Read Ebook: The Báb: The Herald of the Day of Days by Balyuzi H M

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About the time that the thirteen colonies of North America were gaining their independence to form the nucleus of the mighty Republic of the West, France was inching her way towards a revolution such as the world had never seen, and Britain was striding along the road to a revolution of a different kind, industrial, agrarian and economic in nature, a cleric of the Islamic ?`ah persuasion left his island-home in the Persian Gulf for the great centres of ?`ah learning and ?`ah devotion in `Ir?q. His purpose was to find a much larger audience in order to give voice to thoughts and presentiments that had developed with his years.

ay A?mad-i-A?s?'? , the founder of the ay? school, belonged to the ancient tribe of Ban?-?ar, and his family originated from the region of A?s? on the Arabian mainland. His father's name was ay Zayni'd-D?n, and Ba?rayn had been their home. ay A?mad first visited Najaf, where the Tomb of `Al?, the first Im?m, cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Mu?ammad, is situated. Then in Karbil?, close by the Shrine of the martyred ?usayn, the third Im?m, he began to preach and a circle of earnest students gathered round him. He asked the leading ?`ah divines of the holy cities of `Ir?q to issue him a licence which would give him recognition as a mujtahid in his own right, that is, a divine empowered to interpret and prescribe. They all declared that they considered ay A?mad to be a man of knowledge and talent superior to their own, and that their testimonial was written solely at his request.

The fame of ay A?mad soon spread throughout ?r?n. Fat?-`Al? ?h and Mu?ammad-`Al? M?rz?, a son of the ?h who held the life-long tenure of the governorship of Kirm?n?h, were particularly desirous to meet him. But ay A?mad preferred to go to ?r?n by way of B?ihr in the south, rather than by the nearer and more accessible route of Kirm?n?h in the west. From B?ihr he went to ?r?z and thence to Yazd, where he stayed for a number of years. Siyyid K??im-i-Rat?, a young man barely out of his teens, who shared the same views, joined him there . ay A?mad was then making his final arrangements to go on pilgrimage to the holy city of Mahad, prior to his visit to ?ihr?n. He received Siyyid K??im with great affection and asked him to remain at Yazd to take up his own patient work of many years. In Mahad and later in ?ihr?n, ay A?mad was shown every mark of high respect and reverence.

Eventually Siyyid K??im travelled north to be in his company, and together they went to Kirm?n?h, as the Prince-Governor had been urgently begging his father to let ay A?mad visit him. They stayed in Kirm?n?h as long as the Governor lived. After his premature death, they departed for Karbil?, where ay A?mad, his zeal unabated and his powers untouched by advancing years, preached and taught. He was in his early eighties when he took the road to Mecca and Medina. From that journey he did not return and lies buried in the famed cemetery of Baqi`, in the vicinity of the Tomb of the Prophet Mu?ammad.

ay A?mad's constant theme was the near advent of the Deliverer of the Latter Days, promised to the world of Isl?m, the Q?'im of the House of Mu?ammad or the Mihd? . In the course of his last pilgrimage to the holy cities of Arabia, he told a merchant from I?fah?n who was with him: 'You will attain the presence of the B?b; salute Him on my behalf.' ay A?mad did not believe in physical resurrection nor in the physical ascent of the Prophet Mu?ammad to heaven on the night that the Angel Gabriel took Him to view the celestial world. Mi`r?j was an experience of the spirit, ay A?mad maintained. Moreover he asserted that the signs and portents of the coming of the Q?'im, given by the Prophet and the Im?ms, were allegorical. These and similar doctrines were anathema to the orthodox, but while ay A?mad lived, royal patronage muted their hostile criticism.

