia on the occasion of a hunting-party. The +F1 conspirators, as is well known, belonged to the &Babis, a religious sect. +F1 Concerning this sect and the repressive measures adopted against it, the +F1 letter of Austrian Captain von Goumoens lately published in the "Soldier's +F1 Friend" (Soldatenfreund) contains interesting disclosures, and elucidates +F1 to some extent the attempt in question. This letter runs as follows: +F1 "&Tihran, August 29, 1852. Dear Friend, My last letter of the 20th inst. +F1 mentioned the attempt on the King. I will now communicate to you the +F1 result of the interrogation to which the two criminals were subjected. In +F1 spite of the terrible tortures inflicted, the examination extorted no +F1 comprehensive confession; the lips of the fanatics remained closed, even +F1 when by means of red-hot pincers and limb-rending screws they sought to +F1 discover the chief conspirator.... But follow me, my friend, you who lay +F1 claim to a heart and European ethics, follow me to the unhappy ones who, +F1 with gouged-out eyes, must eat, on the scene of the deed, without any +F1 sauce, their own amputated ears; or whose teeth are torn out with inhuman +F1 violence by the hand of the executioner; or whose bare skulls are simply +F1 crushed by blows from a hammer; or where the bazar is illuminated with +F1 unhappy victims, because on right and left the people dig deep holes in +F1 their breasts and shoulders and insert burning wicks in the wounds. I saw +F1 some dragged in chains through the bazar preceded by a military band, in +F1 whom these wicks had burned so deep that now the fat flickered convulsively +F1 in the wound like a newly-extinguished lamp. Not seldom it happens that +F1 the unwearying ingenuity of the Orientals leads to fresh tortures. They +F1 will skin the soles of the &Babi's feet, soak the wounds in boiling oil, +F1 shoe the foot like the hoof of a horse, and compel the victim to run. No +F1 cry escaped from the victim's breast; the torment is endured in dark +F1 silence by the numbed sensation of the fanatic; now he must run; the body +F1 cannot endure what the soul has endured; he falls. Give him the coup de +F1 grace! Put him out of his pain! No! The executioner swings the whip, +F1 and--I myself have had to witness it--the unhappy victim of hundredfold +F1 tortures and runs! This is the beginning of the end. As for the end +F1 itself, they hang the scorched and perforated bodies by their hands and +F1 feet to a tree head downwards, and now every Persian may try his +F1 marksmanship to heart's content from a fixed but not too proximate distance +F1 on the noble quarry placed at his disposal. I saw corpses torn by nearly +F1 150 bullets.... When I read over again what I have written I am overcome +F1 by the thought that those who are with you in our dearly beloved Austria +F1 may doubt the full truth of the picture, and accuse me of exaggeration. +F1 Would to God that I had not lived to see it! But by the duties of my +F1 profession I was unhappily often, only too often, a witness of these +F1 abominations. At present I never leave my house, in order not to meet with +F1 fresh scenes of horror. After their death the &Babis are hacked in two and +F1 either nailed to the city gate, or cast out into the plain as food for the +F1 dogs and jackals. Thus the punishment extends even beyond the limits which +F1 bound this bitter world, for Musulmans who are not buried have no right to +F1 enter the Prophet's Paradise. Since my whole soul revolts against such +F1 infamy, against such abominations as recent times, according to the +F1 judgment of all, present, I will no longer maintain my connection with the +F1 scene of such crimes."' (He goes on to say that he has already asked for +F1 his discharge, but has not yet received an answer.)" (E. G. Browne's +F1 "Materials for the Study of the &Babi Religion," pp. 267-71.) +F1 "Ardishir &Mirza was forced to act in consequence. He kept the gates of +F1 the city closed and guarded, giving orders to examine closely all those who +F1 might ask to leave. The people were urged to climb the walls near the +F1 &Shimiran gate in order to see in the open field across the bridge the +F1 mutilated body of &Sadiq. The prince governor called together the +F1 &Kalantar or prefect of police, the &Vazir of the city, the &Darughih or +F1 police judge, and the heads of the boroughs and ordered them to seek and +F1 arrest all persons suspected of being &Babis. As no one could leave the +F1 city, they waited until night-fall to start ferreting them out, ruse and +F1 cunning being the main requisites employed. +F1 "The police force in &Tihran, as in all Asiatic cities, is very well +F1 organized. It is a legacy of the Sassanides which the Arabian &Khalifs +F1 have carefully preserved. As it was to the advantage of all governments +F1 (no matter how bad, and even more so to the worst ones) to maintain it, it +F1 has remained, so to speak, unchanged, in the midst of the ruins of other +F1 institutions, equally efficient, which have decayed. +F1 "One should know that the head of every borough, always in touch with the +F1 Kalantar, has under him a few men called `&sar-ghishmihs,' policemen who, +F1 without either uniform or badge, never leave the streets which are assigned +F1 to them. They are generally well liked by the people and they live on +F1 familiar terms with them. They are helpful at all times and, at night, be +F1 it winter or summer, they recline under the awning of any store, +F1 indifferent to rain or snow, and watch over private property. In this way +F1 they reduce the number of thefts by rendering them difficult. Moreover, +F1 they know every dweller and his ways, so that they can assist in case of +F1 investigation; they know the minds, the opinions, the acquaintances, the +F1 relations of everyone; and if one asks three friends to dinner, the +F1 &sar-ghishmih without spying, so well informed is he about everyone, knows +F1 the time of the arrival of the guests, what has been served, what has been +F1 said and done, and the time of their departure. The &Kad-khudas warned +F1 these policemen to watch the &Babis in their respective sections and +F1 everyone awaited the results." (Comte de Gobineau's "Les Religions et les +F1 Philosophies dans l'Asie Centrale," pp. 234-235.) +P606 &Baha'u'llah, now that the &Bab was no more, appeared in their eyes to be the arch-foe whom they deemed it their first duty to seize and imprison. To them He was the reincarnation of the Spirit the &Bab had so powerfully manifested, the Spirit through which He had been able to accomplish so complete a transformation in the lives and habits of His countrymen. The precautions the Russian minister had taken, and the warning he had uttered, failed to stay the hand that had been outstretched with such determination against that precious Life.
From &Shimiran to &Tihran, &Baha'u'llah was several times +P607 stripped of His garments, and was overwhelmed with abuse and ridicule. On foot and exposed to the fierce rays of the midsummer sun, He was compelled to cover, barefooted and bareheaded, the whole distance from &Shimiran to the dungeon already referred to. All along the route, He was pelted and vilified by the crowds whom His enemies had succeeded in convincing that He was the sworn enemy of their sovereign and the wrecker of his realm. Words fail me to portray the horror of the treatment which was meted out to Him as He was being taken to the &Siyah-Chal+F1 of &Tihran. As He was approaching the dungeon, and old and decrepit woman was seen to emerge from the midst of the crowd, with a stone in her hand, eager to cast it at the face of &Baha'u'llah. Her eyes glowed with a determination and fanaticism of which few women of her age were capable. Her whole frame shook with rage as she stepped forward and raised her hand to hurl her missile at Him. "By the &Siyyidu'sh-Shuhada,+F2 I adjure you," she pleaded, as she ran to overtake those into whose hands &Baha'u'llah had been delivered, "give me a chance to fling my stone in his face!" "Suffer not this woman to be +F1 Name of the dungeon, meaning "Black Pit." +F2 The &Imam &Husayn. +P608 disappointed," were &Baha'u'llah's words to His guards, as He saw her hastening behind Him. "Deny her not what she regards as a meritorious act in the sight of God."
The &Siyah-Chal, into which &Baha'u'llah was thrown, originally a reservoir of water for one of the public baths of &Tihran, was a subterranean dungeon in which criminals of the worst type were wont to be confined. The darkness, the filth, and the character of the prisoners, combined to make of that pestilential dungeon the most abominable place to which human beings could be condemned. His feet were placed in stocks, and around His neck were fastened the &Qara-Guhar chains, infamous throughout Persia for their galling weight.+F1 For three days and three nights, no manner of food or drink was given to &Baha'u'llah. Rest and sleep were both impossible to Him. The place was infested with vermin, and the stench of that gloomy abode was enough to crush the very spirits of those who were condemned to suffer its horrors. Such were the conditions under which He was held down that even one of the executioners who were watching over Him was moved with pity. Several times this man attempted to induce Him to take some tea which he had managed to introduce into the dungeon under the cover of his garments. &Baha'u'llah, however, would refuse to drink it. His family often endeavoured to persuade the +F1 "If sometime thou shouldst happen to visit the prison of His Majesty the +F1 &Shah, ask thou the director and chief of that place to show thee those two +F1 chains, one of which is known as &Qara-Guhar and the other as &Salasil. I +F1 swear by the Day-star of Justice, that during four months, I was weighted +F1 and tormented by one of these chains. `The sorrow of Jacob paleth before +F1 my sorrow; and all the afflictions of Job were but a part of my +F1 calamities.'" ("The Epistle to the Son of the Wolf," p. 57.) "Concerning +F1 the Persian mode of imprisonment, the practice is as different from our own +F1 as in the case of penalties. There is no such thing as penal servitude for +F1 life, or even for a term of years; hard labour is unknown as a sentence; +F1 and confinement for any lengthy period is rare. There is usually a +F1 gaol-delivery at the beginning of the new year; and when a fresh governor +F1 is appointed, he not uncommonly empties the prison that may have been +F1 filled by his predecessor, one or two of the worst cases, perhaps, +F1 suffering the death penalty, in order to create a salutary impression of +F1 strength. There is no such thing as a female ward, women being detained, +F1 as also are male criminals of high rank, in the house of a priest. In +F1 &Tihran there are said to be three kinds of prison the subterranean cells +F1 beneath the Ark, where criminals guilty of conspiracy, or high treason are +F1 reported to have been confined; the town prison, where the vulgar criminals +F1 may be seen with iron collars round their neck, sometimes with their feet +F1 in stocks, and attached to each other by iron chains; and the private +F1 guard-house, that is frequently an appurtenance of the mansions of the +F1 great. It will be seen that the Persian theory of justice, as expressed +F1 both in judicial sentences, in the infliction of penalties, and in the +F1 prison code, is one of sharp and rapid procedure, whose object is the +F1 punishment (in a manner as roughly equivalent as possible to the original +F1 offence), but in no sense the reformation, of the culprit." Lord Curzon's +F1 "Persia and the Persian Question," vol. i, pp. 458-9.) +P609 guards to allow them to carry the food they had prepared for Him into His prison. Though at first no amount of pleading would induce the guards to relax the severity of their discipline, yet gradually they yielded to His friends' importunity. No one could be sure, however, whether that food would eventually reach Him, or whether He would consent to eat it whilst a number of His fellow-prisoners were starving before His eyes. Surely greater misery than had befallen these innocent victims of the wrath of their sovereign, could hardly be imagined.+F1
As to the youth &Sadiq-i-Tabrizi, the fate he suffered was as cruel as it was humiliating. He was seized at the moment he was rushing towards the &Shah, whom he had thrown from his horse, hoping to strike him with the sword he held in his hand. The &Shatir-Bashi, together with the &Mustawfiyu'l-Mamalik's attendants, fell upon him and, without attempting to learn who he was, slew him on the spot. Wishing to allay the excitement of the populace, they hewed his body into two halves, each of which they suspended to the public +F1 "We had nothing to do with this odious deed, and Our innocence was +F1 indisputably proved before the tribunals. Nevertheless, they arrested Us +F1 and brought Us to the prison in &Tihran, from &Niyavaran, which was then +F1 the seat of the royal residence; on foot, in chains, and with bare head and +F1 feet, for a brutal fellow who was accompanying Us on horseback snatched the +F1 hat from Our head, and many executioners and &farrashes hurried Us along +F1 with great speed and put Us for four months in a place the like of which +F1 has not been seen. In reality, a dark and narrow cell were far better than +F1 the place where this wronged One and His companions were confined. When We +F1 entered the prison, on arrival, they conducted us along a dismal corridor, +F1 and thence We descended three steep stairs to the dungeon appointed for +F1 Us. The place was dark, and its inmates numbered nearly a hundred and +F1 fifty--thieves, assassins, and highway robbers. Holding such a crowd as +F1 this, it yet had no outlet but the passage through which We entered. The +F1 pen fails to describe this place and putrid stench. Most of the company +F1 had neither clothes to wear nor mat to lie on. God knows what We endured +F1 in that gloomy and loathsome place! By day and by night, in this prison We +F1 reflected on the condition of the &Babis and their doings and affairs, +F1 wondering how, notwithstanding their greatness of soul, nobility, and +F1 intelligence, they could be capable of such a deed as this audacious +F1 attempt on the life of the sovereign. Then did this wronged One determine +F1 that, on leaving this prison, He would arise with the utmost endeavour for +F1 the regeneration of these souls. One night, in a dream, this all-glorious +F1 word was heard from all sides: `Verily We will aid Thee to triumph by +F1 Thyself and by Thy pen. Grieve not for that which hath befallen Thee, and +F1 have no fear. Truly Thou art of them that are secure. Ere long shall the +F1 Lord send forth and reveal the treasures of the earth, men who shall give +F1 Thee the victory by Thyself and by Thy name wherewith the Lord hath revived +F1 the hearts of them that know.'" (&Baha'u'llah's reference to the +F1 &Siyah-Chal in "The Epistle to the Son of the Wolf.") "&Abdu'l-Baha," +F1 writes Dr. J. E. Esslemont, "tells how one day He was allowed to enter the +F1 prison-yard to see His beloved Father when He came out for His daily +F1 exercise. &Baha'u'llah was terribly altered, so ill He could hardly walk. +F1 His hair and beard unkempt, His neck galled and swollen from the pressure +F1 of a heavy steel collar, His body bent by the weight of His chains, and the +F1 sight made a never-to-be-forgotten impression on the mind of the sensitive +F1 boy." ("&Baha'u'llah and the New Era," p. 61.) +P610 gaze at the entrance of the gates of &Shimiran and &Shah-'Abdu'l-'Azim.+F1 His two other companions, &Fathu'llah-i-Hakkak-i-Qumi and &Haji &Qasim-i-Nayrizi, who had succeeded in inflicting only slight wounds on the &Shah, were subjected to inhuman treatment, to which they ultimately owed their death. &Fathu'llah, though suffering unspeakable cruelties, obstinately refused to answer the questions they asked him. The silence he maintained in the face of manifold tortures, induced his persecutors to believe that he was devoid of the power of speech. Exasperated by the failure of their efforts, they poured molten lead down his throat, an act which brought his sufferings to an end.
