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. . . the first standard book on the subject. Dr. William N. Wysham, Author, Editor, Lecturer on World Religions.

No serious student of the Bahai faith, tradition, and community can afford to over1ook this significant work. T. Cuyler Young, Garret Pro essor o Persian Language and !istory, Princeton "ni#ersity. an authoritative and readable work com iled by one who has had intimate ac!uaintance with the subject. Re#. Cady !. Allen, $issionary o the Pres%yterian Church in &ran or '' years. "his brings together for the first time many of the little known events and incidents which focus the light of history u on the beginnings of the faith Bahau1lah roclaimed for this era. Dr.
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Warren We%ster, Author and Lecturer on &slam. %illiam &arey 'ibrary.

The Baha'i Faith: Its History and Teachings Table of Contents


The Preamble Pages Introduction The Islamic Background The cover Pages Babi !"risings and the #$ecution of the Bab The &octrines and &ecrees of the Bab The (icegerency of )ubh*i*+,al The )chism bet.een )ubh*i*+,al and Baha The 0anifestation of Baha'u'llah The &octrines and &ecrees of Baha'u'llah The 3ule of +bdu'1*Baha The Baha'i Faith 5oes 6est and #ast The Teachings and 6ill of +bdu'1*Baha The 5uardianshi" of )hoghi #fendi: 8rgani,ation of the Cause The 5uardianshi" of )hoghi #fendi: 9osses and 5ains The 3ule of the Peo"le Conclusion

1 # % ' / 1 2 14 11 17 1 1% 1'

+""endi$ I : Translation of the +l*:itab +l*+;das +""endi$ II : &ocuments )u""lied by <alal +,al Inde$

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+bout the +uthor


%illiam (c)lwee (iller, born in (iddlesboro, *entucky, received his +.B. in 1,1# and (.+. in 1,1- from %ashington and 'ee .niversity. /e ac!uired a 0hi Beta *a a key and in 1,1, received the B.1. from 0rinceton "heological 2eminary. 3rom there he went to 0ersia 45ran6 as a missionary of the 0resbyterian &hurch and, e7ce t for receiving the 1.1. from %ashington and 'ee .niversity in 1,-#, he remained in service in 0ersia until retirement in 1,8#. /e and his wife now reside in 0hiladel hia. %hile living in (eshed, the sacred city of 2hiite (uslims, he learned to s eak 0ersian fluently. (iller discovered and ublished by the 9oyal +siatic 2ociety in 'ondon. 5n 5ran (iller soon came in touch with followers of Bahaullah, who was born in that country. %ishing to understand this movement and its history and doctrines more thoroughly, he began a study of the literature of the Babis and Bahais which he has continued for fifty years. /e ublished a book on Bahaism in 1,-#, and has also written many articles on the subject. /e coo erated with 1r. ).). )lder in translating and ublishing the (ita%)i)A*das, the most im ortant writing of Bahaullah. 3rom a scholar in &y rus he received a large amount of historical material about the Babi:Bahai (ovement which has not been ublished revious to this volume.

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Contents
1. "he 5slamic Background #. "he (anifestation of the Bab -. Babi . risings and the )7ecution of the Bab =. "he 1octrines and 1ecrees of the Bab ;. "he Aicegerency of 2ubh:i:+Bal 8. "he 2chism between 2ubh:i:+Bal and Baha <. "he (anifestation of Bahaullah ?. "he 1octrines and 1ecrees of Bahaullah ,. "he 9ule of +bdu1:Baha 1$. "he Bahai 3aith Coes %est and )ast 11. "he "eachings and %ill of +bdu1:Baha 1#. "he Cuardianshi of 2hoghi )fendiD @rganiBation of the &ause 1-. "he Cuardianshi of 2hoghi )fendiD 'osses and Cains 1=. "he 9ule of the 0eo le 1;. &onclusion + endi7 5 "ranslation of the +l:*itab +l:+!das + endi7 55 1ocuments 2u lied by Ealal +Bal 5nde7 8 1# #$ #, =$ ;1 8$ <1 ?< ,8 1$, 1## 1-< 1;1<= 1<, #18

Illustrations
1. #. -. =. ;. 8. <. ?. "he Bahai "em le in %ilmette, 5llinois 2ayyid +li (uhammad the Bab una#aila%le (irBa /usayn +li Bahaullah una#aila%le (irBa Fahya 2ubh:i:+Bal una#aila%le +bbas )fendi +bdu1:Baha una#aila%le (irBa (uhammad +li una#aila%le +bdu1:Baha and his Crandson 2hoghi )fendi una#aila%le Bahai /ead!uarters una#aila%le ii

To All Who Practice Independent Investigation of Truth

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1= The Islamic Background


5t is as im ossible for one to understand the Bahai 3aith without a knowledge of 5slam as it would be to understand &hristianity without a knowledge of the @ld "estament. "he Bahai religion is an offshoot of 2hiite 5slam, and though modern Bahais may em hasiBe the universal as ects of their faith and strive to disassociate themselves from the ast, nevertheless the foundations of their system rest on the soil of 5ran, which is saturated with 5slamic conce tions. 5t is of course im ossible for us here to give a full account of the rise of 5slam and the develo ment of the doctrines and ractices and civiliBation of the (uslims, and .the reader is referred to the e7cellent books on 5slam which are now available. /owever, to assist those who may not have the time or inclination for such a study to understand better the ideas and attitudes which will be met in the teachings and actions of the Bab and those who followed him, a very brief account of the interesting historical background of the Babi movement will be su lied. 5n the year ;<$ +.1. there was born in the city of (ecca in +rabia a baby who was named (uhammad, who was destined to change the religious and olitical and cultural as ects of a large art of the world. 'iving among eo le who worshi ed idols, but who knew of a 2u reme 1eity whom they called +llah 4"he Cod6, (uhammad became ac!uainted with some Eews and &hristians who did not worshi images. 5t was robably, in art at least, as a result of his contacts with them that a strong conviction came to (uhammad when he was forty years of age that he had been a ointed by +llah as a ro het, and thereafter till his death in 8-# +.1. he was sure that revelations from +llah were brought down to him from heaven by the angel Cabriel. "hese divine messages were s oken by (uhammad, were written down by those who heard them 4it is generally su osed that (uhammad was illiterate6, and were later collected in a book called the Guran 4*oran6. +fter receiving his commission (uhammad began to tell the eo le of (ecca that +llah alone is Cod, and that he who created all things will one day raise the dead to life, and will reward with the leasures of 0aradise those who worshi him and do good deeds, and will unish with the fires of /ell those who do not. + few relatives and friends believed on the new ro het, but most of the (eccans ignored or rejected him. %hen (uhammad was asked to show a sign or to erform a miracle to grove that he was indeed a ro het, his re ly was that the verses of the *oran were his signs, and he challenged others to roduce the like of them. %hen he later fiercely denounced the idols and the idolaters, the (eccans began to ersecute him and his followers. 3inally, after thirteen years of ersistent but rather fruitless effort, (uhammad resolved to go north to the city of (adina, where there were eo le who had romised to hel him. +ccordingly, in the year 8## +.1., he and the little band of faithful believers came to (adina and henceforth made this their home. "his migration, which is called the /egira +hi,ra-, marks the beginning of the (uslim era, and from it all events are dated. @n reaching (adina, (uhammad found himself much better situated than he had been in (ecca. %hen his arty, which was growing ra idly, gained su remacy over the other factions in the city, (uhammad the ro het and reacher became also the ruler of (adina, with a body of armed men at. his back. /aving failed to win the allegiance of the idolaters of (ecca by his verses and reaching, he now undertook to convince them by the sword. 2even months after his arrival at (adina he began to attack the caravans of the eo le of (ecca in which most of their wealth was invested. +t first he met with little success, but in 8#= +.1. he succeeded in ca turing a large caravan, killing many of its guards, and dividing the booty among his followers. "his led to other battles, and finally not only the eo le of (ecca but also most of the tribes of +rabia, both Eewish
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and agan, were defeated and submitted to (uhammad. "hose who submitted to him as their olitical and religious ruler, and to +llah who had sent him, were known as (uslims +$uslim in the +rabic language means one who submits6. "hose who refused to become (uslims were in some instances forced to ay ta7es, and in others were ut to the sword. "hus the system established by (uhammad which was called 5slam 4submission6 was not so much a church as a church:state, or theocracy. (uhammad was both 0ro het and *ing. 3rom the beginning religion and olitics have in 5slam been one, at least in theory. "his remarkable ruler of +rabia had heard that Cod had given divinely ins ired books to some of the great ro hets of old, in which he had made known to men the laws, both civil and religious, which he had ordained for their life on earth, and by the kee ing of which they would merit divine favor and win for themselves entrance to 0aradise. "herefore, in the *oran, in accordance with the su osed attern of the books of revious ro hets, along with some ins iring ascri tions of raise to +llah, we find regulations for marriage and divorce, the conduct of war with the infidels, the division of booty, and other civil matters interwoven with instructions as to worshi , fasting, clean and unclean foods, the care of or hans and the oor, and various other moral matters. (uhammad believed that +llah had authoriBed him to regulate all hases of the life of believers. "he 0ro het of +rabia robably took (oses as his model of what a ro het should be and say and do, for he knew more of him than he did of Eesus. /e told the +rabs that as +braham and Noses and Eesus and other ro hets had been sent to various eo les, so he had been sent to them. /owever, his mission was not for the +rabs alone, it was for all mankind. 2o he called u on all men, Eews, &hristians and heathen, to acknowledge and obey him. /e thought that Eesus had redicted his coming,416 just as revious ro hets had redicted the coming of Eesus. /e made no claims of divinity for himself, saying that he was only a man like other men,4#6 and he warmly rejected the claims of the &hristians that Eesus is 2on of Cod. /e s oke of himself as the 2eal of the 0ro hets, 4-6 thus im lying that he was the last and the greatest in the ro hetic line. (uhammad made no definite rovision as to his successor, one to which all of his followers agreed. @n his death ten years after moving to (adina the majority of the believers united in choosing +bu Bakr as &ali h 4meaning vicar or successor6, and he ruled the church:state of 5slam in (uhammads lace. +bu Bakr was succeeded in turn by .mar, .thman and +li, these four being known as the 9ightly:Cuided &ali hs, who were all chosen in the same manner. "he last three were assassinated by other (uslims. "o the democratic +rabs it seemed altogether ro er that their chief should he thus a ointed by the eo le. "hey held that the voice of the eo le was the voice of Cod. 5t was during the reigns of these first four &ali hs that the armies of the +rabs oured forth from their barren deserts, overthrew the forces of 0ersia and ByBantium, and con!uered (eso otamia, 2yria, the 5ranian 0lateau and )gy t for 5slam. 5t was their belief that (uslims must rule the whole world. /owever, there soon develo ed in 5slam a arty the members of which held a theory of the succession totally different from that held by the ruling arty. "o them it seemed as im ossible for the successor of the 0ro het to be elected by the eo le as it would have been for the 0ro het himself to be thus chosen. "hey contended that as a ro het must be chosen by Cod, not by the eo le, so must the ro hets successor he a ointed by Cod and named s ecifically by the ro het. "his arty was called .hi/it/e 4meaning se aratist6. "hough there came ta be many divisions among 2hiites, they all held firmly to the rinci le that the successor of (uhammad, whom they called not &ali h but &mam 4meaning leader6, must be a descendant of the 0ro het, and must be nominated e7 licitly by his redecessor, i.e., by the 0ro het in the case of the first 5mam, and in other cases by the receding 5mam.....the 5mam was none the less 5mam though recogniBed only by a small minority, and to recogniBe and yield allegiance to the rightful 5mam was the su reme duty of the believer.4=6
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"he 2hiites held that the first 5mam, or vicegerent of their 0ro het, was +li, the cousin and son: in: law of (uhammad 4(uhammad left no son to be his heir6. "hey asserted that (uhammad on his return journey from his last ilgrimage to (ecca ublicly a ointed +li to succeed him, saying to all the eo le, 'et whoever owns me as his master own also +li as his (aster.4;6 "hey therefore looked u on +bu Bakr, .mar and .thman as usur ers, and as enemies of Cod and his chosen 5mam. "hus the (uslim world was from early times divided between the 2hiites and their o onents the 2unnites. "his division has remained till the resent day, but the bitterness between the two arties is in many laces less than it once was. "hough the 2hiites have always been in the minority in the (uslim world, and were often divided among themselves as to who was the rightful 5mam of the age, they have often shown the most assionate devotion to their beliefs and to their leaders. (uch (uslim blood has been shed over the !uestion of the succession. "he eo le of 5ran were es ecially susce tible to 2hiite influences. "hey generally des ised the +rabs by whom they had been con!uered, and in es ousing the cause of +li and his descendants they found an o ortunity for e7 ressing their national s irit and maintaining something of their inde endence. "he 5ranians, unlike the democratic +rabs, were imbued with the doctrine of the divine right of kings, and had even considered their rulers to be divine beings. "hey were therefore !uite ready, after their defeat by the +rabs, to give the 5mams the lace in their affection which their own kings had reviously occu ied, and to look u on them as su ernatural beings, free from all sin and im erfection, and endowed with miraculous owers, who ought by divine right to rule over them in both tem oral and s iritual affairs. "he 2hiites never succeeded in gaining tem oral authority for any of their 5mams 4with the e7ce tion of +li, who became the fourth &a1i h6, but they always longed to do so, chafing under what they considered the unrighteous rule of worldly &ali hs chosen by men. 5t is estimated that ,?H of the eo le of 5ran are (uslims, the great majority of whom belong to that sect of the 2hiites which acknowledges twelve 5mams. "his sect. became the official religion of 5ran after the 2afavid con!uest early in the 18th century, and is so today. "he followers of this form of 5slam affirm that +li and ten of his descendants who one after another succeeded him suffered violent deaths at the hands of the 2unnites, and are counted as holy martyrs. "hey believe, however, that the twelfth 5mam, (uhammad son of /asan al:+skari, called by them the 5mam (ahdi, the 'ord of the +ge, the 0roof of Cod, /e %ho 2hall +rise of the 3amily of (uhammad +0aim)i)AL)i)$uhammad-,1 and the 9emnant of Cod +2a*iyyatullah-,1 who as a child, immediately after the death of his father disa eared from the view of men in 5ra! in the year ?<- +.1. 4#8$ +./.6, 486 is still alive, and will again a ear on earth. 3or in every age, they say, there must be an 5mam immune to sin. 3or a eriod of seventy years after his disa earance, the "welfth 5mam communicated his will to men through four 2a%s 4meaning gates6, whose title, strictly s eaking, is 2 ecial Aicegerent +Nai%)i)(has-, and who in succession acted as the channels of grace to mankind. %hen the fourth Bab died no one succeeded him, and thereafter 2hiites were cut off from direct communication with "he 'ord of the +ge, now absent, or hidden, but living, and could only long and ray for his return as (ahdi or Gaim. "his they have done for more than a thousand years. $ +llah, hasten his joy, and cause us to behold his victory, and make us his hel ers and his followersI rays a 2hiite divine of the fourteenth century +.1.,4<6 and ious 2hiites make the same rayer today. "hey look for the a earance of the /idden 5mam as earnestly as ever the Eews did for their romised (essiah. Books of o ular 2hiite theology4?6 contain the most minute descri tions of the coming of the $ahdi 4"he Cuided @ne6, as the /idden 5mam is often called. @nly Cod knows the time of his a earing, but some of the 2hiites seem to know everything else about itI /is coming will he receded by wars, confusion, ecli ses of sun and moon, a terrible increase of infidelity and corru tion of morals. (en will cease saying the rayers, and will lie, take interest and bribes, build for themselves strong houses, and take counsel with women. %omen will enter business, will sing
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in ublic, and will ride astride. (uslims will become the most abject of eo les. Da,,al will a ear riding on an ass, and will entice many eo le after him and destroy them. "hen will a ear the (ahdi. +t once his -1- faithful followers, who like him have been hidden for more than a thousand years, will hasten from the ends of the earth to his side. +ll true believers will join him with drawn swords, and win for him the sovereignty of which he has been wrongfully de rived these many centuries. /is armies will swee over the whole earth, killing all who refuse to submit to their 'ord. +ll former ro hets and 5mams will return to earth to aid the (ahdi. /e will bring to an end all o ression, and will fill the earth with justice. @nly 2hiites will then be found on the earth, and at last the religion and government of all mankind will become one. 3ollowing a long reign of these true believers, all will die, and then will come the 9esurrection and the 'ast Eudgment. 3or many eo le of education these redictions would be inter reted allegorically, or might be rejected as nonsense. /ut most 2hiites in 5ran a century ago took all these details very literally. "he swords which till recent times were hanging in numerous sho s and homes in readiness for the coming of "he 'ord of the +ge roved how real these ho es were to many eo le, and how central a lace in their e7 ectations was occu ied by the dream of the con!uest of unbelievers and the establishment of a universal 2hiite theocracy in all lands. "he 2hiite doctrine of the 5mamate is closely related to their beliefs about the 0ro hets. "hey hold that among and above the 1#=,$$$ sinless ro hets whom Cod sent to guide men, there were certain Creat 0ro hets, generally thought to be +dam, Noah, +braham, (oses, Eesus and (uhammad, who in succession were Cods re resentatives on earth. )ach one of these was the 0ro het for the whole world for a long eriod of time, bringing a book of laws from Cod for all mankind, and foretelling the 0ro het who was to follow. "hough (uhammad was the last of the 0ro hets, he was followed by the 5mams, who were e!ual to him in rank, and differed only in that they did not bring new laws to re lace those of the *oran. "here is. a o ular belief that the first thing created by Cod was the 'ight of (uhammad, which abode in +dam and the Creat 0ro hets who followed him, and which was seen in its erfection in (uhammad and in the 5mams who are one with him. +mong the 2hiites there have been various sects the members of which have not contented themselves with considering the 0ro hets and 5mams as su ernatural and sinless beings with miraculous owers, but have e7alted them yet more highly, saying that they were emanations of 1eity and manifestations of Cod. "hese sects 4known as ghulat-, which were rejected by the "welvers as heretical, were usually characteriBed by certain cardinal doctrines, chiefly (etem sychosis +tanasu3h-, 5ncarnation +hulul-, and 9eturn 4rijat- of individuals or ty es in successive cycles. 3rom time to time in the history of 5ran we find individuals utting forward the claim that they were the return of some revious ro het or imam, and were divine manifestations. 4,6 @ne of these individuals who claimed to be Cod was al:Nu!anna, "he Aeiled 0ro het of *horasan, known to )nglish readers through (oores Lalla Roo3h. /e taught that the 1eity had been manifested in all the ro hets from +dam down, and had finally come to him. /e was successful in gathering about him a great number of eo le who worshi ed him and fought for him, till he and his followers miserably erished in <<, +.1. + half:century later Babak made the same claim, and ke t 5ran in turmoil for twenty years, during which time he is said to have killed nearly a half:million eo le. +t last he was ca tured and e7ecuted in ?-? +.1. +s 0rofessor Browne remarks, these doctrines 4of 5ncarnation, 9eturn, etc.6 a ear to be endemic in 0ersia, and always ready to become e idemic under suitable stimulus.41$6 @ne of the more recent of these heretical sects to a ear in 5ran, one that was rejected and hated by the "welvers, was that of the 2haykhis,4116 the followers of 2haykh41#6 +hmad al:+hsai, who died in 1?#8 +.1. "he chief doctrines of this sect were the followingD 416 +li and the eleven 5mams who followed him were divine beingsJ 4#6 there must always e7ist
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among men on earth some erson who is in direct su ernatural communication with the /idden 5mam, and acts as the channel of grace between him and the 2hiitesJ and 4-6 there is no bodily 9esurrection. 2haykh +hmad was during his lifetime considered by his disci les to be the channel of grace between believers and the Bidden 5mam,. as was also his successor 2ayyid41-6 *aBim of 9esht. Both of these men were sometimes given the title 2a% 4Cate6, by which the first four intermediaries had been known. "hese 2haykhi teachers led their disci les to e7 ect in the near future the a earance of the /idden 5mam himself. 2ome traditions said that he would return after a thousand years, and, according to the (uslim calendar, the time was at hand. "hus 2hiites of al1 sects were im atiently awaiting his manifestation. %hen 2ayyid *aBim died in 1?=-, his disci les were in doubt for some time as to whom they should turn for guidance. 2oon two rival claimants for the leadershi a eared, and the 2haykhi brotherhood was torn in two. @ne faction followed /ajji41=6 *arim *han of *irman, and continued to go by the name 2haykhi. "he other faction, which was the stronger, followed 2ayyid +li (uhammad of 2hiraB, who ado ted the title 2a%. /ence his followers became known as Babis.41;6 /aving described briefly the beliefs and ho es of many of the eo le of 5ran in the first half of the 1,th century, we are now re ared to roceed with the story of 2ayyid +li (uhammad the Bab, and the remark: able movement of which he was the central figure.
BIB9I853+PH> A*a /idu /sh).hia, Doctrines o the .hi/ites +in Persian- 2ro4n, Da#id, The Way o the Pro5het, London, 6789. 2ro4ne, E. G., A Literary !istory o Pereia, London. Nu*tatu/l)(a +Persian, 4ith English &ntroduction- London, 676:. &ragg, *enneth, The Call o the $inaret, o7ford .niversity 0ress, 1,;8. 1onaldson, 1wight (., The .hii/te Religion, 'ondon, 1,--. Cardet, 'ouis, $ohammedanism, New Fork, 1,81. Cibb, /. +. /., $ohammedanism, @7ford .niversity 0ress, 1,8?. Cuillaume, +lfred, &slam, 0elican Books, 1,;=. The (oran, translated by 9odwell, )verymans 'ibrary. The (oran, translated by N. E. 1awood, 0enguin Books. (argoliouth, $ohammed, /eroes of the Nations 2eries. (iller, %illiam (., Al)2a%u/l)!adi Ashar 4translation in )nglish of a 2hiite &reed6, 9oyal +siatic 2ociety, 'ondon, 1,#?. 2ell, )dward, The Li e o $uhammad, 'ondon, 1,1-. Aos, /oward A., Religions in a Changing World, &ha ter on 5slam by %illiam N. (iller, &hicago, 1,;,. %att, %. (ontgomery, $uhammad, Pro5het and .tatesman, @7ford .niversity 0ress, 1,81. %ilson, E. &hristy, &ntroducing &slam, New Fork, 1,;?.

N@")2 1. #. -. =. 3rom ancient times (uslims have ointed to the romise of the 0araclete, the &omforter 4Eohn 1=D 186, as a rediction of (uhammad. *oran KA555D11$. 5bid., *KK555D=$. Nu*tatu/l)(a , ). C. Browne, )nglish 5nt., . KK. 1$ of ##$

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Al)2a%u /l)!adi Ashar, %illiam (. (iller, 'ondon, 1,#?, . <;. +. /. indicates year after the /egira 48## +.1.6 . A/L)2a%u/l)!adi Ashar, . ?1. A*a /idu /sh).hi /a, . <-:??. +lfred Cuillaume writes in &slam 4 . 1#-6D "he hiloso hy of the 5smailis is fundamentally neo: 0latonistic, and on an emanation basis they build a theory of a chain of manifestations of the world intellect beginning with +dam, each adding to the instruction and achievements of his redecessor. "his 5smaili doctrine was taken over by the Bab and his followers.

1$. A Literary !istory o Persia, ). C. Browne, . -11. 11. Nu*tat/ul)(a , )nglish 5nt., . KK5. 1#. .hay3h 4meaning elder6 is a title used in 5ran for one learned in 5slamic studies. 1-. .ayyid 4meaning lord6 is a title us d in 5ran for a descendant of the 0ro het (uhammad. 1=. /ajji is a title given to one who makes the ilgrimage +ha,,- to (ecca. 1;. "he followers of the Bab usually referred to themselves as "he 0eo le of the 2ayan,1 the 2ayan %eing the %oo3 o the 2a% , as the (oran was the book of (uhammad.