Siyyid K??im , who, in accordance with the will of ay A?mad, succeeded him in guiding his disciples, was the son of Siyyid Q?sim of Rat, a town in northern ?r?n close to the Caspian Sea. He came from a family of well-known merchants and was no more than thirty-three years old when he occupied the seat of authority. The orthodox divines now began their vitriolic assaults in earnest until, at last, Siyyid K??im felt that he needed solid support in ?r?n from the ranks of the orthodox. For that purpose he chose one of his ablest disciples, Mull? ?usayn, a native of the small town of Bur?yih in ur?s?n, to go to I?fah?n and secure the aid of ??j? Siyyid Mu?ammad-B?qir-i-Rat?, a noted divine whose influence was felt far and wide. Mull? ?usayn succeeded brilliantly in accomplishing the mission entrusted to him, obtained the support of that famous man in writing, and then proceeded to Mahad to acquire a similar pledge from yet another powerful divine.

In the meantime not only did Siyyid K??im suffer from the intrigues and onslaughts of his adversaries headed by Siyyid Ibr?h?m-i-Qazv?n?, but the whole of Karbil? was thrown into turmoil. These disorders were of long standing and gradually the authority of the Ottoman government had ceased to exist. Within the town there were several factions at odds with one another, but all determined to resist the re-establishment of Ottoman power. Two successive V?l?s of `Ir?q tried to force the people of Karbil? to submission, but failed conspicuously. However, in the closing months of the year 1842, Naj?b P??, a man resolute and even obstinate, came to occupy the post of V?l?. Affairs in Karbil? had gradually gone from bad to worse. Lawlessness had increased and mob rule prevailed. Naj?b P??'s first thought was to resolve this problem which had baffled his predecessors. He tried to negotiate a settlement, but neither he nor the rebels of Karbil? could really trust one another. Naj?b P?? moved near-by to Musayyib and sent Sar`askar Sa`du'll?h P?? with a small force to reduce the town. Negotiations proceeded apace. Emissaries came and went. Persian princes, who lived in Karbil?, took part in the negotiations, but nothing was achieved.

During those fatal weeks, at the end of the year 1842 and the beginning of 1843, Siyyid K??im, who was greatly respected both for his wisdom and humanity, took a leading role, urging all parties to act with moderation and in a spirit of conciliation. Twice, in company with a small delegation, he visited the camps of Naj?b P?? and Sa`du'll?h P?? outside Karbil?. Lieutenant-Colonel Farrant, the British Special Commissioner, reported his efforts to Constantinople:

The Chief Priest Hajee Seid Kausem did all in his power to prevent hostilities, he preached against their proceedings, he was abused and threatened, they would not listen to him--this I have heard from many people at Kerbella--at this time all were unanimous in defending the place

... to the very last he entreated them to listen to the Pacha but without avail, he shewed great courage on the occasion, as he had all the chief Geramees and Mollahs against him.

?h claimed the throne of ?r?n. He showed great benevolence towards the divines of Karbil? and Najaf, sent them money and stood up for them. However, he was unsuccessful and betook himself to Karbil?. There he fell on hard times and suffered poverty. He expected the divines to come to his help and applied to them, one by one. But none heeded him. One night he and his family had to go to bed hungry. At midnight he heard a knock on his door. When he opened it he found someone, who had pulled his `ab? over his head so as to hide his face. This man put a purse with money in it into his hands and went away.

'Time passed. Indigence and want recurred. Again the same person, head covered with `ab?, came at midnight, handed a sum of money and went away without a word. To the repeated question "who are you?" he gave no answer. Then, that man came a third time with a purse containing money. This time `Al?-?h followed him and saw him enter the house of ??j? Siyyid K??im and shut the door. `Al?-?h related this event in many gatherings. He used to say: "O people! I am not a ay?, but this deed is the work of righteousness. None but a man of truth would act in this way."'

Unhappily, his counsel was ignored by both rebels and Turks. In January 1843, after a siege of twenty-four days, the holy city was taken by assault, causing great suffering to the innocent inhabitants. The files of the Public Record Office in London contain several documents that throw light on this episode, as well as on the central part played by Siyyid K??im.

During the siege ??j? Siyyid K??im had spent himself in an effort to forestall violence and protect all parties to the conflict. Although only fifty years of age, he became aware that his life was nearing its close. He was warned of this, we are told, by the dream of an Arab shepherd who recounted it to him. When his disciples expressed their distress, Siyyid K??im replied:

Is not your love for me for the sake of that true One whose advent we all await? Would you not wish me to die, that the promised One may be revealed?