His comrade, &Haji &Qasim, was treated with a savagery still more revolting. On the very day &Haji &Sulayman &Khan was being subjected to that terrible ordeal, this poor wretch was receiving similar treatment at the hands of his persecutors in &Shimiran. He was stripped of his clothes, lighted +F1 "They ordered the body of &Sadiq, the &Babi who had been murdered, to be +F1 tied to the tail of a mule and dragged over the stones as far as &Tihran, +F1 so that the entire population could see that the conspirators had failed. +F1 At the same time, messengers were sent to &Ardishir &Mirza to dictate to +F1 him what he should do." (Comte de Gobineau's "Les Religions et les +F1 Philosophies dans l'Asie Centrale," p. 234.) +P611 candles were thrust into holes driven into his flesh, and he was thus paraded before the eyes of a multitude who yelled and cursed him. The spirit of revenge that animated those into whose hands he was delivered seemed insatiable. Day after day fresh victims were forced to expiate with their blood a crime which they had never committed, and of the circumstances of which they were wholly ignorant. Every ingenious device that the torture-mongers of &Tihran could employ was applied with merciless severity to the bodies of these unfortunate ones who were neither brought to trial nor questioned, and whose right to plead and prove their innocence was entirely ignored.
Each of those days of terror witnessed the martyrdom of two companions of the &Bab, one of whom was slain in &Tihran, whilst the other met his fate in &Shimiran. Both were subjected to the same manner of torture, both were handed over to the public to wreak their vengeance upon them. Those arrested were distributed among the various classes of people, whose messengers would visit the dungeon each day and claim their +P612 victim.+F1 Conducting him to the scene of his death, they would give the signal for a general attack upon him, whereupon men and women would close upon their prey, tear his body to pieces, and so mutilate it that no trace of its original form would remain. Such ruthlessness amazed even the most brutal of the executioners, whose hands, however much accustomed to human slaughter, had never perpetrated the atrocities of which those people had proved themselves capable.+F2 +F1 "It was on this occasion that &Mirza &Aqa &Khan, the Grand &Vazir, in order +F1 to distribute the responsibility of punishment and to lessen the chances of +F1 blood-revenge, conceived the extraordinary idea of assigning the several +F1 criminals for execution to the principal ministers, generals, and officers +F1 of the Court, as well as to representatives of the priestly and merchant +F1 classes. The Foreign Secretary killed one, the Home Secretary another, +F1 the Master of the Horse a third, and so on." (Lord Curzon's "Persia and +F1 the Persian Question," p. 402, note 2.) +F2 "His Excellency resolved to divide the execution of the victims among the +F2 different departments of the state; the only person he exempted was +F2 himself. First came the &Shah, who was entitled to &Qisas, or legal +F2 retaliation, for his wound. To save the dignity of the crown, the steward +F2 of the household, as the &Shah's representative, fired the first shot at +F2 the conspirator selected as his victim, and his deputies, the &farrashes, +F2 completed the work. The Prime Minister's son headed the Home Office, and +F2 slew another &Babi. Then came the Foreign Office. The Secretary of State +F2 for Foreign Affairs, a pious, silly man, who spent his time in conning over +F2 the traditions of &Muhammad, With averted face made the first swordcut, and +F2 then the Under-Secretary of State and clerks of the Foreign Office hewed +F2 their victim into pieces. The priesthood, the merchants, the artillery, +F2 the infantry, had each their allotted &Babi. Even the &Shah's admirable +F2 French physician, the late lamented Dr. Cloquet, was invited to show his +F2 loyalty by following the example of the rest of the Court. He excused +F2 himself, and pleasantly said he killed too many men professionally to +F2 permit him to increase their number by any voluntary homicide on his part. +F2 The &Sadr was reminded that these barbarous and unheard-of proceedings were +F2 not only revolting in themselves, but would produce the utmost horror and +F2 disgust in Europe. Upon this he became very much excited, and asked +F2 angrily, `Do you wish the vengeance of all the &Babis to be concentrated +F2 upon me alone?' The following is an extract from the `&Tihran Gazette' of +F2 that day, and will serve as a specimen of a Persian `leader': `Some +F2 profligate, unprincipled individuals, destitute of religion, became +F2 disciples of the accursed Siyyid &Ali-Muhammad &Bab, who some years ago +F2 invented a new religion, and who afterwards met his doom. They were unable +F2 to prove the truth of their faith, the falsehood of which was visible. For +F2 instance, many of their books having fallen into our hands, they are found +F2 to contain nothing but pure infidelity. In worldly argument, too, they +F2 never were able to support their religion, which seemed fit only for +F2 entering into a contest with the Almighty. They then began to think of +F2 aspiring to sovereignty, and to endeavour to raise insurrections, hoping to +F2 profit by the confusion, and to pillage the property of their neighbours. +F2 A wretched miserable gang, whose chief, &Mulla &Shaykh &Ali of &Turshiz, +F2 styled himself the deputy of the former &Bab, and who gave himself the +F2 title of High Majesty, collected round themselves some of the former +F2 companions of [the] &Bab. They seduced to their principles some dissolute +F2 debauchees, one of whom was &Haji &Sulayman &Khan, son of the late &Yahya +F2 &Khan of &Tabriz. In the house of this &Haji it was their practice to +F2 assemble for consultation, and to plan an attempt on the auspicious life of +F2 his Majesty. Twelve of their number, who were volunteers for the deed, +F2 were selected to execute their purpose, and to each of them were given +F2 pistols, daggers, etc. It was resolved that the above number should +F2 proceed to the &Shah's residence at &Niyavaran, and await their +F2 opportunity.' Then follows an account of the attack, which I have already +F2 given in sufficient detail. `Six persons, whose crimes were not so clearly +F2 proved, were condemned to perpetual imprisonment; the remainder were +F2 divided among the priesthood, the doctors of the law, the chief servants of +F2 the court, the people of the town, merchants, tradesmen, artisans, who +F2 bestowed on them their deserts in the following manner: The &mullas, +F2 priests, and learned body slew &Mulla &Shaykh &Ali, the deputy of [the] +F2 &Bab, who gave himself the title of Imperial Majesty, and who was the +F2 author of this atrocity. The princes slew Siyyid &Hasan, of &Khurasan, a +F2 man of noted profligacy, with pistol-shots, swords, and daggers. The +F2 Minister of Foreign Affairs, full of religious and moral zeal, took the +F2 first shot at &Mulla &Zaynu'l-'Abidin of Yazd, and the secretaries of his +F2 department finished him and cut him in pieces. The &Nizamu'l-Mulk (son of +F2 the Prime Minister) slew &Mulla &Husayn. &Mirza &Abdu'l-Vahhab, of +F2 &Shiraz, who was one of the twelve assassins, was slain by the brother and +F2 the sons of the Prime Minister; his other relations cut him in pieces. +F2 &Mulla &Fathu'llah, of Qum, who fired the shot which wounded the royal +F2 person, was killed thus: In the midst of the royal camp candles were +F2 placed in the body (by making incisions) and lighted. The steward of the +F2 household wounded him in the very place that he had injured the &Shah, and +F2 then the attendants stoned him. The nobles of the court sent &Shaykh +F2 &Abbas of &Tihran to hell. The &Shah's personal attendants put to death +F2 &Mulla-Baqir, one of the twelve. The &Shah's master of the horse and the +F2 servants of the stable horse-shod &Muhammad-Taqi of &Shiraz, and then sent +F2 him to join his companions. The masters of the ceremonies and other +F2 nobles, with their deputies, slew &Muhammad of &Najaf-Abad with hatchets +F2 and maces, and sent him to the depths of hell. The artillerymen first dug +F2 out the eye of &Muhammad-'Ali of &Najaf-Abad and then blew him away from a +F2 mortar. The soldiers bayoneted Siyyid &Husayn, of &Milan, and sent him to +F2 hell. The cavalry slew &Mirza &Rafi'. The adjutant-general, generals, and +F2 colonels slew Siyyid &Husayn.'" (Lady Sheil's "Glimpses of Life and +F2 Manners in Persia," pp. 277-81.) +F2 ..."On that day, a spectacle was witnessed in the streets and bazaars of +F2 &Tihran which the people can never forget. Even to this very day, it +F2 remains the topic of conversation; one still feels a shocking horror which +F2 the years have not been able to lessen. The people saw marching, between +F2 executioners, children and women with deep holes cut into their flesh in +F2 which lighted wicks were inserted. The victims were dragged with ropes and +F2 goaded on with whips. Children and women went forth singing this verse: +F2 `In truth, we come from God and unto Him do we return.' Their voices were +F2 raised triumphant above the deep silence of the crowd, for the citizens of +F2 &Tihran were neither mean nor great believers in &Islam. When one of the +F2 victims fell to the ground and they prodded him up with bayonets, if the +F2 loss of blood which dripped from his wounds had left him any strength, he +F2 would begin to dance and to cry out with even greater enthusiasm: `In +F2 truth, we come from God and unto Him do we return!' +F2 "Some of the children expired on the way. The executioners would throw +F2 their bodies under the feet of their fathers and sisters, who proudly +F2 walked over them without giving it a second thought. When the &cortege +F2 reached the place of execution near the New Gate, the victims were given +F2 the choice between life and abjuration of their faith; they were even +F2 subjected to every form of intimidation. One of the executioners conceived +F2 the idea of saying to a father that, unless he yielded, he would cut the +F2 throats of his two sons on his very breast. The sons were quite young, the +F2 oldest about fourteen. Covered with blood, their flesh scorched, they were +F2 listening stoically to the threats. The father replied, while laying +F2 himself down, that he was ready and the older of the boys, claiming a prior +F2 right, requested to be the first to die. It may be that the executioner +F2 denied him even that last comfort. +F2 "At last, the tragedy was over and night fell upon a heap of formless +F2 bodies; the heads were tied in bundles to the posts of justice and the dogs +F2 on the outskirts of the city were crowding about. That day won for the +F2 &Babis a larger number of secret followers than much exhortation could have +F2 done. +F2 "As I have said above, the impression caused by the terrifying +F2 impassibility of the martyrs was deep and lasting. I have often heard eye +F2 witnesses describe the scenes of that fateful day, men close to the +F2 government, some even holding important positions. While listening to +F2 them, one could easily have believed that they were all &Babis, so great +F2 was their admiration for the events in which &Islam played so inglorious a +F2 part, and so high a conception did they entertain of the resources, the +F2 hopes and the means of success of the new religion." (Comte de Gobineau's +F2 "Les Religions et les Philosophies dans l'Asie Centrale," pp. 248-250.) +F2 "These executions were not merely criminal, but foolish. The barbarity of +F2 the persecutors defeated its own ends, and instead of inspiring terror, +F2 gave the martyrs and opportunity of exhibiting a heroic fortitude which has +F2 done more than any propaganda, however skilful, could have done to ensure +F2 the triumph of the cause for which they died.... The impression produced +F2 by such exhibitions of courage and endurance was profound and lasting; nay, +F2 the faith which inspired the martyrs was often contagious, as the following +F2 incident shows. A certain Yazdi rough, noted for his wild and disorderly +F2 life, went to see the execution of some &Babis, perhaps to scoff at them. +F2 But when he saw with what calmness and steadfastness they met torture and +F2 death, his feelings underwent so great a revulsion that he rushed forward +F2 crying, `Kill me too! I am also a &Babi!' And thus he continued to cry +F2 till he too was made a partaker in the doom he had come out only to gaze +F2 upon." (E. G. Browne's "A Year amongst the Persians," pp. 111-12.) +P613
Of all the tortures which an insatiable enemy inflicted upon its victims, none was more revolting in its character than that which characterised the death of &Haji &Sulayman &Khan. He was the son of &Yahya &Khan, one of the officers in the service of the &Nayibu's-Saltanih, who was the father of &Muhammad &Shah. He retained that same position in the early days of the reign of &Muhammad &Shah. &Haji &Sulayman &Khan showed from his earliest years a marked disinclination to rank and office. Ever since the day of his acceptance of +P614 the Cause of the &Bab, the petty pursuits in which the people around him were immersed excited his pity and contempt. The vanity of their ambitions had been abundantly demonstrated in his eyes. In his early youth, he felt a longing to escape from the turmoil of the capital and to seek refuge in the holy city of &Karbila. There he met Siyyid &Kazim and grew to be one of his most ardent supporters. His sincere piety, his frugality and love of seclusion were among the chief traits of his character. He tarried in &Karbila until the day when the Call from &Shiraz reached him through &Mulla &Yusuf-i-Ardibili and &Mulla &Mihdiy-Ku'i, both of whom were among his best-known friends. He enthusiastically embraced the Message of the &Bab.+F1 He had intended, upon his return from &Karbila to &Tihran, to join the defenders of the fort of &Tabarsi, but arrived too late to achieve his purpose. He remained in the capital and continued to wear the kind of dress he had adopted in &Karbila. The small turban he wore, and the white tunic which his black &aba+F2 concealed, were displeasing to the &Amir-Nizam, who induced him to discard these garments and to clothe himself instead in a +F1 According to Samandar (manuscript, p. 2), &Sulayman &Khan attained to the +F1 presence of the &Bab in the course of His pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina. +F2 See Glossary. +P615 military uniform. He was made to wear the &kulah,+F1 a head-dress that was thought to be more in accordance with the rank his father held. Though the &Amir insisted that he should accept a position in the service of the government, he obstinately refused to comply with his request. Most of his time was spent in the company of the disciples of the &Bab, particularly those of His companions who had survived the struggle of &Tabarsi. He surrounded them with a care and kindness truly surprising. He and his father were so influential that the &Amir-Nizam was induced to spare his life and indeed to refrain from any acts of violence against him. Though he was present in &Tihran when the seven companions of the &Bab, with whom he was intimately associated, were martyred, neither the officials of the government nor any of the common people ventured to demand his arrest. Even in &Tabriz, whither he had journeyed for the purpose of saving the life of the &Bab, not one among the inhabitants of that city dared to lift a finger against him. The &Amir-Nizam, who was duly informed of all his services to the Cause of the &Bab, preferred to ignore his acts rather than precipitate a conflict with him and his father.