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7= 0anifestation of the Bab


2ayyid +li, (uhammad, better known to the world as the Bab, was born in 2hiraB in the rovince of 0ars in the southern art of 5ran on @ctober ,, 1?#$ 4or ossibly on @ctober #$, 1?1,6.416 /e was a descendant of the family of (uhammad the 0ro het of 5slam. /is father, who was a cloth merchant in 2hiraB, died when his son was !uite young, and the child was left to the care of his maternal uncle, /ajji (irBa 2ayyid +li, who raised him. 5t is said that he was !uiet and modest, and that as he grew older he became studious and ious. %hen he was about seventeen years of age he was sent to Bushire, the ort on the 0ersian Culf, to hel with his uncles business. "here he earned his living by trade, and s ent his s are time in his studies. +fter several years the young man, disinclined to continue his &ommercial ursuits. and becoming increasingly interested in matters of religion, left Bushire for 2hiraB. +fter a short stay there he made a ilgrimage to the shrines of the 2hiite 5mams near Baghdad in 5ra!, and remained for erha s a year. %hile in *arbala, the site of the tomb of the 5mam /usayn, grandson of (uhammad, who was martyred there in 8?$ +.1., 2ayyid +li (uhammad became ac!uainted with /ajji 2ayyid *aBim of 9esht, the head of the 2haykhi movement, and was rofoundly influenced by *aBims lectures which he eagerly attended. /e, in turn, by his gentleness and devotion, won the esteem and affection of his teacher and his fellow students. 3rom *arbala 2ayyid +li (uhammad returned to 2hiraB, and there he was married in 1?=# +.1. 5t is not ossible to trace in detail the changes that took lace in the mind and heart of 2ayyid +li (uhammad during these years. /e had robably become disgusted by what he had seen and e7 erienced of 5slam as it was then racticed in 5ran and 5ra!. "he lectures of /ajji 2ayyid *aBim had centered his attention on the 5mams, robably on the /idden 5mam in articular, who would surely come soon as the long: e7 ected (ahdi to right the wrongs of the world. 'ong meditation and much rayer brought to him the conviction that he himself had been chosen by Cod for a s ecial mission to men. +ccordingly, on (ay #-, 1?==, when he was twenty:four years of age, in his native city of 2hiraB, he made the historic declaration which marked the beginning of the Babi: Bahai movement. 3or what mission did this young man think he had been divinely a ointed, and what rank among the servants of Cod did he at this time claim for himselfL without having a correct answer to these !uestions it is not ossible to understand aright the significance of the events of the years that followed. "he doctrine of the erson and rank and mission of the Bab will be discussed more fully in &ha ter 5A. /ere it will suffice to say that there have been at least three contradictory theories regarding the initial claims of the Bab. "he first theory is that 2ayyid +li (uhammad thought of himself as a Bab, or Cate, not in the 2hiite sense of being a vicegerent of the /idden 5mam, and the intermediary between him and believers, but rather in being the forerunner of a much greater erson for whom he would re are the way, as Eohn the Ba tist did for Eesus &hrist. (any Bahais have said that the Bab thought his mission to be that of re aring eo le for the coming of Bahaullah, a major (anifestation of Cod, who would soon a ear. +s we will see later, this inter retation is not in harmony with the Babs own statements, or with the facts of history. "he second theory is that 2ayyid +li (uhammad at the time of his declaration considered himself to he the successor ta /ajji 2ayyid *aBim, the deceased head of the 2haykhis, and to be like him a Bab, or Cate, to the knowledge of the /idden 5mam. 5t was therefore in the traditional 2hiite understanding of the term that he gave himself the title Bab. /owever, according to this theory, the Bab soon became convinced that he was himself the /idden 5mam who had a eared, and his followers !uickly acce ted him as such, and were re: ared to fight for the 'ord of the +ge, as
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loyal 2hiites were e7 ected to do whenever the (ahdi should a ear. "hen, several years later, when the Bab was in rison, he began 4so it is said6 to make the claim that he was not merely the /idden 5mam come to fill the world with justice, but was a major (anifestation of Cod, bringing in a new e och in Cods dealing with men, and taking the lace of (uhammad the 0ro het of 5slam, as (uhammad was thought by (uslims to have taken the lace of Eesus as the revealer of Cod to the world. 1iffering from these two inter retations, the third theory is that 2ayyid +li (uhammad from the time of his declaration in 1?== believed himself to be a major (anifestation of 1eity, and in his earliest writings made this claim for himself. "hose who hold this theory believe that though he took for himself the 2hiite terms and titles, such as Bab, 9eminder, 0roof of Cod, etc., he used these terms with a different connotation. 5t was because of this that he was usually misunderstood by his contem oraries, and also by many who later became students of his movement. 5t is of course ossible that the Bab was not always consistent in his thinking and in his ronouncements. /owever, it is the o inion of this author that the third theory is closest to the truth, and that while 2ayyid +li (uhammad may at times have given the im ression that he was a Bab in the traditional sense, or was the /idden 5mam who had returned after 1$$$ years, his real intent from the first was that he was the Cate of Cod, a (anifestation of Cod to men, greater than any which had receded him. %ith this inter retation as the key to the understanding of the Babi movement, we will roceed with the story of 2ayyid +li (uhammad, leaving the consideration of the evidence for the validity of this inter retation to &ha ter 5A. "he first erson to hear and attest the claim of the Bab was (ulla4#6 (uhammad /usayn of Bushruieh,4-6 a small town in eastern 5ran. (ulla /usayn was a man of learning and influence and great force of character. /e had been one of the followers of /ajji 2ayyid *aBim, and in *arbala had become ac!uainted with the young student from 2hiraB. +bout five months after the death of his master he came to 2hiraB and called on his fellow student. "o his great sur rise, 2ayyid +li (uhammad !uietly informed him of his mission, and by reading to him ortions of his writings, and answering !uestions about difficult oints of theology, convinced his guest that he was the ossessor of su ernatural knowledge. "he book from which the young claimant read was (it/a%)i)A4al 43irst Book6, also called the Commentary on .ur/atu/l)Yusu , the 2est o .tories, and other names. "his book had been reviously written by the Bab in 2hiraB in the +rabic language. 5n it the author refers to himself as the Bab, the 9eminder of Cod, the 2olace of the )yes +0urrat/l)Ayn-, the 'etter B+ and the 0oint. /e calls u on the monarchs of the world to convey his message to the eo les of the )ast and of the %est. /e informs the eo le of the earth that whoever has obeyed the 9eminder of Cod has in truth obeyed Cod. "he author maintains the *oranic rescri tions, and a ears to use the term Bab in the traditional 2hiite sense. /owever, between the lines can be read higher claims, namely those of divine authority and an inde endent and universal mission.4=6 2eyyid:+li:(ohammad 1it le Bab By +.'.(. Nicholas, 0aris, 1,11 +fter several days of doubt and indecision, (ulla /usayn enthusiastically rofessed faith in the Bab, and became the first to believe in him, and the Bab conferred on him the title Babu1:Bab 4Cate of the Cate6. Cradually others believed, till there were eighteen disci les. "he last of these was (ulla (uhammad +li of Barfurush, a city near the &as ian 2ea, to whom the Bab gave the title Guddus 4/oly6. 4;6 "hese eighteen were called by the Bab 'etters of the 'iving. "he meaning of this and other terms will be e7 lained in &ha ter 5A.
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"he new disci les, who became known as Babis, went forth to other cities and began to roclaim with the greatest boldness and Beal the advent of the Bab. +lthough 2ayyid +li (uhammad had not yet roclaimed in full the nature of his mission, it seems that the 'etters of the 'iving understood clearly that he claimed to be the bringer of a new revelation, to be a new (anifestation of Cod. "hey read to the eo le the writings which the Bab had com osed, and ointed to them as a roof of his divine mission, as the (uslims have always ointed to the verses of the *oran as the all.: sufficient roof of the mission of (uhammad. "hus a great stir began to be made all over 5ran, some eo le showing great eagerness to believe the good news, and others treating the Babs a ostles with disres ect and even blows. %hile his followers were thus engaged, the Bab with one of the 'etters set out near the end of the year 1?== for (ecca, where, according to one tradition, the (ahdi would make his a earance, and there he roclaimed himself to a few of the ilgrims. 5t is said thatD he also addressed an ) istle, in which he declared his mission, to the 2harif of (ecca, who ignored it. "hen he started back toward 2hiraB, and early in the year 1?=; reached Bushire. %hile he tarried there, one of his Bealous disci les, (ulla 2adig by name, in giving the call to rayer in a mos!ue in 2hiraB, o enly added the formula, 5 testify that +li (uhammad is the Cate of Cod.486 "his innovation incensed many eo le, and several of the Babis who were held res onsible for it were, at the order of the governor, seiBed, severely beaten, and e7 elled from the city. +lso horsemen were sent to Bushire to arrest the Bab and bring him to 2hiraB. +fter his arrival in 2e tember, 1?=;, he was e7amined by the governor, who, fearing further trouble, ke t him under observation. "o understand the attitude of the government officials toward 2ayyid +li (uhammad and the movement which his claim had ins ired, it is necessary to remember that the utting forward of a claim to be the (ahdi has always in the history of 5slam been connected with a olitical u rising. 5n arresting the Bab the authorities were only doing their duty in trying to forestall a robable u heaval. But in this attem t they were unsuccessful. "he fire had already been kindled, and was s reading ra idly throughout the land. "he eo le had long been in e7 ectation of the coming of a deliverer. "he government of the country under the Gajar 1ynasty was corru t and inefficient. "he o ular religion was full of su erstition, and had failed to bring moral and s iritual renewal to the eo le of 5ran. "he (uslim clergy were often both ignorant and evil men. "he rich o ressed the oor, whose lot was itiable. "he time was indeed ri e for a revolution. +nd now, just 1$$$ years after the disa earance of the "welfth 5mam, the rightful ruler who at his return would bring in the new order, the cry was raised far and near that the 'ord of the +ge had comeI4<6 Bold and elo!uentD a ostles were going all over 5ran roclaiming his advent, and multitudes were eager to believe on him. 5t is not sur rising that the government became alarmed, and took drastic measures to ni the movement in the bud. 2ometime after the arrival of the Bab in 2hiraB, the religious authorities also became greatly disturbed at the course of events. 5t is said that they brought ressure on the maternal uncle of the Bab to force his ne hew to make a formal denial of his claims. "he Bab, accordingly, went to one of the mos!ues in 2hiraB, and to the great joy of the clergy read a statement, which they took to be a com lete denial. /owever, at a later time the Bab e7 lained in writing that. what he meant in his denial of Babhood was that he was not a Bab in the traditional 2hiite sense of the term, and he did not claim to be a Cate to the knowledge of the /idden 5mam. 4?6 'ater he made it clear that his claim was to be a Cate of Cod, that is, a major (anifestation. 5n the early summer of the year 1?=8 cholera broke out in 2hiraB, and in the confusion caused by this calamity the Bab managed to esca e, and near the end of the summer of l?=8 made his way to 5sfahan. "here he was received by (anuchehr *han4,6 the governor of the city, who showed him
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great kindness and afforded him hos itality and rotection. 5n 5sfahan he married a second wife, who lived si7ty:si7 years after the death of her husband. "he governor was a &hristian and a native of Ceorgia in the &aucasus, whose native land had been con!uered by the Gajars, and who had no love for the rulers of 5ran. /is motive for befriending the Bab may have been to embarrass the Gajar government as well as the (uslim (ullas. 5t is said that he offered the Bab a strong army with which to march against the 2hah, should he desire to do so.41$6 "his offer was declined, for the Bab a arently had no desire to fight. /owever, when his followers later began to use their swords, according to their account in self defence, he did not forbid them to do so. 4116 %hile in 5sfahan the Bab met and talked with some of the leading (uslim clergy of the city. %hen asked by what sign or miracle he could establish the truth of his claim, he re lied, By verses, for without ause of en 5 can in the s ace of three hours write a thousand sentences on any subject that 5 lease. /e was asked to write a commentary on a ortion of the *oran, and when he did so it is said that, his hearers admitted that such ower must be of Cod, being beyond the ca acity of man.41#6 +bout this time (ulla /usayn of Bushruieh, the Babs 3irst 'etter and most Bealous a ostle, was in "eheran busily engaged in reaching the good news of the a earing of the (ahdi and inviting eo le to believe on him. /e made a considerable stir in the ca ital, and it is said that he even tried to influence the *ing, (uhammad 2hah Gajar, and his 0rime (inister, /ajji (irBa +!asi, but without success.41-6 finally (ulla /usayn was ordered to leave "eheran. 5n the early art of 1?=< (anuchehr *han died, and the governor who succeeded him, wishing to demonstrate his loyalty to the 2hah, sent the Bab in the care of an escort of armed horsemen to "eheran. %hen the arty reached *ashan a res ectable merchant by the name of (irBa Eani bribed the guards to allow the Bab to ato in his house for two days. (irBa Eani later wrote the earliest and best history of the Babi movement., and in 1?;# died as a martyr to the Babi cause. 5t is said that at a village near "eheran a number of believers came to meet the Bab, but the 2hah did not ermit the risoner to enter the ca ital. 5nstead, he was sent off to (aku, a strong fortress on the northwest frontier of 5ran, some ;$$ miles distant from "eheran. 5t was ho ed that if the Bab were ke t out of light, the e7citement which was being stirred u in his name would die down of itself. @n the long horseback journey across 5ran, and later while he was in rison, the Bab conducted him: self with such mildness and atience that he won the hearts of more than one of his guards. "he Babi historian is careful to e7 lain that the Bab of his own free will suffered himself to be thus treated, far he was fully able to effect his esca e had he so leased. 2uch a one is able to do what he wills, for his will is identical with Cods will.41=6 "he Bab remained at (aku for. nine months 4from the summer of 1?=< to the s ring of 1?=?6. "here he was treated kindly, and was allowed to communicate to a certain e7tent with his friends, many of whom came from distant laces to visit him. +s is evident from the 2ayan, it was in (aku that the Bab declared he was the Gaim.41;6 /e was then transferred to the &astle of &hihri! near 'ake 9eBaieh 4.rumia6, where he remained for two years and several months till his e7ecution in 1?;$. /ere his im risonment was much more rigorous than it had been at (aku. 1uring the revious four years since his declaration in 2hiraB, 2ayyid +li (uhammad had continued to s eak of himself as Bab, but he had been re aring his followers to acce t the higher station which he now o enly claimed for himself in declaring that the was the Gaim.4186 +s we will see in &ha ter 5A, in doing so he intended something different from and greater than what was meant in the 2hiite usage of that term. "he Bab s ent much time while he was in rison in (aku and &hihrig in writing the books which were to guide his followers after he was taken away from them. /e was a most rolific writer. 0rofessor Browne ublished a list of some twenty:five volumes com osed by the Bab,41<6 but it is known that he wrote scores of other books, most of which have been lost.41?6
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1uring the early art of his &hihri! im risonment 4summer of 1?=?6 the Bab was summoned to "abriB by Nasirud:1in (irBa, who was &rown 0rince and Covernor of the rovince of +Barbaijan, and was soon to become 2hah of 5ran. "here he was e7amined by the 0rince and the (ullas as to his claims. "he accounts that have been given of this trial are contradictory, the Babi historians re resenting the Bab in the most favorable light, and the 2hiite historians in the most unfavorable. 41,6 "he account given by Browne, which has been generally acce ted as correct, is based largely on the Ra4;atu/s).a a, 0isasu/l)"lema and Nasi3hu /t)Ta4ari3h,+9:- all written by 2hiites. +ccording to these accounts, the Bab admitted that the writings which were being circulated in his name were his. %hen asked what he meant by the title Bab which he had assumed, he re lied that it meant the same as in the tradition attributed to (uhammad, who said, 5 am the &ity of *nowledge, and +li is its Cate. "he Bab also said, 5 am that erson for whose a earance you have waited a thousand years, namely, the (ahdi. %hen he was asked to give his name and age, the names of his arents, and his birth: lace he did so, only to be reminded that this information did not agree with the names of the (ahdi and his arents, or with his age, which was one thousand years. "he (ullas then asked him !uestions about juris rudence and other sciences which he was unable to answer, in addition to many foolish !uestions, to make him look ridiculous. "he assembly then broke u , and the 2haykhul:5slam /ajji (irBa +li +sghar took the Bab to his own house, where he had the bastinado inflicted on him. @f this trial Browne writesD4#16 "hat the whole e7amination was a farce throughout, that the sentence was a foregone conclusion, that no serious attem t to a rehend the nature and evidence of the Babs claim and doctrine was made, and that from first to last a systematic course of brow: beating, irony and mockery was ursued a ear to me to be facts roved no less by the (uhammadan than by the Babi accounts of these in!uisitorial roceedings. 5n his hook $aterials or the .tudy o the 2a%i Religion Browne ublished facsimilies and translations of several documents which have an im ortant bearing on the significance of the trial of the Bab in "abriB.4##6 "he first of these is a letter written by the &rown 0rince to his father (uhammad 2hah in "eheran, informing him of what had ha ened. /is account of the trial is similar to that given above, and ends as followsD %hen the discussion was concluded, /is 9everence the 2haykhul:5slam was summoned, who had the Bab beaten and inflicted on him an e7em lary chastisement, so that he a ologiBed, recanted, and re ented of and asked ardon for his errors, giving a sealed undertaking that henceforth he would not commit such faults. Now he is in rison and bonds awaiting the decision of /is (ost 2acred, 9oyal and 5m erial (ajesty. 5t was not long after this that (uhammad 2hah died. + second document, unsigned and undated, is, to !uote Browne, a arently in the Babs handwriting and consists of a com lete recantation of any su erhuman claim which he may have advanced or have a eared to advance. "here is nothing to show to whom it is addressed, or whether it is the recantation referred to in the last aragra h of the receding document or another. /owever, 1r. 2aeed *han of "eheran wrote concerning this statementD "he original document is ke t safely in the (ajlis M0arliament in "eheranN. 5t was addressed, as the contents well groves, to the &rown 0rince Nasserad:1in (irBa, afterwards 2hah. 1r. 2aeed here refers to the original of this document, which bears no seal, and not to the sealed undertaking referred in the re ort of the &rown 0rince. "he authenticity of the writing, signature or seal attached to a document may be verified only by submitting the document to e7amination by e7 erts. 2 ecimens of the Babs writing are e7tant with which the writing in this document might be com ared, but as yet, so far as is known, this has never been done. /owever, resuming that the document is in the hand: writing of the Bab, we will !uote the last art of it as translated by Browne,4#-6 and attem t to understand its meaning and ur oseD
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Never have 5 desired aught contrary to the %ill of Cod, and, if words contrary to /is good leasure have flowed from my en, my object was not disobedience, and in any case 5 re ent and ask forgiveness of /im. "his servant has absolutely no knowledge connected with any Msu erhumanN claim. 5 ask forgiveness of Cod my 'ord and 5 re ent unto /im of Mthe ideaN that there should be ascribed to me any M1ivineN (ission. +s for certain rayers and words which have flowed from my tongue, these do not im ly any such (ission +amr-, and any Ma arentN claim to any s ecial vicegerency for /is /oliness the 0roof of Cod 4on whom be 0eace.6 is a urely baseless claim, such as this servant has never ut forward, nay, nor any claim like unto it. "here: fore it is thus ho ed from the clemency of /is 5m erial (ajesty and Four )7cellency, that they will e7alt the head of him who continually rays for them by the favours and graces of their clement and com assionate court. 3arewell. 2ince the terms /is 5m erial (ajesty and Four )7cellency a ear in the document, it is clear that it was addressed, as 1r. 2aeed *han said, to the 2hah and the &rown 0rince. "he word amr which Browne translated mission means a command, a matter, a thing. 5t is therefore ossible to change Brownes translation any M1ivineN (ission to any matter. +lso, any such (ission may be translated any matter at all. +ccording to (r. +Bal,4#=6 the alternative translation is the correct one in this conte7t. "he 0roof of Cod is a title from the /idden 5mam. +s translated by Browne the Bab says, any Ma arentN claim to any s ecific vicegerency title for /is /oliness the 0roof of Cod.....is a urely baseless claim such as this servant has never ut forward, nay, nor any claim like unto it. (r. +Bal states4#;6 that the correct translation is, any retension to s ecial vicegerency for /is /oliness the 0roof of Cod is a urely baseless retension, and this servant has not set u any such retension, nor any other retension. +ssuming that this document was written by the Bab, the !uestion is, what was it that he deniedL 5f the claim of the Bab was, as has been generally thought, to be a Cate to, or the vicegerent of, the /idden 5mam, or to be the 5mam come again, it is evident that the Bab does is this statement deny such a claim, and a arently makes a com lete recantation. But if it is true, as was maintained in the early art of this cha ter, that the Bab did not claim to be a Bab or an 5mam in the traditional 2hiite sense, but intentionally used the 2hiite terms with a different meaning, then this a arent recantation is only a rejection of a osition which he had never claimed for himself. /is claim, as we have seen, was higher, /e claimed to be the Cate of Cod, a major (anifestation. /owever, if the Bab thought himself to be in truth the Cate of Cod, why did he say, this servant has not set u any such retension, or any other 5retension <= +nd if he claimed to be a new (anifestation, the founder of a new world religion which would take the lace of 5slam, why did he not follow the e7am le of his ancestor (uhammad, who from the beginning of his mission declared himself to be the + ostle of Cod, and state with unmistakable clarity who he wasL @f course, if he had done so he would have been !uickly condemned to death as a false ro het, because (uslims believe that no true ro het will ever come to take the lace of (uhammad, the 2eal of the 0ro hets. 2o erha s the Bab ho ed that by using the o ular terms which were acce table to the 2hiites, he might win their allegiance, and re are them for the later acce tance of his higher claims. 5f this was his ur ose, it seems that among the eo le it met with some success. But the olitical and religious authorities were as unwilling to welcome an 5mam as they were to acce t a new 0ro het or (anifestation in lace of (uhammad. +nd so the Bab, whatever his claim might have been, was rejected. 1uring the trial roceedings the !uestion arose as to whether or not the Bab was of sound mind. /e, therefore, re!uested that a hysician might be allowed to feel his ulse, and certify to his erfect sanity.4#86 "his was done, as we will recount later.

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+ third document which was translated and ublished by Browne is addressed to the Bab, and contains the at4a, or sentence of the (uslim doctors of the law, 5t is formally sealed by two of them. "he second seal is that of the 2haykhul:5slam who had the Bab beaten in his house. 5t reads as followsD 2ayyid +li (uhammad:i:2hiraBiD 5n the 5m erial Ban!uet:hall and +ugust +ssembly of /is /ighness the &rown 0rince of the underlining )m ire Mof 0ersiaN 4may Cod aid, su ort and strengthen him.6 and of a number of learned doctors, thou didst admit certain matters each one of which se arately im lied thy a ostasy and justified thy death. "he4#<6 re entance of an incorrigible a ostate is not acce ted, and the only thing which has caused the ost onement of thy e7ecution is a doubt as to thy sanity of mind. 2hould this doubt be removed, the sentence of an incorrigible a ostate would without hesitation be e7ecuted u on thee. 2ealed byD +bu1:Gasim al:/asani al:/usayni +li +sghar al:/asani al:/usayni. 0rofessor Browne also ublished4#?6 a letter written by 1r. &ormick, an )nglish hysician long resident in "abriB, where he was highly res ected, to the 9ev. Benjamin 'abaree of the 0resbyterian (ission in 9eBaieh, 5ran. +s far as is known, this is the only e7tant record of the im ression made by the Bab on a cultivated and im artial %estern mind. Fou ask me for some articulars of my interview with the founder of the sect known as Babis. Nothing of any im ortance trans ired in this interview, as the Bab was aware of my having been sent with two other 0ersian doctors to see whether or not he was of sane mind or merely a madman, to decide the !uestion whether to ut him to death or not. %ith this knowledge he was loth to answer any !uestions ut to him. "o all in!uiries he merely regarded us with a mild look, chanting in a low melodious voice some hymns, 5 su ose...../e only once deigned to answer me, on my saying that 5 was not a (usulman and was willing to know something about his religion, as 5 might erha s be inclined to ado t it. /e regarded me very intently on my saying this, and re lied that he had no doubt of all )uro eans coming over to his religion. @ur re ort to the 2hah at that time was of a nature to s are his life..... @n our re ort he merely got the bastinado, in which o eration a arrash, whether intentionally or not, struck him across the face with the stick destined for his feet, which roduced a great wound and swelling of the face. @n being asked whether a 0ersian surgeon should be brought to treat him, he e7 ressed a desire that 5 should be sent for, and 5 accordingly treated him for a few days, but in the interviews conse!uent on this 5 could never get him to have a confidential chat with me, as some Covernment eo le were always resent, he being a risoner. /e was very thankful for my attentions to him. /e was a very mild and delicate:looking man, rather small in stature and very fair for a 0ersian, with a melodious soft voice, which struck me much. Being a 2ayyid, he was dressed in the habits of that sect..... 5n fact his whole look and de ortment went far to dis ose one in his favour. @f his doctrine 5 heard nothing from his own li s, although the idea was that there e7isted in his religion a certain a roach to &hristianity. /e was seen by some +rmenian car enters who were sent to make some re airs in his rison, reading the Bible, and he took no ains to conceal itD, but on the contrary told them of it. (ost assuredly the (usalman fanaticism does not e7ist in his religion, as a lied to &hristians, nor is there that restraint of females that now e7ists. +nd so the Bab, after this humiliating and ainful e7 erience in "abriB, having received the at4a of the religious authorities, was sent back to his rison in &hihri! to await the decision of the government in "eheran. "here he remained for about two more years, engaged in writing his books and e istles, setting forth his claims, and making laws for his "heocratic 2ociety.
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3or im ortant dates in the life of the Bab, refer to A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, 1. #. -. =. ;. 8. <. ?. 7. + $ulla is a cleric of the religion of 5slam. (irBa Eani in Ne4 !istory, A;al/s Notes, Ne4 !istory, . -,, =$, -,,. . --:-,. . ;-$, ;-1, ?-1, ?-#, ?-;.

. ##1, #=,:#;-, A;al/s Notes,

. 81-, ?;=.

A;al/s Notes, 5. ?-,. + (uslim historian in >/.2.A..., Euly, 1,#<, . =;1. "here is a 2hiite tradition that the "welfth 5mam disa eared immediately after he succeeded his father in #8$ +./. 5t was in 1#8$ +./. that 2ayyid +li (uhammad ut forth his claim to be the Bab. A;al/s Notes, . <#,, <--, <=<, ?-#, ?=1. 2ee + endi7 55, O-=. (han was formerly used in 5ran as a title e!uivalent to 2ir. . ,#<, ,#?.

6:. Ne4 !istory . #11. 11. 5n the 2ayan slaying is forbidden P ?.R.A..., @ctober 1??,, 6A. Nasi3hu /Ta4ari3h, !uoted in + "ravellers Narrative, . 1<8. 6'. Ne4 !istory, . ##8, ##<. 1;. (r. +Bal is of the o inion that the 2ayan and the .e#en Proo s written by the Bab indicate that his declaration to be the Gaim was made before he left (aku for &hihri!. 68. Ne4 !istory, 5. 9'6, A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, 55. 97:)97B. 6C. A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, 55. AAB)A'C. 1?. Browne in ?.R.A..., Euly 1?,#, . =;#, (aterials, 67. A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, 96. &%id., 97:. 99. $aterials, 9A. 5bid., 9'. A;al/s Notes, #;. ibid., . ?=?. 98. (irBa Eani, in Ne4 !istory, . #?;, -;=. 9C. (oran 49odwells translation6 555D?=D +s for those who become infidels, after having believed, and then increase their infidelity P their re entance shall never be acce ted. 9@. $aterials, 55. 98:)989. . #=<:#8$. . ?=<:?;$. . #;8:#;? . #<<:#,$, New /istory, 9:. A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, . #<<. . 1,?:#$?. . #?;:#,$. 69. Ne4 !istory, 5. 9:7, 2ayan *uoted in A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, 55. 96@, 967.

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= Babi !"rising +nd the #$ecution of the Bab