The year 1844 was about to dawn when Siyyid K??im breathed his last and was laid to rest near the tomb of Im?m ?usayn. His death was reported by Farrant, who wrote on January 24th 1844 to Sir Stratford Canning, sending a copy in February to Lt.-Col. Justin Sheil, the British charg? d'affaires in ?ihr?n:

Hajee Seid Kausem one of the Chief Priests of Kerbella died lately on his return from a visit to Samerrah--Seid Ibrahim Kasveenee the other Chief Priest who was greatly opposed to him, will now enjoy full power, and all contention between the two religious parties will cease.

When Mull? ?usayn-i-Bur?'? returned to Karbil? from his highly successful mission in ?r?n, his teacher was dead. He had not appointed anyone to succeed him.

To follow the events of this narrative, it may be helpful to consider their background in some aspects of Iranian history.

Mu?ammad ?h, the third monarch of the Q?j?r dynasty, ruled the land in 1843, but real power rested in the hands of ??j? M?rz? ?q?s?, his unprepossessing Grand Vizier. The Q?j?rs were a tribe of Turkish origin. ?q? Mu?ammad ?n, a eunuch chieftain of this tribe, arose in the year 1779 to carve out a kingdom for himself. Fifteen years later he finally won the crown of ?r?n when he captured and brutally murdered Lu?f-`Al? ?n, the last ruler of the Zand dynasty, who was brave and high-minded but piteously young. The eunuch king was utterly and savagely ruthless, and he managed to hold off the Russians in the area of the Caucasus until 1797 when he was struck down by three assassins. He was succeeded by his nephew, Fat?-`Al? ?h, a man of soft heart and weak will, who was highly uxorious. At his death in 1834, fifty-three sons and forty-six daughters survived him.

Indeed, high hopes centred on what the Emperor of France would do for ?r?n, only to be dashed by Bonaparte's change of policy; when he met Tsar Alexander I at Tilsit he did not remember any of his promises. And so General Gardanne was ignominiously ousted from ?ihr?n, and Sir Harford Jones and Sir John Malcolm were left at peace, to glower at each other, much to the amusement and also surprise and embarrassment of the Persian ministers. But as Napoleon's star waned, so did the interest of the British in Persian affairs. The wars with Russia went on until the Persians acknowledged defeat in the Treaty of Gulist?n of 1813.

Amidst abysmal ignorance, nepotism and malpractice which abounded in the realm, there stood two men in particular, untouched by corruption, who were fully aware of the needs of their country: Prince `Abb?s M?rz?, the heir to the throne, and his vizier, M?rz? Abu'l-Q?sim, Q?'im-Maq?m-i-Far?h?n?. But their attempts at reform could not obtain the success they deserved because of the obscurantism surrounding the person of the sovereign. It was this Crown Prince who sent the first group of Iranian students to Britain to learn the crafts of the West. Their story, which does no credit to the government in London, is preserved in a number of documents lodged in the Public Record Office. Incidentally, one of these men, a student of medicine, was named M?rz? ??j? B?b?, the eponym of the chief character of James Morier's well-known satire.

Prince `Abb?s M?rz?, worsted in the field by the Russians, now tried to provide his country with a modern army and engaged British instructors. As in the past, ?ihr?n gave him little help. Yet he was under constant pressure to resume hostilities. The divines, particularly, were urging it. Yet Russia had no desire to fight; nor had Fat?-`Al? ?h: war was too expensive. Prince Menchikov arrived from St. Petersburg not to dictate but to negotiate. But the demands of those who sought war--the clerics and the powerful court faction of All?h-Y?r ?n--proved irresistible; Menchikov returned to St. Petersburg.

Prince `Abb?s M?rz? was now a sad and broken man. Rash actions forced upon him had brought total desolation. His modern army was shattered. Because he knew of the intrigues that plagued his father's court, and to make certain that his eldest son would not be left undefended, he asked for guarantees from the Tsar, which were readily given. After this ordeal of defeat and submission Prince `Abb?s M?rz? did not live long. He died at the age of forty-five, and a year later his father followed him to the grave.