Soon after the martyrdom of a certain &Mulla &Zaynu'l-'Abidin-i-Yazdi, a rumour was spread that those whom the government intended to put to death, among whom were Siyyid &Husayn, the &Bab's amanuensis, and &Tahirih, were to be released and that further persecution of their friends was to be definitely abandoned. It was reported far and wide that the &Amir-Nizam, deeming the hour of his death to be approaching, had been seized suddenly with a great fear and, in an agony of repentance, had exclaimed: "I am haunted by the vision of the &Siyyid-i-Bab, whom I have caused to be martyred. I can now see the fearful mistake I have made. I should have restrained the violence of those who pressed me to shed his blood and that of his companions. I now perceive that the interests of the State required it." His successor, &Mirza &Aqa &Khan, was similarly inclined in the early days of his administration, and was intending to inaugurate his ministry with a lasting reconciliation between him and the followers of the &Bab. He was preparing to +F1 See Glossary. +P616 undertake that task when the attempt on the life of the &Shah shattered his plans and threw the capital into a state of unprecedented confusion.
I have heard the Most Great Branch,+F1 who in those days was a child of only eight years of age, recount one of His experiences as He ventured to leave the house in which He was then residing. "We had sought shelter, He told us, "in the house of My uncle, &Mirza &Isma'il. &Tihran was in the throes of the wildest excitement. I ventured at times to sally forth from that house and to cross the street on My way to the market. I would hardly cross the threshold and step into the street, when boys of My age, who were running about, would crowd around Me crying, `Babi! &Babi. Knowing well the state of excitement into which all the inhabitants of the capital, both young and old, had fallen, I would deliberately ignore their clamour and quietly steal away to My home. One day I happened to be walking alone through the market on My way to My uncle's house. As I was looking behind Me, I found a band of little ruffians running fast to overtake Me. They were pelting Me with stones and shouting menacingly, `Babi! &Babi!' To intimidate them seemed to be the only way I could avert the danger with which I was threatened. I turned back and rushed towards them with such determination that they fled away in distress and vanished. I could hear their distant cry, `The little &Babi is fast pursuing us! He will surely overtake and slay us all!' As I was directing My steps towards home, I heard a man shouting at the top of his voice: `Well done, you brave and fearless child! No one of your age would ever have been able, unaided, to withstand their attack.' From that day onward, I was never again molested by any of the boys of the streets, nor did I hear any offensive word fall from their lips."
Among those who, in the midst of the general confusion, were seized and thrown into prison was &Haji &Sulayman &Khan, the circumstances of whose martyrdom I now proceed to relate. The facts I mention have been carefully sifted and verified by me, and I owe them, for the most part, to &Aqay-i-Kalim, who was himself in those days in &Tihran and was made +F1 &Abdu'l-Baha's title. +P617 to share the terrors and sufferings of his brethren. "On the very day of &Haji &Sulayman &Khan's martyrdom," he informed me, "I happened to be present, with &Mirza &Abdu'l-Majid, at a gathering in &Tihran at which a considerable number of the notables and dignitaries of the capital were present. Among them was &Haji &Mulla &Mahmud, the &Nizamu'l-'Ulama, who requested the Kalantar to describe the actual circumstances of the death of &Haji &Sulayman &Khan. The Kalantar motioned with his finger to &Mirza &Taqi, the &kad-khuda+F1 who, he said, had conducted the victim from the vicinity of the imperial palace to the place of his execution, outside the gate of Naw. &Mirza &Taqi was accordingly requested to relate to those present all that he had seen and heard. `I and my assistants,' he said, `were ordered to purchase nine candles and to thrust them, ourselves into deep holes we were to cut in his flesh. We were instructed to light each one of these candles and to conduct him through the market to the accompaniment of drums and trumpets as far as the place of his execution. There we were ordered to hew his body into two halves, each of which we were asked to suspend on either side of the gate of Naw. He himself chose the manner in which he wished to be martyred. &Hajibu'd-Dawlih+F2 had been commanded by &Nasiri'd-Din &Shah to enquire into the complicity of the accused, and, if assured of his innocence, to induce him to recant. If he submitted, his life was to be spared and he was to be detained pending the final settlement of his case. In the event of his refusal, he was to be put to death in whatever manner he himself might desire.
"`The investigation of hajibu'd-Dawlih convinced him of the innocence of &Haji &Sulayman &Khan. The accused, as soon as he had been informed of the instructions of his sovereign, was heard joyously exclaiming: "Never, so long as my life-blood continues to pulsate in my veins, shall I be willing to recant my faith in my Beloved! This world which the Commander of the Faithful+F3 has likened to carrion will never allure me from my heart's Desire." He was asked to +F1 See Glossary. +F2 His name was &Haji &Ali &Khan. (See "A Traveller's Narrative," p. 52, +F2 note 1.) +F3 The &Imam &Ali. +P618 determine the manner in which he wished to die. "Pierce holes in my flesh," was the instant reply, "and in each wound place a candle. Let nine candles be lighted all over my body, and in this state conduct me through the streets of &Tihran. Summon the multitude to witness the glory of my martyrdom, so that the memory of my death may remain imprinted in their hearts and help them, as they recall the intensity of my tribulation, to recognise the Light I have embraced. After I have reached the foot of the gallows and have uttered the last prayer of my earthly life, cleave my body in twain and suspend my limbs on either side of the gate of &Tihran, that the multitude passing beneath it may witness to the love which the Faith of the &Bab has kindled in the hearts of His disciples, and may look upon the proofs of their devotion."
"`&Hajibu'd-Dawlih instructed his men to abide by the expressed wishes of &Haji &Sulayman &Khan, and charged me to conduct him through the market as far as the place of his execution. As they handed to the victim the candles they had purchased, and were preparing to thrust their knives into his breast, he made a sudden attempt to seize the weapon from the executioner's trembling hands in order to plunge it himself into his flesh. "Why fear and hesitate?" he cried, as he stretched forth his arm to snatch the knife from his grasp. "Let me myself perform the deed and light the candles." Fearing lest he should attack us, I ordered my men to resist his attempt and bade them tie his hands behind his back. "Let me," he pleaded, point out with my fingers the places into which I wish them to thrust their dagger, for I have no other request to make besides this."
"`He asked them to pierce two holes in his breast, two in his shoulders, one in the nape of his neck, and the four others in his back. With stoic calm he endured those tortures. Steadfastness glowed in his eyes as he maintained a mysterious and unbroken silence. Neither the howling of the multitude nor the sight of the blood that streamed all over his body could induce him to interrupt that silence. Impassive and serene he remained until all the nine candles were placed in position and lighted.
"`When all was completed for his march to the scene +P619 of his death, he, standing erect as an arrow and with that same unflinching fortitude gleaming upon his face, stepped forward to lead the concourse that was pressing round him to the place that was to witness the consummation of his martyrdom. Every few steps he would interrupt his march and, gazing at the bewildered bystanders, would shout: "What greater pomp and pageantry than those which this day accompany my progress to win the crown of glory! Glorified be the &Bab, who can kindle such devotion in the breasts of His lovers, and can endow them with a power greater than the might of kings!" At times, as if intoxicated with the fervour of that devotion, he would exclaim: "The Abraham of a bygone age, as He prayed God, in the hour of bitter agony, to send down upon Him the refreshment for which His soul was crying, heard the voice of the Unseen proclaim: `O fire! Be thou cold, and to Abraham a safety!' But this &Sulayman is crying out from the depths of his ravaged heart: `Lord, Lord, let Thy fire burn unceasingly within me, and suffer its flame to consume my being.'" As his eyes saw the wax flicker in his wounds, he burst forth in an acclamation of frantic delight: "Would that He whose hand has enkindled my soul were here to behold my state!" "Think me not to be intoxicated with the wine of this earth!" he cried to the vast throng who stood aghast at the sight of his behaviour. It is the love of my Beloved that has filled my soul and made me feel endowed with a sovereignty which even kings might envy!"
"`I cannot recall the exclamations of joy which fell from his lips as he drew near to his end. All I remember are but a few of the stirring words which, in his moments of exultation, he was moved to cry out to the concourse of spectators. Words fail me to portray the expression of that countenance or to measure the effect of his words on the multitude.
"`He was still in the bazaar when the blowing of a breeze excited the burning of the candles that were placed upon his breast. As they melted rapidly, their flames reached the level of the wounds into which they had been thrust. We who were following a few steps behind him could hear distinctly the sizzling of his flesh. The sight of gore and fire +F1 &Qur'an, 21:69. +P620 which covered his body, instead of silencing his voice, appeared to heighten his unquenchable enthusiasm. He could still be heard, this time addressing the flames, as they ate into his wounds: "You have long lost your sting, O flames, and have been robbed of your power to pain me. Make haste, for from your very tongues of fire I can hear the voice that calls me to my Beloved!"