%hile the Bab was in rison in (aku and later in &hihri! his fiery missionaries were busy travelling about 5ran calling u on the 2hiites to acce t him as their long:e7 ected (ahdi. "oward the end of the year 1?=< (ulla /usayn of Bushruieh, the 3irst 'etter of the 'iving, went eastward to the rovince of *hurasan, meeting everywhere with great success. 5n Nisha ur, the city of .mar *hayyam, several members of the (uslim clergy believed, and it seemed for a time that the whole city might follow their e7am le. But when he reached (eshed, the shrine city of the 5mam 9eBa, the eighth in succession after (uhammad, whose tomb is visited annually by hundreds of thousands of 2hiite ilgrims, the (ullas rose against him and had him arrested. /owever, he managed to esca e, and seeing that he was in eril he gathered a number of his converts about him, and roceeded westward in the direction of "eheran. @thers joined him along the way, and his band became !uite formidable. Before long a fight occurred with the (uslims in which the Babis were worsted, and they fell hack on 2hahrud and later roceeded toward the northern rovince of (aBanderan.416 5n the meantime a number of Babi leaders had gathered in a lace called Badasht near 2hahrud. +mong them were (ulla (uhammad +li of Barfurush, GuBratu1:+yn and (irBa /usayn +li of Nur, the first two being among the 'etters of the 'iving.4#6 Gurratu1:+yn was the only woman included among the 'etters.4-6 2he was learned and elo!uent, and on becoming a disci le of the Bab 4whom she had never seen6 she gave herself unreservedly to the advancement of his cause. 2he travelled widely about the country, roclaiming boldly the advent of the Bab. By so doing she incurred tie anger of her husband and her uncle 4who was the father of her husband6 in CaBvin, both of whom were influential (ullas. /er uncle ublicly denounced the Bab, and in conse!uence of this act was shortly afterward murdered in the mos!ue in the winter of 1?=< by a Babi.4=6 Gurratu1:+yn was then divorced by her husband,4;6 after which it became advisable for her to flee from GaBvin to "eheran. 3rom there she went to *hurasan, where she joined some of the Babi leaders. +t that time it was contrary to 5ranian custom for women to a ear in ublic in com any with men. /ence her freedom of travelling about the country with the Babi chiefs scandaliBed many eo le, and there was robably some ground for criticism of her disregard of convention. 5t a ears that some of the Babis considered this eriod a time of freedom, for they thought they had been released from the restrictions of 5slam, and the new laws to be given by the Bab had not yet been revealed or made known to them. "he Babi historian (irBa Eani, stating his own o inion and robably that of other Babis also, says that the Bab is master of all men and women, and has the authority to interchange husbands and wives at will, and hath given his servant and his handmaid to one another, robably indicating that he thought the Bab himself had united Gurratul:+yn with (ulla (uhammad +li of Barfurush with whom she was on intimate terms. 2ince she was a divorcee such a union would have been ermitted by (uslim law. +nd this is assuredly sanctioned by the /oly 'aw, continues (irBa Eani, for our (aster hath certainly as much authority as every other master hath over his slaves and handmaidens.486 +t Badasht in the s ring of 1?=?, while the Bab was still in (aku, there was held a conference of the Babi chiefs. 5n this gathering, according to (irBa Eani,4<6 the abrogation of the laws of the revious 5slamic dis ensation was announced, thus indicating that these Babis considered the Bab to be not the "welfth 5mam who had returned but a new 0ro het in lace of (uhammad. +lso it was stated that laws would be necessary only till the time when men have understood the true nature of the new dis ensation. 5t is said4?6 that Gurratu1:+yn at Badasht delivered a wonderfully elo!uent and im ressive address which moved her hearers to tears, in which she stressed the universal character of the Babs (anifestation, which had abrogated the revious dis ensation, and the need for the emanci ation of 5ranian women. (any other eo le beside the Babis had crowded about to listen, and on hearing her a eal joined
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the Babi com any. /owever, things were said and done at Badasht which caused even some of the Babis to stumble, and they took their de arture. "hose who remained seemed to have been into7icated by the new teachings, and their conduct brought down on them the wrath of the eo le of the village. @n being attacked by them the Babis dis ersed eaceably, to meet again in (aBanderan.4,6 5t was at Badasht that (irBa /usayn +li received the title Baha 42 lendor6, given him according to +vareh the historian by Gurratul:+yn,41$6 or ossibly by the other Babi leaders. 5t was not bestowed by the Bab, the sole grantor of titles. +fter the conference Gurratu1:+yn met the young (irBa Fahya 42ubh:i:+Bal6, brother of Baha, who had not been at Badasht, and took him with her to Nur.4116 5t seems that (irBa Eani felt it necessary to defend the good name of the Babi cause against the criticism evoked by the Badasht conference, so he wroteD41#6 %hen eo le say a com any Mof BabisN went to Badasht and conducted themselves in an unseemly fashion, you may know that they were ersons of no mean !uality, but the elect of the world, that they did a great work, and that when men hea curses and censures on them it is because of their own benighted condition. "he Babis moved into (aBanderan with the full intention of getting control of that rovince. "he time was ro itious, for on 2e tember =, 1?=? (uhammad 2hah had died,41-6 and the new king Nasirud:1in 2hah had not yet ascended the throne, so there was no one re: ared to o ose their designs. (ore than three hundred strong, they entered Barfurush armed. "hus rovoking strife, they were soon attacked by the (uslims, and several of them were killed. "hen the Babis began to fight. (ulla /usayn, the first to believe on the Bab, notwithstanding his slender and fragile frame and trembling hand, attacked the man who had killed the first Babi and sliced him in two like a fresh cucumber. "hen si7 other (uslims were killed. @ne child was killed accidentally with its father, a dervish, whom they Mthe BabisN slew because he ur osely gave them a misleading answer to a !uestion which they had ut to him as to their road.41=6 @ne of the Babis who was taken by the townfolk was buried alive by them in a well. +fter a itched battle of several days duration in Barfurush, the Babis were allowed to retire. 'ater in another skirmish the Babis came off victorious, after which they moved to a shrine in the forest called 2haykh "abarsi. /ere they strongly entrenched themselves, ho ing to make this osition their base for the con!uest of (aBanderan. (any eo le had now joined them, and their numbers reached two thousand.41;6 "hey carried on an active cam aign of reaching from their fort, telling the eo le that the Bab was shortly to become master of the whole world, and bidding them acce t him at once. &rowds assembled about the fort, some of whom entered and united with the Babis. Cobineau, relying robably too much on information given him by the (uslim historian 'isanu1:(ulk, says 4186 that within the fort the Babis divided the world among themselves, a ortioning to various ones the wealth of 5ndia, &hina and )uro e. /e says also that the Babis looked u on (ulla /usayn as Cod, and rostrated themselves in his resenceJ that he, in turn, told his rinci al officers that they were the return of various 5mams, and assured them that if they were killed they would after forty days come back to the earth againJ also that the Bab from his rison sent them fre!uent letters of encouragementJ and that the fighters reached such a itch of frenBy that they asserted that the Bab had redicted that after their con!uest of (aBanderan they would march on "eheran, ca ture it, and slay ten thousand (uslims. %e will consider in &ha ter 5A the e7tent to which these dreams which were attributed to the Babis conformed to the teaching and ur oses of their (aster. %hether or not these re orts from within the 2haykh "abarsi fort were accurate, it is evident that to these Bealots the ho e of the establishment of the Babi world rule was very real. (oreover, since in their besieged fortress they generously shared their ossessions with one another, it was rumoured outside that the Babis racticed community of goods and also of women.41<6 5t is, therefore, not
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sur rising that this strange and aggressive movement was feared both by the rulers and also by the (uslim o ulace. + small government force sent against the Babis, which had occu ied one of the surrounding villages, was defeated by them in a night attack, the village was sacked, and one hundred and thirty soldiers and villagers were massacred.41?6 "hen a large force under the command of 0rince Nahdi: Guli (irBa was sent from "eheran by the new 0rime (inister with strict orders to destroy the Babis. "he 0rince wrote a letter to (ulla (uhammad +li 4Guddus6 asking what he was fighting for. Guddus re liedD41,6 +s for thee, $ 0rince, let not the world and the resum tion of youth lure thee. *now that Nasirud:1in 2hah is a false king, and his hel ers shall be chastised in Cods fire. %e are the king of truth, who seek after the good leasure of Cod. "he royal forces under the command of the 0rince drew near the fort, but before they were able to attack it, the Babi leaders, choosing a time when the enemy were off their guard because of a severe snowstorm, fell u on them with a icked force of three hundred men. "he Babis fought with such fury that they dis ersed the whole army, and several of the rinces and many of the soldiers were killed. "he Babis lost but three men. 'ater the Babis made a night attack on their enemies. "he lan of battle in such attacks was thisD4#$6 (ulla /usayn, followed by several other mounted men, would ride in advance while the rest of his com anions fallowed on foot P they would ut on felt ca s, gird their swords to their belts, and, with bare feet and arms uncovered to the elbow, rush u on the very center of the hostile army with cries of Fa 2ahibuB:Qaman. M$ 'ord of the +ge P another title for the (ahdiN . "hen, with swords not worth more than five *rans which they had wrought for themselves within the castle, they would cut down men whose gear had cost a thousand "umans M1$,$$$ kransN. "his time also their attack met with com lete success, and the royal army was again routed. But the Babis suffered an irre arable loss, for their commander was killed. (ulla /usayn, entitled Babu1: Bab, the first to believe on the Bab, and the strongest of the Babi leaders, was mortally wounded just in the hour of victory. /e died in his saddle as his horse entered the gate of the fort 4Eanuary #, 1?=,6.4#16 5t is said4##6 that he before his death commanded his officers to be firm in their faith, and romised them that he would return to earth again in fourteen days. /e bade his intimate friends to bury him secretly, fearing that the (uslims might find and mutilate his body, and it is said that he was buried near the shrine in the fort. +fter his death his brother (irBa (uhammad /asan, a youth of eighteen, by the a ointment of Guddus succeeded to his title and command.4#-6 "he royal forces under the command of the 0rince drew near the fort. But before they were able to attack it, the Babi leaders, choosing a time when the death of (ulla /usayn was the beginning of the end for the defenders of 2haykh "abarsi. Not only was their leader gone, but rovisions began to run low, and the Babis were reduced to eating horse flesh and grass. 2ome of them deserted to the enemy, who, on hearing of the famine within the fort, began to attack more vigorously. "he royal army had two cannons with which they battered down the Babi defences and set fire to all the sheds and wooden structures within the walls, forcing the besieged to dig tunnels in which to hide. But in s ite of their reduced strength the Babis fought furiously to the last, realiBing that they had little ho e for mercy from enemies whom they had defied for nearly nine months. 3inally, a new commander was sent by the 2hah with fresh orders to destroy the Babis immediately. "he survivors in the fort had nothing whatever to eat, and the royal troo s were trying to scale the walls. But the defenders of the castle, hungry and barefoot as they were, hurled themselves u on the enemy, sword in hand, and dis layed that day a courage and heroism which the world had never seen before..... 2o fiercely did they drive back that mighty host that many, even of the bravest and boldest, were unable to esca e from their hands.4#=6 "he commander of the 2hahs troo s then sent a message to the Babis, asking on what terms they would surrender. (ulla (uhammad +li re lied that they would sto fighting if guaranteed their
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lives and ermission to leave (aBanderan. "hereu on the officers of the royal army swore on the *oran that they would allow them to ass safely out of the rovince. "hen two hundred and thirty men, the sole survivors of the two thousand eo le who had at first gathered in the fort, dragged themselves out, and walked to the royal cam . "here they were given food to eat. %hen (ulla (uhammad +li was !uestioned as to why he had raised this insurrection, he laid the blame on (ulla /usayn, and it is said that he even cursed (ulla /usayn.4#;6 "he ne7t day the Babis were ordered to lay down their arms, which they did with great reluctance, fearing treachery. "heir fears were well grounded, for no sooner had they disarmed than their enemies massacred them with great cruelty, and their bodies were left to the wild beasts.4#86 "hen the royal troo s, overjoyed by their victory, moved off to Barfurush, taking with them (ulla (uhammad +li and several other Babi leaders. "here in his native town Guddus was e7ecuted by the hand of one of the (uslim clergy, and it was said that his body was cut in small ieces and cast to the winds 4Nay ##, 1?=,6.4#<6 "he other chiefs also were killed there. 5n this tragic conflict most of the eighteen 'etters of the 'iving erished. "hus after nine months of fighting the first and most brilliant attem t of the Babis to establish their rule came to an end. +ccording to the (uslim historian 'isanu1:Nulk, ;$$ of the 2hahs soldiers and 1;$$ Babis lost their lives in this fratricidal conflict.4#?6 2ome time before the fall of 2haykh "abarsi, (ulla (uhammad +li called for assistance. +mong those who tried to join him in the fort were (irBa Fahya 42ubh:i:+Bal6 and his older brother (irBa /usayn +li 4Baha6 and (irBa Eani of *ashan,4#,6 but before they reached the Babi head!uarters they were all arrested by the local authorities. +fter being reviled and shamefully treated by the o ulace, they were brought before the (ullas, who inflicted the legal castigation on the others, but (irBa Fahya and (irBa Eani were not beaten. 'ater Cod delivered them.4-$6 But soon, according to (irBa Eani,4-16 (irBa /usayn +li 4Baha6 fell under sus icion, and it was said that he not im robably harboured designs of setting u a standard Mon his own accountN, and so creating further disturbances in those regions. "herefore, the notables of the district Mthe local officialsN.....considered it e7 edient to send him to the ca ital. /ow different the later history of the Babi movement would have been had these three men been able to reach 2haykh "abarsi, as they wished to do, and erished with (ulla /usayn and (ulla (uhammad +li and the rest of the garrisonI @ne year after this defeat another serious Babi u rising took lace in the city of Qanjan, which is situated between "eheran and "abriB in Northwest 5ran. 4-#6 "he moving s irit in this conflict was (ulla (uhammad +li of Qanjan entitled the 0roof, who, on e7amining a writing of the Bab which was brought to his notice while the latter was still in 2hiraB, had immediately recogniBed him as the romised (ahdi, and had roclaimed him so effectively in the mos!ue in Qanjan that three thousand eo le believed. "he Babi community there then became so strong and bold that the government authorities began to fear for the conse!uences. 3or some time nothing ha ened to roduce a riot, but at last one of the Babis drew a knife on a (uslim. "his led to blows, and soon the whole city was in turmoil. "he Babis, drawing their swords and shouting @ 'ord of the +ge., assembled in the center of the city. "here they built strong defences, and re ared to stand a siege. @n Nay 1-, 1?;$ the (uslims attacked them, but were unable to dislodge them. "hen the 2hah sent regiment after regiment of royal troo s till at last thirty thousand were said to have cam ed around Qanjan. "he Babis defended themselves with the same frenBied courage which had characteriBed the garrison of 2haykh "abarsi. @ne man would some: times ut to flight a whole mob of the enemy. "he women also armed themselves, and fought as furiously as the men. Both the Babis and the (uslims vied with one another in the savagery of their warfare, giving no !uarter to risoners, and mutilating the bodies of the slain. "he fighting dragged on for months, and did not end till late in the year 1?;$, si7 months after the e7ecution of the Bab. %hen their leader (ulla (uhammad +li died of a bullet wound on 1ecember -$, 1?;$, the Babis who remained alive sued for eace. +s at 2haykh "abarsi, the commander of the royal armies romised the Babis their lives if
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they would surrender. /owever, when they did so they were all ut to the sword. 2ometime during the year 1?;$, before the e7ecution of the Bab,4--6 the Babis meditated an u rising in "eheran itself. @ne of them revealed the lot, and the government officials, terrified by the thought of what might occur if the Babis should actually take u arms in the ca ital, frantically arrested all members of the movement who could be found. "hirty:eight men were ca tured, and all were offered their release rovided they would renounce the Bab. "hirty:one of them agreed to do so, but seven refused, affirming that they rejoiced to offer their lives as a sacrifice in the way of their beloved (aster. @ne of the seven was the Babs own maternal uncle, (irBa 2ayyid +li. %hen led out to be killed in the ublic s!uare in "eheran, they were again urged to deny their faith in the Bab, and so save their lives, but all remained firm. "his dro of blood P this oor life P is naught, cried one of themJ were 5 ossessed of the lordshi of the world, and had a thousand lives, 5 would freely cast them before the feet of his friendsI +ll met their death with fearless courage and joy. 4-=6 +fter recounting the details of this event, the Babi historian roceeds to oint out the s ecial value of the testimony given by the 2even (artyrs. /e says 4-;6 they were men who had enjoyed the res ect and consideration of allJ they re resented all the more im ortant classes in 5ran P divines, dervishes, merchants, sho :kee ers, and government officialsJ they died fearlessly, willingly, almost eagerly, declining to urchase life by that mere li :denial which, under the name of ta*ia 4concealment6 is recogniBed by the 2hiites as a erfectly justifiable subterfuge in case of erilJ they were not driven to des air of mercy as were those who died at 2haykh "abarsiJ and they sealed their faith with their blood in the ublic s!uare of the ca ital of 5ran. %hatever one may think of the Babi movement, he cannot but feel sym athy and admiration for men so courageous and so devoted to their (aster.4-86 1uring the same year 41?;$6 serious Babi u risings, which we need not describe in detail, occurred at FaBd and NiriB in central 5ran,4-<6 the moving s irit of which was 2ayyid Fahya of 1arab, who with 1;$ other Babis lost his life.4-?6 2uffice it to say that the 2hah, who was young and had recently come to the throne, and his 0rime (inister (irBa "a!i *han, were dee ly concerned over the condition of the kingdom, for it seemed robable that the fire which had raged in (aBanderan and three other laces, and had been e7tinguished with such difficulty and with so much bloodshed, might burst forth in "eheran and destroy the state. /ence, while the fighting was going on in Qanjan, it was decided that the Bab himself must be gotten rid of, in the ho e that when he was gone his followers would cease to fight. Cobineau makes it clear4-,6 that it was not because of his religious views that the Bab was ut to death, for the 5ranian government has seldom taken any interest in su ressing heretics and free thinkers, of whom there have been many in that land. 9ather, the Bab was sentenced to death because it seemed to the authorities that his e7ecution was necessary for the good of the state. Nasirud:1in 2hah when he was &rown 0rince had resided at the trial of the Bab in "abriB, and knew that the (uslim clergy had ronounced him an a ostate worthy of death. But, though two years had gassed since that trial, the 2hah had not ordered his e7ecution, and robably would never have done so, had not the Babi u risings occurred. 5t seems that the Bab had not incited his fiery followers to fight, and hence should not be held ersonally res onsible for what they did. Nevertheless, it had been his claims to be the Bab and the (ahdi which had caused these bloody wars, and had resulted in the deaths of thousands of the 2hahs subjects, both Babi and (uslim. 5t is understandable, therefore, that the authorities res onsible for the eace of the country should want to remove from the scene the one who in their o inion had occasioned all this strife. Banishment had not roved effective, so the Bab must die. +ccordingly, orders were issued from "eheran by the 0rime (inister for the Bab to be brought from his rison at &hihrig to "abriB and there ublicly e7ecuted.4=$6 @n reaching "abriB he was given a
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form of trial by a civil tribunal, so that it could be stated officially that he was being ut to death for a ostasy. "he members of this court accused him of claiming divinity for himself, and of writing a *oran of his own and romulgating it among the eo le, and they challenged the Bab to call u on Cod to send down a revelation to him in su ort of his claims. 5t is said that the Bab thereu on uttered many verses so similar to the *oran that his enemies were confounded. 4=16 /is fate, however, had already been decided, and the authorities only wished to humiliate him as much as ossible, so as to dis el the halo which, in the eyes of many eo le, had gathered about his head. "he oor risoner was therefore dragged about the city and treated most shamefully by the mob, after which he was locked in rison with several of his disci les for three days. @n the night before his e7ecution the Bab sat talking with his friends. "omorrow they will slay me shamefully, he said. 'et one of you now arise and kill me P for it is far leasanter to die by the hands of friends than of foes. /is disci les all hesitated, e7ce t one, (irBa (uhammad +li, who arose to obey his (aster. "he others sto ed him, rebuking him for such resum tion. "his act of mine, he re lied, is not rom ted by resum tion, but by unstinted obedience. "he Bab smiled and a roved his devotion, and then said to all, "omorrow when you are !uestioned, re udiate me and renounce my doctrines, for this is the command of Cod.4=#6 "he re udiation cou led with renunciation was es ecially im ressed u on the Babs amanuensis 2ayyid /usayn.4=-6 +ll agreed to do so, e7ce t (irBa (uhammad +li 4also referred to as (irBa +!a6,4==6 who begged to be allowed to die with his (aster, and at last the Bab ac!uiesced. Ne7t day the family and wife and little children of this devoted disci le came to him and besought him to recant, but he refused to do so. "he other risoners in obedience to the Bab recanted, and were released. "hus it became ossible for 2ayyid /usayn to carry documents and relics of the Bab to 2ubh:i:+Bal, as the Bab had directed.4=;6 @n Euly ?, 1?;$, the Bab and (irBa (uhammad +li, bare footed and clothed only in their underwear, were led out to e7ecution.4=86 "hey were first taken to the houses of three (uslim clerics from whom a sentence of e7ecution for a ostasy according to 5slamic law was rocured. "he two condemned risoners were then dragged through the streets, subjected to every sort of humiliation, and treated most shamefully. "hey were then led to the barracks in the &itadel for their e7ecution. "he e7ecution was carried out by firing s!uads of soldiers, who fired three volleys. "he first firing arty was com osed of &hristian soldiers, and the second of (uslims. 5n the resence of a great crowd (irBa (uhammad +li was sus ended by ro es from the ara et, and his body was riddled by the first volley of bullets. "hen a second volley was fired by the same firing s!uad at the Bab, who was similarly sus ended. %hen the smoke rolled away, a cry of mingled e7ultation and terror arose from the s ectators P for the Bab had disa eared from sightI 5t seemed, indeed, that his life had been reserved by a miracle, for, of the storm of bullets which had been aimed at him, not one had touched himJ nay, instead of death they had brought him deliverance by cutting the ro es which bound him, so that he fell to the ground unhurt. /ad the Bab been able to maintain his resence of mind and rush out alive and unhurt among the crowd, the s ectators would without doubt have hailed his esca e from death as a miracle of Cod, and would have eagerly es oused his cause. No soldier would have dared shoot at him again, and u risings would have occurred in "abriB which might have resulted in the overthrow of the Gajar dynasty. /owever, daBed by the terrible e7 eriences he had assed through, the Bab took refuge in one of the rooms of the barracks. "here he was soon found, was seiBed, dragged forth, and again sus endedJ a new firing arty was ordered to advance 4for the men who had com osed the first refused to act again6J and before the s ectators had recovered from their first astonishment, or the Babis had time to attem t a rescue, the body of the young ro het of 2hiraB was riddled with bullets. %hat became of the bodies of the two martyrsL +ccording to some accounts, they were dragged through the streets, and then thrown outside the city walls to be devoured by the dogs and wild
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beasts.4=<6 But the Babi historian (irBa Eani writesD4=?6 "he bodies of the two victims were e7 osed for two days, after which they were buried. 2ome of the Babis e7humed them, wra ed them in white silk, and, according to the Babs own instructions, brought them to 2ubh:i:+Bal, who, with his own hands, buried them in a certain s ot..... "his matter is atD resent ke t secret, and it is unlawful for any one who has knowledge of it to divulge it till such time as the 'ord may see fit to make it known. "hese words were written not long after the death of the Bab. "he later Babi account states4=,6 that the bodies were secured by a loyal disci le by the name of 2ulayman *han, who was afterward killed in the 1?;# massacre of Babis in "eheranJ4;$6 were sent to "eheran in the kee ing of (ulla /usayn of *hurasan, who also was killed in the "eheran massacre of 1?;#J 4;$6 and were buried in one coffin secretly. 5t would seem most im robable at a time of turmoil like this that the Babis of "abriB, even by the ayment of a large sum of money to the authorities, should have been able to get ossession of the earthly remains of their beloved (aster and his loyal disci le. /owever, (r. +Bal, who has carefully studied the evidence,4;16 is convinced that the bodies were secured by the ayment of money, were later sent to 2ubh:i:+Bal, who interred them together in the shrine of 2hah +bdu1: +Bim near "eheran, where many dead were buried, and later took them to the shrine of 5mamBadeh (asum. +fterward they were taken away by the followers of Bahaullah. 0rofessor Browne wrote to 2ubh:i:+Bal to get his testimony as to what became of the Babs body, and his re ly in 0ersian has been translated as followsD 4;#6 %hen the Bab was im risoned in &hihri! he wrote to say that the lace of 2hah +bdu1:+Bim is a good land, by reason of the ro7imity of Wahid which has the same numerical e!uivalent as Fahya, the name of 2ubh:i:+BalN for kee ing..... +fter the martyrdom of the Bab his body was ke t in the house of 2ulayman *han and had that "rust Mthe bodyN conveyed to "eheran with the assistance of two believers.....5 was unwilling to kee that "rust in the recincts of 2hah +bdu1:+Bim, as graves of the dead were daily ri ed u and others were interred in them. "herefore 5 de osited it in a s ot in the shrine of 5mamBadeh (asum. "wo ersons had knowledge of that s ot..... +fter the retender MBahaN had set u his retensions he assigned certain ersons to steal the "rust, and the "rust was stolen. +ccording to this account, the body of the Bab was transferred from one resting lace to another, and found little rest. +ccording to the later Bahai accounts, +bdu1:Baha had the body brought to +kka in 1?,,, and arranged for its final interment in a beautiful mausoleum on (t. &armel near /aifa in 1,1$. 5t is said that the body was laid facing (ecca, as is the (uslim custom of burial. But who can rove that the remains conveyed to +kka and buried on (t. &armel were those of 2ayyid +li (uhammad the BabL
N@")2 1. #. -. =. ;. 8. <. ?. ,. 1$. New /istory, . =#:==, (irBa Eani in New /istory, . -8$:-81. . #<$:#?=. 2ee also Browne in + "ravellers . =$-:=$=. 3or e7 lanation of the 'etters see &ha ter 5A. "he story of Gurratu1:+yn is related in New /istory, Narrative, -$,:-1=. +Bals Notes, . ?;,. New /istory, Cobineau 5, . -;<:-;?. . -;<:-;,, Browne in New /istory, . -;,:-8$, Cobineau, 5, . #$?:#11. . #$?:#11, (irBa Eani in New /istory, . -;<, +Bals Notes, . ?8#. (irBa Eani in New /istory,

Gisasu l:.lama, !uoted in + "raveller s Narrative, . 1,?, 2ubh:i:+Bal in New /istory,

(irBa Eani in New /istory, . -;,. +vareh in *ashful:/iyal, g. #?. "he bestowal of the title Baha by Gurratu1:+yn is confirmed by +bdu1:

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Bahas aunt in her re ly to him inviting her to become a Bahai P "anbihu naRimin, . ;. 2ee +Bals Notes, . ?8; and (aterials, . ##8: ##<. 11. 1#. 1-. 1=. 1;. 18. 1<. 1?. 1,. #$. #1. ##. #-. #=. #;. #8. #<. #?. #,. -$. -1. -#. --. -=. -;. -8. (irBa Eani in New /istory, 5bid., . -;?:-;,. . ;$, -81. . -8$, -<?.

Browne in + "raveller s Narrative, . -#, note #. (irBa Eani in New /istory, Cobineau 5, 5bid., . #1<:#1,. . ?8-:?8=. . #1,:###.

Browne in New /istory, . -81, note 1, +Bals Notes, (irBa Eani in New /istory, . -8#, New /istory, . ;,.

5bid., . -8#, 0ersian 5ntroduction to Nu!tatul *af, . 2im /a. New /istory, . 8,. (irBa Eani in New /istory, . -8-. Cobineau 5, New /istory, 5bid., . ?=. (irBa Eani in New /istory, . -8;. New /istory, New /istory, . ?8:?<, Cobineau 5, . #81:#8#, 2ubh:i:+Bal in New /istory, =$,:=1$. . #8-:#8=. . ??, ?,, -88, Cobineau 5, . #==:#=;. . ,;, -8-.

+ "ravellers Narrative, . 1<,. (irBa Eani in New /istory, . -<?:-?$, +Bals Notes, . =,$. (irBa Eani in New /istory, . -<,, New /istory, . 8;. (irBa Eani in New /istory, . -?$. New /istory, . 1== ff., (irBa Eani in New /istory, . -<1, Browne in @.B.+.2. #,,<, Cobineau 5, . #<#:#,$. + "ravellers Narrative, . #1<, New /istory, . #81, (irBa Eani in New /istory, . -<$. New /istory, . #;$:#8<, (irBa Eani in New /istory. -8,:-<$, Browne in + "ravellers, . #11:#1<. 2ummary by Browne from New /istory, . #88, in + "raveller s Narrative, . #18. 2ince in many of the more recent Bahai ublications reference has been made to the #$,$$$ Bahai martyrs in 5ran, it is necessary to remind the reader that none of those who gave their lives in the struggles described in this cha ter were Bahais. "hey were all Babis, and owed no allegiance to Baha. +nd the number of the Babis who lost their lives was robably less than ;,$$$. New /istory, Cobineau 5, New /istory, New /istory, . 118:1-1, -<$. . 1?-:1?=. . -$$:-$-. . #,#:#,-, Cobineau 5, . #,#:-$<. . #,=:#,8, Nasikhu t:"awarikh, !uoted in + "raveller s Narrattive, . 1?#. Browne in New /istory, . #?$, note #, Nasikhut:"awarikh !uoted in + "ravellers Narrative, . <81:?#<,

-<. -?. -,. =$. =1. =#. =-. ==. =;.

New /istory, . #,?. 2ubh:i:+Bal, New /istory, . =1#. +!a is a title used in 5ran e!uivalent to 2ir or (r. New /istory, . #,,, (irBa Eani in New /istory, . -?1, "estamentary 1is ositions of the Bab addressed to 2ubh:i:+Bal, in +Bals Notes, . ;;$:??$, 'etter of 1r. 2aeed *han to the author. 2ayyid /usayn was killed #< of ##$

in the "eheran massacre of 1?;# 4note O;$6. =8. =<. =?. =,. ;$. ;1. ;#. Browne in + Fear +mongst the 0ersians, . 8=, New /istory. #,,:-$?, (irBa Eani in New /istory, . -?#:-?-, Browne in New /istory, . -$1, note 1, /aji 2ulayman *han to (irBa Eani in New /istory, . -$,:-1$. Cobineau 5, . -1$, +vareh in *ashful:/iyal, . 1=#. (irBa Eani in New /istory, . -?-. New /istory, . -11:-1#, + "raveller s Narrative, . =8, note l. Browne in + "ravellers Narrative. -#, 4=6 and --# 4#86 and --$ 41-6. +Bals Notes, . ??=:??,, ) istle of the Bab to 2ulayman *han in E.9.+.2. Euly #?,#, . =?1, Browne in + "ravellers Narrative, . 11$, note =. +Bals Notes, . ??,, which contain an a endi7 with the 0ersian te7t of 2ubh:i:+Bals statement, in the handwriting of his son (irBa 9idwan +li. 2ee + "ravellers Narrative, . =8, note 1. 2ee also + endi7 55, O-<.

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%= The &octrines and &ecrees of the Bab