The eldest son of `Abb?s M?rz?, named heir-apparent by Fat?-`Al? ?h, came into his heritage by a combination of the assured support of Britain and Russia, and the wise strategy of Q?'im-Maq?m. Sir John Campbell, the British Minister in ?ihr?n, and Sir Henry Lindesay Bethune, who took command of the forces loyal to the son of `Abb?s M?rz?, brought him safely from Tabr?z to ?ihr?n. Q?'im-Maq?m, in the meantime, secured the backing of influential men in the capital, where another son of the late king had styled himself `Adil ?h and was claiming the throne. But his reign was brief, and soon Mu?ammad ?h, the heir-apparent, was well entrenched in ?ihr?n, for Sir Henry Lindesay Bethune easily routed other pretenders.

His successor as the Grand Vizier was ??j? M?rz? ?q?s?, a man ignorant and devoid of all graces, affecting deep piety. This is how Sir Henry Layard saw him in 1840:

We waited upon the Prime Minister, the Haji Mirza Agasi, who was then the man of the greatest influence, power and authority in Persia. The Shah had committed to him almost the entire government of his kingdom, occupying himself but little with public affairs, aware of his own incapacity for conducting them. 'The Haji'--the name by which he was familiarly known--was, by all accounts, a statesman of craft and cunning, but of limited abilities. He was cruel and treacherous, proud and overbearing, although he affected the humility of a pious mulla who had performed the pilgrimage to Mecca and the holy shrines of the Imaums. The religious character which he had assumed made him intolerant and bigoted, and he was known to be a fanatical hater of Christians. He had been the Shah's tutor and instructor in the Koran, and had acquired a great influence over his pupil, who had raised him to the lofty position which he then held. He had the reputation of being an accomplished Persian and Arabic scholar, but he was entirely ignorant of all European languages. His misgovernment, and the corruption and general oppression which everywhere existed had brought Persia to the verge of ruin. Distress, misery, and discontent prevailed to an extent previously unknown. He was universally execrated as the cause of the misfortunes and misery from which the people and the State were suffering. We found him seated on his hams, in the Persian fashion, on a fine Kurdish carpet spread in a handsome hall. Before him was a large tray filled with ices and a variety of fruit.... He was a man of small stature, with sharp and somewhat mean and forbidding features, and a loud shrill voice. His dress was simple--almost shabby--as became a mulla and a man devoted to religious life.... It was evident that the Haji suspected that we were spies and agents of the British Government. However, he declared that the Shah was willing that we should visit any part of his territories where we could travel in safety, and that orders had been issued for the preparation of our farman ; for his Majesty had said that we belonged to a friendly nation, and his quarrel was not with England but with Lord Palmerston, who had treated Persia ill, and had recalled the Queen's Ambassador without sufficient cause....

Yet another issue reared its ugly head to exacerbate relations between ?r?n and the Ottoman Empire, that of ?`ah against Sunn?. Sheil, the British Minister in ?ihr?n, reported to the Foreign Secretary, the Earl of Aberdeen:

If the Moollahs, and in particular the chief priest of Ispahan, Hajee Syed Moollah Mahomed Baukir, whose religious influence in Persia is powerful, should use the present opportunity for regaining their former position by exerting their authority among the people, and preaching a crusade against the rival branch of Mahommedanism, it is not easy to foresee the consequences.

Indeed, reported Sheil, the Persian Foreign Minister and ??j? M?rz? ?q?s? were considering the possibility of war.

This chief priest of I?fah?n, mentioned by Sheil, was the same divine from whom Mull? ?usayn-i-Bur?'? obtained unqualified support for Siyyid K??im-i-Rat?.

ALL HAIL ?R?Z

All hail, iraz, hail! Oh site without peer! May God be the Watchman before thy gate, That the feet of Misfortune enter not here! Lest my Ruknabad be left desolate.... --??fi?