"`Pain and suffering seemed to have melted away in the ardour of that enthusiasm. Enveloped by the flames, he walked as a conqueror might have marched to the scene of his victory. He moved through the excited crowd a blaze of light amidst the gloom that surrounded him. Arriving at the foot of the gallows, he again raised his voice in a last appeal to the multitude of onlookers: "Did not this &Sulayman whom you now see before you a prey to fire and blood, enjoy until recently all the favours and riches the world can bestow? What could have caused him to renounce this earthly glory and accept in return such great degradation and suffering?" Prostrating himself in the direction of the shrine of the &Imam-Zadih &Hasan, he murmured certain words in Arabic which I could not understand. "My work is now finished!" he cried to the executioner, as soon as his prayer was ended. "Come and do yours!" He was still alive when his body was hewn into two halves with a hatchet. The praise of his Beloved, despite such incredible sufferings, lingered upon his lips until the last moment of his life.'+F1
"That tragic tale stirred the listeners to the very depths of their souls. The &Nizamu'l-'Ulama, who was listening intently +F1 "The extraordinary heroism with which &Sulayman &Khan bore these +F1 frightful tortures is notorious and I have repeatedly heard it related how +F1 he ceased not during the long agony which he endured to testify his joy +F1 that he should be accounted worthy to suffer martyrdom for his Master's +F1 cause. He even sang and recited verses of poetry, amongst them the +F1 following: `I have returned! I have returned! I have come by the way of +F1 &Shiraz! I have come with winsome airs and graces! Such is the lover's +F1 madness!' `Why do you not dance,' asked the executioners mockingly, `since +F1 you find death so pleasant?' `Dance!' cried &Sulayman &Khan. `In one hand +F1 the wine-cup, in one hand the tresses of the Friend. Such a dance in the +F1 midst of the market-place is my desire!'" ("A Traveller's Narrative," Note +F1 T, pp. 333-4.) He was martyred in August, 1852. "When they arrested +F1 &Sulayman &Khan, and strove, in consideration of his faithful service and +F1 loyalty, to induce him, by promises of rewards from the king, to abandon +F1 the creed which he had adopted, he would not consent, but answered firmly: +F1 `His Majesty the King has a right to demand from his servants fidelity, +F1 loyalty, and uprightness; but he is not entitled to meddle with their +F1 religious convictions.' In consequence of this boldness of speech, it was +F1 ordered that his body should be pierced with wounds, and that into each of +F1 these wounds a lighted candle should be inserted as an example to others. +F1 Another victim was similarly treated. In this state, with minstrels and +F1 drummers going in advance, they led him through the bazaars, and he, +F1 meanwhile, with smiling countenance, kept repeating these verses: +F1 `Happy he whom love's intoxication +F1 So hath overcome that scare he knows +F1 Whether at the feet of the Beloved +F1 It be head or turban which he throws!' +F1 Whenever one of the candles fell from his body, he would with his own +F1 hand pick it up, light it from the others, and replace it. The +F1 executioners, seeing in him such exultation and rapture said: `If thou art +F1 so eager for martyrdom, why dost thou not dance?' Thereat he began to +F1 leap, and to sing, in verses appropriate to his condition: +F1 `An ear no longer dulled with ignorance +F1 And self-subdued entitles one to dance. +F1 Fools dance and caper in the market-place; +F1 Men dance the while their life-blood flows apace. +F1 When self is slain, they clap their hands in glee, +F1 And dance, because from evil they are free.' +F1 In such fashion did they lead these two forth through the gate of &Shah +F1 &Abdu'l-Azim. When they were preparing to saw that brave man asunder, he +F1 stretched out his feet without fear or hesitation, while he recited these +F1 verses: +F1 `I hold this body as of little worth; +F1 A brave man's spirit scorns its house of earth. +F1 Dagger and sword like fragrant basil seem, +F1 Or flowers to deck death's banquet with their gleam.'" +F1 (The "&Tarikh-i-Jadid," pp. 228-30.) +P621 to all its details, wrung his hands in horror and despair. How strange, how very strange, is this Cause!' he exclaimed. Without adding a further word of comment, he, immediately after, arose and departed."+F1
Those days of unceasing turmoil witnessed the martyrdom of yet another eminent disciple of the &Bab. A woman, no less great and heroic than &Tahirih herself, was engulfed in the storm that was then raging with undiminished violence throughout the capital. What I now begin to relate regarding the circumstances of her martyrdom has been obtained from trustworthy informants, some of whom were themselves witnesses of the events I am attempting to describe. Her stay in &Tihran was marked by many proofs of the warm +F1 "If one conclusion more than another has been forced upon our notice by the +F1 retrospect in which I have indulged, it is that a sublime and unmurmuring +F1 devotion has been inculcated by this new faith, whatever it be. There is, +F1 I believe, but one instance of a &Babi having recanted under pressure or +F1 menace of suffering, and he reverted to the faith and was executed with two +F1 years. Tales of magnificent heroism illumine the blood-stained pages of +F1 &Babi history. Ignorant and unlettered as many of the votaries are, and +F1 have been, they are yet prepared to die for their religion, and the fires +F1 of Smithfield did not kindle a nobler courage than has met and defined the +F1 more refined torture-mongers of &Tihran. Of no small account, then, must +F1 be the tenets of a creed that can awaken in its followers so rare and +F1 beautiful a spirit of self-sacrifice.... It is these little incidents, +F1 protruding from time to time their ugly features, that prove Persia to be +F1 not as yet quite redeemed, and that somewhat a stagger the tall-takers +F1 about Iranian civilization." (Lord Curzon's "Persia and the Persian +F1 Question," vol. 1, p. 501.) +P622 affection and high esteem in which she was held by the leading women of the capital. She had reached, indeed, in those days, the high-water mark of her popularity.+F1 The house where she was confined was besieged by her women admirers, who thronged her doors, eager to enter her presence and to seek the benefit of her knowledge.+F2 Among these ladies, the wife of &Kalantar+F3 distinguished herself by the extreme reverence she showed to &Tahirih. Acting as her hostess, she introduced into her presence the flower of womanhood in &Tihran, served her with extraordinary enthusiasm, and never failed to contribute her share in deepening her influence among her womenfolk. Persons with whom the wife of &Kalantar was intimately connected have heard her relate the following: "One night, whilst &Tahirih was staying in my home, I was summoned to her presence and found her fully adorned, dressed in a gown of snow-white silk. Her room was redolent with the choicest perfume. I expressed to her my surprise at so unusual a sight. `I am preparing to meet my Beloved,' she said, `and wish to free you from the cares +F1 "She remained in &Tihran a long time receiving numerous visitors both men +F1 and women. She aroused the women by showing them the abject role which +F1 &Islam assigned to them and she won them over to the new religion by +F1 showing them the freedom and respect which it would bestow upon them. Many +F1 domestic disputes followed, not always to the advantage and credit of the +F1 husband. These discussions might have continued at length, if &Mirza &Aqa +F1 &Khan-i-Nuri had not been appointed &Sadr-i-A'zam. The premier ordered +F1 &Haji &Mulla &Muhammad &Andirmani and &Haji &Mulla &Ali &Kini to call on +F1 her in order to examine into her belief. They held seven conferences with +F1 her in which she argued with much feeling and affirmed that the &Bab was +F1 the promised and expected &Imam. Her adversaries called her attention to +F1 the fact that, in accordance with the prophecies, the promised &Imam was to +F1 come from &Jabulqa and &Jabulsa. She retorted feelingly that those +F1 prophecies were false and forged by false traditionalists and, as these two +F1 cities never existed, they could only be the superstitions of diseased +F1 brains. She expounded the new doctrine, bringing out its truth, but always +F1 encountered the same argument of &Jabulqa. Exasperated, she finally told +F1 them: `Your reasoning is that of an ignorant and stupid child; how long +F1 will you cling to these follies and lies? When will you lift your eyes +F1 towards the Sun of Truth?' Shocked by such blasphemy, &Haji &Mulla &Ali +F1 rose up and led his friend away saying, `Why prolong our discussion with an +F1 infidel?' They returned home and wrote out the sentence which established +F1 her apostasy and her refusal to retract, and condemned her to death in the +F1 name of the &Qur'an!" (A. L. M. Nicolas' "Siyyid &Ali-Muhammad dit le +F1 &Bab," pp. 446-447.) +F2 "While a prisoner in the house of the &Kalantar, the marriage of the son of +F2 the family took place. Naturally, the wives of all the prominent men were +F2 invited; but, although the host had gone to a great deal of expense to +F2 provide the customary entertainment, the women loudly demanded that +F2 &Qurratu'l-'Ayn be brought before the company. She had hardly appeared and +F2 begun to speak when the musicians and dancers were dismissed. The ladies, +F2 forgetful of the sweets of which they were so fond, had eyes only for +F2 &Qurratu'l-'Ayn." (Ibid., p. 448.) +F3 &Mahmud &Khan-i-Kalantar, in whose custody she was placed. +P623 and anxieties of my imprisonment.' I was much startled at first, and wept at the thought of separation from her. `Weep not, she sought to reassure me. `The time of your lamentation is not yet come. I wish to share with you my last wishes, for the hour when I shall be arrested and condemned to suffer martyrdom is fast approaching. I would request you to allow your son to accompany me to the scene of my death and to ensure that the guards and executioner into whose hands I shall be delivered will not compel me to divest myself of this attire. It is also my wish that my body be thrown into a pit, and that that pit be filled with earth and stones. Three days after my death a woman will come and visit you, to whom you will give this package which I now deliver into your hands. My last request is that you permit no one henceforth to enter my chamber. From now until the time when I shall be summoned to leave this house, let no one be allowed to disturb my devotions. This day I intend to fast-- a fast which I shall not break until I am brought face to face +P624 with my Beloved.' She bade me, with these words, lock the door of her chamber and not open it until the hour of her departure should strike. She also urged me to keep secret the tidings of her death until such time as her enemies should themselves disclose it.
"The great love I cherished for her in my heart, alone enabled me to abide by her instructions. But for the compelling desire I felt to fulfil her wishes, I would never have consented to deprive myself of one moment of her presence. I locked the door of her chamber and retired to my own, in a state of uncontrollable sorrow. I lay sleepless and disconsolate upon my bed. The thought of her approaching martyrdom lacerated my soul. `Lord, Lord,' I prayed in my despair, `turn from her, if it be Thy wish, the cup which her lips desire to drink.' That day and night, I several times, unable to contain myself, arose and stole away to the threshold of that room and stood silently at her door, eager to listen to whatever might be falling from her lips. I was enchanted by the melody of that voice which intoned the praise of her Beloved. I could hardly remain standing upon my feet, so +P625 great was my agitation. Four hours after sunset, I heard a knocking at the door. I hastened immediately to my son, and acquainted him with the wishes of &Tahirih. He pledged his word that he would fulfil every instruction she had given me. It chanced that night that my husband was absent. My son, who opened the door, informed me that the &farrashes+F1 of &Aziz &Khan-i-Sardar were standing at the gate, demanding that &Tahirih be immediately delivered into their hands. I was struck with terror by the news, and, as I tottered to her door and with trembling hands unlocked it, found her veiled and prepared to leave her apartment. She was pacing the floor when I entered, and was chanting a litany expressive of both grief and triumph. As soon as she saw me, she approached and kissed me. She placed in my hand the key to her chest, in which she said she had left for me a few trivial things as a remembrance of her stay in my house. Whenever you open this chest,' she said, `and behold the things it contains, you will, I hope, remember me and rejoice in my gladness.'
"With these words she bade me her last farewell, and, accompanied by my son, disappeared from before my eyes. What pangs of anguish I felt that moment, as I beheld her beauteous form gradually fade away in the distance! She mounted the steed which the &Sardar had sent for her, and, escorted by my son and a number of attendants, who marched on each side of her, rode out to the garden that was to be the scene of her martyrdom.
"Three hours later my son returned, his face drenched with tears, hurling imprecations at the &Sardar and his abject lieutenants. I tried to calm his agitation, and, seating him beside me, asked him to relate as fully as he could the circumstances of her death. `Mother,' he sobbingly replied, `I can scarcely attempt to describe what my eyes have beheld. We straightway proceeded to the &Ilkhani garden,+F2 +F1 See Glossary. +F2 "Across from the English Legation and the Turkish Embassy stretched a +F2 rather vast square which since 1893 has disappeared. Toward the center of +F2 this square, but in line with the street, stood five or six trees which +F2 marked the spot where the &Babi heroine had died, for in those days the +F2 garden of &Ilkhani extended that far. On my return in 1898 the square had +F2 entirely disappeared overrun by modern buildings and I do not know whether +F2 the present owner has saved those trees which pious hands had planted." +F2 (A. L. M. Nicolas' "Siyyid &Ali-Muhammad dit le &Bab," p. 452.) +P626 outside the gate of the city. There I found, to my horror, the &Sardar and his lieutenants absorbed in acts of debauchery and shame, flushed with wine and roaring with laughter. Arriving at the gate, &Tahirih dismounted and, calling me to her, asked me to act as her intermediary with the &Sardar, whom she said she was disinclined to address in the midst of his revelry. `They apparently wish to strangle me,' she said. `I set aside, long ago, a silken kerchief which I hoped would be used for this purpose. I deliver it into your hands and wish you to induce that dissolute drunkard to use it as a means whereby he can take my life.'
"When I went to the &Sardar, I found him in a state of wretched intoxication. `Interrupt not the gaiety of our festival!' I heard him shout as I approached him. `Let that miserable wretch be strangled and her body be thrown into a pit!' I was greatly surprised at such an order. Believing it unnecessary to venture any request from him, I went to two of his attendants, with whom I was already acquainted, and gave them the kerchief with which &Tahirih had entrusted me. They consented to grant her request. That same kerchief was wound round her neck and was made the instrument of her martyrdom. I hastened immediately afterwards to the gardener and asked him whether +P627 he could suggest a place where I could conceal the body. He directed me, to my great delight, to a well that had been dug recently and left unfinished. With the help of a few others, I lowered her into her grave and filled the well with earth and stones in the manner she herself had wished. Those who saw her in her last moments were profoundly affected. With downcast eyes and rapt in silence, they mournfully dispersed, leaving their victim, who had shed so imperishable a lustre upon their country, buried beneath a mass of stones which they, with their own hands, had heaped upon her.
I wept hot tears as my son unfolded to my eyes that tragic tale. I was so overcome with emotion that I fell prostrate and unconscious upon the ground. When I had recovered, I found my son a prey to an agony no less severe than my own. He lay upon his couch, weeping in a passion of devotion. Beholding my plight, he approached and comforted me. `Your tears,' he said, `will betray you in the eyes of my father. Considerations of rank and position will, no doubt, induce him to forsake us and sever whatever ties bind him to this home. He will, if we fail to repress our tears, accuse us before &Nasiri'd-Din &Shah, as victims of the charm of a hateful enemy. He will obtain the sovereign's consent to our death, and will probably, with his own hands, proceed to slay us. Why should we, who have never embraced that Cause, allow ourselves to suffer such a fate at his hands? All we should do is to defend her against those who denounce her as the very negation of chastity and honour. We should ever treasure her love in our hearts and maintain in the face of a slanderous enemy the integrity of that life.'