Before continuing the history of the Babi movement after the death of its founder, we must ause to give an account of the Babs teachings and rece ts. "his is no easy task, for the writings of the Babin which his doctrines are e7 ounded were very numerous, and the style is sometimes most difficult. "he Bab wrote in both 0ersian, which was his mother tongue, and in +rabic the language of the *oran, which to most of the eo le in 5ran was a foreign and largely unknown tongue. (any of the Babs books were not reserved by his followers, but there are a number of volumes which are still in e7istence today. "hese are rare, and with a few e7ce tions, are in manuscri t and have never been translated or rinted.4l6 /ad it not been for the labors of several western scholars, notably the &omte de Cobineau, 0rofessor )dward C. Browne and N. +.'.(. Nicholas, little would have been known in the west of the beliefs and ideas which the /as left as a heritage to his followers. "o Browne, the &omte de Cobineau, and articularly to (r. Eelal +Bal, 5 am indebted for most of the material in this cha ter. "o his earlier books the Bab gave distinctive names, such as &ommentary on the 2uratu5:Fusuf. /owever, most of the later writings were included under the term 2ayan1 4.tterance, )7 osition6. "he Bab himself classified all his writings under five categoriesD4#6 16 Aerses in the style of the *oran, #6 0rayers and su lications, -6 &ommentaries, =6 2cientific treatises, and ;6 0ersian treatises. +ccording ta Browne,4-6 the book known as the Persian 2ayan1 is the most systematic, the most coherent, and the most intelligible of the Babs works. 0rofessor Browne has ublished in )nglish a very e7tensive analytical 5nde7 of its contents which fills forty large ages, from reading which it is ossible for one who does not know 0ersian to gain some conce tion of the nature and e7tent of the Babs amaBing cogitations. 4=6 "he Bayan is, says Browne, a conglomeration of do7ologies, mystical rha sodies, e7 ositions, admonitions, rece ts, doctrine and ro hecy, much of which was to him of almost inconceivable incom rehensibility. 5n the o inion of the Bab, however, the Bayan has no e!ual, for it is incom arable and inimitable. 4;6 /e says that if all creatures on earth should unite, they could not roduce the like of it. 5t is identical in essence with the Cos el and the *oran. %hoever believes in it is in 0aradise. 5t includes all things. 5t must be written in the best handwriting 4or may be rinted6, and carefully reserved. 5t is to be bound in nineteen volumes. "he believer is to read <$$ verses of the Bayan night and morning, and if he cannot do this he is to mention Cod <$$ times by saying Allahu A;har1 4Cod is (ost. (anifest6. 3or the historian, one of the most im ortant matters to be considered in a study of the Babs teachings is his claim for himself. 5n &ha ter 5 it was e7 lained that the 2hiite (uslims of 5ran and 5rag believe in five or si7 Creat 0ro hets, who in succession brought &ods laws to men and established Cods rule on earth, the last and greatest of whom was (uhammad. "hey also believe that the 5mams, a line of twelve 4or seven6 descendants of (uhammad, have the same rank as (uhammad, and differ from him only in that they did not bring new laws to re lace the *oran, which are to be in effect till the 1ay of 9esurrection. 2hiites eagerly await the return of the last 5mam, whom they call the (ahdi and the Gaim, who is said to he alive and in hiding somewhere. "he beliefs of the 2haykhis also were mentioned, who attributed divinity to the 5mams, and held that there must always be on earth one who is a channel of grace between the /idden 5mam and believers, and who understood the 9esurrection redicted by (uhammad not as hysical but s iritual. /ow did 2ayyid +li (uhammad of 2hiraB relate himself to these various conce tionsL +s was e7 lained in &ha ter 55, convinced that he had a divine mission, 2ayyid +li (uhammad a ro riated to himself all the names and titles which 2hiites had used in connection with their beliefs regarding the +bsent 5mam, such as Bab, (ahdi, 0roof of Cod, 9emnant of Cod, etc. +s a
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result, some of those who believed on him as well as most unbelievers assumed that he was using these terms in the sense in which the 2hiites used them, and that he was claiming to be either a Cate to the knowledge of the +bsent 5mam, or else the 5mam himself whose coming had been so long awaited. "here are indications, however, that from the beginning of his mission the young man from 2hiraB in making use of 2hiite terminology intended something different, and did not limit his mission to 2hiite conce tions and e7 ectations. 5n his Dirst 2oo3 written in +rabic before his declaration in 2hiraB on (ay #-, 1?==, 2ayyid +li (uhammad while calling himself the Bab suggested that he had a universal mission, claimed to be the 0oint486 4the significance of which term will be e7 lained later6, and commanded the entire com any of monarchs to convey his message to the eo les of the )ast and the %est. (oreover, there was no e7 ectation among the 2hiites that the /idden 5mam would on his a earing give new laws to men, for it was assumed that the *oranic laws were Cods final revelations and would never be re laced by others. But when 2ayyid +li (uhammad wanted to convince men that he had a divine mission, what did he doL /e did just what the 0ro het (uhammad had done, he ointed to his verses and writings, saying that no one else could roduce the like of them. /e also began to issue laws and regulations for all as ects of the life of men, both religious and social and civil, as (uhammad had done. +nd his verses in +rabic were in imitation of the *oran, with which he said his Bayan was identical. 5n his book the .e#en Proo s he argued that if it was a miracle, as (uslims agree it was, that (uhammad roduced a small book 4the *oran6 in his native tongue, it is surely a greater miracle that a young man from 5ran should be able in a few hours to write thousands of verses in +rabic, which to him was a foreign language, and roduce a huge book like the Bayan, which sur asses the *oran in s iritual knowledge and elo!uence. "he Bab definitely considered himself to be not an 5mam, but a 0ro het su erior to (uhammad. 4<6 5t seems clear that the Babs chief disci les early came to understand that their (aster was greater than an 5mam. %hen (ulla 2adi! inserted his name in the call to rayer 4&ha ter 556, he roclaimed +li (uhammad is the Cate of Cod +2a%u/llah-,1 that is, the (anifestation of Cod. 5t is said that at the Badasht &onference Gurratu1:+yn e7 lained to the other Babis that the Bab had come to inaugurate a new ro hetic dis ensation, which had taken the lace of the *oranic dis ensation inaugurated by (uhammad, and that some of those resent therefore considered them: selves free from the 5slamic regulations. 3rom his declaration in 1?== till 1?=? 2ayyid +li (uhammad made himself known as the Bab. "hen, while still in (aku, he roclaimed that he was the Gaim and (ahdi.4?6 5t has been generally su osed that he was using these terms with their 2hiite meaning, and that he who had till now claimed to be the Cate 4Bab6 to the /idden 5mam at this time ut forth a higher claim, namely, that he was himself the 5mam, who was commonly called the (ahdi or Gaim. /owever, in making this declaration the Bab ado ted the title Gaim 4/e %ho +riseth6 with a new meaning, for in the Bayan he stated that it meant /e who revails aver all men, whose arising is the 9esurrection.4,6 "he Bayan makes it !uite clear that the Bab claimed to be a (ajor 0ro het.41$6 %hat then of the orthodo7 2hiite belief that (uhammad is the last of the Creat 0ro hetsL /ere the Bab followed the 2haykhis who maintained that the 2hiites were mistaken. "hey held that when (uhammad redicted the 1ay of 9esurrection, he was really fore: telling the coming of another 0ro het who would give new life to the s iritually dead eo le of the world. "he Bab claimed to be such a 0ro het, and not merely a Creat 0ro het, but the (anifestation of the 1ivine %ill. 3or an understanding of this doctrine an e7 lanation is necessary. 5t is known to students of religion in the (iddle. )ast that much of the teachings of the early Cnostics and Neo:0latonists was carried over into 5slam, and even today occu ies a central lace in
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the hiloso hy of the 2ufis and /ukama of 5ran. "he Bab based his system of doctrine u on these ancient Cnostic conce tions, so that there was little that was new in the Babi theology.4116 +ccording to the Babs doctrine, Cod while com rehending all things is himself incom rehensible. 2ince the 1ivine )ssence cannot he known by man, knowledge of Cod means only knowledge of the (anifestation of Cod. 3rom time to time in history, Cods 0rimal Aolition +$ashiyya-, which is an emanation from the 1ivine. )ssence, and by which all things were created, manifests itself in 0ro hets who a ear among men, and to know these (anifestations is to know Cod. "he 1ivine Aolition when manifested in the 0ro het is called the Nu*ta 40oint6 of each ro hetic cycle. 3or an understanding of this basic Babi belief we can do no better than to !uote several ortions of A;al/s NotesE+69- "he 1ivine will +&rada- can in no wise be revealed e7ce t through the will of the Aolition +$ashiyya.-..... "here is @ne Aolition which manifests itself through @ne +uthor 4the (anifestation6 in each theo hanic cycle. "here can be no two 2uns of "ruth and no two +uthors in one theo hanic cycle..... +ll that is in the macrocosm is in the BayanJ all that is in the Bayan is summed u in a rescribed verseJ all that is in the verse is synthesiBed in the formula 2ismillah M5n the Name of Cod, a hrase fre!uently found in the *oran and often re eated by (uslimsNJ and all the letters in 2ismillah are created from the 0oint of the M+rabicN 'etter B+ in 2ismillah, and, returns unto it. "he 'etter B+ is com osed of a single straight line with a diacritical oint directly beneath it 4P6. "he 0oint differentiates the 'etter B+ from its fellows Mother lettersN, and is in reality its essence. "his 0oint +Nu*ta- is the 2tation of the Aolition of the 1ivine (anifestation. "he +uthor of the +ge is the 0oint. "he 0oint is like the 2un, and the other 'etters of 2ismillah are like (irrors laced before it. "he whole Bayan is but the evolution of this 0oint.41-6 "hat is why the Bab calls himself the 0oint, the 0rimal 0oint, the 'etter B+, the 0oint of the Bayan..... "he +uthor of the +ge, who is the Bab in the Bayanic dis ensation, is the. 'iving +!ayy-.1 "hus, according to this doctrine, +dam, who was su osed by the Bab to have lived 1#,#1$ years before him, was the 0oint of the first cycle of which we have knowledge 4there were other worlds before +dam6. 'ater, +braham, (oses, Eesus and (uhammad a eared, each one being the 0oint of his articular (anifestation. "hese (ajor (anifestations are all one, as the sun of yesterday is one with the sun of today. "he mortal form of the (anifestation changes, but the Aolition is the same. "he earlier (anifestations all e7ist for the later ones, each is more erfect than its redecessor, and each attests the receding (anifestation and redicts the one to follow. "he Bab com ares the (ajor (anifestations to a boy, who as +dam was a mere embryo, as Eesus was ten years of age, as (uhammad was eleven, and as the Bab was twelve years of age. 3rom this we see that the Bab thought the (anifestations a eared about every one thousand years 4a thousand years re resenting one year in the life of the boy6, and he considered himself to be the greatest (anifestation which had till then a eared. +s Browne saysD41=6 "he theory now advanced by the Bahais that the Bab. considered himself as a mere herald or forerunner of the 1is ensation which Bahaullah was shortly to establish, and was to him what Eohn the Ba tist was to Eesus &hrist, is..... devoid of historic foundation. 5n his own eyes, as in the eyes of his followers, (irBa +li (uhammad inaugurated a new 0ro hetic &ycle, and brought a new 9evelation, the Bayan, which abrogated the *oran, as the *oran had abrogated the Cos els. "he Bab did not imagine, however, that his would be the final (anifestation. +s the 2un of "ruth had risen again and again in ages ast, each (anifestation more erfect than the one which receded it, so it would continue to arise in acres to come. /ence the Bab s oke of the 0ro het in the ne7t 9esurrection as /e:%hom:Cod:%ill:(anifest. @ne of the striking features of the Babs writings is the fre!uent reference which is made to this greater (anifestation which is to follow him. 5n the Persian 2ayan alone the term /e:%hom:Cod:%ill:(anifest is found some seventy times. 41;6 "he 0eo le of the Bayan, as the followers of the Bab are called, must all acce t. /im, and not be like the Eews who rejected Eesus, and the &hristians who rejected (uhammad, and the
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(uslims who have rejected him the Bab. /e:%hom:Cod:%ill:(anifest is divine, and is one with the 0oint of the Bayan and all other (anifestations. +ll revious (anifestations were created for /im, and one verse revealed by /im is better than a thousand Bayans. 5f one should hear a single verse from him, and recite it, it is better than that he should recite the Bayan a thousand times. /e only can abrogate the Bayan.4186 /e will arise suddenly, and no one can claim falsely to be /e. @nly Cod knows the time of /is coming, but the Bab refers to the time by the number of the words Ghiyath and $ustaghath. )ach letter of the +rabic al habet has a numerical value, and the letters of these words have the value of 1;11 and #$$1 res ectively. 5t is clear, therefore, that the Bab e7 ected the ne7t (anifestation after 1;15 and before #$$1 years. 5n the Persian 2ayan we readD41<6 5f /e shall a ear in the number of Ghiyath and all shall enter in, not one shall remain in the 3ire MunbeliefN. 5f /e tarry until Mthe number ofN $ustaghath, all shall enter in, not one shall remain in the 3ire, but all shall be transformed into /is 'ight MbeliefN. %hen /e comes the "ree of the Bayan will bear its fruit. 5t is clear that the Bab assumed that his dis ensation would last as long as those of the revious (ajor (anifestations. /e e7 ected that 5ran would ado t his religion and laws, and he wrote detailed regulations for the conduct of the Babi "heocratic 2ociety. 5n every (anifestation of 1eity, the erson or 0oint has two stationsD 16 the station of divinity in the realm of names and attributes, where he is the (outh iece of Cod, and says, as the Bab didD Aerily, 5 am CodJ there is no other Cod but meJ all beside me is my creationJ41?6 and #6 the station of humanity in which he as a creature warshi s Cod. "he Bab as the 0oint embodied in himself the whole (anifestation. /e was de endent on Cod only, and all others were created by him and were de endent on him. /is followers usually referred to him as /is /oliness the 0oint. /e was also called "he 9eminder, "he (ost /igh and "he "ree of "ruth.41,6 @ne of the many titles for the "welfth 5mam was "he 9emnant of Cad, and this title also the Bab used for himself.4#$6 @ne of the interesting and uni!ue as ects of the Babs system was the order of "he 'etters of the 'iving, who were the first eighteen ersons to believe on him. /e, the 2un of "ruth., the 'iving +!ayy-, shone on them and gave them life,4#16 and they became (irrors reflecting his light. "here were 1? 'etters, because the numerical value of the +rabic letters in !ayy is 1?. "he 'etters were not a art of the (ajor (anifestation, as has been sometimes erroneously su osed, but were (inor (anifestations. "he Bab was not de endent on them, but they de ended on him the 1? 'etters with the Bab make u the number 1,, which is the numerical value of the +rabic letters in %ahid 4@ne, .ni!ue, i.e., Cod6. "he names of all the 'etters are not known. (irBa Fahya 42ubh:i:+Bal6 and his older brother (irBa /usayn +li 4Baha6 were not among the 'etters,4##6 and only later became followers of the Bab. (ost of the 'etters died in the fighting in (aBanderan.4#-6 %hen they died the Bab did not a oint others in their laces. "he )ighteen 'etters of the 'iving, according to the Bab, were the return of (uhammad, his daughter 3atima, the twelve 5mams, and the four Babs who had been the intermediaries between the /idden 5mam and the 2hiites.4#=6 (ulla /usayn, the 3irst 'etter, entitled Babul:Bab, claimed to be the return of the 5mam /usayn, grandson of (uhammad. (ulla (uhammad +li, the 'ast 'etter, called Guddus, was thought to be the return of (uhammad. 2ince, according to this doctrine, (uhammad and all the 5mams returned as 'etters of the 'iving, it is evident that the Bab did not consider himself the return either of the "welfth 5mam or of the 0ro het (uhammad. /e claimed to be the same 2un which had risen as (uhammad, but was not his return. %hat the distinction was is not clear to the author. 'ikewise, Gurratu1:+yn, the only woman to become a 'etter, was the return of 3atima, the daughter of (uhammad and the mother of the 5mams /asan and /usayn. @ther believers beside the 'etters were thought to be the return of saints of the ast, while notorious unbelievers were thought by some Babis to be the return of 0haroah and other enemies of the truth. 5t is difficult to determine e7actly what was meant by return when the word was used by the
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Babis. 5n some instances it seems that it a ro7imates the doctrine of transmigration of souls, but in other cases it im lies an identy of situation and dis osition rather than of soul. "hus when Guddus 4/oly6 was killed at 2haykh "abarsi the signs of holiness according to (irBa Eani, assed at once to 2ubh:i:+Bal, who became his return. 0rofessor Browne inter rets this to mean that the virtues and gifts of the martyred saint were transferred to 2ubh:i:+Bal, who was hundreds of miles away.4#;6 9eturn, says (r. +Bal,4#86 is the a earance of another erson, born of other arents, but ins ired by Cod with the same s irit and ower. "his coming again of these ersons was fulfilled in the a earance of the 'etters of the 'iving. +s for the Babi doctrine of the 9esurrection, which was thought to be the coming of a new (anifestation, the Bab held that the length of each 9esurrection 1ay was the eriod of time from the a earance of a (anifestation till his death. "hus the 9esurrection foretold by (uhammad began with the declaration of the Bab on (ay #-, 1?==, and it ended with his death on Euly ?, 1?;$. +s the fruit of 5slam is gathered in the Bayanic 9esurrection, so the fruit of the Bayan will be gathered in the ne7t 9esurrection, namely, the a earance of /im:%hom:Cod:%ill:(anifest. "he Bab redicted that this coming 9esurrection would last 1, years. (eeting with Cod in the 9esurrection means meeting the new (anifestation. Between the bright 1ays of 9esurrection are long dark eriods of night.4#<6 'ikewise, the 5slamic doctrines of the 'ast Eudgment, the "rum et, the Bridge across which men must ass to 0aradise, the 2cales in which Cod weighs mens actions, the leasures of /eaven and the ains of /ell, are understood in an allegorical manner. "he Bab says that the 1ay of Eudgment is not different from any other day P it asses, and most men are unaware of its coming. +ccording to the Bab, it was because eo le were looking for a literal fulfilment of ro hecy that they always failed to recogniBe the new (anifestation when he a eared. /ad they inter reted these redictions ro erly, the Eews would not have rejected Eesus, nor the &hristians (uhammad, nor the (uslims 2ayyid +li (uhammad. Because they were looking for outward signs instead of inward reality they failed to believe and be saved. "hough doctrinal discussions, mystical meditations and countless rayers for use when visiting sacred shrines and on other occasions occu y a large lace in the Babs writings, he gave also many s ecific directions for the life of his followers here on earth. /e ro osed, as (uhammad had done, to set u a universal "heocratic 2ociety, and issued laws for the regulation of both civil and religious affairs of the eo le of Bayan. %e can mention only the rinci al rovisions of the new system. 2ince the numerical value of the word Wahid 4.nity6 is 1,, the Bab decreed that all activities of the 0eo le of the Bayan should be governed by grou s of 1, ersons. 3or instance, each city and village was to have one or more tem les for worshi , each of which was to be in charge of 1, attendants. 2hrines were to be erected only over the graves of the Bab and the 1? 'etters, and these 1, /oly 0laces would embrace under their shadow the graves of other martyrs and holy men. "he holy laces of revious dis ensations were to be no longer reserved. +ll believers living within #;$ miles of the Babs tomb must visit it every year, rovided they are in good circumstances, and remain for at least ten days.4#?6 +lso, they must visit the tomb of the 1? 'etters, travelling if ossible on foot. 0ilgrims to these /oly 0laces must give gifts to each of the 1, guardians in each shrine. (oreover, believers who are in good circumstances must once in their lifetime visit the 0lace of the /ouse, or Cods /ouse, which is the Babs birth: lace. "he lace changes in each (anifestation. 5n that of (uhammad it was in (ecca, and in that of the Bab it is in 2hiraB. "hose believers whose country is se arated by sea from 2hiraB are e7cused from making this ilgrimage, and all women are discouraged from going to the /ouse. 9esidents of 2hiraB are to visit the /ouse every year, and give gifts to each of the 1, guardians. "he /ouse is the *i%leh, or rayer direction,
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and Babis must face it in worshi and be buried facing it when they die. 5n addition to the ilgrimages to the 1, shrines and the /ouse in 2hiraB, yet another was re!uired, namely, that to the 0lace of the Blow in "abriB. "his was the house in which the Bab got the bastinado after his first trial. )very believer residing in "abriB and within a radius of =1# miles of "abriB, who has reached the age of #, and is in good circumstances, was re!uired to visit this 0lace every year and remain there 1, days and erform the rescribed rites. "hose who are too oor to do this must erform the rites at home. Non:Babis were not to be ermitted to reside in the dominions of a Babi monarch, the inhabitants of which rofess the Babi faith. +nd no unbeliever was to reside in 3ars, &entral 5ran, *hurasan, (aBanderan and +Barbaijan, the rovinces of 5ran where the Babi faith had first been ro agated. /owever, non:Babis who carry on business which benefits Babis are e7em ted from these rohibitions. "he Bab laced great im ortance u on talismans. 2ince numbers and names were thought to re resent the realities of things, all believers were commanded to wear certain amulets and charms and seals designed by the Bab himself. &harms were to be tied about the necks of infants. 5t seemed to Cobineau 4#,6 that the Bab wished to revive the ancient aganism of &haldea which had long been lying dormant, for in his o inion the Babi system was full of animistic ractices, and even olytheistic features were not wanting. + Babi monarch was authoriBed to seiBe the ro er: ties of non:Babis in his dominions, but if they em: braced the Babi faith their ro erties were to be restored. 5n the event of the con!uest of a country by Babi armies, the most riceless ro erty was to be reserved for the Bab, if he is alive. 5f he is dead, it is to be held for /im:%hom:Cod:%ill:(anifest. 2ubject to this reservation, one:fifth of the value of all ro erty so taken was to he a lied 16 to the marriages of the 0eo le of the Bayan, #6 to grants to the author of the victory, and to his men, and -6 the residue was to be ke t for the erection of shrines not yet erected, or for distribution to all the 0eo le of the Bayan. 5t is not clear how these regulations about con!uest of countries and division of booty were to be reconciled with other commands in the Bayan, such asD No one is to be slain far unbelief, far the slaying of a soul is outside the religion of Cod.....and if anyone commits it he is not, and has not been, of the Bayan. &oercion for the ur ose of conversion to the Babi faith was forbidden. +lso, the carrying of instruments of war was forbidden, e7ce t in time of necessity and fighting. +s far as is known, the Bab did not either encourage his followers who fought so furiously for his cause in (aBanderan and Qanjan, nor did he forbid them to use the sword. 0erha s the rohibition of slaying written by the Bab at the time when the fighting was going on indicated his disa roval of what his followers were doing. /owever, if he had clearly forbidden them to use the sword there would robably have been far fewer Babi martyrs. %hatever severity might be used toward unbelievers, the Bab enjoined the greatest kindness and gentleness toward brothers in the faith. /e did not authoriBe cor oral unishment or im risonment or the use of force, and ca ital unishment had no lace in his system of government. 5f ta7es were not aid they were not to he forcibly collected. "he only unishments a ointed for the 0eo le of the Bayan were fines, and rohibition for men to a roach their wives, who resumably did not share their guilt. 5t is not clear how these unishments were to be administered. 5t seems that the Bab may have wished to abolish the outward forms of religion which have layed so im ortant a art in the lives of many (uslims. "his, however, would have been unacce table to most of his followers, and so he contented himself with lightening somewhat the burden of ceremonialism. 3or 2hiites the roblem of ceremonial urity is an im ortant one, since swine, dogs, blood, dead bodies, e7crement and many other things are considered unclean. 5f anyone becomes defiled by contact with an unclean object or erson he must make ablution in a rescribed
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manner in order to become clean again. "he Bab abolished these regulations, and ronounced all things clean for the 0eo le of the Bayan, thereby making ceremonial ablutions unnecessary. /e decreed that an unclean object may be made clean by saying over it si7ty:si7 times the name of Cod, or by e7 osing it to the action of the sun, or the earth, air, fire or water, all of which are clean. (inute directions are given regarding certain very ersonal matters. "he 0eo le of the Bayan were ermitted to deal in business with unbelievers, though they are unclean, and their ro erty is unclean. 3ar any ro erty transferred by them to believers becomes clean because of the honor accorded to it by reason of the association with the Babi faith. %hile regulations regarding ceremonial urity were abolished, the Bayan laid great stress on cleanliness, which was said to he the nearest access to Cod, and the best of acts of devotion. )very village was to have a hot hath house. )very believer was re!uired to wash himself fre!uently, remove hair and a ly henna to his body, and cut his nails. "he (uslim worshi which the 2hiites are re!uired to erform at least three times each day in the +rabic language facing (ecca was abolished by the Bab. "here was to be no congregational worshi , like that in the mos!ues on 3riday, e7ce t for the dead. %hether in the lace of worshi or at home, worshi was to be erformed individually and so there was no need for an order of clergy to lead the worshi ers. "he one time of re!uired worshi is noon, when the .nity 0rayer was to he recited. "his act of worshi is based on the number of Wahid 4@ne6, which is 1,, and consists of 1, rostrations made as the worshi er resumably faces the /ouse of the Bab in 2hiraB. "he words to he s oken in +rabic 1, times in this daily act of worshi were as followsD Cod witnesseth that there is no god but /eD to /im belongeth creation and command. /e !uickeneth and causeth to dieD then /eD causeth to die and !uickeneth, and verily /e is the 'iving, who dieth not. 5n /is gras is the dominion of all thingsD /e createth what /e leaseth by /is commandD verily /e has ower over all things. +Persian 2ayan, A55, 1, and other writings of the Bab6. "he Bab changed also the (uslim salutation .alam Alay3um1 40eace be to you6. 5n the Persian 2ayan A5, ; he directed that the salutation s oken by men should be Allahu A3%ar1 4Cod is most mighty6, and the re ly should be Allahu A/;am1 4Cod is (ost Creat6. %omen should say Allahu A%ha1 4Cod is (ost 2 lendid6, with the re ly Allahu A,mal1 4Cod is (ost Beautiful6. "he (uslim month of fasting, 9amaBan 4+rabic Ramadan- lasts a full lunar month, and when it falls in summer the faithful must refrain from taking food and drink for almost eighteen hours each day for #? days. "he Bab reduced the 3ast to one Bayanic month of 1, days, making it last from sunrise to sunset. +nd since the Babi 3ast always comes in the s ring of the year, and is the last month of the Babi year, which immediately recedes No 9uB, the New Fear 3estival 4(arch #16, it does not last in 5ran longer than twelve hours. +s in the (uslim 3ast, eating and drinking is ermitted at night. "he Bab laced great im ortance u on marriage, which he made obligatory u on all believers. +t the age of eleven, or at latest when they reach the age of uberty, they must marry. 5n the cities the man at marriage must give to the woman a minimum of 1, and a ma7imum of ninety:five mith*als of gold, and in the rural areas the same amount of silver.4-$6 + man was ermitted to have two wives, but olygamy was discouraged, and the form of concubinage ermitted by 2hiite law was strictly forbidden. "he Bab himself had at least two wives. 1ivorce was ermitted only when the arties had waited a full year. 5f one of the arties in marriage should die, the widower must remarry within ninety days, and the widow within ninety:five days. "hough the Bab had no children of his own e7ce t an infant who died, he showed great concern far the training of children. /e forbade the heating of boys by their masters, and all other cruel unishments. 5t is robable that his em hasis on kindness and love, as well as his attitude toward women and children, had been influenced by his reading of the New "estament, which was translated into 0ersian in 2hiraB by /enry (artyn nine years before the Bab was born there, and
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was ublished four years later. "he use of the veil by women, according to the (uslim custom, was forbidden by the Bab, and men and women were ermitted to associate with one another freely, but to avoid all over: familiarity. "he Bab had seen &hristians in 5sfahan and +Barbaijan, and in the Bayan he s oke favorably of their cleanliness and dignity, and was no doubt im ressed by their customs. But he stated that in s ite of all their good !ualities they are still in the 3ire 4unbelief6, because they did not acce t (uhammad, who is su erior to Eesus. 2ince the numerical value of the +rabic word Wahid 4@ne, i. e., Cod the @ne6 is nineteen, the Bab thought that everything should be arranged on the basis of the number 1,. /e accordingly ro osed a new calendar with 1., months of 1, days each 41, 7 1, S -816 that all may advance through the 1, degrees of the 'etters of the .nity from the oint of entrance Minto the sign ofN the 9am to the limit of its course.....in the sign of the 3ish. By rejecting the (uslim lunar calendar, and making the ancient 5ranian New Fear 4No 9uB6, which usually falls on (arch #1? the vernal e!uino7, the beginning of the Babi year, it seems that the Bab wished to demonstrate his atriotic feelings. 4-16 "he first Babi month is called Baha 42 lendor6, and is the s ecial month of the 0oint of the (anifestation, who is the Bab in the Bayanic dis ensation. "he first day of the fist. month, which is No 9uB, is called the 1ay of Cod, and is the day of the 0oint 4the Bab6 . "he declaration of the Bab in 2hiraB on (ay #-, 1?== +.1. was on Eamad:i:+wwal ;, 1#8$ +./., and it has been generally su osed that the Babi )ra began on that date, or on the No 9uB which receded it 4(arch #$, 1?==6.4-16 /owever, from the Babs ersonal 1iary, which is in e7istence, we see that he intended that the Bayanic )ra should begin just si7 years after his declaration. "hat is, according to the Bab, Eamad:i:+wwal ;, 1#88 +./. 4(arch 1,, 1?;$ +.1.6, which was No 9uB in that year, was the first day of the month Baha in year one of the Babi )ra 4or 3arvardin 1, 1##, of the 5ranian solar year6. "his is confirmed in the Babs 2oo3 o Names o All Things, and also in the Ta%let o the Tem5le o the Religion. "hus 2ayyid +li (uhammad celebrated the beginning of the new )ra only four months before his e7ecution.4-#6 "he Bab made no rovision for the intercalary days, omitted between -81 and -8; 4oB -88 in 'ea Fear6. "his lack was later remedied by 2ubh:i:+Bal, his successor. 5t is of interest that the Bab stated that his mission began 1#<$ years after the mission of (uhammad. 3or some reason he referred to date his mission not from the !i,ra 48## +.1.6, but from the beginning of (uhammads mission, which the Bab dated ten years rior to the 2ojourn to (adina. Not only did the Bab rearrange the calendar on the basis of the numerical value of the letters in Wahid 41,6, he wished everything to be so arranged. "he monetary system, weights, measures, ta7es, fines, etc. were to be based on the same rinci le. "he Bayan, the 2cri ture of the new faith, was to have consisted of 1, grand divisions +Wahids-, each containing 1, subdivisions 4Babs6. "he Bab redicted the coming of the time when even the ens on the encase shall be according to the number of the Wahid 41,6. "he Bab issued many other regulations for his followers, a few of which we will mention. +ccording to his decree, all books revealed by Cod in revious ro hetic dis ensations, resumably the Bible and the *oran, have been abrogated by the a earing of the new (anifestation, that is, their validity has been annulled.4--6 %hen Cod gives a new revelation, namely, the 1-ayan 4which embraces the great mass of writings of the Bab6, believers must refer to it alone for guidance. +nd as the divinely:revealed books of revious dis ensations are abrogated by the Bayan, so are the many books written by men who were followers of revious (anifestations. "he Bab, therefore, forbade the reading of all non:Babi books, and commanded that they be burned. /e no doubt had in mind the countless volumes com osed by 2hiite theologians and hiloso hers, which resented many conflicting views of religion, and roduced not enlightenment but confusion and unbelief. "herefore, believers must read only the Bayan, and books written by eminent Babi scholars under
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the shadow of the Bayan. No one is ermitted to own more than 1, books, the first of which is to be the Bayan, the rece ts of which will be binding on believers till the coming of /im:%hom:Cod: %ill: (anifest. 3or the Bayan is the 2traight 0ath of "ruth. 5t is obligatory far the 0eo le of the Bayan to ac!uire knowledge and im art it to others. )very monarch to emerge in the Bayanic dis ensation must choose twenty: five learned men to assist him in the furtherance of the Babi faith, and in going to the relief of the weak and needy. + detailed arrangement for the division of inheritance is rescribed. &ontrary to (uslim law, the Bab made it ermissible to take interest on loans. )veryone is re!uired to follow an occu ation to earn his living. Begging is strictly forbidden, but giving of charity to the oor is enjoined. Believers are to wear as fine clothing as they can afford, and to use gold and jewels if they have them. (en must shave their faces clean, contrary to (uslim custom. Believers must not sit on the floor like the (uslims, but sit on chairs. +ll ersonal effects must be changed every 1, years. 3oreign travel is forbidden, e7ce t for business, or for assisting some erson. +rms are not to be carried within the Bayanic state. )very believer must take a bath every four days, and teeth must be cleaned after meals. 5t was obligatory that every male believer serve the 0oint in. erson for 1, days, but the 0oint may grant e7em tion. "he 0oint must he treated with great res ect, and his family must be honored by all.. 2 ecial rayers are to be said for him and his arents. )very believer who has ro erty worth 1$$ mith*als of gold must set aside the sum of #$ mith*als as the 9ight of Cod. @f this sum, one mith*al is to go to the 0oint, and one to each of the 1? 'etters, and one is for Cod 4 erha s for charity6. +fter the deaths of the 1,, the ta7 goes to their heirs, or if they have none, for the marriage of believers, and the one mith*al for Cod is to be ke t for /im:%hom:Cod:%ill: (anifest, or s ent in the work of the Bayan. )very 3amily must entertain 1, guests every 1, days, even though they may he able to serve them nothing but water. "he dead are to be washed once, or may be washed three to five times, and hurried in stone coffins, with engraved rings on their fingers. +fter burial their graves must be visited by their friends once every month 4of 1, days6. "he use of o ium, alcohol and tobacco was forbidden. 0ack animals were not to be over:loaded, and cows must not be used for riding, or for carrying loads. "he milk of asses must not be drunk, and eggs must not be ke t where they will s oil. Near the end of the Ara%ic 2ayan 4K,=6 the Bab wroteD "he essence of religion in your beginning and return consists in your belief in Cod beside whom there is no godJ then in /im:%hom:Cod: %ill:(anifest on the 1ay of 9esurrection in your returnJ then in the Book Cod will send down to himJ then in /im:%hom:Cod: /as:(anifested under the name of.....2ayyid +li (uhammad the BabJ and then in that which Cod has sent down to him in the Bayan.4-=6 "his, in brief, is the system of doctrine and of society and government which 2ayyid +li (uhammad believed Cod wished to establish through him in 5ran and throughout the world. 5t seems that he realiBed the need for a s iritual and social reformation in his country where at that time religion consisted largely of em ty forms of worshi , and where there was little knowledge of the true Cod, and little love for men. "he reader may judge for himself the ade!uacy of the Babs theology, and of his laws and rece ts for establishing a just and effective social order for the world. %hether the Bayanic system was given by revelation to the Bab from Cod, or whether it was the uto ian dream of a man long in rison facing death, it never became a reality. No king ever ado ted the Babi faith and used his authority to ro agate it, and no nation ever attem ted to order the life of its eo le in accordance with the laws of the Bayan. 5f the Bab was indeed, as he thought himself to be, a (ajor (anifestation of Cod, come to establish a new "heocratic 2ociety which would take the lace of 5slam and all revious religious systems, and last for at least 1;11 years, why were his high ho es for the future not realiBedL %hatever one may think of his claims and his regulations, one
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cannot but admire the Bab for his devotion. to the cause for which he gave his life.
N@")2 1. 3or lists and descri tions of books written by the Bab the reader is referred to A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, . --;:-=<, ?.R.A... 1?,#, . ==;:=,, and 8-<:8;,, $aterials, .1,?:#$?. "he books which were rinted are the following +A;al/s Notes, .?,-6D Ara%ic 2ayan, Persian 2ayan, La4h)i)!ay3al al)Din 4"ablet of the "em le of the 9eligion6, Commentary on the Dirst Ferse o La4h)i)!ay3al, Pan, .ha/n 43ive Crades6, Dala/il)i).a%/a 42even 0roofs6 in both 0ersian and +rabic, Personal Diary o the 2a%, La4h)i)!uru at 4"ablet of 'etters6, Collection o Autogra5h E5istles o the Primal Point, and .ahi a)i)Adliyya. Both the Ara%ic and the Persian 2ayans and the Persian .e#en Proo s were translated in full into 3rench by +. '. N. Nicholas and ublished +$aterials, . 1?#, #$=6. "he writing of the Ara%ic and Persian 2ayans was robably begun when the Bab was in (aku, and continued after his transfer to &hihri! +A;al/s Notes, . ?,=, and Browne in A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, . #<=6. Neither book was com leted, for the former ended with K5, 1,, and the latter with QK, 1$. )ach was to have had 1, 1ivisions +Wahids-. $aterials, 5. 9:6, ?.R.A... 6@@7, 5. @7A and 6@79, 55. 'B9, '89 . $aterials, 5. 9:B. Browne in )nglish 5ntroduction to Nu*tatu/9)(a , 5bid., . 'A555:'K. A;al/s Notes, 5. BA:. ?.R.A... 6@@7, 55. 768)76C. (irBa Eani in Ne4 !istory, . -8,, states that the Bab first called himself: Gaim in a letter to (ulla 2haykh +li. A;al/s Notes, 5. 7A9. . '5A:K&A.