In the afternoon of May 22nd 1844 a traveller stood outside the gates of ?r?z. He had come from Karbil?, on a spiritual quest to his native land of ?r?n. A boat had taken him to B?ihr on the Persian Gulf. From that insalubrious port his route had lain over forbidding mountains to the renowned city of ?r?z. He was accompanied by his brother and his nephew, both barely twenty years old, and he himself but in his early thirties. They had undertaken this journey for a purpose which to many seemed fantastic. But for themselves and many more like them it was real and urgent.

This traveller was the same Mull? ?usayn-i-Bur?'?, who, after the accomplishment of his highly fruitful mission in ?r?n on behalf of Siyyid K??im-i-Rat?, had reached Karbil? only to find his teacher dead. He had learned that Siyyid K??im's parting counsel to his disciples had been to leave their homes and their cloisters, to abandon their studies and their debates and go out into the world to seek 'the Lord of the Age' whose advent had for centuries been the hope of countless millions. His supernal light would soon break upon the world, Siyyid K??im had said. Mull? ?usayn together with a number of Siyyid K??im's disciples kept vigil for forty days in the old mosque of K?fih, nearly in ruins, and then set out on different routes to do their master's bidding.

Mull? ?usayn was a man of profound scholarship and unbending will. Nothing daunted him. Now, reaching the gates of ?r?z, he sent his companions into the city to obtain lodgings, but he himself tarried for a while in the fields. His mind was occupied with the object of his quest, a quest that had brought him all those wearisome miles to ?r?z, the home and the resting-place of two of the greatest poets of ?r?n. Here, some five hundred years before, ??fi? had composed his superb, ethereal lyrics. Here Sa`d? had lived a good part of his life and had written his lucid prose, his lambent verse. Here had worked and died a host of men celebrated both in their own days and thereafter. The air of ?r?z, the plain of ?r?z, the roses of ?r?z, the cypresses of ?r?z, have all been lavishly praised.

Forty-four years later, the young Edward Granville Browne, the future eminent orientalist of the University of Cambridge, looked at the plain of ?r?z from the heights facing the road to B?ihr, that mountain pass which is named All?h-u-Akbar because the traveller thus expresses his wonderment at beholding such a beauteous plain. Browne wrote:

Words cannot describe the rapture which overcame me as, after many a weary march, I gazed at length on the reality of that whereof I had so long dreamed, and found the reality not merely equal to, but far surpassing, the ideal which I had conceived. It is seldom enough in one's life that this occurs. When it does, one's innermost being is stirred with an emotion which baffles description, and which the most eloquent words can but dimly shadow forth.

This was the city that Mull? ?usayn was about to enter. It was as if a magnet had drawn him, with his brother and his nephew, to ?r?z. Nor were they alone in being thus drawn.

On this hot afternoon of May 22nd, Mull? ?usayn was fatigued after the trying journey from the coast up the precipitous tracks of the rising plateau. But his mind was alert and his soul yearned for that peace which the attainment of his goal would bring him. As he walked and pondered he came face to face with a Youth of striking appearance. That young Man, who was gentle and gracious and whose turban proclaimed His descent from the Prophet Mu?ammad, greeted him with great kindness. Mull? ?usayn was amazed and overwhelmed by the warmth of this unexpected welcome. It was the courtesy coupled with the dignified mien of this young Siyyid which particularly impressed him. Then the young Man invited him to be His guest and to partake of the evening meal at His house. Mull? ?usayn mentioned that his companions had gone ahead and would be awaiting him, to which the young Siyyid replied: 'Commit them to the care of God; He will surely protect and watch over them'.

'We soon found ourselves standing at the gate of a house of modest appearance,' Mull? ?usayn has recounted. 'He knocked at the door, which was soon opened by an Ethiopian servant. "Enter therein in peace, secure," were His words as He crossed the threshold and motioned me to follow Him. His invitation, uttered with power and majesty, penetrated my soul. I thought it a good augury to be addressed in such words, standing as I did on the threshold of the first house I was entering in ?r?z, a city the very atmosphere of which had produced already an indescribable impression upon me.'