"His words allayed my inner agitation. I went to her chest and, with the key she had placed in my hand, opened it. I found a small vial of the choicest perfume, beside which lay a rosary, a coral necklace, and three rings, mounted with turquoise, cornelian, and ruby stones. As I gazed upon her earthly belongings, I mused over the circumstances of her eventful life, and recalled, with a throb of wonder, her intrepid courage, her zeal, her high sense of duty and unquestioning devotion. I was reminded of her literary attainments, and brooded over the imprisonments, the shame, and the calumny which she had faced with a fortitude such as no other woman +P628 in her land could manifest. I pictured to myself that winsome face which now, alas, lay buried beneath a mass of earth and stones. The memory of her passionate eloquence warmed my heart, as I repeated to myself the words that had so often dropped from her lips. The consciousness of the vastness of her knowledge, and her mastery of the sacred Scriptures of &Islam, flashed through my mind with a suddenness that disconcerted me. Above all, her passionate loyalty to the Faith she had embraced, her fervour as she pleaded its cause, the services she rendered it, the woes and tribulations she endured for its sake, the example she had given to its followers, the impetus she had lent to its advancement the name she had carved for herself in the hearts of her fellow-countrymen, all these I remembered as I stood beside her chest, wondering what could have induced so great a woman to forsake all the riches and honours with which she had been surrounded and to identify herself with the cause of an obscure youth from &Shiraz. What could have been the secret, I thought to myself, of the power that tore her away from her home and kindred, that sustained her throughout her stormy career, and eventually carried her to her grave? Could that force, I pondered, be of God? Could the hand of the Almighty have guided her destiny and steered her course amidst the perils of her life?
"On the third day after her martyrdom,+F1 the woman whose coming she had promised arrived. I enquired her name, and, finding it to be the same as the one &Tahirih had told me, delivered into her hands the package with which I had been entrusted. I had never before met that woman, nor did I ever see her again."+F2
The name of that immortal woman was &Fatimih, a name which her father had bestowed upon her. She was surnamed Umm-i-Salmih by her family and kindred, who also designated her as &Zakiyyih. She was born in the year 1233 A.H.,+F3 the very year which witnessed the birth of &Baha'u'llah. She was thirty-six years of age when she suffered martyrdom in &Tihran. May future generations be enabled to present a +F1 August, 1852 A.D. +F2 See Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1889, article 6, p. 492. +F3 1817-18 A.D. +P629 worthy account of a life which her contemporaries have failed adequately to recognise. May future historians perceive the full measure of her influence, and record the unique services this great woman has rendered to her land and its people. May the followers of the Faith which she served so well strive to follow her example, recount her deeds, collect her writings, unfold the secret of her talents, and establish her, for all time, in the memory and affections of the peoples and kindreds of the earth.+F1
Another distinguished figure among the disciples of the &Bab who met his death during the turbulent time that had overwhelmed &Tihran was Siyyid &Husayn-i-Yazdi, who was the &Bab's amanuensis both in &Mah-Ku and &Chihriq. Such was his knowledge of the teachings of the Faith that the &Bab, in a Tablet addressed to &Mirza &Yahya, urged the latter to seek enlightenment from him in whatever might pertain to the sacred writings. A man of standing and experience, in whom the &Bab reposed the utmost confidence and with whom he had been intimately associated, he suffered, after the martyrdom of his Master in &Tabriz, the agony of a long confinement in the subterranean dungeon of &Tihran, which confinement terminated in his martyrdom. To a very great +F1 "Beauty and the female see also lent their consecration to the new +F1 creed and the heroism of the lovely but ill-fated poetess of &Qazvin, +F1 &Zarrin-Taj (Crown of Gold; or &Qurratu'l-'Ayn (Solace of the Eyes), who, +F1 throwing off the veil, carried the missionary torch far and wide, is one of +F1 the most affecting episodes in modern history." (Lord Curzon's "Persia and +F1 the Persian Question," vol. 1, p. 497, note 2.) "No memory is more deeply +F1 venerated or kindles greater enthusiasm than hers, and the influence which +F1 she wielded in her lifetime still inures to her sex." (Valentine Chirol's +F1 "The Middle Eastern Question," p. 124.) "The appearance of such a woman as +F1 &Qurratu'l-'Ayn is in any country and any age a rare phenomenon, but in +F1 such a country as Persia it is a prodigy--nay, almost a miracle. Alike in +F1 virtue of her marvellous beauty, her rare intellectual gifts, her fervid +F1 eloquence her fearless devotion, and her glorious martyrdom, she stands +F1 forth incomparable and immortal amidst her countrywomen. Had the &Babi +F1 religion no other claim to greatness, this were sufficient--that it +F1 produced a heroine like &Qurratu'l-'Ayn." ("A Traveller's Narrative," Note +F1 Q, p. 213.) "Almost the most remarkable figure in the whole movement was +F1 the poetess &Qurratu'l-'Ayn. She was known for her virtue, piety, and +F1 learning, and had been finally converted on reading some of the verses and +F1 exhortations of the &Bab. So strong in her faith did she become that +F1 although she was both rich and noble she gave up wealth, child, name and +F1 position for her Master's service and set herself to proclaim and establish +F1 his doctrine... The beauty of her speech was such as to draw guests from a +F1 marriage feast rather than listen to the music provided by the host. And +F1 her verses were among the most stirring in the Persian language." (Sir +F1 Francis Younghusband's "The Gleam," pp. 202-3.) "Looking back on the short +F1 career or &Qurratu'l-'Ayn, one is chiefly struck by her fiery enthusiasm +F1 and by her absolute unworldliness. This world was, in fact, to her, as it +F1 was said to be to &Quddus, a mere handful of dust. She was also an +F1 eloquent speaker and experienced in the intricate measures of Persian +F1 poetry. One of her few Poems which have thus far been made known is of +F1 special interest, because of the belief which it expresses in the +F1 divine-human character of some one (here called Lord), whose claims, when +F1 once adduced, would receive general recognition. Who was this Personage? +F1 It appears that &Qurratu'l-'Ayn thought Him slow in bringing forward these +F1 claims. Is there any one who can be thought of but &Baha'u'llah? The +F1 poetess was a true &Baha'i." (Dr. T. K. Cheyne's "The Reconciliation of +F1 Races and Religions," pp. 114, 115.) "The harvest sown in &Islamic lands +F1 by &Qurratu'l-'Ayn is now beginning to appear. A letter addressed to the +F1 "Christian Commonwealth" last June informs us that forty Turkish +F1 suffragettes are being deported from Constantinople to &Akka (so long the +F1 prison of &Baha'u'llah): `During the last few years suffrage ideas have +F1 been spreading quietly behind in the harems. The men were ignorant of it; +F1 everybody was ignorant of it; and now suddenly the floodgate is opened and +F1 the men of Constantinople have thought it necessary to resort to drastic +F1 measures. Suffrage clubs have been organised, intelligent memorials +F1 incorporating the women's demands have been drafted and circulated; women's +F1 journals and magazines have sprung up, publishing excellent articles; and +F1 public meetings were held. Then one day the members of these clubs--four +F1 hundred of them--cast away their veils. The staid, fossilised class of +F1 society were shocked, the good Musulmans were alarmed, and the Government +F1 forced into action. These four hundred liberty-loving women were divided +F1 into several groups. One group composed of forty have been exiled to +F1 &Akka, and will arrive in a few days. Everybody is talking about it, and +F1 it is really surprising to see how numerous are those in favour of removing +F1 the veils from the faces of the women. Many men with whom I have talked +F1 think the custom not only archaic, but thought-stifling. The Turkish +F1 authorities, thinking to extinguish this light of liberty, have greatly +F1 added to its flame, and their high-handed action has materially assisted +F1 the creation of a wider public opinion and a better understanding of this +F1 crucial problem.'" (Ibid., pp. 115-16.) +F1 ..."The other missionary, the woman to whom I refer, had come to +F1 &Qazvin. She was without doubt, at the same time, the object of the &Babis +F1 highest veneration and one of the most strikingly fascinating +F1 manifestations of that religion." (Comte de Gobineau's "Les Religions et +F1 les Philosophies dans l'Asie Centrale," p. 136.) +F1 "Many who have known her and heard her at different times have stated +F1 that, for a person so learned and so well read, the outstanding +F1 characteristic of her discourse was an amazing simplicity and still, when +F1 she spoke, her audience was deeply stirred and filled with admiration, +F1 often in tears." (Ibid., p. 150.) "Although the &Muhammadans and &Babis +F1 speak in the highest terms of the beauty of `Consolation of the Eyes,' it +F1 is beyond dispute that the intelligence and character of this young woman +F1 were even more remarkable than has been related. Having heard, almost +F1 daily, learned conversations, it seems that, at an early age, she had taken +F1 a deep interest in them; hence it came about that she was perfectly able to +F1 follow the subtle arguments of her father, her uncle, her cousin and now +F1 her husband, and even to debate with them and frequently to astonish them +F1 with the power and keenness of her mind. In Persia, one does not +F1 frequently see women engaged in intellectual pursuits but, nevertheless, it +F1 does sometimes occur. What is really extraordinary is to find a woman of +F1 the ability of &Qurratu'l-'Ayn. Not only did she carry her knowledge of +F1 Arabic to an unusual degree of perfection, but she became also outstanding +F1 in the knowledge of the traditions of &Islam and of the varied +F1 interpretations of the disputed passages of the &Qur'an and of the great +F1 writers. In &Qazvin, she was rightly considered a prodigy." (Ibid., p. +F1 137.) +P630 extent, &Baha'u'llah helped to allay the hardships from which he suffered. Regularly every month He sent him whatever financial assistance he required. He was praised and admired even by the gaolers who watched over him. His long and intimate companionship with the &Bab, during the last and stormiest days of His life, had deepened his understanding and endowed his soul with a power which he was destined to manifest more and more as the days of his earthly life drew near to their close. He lay in the prison, longing for the time when he should be called upon to suffer a death similar to that of his Master. Deprived of the privilege of being martyred on the same day as the &Bab, a privilege which it had been his supreme desire to attain, he now eagerly awaited the hour when he, in his turn, should drain to the very dregs the cup that had touched His lips. Many a time did the leading officials of &Tihran strive to induce him to accept their offer to deliver him from the rigours of his imprisonment, as well as from the prospect of a still more cruel death. He steadfastly refused. Tears flowed unceasingly from his eyes --tears born of his longing to see again that face whose radiance had shone so brightly amidst the darkness of a cruel incarceration in &Adhirbayjan, and whose glow warmed the chill +P631 of its wintry nights. As he mused in the gloom of his prison cell over those blissful days spent in the presence of his Master, there came to him One who alone could banish, by the light of His presence, the anguish that had settled upon his soul. His Comforter was none other than &Baha'u'llah Himself. In His company Siyyid &Husayn was privileged to remain until the hour of his death. The hand of &Aziz &Khan-i-Sardar, which had struck down &Tahirih, was the hand that dealt the fatal blow to the &Bab's amanuensis and sometime fellow-prisoner in &Adhirbayjan. I need not expatiate upon the circumstances of the death which that murderous &Sardar inflicted upon him. Suffice it to say that he too, like those who went before, drank, in circumstances of shameful cruelty, the cup for which he had so long and so deeply yearned.
I now proceed to relate what befell the remaining companions of the &Bab, those who had been privileged to share the horrors of the confinement with &Baha'u'llah. From His own lips I have often heard the following account: "All those who were struck down by the storm that raged during that memorable year in &Tihran were Our fellow-prisoners in the &Siyah-Chal, where We were confined. We were all huddled together in one cell, our feet in stocks, and around our necks fastened the most galling of chains. The air we breathed was laden with the foulest impurities, while the floor on which +P632 we sat was covered with filth and infested with vermin. No ray of light was allowed to penetrate that pestilential dungeon or to warm its icy-coldness. We were placed in two rows, each facing the other. We had taught them to repeat certain verses which, every night, they chanted with extreme fervour. `God is sufficient unto me; He verily is the All-sufficing!' one row would intone, while the other would reply: `In Him let the trusting trust.' The chorus of these gladsome voices would continue to peal out until the early hours of the morning. Their reverberation would fill the dungeon, and, piercing its massive walls, would reach the ears of &Nasiri'd-Din &Shah, whose palace was not far distant from the place where we were imprisoned. `What means this sound?' he was reported to have exclaimed. `It is the anthem the &Babis are intoning in their prison,' they replied. The &Shah made no further remarks, nor did he attempt to restrain the enthusiasm his prisoners, despite the horrors of their confinement, continued to display.
"One day, there was brought to Our prison a tray of roasted meat, which they informed Us the &Shah had ordered to be distributed among the prisoners. `The &Shah,' We were told, `faithful to a vow he made, has chosen this day to offer to you all this lamb in fulfilment of his pledge.' A deep silence fell upon Our companions, who expected Us to make answer on their behalf. `We return this gift to you,' We replied; `we can well dispense with this offer.' The answer We made would have greatly irritated the guards had they not been eager to devour the food we had refused to touch. Despite the hunger with which Our companions were afflicted, only one among them, a certain &Mirza &Husayn-i-Matavalliy-i-Qumi, showed any desire to eat of the food the sovereign had chosen to spread before us. With a fortitude that was truly heroic, Our fellow-prisoners submitted, without a murmur, to endure the piteous plight to which they were reduced. Praise of God, instead of complaint of the treatment meted out to them by the &Shah, fell unceasingly from their lips--praise with which they sought to beguile the hardships of a cruel captivity.