9. A. =. ;. 8. C. ?. 7.

1$. 5bid., . ?-;. 9efer to the Persian 2ayan in which the Bab states that he is the Cate of Cod 45,l and 55,16, the 2un of "ruth 45A,86, and the 0oint of the 'etter B+ 455,1<, 5A,1, A5,1-6 . 11. $aterials, . K5A. 1#. A;al/s Notes, 55. <-#:<-8. 1-. Persian 2ayan, 555,?. 1=. Nu*tatu/l)3a , )nglish 5nt., . KK5A. 1;. 5bid., 1<. 5bid., . 'K5K:'KK55, A tra#eller/s Narrati#e, . -=<:-=,. 18. Bab !uoted in Nu*tatu/l)(a , )nglish 5nt., . '5A. . KKA:KKA5 +Persian 2ayan, 55, 18, 1<6, A;al/s Notes, . ?,?. . ##,:#-$, Ne4 !istory, . -<=. 1?. Nu*tatu/l)(a , )nglish 5nt., . 'KA55. 1,. A Tra#eller s Narrati#e, #$. 2ee + endi7 55, O;;. #1. A;al/s Notes, . <#$:<#1. ##. Browne in 0ersian 5nt. to Nu*tatu/l)3a , . -;, note ;. #-. 2ubh:i:+Bal in Ne4 !istory, . =1<. #=. A;al/s Notes, . <==, ?;8:?;<. #;. Ne4 !istory, . -?$, note l. #8. A;al/s Notes, . ,-=. #<. 5bid., . <;-:<8$. 2ee + endi7 55, O=< for 1, Fears. #?. +ccording to the Babis, the tomb of the Bab is at 5mamBadeh (asum near "eheran, but according to the Bahais it is on (t. &armel near /aifa in 5srael. "he graves of most of the 'etters are unknown. 5t is evident that the Bab, by these rovisions, wished to ut an end to the 2hiite ractice of visiting the numerous shrines of the 5mams and their descendants in 5ran and 5ra!. +lso he wished the ilgrimage to his birth lace in 2hiraB to take the lace of the -? of ##$

(uslim ilgrim: age to (ecca. #,. Go%ineau, &5, . <<. -$. @ne mith*al is e!uivalent to five grams. -1. Browne in A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, --. 2ee + endi7 55, O8= and O8;. -=. "he rinci al sources for the doctrines and regulations contained in this cha ter areD 16 Brownes e7haustive 5nde7 to the Persian 2ayan in Nu*tatu/l)3a , )nglish 5ntroduction, . '5A:K&A, #6 Go%ineau/s &ha ter K55 on the Books and 1octrines of the Babis 455, . =-:1$16, and -6 Go%ineau s translation of the Babi book which he calls 3ita%)i)!u33am 455, . #1,:--<6. Browne states that the author of this Book of &ommandments is the Bab, and he terms the book the shorter +rabic Bayan +?.R.A... 1??,, . 1$$16. 5t seems, however., that the book is the La4h) i)!ay3al al)Din 4"ablet of the "em le of the 9eligion6, which is a summary of his laws, com osed by the Bab while he was in &hihri! 4+Bals Notes, 5. 7AC6. +nd =6 the scholarly and co ious Notes su lied to the author by (r. Eelal +Bal, without whose understanding of the Babi history and doctrines the early cha ters of this book could not have been thus written. (aterial related to the Bab is found in many sections of A;al/s Notes, es ecially in . 1#;:1-$, ;-$: ;-1, 8#-:8#=, 8?<:<?#, and ?#,:,-<. . =#=:=#;. -#. A;al/s Notes, . 81-. 2ee + endi7 55, . -, O#, and -$.

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'= The (icegerency of )ubh*i*+,al


5t is the belief of the 2hiite (uslims that the 0ro het (uhammad shortly before his death ublicly a ointed his son:in:law +li as his successor, or vicegerent, to become the first 5mam, and that +li and each of the succeeding 5mams in likeD manner a ointed the men who were to succeed them as the leaders of the believers. 1id 2ayyid +li (uhammad, the 0oint of the new (anifestation, follow the e7am le of his ancestor (uhammad, the 0oint of the receding (anifestation, in naming his vicegerentL Fes, he did.. 9ealiBing the certainty of his early death, the 0oint of the Bayan did what his followers e7 ected him to do, and a ointed his successor.. +ccordingly, after the e7ecution of the Bab in "abriB on Euly ?, 1?;$, (irBa Fahya 2ubh:i:+Bal became the recogniBed head of the 0eo le of the Bayan, was acce ted by the Babi community as their divinely ordained ruler, and continued in this osition for some si7teen years. 2ince the history of this eriod has unfortunately been inaccurately related in some of the books ur orting to give a true account of the Babi and Bahai movement, it is necessary for us to resent in some detail the established facts. (irBa Fahya the successor of the Bab was the son of (irBa BuBurg of the district of Nur in the rovince of (aBanderan. /e was born in "eheran in 1?-1 +.1.4l6 /is father, according to the Babi historian, was accom lished, wealthy, and much res ected, but was not a rince,4#6 as some have alleged. (irBa Fahyas mother and father. died when he was a child, and he was committed to the care of his fathers second wife,4-6 who, it is said, was warned in a dream of his future destiny, and showed him the greatest love and consideration.4=6 /is education was su ervised by his half:brother (irBa /usayn +li, the son of (irBa BuBurg and this second wife, who was thirteen years older than (irBa Fahya. "his half:brother later became known as Baha, and long after in +kka as Bahaullah.4;6 5n his history of the Babi movement written about 1?;1 +.1., (irBa Eani !uotes the following statement which (irBa /usayn +li had made regarding his younger brotherD486 5 busied myself with the instruction of Eanab:i:+Bal.4<6 "he signs of his natural e7cellence and goodness of dis osition were a arent in the mirror of his being. /e ever loved gravity of demeanour, silence, courtesy, and modesty, avoiding the society of other children, and their behaviour. 5 did not, however, know that he would became the ossessor of Mso highN a station. "his statement shows how amicable were the relations of the two brothers shortly after the death of the Bab when Nir.Ba Eani enned these words, and in what high esteem the elder held the younger. %hen (irBa Fahya was still young, his brother used to bring followers of the Bab to his house in "eheran, and it was from their conversations that he first learned of the a earing of the 'ord of the +ge. /e read some of the Babs writings, and about 1?=< +.1. became a believer.4?6 2o great was his attachment to his (aster, whom he had never seen, that when the Bab commanded his followers to go to *hurasan, the eastern rovince of 5ran, the seventeen year old youth tried to obey, but was forbidden by his brother.4,6 'ater, however, he went to (aBanderan, and on the way he met and became ac!uainted with /aBrat:i:Guddus,41$6 and accom anied him to Barfurush. "here he met Gurratul:+yn. Both these leaders showed him great kindness and attention, and at the command of Guddus, Gurratu1:+yn conducted (irBa Fahya to theD Nur district in (aBanderan.4116 %e have already described in &ha ter 555 the attem t that he and his brother at a later time made to reach 2haykh "abarsi, and their ca ture and release.45#6 @f this eriod (irBa Eani writesD41-6 5 was in attendance on Eanab:i:+Bal in (aBanderan, night and day, for four months or more...../e was filled with ardour and ecstasy, and 5 found him ever dis osed by nature to devotion and emanci ation such that he utterly disregarded the world and its circumstances...../e showed a wonderful attachment to /aBrat:i:Guddus, and used often to read aloud with sweet utterance the homilies and rayers of that (aster of the world.

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%hen the news of the death of /aBrat:i:Guddus in (aBanderan on (ay ##, 1?=,, reached (irBa Fahya he fell ill for three days. "hen, says (irBa Eani,41=6 the signs of holiness +*udsi- a eared in. his blessed form .....and this event took lace in the fifth year of the (anifestation of the "ruth, so that Eanab:i:+Bal became the blessed domain of the %ill= 45rada6.....41;6 2ometime after this (irBa Fahya sent a communication to the Bab in his rison in &hihri! by the han? of (irBa +li 2ayyah, on reading which the Bab was over: come with joy, for, said he, the Bayan has now borne fruit. 3rom this saying Nir.Ba Fahya received the title, /is /ighness the 3ruit +!a;rat)i) Thamara-. +t once the Bab a ointed (irBa Fahya as his successor, 4186 giving him high titles, such as (orning of )ternity +.u%h)i)A;al-, 2 lendor of Cod +2aha/u/llah-, second 0oint +Nu*ta)i)Thani- and "he one 4%ahid6.41<6 5t seems that the title .u%h)i)A;al by which the Babs successor is best known was given him because he rose to rominence in the fifth year of the Babs (anifestation 41?=, +.1.6, which, according to a well:known tradition, was characteriBed by the words, + 'ight which shone from the 1awn of )ternity.41?6 "he Bab gave written notice of the a ointment of 2ubh:i:+Bal to the 'etters of the 'iving who had survived the fighting in (aBanderan and to other Babi leaders, as is recorded in old manuscri ts. 41,6 +lso to his successor:to:he he sent some of his own ersonal effects, such as encases, a er, writings, clothing and rings, that, as (irBa Eani observes,4#$6 the outward form might corres ond with the inward reality, intending that after him 2ubh:i:+Bal should hear the divine influences. /e also wrote a testamentary de osition, says (irBa Eani, e7 licitly nominating him M+BalN as his successor. 5n this connection (irBa Eani e7 resses his own conviction that 2ubh:i:+Bal was himself /e:%hom:Cod:%ill:(anifest whose coming the Bab had redicted, and other Babis shared this o inion. with him.4#16 /owever, in this matter he was mistaken, for as we have seen in &ha ter 5A? the Bab did no antici ate the a earance of the ne7t (anifestation before at least 1;11 years, and moreover 2ubh:i:+Bal never made the claim that he was /e:%hom:Cod:%ill:(anifest and later in his writings he dismissed this o inion as erroneous.4##6 %hen 0rofessor Browne visited 2ubh:i:+Bal in &y rus in 1?,8 he was shown the original document, written and sealed by the Bab himself, in which the Bab a ointed (irBa Fahya 2ubh:i: +Bal as his successor.4#-6 Browne ublished a facsimile of a transcri t of theD +rabic te7t, and has translated it as followsD 4#=6 Cod is (ost Creat with .ttermost Creatness. "his is a letter on the art of Cod, the 0rotector, the 2elf:)7istent, to Cod, the 0rotector, the 2elf: )7istent. 2ay, +ll originate from Cod. 2ay, +ll return unto Cod. "his is a letter from +li before Nabil GNa%il is numerically e!uivalent to $uhammad, and Ali %e ore Na%il is Ali $uhammadH, God/s Reminder unto the 4orlds, unto him 4hose name is e*ui#alent to the Name o the @ne GWahid I #? S Yahya, the name of 2ubh:i:+Ba11, Cods 9eminder unto the worlds. 2ay, Aerily all originate from the 0oint of 9evelation. @ Name of the @ne MFahyaN, kee what hath been revealed in the Bayan, and enjoin it,4#;6 for verily thou art a (ighty %ay of "ruth. "o this document the seal of the Bab was attached. Aerily 5 am the 0roof of Cod and /is 'ight. 5t is noteworthy that in this document the Bab addresses 2ubh:i:+Bal with the same high titles that he claimed for himself, indicating that he considered his successor to be one with him. "he 2hiites thought of (uhammad as the 2un, and +li whom they held to he his true successor and one with him, as the (oon, reflecting the 2uns 'ight. Eust so in the Bayanic &ycle the Bab was thought to be the 2un, and his successor 2ubh:i:+Bal, the (irror of the Bayan, was the (oon, from whom the
=1 of ##$

'ight of Cod shone forth. "he testamentary de osition to which (irBa Eani referred is found in old Babi manuscri ts, and a facsimile of a transcri t of it, with an )nglish translation, has been su lied by (r. +Bal4#86 +mong other things the Bab in this document says to 2ubh:i:+BalD $ Name of )ternity M+BalNI Bear witness that there is no Cod hut me, the (ighty, the beloved.....Cod rules the lace of the (anifestation.....as /e leases by /is command.....%hen Mthe &ommandN is cut off from the throne recite the verses of thy 'ord.....9ecite thou for myself every night and day.....and bear witness that in truth 5 am alive in the most s lendid 4abha6 horiBon. and hear whoever makes mention of me.....5f Cod manifests grandeur in thy days make manifest the )ight 0aths 4#<6...,.and if Cod manifests not grandeur in thy days, cleave steadfastly to what has been reveale? and change not one letter.....that men disagree not touching the religion of Cod.....0reserve thyself....."hen reserve what has been revealed in the Bayan, and then what is revealed in thy art, for verily this is that will subsist till the 1ay of 9esurrection. 5f Cod cause one like unto thee to a ear in thy days, then he it is to whom shall be be!ueathed the &ommand Mof the Babi &auseN on the art of Cod..... But if such an one a ears not, know for a surety that Cod hath not willed to make /imself known, and render u the authority to Cod.....and ordain the %itnesses who fear Cad..... +ccording to this document, the Babs instructions to 2ubh:i:+Bal for the eriod after his death were as followsD 16 to recite the Babs versesJ #6 to com lete the Bayan by writing the eight 2ections 4%ahid6 which the Bab had left unwritten 4there were to be 1, 2ections6, thus indicating +Bals oneness with the BabJ -6 in case the time should not be ro itious to com lete the Bayan, to reserve carefully what the Bab had written, and to reserve himselfJ =6 if a worthy erson like himself should a ear, to a oint him as his successor P otherwise he is to a oint %itnesses, and leave the &ause in the hands of Cod. 2ubh:i:+Bal evidently did not consider the time ro itious, far he did not com lete the Bayan. +fter the death of the Bab he did a oint several %itnesses to assist him in the administration of the Babi &ause, one of whom was his brother Baha.4#?6 /e did not a oint a successor, nor did he leave a %ill, nor did he a oint %itnesses with authority to lead the 0eo le of the Bayan after his death. "he reason far his in ability to do these things will a ear later. @n the death of the Bab the Babi community acce ted 2ubh:i:+Bal and accorded him the high honor which the Bab had bestowed on him. +s is clearly seen in (irBa Eanis history, the Babis in 1?;1 +.1. considered 2ubh:i:+Bal and the Bab to be one. "he &omte de Cobineau, who was in intimate contact with the Babis of "eheran from 1?;; to 1?;? confirms the statements of (irBa Eani.4#,6 /e says that some of the Babis thought 2ubh:i:+Bal to be /e:%hom:Cod:%ill:(anifest, while others thought him to he a return of the Bab, and he was the undis uted leader of the Babi movement. "here is not the slightest historical evidence dating from this eriod that anyone other than 2ubh:i:+Bal was a ointed or acted as successor to the Bab as 0rofessor Browne writes,4-$6 "he evidence that at this eriod, and for some considerable time afterwards, 2ubh:i:+Bal.....held undis uted sway over the Babi &hurch is absolutely conclusive. 5t was no easy task to which 2ubh:i:+Bal, as yet only nineteen years of age, fell heir when his (aster was e7ecuted. "he Babis were still in arms against the 5ranian government in Qanjan and in other arts of the country, and were feared and bitterly hated by the majority of the (uslim o ulation. "he Babis returned this hatred with interest, and considered both Nasiruddin 2hah and the (ullas to be enemies of Cod and worthy of death because of their rejection of the 1ivine (anifestation. "he new leader realiBed, however, that it was not e7 edient for the Babis to continue further this conflict with the government, and he issued orders for his followers to lay aside the sword.4-16 /e was obeyed, and there were no more large u risings after the ending of the Qanjan conflict. 2ubh:i:+Bal made some journeys to visit scattered Babi communities for the ur ose of encouraging the believers. /e s ent the summer months in the vicinity of "eheran, and in the winter
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went to the warmer regions of his native rovince of (aBanderan. /e was busily occu ied in arranging, transcribing, and. circulating among believers the books of the Bab, and in teaching the Babi doctrines.4-#6 "hough the 0rime (inister was very hostile to the Babis, it seems that for a time there was little o en o osition to and ersecution of the movement, which continued to grow after the e7ecution of the Bab. 5t is im ossible to estimate accurately the number of Babis in 5ran at this time. Cobineau thought that there were some five thousand in "eheran. 4--6 No doubt there were many times this number in the rovinces. 5t was during this brief eriod of com arative !uiet 41?;1:1?;#6 that (irBa Eani wrote his history Nu*tatu/l)(a /, to which fre!uent reference has been made.4-=6 %hile tem orarily free from attacks from without, the Babi community was disturbed by confusion within. (irBa Eani has described at length4-;6 the curious henomenon of the a earance of a number of men from among the Babis who revealed verses and claimed to be (anifestations of Cod. /e tells the stories of two of them, Qabih and Basir, who thought they were the return of Eohn the Ba tist and the 5mam /usayn. %e, in reading these ages of (irBa Eanis history, writes Browne,4-86cannot but marvel at the chaos of "heo hanies which he describesJ but he.....sees therein only a fresh roof of the greatness and dignity of the (anifestation Mof the BabN. 2ome of the Babis, jealous of the honor of their (aster 2ubh:i:+Bal, wished to silence these claimants, but (irBa Eani states that +Bal would not ermit this, demanding only that they recogniBe his authority. (r. +Bal has suggested 4-<6 that the cause of this confusion was chiefly lack of understanding of the station of the Bab. "he Babis were all 2hiites who believed that after the return of the "welfth 1mam, the 5mam /usayn, grandson of (uhammad, would return also. (istakenly thinking that the Bab had been the "welfth 5mam, some of the Babis were e7 ecting the 5mam /usayn to a ear, and each of these rival (anifestations claimed to be he. 2ome of them also identified the return of /usayn with the coming of /im:%hom:Cod:%ill:(anifest foretold by the Bab. (irBa Eani says of Basir, 4-?6 /e announced himself to be a return of Mthe 5mamN /usayn, which claim was substantiated by the roduction of verses, homilies, and rayersJ and he wrote letters to /aBrat:i:+Bal and Eanab:i:Baha 4-,6 concerning his (anifestation. /aBrat:i:+Bal in re ly honored him with an e istle e7 ressing his regards..... @ther Babis warmly o osed these new claimants, and others who later advanced claims, and strife and even murder resulted. +ll this roliferation of (anifestations was of course entirely contrary to the Babs doctrine, according to which he was not the "welfth 5mam hut a (ajor (anifestation like Eesus and (uhammad, the 2un of "ruth, and it was im ossible for there to be in the heaven of reality more than one 2un at a time, and the ne7t (ajor (anifestation was not to be e7 ected for at least 1;11 years after the Bab. (oreover, it was the belief of the Bab that (uhammad and all of the twelve 5mams, including the 5mam /usayn,4=$6 had already returned as his 'etters of the 'iving. /ence, from the oint of view of the Bayan these claimants were all false retenders and it is sur rising that 2ubh:i:+Bal did not deal more severely with them. 2ome later claimants based their retensions on the assage in the Ara%ic 2ayan 4A5,1;6 which readsD 5n the year nine ye will attain unto all good.4=16 5nter reting this vague rediction as the a earing of /im:%hom:Cod:%ill:(anifest nine years after the Babs declaration in 2hiraB in 1?== +.1., they sever: ally at the a ointed time set forth their claims to be /e, ignoring the clear statements in the Bayan about the la se of 1;11 years. "hey also misinter reted a communication from the Bab to a Babi leader entitled +Bim regarding the two %ahids, namely, (irBa Fahya 1arrab and (irBa Fahya 2ubh:i:+Bal, a ro riating the rediction to themselves.4=#6 5n s ite of these internal roblems it seems that all went fairly well with the Babis till the summer of 1B;# +.1., when an event took lace which entirely altered the situation. 3or some time rumors had been going about the "eheran baBaar that the 2hah was going to be killed. 3inally, on +ugust 1;, 1?;#? as Nasiruddin 2hah was riding out on a hunting e7 edition in the hills above "eheran, three
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men a roached him as though they wished to resent a etition. %hen they had come !uite near, one of them drew a istol and fired at the 2hah, wounding him in the arm. "hen they attem ted to drag him from his horse and to cut his throat, but the 2hahs retainers rushed u and saved him, killing one of the assassins and ca turing the other two. %hen they were !uestioned the two ca tives confessed they were Babis, and said that their ur ose was to avenge the death of the Bab. "he man who was killed was the servant of (ulla 2haykh +li surnamed +Bim, a devoted disci le of the Bab, who had been lotting against the government for some time.4=-6 "he (uslim historian says that +Bim had induced twelve Babis to agree to take art in the assassination, but only three of them arrived on time. "hat this attem t on the life of the 2hah was the result of a deliberate lot on the art of the Babis, and not the act of a single madman as some have incorrectly stated, is ade!uately roved by Cobineau, who wrote a most vivid descri tion of the attem ted murder.4==6 "he istol had been charged with shot in order that the assassins might fell the 2hah, and then kill him by cutting his throat, as they had been ordered to do. "he 2hah, however, was not seriously wounded. "he e7citement and confusion which followed may be imagined. "he gates of "eheran were guarded, and a systematic search was made in "eheran and throughout 5ran for the Babi leaders, about thirty:five of whom were arrested. +s the days went by the 2hah became more and more terrified over the situation in his kingdom, and believing, robably with some reason, that there was a volcano hidden from sight which was about to eru t and destroy him and his em ire, he resolved to make an e7hibit of the Babis whom he had gotten into his ower. /e accordingly divided them u among the different classes of his subjects, giving one to the (uslim clergy, another to the rinces, another to the nobles, another to the artillery, etc., informing all that the measure of their devotion to their sovereign would be revealed by the Beal with which they e7ecuted these offenders. 5t seems that several of the risoners were able to rove their innocence, robably by denying that they were Babis, and they were released. 5t is ossible that a number of those sentenced to die had no direct art in the attem t on the life of the 2hah, but to be known as a Babi was sufficient to condemn one. @n 2e tember 1;, 1?;# the e7ecution was carried out, each grou trying to outdo the others in the barbarity with which they killed their unfortunate victims. +n +ustrian officer in the em loy of the 5ranian government was so horrified by the unbelievable brutality of the scenes which he witnessed that he resigned from his osition.4=;6 "wenty:eight Babis were done to death, one of whom was the beautiful and gifted Gurratu1:+yn, who had for some time been under arrest and could not have been im licated in the attem ted assassination. +nother was (irBa Eani the historian. 2till another was (ulla 2haykh +li +Bim. (ost of the victims showed the greatest courage and devotion as they faced death, and their bold testimony won many new converts to their &ause. 4=86 3rom this time on the Babis were more careful than ever to conceal their faith, and were usually ready to deny it when their lives were in danger. "his ractice of dissimulation +ta*ia- was a roved by their leaders, as it had been reviously a roved by the 2hiites.4=<6 2ubh:i:+Bal and his brother Baha were not of those who erished. "he 2hah attem ted to arrest the leader of the Babi movement, and offered a large reward for his ca ture. But 2ubh:i:+Bal managed to esca e in the garb of a dervish, and made his way to Baghdad in "urkish territory, for he realiBed that he could no longer live in his native land.4=?6 +fter his flight two regiments of royal troo s raided his ancestral home in. the district of Nur in (aBanderan in order to ca ture him and his followers, arrested members of his family and a number of his relatives and friends, and brought them to "eheran, where many of them died in rison.4=,6 3ive of the arrested ersons, including (irBa /usayn +li Baha, were ke t in rison ending further investigation., there not being sufficient evidence to incriminate them.4;$6 +fter four months Baha was released.4;16 5t has been said that in order to save his life Baha denied. that he was a Babi, as the Bab had ordered his disci les to do at the time of his e7ecution.. "his is not im robable, for it seems that those risoners
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who were known to he Babis were ut to death, whether or not they were roved guilty of im lication in the lotD to kill the 2hah.4;#6 5t a ears that the 9ussian 'egation in "eheran hel ed to secure Bahas release on condition that he leave 5ran,4;16 and Baha later stated that both 9ussian and 1r.anian officers accom anied him and his family when he de arted from "eheran one month after his release. /e arrived in Baghdad in + ril, 1?;-,4;-6 where he joined his brother 2ubh:i:+Bal. 2oon many other Babis followed them to Baghdad. 3rom the beginning of 1?;- till the s ring of 1?8- Baghdad was the seat of the Aicegerency of 2ubh:i:+Bal, and the center from which secret Babi ro aganda was carried on in 5ran and 5ra!. %e do not ossess a full account of the ha enings of these ten years, for there was no historian like (irBa Eani to leave a reliable record of events, but the main features of the story are clear. 2ubh:i: +Bal was looked u on by the Babi community as their su reme head, one in rank and authority with the Bab himself. Baha, however, was not satisfied with this situation. /e robably realiBed that the Babi &ause in order to survive needed stronger leadershi than his brother +Bal was able to give. /e was confident that he had the ability to su ly this need. But it was necessary for the leader to have a divine a ointment on which to base his authority. 1id Baha have thisL /e had received no authority from the Bab, yet he had a growing conviction that he was the new (anifestation whose coming the Bab had redicted. 5t is said 4;=6 that when Baha was in *arbala in 5ra! in 1?;1 he met one day in the street 2haykh /asan:i:QunuBi who was eagerly searching for the romised 5mam /usayn. %hereu on Baha confided to him the sec: ret that he was himself the 5mam /usayn, but forbade him to tell others. +lso it is said 4;;6 that after Bahas arrival in Baghdad two years later he disclosed secretly to his friend (irBa +!a Ean a glim se of the as yet unrevealed glory of his station, and +!a Ean became the first believer. 5t seems, therefore, that Baha had determined at some suitable time to make a claim for himself, and take over the leadershi of the &ause. /owever,, his attitude and conduct were dis leasing to the other Babi leaders, who accused him of gathering about him a crowd of disre utable eo le to assist him in his ur ose.4;86 "hose who sided with Baha re lied that this o osition to him by his brother and other Babis was due to envy of Bahas increasing influence. @f this difficult time Baha later wroteD4;<6 5n these days such odours of jealously were diffused that .....from the beginning of the foundation of the world .....until the resent day such malice, envy and hate have in no wise a eared. %hen at the end of the first year in Baghdad the Babi leaders administered a severe rebuke to Baha for his conduct, he became angry, and left Baghdad in the night, telling no one, not even his own family, where he was going. 3or two years he lived as a dervish in the *urdish mountains in northern 5ra!.4;?6 3inally, 2ubh:i:+Bal discovered his whereabouts, and wrote to him to return. Baha obeyed, wrote a letter of re entance to his brother, and came back to Baghdad in the s ring of 1?;8 +.1. 4;,6 2ubh:i:+Bal then received and. forgave his brother Baha, and showed his confidence in him by delegating great authority to him, while he himself retired into greater seclusion.48$6 "his arrangement, it seems, was in accordance with the command of the Bab, who shortly before his death had written a strong letter to (irBa /usayn +li 4Baha6, charging him to take the best ossible care of 2ubh:i:+Bal lest any harm should come to him.4816 +nd since the (uslims of Baghdad were showing more and more hostility toward the Babis, Baha was able to convince his brother that it was not safe for him to a ear in ublic, or to see visitors.48#6 +lso, this arrangement was agreeable to 2ubh:i:+Bals natural dis osition, for he, as. 0rofessor Browne says, 48-6 being a eace loving, contem lative, gentle soul .....caring little for authority, and inca able of self:assertion, was willing to leave the direction of affairs in the hands of his half:brother Baha, a man of much more resolute and ambitious character, who thus gradually became the mast rominent figure and moving s irit of the sect.
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+s we noted above, many of the Babi leaders were rolific writers, and 2ubh:i:+Bal and his brother Baha were no e7ce tions, rather, they e7ceeded them all. Baha in later years referred to the many verses he had com osed in Baghdad, none of which are in e7istence. 48=6 "he only book of im ortance which he wrote while in Baghdad was the 0ersian &*an, which in its )nglish translation by 2hoghi )fendi is entitled "he Book of &ertitude. "his book was com osed about 1?8# +.1. for one of the maternal uncles of the Bab who was still a (uslim. 5t was first called (haluiyya 4.ncles6, and insert image? Mirza Husayn Ali Baha u llah !aid to have "een ta#en $hen he $as in %dirne &'()*+'()(, later, after the revision made in )dirne or +kka, it was renamed 5!an.48;6 "he chief ur ose of the &*an was to rove that the Bab was a (ajor (anifestation of Cod. Baha writesD4886 Behold.....how great and lofty is /is MGaim, i.e., BabN stationI /is rank e7celleth that of all the 0ro hets, and /is 9evelation transcendeth the com rehension and understanding of all their chosen ones. "he stand oint of the author is that of a loyal disci le of the Bab. 'ittle of the material in the book is original, for Baha merely re eats and elaborates the doctrines already taught by the 2haykhis and the Bab. "here are more references to the +rabic New "estament than are found in the Bayan. "he book is full of 2hiite traditions and doctrines. Baha refers to the %ord of Cod as a &ity, and saysD 48<6 @nce in about a thousand years shall this &ity be renewed and re:adorned, and he roceeds to mention the books which were revealed by Cod to (oses and Eesus and (uhammad, and in this day the BayanJ and in the dis ensation of /im:%hom:Cod:%ill:(anifest.....the Book which standeth amongst them all transcendent and su reme. "hus Baha agreed with the Bab that the interval between the (anifestations, including that between the Bab and the manifestation to follow him, is about. 1$$$ years. 5t is noteworthy that in the &*an Baha clearly re resents himself as obedient to his brother 2ubh:i: +Bal. 9egarding his sojourn .in *urdistan he saysD48?6 @ur withdrawal contem lated no return, and @ur se aration ho ed for no reunion. "he oneD object of @ur retirementD was to avoid becoming a subject of discord among the faithful.....until the hour when, from the (ystic 2ource, there came the summons bidding .s return whence %e came. 2urrendering @ur will to /is, %e submitted to /is injunction. /e also says,48,6 %e have never gloried in any thing, nor did %e seek reference over any soul. /owever, from the insistence of his a eal in the &*an to the Babis to acce t /im: %hom:Cad:%ill:(anifest, it seems that Baha was contem lating utting forth his own claim to su eriority, though he had not yet done so.4<$6 5n Baghdad Baha ac!uired some ro erty, and he and 2ubh:i:+Bal also ac!uired @ttoman nationality.4<16 %ith the abundant funds at his dis osal which came to 2ubh:i:+Bal from the loyal Babis of 5ran, in accordance with the laws of the Bab, Baha was able to set u an im ressive establishment with ade!uate facilities for e7tending hos itality to guests from 5ran. /is servants would go forth to meet the 2hiite ilgrims who had come to 5ra! to visit the shrines of the 5mams, and would conduct them to Bahas center, and there they would be entertained and instructed in the faith of the Bayan.4<#6 "hey would usually not even get a glim se of the Aicegerent of the Bab, for access to 2ubh:i:+Bal was through his intermediary Baha, who often withheld ermission under some rete7t. "hus 2ubh:i:+Bal, who lived in seclusion and rarely a eared in ublic, gradually decreased in im ortance in the eyes of the ublic as his aggressive older brother increased. "o the "urkish officials, and no doubt to many of the Babis also, Baha now a eared to be the actual leader of the movement, although he still acted merely on behalf of 2ubh:i:+Bal. But Baha was not the only one who at this time was re ared to make a claim for himself.. 3or a man named (irBa +sadullah of *huy surnamed 1ayyan, who had been a ointed by the Bab as amanuensis to 2ubh:i:+Bal, declared that he was /e:%hom:Cod:%ill:(anifest, and demanded that
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all the BabisD obey him, and some of them became his followers,4<-6 Baha had a long discussion with him, and 2ubh:i:+Bal denounced him in a book he wrote, but as 1ayyan remained obstinate he was murdered by (irBa (uhammad of (aBanderan, robably being drowned in the "igris 9iver. 4<=6 1ayyan was not the only er: son thus eliminated by the Babis in Baghdad.4<;6 "here were several others who advanced the same claim as 1ayyan. 5n fact, to !uote a Babi writer,4<86 the matter came to such a ass that everyone on awakening from his first slee in the morning adorned his body with this retension. "he retensions of these claimants naturally encouraged Baha to ress his own claims, far to revent chaos someone must be in control, and he had a better chance of success than anyone else. /ence, urged on by +!a Ean of *ashan, later known as *hadimullah 42ervant of Cod6, Baha continued to ut himself forward.4<86 /owever, the o osition from the other Babi leaders was so fierce that he was forced to wait awhile longer before o enly declaring himself is Baha who is held res onsible, and the name of 2ubh:i:+Bal is not mentioned in the corres ondence. (eanwhile, the Bealous Babis continued their efforts to convert the 2hiite ilgrims as they went on their way to visit the shrines of the 5mams +li and /usayn in Najaf and *arbala, an effort which was bitterly resented by the (uslim religious leaders. +s a result, there was fighting between the (uslims and the Babis. 3inally, the 5ranian government, incited by the (uslim (ullas, intervened and re!uested the "urkish government to remove the Babi leaders from 5ra!. "he letter sent from "eheran to the 5ranian ambassador in. 5stanbul instructing him to try to arrange for this transfer reads in art as followsD4<<6 2ometimes, moreover, he MBahaN hath ut his hand to sedition and incitements to murder, as in the case of.....(ulla +!a of 1arb and, whom they grievously wounded with intent to kill.....besides sundry other assassinations which took lace.....5n the face of these roceedings, it would he a roof of the most com lete negligence.....on the art of the 5ranian government to disregard these acts which may roduce such de lorable conse!uences.....5t will. not do to leave (irBa /usayn +li MBahaN there Min BaghdadN, or to allow fuller sco e to their mischievous ideas and robable actions. "he 5ranian government, therefore, re!uested either that Baha and his followers be sent back into 5ran where they could be ro erly watched, or else that the "urkish government arrange as !uickly as ossible to de ort and detain that mischief maker and his several intimates from Baghdad to some other lace in the interior of the @ttoman *ingdom which has no means of communication with our frontiers, so that the channel of their mischief making and sedition. may he sto ed. %hen we recall 2haykh "abarsi and Qanjan and the attem t on the life of the 2hah, we are able to understand why the 5ranian government did not want the Babis to make Baghdad, so near the 5ranian border, the center for their activities. 5t is noteworthy that it was not the heretical views of the Babis that the 5ranian government feared, hut their olitical activities and their lawlessness. +lso, it seems that the "urkish government was !uite ready to com ly with this re!uest from the government of 5ran, for the !uarrels and fightings of the Babis and (uslims in Baghdad had no doubt been the cause of great trouble to the authorities there. 5t was robably because Baha had become a "urkish subject that the decision was to de ort him and his family and followers to another art of the "urkish )m ire, and not to return them to 5ran. +ccordingly, in (ay 1?8- Baha and his family left Baghdad on their way to 5stanbul, and were joined in (osul by 2ubh:i:+Bal who receded them by two weeks. "hey reached 5stanbul after a long and difficult journey of four months, and these they sto ed for another four months. 2ince there was a large 5ranian colony in 5stanbul, and the "urkish authorities feared they might cause disturbance there as they had done in Baghdad, they were ordered to roceed yet farther west to the e7treme border of "urkey, and to settle in the city of )dirne 4+driano le6. "hey arrived there in 1ecember 1?8-, and there they remained for four and one half years, far away from their native land. 4<?6 5n most of the Bahai ublications it is stated that before leaving Baghdad Baha s ent twelve days 4+ ril ## P Nay -6 in the Carden of 9iBwan, and that he there announced to his followers that he
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was /e: %hom:Cod:%ill:(anifest. /ence Bahais observe these dates as the anniversary of this im ortant 1eclaration. 4<,6 5f such a declaration was made at that time, which is im robable, it must have been very rivate, for even Bahas son +bbas )fendi did not mention this in his book A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, which ur orts to he a true and authoriBed history of the Bahai &ause. (oreover, the ublic declaration which resulted in the great schism in the Babi community was not made till several years later in )dirne, 4?$6 as we shall see in &ha ter A5. "ill then the Babis continued to consider 2ubh:i:+Bal as their divinely a ointed head, though Baha had become their actual leader.
N@")2 1. ). C. Browne in + "ravellers Narrative, . ;8, note #, 2ubh:i:+Bal in + "ravellers Narrative, . -<-:-<8, (irBa Eani in New /istory, . -<=: -<8, (irBa Eani in Nu!tatul:*af, . #-? ff ., +Bals Notes, . ;;1, ,=8. 3ar 3amily &hart of (irBa BuBurg see + endi7 55, O?. #. +vareh in (ash u/l)!iyal, resumably first edition, . -$. A. This 4i e, 4hose name 4as (hadi,eh, 4as a 4ido4 4hen she %ecame the 4i e o $ir;a 2u;urg +A;al/s Notes, 5. 8AA-. =. (irBa Eani in Ne4 !istory, . -<;. ;. +vareh in (ash u/l)!iyal, Aol. 5, 8th im ression, . #1. 8. (irBa Eani in Ne4 !istory, . -<;. <. ?/anah is a title e!uivalent to e7cellency. ?. 2ubh:i:+Bal to (irBa Eani in Ne4 !istory, . -<8, 2ubh:i:+Bal in $aterials, ,. (irBa Eani in Ne4 !istory, . -<8. . #1#, #1?:#1,.