?r?z had cast its spell upon Mull? ?usayn. But little did he think that his youthful Host, whose utterance rang with authority, was that 'Lord of the Age', that 'Q?'im of the House of Mu?ammad' whom he was seeking. Yet he could not escape the feeling that the unexpected encounter might in some way bring him near the end of his quest. At the same time he was uneasy at having left his brother and nephew with no news of himself. He further recounts: 'Overwhelmed with His acts of extreme kindness, I arose to depart. "The time for evening prayer is approaching," I ventured to observe. "I have promised my friends to join them at that hour in the Masjid-i-?l?n?". With extreme courtesy and calm He replied: "You must surely have made the hour of your return conditional upon the will and pleasure of God. It seems that His will has decreed otherwise. You need have no fear of having broken your pledge."' Such undoubted assurance should have made Mull? ?usayn aware that he was about to experience the supreme test of his life.

They prayed together. They sat down to converse. And suddenly his Host asked Mull? ?usayn: 'Whom, after Siyyid K??im, do you regard as his successor and your leader?' Furthermore, He asked: 'Has your teacher given you any detailed indications as to the distinguishing features of the promised One?' Mull? ?usayn replied that Siyyid K??im had laid the injunction upon his disciples to disperse after his death and seek 'the Lord of the Age', and indeed he had given them indications by which they could come to recognize Him. 'He is of a pure lineage, is of illustrious descent,' said Mull? ?usayn, 'and of the seed of F??imih. As to His age, He is more than twenty and less than thirty. He is endowed with innate knowledge, ... abstains from smoking, and is free from bodily deficiency.'

There was silence--the pause that precedes the breaking of the dawn. Mull? ?usayn has told us that the silence was broken with 'vibrant voice' by his Host who declared to him:

Behold, all these signs are manifest in Me.

Mull? ?usayn was for the moment shocked and bewildered. He tried to resist a claim so breath-taking. But Truth looked him in the face. He marshalled arguments. But Truth is its own argument.

Mull? ?usayn said: 'He whose advent we await is a Man of unsurpassed holiness, and the Cause He is to reveal a Cause of tremendous power. Many and diverse are the requirements which He who claims to be its visible embodiment must needs fulfil. How often has Siyyid K??im referred to the vastness of the knowledge of the promised One! How often did he say: "My own knowledge is but a drop compared with that with which He has been endowed. All my attainments are but a speck of dust in the face of the immensity of His knowledge. Nay, immeasurable is the difference!"'

In days gone by Mull? ?usayn had written a dissertation on some of the abstruse doctrines and teachings which ay A?mad and Siyyid K??im had enunciated. He carried a copy of this treatise with him. He now presented it to his Host and asked Him to peruse it, and elucidate the mysteries which it contained. Not only did his Host after a rapid look through that treatise shed light upon it, He went far beyond it. Then Mull? ?usayn was given the proof of which he had ample knowledge. There is a S?rih in the Qur'?n entitled the S?rih of Joseph. It tells the story of Joseph, the son of Jacob, he whom his brothers betrayed and sold into slavery, who suffered imprisonment in Egypt, but rose to rule that land. It is highly allegorical. Siyyid K??im had told Mull? ?usayn, when requested by him to write a commentary on that chapter of the Qur'?n: 'This is, verily, beyond me. He, that great One, who comes after me will, unasked, reveal it for you. That commentary will constitute one of the weightiest testimonies of His truth, and one of the clearest evidences of the loftiness of His position.'

Mull? ?usayn's Host told him: 'Now is the time to reveal the commentary on the S?rih of Joseph.'

'He took up His pen,' Mull? ?usayn related, 'and with incredible rapidity revealed the entire S?rih of Mulk, the first chapter of His commentary on the S?rih of Joseph. The overpowering effect of the manner in which He wrote was heightened by the gentle intonation of His voice which accompanied His writing. Not for one moment did He interrupt the flow of the verses which streamed from His pen. Not once did He pause till the S?rih of Mulk was finished. I sat enraptured by the magic of His voice and the sweeping force of His revelation.'

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