"Every day Our gaolers, entering Our cell, would call the name of one of Our companions, bidding him arise and follow +P633 them to the foot of the gallows. With what eagerness would the owner of that name respond to that solemn call! Relieved of his chains, he would spring to his feet and, in a state of uncontrollable delight, would approach and embrace Us. We would seek to comfort him with the assurance of an everlasting life in the world beyond, and, filling his heart with hope and joy, would send him forth to win the crown of glory. He would embrace, in turn, the rest of his fellow-prisoners and then proceed to die as dauntlessly as he had lived. Soon after the martyrdom of each of these companions, We would be informed by the executioner, who had grown to be friendly to Us, of the circumstances of the death of his victim, and of the joy with which he had endured his sufferings to the very end.
"We were awakened one night, ere break of day, by &Mirza &Abdu'l-Vahhab-i-Shirazi, who was bound with Us to the same chains. He had left &Kazimayn and followed Us to &Tihran, where he was arrested and thrown into prison. He asked Us whether We were awake, and proceeded to relate to Us his dream. `I have this night,' he said, `been soaring into a space of infinite vastness and beauty. I seemed to be uplifted on wings that carried me wherever I desired to go. A feeling of rapturous delight filled my soul. I flew in the midst of that immensity with a swiftness and ease that I cannot describe.' `To-day,' We replied, `it will be your turn to sacrifice yourself for this Cause. May you remain firm and steadfast to the end. You will then find yourself soaring in that same limitless space of which you dreamed, traversing with the same ease and swiftness the realm of immortal sovereignty, and gazing with that same rapture upon the Infinite Horizon.'
"That morning saw the gaoler again enter Our cell and call out the name of &Abdu'l-Vahhab. Throwing off his chains, he sprang to his feet, embraced each of his fellow-prisoners, and, taking Us into his arms, pressed Us lovingly to his heart. That moment We discovered that he had no shoes to wear We gave him Our own, and, speaking a last word of encouragement and cheer, sent him forth to the scene of his martyrdom. Later on, his executioner came to Us, praising in glowing language the spirit which that youth had shown. +P634 How thankful We were to God for this testimony which the executioner himself had given!"
All this suffering and the cruel revenge the authorities had taken on those who had attempted the life of their sovereign failed to appease the anger of the &Shah's mother. Day and night she persisted in her vindictive clamour, demanding the execution of &Baha'u'llah, whom she still regarded as the real author of the crime. "Deliver him to the executioner!" she insistently cried to the authorities. "What greater humiliation than this, that I, who am the mother of the &Shah, should be powerless to inflict upon that criminal the punishment so dastardly an act deserves!" Her cry for vengeance, which an impotent rage served to intensify, was doomed to remain unanswered. Despite her machinations, &Baha'u'llah was saved from the fate she had so importunately striven to precipitate. The Prisoner was eventually released from His confinement, and was able to unfold and establish, beyond the confines of the kingdom of her son, a sovereignty the possibility of which she could never even have dreamed of. The blood shed in the course of that fateful year in &Tihran by that heroic band with whom &Baha'u'llah had been imprisoned, was the ransom paid for His deliverance from the hand of a foe that sought to prevent Him from achieving the purpose for which God had destined Him. Ever since the time He espoused the Cause of the &Bab, He had never neglected one single occasion to champion the Faith He had embraced. He had exposed Himself to the perils which the followers of the Faith had to face in its early days. He was the first of the &Bab's disciples to set the example of renunciation and service to the Cause. Yet His life, beset as it was by the risks and dangers that a career such as His was sure to encounter, was spared by that same Providence who had chosen Him for a task which He, in His wisdom, deemed it as yet too soon to proclaim publicly.
The terror that convulsed &Tihran was but one of the many risks and dangers to which &Baha'u'llah's life was exposed. Men, women, and children in the capital trembled at the ruthlessness with which the enemy pursued their victims. A youth named &Abbas, a former servant of &Haji &Sulayman &Khan, and fully informed, owing to the wide +P635 circle of friends whom his master cultivated, of the names the number, and the dwelling places of the &Bab's disciples, was employed by the enemy as an instrument ready to hand for the prosecution of its designs. He had identified himself with the Faith of his master, and regarded himself as one of its zealous supporters. At the outset of the turmoil, he was arrested and compelled to betray all those whom he knew to be associated with the Faith. They sought by every manner of reward to induce him to reveal those who were his master's fellow-disciples, and warned him that, should he refuse to disclose their names, he would be subjected to inhuman tortures. He pledged his word that he would act according to their wishes and would inform the assistants of &Haji &Ali &Khan, the &Hajibu'd-Dawlih, the &Farrash-Bashi, of their names and abodes. He was taken through the streets of &Tihran and directed to point out everyone he recognised as being a follower of the &Bab. A number of people whom he had never met and known were in this manner delivered into the hands of &Haji &Ali &Khan's assistants--people who had never had any connection with the &Bab and His Cause. These were able to recover their freedom only after having paid a heavy bribe to those who had captured them. Such was the greed of the &Hajibu'd-Dawlih's attendants that they specially requested &Abbas to salute as a sign of betrayal every person who he thought would be willing and able to pay large sums for his deliverance. They would even force him to betray such persons, threatening that his refusal would be fraught with grave danger to his own life. They would frequently promise to give him a share of the money they determined to extort from their victims.
This &Abbas was taken to the &Siyah-Chal and introduced to &Baha'u'llah, whom he had met previously on several occasions in the company of his master, in the hope that he would betray Him. They promised that the mother of the &Shah would amply reward him for such a betrayal. Every time he was taken into &Baha'u'llah's presence, &Abbas, after standing a few moments before Him and gazing upon His face, would leave the place, emphatically denying ever having seen Him. Having failed in their efforts, they resorted to poison, in the hope of obtaining the favour of the mother of +P636 their sovereign. They were able to intercept the food that their Prisoner was permitted to receive from His home, and mixed with it the poison they hoped would be fatal to Him. This measure, though impairing the health of &Baha'u'llah for years, failed to achieve its purpose.
The enemy was finally induced to cease regarding Him as the prime mover of that attempt, and decided to transfer the responsibility for this act to &Azim, whom they now accused of being the real author of the crime. By this means they endeavoured to obtain the favour of the mother of the &Shah, a favour they greatly coveted. &Haji &Ali &Khan was only too happy to second their efforts. As he himself had taken no share in imprisoning &Baha'u'llah, he seized upon the occasion which offered itself to denounce &Azim, whom he had already succeeded in arresting, as the chief and responsible instigator.
The Russian minister, who, through one of his agents, was watching the developments of the situation and keeping in close touch with the condition of &Baha'u'llah, addressed, through his interpreter, a strongly worded message to the Grand &Vazir, in which he protested against his action, suggesting that a messenger should proceed, in the company of one of the government's trusted representatives and of &Hajibu'd-Dawlih, to the &Siyah-Chal and there ask the newly recognised leader to declare publicly his opinion regarding &Baha'u'llah's position. "Whatever that leader may declare," he wrote, "whether in praise or denunciation, I think ought to be immediately recorded and should serve as a basis for the final judgment which should be pronounced in this affair."
The Grand &Vazir promised the interpreter that he would follow the minister's advice, and even appointed a time for the messenger to join the government representative and &Hajibu'd-Dawlih and proceed with them to the &Siyah-Chal.
When &Azim was questioned as to whether he regarded &Baha'u'llah as the responsible leader of the group that had made the attempt on the &Shah's life, he answered: "The Leader of this community was none other than the &Siyyid-i-Bab, who was slain in &Tabriz, and whose martyrdom induced me to arise and avenge His death. I alone conceived this plan +P637 and endeavoured to execute it. The youth who threw the &Shah from his horse was none other than &Sadiq-i-Tabrizi, a servitor in a confectioner's shop in &Tihran who had been for two years in my service. He was fired with a desire even more burning than my own to avenge the martyrdom of his Leader. He acted too hastily, however, and failed to make certain the success of his attempt."
The words of his declaration were taken down by both the minister's interpreter and the Grand &Vazir's representative, who submitted their records to &Mirza &Aqa &Khan. The documents which were placed in his hands were chiefly responsible for &Baha'u'llah's release from His imprisonment. &Azim was accordingly delivered into the hands of the &ulamas, who, though themselves anxious to hasten his death, were prevented by the hesitancy of &Mirza &Abu'l &Qasim, the &Imam-Jum'ih of &Tihran. &Hajibu'd-Dawlih, because of the near approach of the month of &Muharram, induced the &ulamas to assemble on the upper floor of the barracks, where he succeeded in obtaining the presence of the &Imam-Jum'ih, who still persisted in his refusal to consent to the death of &Azim. He directed that the accused be brought to that place and there await the judgment that was to be pronounced against him. He was roughly conducted through the streets, overwhelmed with ridicule, and reviled by the populace. Through a subtle device which the enemy had contrived, they succeeded in obtaining a verdict for death. A siyyid armed with a club rushed at him and smashed his head. His example was followed by the people, who, with sticks, stones, and daggers, fell upon him and mutilated his body. &Haji &Mirza &Jani also was among those who suffered martyrdom in the course of the agitation that followed the attempt on the life of the &Shah. Owing to the disinclination of the Grand &Vazir to harm him, he was secretly put to death.
The conflagration kindled in the capital spread to the adjoining provinces, bringing in its wake devastation and misery to countless innocent people among the subjects of the &Shah. It ravaged &Mazindaran, the home of &Baha'u'llah, and was the signal for acts of violence which were directed mainly against all His possessions in that province. Two of the &Bab's devoted disciples, &Muhammad-Taqi &Khan and +P638 &Abdu'l-Vahhab, both residents of &Nur, suffered martyrdom as the result of that turmoil.
The enemies of the Faith, finding to their disappointment that &Baha'u'llah's deliverance from prison was almost assured, sought by intimidating their sovereign to involve Him ill fresh complications and thus encompass His death. The folly of &Mirza &Yahya, who, driven by his idle hopes, had sought to secure for himself and the band of his foolish supporters a supremacy which hitherto he had in vain laboured to obtain, served as a further pretext for the enemy to urge the &Shah to take drastic measures for the destruction of whatever influence his Prisoner still retained in &Mazindaran.
The alarming reports received by the &Shah, who had scarcely recovered from his wounds, stirred in him a terrible thirst for revenge. He summoned the Grand &Vazir and reprimanded him for having failed to maintain order and discipline among the people of his own province, who were bound to him by ties of kinship. Disconcerted by the rebuke of his sovereign, he expressed his readiness to fulfil whatever he would direct him to do. He was bidden despatch immediately to that province several regiments, with strict orders to repress with a ruthless hand the disturbers of the public peace. +P639
The Grand &Vazir, though fully aware of the exaggerated character of the reports that had been submitted to him, found himself compelled, owing to the &Shah's insistence, to order the despatch of the &Shah-Sun regiment, headed by &Husayn-'Ali &Khan-i-Shah-Sun, to the village of &Takur, in the district of &Nur, where the home of &Baha'u'llah was situated. He gave the supreme command into the hands of his nephew, &Mirza &Abu-Talib &Khan, brother-in-law of &Mirza &Hasan, who was &Baha'u'llah's half-brother. &Mirza &Aqa &Khan urged him to exercise the utmost caution and restraint while encamping in that village. "Whatever excesses," he urged him, "are committed by your men will react unfavourably on the prestige of &Mirza &Hasan and be the cause of affliction to your own sister." He bade him investigate the nature of these reports and not to encamp more than three days in the vicinity of that village.
The Grand &Vazir afterwards summoned &Husayn-'Ali &Khan and exhorted him to conduct himself with the utmost circumspection and wisdom. "&Mirza &Abu-Talib," he said, is still young and inexperienced. I have specially chosen him owing to his kinship to &Mirza &Hasan. I trust that he will, for the sake of his sister, refrain from causing unnecessary injury to the inhabitants of &Takur. Being superior to him in age and experience, you must set him a noble example and impress on him the necessity of serving the interests of both government and people. You must never allow him to undertake any operations without having previously consulted with you." He assured &Husayn-'Ali &Khan that he had issued written instructions to the chieftains of that district, calling upon them to come to his assistance whenever required. &Mirza &Abu-Talib &Khan, flushed with pride and enthusiasm, forgot the counsels of moderation the Grand &Vazir had given him. He refused to be influenced by the pressing appeals of &Husayn-'Ali &Khan, who entreated him not to provoke an unnecessary conflict with the people. No sooner had he reached the pass which divided the district of &Nur from the adjoining province, which was not far distant from &Takur, than he ordered his men to prepare for an attack upon the people of that village. &Husayn-'Ali &Khan ran to him in despair and begged him to refrain from such an act. "It is +P640 for me," &Mirza &Abu-Talib haughtily retorted, "who am your superior, to decide what measures should be taken and in what manner I should serve my sovereign."