1$. /aBrat is a title higher than ?ana%, often used for ro hets and kings, e!uivalent to /ighness or /oliness. 11. (irBa Eani in Ne4 !istory, . -<?. 1#. 5bid., . -<<:-<,. 1-. 5bid., . -<,. 1=. 5bid., . -?$. 1;. +ccording to the Persian 2ayan 455.,186, all the worlds derive their origin from the 1ivine %ill +&rada-, which was created by the 1ivine Aolition +$ashiyya- which .is self:subsisting. 5n the *oranic &ycle according to the Bab, (uhammad had the station of Aolition, and his son:in:law +li that of %ill. 2imilarly in the &ycle of the Bayan the Bab held the station. of Aolition, and 2ubh:i:+Bal was given that of %ill +A;al/s 6&loJes, . ,=?6. 18. (irBa Eani in New /istory 5, . -?1, =#8, Nu*tatu/l)(a , . #==, A;al/s Fotes, . ;1=, ;1;, ;;1:;;;, 8$;:8$?. 5t is said that the date of the a ointment was 3arvardin #;, 1##, +./. 4about + ril 1;, 1?;$6, and the Bab commanded that this day be observed as a feast 4+Bals Notes, . ,=,6. 1<. +uthors of !asht 2ihisht, !uoted in A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, . -;-. "he numerical value of the +rabic letters in Wahid is #?, the same as in Yahya +Ne4 !istory, . =#86. Wahid 4 ronounced %aheed6 is a different word from Wahid meaning @ne 4i.e., Cod6, which has the value of 1,. 1?. (irBa Eani in Nu*tatu/l)(a , )nglish 5nt., . KKK5. 67. A;al/s Notes, 55. BB9, 7'B, @C2, and the 2a%/s Di#e Grades. .ee A55endiK &&, L98 and L9C. #$. (irBa Eani in Ne4 !istory, . -?1. 96. 5bid., . -?1, Nu*tatu/l)(a , ##. A;al/s Notes, . ,;1. 9A. ?.R.A... 6@7C, 5. C8A. #=. Ne4 !istory, . =#$, =#8, =#<, Browne in ?.R.A... 1??,, . ,,8, ,,<, @ctober 1?,#, . <8-. #;. "his is a correction of Brownes translation made by (r. +Bal. =? of ##$ . KKK5, #==.

98. A;al/s Notes, 55. BB:, BBB, 8@C, 8@@, A55endiK &&, 5. A, L9@. #<. "hat is, the eight %ahids of the Bayan which the Bab had not written. #?. A;al/s Notes, 5. C7:. #,. Go%ineau, Fol. &&, 55. C9, CA. -$. Ne4 !istory, 5. MM. Go%ineau, Fol. -1. &&, 55. C, '6. -#. &%id., 5. C, 2ro4ne in Ne4 !istory, 5. M&M. AA. Go%ineau, Fol. &&, 55. 7, A@. -=. Browne in Ne4 !istory, . K5K. -;. 5bid., . -?= f ., Nu*tatu/l)(a , #;#:#;;. . ,;-, ,<<. -8. Ne4 !istory, . -,=. -<. A;al/s Notes, -?. New !istory, . -,$. -,. (irBa Eani here gives the higher title !a;rat to 2ubh:i:+Bal, and the lower title ?ana% to his older brother Baha, whom he seldom mentions in this art of the history. =$. 5n the Ara%ic 2ayan 45,86 the Bab states that the 5mam /usayn has returned. =1. 2ee + endi7 55, O=1. =#. A;al/s Notes, . ,<,:,?8. 'A. Ne4 !istory, 5. A79, Go%ineau *uoted in A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, 5. BA, note 6, Nasi3hu/t)Ta4ari3h *uoted %y 2ro4ne in A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, 5. 6@B. ==. Go%ineau, Aol. 55, =;. $aterials, =8. Go%ineau, Aol. 55, . 1$:-8, A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, . 1<:-8, A Tra#eller s Narrati#e, . ;$, -#-:-#;. . -1-, -#<:--=. . #8<:#<1.

=<. Go%ineau, Aol. 55, . -<. =?. A Tra#eller s Narrator, =,. A Tra#eller s Narrati#e, . -;=, -<=, Ne4 !istory, . KK, A;al/s Notes, . ;81. . -<=:-<8, Ne4 !istory, . =1=:=1;. . 1?8, -#<.

;$. Nasikhut:"awarikh !uoted in + "ravellers Narrative,

;1. (aterials, . 8, ) istle to the 2on of the %olf by Bahaullah, translated by 2hoghi )ffendi, Bahai 0ublishing "rust 1,8#, . 18, #$:##, A;al/s Notes, . 1?-:1?<, ;#$. ;#. Browne in A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, . -#<. BA. 2hoghi )ffendi, God Passes 2y, Bahai 0ublishing "rust 1,8;, ;;. 2hoghi )ffendi, God Passes 2y, . 11;. ;8. /asht 2ihisht, . -$1:-$# ;<. 5*an %y 2aha/u/llah, *uoted %y .hoghi E endi in God Passes 2y, 55. 66@)667. ;?. A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, 55. 8', AB8, $aterials, 55. C)7. .ee A55endiK &&, LA@. ;,. !asht 2ihisht !uoted in A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, . -;<, A;al/s Notes, . 8;1. 8:. A;al/s Notes, 55. B78)B7C. 81. 5dem., . 8$?, which !uotes the Babs letter to Baha.. 2ee + 8-. Ne4 !istory, . KK5. =, of ##$ endi7 55, O-5. 8#. Notes o Dr. .a/eed (han, . 1- of the translation, de osited in the 'ibrary of 0rinceton .niversity. . 1$?, 1$,. B'. Da4n 2rea3ers, translation o .hoghi E endi, American Edition, 55. B7A)B7'.

8=. A;al/s Notes,

. 1;:1,, =#;:=#8, ==<, =;?, ;?1: ;?#, ;?<. . -;:-8, A;al/s Notes, . ;-#:;-<.

8;. Nu*tatu/l)(a /, 0ersian 5nt., 8<. 5dem., . 1,,. 8?. 5dem., . #;1.

88. The Eita%)i)9/*an N The 2oo3 o Certitude, . #==.

8,. 5dem., . #=,. + more accurate translation of the 0ersian word %artari 4translated 0reference6 in this connection is su eriority. <$. "he following editions of the &*an have been consulted by the authorD 0ersian edition, ublished in )gy t in 1,$$ +.1. The 2oo3 o Assurance, translation of the &*an by +li *uli *han, Brentanos, New Fork, without date. The (ita%)&)&*an N The 2oo3 o Certitude, translated by 2hoghi )ffendi, Bahai 0ublishing "rust, 1,8$. 5t is instructive to note that the two Bahai translators of the &*an have consistently translated the 0ersian first erson singular, which Baha used by the lural %e with a ca ital, the lural of majesty. (are serious than this, 2hoghi )ffendi in his translation on . #;1 erroneously rendered the 0ersian masdar)i)amr 4the source of command6 as the (ystic 2ource, thereby intentionally concealing the obvious meaning of the assage. "he source of command was the Aicegerent of the Bab, 2ubh:i:+Bal, whom Baha at the time the &*an was written acknowledged as his commander. +li *uli *han had in his earlier translation 4 . 1?$6 rendered the hrase correctly C6. A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, 5. 666, note 6, God Passes 2y, 5. 6'8, A;al/s Notes, 55. 'C, 8', 6@7, 78'. C9. Notes o Dr. .a/eed (han, 5. @ o the translation. CA. Go%ineau, #ol. &&, 5. 8, A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, 55. ABC, A8B, $aterials, 5. 96@, A;al/s 6Dotes, 55. 78B, 7CA. C'. !asht 2ihisht states that 2aha ordered his ser#ant $ir;a $uhammad to 3ill Dayyan +A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, 5. ABC-. 2aha says the decree 4as issued %y .u%h)i)A;al +E5istle to the .on o the 4ol , 55. 6CB)6C8- . &n any case it seems that he 4as eKecuted or his claims %y the order o one o the 2a%i leaders. Dor a ull discussion o the e#idence see A;a9/s Notes, 55. 78B)7CA. .ee also A55endiK. &&, LA7. <;. A;al s Notes, . ,<-. <8. +uthors of !asht 2ihisht, !uoted in A Tra#eller s Narrati#e, . -;?. CC. $aterials, 55. 9C7)9@C. <?. 5bid., . 18:1,, A Tra#eller s Narrati#e, . ,$:,#, Ne4 !istory, . KK, Browne in ?.R.A... 1??,, . ;1=, The Chosen !igh4ay, 'ady Bloomfield, . ;,. <,. $ateria9s, 5. 68, 2aha/u/llah and the Ne4 Era, %y ?. E. Esselmont, 2rentano/s, irst edition., 55. 7A, -8:-<, God Passes 2y, 2hoghi )ffendi, . 1;1:1;;, A;al/s Notes, . ,<=:,<;. ?$. )dirne was often referred to by the Babis as the 'and of the (ystery, because the numerical value of the +rabic letters in Edirne is the same as in .irr 4mystery6. +lso, they say, because it was these that the se aration of 'ight and 1arkness took lace 4authors of !asht 2ihisht, !uoted in A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, . -816. 5n the schism that occurred there, each arty claimed to be 'ight, and condemned their o onents as 1arkness.

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-= The )chism Bet.een )ubh*i*+,al and Baha


5n )dirne the task which faced 2ubh:i:+Bal, who for some si7teen years had been generally considered by the Babis to be the divinely a ointed /ead of the 0eo le of the Bayan, one with the Bab in rank and glory, was by no means easy. +s 0rofessor Browne writesD 416 + community like that which.....e7isted at +driano le M)dirneN consisting almost entirely of e7iles and otential martyrs, and in large art of religious enthusiasts, revolutionary visionaries, and s eculative mystics, whose restless activity, debarred from e7ternal action, is ent u within limits too narrow for its free e7ercise, re!uires a firm hand to control and direct its energies. 2uch firmness 2ubh:i: +Bal seems to have altogether lacked. /is older brother Baha, a man of much more resolute and ambitious character, had come gradually to occu y the lace of actual leadershi , though till now he had done everything in the name of 2ubh:i:+Bal. /owever, about three years after reaching )dirne, robably in 1?88 +.1.,4#6 with no strong Babi leaders nearby to o ose him, he suddenly threw off all disguise and made to the Babi community the claim which he had for several years been contem lating, that he was /e:%hom:Cod:%ill:(anifest, whose. coming the Bab had redicted 4&ha ter 5A6. /e then called on 2ubh:i:+Bal 4-6 and all the Babis scattered over "urkey, 5ran, 2yria and )gy t to acknowledge his su reme authority, and to acce t as Cods %ord the revelations which he forthwith began to romulgate. "o understand the nature of Bahas claims let us recall what the Bab in the Bayan had written about /im:%hom:Cod:%ill:(anifest, who would be another (ajor (anifestation 4&ha ter 5A6D 4=6 /e is divine, and his command is Cods command. /e is not to be asked why he does anything. +ll revious (anifestations were for him, and one verse of his writings is better than a thousand Bayans. /e is to be recogniBed by himself. @nly Cod knows the time of his advent, but he will come not rior to 1;11 years, and not later than #$$1 years, after the Bab.4;6 /e will reveal verses s ontaneously and owerfully, without study and without the means accessible to the learned. 5t is im ossible that any other than /e.....can lay claim to the command..... 486 +s we saw in &ha ter A, a number of men had claimed to he a return of the 5mam /usayn, a mirror within the orbit of the Bayan, and had mistakenly identified /usayn with /im:%hom:Cod:%ill:(anifest. "hey were rejected by the Babi leaders as retenders, and 1ayyan was murdered by the Babis in Baghdad. Nabil, who made the same claim there, later withdrew it, gave his allegiance to Baha, and became a Bahai historian. 4<6 Baha, however, because of his osition of leadershi under 2ubh:i:+Bal and his relationshi to 2ubh:i:+Bal, had a better chance of success than did the revious claimants. +ccordingly, he who had considered himself to be the return of the 1mam /usayn now advanced the claim to be a (ajor (anifestation of 1eity, the same claim which the Bab had made some twenty:two years earlier. Before considering the effect of this declaration on the 0eo le of the Bayan, it is a ro riate that we here give a brief account of the life of the man who claimed to be /e:%hom:Cod:%ill:(anifest. /is name was (irBa /usayn +li. 5t is said that he was born on November 1#, 1?1< +.1.426 /is father, known as (irBa BuBurg, a man of considerable influence and wealth who had come from the district of Nur in 5rans northern rovince of (aBanderan, died when (irBa /usayn +li was about twenty years of age.4,6 "he young man received the same kind of classical education from tutors which was customary for the youth of his class of society in 5ran at that time.41$6 2oon after the Babs declaration in 2hiraB in 1?== +.1., (irBa /usayn +li met some of the Babs disci les in "eheran and became a believer. "here is no trust: worthy evidence to su ort the story that a s ecial message was at this time sent to him by the Bab. "he Bab did not then or later a oint him as one of the eighteen 'etters, or bestow on him a title. 4116 %hen the Bab ordered his followers to roceed to *hurasan, the eastern rovince of 5ran, (irBa /usayn +li obeyed, and in 2abBevar he met Gurratu1:+yn. "here with her, writes (irBa Eani,45#6 he tarried, doing her much
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service both there and at "eheran, and, indeed, roviding her and her com anions with the means of continuing their journey, and hearing all their e7 enses.....5n short, he remained in 2abBevar till /aBrat:i:Guddus came thither, on whom he had the honor of waiting, and for whom he entertained the truest devotion. /e was one of the most illustrious of the great believers, he was resent at the revolt at Badasht, stood firm in his love, e7 ended large sums of money, and hel ed the believers in every way. "here is no indication in (irBa Eanis history that (irBa /usayn +li layed a leading role in the Badasht &onference. /owever, it is said that it was here that Gurratu1:+yn bestowed on him the title 2aha 42 lendor6, which is the name of the first month of the Babi year. 41-6 5n his account of these events (irBa Eani mentions Baha much less fre!uently than his younger brother (irBa Fahya, usually giving to him the inferior designation ?ana%, and referring to (irBa Fahya as !a;rat. &t is !uite clear that (irBa Eani at the time when he wrote his history in 1?;1 +.1. considered Bahas osition to be inferior not only to that ofD his brother 2ubh:i:+Bal but also to that of /aBrat:i:Guddus and Gurratul:+yn and the other 'etters.41=6 +s reviously stated 4&ha ter 5556, Baha attem ted to reach the Babi fort at 2haykh "abarsi, but was arrested by the local authorities, unished,41;6 and released. Bahas son +bbas )fendi states 4186 that after the death of the late rince (uhammad 2hah M2e tember =, 1?=?N he MBahaN returned to "eheran having in mind 4the intention of6 corres onding and entering into relations with the Bab. 3rom this statement it seems that u to this time Baha had neither seen the Bab, nor had he been in contact with his (aster.41<6 2ome time later the Bab wrote to Baha,41?6 instructing him to take the best ossible care of 2ubh:i: +Bal, whom he had a ointed as his successor. "here is no evidence from the early documents to su ort the statements made by +bbas )fendi in A Tra#eller s Narrati#e 4 . 8#,8-6, and also in later books, that 2ubh:i:+Bal was made a screen to rotect Baha, who from the first was the true leader of the movement. 41,6 Nor is there authentic evidence that Baha layed a leading art in the Babi movement rior to his e7 ulsion from 5ran. 4#$6 +fter the e7ecution of the Bab in 1?;$ he left 5ran and went to 5ra!, where he remained for about a year 41?;1:1?;# +.1.6. 5t was at this time that Baha is said to have met 2haykh QunuBi in *arbala, and informed him that he 4Baha6 was the return of. 5mam /usayn %hen, after the attem t on the life of the 2hah in 1?;# +.1., a number of leading Babis were arrested, Baha was one of them, robably because he was known. to be the brother of 2ubh:i:+Bal the head of the movement large reward was offered for the arrest of 2ubh:i:+Bal, but he succeeded in esca ing. "wenty:eight of the risoners were e7ecuted. Baha was ke t in rison in "eheran for four months, and then, a month after his release from confinement, he left "eheran for Baghdad, and there he joined his brother 2ubh:i:+Bal in + ril, 1?;- +.1. 5n the revious cha ter we have told how Baha in Baghdad gradually took over the leadershi of the Babi community, and came to be looked u on by the "urkish officials as the chief erson. "hen in )dirne in 1?88 he definitely rejected the role of service to the Babi &ause under the Aicegerent 2ubh:i:+Bal, and demanded that all recogniBe him as su reme ruler, a 1ivine (anifestation. 5t is said that he sent a letter to 2ubh:i:+Bal demanding his submission, but his brother refused. "hereu on Baha tried to force 2ubh:i:+Bal to yield by withholding his share of the allowances which were aid by the "urkish government through Baha for the Babis in )dirne. +s a result, the family of 2ubh:i:+Bal lacked food, and his little children became ill. /is wife then went to the wife of the "urkish governor to com lain, an act which was dee ly resented by Baha. "he blame for the o osition of 2ubh:i:+Bal to Bahas claims has been laid by the Bahais on 2ayyid (uhammad of 5sfahan, who had been an intimate friend of the Bab, and had married the Babs widow 3atima. 4#16 @f these events 0rofessor Browne writesD 4##6 +mongst the Babis the effect of this announcement 4for which, no doubt, the way had been already re ared6 was little short of stu endous. 3rom &onstantino le M5stanbulN to *irman and from &airo to *hurasan the communities of the faithful were rent asunder by a schism which every subse!uent year has rendered wider and more ermanent.....+t +driano le M)dirneN itself the struggle was short and the trium h of Baha com lete.
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2ubh:i:+Bal was so com letely deserted, that, as he himself informed me, he and his little boy had to go themselves to the baBaar to buy their food. )lsewhere, though active and astute emissaries were at once dis atched in all directions by Baha the conflict, though its issue was from the first hardly doubtful, was longer maintained. 3or the !uestion at issue was not merely whether one leader should be re laced by another, whether certain doctrines should be understood in this way or in that, or whether the ethics, ractices or forms of worshi of the sect should he reformed or modified.....but whether the doctrines and writings of the beloved (aster Mthe BabN, for which his followers had been ready to suffer death or e7ile, were to be regarded as abrogated and cancelled in favor of a new revelationJ whether his chosen vicegerent, whom they had so long regarded as their 2u reme 0ontiff and as the incarnation of all urity, virtue, and heavenly wisdom, was to he cast down from this high osition, and branded as the 3irst 'etter of 1enial of the New 1is ensationJ and whether the Bab himself was to be looked u on, not as the 0oint of 9evelation, a veritable (anifestation of the 1ivine, but as a mere harbinger and recursor of a more erfect "heo hany. 5t is clear, however, that the vital issue was not that of reforming the laws and customs decreed by the Bab, for there is no evidence to indicate that Baha abrogated the Bayan. "he roblem was how Baha could take over the su reme control of the Babi &ause. "his he did by by: assing the Aicegerent 2ubh:i:+Bal, and roclaiming himself a (ajor (anifestation. 4#-6 "hough most of the 0eo le of the Bayan sooner or later acknowledged Baha as /e:%hom:Cod: %ill:(anifest, his brother 2ubh:i:+Bal steadfastly refused to do so. /e held fast to the teachings of the Bab, believing that they were the all:sufficient revelation of Cod for the resent age, and that they must be acce ted and obeyed by multitudes of eo le for many centuries, as the Cos el of Eesus and the *oran of (uhammad had been, before it would be time for another (anifestation to a ear. "o 2ubh:i:+Bal and the Babis who clung to him it seemed utterly unreasonable to believe that the elaborate system revealed by Cod to the Bab could have been established for only twenty: two years. /ad not the Bab in the Bayan indicated clearly that /e:%hom:Cod:%ill:(anifest would not come for at least 1;11 years and might not come till #$$1 more years had assedL 4#=6 %hat farmer would lant a vineyard, and then before any fruit whatever had been gathered from it would cut down the vines and lant othersL 2urely Cod would wait long enough to rea some fruit from the tree of the Bayan before /e would remove it and send another (anifestationI4#;6 +ll the Babis were convinced that the Bab had been sent by Cod and was infallible. "hen, since 2ubh:i:+Bal had been a ointed by the Bab himself as his successor, was not he also sent by Cod, as they had for si7teen years believedL +nd did he not ossess divine wisdom, and was he not one with the BabL /ow then could it be ossible that such an one as 2ubh:i:+Bal should be unable to recogniBe /im:%hom:Cod:%ill:(anifest when he a earsL But 2ubh:i:+Bal rejected the claim of his brother to be /eI /ence, for those Babis who acce ted Baha, and later became known as Bahais, there was no alternative e7ce t to say that the Bab, who was divinely ins ired and knew all things, had deliberately chosen as his vicegerent a man who was to become the 0oint of 1arkness, the chief enemy of /im:%hom:Cod:%ill:(anifest.4#86 5n their effort to esca e this dilemma, Baha and his artisans did two thingsD first, they got rid of most of the leading Babis .ho sided .ith )ubh*i*+,al@ and second? they re.rote the history of the Babi movement? largely ignoring )ubh*i*+,al? greatly magnifying the "osition and "erson of Baha? and degrading the Bab from the "osition of a 0aAor= 0anifestation to that of a BforerunnerC of Baha? .ho .as the real 0anifestation for the age= Those .ho have read the later teachings of Baha and his son +bbas #fendi D+hduE1*BahaF regarding truth and love and kindness to all mankind may find it difficult to believe that the authors of such noble sentiments could have had any "art in the falsification of history or the assassination of o""onents= 6e are dealing? ho.ever? not .ith .hat .e .ould like to believe? but .ith
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historical facts established beyond a doubt .hich .e cannot but acce"t= Though this sad cha"ter of the history has been largely omitted by the BahaEi historians? D7/F the truth is that of those Babis .ho remained faithful to )ubh*i*+,al? later kno.n as +,alis or Babis? about t.enty .ere murdered in Baghdad? #dirne and +kka by the follo.ers of Baha= D71F T.o of those .ho .ere killed .ere brothers of Fatima the .ido. of the: Bab? D72F and one .as her husband )ayyid 0uhammad of Isfahan? and t.o .ere 9etters a""ointed by the Bab= It has been said that these assassinations .ere the .ork of the too*,ealous follo.ers of Baha? and that he .as not himself res"onsible= Ho.ever this may be? could not one .ho "ossessed the divine kno.ledge and "o.er to influence men .hich Baha claimed to have? been able to "revent such acts on the "art of his intimate disci"lesG +nd could he not have diso.ned them? or at least "unished them? for their deeds/ as far as is kno.n he did neither= To understand this attitude? so foreign to that of religious "eo"le in the 6est? it should be remembered that the men .ho committed these crimes .ere kindred s"irits to those .ho had "lotted the assassination of the )hah of Iran DCha"ter (F= 0uslim historians relate that the Pro"het 0uhammad a""roved of the assassination of certain individuals .ho o""osed him= D 4F Therefore it might be argued that if one 0anifestation "uts do.n o""osition in this .ay? could not a greater 0anifestation do the sameG B)urely?C said an Iranian BahaEi to Professor Bro.ne?D 1F Byou cannot "retend to deny that a "ro"het? .ho is an incarnation of the !niversal Intelligence? has as much right to remove anyone .hom he "erceives to he an enemy to religion and a danger to the .elfare of mankind as a surgeon has to am"utate a gangrened limbGC +ccordingly? acts .hich to some might seem criminal could to others .ith a different "oint of vie. a""ear as the e$"ression of the righteous .ill of 5od= +ccording to the +Balis, Baha not only sanctioned the murder of these Babis who refused to acce t him, but also attem ted to have his brother 2ubh:i:+Bal oisoned. "he Bahais re lied that it was 2ubh:i:+Bal who tried to oison Baha. 4-#D6 Browne confesses his inability to decide where the guilt lay, but a careful study of the evidence indicates that the charges against 2ubh:i:+Bal cannot be substantiated. 4--6 %hatever the truth of the matter may be, both sides agree that an attem t was made by one of the brothers to oison the other. "his is indeed a blot on the history of the Babi movement in which both brothers had for a number of years been the leaders. + second attem t on the life of 2ubh:i:+Bal, according to the +Balis, was later made by the Bahai barber in the bath, after esca ing which he se arated himself entirely from Baha and his followers. 4-=6 3inally, the conflict between the two une!ual arties became so fierce that the "urkish authorities decided to se arate them, and a arently without making any effort to determine who was in the right they sent all the Babi e7iles away from )dirne. 2ubh:i:+Bal and his family and a few followers were sent to the 5sland of &y rus, and Baha and his family and followers were sent to +kka 4+cre6 in 0alestine, both regions being at that time under "urkish rule. 5n order to kee informed as to their doings, the authorities detailed for Bahais to go to &y rus to s y on 2ubh:i:+Bal, and four +Balis to do the same for Baha in +kka. @ne of the four +Balis was murdered by the Bahais before leaving )dirne, and the other three were likewise murdered soon after their arrival in +kka.4-;6 9egarding this Browne writesD4-86 +s to the assassination of the three +Balis.....by some of Bahas followers at +cre, there can, 5 fear, he hut little doubt....."here is, however, no evidence to rove that the assassins acted under orders. 5n the !asht 2ihisht, a book written by two sons:in: law of 2ubh:i:+Bal, it is stated 4-<6 that while the Babis were still in )dirne anonymous letters were writ: ten at Bahas direction, and left at night at the doors of numerous "urkish officials in 5stanbul. "hese letters stated that -$,$$$ Babis, whose king was (irBa Fahya 2ubh:i:+Bal, were concealed about 5stanbul, and were ready to overthrow the 2ultan of "urkey, unless he believed in their religion. 5t would seem most im robable that Baha in an effort to discredit his brother should have ado ted a strategy which was certain to injure him also.
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/owever, a document has been discovered by an 5ranian scholar in the government archives in 5stanbul,4-?6 sealed with Bahas seal /usayn +li, in which Baha gives information to the authorities in )dirne against 2ubh:i:+Bal and his followers, whose names are given, alleging that they have cons ired against the @ttoman government, and urging that an investigation be made. "he investigation was made, and a re ort was sent to the 2ultan. "he re ort stated that bath 2ubh:i:+Bal and 2haykh /usayn +li claimed to he ro hets, and therefore such men of error could not be left at large to conduct their disru tive activities unchecked. "he re ort recommended their trans ortation for life to some remote enal laces, subject to their being ke t under surveillance or o en arrest. "he re ort was dated Eune 1?, 1?8?, and the im erial warrant for their e7ile was issued in 5stanbul on Euly #8, 1?8?. +ccordingly, both arties to the struggle left )dirne for their res ective laces of e7ile in the early art of +ugust 1?8?. 4-,6 "hus Baha, in attem ting to rid himself of his brother, succeeded in getting himself sent under a sentence of life im risonment to +kka. Not content with getting rid of the influential Babis who refused to fallow Baha, the Bahai arty undertook to rewrite the whole history of the Babi movement so as to make Bahas claims more lausible. 5n doing this they reduced the Bab from being an inde endent (ajor (anifestation, like Eesus and (uhammad, to the rank of a forerunner, like Eohn the Ba tist. "hey totally ignored 2ubh:i:+Bal, or else ortrayed him as the chief enemy of the truth. +nd they re resented Baha as having been from the first the leading figure in the Babi movement. "his tendency is clearly seen in A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, an official though anonymous history of the movement written by +bbas )fendi the eldest son of Baha, and also in other Bahai writings.4=$6 5n order for this false version of Babi history to gain universal acce tance it became necessary that many of the old Babi books and manuscri ts be gotten rid of, for they gave the lie to the Bahai statements. "he followers of Baha, therefore, began systematically to conceal or to destroy the writings of the Bab and of the early Babis. 4=16 "hey were so successful that when 0rofessor Browne visited 5ran in 1??? he was able only with the greatest difficulty to obtain a co y of the Bayan.4=#6 +nd when he visited +kka in 1?,$ he had a similar e7 erience. 5 can affirm, he wrote after his visit there,4=-6 that, hard as it is to obtain from the Bahais in 0ersia the loan or gift of Babi books belonging to the earlier eriod of the faith, at +cre it is harder still even to get a glim se of them. "hey may be, and robably are, still reserved there, but, for all the good the en!uirer is likely to get from them, they might almost as well have suffered the fate MdestructionN which the +Balis believe to have overtaken them. %e have already related in the 5ntroduction how the history written by (irBa Eani +Nu*tatu/l)(a - in 1?;1 was com letely su ressed in 5ran, so that Browne was unable to get any information whatever about this valuable book, and how the one e7tant co y in )uro e was found by him in 0aris, and ublished by him, to the consternation of the Bahai leaders. By some of them 0rofessor Browne was accused of having became an +Bali, and of having been bribed by them to ublish this book.4==6 9egarding the su ression of (irBa Eanis book, Bro.ne .rites:D%'F BIt is hard for us? accustomed to a .orld of "rinted books and carefully guarded "ublic libraries? to reali,e that so im"ortant a .ork as this could be successfully su""ressed@ and e;ually hard to believe that the adherents of a religion evidently animated by the utmost self*devotion and the most fervent enthusiasm? and? in ordinary everyday matters? by obvious honesty of "ur"ose? could connive at such an act of su""ression and falsification of evidence=====This fact? .ere it not established by the clearest evidence? I should have regarded as incredible=C It is to non*BahaEi scholars such as 5obineau and Bro.ne and Hicholas? and to the +,alis? and not to Baha and his follo.ers? that the .orld is indebted for the kno.ledge it has of the .ritings of the Bab and the early Babis=D%-F 2ince the great majority of the Babis became followers of Baha, our rinci al concern from now on will be with the Bahai branch of the Babi movement which had +kka for its center and Baha for its
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head. /owever, before leaving 2ubh:i:+Bal and his small minority of disci les, we will relate briefly the story of his later life. /e with his two wives 4=<6 and his children and a few followers4=?6 reached 3amagusta on the 5sland of &y rus in +ugust, 128?. "heir sentence was life im risonment, and they were given a daily allowance by the "urkish government. 5n 1?<? &y rus assed from "urkish to British control, and the +Bali risoners became ensioners of the British government. 'iving thus in isolation Insert image ? !u"h+i+Azal Mirza -ahya !u"h+i+Azal from .e$ History of the Ba" "y %/0/ Bro$ne 2ubh:i:+Bal was almost com letely forgotten, for when Browne made in!uiries about him in 5ran in 1??< he was amaBed to discover that the Bahais whom he met knew nothing, or retended to know nothing, about him, and many said they had never even heard of him. /owever, Bahais sometimes threatened him.4=,6 +fter careful investigation Browne learned that 2ubh:i:+Bal was in 3amagusta, and in (arch 1?,$ he went to &y rus to visit him. /e thus describes his first meeting with 2ubh:i:+BalD %e ascended to an u er room, where a venerable and benevolent looking old man of about si7ty years of age, somewhat below the middle height, with am le forehead on which the traces of care and an7iety were a arent, clear searching blue eyes, and long grey beard, rose and advanced to meet us. Before that mild and dignified countenance 5 involuntarily bowed myself with unfeigned res ectJ for at length my long:cherished desire was fulfilled, and 5 stood face to face with (irBa Fahya 2ubh:i: +Bal 4"he (orning of )ternity6, the a ointed successor of the Bab.4;$6 1uring a eriod of two weeks Browne daily s ent several hours conversing with 2ubh:i:+Bal, and obtaining from him a vast amount of first:hand information regarding the Babi movement. @f the Bab and his first a ostles and followers, writes Browne,4;16 as of his own life and adventures, 2ubh:i:+Bal would s eak freely, hut concerning the origin of the schism which for him had been attended with such disastrous results, and all ertaining to Baha and the Bahais, he was most reticent, so that, erceiving this subject to be distasteful, 5 refrained for the most art from alluding to it. 2ubh:i:+Bal and his sons always treated their visitor with the greatest courtesy. "hereafter 2ubh:i:+Bal and his sons rendered great assistance to 0rofessor Browne in his researches by su lying him with numerous books in manuscri t written by the Bab and by 2ubh:i:+Bal and the early Babis, and by answering many !uestions about the Babi writings and history which Browne ut to them. 2ubh:i:+Bal lived to the age of eighty:one, and died in 3amagusta on + ril #,, 1,1#. +n account of his death and burial, written by one of his sons, who, on becoming a &hristian, renamed himself &onstantine the 0ersian, has been ublished by 0rofessor Browne. 4;#6 2ubh:i:+Bal left no will, and a ointed no one as his successor,4;-6 and his followers have carried on no ro aganda. /owever, there are in 5ran several thousand eo le4;=6 who consider themselves Babis, and who believe that in this unfortunate schism the right was with 2ubh:i:+Bal.
N@")2 1. #. Browne in 6&leu !istory, . KK5. "he date of Bahas declaration 41?88:1?8< +.1.6 was fi7ed by Nabil, a follower of Baha, in his &hronological 0oem, in which he states that Baha was fifty years old when he set forth his claim to be a (anifestation +?.R.A... 1??,, . ,?-: ,,$6. "he famous Bahai writer, (irBa +bu1:3aBl stated that the declaration was in 1?8? +?.R.A... @ctober 1?,#, . <$-, note 16. +bbas )fendi, eldest son of Baha, in his book A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e 4 . ;;, note -, and 886, in the o inion of Browne deliberately and ur osely antedated the (anifestation +?.R.A... + ril 1?,#, . -$86, in order to make it a ear that Baha had from an early time been a leading figure in the movement. "he date of the declaration as given by +bbas )fendi was 1?;# +.1., about fourteen years too early. (odern Bahais give the date as. + ril ##, 1B8- +.1. 42hoghi )ffendi in God Passes 2y, . 1=?:18#6, which is at least three years too ;8 of ##$