A sudden attack was launched upon the defenceless people of &Takur. Surprised by so unexpected and fierce an onslaught, they appealed to &Mirza &Hasan, who asked to be introduced into the presence of &Mirza &Abu-Talib but was refused admittance. "Tell him," was the commander's message, that +P641 I am charged by my sovereign to order a wholesale massacre of the people of this village, to capture its women and confiscate their property. For your sake, however, I am willing to spare such women as take refuge in your house." &Mirza &Hasan, indignant at this refusal, severely censured him and, denouncing the action of the &Shah, returned to his home. The men of that village had meanwhile left their dwellings and sought refuge in the neighbouring mountains. Their women, abandoned to their fate, betook themselves to the home of &Mirza &Hasan, whom they implored to protect them from the enemy.
The first act of &Mirza &Abu-Talib &Khan was directed against the house &Baha'u'llah had inherited from the &Vazir, His father, and of which He was the sole possessor. That house had been royally furnished and was decorated with vessels of inestimable value. He ordered his men to break open all its treasuries and to take away their contents. Such things as he was unable to carry away, he ordered to be destroyed. Some were shattered, others were burned. Even the rooms, which were more stately than those of the palaces of &Tihran, were disfigured beyond repair; the beams were burned down and the decorations utterly ruined.
He next turned to the houses of the people, which he levelled with the ground, appropriating to himself and his men whatever valuables they contained. The entire village, despoiled and deserted by its men inhabitants, was delivered to the flames. Not able to find any able-bodied men, he ordered that a search be conducted in the neighbouring mountains. Any who were found were to be either shot or captured. All they could lay their hands upon were a few aged men and shepherds who had been unable to proceed further afield in their flight from the enemy. They discovered two men lying in the distance on the slopes of a mountain beside a running brook. Their weapons gleaming under the rays of the sun had betrayed them. Finding them asleep, they shot them both from across the brook which intervened between the assailants and their victims. They recognised them as &Abdu'l-Vahhab and &Muhammad-Taqi &Khan. The former was shot dead, while the latter was severely wounded. They were carried into the presence of &Mirza &Abu-Talib, +P642 who did his best to preserve the life of the victim whom he wished, owing to his far-famed courage, to take with him to &Tihran as a trophy of his victory. His efforts failed, however, for &Muhammad-Taqi &Khan, two days after, died from his wounds. The few men they had been able to capture were led in chains to &Tihran and thrown into the same underground dungeon where &Baha'u'llah had been confined. Among them was &Mulla &Ali-Baba, who, together with a number of his fellow-prisoners, perished in that dungeon as a result of the hardships he had endured.
The year after, this same &Mirza &Abu-Talib was stricken with plague and taken in a state of wretched misery to &Shimiran. Shunned by even his nearest kindred, he lay on his sick-bed until this same &Mirza &Hasan, whom he had so haughtily insulted, offered to tend his sores and bear him company in his days of humiliation and loneliness. He was on the brink of death when the Grand &Vazir visited him and found none at his bedside but the one whom he had so rudely treated. That very day that wretched tyrant expired, bitterly disappointed at the failure of all the hopes he had fondly cherished.
The commotion that had seized &Tihran, the effects of which had been severely felt in &Nur and the surrounding district, spread as far as Yazd and &Nayriz, where a considerable number of the &Bab's disciples were seized and inhumanly martyred. The whole of Persia seemed, indeed, to have felt the shock of that great convulsion. Its tide swept as far as the remotest hamlets of the distant provinces, and brought in its wake untold sufferings to the remnants of a persecuted community. Governors, no less than their subordinates, inflamed with greed and revenge, seized the occasion to enrich themselves and obtain the favour of their sovereign. Without mercy, moderation, or shame, they employed any means, however base and lawless, to extort from the innocent the benefits they themselves coveted. Forsaking every principle of justice and decency, they arrested, imprisoned, and tortured whomsoever they suspected of being a &Babi, and would hasten to inform &Nasiri'd-Din &Shah in &Tihran of the victories achieved over a detested opponent.
In &Nayriz the full effects of that turmoil revealed themselves +P643 in the treatment accorded by its rulers and people to the followers of the &Bab. About two months after the attempt on the life of the &Shah, a young man named &Mirza &Ali, whose exceptional courage had earned for him the surname of &Aliy-i-Sardar, distinguished himself by the extreme solicitude he extended to the survivors of the struggle which ended with the death of &Vahid and his supporters. He was often seen in the darkness of the night to emerge from his shelter, carrying whatever aid was in his power to the widows and orphans who had suffered from the consequences of that tragedy. To those in need he distributed food and garments with noble generosity, tended their injuries, and comforted them in their sorrow. The sight of the continuous sufferings of these innocent ones stirred the fierce indignation of some of &Mirza &Ali's companions, who undertook to wreak their vengeance upon &Zaynu'l-'Abidin &Khan, who was still dwelling in &Nayriz and whom they regarded as the author of their misfortunes. Believing that he had still in his heart a desire to subject them to even further afflictions, they determined to take his life. They surprised him in the public bath, where they succeeded in accomplishing their purpose. This led to an upheaval that recalled in its concluding stages the horror of the butcheries of &Zanjan. &Zaynu'l-'Abidin &Khan's widow pressed &Mirza &Na'im, who held the reins of authority in his grasp and was then residing in &Shiraz, to avenge the blood of her husband, promising that she would in return bestow all her jewels upon him and would transfer to his name whatever he might desire of her possessions. Through treachery, the authorities succeeded in capturing a considerable number of the &Bab's followers, many of whom were savagely beaten. All were thrown into prison, pending the receipt of instructions from &Tihran. The Grand &Vazir submitted the list of names he had received, together with the report that accompanied it, to the &Shah, who expressed his extreme satisfaction at the success that had attended the efforts of his representative in &Shiraz, and whom he amply rewarded for his signal service. He asked that all those who were captured be brought to the capital.
I shall not attempt to record the various circumstances that led to the carnage which marked the termination of +P644 that episode. I would refer my reader to the graphic and detailed account which &Mirza &Shafi'-i-Nayrizi has written in a separate booklet, in which he refers with accuracy and force to every detail of that moving event. Suffice it to say that no less than one hundred and eighty of the &Bab's valiant disciples suffered martyrdom. A like number were wounded and, though incapacitated by their injuries, were ordered to leave for &Tihran. Only twenty-eight persons among them survived the hardships of the journey to the capital. Of these twenty-eight, fifteen were taken to the gallows on the very day of their arrival. The rest were thrown into prison and made to suffer for two years the most horrible atrocities. Though eventually released, many of them perished on their way to their homes, exhausted by the trials of a long and cruel captivity.
A large number of their fellow-disciples were slain in &Shiraz by order of &Tahmasb-Mirza. The heads of two hundred of these victims were placed on bayonets and carried triumphantly by their oppressors to &Abadih, a village in &Fars. They were intending to take them to &Tihran, when a royal messenger commanded them to abandon their project, whereupon they decided to bury the heads in that village.
As to the women, who were six hundred in number, half of them were released in &Nayriz, while the rest were carried, +P645 each two being forced to ride together on an unsaddled horse, to &Shiraz, where, after being submitted to severe tortures, they were abandoned to their fate. Many perished on their way to that city; many yielded up their lives to the afflictions they were made to endure ere they recovered their freedom. My pen shrinks in horror in attempting to describe what befell those valiant men and women who were made to suffer so severely for their Faith. The wanton barbarity that characterised the treatment meted out to them reached the lowest depths of infamy in the concluding stages of that lamentable episode. What I have attempted to recount of the horrors of the siege of &Zanjan, of the indignities heaped upon &Hujjat and his supporters, pales before the glaring ferocity of the atrocities perpetrated a few years later in &Nayriz and &Shiraz. A pen abler than mine to describe in all their tragic details these unspeakable savageries will, I trust, be found to place on record a tale which, however grim its features, must ever remain as one of the noblest evidences of the faith which the Cause of the &Bab was able to inspire in His followers.+F1 +F1 "Strange as it may seem, they respected the women whom they gathered +F1 and led to Mount &Biyaban. There were, among them, two old men too feeble +F1 to fight, &Mulla &Muhammad-Musa, a fuller, and &Mashhadi &Baqir, a dyer. +F1 These were murdered. &Mashhadi &Baqir was killed by &Ali Big, captain of +F1 the &Nayrizi soldiers, who severed the head from the body of his victim and +F1 gave it to a child; then, covering the head of the niece of his victim with +F1 a black veil, he led her to &Mirza &Na'im, who was then on Mount &Biyaban +F1 seated upon a stone in a garden. When &Ali Big approached him, he threw +F1 the head of &Baqir at him and shoved the little girl abruptly forward. She +F1 fell on her face, as he cried out, `We have done as you wished, the &Babis +F1 are no more!' +F1 "&Akhund &Mulla &Abdu'l-Husayn ordered that the mouth of &Mirza &Na'im +F1 be stuffed with dirt, then a &ghulam shot him in the head but the wound was +F1 not fatal. +F1 "Approximately six hundred and three women were arrested and taken to +F1 the mill called `&Takht' which is near &Nayriz. One author tells the +F1 following anecdote: `I was very young then and I was following my mother +F1 who had another son younger than I. A man, called &Asadu'llah, was +F1 carrying my brother on his shoulders. The child wore a hat decorated with +F1 a few ornaments. A rider saw the hat and snatched it with such brutality +F1 that he took hold at the same time of the hair of the baby. The child was +F1 thrown about ten feet away and my poor mother found him unconscious.' +F1 "I shall not expatiate upon the horrors which followed this victory. It +F1 is enough to know that &Mirza &Na'im rode on, preceded and followed by men +F1 carrying the heads of the martyrs on pikes. The prisoners were prodded +F1 along with whip and sword. The women were jostled into ditches full of +F1 water. The night was spent at the caravansary in &Shiraz. In the morning, +F1 the women were taken out, all entirely naked; they were kicked, stoned, +F1 whipped and spat upon. When their tormentors grew tired, they were +F1 confined for twenty days, during which time they were constantly insulted +F1 and outraged. Eighty &Babis bound together in tens, were entrusted to one +F1 hundred soldiers, with &Shiraz as their destination. Siyyid &Mir &Muhammad +F1 &Abd died from exposure to cold at &Khanih-gird, others expired a little +F1 further on. The guards, from time to time, would cut off the head of one +F1 of them. At last they entered &Shiraz, through the gate of &Sa'di. They +F1 paraded the prisoners through the streets, then they cast them into +F1 prison. The women were taken out of the school building after twenty days +F1 and separated into two groups. One group was set free, the others were +F1 sent to &Shiraz with other prisoners who had lately been arrested. +F1 "On reaching &Shiraz, the caravan was again divided into two groups; the +F1 women were sent to the caravansary &Shah &Mir &Ali-Hamzih and the men to +F1 prison with the other &Babis. The next day was a feast day. The governor, +F1 surrounded by all the prominent citizens of &Shiraz, ordered the prisoners +F1 to be brought before him. A &Nayrizi called &Jalal, whom &Na'im had +F1 nicknamed `Bulbul,' revealed the names of his fellow-citizens. The first +F1 one to appear was &Mulla &Abdu'l-Husayn, who was commanded to curse the +F1 &Bab. He refused and his head rolled on the ground. &Haji son of &Asghar, +F1 &Ali &Garm-Siri, &Husayn son of &Hadi &Khayri, &Sadiq son of &Salih, and +F1 &Muhammad-ibn-i-Muhsin all were executed. The women were set free and the +F1 men who survived were taken back to prison. The &Shah having demanded that +F1 the prisoners be sent away, seventy-three were sent to &Tihran. Twenty-two +F1 died during the journey, among whom were &Mulla &Abdu'l-Husayn who died at +F1 &Saydan, &Ali son of &Karbila'i &Zaman at &Abadih; Akbar son of &Karbila'i +F1 &Muhammad at &Qinarih; &Hasan son of &Abdu'l-Vahhab, &Mulla &Ali-Akbar, at +F1 &Isfahan. &Karbila'i &Baqir son of &Muhammad-Zamam, &Hasan and his brother +F1 &Dhu'l-Faqar, &Karbila'i &Naqi and &Ali his son, &Vali &Khan, &Mulla +F1 &Karim, Akbar &Ra'is, &Ghulam-'Ali son of &Pir &Muhammad, &Naqi and +F1 &Muhammad-'Ali, sons of &Muhammad, expired likewise during the course of +F1 the journey. +F1 "The others reached &Tihran and, on the very day of their arrival, +F1 fifteen of them were put to death, among them &Aqa Siyyid &Ali who had been +F1 abandoned as dead, &Karbila'i Rajab the barber, &Sayfu'd-Din, &Sulayman son +F1 of K. &Salman, &Ja'far, &Murad &Khayri, &Husayn son of K. &Baqir, &Mirza +F1 &Abu'l-Hasan son of &Mirza &Taqi, &Mulla &Muhammad-'Ali son of &Aqa +F1 &Mihdi. Twenty-three died in prison, thirteen were freed after three +F1 years, the only one who remained in &Tihran, to die there a little later, +F1 was &Karbila'i &Zaynu'l-'Abidin." (A. L. M. Nicolas' "Siyyid &Ali-Muhammad +F1 dit le &Bab," pp. 421-424.) +F1 "Their persecutors, having captured and killed the men, seized and slew +F1 forty women and children in the following manner: They placed them in the +F1 midst of a cave, heaped up in the cave a vast quantity of firewood, poured +F1 naphtha over the faggots strewn around, set fire to it. One