early. A;al/s Notes, -. =. ;.

. 1$#1:1$#-.

"he date of this order, according to 2hoghi )ffendi in God Passes 2y, . 18<, was 2hawwal ##, 1#?# +./. 4(arch 6:, 1?88 +.1.6. Browne in )nglish 5nt. to Nu*tatu/l)(a , . 'K5K:'KK5. Persian 2ayan, &&, 68, where the date #$$1, the numerical e!uivalent of the +rabic word $ustaghath, is clearly stated in words. 9efer to &ha ter 5A. Baha at first attem ted to e7 lain the words Ghiyath 41;116 and $ustaghath +9::66 in some way that would not conflict with his claims. /owever, near the end of his life in his "ablet @ &reator of +lt &reation, Baha revoked his earlier inter retation and stated that /e who was named in the Bayan /e:%ho:%ill:+ ear Mthat is, /e:%hom:Cod:%ill:(anifest6 shall in truth come in the (ustaghath with manifest ower. /e did not e7 lain how it ha ened that he +2aha/u/llah6 had come before the $ustaghath. A;al/s Notes, . #;8, #;<, 1$#1:1$#-. Persian 2ayan, A5, ?. 2ee + endi7 55, . ;? ==;. Nabil is the author of the Da4n 2rea3ers. A;al/s Notes, . ;$$, ,,,. "he e7act date of Bahas birth is not known, since at the time no official records of births were ke t in 5ran. + fairly accurate statement of the dates in the life of Baha is found in. Nabils &hronological 0oem com osed in +kka in 1?8, +.1. +?.R.A... @ctober 1??,, . ,?-:,,$6. 2ee also A;al/s Notes, . =;$:=;8, ,,8, and Brownes &hronological "able for Babi /istory +?.2.A... Euly 1??,, . ;#1:;#86. Browne in A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, . ;8, note, (irBa Eani in Ne4 !istory, . -<=, 2ubh:i:+Bal in A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, . -<-. . =8=:=<$, 8$<.

8. <. ?.

,.

6:. A;al/s Notes, 55. 'BC)'B7. 11. 0ersian 5ntroduction to 6Du*tatu/l)Ea , . -;, A;al/s Notes, 1#. Ne4 !istory, 5. ACC, Nu*tatu/l)(a , . #=$, A;al/s Notes, . =?#. 6A. +vareh in (ash u/l)!iyal, resumably first edition, . #?, also statement from Bayan in )nglish 5nt. to Nu*tatu/l) (a , . 'A555. 2ince the numerical value of the +rabic letters in 2aha/ is ,, Bahais attach great im ortance to this number. 1=. Ne4 !istory, . -1$, note 1, -<;, A;al/s Notes, . =?-, =,?, ;1;. 1;. (irBa Eani in Nu*tatu/l)(a , . #=#. 18. A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, . 8#. 6C. A;al/s Notes, 55. 'CC, 'C@. 1?. 1r. .a/eed/s Notes, . 1; in translation, A;al/s Notes, . 8$?. 2ee + endi7 55, $-1. 67. A;al/s Notes, 55. B:A . #$. 5bid., #1. 5bid., . ==?, =<,:=?;. . 8=# ff., (irBa Eawad in $aterials, . #1:#=.

##. Ne4 !istory, 55. MM&&, MM&&&. 9A. A;al/s Notes, 55. 6:::, 6::7. #=. Nu*tatu/l)(a , . KKA, Persian 2ayan, &&, 1<, ?.R.A... Euly 1??,, #;. +uthors of !asht 2ihisht in ?.R.A... @ctober 1?,#, . 8?8. #8. Browne in Nu*tatu/l)(a , . KKK555, KKK5A. #<. "he assassinations of +Balis by Bahais at this eriod are entirely overlooked by Baha in his writings, by +bbas )fendi in A Tra#eller s Narrati#e, by 2hoghi )ffendi n God Passes 2y, as well as in later Bahai accounts of the history of the movement. 2ee A;al/s Notes, . ;=?, 1$1-. #?. "he names of a number of +Balis murdered by the Bahais are given by Browne in the 0ersian 5nt. to Nu*tatu/l) (a , . =#, and also in Ne4 !istory, . KK555, KK5A, and ?.R.A... Euly 18?,, . ;1<, and by the authors of !asht 2ihisht !uoted by Browne in A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, . -;,:-<-. #,. Both of these brothers wrote refutations of the claims of Baha, and it was because of this that they were murdered by Bahas followers +A;al/s Notes, . ;=-, ;88, ;8<6. ;< of ##$ . ;1=, ;1;.

A:. Nasi3hu/t)Ta4ari3h, #ol. &&, 5art. 6, 55. 6A9, 6AB +*uoted in Li e o $uhammad %y .ell, 55. 69')6A:.A6. A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, 5. AC9. -#. 5bid., . -8?, -8,, ?.R.A... + ril 1?,#, . #,8, #,<, $aterials, . ##, #-. (any years after these events +bbas )fendi 4+bdul:Baha6 in his %ill and "estament 40ersian te7t, . =, line ,6 stated that 2ubh:i:+Bal shed the ure blood Mof BahaN in )dirne, an allegation which Baha himself never made, and for which no ade!uate evidence e7ists +A;al/s 6lloOas, . 1$1;6. --. A;al/s Notes, 5. 67@. A'. E.R.A... A5ril 6@79, 5. 97C. AB. A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, 55. A86, AC:, ?.R.A... ?uly 6@87, 55. B68, B6C. A8. A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, 5. AC:. .ee a55endiK &&, LC9, in 4hich 2aha/u/llah admits the assassins acted under orders. -<. +uthors of ECasht 2ihisht, who were 2haykh +hmad 9uhi and (irBa +!a *han, both of *irman +A;al/s Notes, . 1$186, !uoted in A Tra#eller /s Narrati#e, . -8$. -?. ?ournal o the 2oo3 .ociety o &ran +Rahnama)i)(ita%- + ril 1,8-, . 1$#:11$. "he article is by 1r. (uhammad +li (uwahhid. "he file in the archives in 5stanbul is No. 1=<;, ?1# and 1-. 5t is robable that much mare information hearing on the Babi history may lie buried in the 5stanbul archives. 2ee + endi7 55, &< and ;1-. A7. A;al/s Notes, 5. 6:68. =$. 9efer to the 5ntroduction of this book, also to Browne in Ne4 !istory, . KKK5, and to A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, . K'A. =1. 2ubh:i:+Bal !uoted in A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, . -=-, ?.R.A... Euly 1?,#, . =;#, A;al/s Notes, 0 . #$<:#1-. =#. ?.R.A... ?uly 6@@7, . ;$;, ;$8. 'A. Ne4 !istory 5. MMF&&&. ==. 5t is said that this charge is found in the 0ersian book 2ada/i/l)Athar, vol. 55, by +bbas )ffendi. (any years assed, and then in 1,<$ a book was ublished under the title Ed4ard Gran#ille 2ro4ne and the 2aha/i Daith, by /. (. BalyuBi, Ceorge 9onald, 'ondon. "he author, a learned Bahai, in this volume which contains much valuable information, has undertaken to rove that 0rofessor Browne was rejudiced in favor of the claims of 2ubh:i:+Bal, and in his later years was in his writings unfair to Bahaullah and his followers. (r. BalyuBi devotes #; ages of his book to a consideration of the Nu*tatu/l)(a , which Browne had ublished in 1,1$. /e maintains that while /ajji (irBa Eani did write a history of the Babi movement, the book which Browne ublished was not the original work, but was a forgery com osed later by some follower of 2ubh:i:+Bal. 5t is therefore untrustworthy, and does not ossess the great im ortance attached to it by Browne. +lso, (r. BalyuBi !uestions the authorshi of the long 0ersian 5ntroduction to the Nu*tatu/l)(a , and gives reasons why he thinks 0rofessor Browne was not the author, though it bears his name. 5t is evident that the ur ose of the !uestioner is to discredit the testimony of Browne to the a ointment of 2ubh:i:+Bal by the Bab as his successor, which (r. BalyuBi strenuously denies. (r. BalyuBi describes 2ubh:i:+Bal as a weak and unworthy erson. Fet he concedes that, in the wards of 2hoghi )ffendi +God Passes 2y, . 18-6, 2ubh:i:+Bal after the e7ecution of the Bab was the recogniBed chief of the Babi &ommunity 40, -,6. But, we ask, if the Babfailed to a oint a successor 4which is im robable6, was there not among the devoted and able followers of the Bab some one worthy to be chosen by them as the chief of their community, and their leader in those difficult yearsL /ow did it ha en that a very young man 41, years of age when the Bab died6, weak and unworthy in the o inion of (r. BalyuBi, who was not one of the 'etters of the 'iving, and had not even seen the Bab, was recogniBed by the Babis as their chiefL (ight it not have been because the Babis all believed that the Babhim: self had a ointed himL "his is what 2ubh:i:+Bal and other faithful followers of the Bab have maintained. +nd 0rofessor Browne agreed with them. (r. BalyuBi rightly s eaks of )dward Browne as an eminent orientalist, matchless among his eers, far his knowledge of 0ersia and 0ersian, a man of great charm and great learning 4 . 1#16. Fet he maintains that Browne was unaware that the Nu*tatu/l)(a was a forgery, and that he had been deceived by it. 5t should be remembered that the &omte de Cobineau resumably ac!uired his manuscri t of this history while he was in 5ran 41?;;:1?;?, 1?81:1?8-6, and brought it with him to 3rance not later than 1?8-. 5t was this manuscri t that Browne ublished.

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/ence, the book in its resent form must have been written sometime before 1?8-, and rior to the declaration of Bahaullah and the division in the Babi community. %hether, therefore, the book ublished by Browne was written entirely by (irBa Eani before his death in 1?;#, or whether others wrote the book after the death of (irBa Eani and gave his name to it, the Nu*tatu/l)(a is by far the earliest account in our ossession of the early Babi history, written by Babis. 5t accordingly merits the im ortance attached to it by )dward Browne. But even if it should be roved that the charge of (r. BalyuBi is true, and that Browne in 1,1$ ublished as authentic a s urious work, why did not same Bahai scholar at once call his attention to his mistake by ublishing a critical review of the bookL @r why did not +bdul:Baha himself, when he met 0rofessor Browne in 1,1# in 'ondon, e7 lain to him his mistake, and give him the o ortunity to retract his erroneous statements< Browne never admitted that he had been mistaken in his estimate of the authenticity of the Nu*tatu/l)(a , for he was evidently convinced that he had not erred. "here is a well:known 0ersian verse which saysD 5f 5 see a it, and a blind man nearby, 5f 5 sit in silence, a sinner am 5. 1id not the failure of +bdul:Baha to warn )dward Browne of the it of error into which he saw him falling, make him also res onsible for his friends mistakeL /owever, if Browne had never seen and never ublished the Nu*tatu/9)(a , he would robab1y have maintained to the end his firm belief that 2ubh:i:+Bal had indeed been a ointed by the Bab to succeed him. 3or even before his journey to 5ran in 1??< he had been convinced by the writings of the &omte de Cobineau and others that 2ubh: i:+Bal by the a ointment of the Bab was the chief of the Babis. /is later studies and the finding of the Nu*tatu/l) (a only confirmed Browne in his belief. +nother fact which should not be forgotten in considering the authenticity of the Nu*tatu/l)(a is that there is another manuscri t co y of this book in the 'ibrary of 0rinceton .niversity, which had reviously belonged to 1r. 2aeed *han of "eheran. 5n a note on . -; of his book, (r. BalyuBi states that he had known 1r. 2aeed, whose robity was un!uestionable. 1r. 2aeed has stated that his co y of the Nu*tatu/l)(a had been carefully com: ared with that ublished by Browne, and had been found to be in substantial agreement with it. 1r. 2aeed did not consider his co y to be a forgery. 5t is indeed regrettable that now after si7ty years, .hen #d.ard Bro.ne is no longer able to defend himself? his com"etence as a scholar? and even the integrity of his character? should be thus called in ;uestion= =;. Nu*tatu/l)(a , . KKK5A. =8. 3or lists and descri tions of e7tant Babi manuscri ts see Browne in ?.R.A... 1?,#, 1,?:#=-. . =--:=,,, and $aterials, .

=<. 2ubh:iP+Bal married in all at least si7 wives and had fifteen children, some of whom died in infancy. "hree of his wives remained in 5ran when he fled to 5ra! in 1?;#. 5t has been said that 3atima, the 5sfahan wife of the Bah, was later married for a time ta 2ubh:i:+Bal, but this is denied by others. 2he was finally given in marriage to 2ayyid (uhammad of 5sfahan. + com lete list of the wives and children of 2ubh:i:+Bal is given in A;al/s Notes, . ;8$: ;8-, ;88:;<#. =?. +n official document gave the number of adults as si7teen 4+ Tra#eller /s Narrati#e, . -?16. =,. 5bid., . KA, Nu*tatu/l)(a , . KKK5A. 2ee + endi7 55, . -, O-# and --. ;$. A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, . KK5A. ;1. 5bid., . KKA. ;#. $aterials, . -11 ff. ;-. A;al/s Notes, . ;;<. ;=. 5n 1,-$ +.1. 1r. 2aeed of "eheran estimated the number of Babis 4+Balis6 in 5ran to he about 1;$$, counting women and children. (r. +Bal, during his visit to 5ran in 1,8-, estimated the number to be from =$$$ to ;$$$. 5t is said that they have no organiBation.

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/= The 0anifestation of BahaEuEllah