of those who +F1 took part in this deed related as follows: `After two or three days I +F1 ascended that mountain and removed the door from the cave. I saw that the +F1 fire had sunk down into the ashes; but all those women with their children +F1 were seated, each in some corner, clasping their little ones to their +F1 bosoms, and sitting round in a circle, just as they were when we left +F1 them. Some as though in despair or in mourning, had suffered their heads +F1 to sink down on their knees in grief, and all retained the postures they +F1 had assumed. I was filled with amazement, thinking that the fire had not +F1 burned them. Full of apprehension and awe, I entered. Then I saw that all +F1 were burned and charred to a cinder, yet had they never made a movement +F1 which would cause the crumbling away of the bodies. As soon as I touched +F1 them with my hand, however, they crumbled away to ashes. And all of us, +F1 when we had seen this, repented what we had done. But of what avail was +F1 this?'" (The "&Tarikh-i-Jadid," pp. 128-31.) "The author of the +F1 "&Tarikh-i-Jadid," in concluding this narrative, takes occasion to point +F1 out how literally was fulfilled in these events the prophecy contained in +F1 the tradition referring to the signs which shall mark the appearance of the +F1 &Imam &Mihdi: `In Him (shall be) the perfection of Moses, the preciousness +F1 of Jesus, and the patience of Job; His saints shall be abased in His time, +F1 and their heads shall be exchanged as presents, even as the heads of the +F1 Turk and the Daylamite are exchanged as presents; they shall be slain and +F1 burned, and shall be afraid, fearful, and dismayed; the earth shall be dyed +F1 with their blood, and lamentation and wailing shall prevail amongst their +F1 women; these are my saints indeed.' [This tradition, called +F1 &Hadith-i-Jabir, is also quoted from the "&Kafi," one of the principal +F1 compilations of &shi'ite traditions, in the "&Iqan."] When I was at Yazd +F1 in the early summer of 1888, I became acquainted with a &Babi holding a +F1 position of some importance under government, two of whose ancestors had +F1 taken a prominent part in the suppression of the &Nayriz insurrection. +F1 Of what he told me concerning this the following is a summary taken from my +F1 diary for May 18th, 1888: `My maternal grandfather &Mihr-'Ali &Khan +F1 &Shuja'u'l-Mulk and my great-uncle &Mirza &Na'im both took an active part +F1 in the &Nayriz war--but on the wrong side. When orders came to &Shiraz to +F1 quell the insurrection, my grandfather was instructed to take command of +F1 the expedition sent for that purpose. He did not like the task committed +F1 to him and communicated his reluctance to two of the &ulamas, who, however, +F1 reassured him, declaring that the war on which he was about to engage was a +F1 holy enterprise sanctioned by Religion, and that he would receive reward +F1 therefor in Paradise. So he went, and what happened happened. After they +F1 had killed 750 men, they took the women and children, stripped them almost +F1 naked, mounted them on donkeys, mules, and camels, and led them through +F1 rows of heads hewn from the lifeless bodies of their fathers, brothers, +F1 sons, and husbands towards &Shiraz. On their arrival there, they were +F1 placed in a ruined caravanserai just outside the &Isfahan gate and opposite +F1 to an &Imam-zadih, their captors taking up their quarters under some trees +F1 hard by. Here they remained a long while, subjected to many insults, and +F1 hardships, and many of them died. Now see the judgment of God on the +F1 oppressors; for of those chiefly responsible for these cruelties not one +F1 but came to a bad end and died overwhelmed with calamity. My grandfather +F1 &Mihr-'Ali &Khan presently fell ill and was dumb till the day of his +F1 death. Just as he was about to expire, those who stood round him saw from +F1 the movement of his lips that he was whispering something. They leant down +F1 to catch his last words and heard him murmur faintly "&Babi! &Babi! +F1 &Babi!" three times. Then he fell back dead. My great-uncle &Mirza +F1 &Na'im fell into disgrace with the government and was twice fined ten +F1 thousand &tumans the first time, fifteen thousand the second. But his +F1 punishment did not cease here, for he was made to suffer diverse tortures. +F1 His hands were put in the "&il-chik" (the torture consists in placing +F1 pieces of wood between the victims fingers, binding them round tightly +F1 with cord. Cold water is then thrown over the cord to cause its further +F1 contraction) and his feet in the "&tang-i-Qajar" (or "&Qajar squeeze," an +F1 instrument of torture resembling the "boot" once used in England, for the +F1 introduction of which Persia is indebted to the dynasty which at present +F1 occupies the throne); he was made to stand bareheaded in the sun with +F1 treacle smeared over his head to attract the flies; and, after suffering +F1 these and other torments yet more painful and humiliating, he was dismissed +F1 a disgraced and ruined man.'" ("A Traveller's Narrative," Note H, pp. +F1 191-3.) +P646
The confession of &Azim freed &Baha'u'llah from the danger to which His life had been exposed. The circumstances of the death of him who had declared himself the chief instigator of that crime served to abate the wrath with which an enraged populace clamoured for the immediate punishment of so daring an attempt. The cries of rage and vengeance, the appeals for immediate retribution, which had hitherto been focussed on &Baha'u'llah were now diverted from Him. The ferocity of those claimant denunciations was, by degrees, much allayed. The conviction grew firmer in the minds of the responsible authorities in &Tihran that &Baha'u'llah hitherto regarded as the arch-foe of &Nasiri'd-Din +P647 &Shah, was by no means involved in any conspiracy against the sovereign's life. &Mirza &Aqa &Khan was therefore encouraged to send his trusted representative, a man named &Haji &Ali, to the &Siyah-Chal, and to present the order for His release to the Prisoner.
Upon his arrival, the sight which the emissary beheld filled him with grief and surprise. The spectacle which met his eyes was one he could scarcely believe. He wept as he saw &Baha'u'llah chained to a floor that was infested with vermin, His neck weighed down by galling chains, His face laden with sorrow, ungroomed and dishevelled, breathing the pestilential atmosphere of the most terrible of dungeons. +P648 "Accursed be &Mirza &Aqa &Khan!" he burst forth, as his eyes recognised &Baha'u'llah in the gloom that surrounded Him. "God knows I had never imagined that you could have been subjected to so humiliating a captivity. I should never have thought that the Grand &Vazir could have dared commit so heinous an act."
He removed the mantle from his shoulders and presented it to &Baha'u'llah, entreating Him to wear it when in the presence of the minister and his counsellors. &Baha'u'llah refused his request, and, wearing the dress of a prisoner, proceeded straightway to the seat of the imperial government. The first word the Grand &Vazir was moved to address to his Captive was the following: "Had you chosen to take my advice, and had you dissociated yourself from the faith of the &Siyyid-i-Bab, you would never have suffered the pains and indignities that have been heaped upon you." "Had you, in your turn," &Baha'u'llah replied, "followed my counsels, the affairs of the government would not have reached so critical a stage."
He was immediately reminded of the conversation he had +P649 had with Him on the occasion of the &Bab's martyrdom. The words, "the flame that has been kindled will blaze forth more fiercely than ever," flashed through the mind of &Mirza &Aqa &Khan. "The warning you uttered," he remarked, "has, alas been fulfilled. What is it that you advise me now to do?" "Command the governors of the realm," was the instant reply, "to cease shedding the blood of the innocent, to cease plundering their property, to cease dishonouring their women and injuring their children. Let them cease the persecution of the Faith of the &Bab; let them abandon the idle hope of wiping out its followers." +P650
That same day orders were given, through a circular addressed to all the governors of the realm, bidding them desist from their acts of cruelty and shame. "What you have done is enough," &Mirza &Aqa &Khan wrote them. "Cease arresting and punishing the people. Disturb no longer the peace and tranquillity of your countrymen." The &Shah's government had been deliberating as to the most effective measures that should be taken to rid the country, once and for all, of the curse with which it had been afflicted. No sooner had &Baha'u'llah recovered His freedom than the decision of the government was handed to Him, informing Him that within a month of the issuing of this order, He, with His family, was expected to leave &Tihran for a place beyond the confines of Persia.
The Russian minister, as soon as he learned of the action which the government contemplated taking, volunteered to take &Baha'u'llah under his protection, and invited Him to go to Russia. He refused the offer and chose instead to leave for &Iraq. Nine months after His return from &Karbila, on the first day of the month of &Rabi'u'th-Thani, in the year 1269 A.H.,+F1 &Baha'u'llah, accompanied by the members of His family, among whom were the Most Great Branch+F2 and & Aqay-i-Kalim,+F3 and escorted by a member of the imperial body-guard and an official representing the Russian legation, set out from &Tihran on His journey to &Baghdad. +F1 January 12,1853 A.D. +F2 &Abdu'l-Baha. +F3 &Mirza &Musa, commonly called &Aqay-i-Kalim, the ablest and most +F3 distinguished among &Baha'u'llah's brothers and sisters, and His staunch +F3 and valued supporter. +P651
EPILOGUE
NEVER had the fortunes of the Faith proclaimed by the &Bab sunk to a lower ebb than when &Baha'u'llah was banished from His native land to &Iraq. The Cause for which the &Bab had given His life, for which &Baha'u'llah had toiled and suffered, seemed to be on the very verge of extinction. Its force appeared to have been spent, its resistance irretrievably broken. Discouragements and disasters, each more devastating in its effect than the preceding one, had succeeded one another with bewildering rapidity, sapping its vitality and dimming the hope of its stoutest supporters. Indeed, to a superficial reader of the pages of &Nabil's narrative, the whole story from its very beginning appears to be a mere recital of reverses and massacres, of humiliations and disappointments, each more severe than the previous one, culminating at last in the banishment of &Baha'u'llah from His own country. To the sceptical reader, unwilling to recognise the celestial potency with which that Faith was endowed, the entire conception that had evolved in the mind of its Author seems to have been foredoomed to failure. The work of the &Bab, so gloriously conceived, so heroically undertaken, would appear to have ended in a colossal disaster. To such a reader, the life of the ill-fated Youth of &Shiraz would seem, judging from the cruel blows it sustained, to be one of the saddest and most fruitless that had ever been the lot of mortal men. That short and heroic career, which, swift as a meteor, flashed across the firmament of Persia, and seemed for a time to have brought the longed-for light of eternal salvation into the gloom that encircled the country, was plunged at last into an abyss of darkness and despair.
Every step He took, every endeavour He made, had but served to intensify the sorrows and disappointments that weighed upon His soul. The plan He had, at the very outset of His career, conceived of inaugurating His Mission with a public proclamation in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina +P652 failed to materialise as He had hoped. The Sherif of Mecca, to whom &Quddus was bidden deliver His Message, accorded him a reception that betrayed by its icy indifference the contemptuous disregard in which the Cause of a Youth of &Shiraz was held by the ruler of &Hijaz and custodian of its &Ka'bih. The project He had in mind of returning triumphantly from His pilgrimage to the cities of &Karbila and Najaf, where He hoped to establish His Cause, in the very heart of that stronghold of &shi'ah orthodoxy, was likewise hopelessly shattered. The programme which He had thought out, the essentials of which He had already communicated to the chosen nineteen of His disciples, remained for the most part unfulfilled. The moderation He had exhorted them to observe was forgotten in the first flush of enthusiasm that seized the early missionaries of His Faith, which behaviour was in no small measure responsible for the failure of the hopes He had so fondly cherished. The &Mu'tamid, that wise and sagacious ruler, who had so ably warded off the danger with which that precious Life was threatened, and who had proved his capacity to render Him services of such distinction as few of His more modest companions could have hoped to offer, was suddenly taken from Him, leaving Him at the mercy of the perfidious &Gurgin &Khan, the most detestable and unscrupulous of all His enemies. The &Bab's only chance of meeting &Muhammad &Shah--a meeting which He Himself had requested and on which He had pinned His fondest hopes --was dashed to the ground by the intervention of the cowardly and capricious &Haji &Mirza &Aqasi, who trembled at the thought lest His contact with the sovereign, already unduly inclined to befriend that Cause, should prove fatal to his own interests. The attempts, inspired and initiated by the &Bab, which two of His foremost disciples, &Mulla &Aliy-i-Bastami and &Shaykh &Sa'id-i-Hindi, had made to introduce the Faith, the one in Turkish territory and the other in India, ended in dismal failure. The first enterprise collapsed at its very outset by reason of the cruel martyrdom of its promoter, whilst the latter was productive of what might seem a negligible result, its only fruit being the conversion of a certain siyyid whose chequered career of service was brought to a sudden end in &Luristan by the action of the treacherous &Ildirim +P653 &Mirza. The captivity to which the &Bab Himself, during the greater part of the years of His ministry, was condemned; His isolation in the mountain fastnesses of &Adhirbayjan from the body of His followers, who were being sorely tried by a rapacious enemy; above all, the tragedy of His own martyrdom, so intense, so terribly humiliating, would appear to have marked the lowest depths of ignominy which so noble a Cause, from the very hour of its birth, was doomed to suffer. His death, the culmination of a swift and stormy career, would seem to have set the seal of failure upon a task which, however heroic in the efforts it inspired, was impossible of achievement.
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