%hen (irBa /usayn +li Baha was in rison in "eheran following the Babi attem t on the life of the 2hah, the 9ussian minister hel ed to secure his release.416 5n Baghdad the British &onsul Ceneral offered the rotection of the British government to Baha, but this offer was rejected, since he referred to acce t "urkish nationality.4#6 %hen in )dirne he was in difficulty with the "urkish government, Baha turned to 3rance for hel . /e wrote a letter to the &omte de Cobineau, former 3rench minister in 5ran and historian of the Babi movement, im loring him to lay the etition of this servant at the foot of the throne of the (onarch of the +ge MNa oloen 555N, in order that he might become a rotege of 3rance. Cobineau in re ly informed Baha that he had delivered his message to Na oleon, but said that /is (ajesty had not been leased to signify his leasure in the matter. /owever, he informed Baha that he was at liberty to address himself to 3rench di lomatic missions in "urkey to have his grievances redressed.4-6 Baha was delighted, hut his ho e for assistance from 3rance was short lived, for in the war with 0russia in 1?<$ 3rance was defeated, and the )m eror lost his throne. +nd so Baha, a, subject of "urkey and a olitical risoner, without assistance from any government, began to lay his new role as a 1ivine (anifestation and ruler of the great majority of the Babis scattered throughout the Near )ast. +s has been ointed out by 2ir &ecil 2 ring:9ice,4=6 formerly British (inister at. "eheran, the roblem which Baha had to solve was not merely one of succession to the leadershi of the Babi movement, but whether the religion which he re resented was to become a world religion addressed to all mankind, or was to remain only an obscure 0ersian sect. 3or while the Bab had confidently redicte8 the time when his religion would cover the earth, it had already be: come clear to Baha, as it was clear to un rejudiced observers from the first, that such a system as that outlined by the Bab could never make any headway outside 5ran. (any of the laws laid down by the Bab were entirely unsuited to the needs of mankind, either in 5ran or out of it, and the ho e cherished b the Babs Bealous followers oT establishing by force a Babi theocracy had roved im ossible of fulfilment. +ccordingly, Baha, while not abrogating the Bayan of the Bab, ado ted a olicy of ignoring some of the im ractical as ects of the Babi system, and its connection with 2hiite 5slam, and of em hasiBing the universal character of the religion of which he had become the head. +s he moved westward, he came near to lands in which many &hristians and Eews resided. /ence he undertook to attract them as well as Babis and (uslims to himself. @ne way in which he did this was by issuing numerous e istles, or "ablets 4'awh6, as they were called, in which he set forth his claim to be a (anifestation of Cod, and commanded eo le to acce t and obey him. 5n the 'awh:i:Nasir,4;6 which is one of the earliest writings com osed after his declaration, Baha saysD 5 revealed all the heavenly books by the glorious tongue of 41ivine6 NightJ that is, he, s eaking as the 1ivine %ill, claims to be the author of the Bible, the *oran and the Bayan. /e also claims he is the Bab returned to earth again, saying, 5n the Bayan 5 admonished all in the language of ower. +nd he s eaks of the e7ecution of the Bab at "abriB as though he had been the victim, saying, +t length they sus ended my glorious body in the air, and wounded it with the bullets of malice and hatred, until my s irit returned to the 2u reme &om anion. Baha com lains bitterly of the sufferings he is enduring from his enemies, and he charges Nasir, robably some Babi to whom the e istle is addressed, not to listen to anyone who tries to turn his heart from the love of Baha. /e addresses Nasir as @ my slaveI /ow different is this attitude from that revealed in the 5!an written a few years earlier when he declared that he never sought su remacy over anyone.486 5t is robable that the 2uratul:(uluk 4&ha ter of *ings6 like the 'awh:i:Nasir was com osed before Bahas de arture from )dirne. 5n this e istle he addressed the rulers of the earth and bade them acknowledge him. 4<6 @ *ings of the earth. he wrote, /earken to the voice of Cod from
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this fruitful, lofty "ree. "he Bab had called himself the "ree of 9eality, in reference to the burning bush from which Cod addressed (oses, and Baha here ado ts the same title.4?6 "he tone in. which he addressed the 2ultan of "urkey was hardly conciliatory.4,6 /ast thou heard, @ *ing, what hath befallen us at the hands of thy ministers, and what they have done unto us, or art thou of the heedlessL .....5 will tell Four (ajesty of what befell us at the hands of these o ressors. *now then that we came at thy command and entered into thy city with cons icuous honour, but were e7 elled from it with dishonour, wherewith no dishonour in the world can be com ared. Baha also commanded the kings to reduce their armies. Be at eace one with another, and reduce your armies that your e7 enses may be diminished, he writes.41$6 +nd MevenN if ye should raise u differences between yourselves, ye will not need great military forces, hut only so much as will suffice for you to guard your domains and realms. "his is erha s Bahas first written a eal for world eace.4116 "here is no evidence that the 2uratul:(uluk was ever received by or dis atched to the kings of the earth to whom it was addressed, but it no doubt dee ly im ressed the followers of Baha to whom it was read. "hey robably did not have the rivilege of listening to the rea8ing of Bahas a eal to the &omte de Cobineau to intercede on his behalf with the )m eror of 3rance, which was written about the same time as the ) istle to the *ings. Neither a eals nor rotests availed, and in the first art of +ugust, 1?8? the Babi leaders, those who were loyal to 2ubh:i:+Bal as well as those who had followed Baha, were de orted from )dirne. Baha and about seventy of his family and adherents made the long journey by carriage and then by shi to +cre 4+kka6, a enal colony on the (editerranian coast near /aifa. "here they arrived on +ugust -1. "he weather was hot, and for a time the e7iles suffered much from crowded !uarters and bad food. @f this eriod (irBa Eawad, who was with Baha and was his devoted disci le, writes thus in his !istorical E5itomeE+69- 2o the MmilitaryN barracks had. the honor of receiving them, and they locked the doors and set military sentinels over them. "hat night we could obtain no water to drink, save such stale and stagnant water in the tank there as was absolutely unfit for drinking. "he community also remained without food that night until morning after that, however, there were assigned to each one three loaves of bread, but they were utterly unfit for food, and used to be e7changed in the market for two MbetterN loaves so that it might be ossible to eat them. 5n all ways matters went hard with this community. "he climate was had, and soon half of the e7iles fell sick, and some died. +fter the la se of some months, continues (irBa. Eawad,41-6 the hardshi s which befe51 them gave rise to doubt in the minds of those who were of the com any of /is /oliness our (aster MBahaN, and they began to turn aside from the ath of truth and steadfastness, and to forsake loyalty and love....."he schism was fierce, nor do 5 care to discuss it in detail. +fter two years Baha and his family were removed from the military barracks and rovided with a house in the town of +kka. %e were given a comfortable house with three rooms and a court, said the daughter of Baha to (r. 0hel s.41=6 "hey continued to live in different houses in the town for nine years.41;6 5n +kka Baha had am le leisure to meditate, and to re are the roofs for his claim to be a new (anifestation. "he Bab had adduced his verses as the roof that he s oke for Cod, and Baha in like manner issued numerous "ablets and other ronouncements which he said were the %ords of Cod. But these su osedly ins ired utterances did not convince everyone that their author was truly the /e:%hom:Cod:%ill:(anifest redicted by the Bab, and so Baha used all his erudition and ingenuity in roducing other grounds on which to base his claims to 1ivinity (r. Eelal +Bal has made an e7haustive study of this subject, the results of which are contained in his Notes4186 and to him 5 am indebted for the material included in this brief summary. +s has been noted in grievous cha ters, the only one in the Bayanic 1is ensation who was authoriBed to bestow titles was the 0oint of the (anifestation, and the Bab was most generous in giving very high and mighty titles to his letters and to his Aicegerent 2ubh:i:+Bal. But there is no valid evidence whatever that the Bab gave a title to (irBa /usayn +li. +vareh has stated that when
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others received titles from the Bab at the Badasht &onference, (irBa /usayn +li was hurt because none was given to him. 2o to comfort him, Gurratu1:+yn bestowed on him the title 2aha 42 lendor, or Clory6, one which she had herself received from the Bab.41<6 @thers may have called him by this name, but there is no valid evidence that the Bab ever did so. @n (arch #<, 1?;$, only three months before his death, the Bab, according to the notation in his ersonal 1iary, wrote an e istle to #-?, the brother of the 3ruit. +s we have seen, the 3ruit was 2ubh:i:+Bal. "he numerical value of the +rabic letters in /usayn +li is #-?. /ence, it seems that when the Bab wrote his e istle to (irBa /usayn +li, charging him to take the utmost care of 2ubh:i:+Bal, he used no title in addressing him, but referred to his younger brother as the (ost Clorious +A%ha- )lement. "he e istle clearly indicates that it was written by a su erior to an inferior.41?6 "hus, whether this title was given by someone not authoriBed to bestow titles, or whether it was self: assumed, (irBa /usayn +li became Baha, and for his ur ose a better title could not have been found. Baha was the name given by the Bab to the first of the 1, months of his calendar. +lso, Baha was the name given by the Bab to the first day of the first month, which was the great 5ranian festival of No 9uB. 41,6 moreover, the word 2aha is found in its various forms many hundreds of times not only in the writings of the Bab but also in the 2cri tures of the Eews and &hristians. (irBa /usayn +li no doubt s ent many hours searching for this beautiful word in all the sacred writings, and claiming it wherever it was found as a reference to himself. "he result was mast satisfying to him and his followers, but not always to others. 5t was as though a man who became dissatisfied with his surname should decide to change it and become (r. 'ove, and then ersuade himself and others that every reference to Lo#e in the Bible was a reference to him. 5f he had reviously been embarrassed by an inferiority com le7, the assurance that the greatest of these is love would no doubt give him much encouragement. But even better than 2aha was a hrase found in the Bayan, namely, 2aha/u/llah 4"he Clory of Cod6. "his he took as his full title, and by this name he is known today. +ccording to the Bayan, this is a title for each of the 1ivine (anifestations.4#$6 "he Bab ronounced it in the Bayan4#16 the best of names, and he assumed it for himself, and also bestowed it on 2ubh:i:+Bal.4##6 But like )saus birth right it was taken by his brother. 5n claiming all occurrences of 2aha as references to himself, (irBa /usayn +li fre!uently read the assages out of conte7t, and usually failed to state the cha ter and verse from which he was !uoting. "hus he often a ro riated to himself words and statements which were intended for others. 3or e7am le, in his testamentary document addressed to 2ubh:i:+Bal, the Bab wroteD .....bear witness that in truth 5 am alive in the (ost 2 lendid +A%ha- /oriBon. "he reference of A%ha is here to the Bab and to 2ubh:i:+Bal, but was taken by Baha as belonging to himself.4#-6 2imilarly, in his Dirst 2oo3 the Bab mentioned red ruby shi s intended for the eo le of Baha. By 2aha he meant himself 4the Bab6, since he was 2aha/u/llah. But his brother a ro riated this hrase, and A*das 4 . =<6 referred to a red shi 4Bahais6.4#=6 5n the same way Baha title 9emnant of Cod which the Bab had used for the /idden 5mam, and in had taken for himself. 5n these and in numerous other ways the new (anifestation sought to justify his claims.4#;6 +s the Bab gave titles to some of his faithful followers, so Bahaullah used his rerogative as a new (anifestation to bestow titles on certain believers. 4#86 "o his first wife. +siya whom he married in "eheran in 1?-; +.1., and who bore him si7 children, he gave the title Nawwaba, because she was the daughter of Nawwab 4/ighness6 of "eheran. "o his second wife Bibi 3atima, his cousin whom he married in 1?=, +.1., who also bore him si7 children, he gave the title 2u reme &radle, a title reserved for the Gueen:(other in 5ran. "o his third wife Cohar whom he married in Baghdad or )dirne, who bore him a daughter 3urughiyya, he gave no title. 2ince Bahaullah was the tree of truth his sons were called Branches. +bbas )fendi, eldest son by his first wife, received the title (ost (ighty 4+Bam.6 Branch, and (irBa (uhammad +li, eldest son by his second wife, became (ost Creat +A3%ar- Branch. "he other sons were given the titles
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(ost 0ure Branch and (ost 'uminous Branch. +nd to his daughter Bahiyya was given the title 2u reme 'eaf.4#<6 @ne of his faithful followers received the title 2ervant of Cod, another became 1ivinely 3ragrant, and the barber was entitled Barber of 9eality. 0erha s the ossession of these marks of dignity made it somewhat easier for these e7iles to endure their lot. +ccording to (irBa Eawad,4#?6 the +Balis who had been sent to s y on the Bahais began after a time to cause them great annoyance by attem ting to arouse the natives of the town of +kka against them. "he (uslims of +kka were all 2unnites, and were !uite intolerant of heretics such as the Bahais. "herefore, in order to avoid trouble, Bahaullah and his followers took great ains to conceal their real beliefs, as they had done reviously in 5ran, Baghdad and )dirne, and to rofess and ractice in ublic the faith of 5slam. +ccordingly, they went regularly to the (uslim mos!ues and recited the rayers after the manner of the 2unnites. "hey also ke t the (uslim month of fasting 9amaBan, and tried in every way ossible to convince the (uslims that they were one with them. 2o successful were they in this effort that when Bahaullah and his son and successor +bbas )fendi died, the 2unnite clergy conducted their funeral services. "his they would never have done had they realiBed that Bahaullah claimed to be a (anifestation of Cod, greater than (uhammad. "he title Bahaullah, the 2 lendor of Cod, was therefore carefully avoided in +kka, and the leader of the Bahais was known as Baha )fendi, or Bahau1in, the 2 lendor of 9eligion.4#,6 "his attem t to conceal the nature of their faith, says (irBa Eawad, was being thwarted by the +Balis, who began to circulate among the eo le of +kka some of the verses of Bahaullah, with inter olations of their own. "heir numerous efforts to stir u mischief, he says, and their rovocative actions caused bitter sorrows to all the 3riends, and grievous trouble befell them. 3inally, the Bahais determined to get rid of the trouble:makers. @n Eanuary #-, 1?<#, seven of the Bahais came u on three of the +Balis in a house in. +kka and murdered them.4-$6 "hough some Bahai writers have entirely omitted this art of the history, there is no doubt whatever that the assassinations took lace.4-16 %hether this deed was done in obedience to the command of Bahaullah, or was contrary to his orders, is uncertain.4-#6 "he "urkish authorities at once arrested Bahaullah and his sons and most of the male members of the Bahai community, and ke t them in confinement for several days. Bahaullah and his sons were soon released. "he seven murderers were sent to the harbour, where they were ke t in rison for some years, and were later freed. 2i7teen other Bahais were ke t in rison for si7 months, and were then released, in answer, says (irBa Eawad, to a rayer taught them by Bahaullah.4--6 5t was not without reason that the "urkish authorities used some severity in their treatment of the Bahais in +kka. %hile 2ubh:i:+Bal and Bahaullah were enduring life im risonment in 8istant lands, what was ha ening to the Babis in 5ranL (ost of them had become Bahais, and were sometimes ersecuted by the (uslims. 2ome had become +Balis, and were o osed by both (uslims and Bahais. )ver since the massacre which had resulted from the Babi attem t on the life of the 2hah in 1?;#, all of them had racticed concealment in order to be able to live their lives in eace among their unbelieving neighbours. 'ittle is known as to the numbers or the activities of these eo le who, when recogniBed, were generally des ised as heretics. 2o effectively did they conceal their beliefs, that, as 0rofessor Browne discovered when he visited 5ran in 1??<, it was almost im ossible to make contact with them. 1uring these years there were occasional outbursts of o osition, with a few murders. 2ome (uslims who wished to get rid of their ersonal enemies would do so by branding them as Babis, and getting them killed. (irBa Eawad in his /istorical ) itome lists about thirty:one Bahais who were killed in 5ran and 5ra! between 1?88 and 1?,1.4-=6 5t is not known how many +Balis were killed by Bahais and (uslims, but the number was not very large the statements often heard about the many thousands of Bahai martyrs in 5ran are entirely false. @ne of the Bahai martyrs deserves s ecial notice. /e was a young man who came from *hurasan
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to +kka in 1?8, to visit Bahaullah, and from him received the name 2adi / 4%onderful6.4-;6 Badi volunteered to deliver in erson, without s eaking to anyone about his mission as he journeyed from +kka to 5ran, an e istle which Bahaullah had written to Nasirud:1in 2hah.4-86 5n this e istle Bahaullah addressed the 2hah with great humility, saying he has always been a loyal subject of the 2hah, and condemning the attem t on the 2hahs life. /e ut the blame for all the evil that had occurred on the (uslim clergy, and begged the 2hah to grant freedom to the Babis in 5ran to live and ractice their religion in eace and freedom. "he letter was carried by the young messenger on foot to "eheran, where, in accordance with instructions given him by Bahaullah, he stood by the wayside till the 2hah assed, and succeeded in giving the message into his hands. %hen the 2hah realiBed who the sender of the message was he became greatly disturbed, and remembering the attem t on his life seventeen years before, he commanded that the messenger be tortured to find out whether he had any accom lices, and then ut to death. Badi showed the greatest courage in enduring suffering, and died for his (aster. "he date was Euly, 1?8,. No doubt this event which was ubliciBed throughout 5ran made it more necessary than before that the Bahais conceal their faith. (uslim historians relate that (uhammad sent letters from (adina to the kings of 0ersia and ByBantium and other countries, bidding them to acknowledge him as a 0ro het of +llah.4-<6 3ollowing his e7am le Bahaullah, robably in. the early art of his residence in +kka, com osed a number of e istles which he addressed to numerous rulers.4-?6 "o the &Bar of 9ussia he said, @ne of thy ambassadors did assist me when 5 was in rison, in chains and fetters Min "eheran in 1?;#N. "herefore hath Cod decreed unto thee a station which the knowledge of no one com rehendeth.4-,6 /e severely condemned Na oleon 555 for his failure to assist him, and redicted his downfall.4=$6 4"he e istle was robably com osed a ter he lost his crown in 1?<$6. /e raised Gueen Aictoria for abolishing slavery and establishing re resentative government. U=16 /e violently denounced the 2ultan of "urkey for the wrongs done to him and his followers in +kka. 4=#6 "he ) istle to the 2hah of 5ran is very different from the conciliatory message sent by Badi, for the tone is one of fierce recrimination. "he 2hah is severely rebuked for killing the Bab, and the attem t of the Babis to assassinate him is e7cused if not a roved. 4=-6 "o the 0o e, Bahaullah roclaims himself as Cod the 3ather, as the &omforter romised by &hrist, and as &hrist himself came again, and bids him and all &hristians acce t him. 1ost thou dwell in alaces, he asks the 0o e, while the *ing of (anifestations is in the most ruined of abodes M+kkaNL 'eave alaces to those who desire them, then advance to the *ingdom with s irituality and fragrance.4==6 Bahaullah also addressed messages at this or at a later time to +merica, +ustria, and Cermany. "here is no evidence that any of these e istles were ever sent, or were ever received by those to whom they were addressed. 5t is inconceivable that a subject of "urkey, banished to +kka as a olitical risoner, should send a letter like the one referred to above to his 2ultan. "he result would have been the same fate that befell the unfortunate Badi in "eheran. 5t is evident that the ur ose of these elo!uent e istles, known as the Al4ah)i).alatin 4) istles of the *ings6 was to im ress the Bahais with the boldness of their (aster. "his ur ose was fully achieved. +fter living in various houses in the town of +kka far nine years, Bahaullah in 1?<<, to !uote (irBa Eawad and more,4=;6 rented the alace of +bdullah 0asha which lies to the north of +kka at a distance of about an hour and a half Mby carriageN from the townJ and at times he used to live in the town and at other times in the 0alace, until the year 1??$, when he rented the alace of .di *hammar Mthe (ansion of BahjiN, situated in a northerly direction at a distance of half an hour from +kka. (ost of his time he assed in this 0alace in the com any of his three sons and his family and his /onour the 2ervant of Cod, while +bbas )fendi with his sister and children remained at +kka. 4=86 2ometimes he used to visit the town, and while he dwelt outside the town visitors, whether ilgrims or &om anions, used to have the honour of seeing him after ermission had been obtained by them, and used to s end some days and nights there.....(any s ots in the town were honoured by
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the a roach of our (aster Bahaullah, and likewise numerous laces and villages outside it .....2o likewise he visited /ayfa four times, once remaining there three months. 3rom this account by a devoted follower we learn that while Bahaullah was not free to leave the district he was yet given a great deal of freedom to move about +kka and its environs as he leased. /e was by no means in rison during most of his sojourn there. "he alaces and beautiful gardens which Bahaullah at first rented and later bought were made ossible for him by the large sums of money and generous gifts which oured to him from his faithful followers in 5ran and other lands.4=<6 1uring his years in +kka, contrary to his custom when he was in Baghdad and )dirne, Bahaullah lived largely in seclusion. No one was allowed to visit him e7ce t by s ecial ermission. )ach visitor was carefully re ared for his audience with the (anifestation of Cod. /e was told that what he saw when he came into the 1ivine 0resence would de end on what he was himself P if he was a material erson he would see only a man, but if he was a s iritual being he would see Cod.4=?6 %hen his e7 ectations had been sufficiently aroused, the ilgrim was led into the resence of Bahaullah and was ermitted to gaBe far a few moments u on "he Blessed 0erfection, care being taken that the visitation should end before the s ell was broken. "he almost magical effect of such visits is seen in the account which 0rofessor Browne has given of his e7 erience in +kka in 1?,$.4=,6 +fter visiting 2ubh:i:+Bal in &y rus 4&ha ter AQ6, Browne came to Beirut, and there asked ermission by telegra h to visit the Bahai head!uarters in +kka. %hen this was granted he travelled on horseback, a journey of three days, to +kka. @f this journey he writesD4;$6 "he last day was erha s the most delightful of all, and 5 was greatly astonished on entering the +cre lain to behold a wealth of beautiful gardens and fragrant orange groves such as 5 had little e7 ected to find in what Baha has stigmatiBed as the most desolate of countries. +fter his arrival in +kka he was welcomed by +bbas )fendi, eldest son of Bahaullah, a tall strongly:built man holding himself straight as an arrow, with white turban and raiment, long black locks reaching almost to the shoulder, broad owerful forehead indicating a strong intellect combined with an unswerving will, eyes keen as a hawks, and strongly:marked hut leasing features.....@ne more elo!uent of s eech, more ready of argument, more a t of illustration, more intimately ac!uainted with the sacred books of the Eews, the &hristians, and the (uhammadans, could, 5 should think, scarcely be found.....+bout the greatness of this man and his ower no one who had seen him could entertain a doubt.4;16 By +bbas )fendi Browne was conducted to the alace outside the city where Bahaullah resided.. "here he s ent five most interesting days, and was dee ly im ressed by the hos itality of the Bahais, and by the s iritual atmos here which ervaded the lace. 1uring the morning of the day after my installation at Behje Mthe alace, continues Browne,4;16 one of Bahas younger sons entered the room where 5 was sitting and beckoned to me to follow him. 1 did so, and was conducted through assages and rooms at which 5 scarcely had time to glance to a s acious hall, aved.....with a mosaic of marble. Before a curtain sus ended from the wall of this great antechamber my conductor aused far a moment while 5 removed by shoes.4;-6 "hen, with a !uick movement of the hand, he withdrew, and, as 5 assed, re laced the curtainJ and 5 found myself in a large a artment ....."hough 5 dimly sus ected whither 5 was going and whom 5 was to behold 4for no distinct intimation had been given to me6, a second or two ela sed ere, with a throb of wonder and awe, 5 became definitely conscious that the room was not untenated. 5n the corner where the divan met the wall sat a wondrous and venerable figure, crowned with a felt head: dress of the kind called ta, by dervishes 4but of unusual height and make6, round the base of which was wound a small white turban. "he face of him on whom 5 gaBed 5 can never forget, though 5 cannot describe it. "hose iercing eyes seemed to read ones very soulJ ower and authority sat on that am le brow..... No need to ask in whose resence & stood, as & bowed myself before one who is the object of a devotion and love which kings might envy and em erors sigh for in vainI + mild dignified voice bade me be seated, and then continuedD 0raise be to Cod that thou hast attainedI.
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"he audience lasted about twenty minutes. Bahaullah s oke of the sufferings he had endured, though he desired only the good of the world. /e wanted all men to became one in faith, and be as brothers. /e wished diversity of religion and race to cease. /e said that these fruitless strifes and ruinous wars would ass away, and the (ost Creat. 0eace would come. 'et not a man glory in this, he said, that he loves his countryJ let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind..... /e also read aloud to his visitor one of his "ablets. Before his de arture from +kka, Browne was given by +bbas )fendi a co y of A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e in 0ersian, which, he was told, was an authentic history of the movement. @nly later did he learn that the author was no other than he who resented the hook to him.4;=6 5t is interesting to com are with this enthusiastic account written by 0rofessor Browne the im ression of an +Bali traveller who went to +kka to see Bahaullah. "he misleading of the Black 1arkness, he writes,4;;6 brought me into the &ity of Blood, the town of +kka ....."here 5 lainly saw the manifestation of lurality, to wit, the combination of thunder, lightning, darkness, and the thunder:bolt.....3ar these are they who have hidden the light of their original otentiality with the darkness of the attributes of wicked souls and the effects of a corru t nature, and have been veiled from the "ruth by .ntruth. "he first of the unbelieving souls and manifestations of infidelity whom he met on the seashore was +bbas )fendi, whom he calls the %his erer, a name for the devil. +fter that, he continues, 5 saw the restD of the Nicked @nes followers, and heard the words of each. "heir sayings and arguments consist of a farrago of names, baseless stories, calumnies, falsehoods, and lies, and not one of them has any knowledge of even the first rinci les of the religion of the Bayan or of any other religion. "hey are all devoid of know: ledge, ignorant, shortsighted.....hy ocrites, corru ters of te7ts, blind imitators. +fter several days this follower of 2ubh:i:+Bal was admitted to the audience:chamber of Bahaullah. %hen 5 was come there, he says, and looked u on that +rch:idol..... that rebellious 'ucifer, that envious 5blis Mthe devilN, 5 saw a form on a throne, and heard the lowing of the calf.4;86 5t is !uite evident that this +Bali was not converted by his visit to +kka, and neither was 0rofessor Browne. "he location of Bahaullah in +kka, which was much mare accessible to the eo le of 5ran than was &y rus, the lace of 2ubh:i:+Bals banishment, no doubt hel ed to accelerate the growth of Bahaism. 3or from the time he was taken to +kka, many of his followers began making the ilgrimage there in the ho e of seeing their 'ord. Bahaullah, however, did not encourage the Bahais in their desire to visit him. 3irst of all, there was too great risk of their seeing and hearing things in +kka which might weaken their faith. "here was a saying among the Bahais of 5ran that whoever went to +kka lost his faith.4;<6 +nd then the resence of large numbers of Bealous believers in the city would undoubtedly have led to com lications with the native (uslim o ulation. "he Bahais in other lands were therefore told that if they gave to Bahaullah the money they would have s ent on their journey they would gain the same merit as if they had come before his 0resence. /owever, the intimate relationshi between him and his followers was carefully maintained. "he lace of ersonal visits was taken by ersonal e istles, or "ablets, which were sent by the hundreds to the believers in 5ran and other lands, answering their !uestions, and raising them for their fidelity to the &ause. "hese letters were all carried by hand, as it was dangerous to entrust them to the asts. Browne describes one of the couriers whom he met in 5ran, an old man who used to go to +kka each year carrying with him letters from the Bahais of southern 5ran. "hen, when the re lies to these communications had been written by Bahaullahs scribe, and signed by him, they were taken by the courier to their various destinations. /is task was not without its erils. /e told 0rofessor Browne how on one occasion, when he had been arrested in a village in 5ran, he had eaten his whole ack of letters rather than let them fall into the hands of enemiesI "he Bahai who received an e istle from. his (aster was indeed a fortunate man. /e would show it to his brothers in the faith, who would kiss it and ask for co ies of it, and he would then lay it away among his
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choicest treasures. "he secluded life which he led gave Bahaullah am le o ortunity for dictating these e istles. /e com osed a vast number of them, in addition to numerous longer treatises, some of which will be considered in &ha ter A555. +ll of these writings were believed by the Bahais to be the %ord of Cod. Bahaullah lived in +kka or in its suburbs for twenty:four years. 1uring this eriod the numbers and influence of the Bahais in 5ran and in other lands continued to increase. Browne estimated their number in 5ran in the year 1?,# to be five hundred thousand,4;?6 but since there was no census, and. since the Bahais concealed their faith, no accurate figures were ossible. .sually they were able to live in eace with their (uslim neighbours, and for as long as they did not stir u trouble they were rarely molested.4;,6 "he 5ranian government has recogniBed four religions, Qoroastrianism, Eudaism., &hristianity and 5slam, but has never recogniBed Bahaism, and so Bahais in 5ran have been officially classed as (uslims. 9egarding the final eriod of Bahaullahs life, (irBa Eawad writes as followsD48$6 )7ternal conditions were the o osite of those which first revailed, for his fame wa7ed greatJ ower, majesty and trium h were a arent.....MButN notwithstanding these circumstances and materials of glory, ease, and. joy, we used to discover signs of sadness in /is /oliness our (aster Bahaullah to an e7tent which neither writing nor utterance can e7 ress. /e then !uotes several of the sayings of his (aster which reveal his sorrow.4816 By Cods life, all things wee for what hath befallen this o ressed one at the hands of those who deny, after we had created them for ure truth, and had taught them the clear straight way of Cod. +las, alas for what hath befallen me from every tyrant, from every sinner, from every liarI....."here hath descended on this o ressed one that which hath no likeness and no similitude.....5 desire a. dark and narrow dwelling, that 5 may lament and wee over my wrongs. "his sadness was not due to any financial difficulties, for Bahaullah had been able with funds which his agents collected for him to rovide well for him: self and his family. /e urchased lands for each of his four sons in villages in the vicinity of +kka, as well as in the Calilee and /aifa districts, and had these ro erties registered in their names.48#6 But there were other roblems in his family which gave him concern. /e foresaw the trouble which (unira *hanum 48-6 the wife of +bbas )fendi might cause, and he charged his three younger sons to guard his writings carefully lest any of them fall into her hands and be destroyed by her.48=6 /e no doubt also realiBed that there would be another ower struggle after his death, similar to the one which had caused his banishment to +kka. "his, says (irBa Eawad, was the chief cause of his great sadness.4;;6 +t length Bahaullah fell ill, and at the age of seventy:four died on (ay #,, 1?,#. /is body was buried according to the rites of the 2unnite (uslims in the house of his son:in:law 2ayyid +li +fnan in the Bahji Carden,4886 and his tomb soon became a shrine for the Bahais who visit +kka. /is youngest son Badiullah )fendi wrote thus to 0rofessor Browne about his fathers deathD48<6 @ friend of my heart, and delight of my soulI 5n these days the showers of affliction do so descend from the clouds of the firmament of fate, and the thunderbolts of grieves and sorrows do so succeed one another, that neither hath the tongue strength to describe, nor the en ower to utter them. 3or the horiBon of the 0henomenal %orld is bereft of the effulgences of the 2un of %isdom and 9evelation, and the throne of the .niverse is de rived of the radiance of the (ost 'uminary....."he 2un of "ruth has bidden farewell to this earthy s here, and now shines with a brightness which waneth not in the regions of (ight and Clory. +nd after further e7 ressions of grief, he !uotes several assages from his fathers book, the (ita%)i)A*das 4(ost /oly Book6, one of which isD 48?6 @ eo le of the earthI %hen the 2un of my Beauty sets, and the firmament of my form is hidden, be not troubledJ arise for the hel ing of my work and the advancement of my %ord throughout the worlds. Aerily we are with you under all conditions, and will hel you with the "ruth. No doubt the sons grief was shared by many who looked to Bahaullah as the (anifestation of Cod for this age.
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48,6
N@")2 1. #. -. (irBa Eawad in $aterials, . 8 5bid., . 11, 1#. Cobineaus corres ondence with Baha is reserved in 'a Bibliothe!ue Nationale in 2trasbourg, 3rance, the document being marked -;-=. 2ee A;al/s Notes, . -8$, -8<, -<8:-,8, =##, in which a full account of this corres ondence is given, with a translation of large ortions of Bahas letters, in which he begs for hel , and never once alludes to his divine mission, or to 2ubh:i:+Bals rejection of him, and refers to himself and his fellow: risoners as Babis. 2ee. + endi7. 55, O#- and #=. $aterials, . KK5. A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, . ,8, note 1, ?.R.A... @ctober 1??,, . ,=,:,;-. (ita%)i)&*an +2oo3 o Certitude-, translated by 2hoghi )ffendi, . #=,. "he translation of the 0ersian hrase is by Browne. ?.R.A... + ril 1?,#, 5bid., . #<8, note #. 5bid., . #<?. . #8?:#?-.

=. ;. 8. C. ?. ,.

1$. 5bid., . #<;. 11. "he occasion for this and other. a eals to the kings of the earth to reduce their armies and he at eace among themselves was robably the struggle between 9ussia, 3rance and )ngland for su remacy in the Near )ast. %hile Baha was in Baghdad the &rimean %ar was fought between 9ussia on the one side, and "urkey, Creat Britain and 3rance on the other. +bout the time he came to )dirne, 3rance for a short time occu ied 2yria. %hen he was being transferred from )dirne to +kka, war almost brake out between "urkey and Creece. 5n 1?<$ 3rance was defeated by 0russia and Na oleon 555 fell. 5n 1?<< war again broke out between 9ussia and "urkey, and "urkey was defeated. 2ince the outcome of these struggles would have a direct bearing on his own fate, Baha no doubt watched with dee concern all that the nations were doing. 5t did not re!uire a ro het then any more than now to redict that the race for su remacy would end in destruction. Baha was not the first to a eal for eace. +n 5nternational &ongress of eace societies was held in 'ondon in 1?=-. 5n 1?=? a second &ongress was held at Brussels. "he third was held in 0aris in 1?=, under the residency of Aictor /ugo. @thers were held at 3rankfurt, 'ondon and (anchester. 2till another was held at 0aris at the 5nternational )7 osition of 1?<?. Baha had himself witnessed the horrors of civil war in the Babi u risings in 5ran. %hile in +kka he read the news a ers +2aha/i .cri5tures, . 1=86, and was informed of these many efforts to secure eace. "herefore, however much we may honor Bahaullah for including the (ost Creat 0eace in the rogram of his new dis ensation, it is not sur rising that he did so. 1#. $aterials, . =;. "his account was written in 1,$=. 1-. 5bid., . ;$. 1=. A%%as E endi, by 0hel s, 0utnams 1,$-, . 88. 1;. (irBa Eawad in $aterials, . ;?. 18. A;al/s Notes, 1<. 5bid., 1?. 5bid., . 8,1. 1,. #$. 5bid., . 8,<. #$. L #1. Bayan !uoted in Nu*tatu/l)(a , . 'A555. ##. +uthors of !asht 2ihisht !uoted in A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, . -;-. #-. A;al/s Notes, 55. 8@8)8@7. . 8$<:811, 8?#:<?8, ,<=:1$#<. 1<. 5bid., . 8?=, <1#:<18. . 8$<:811. 2ee + endi7 Q5, O#,. -$ and -1.

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#=. &%id., 55. 87@)C::. 9B. &%id., 55. C6@)C96. 98. +uthors of !asht 2ihisht, !uoted in A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, . -81, -8#, +vareh in AL)(a4a3i%, Aol. 55, . ', 8, 2. 3or lists of members of the family of Bahaullah see (irBa Eawad in $aterials, . 8#, 8-, and Browne in $aterials, . -#$, -#1. 2ee also + endi7 55, O#;. 5n addition to the three wives named here, it is stated by +vareh that when Bahaullah was seventy years of age he married Eamalieh, the fifteen year old niece of (uhammad /asan the servant +(ash u/l)!iyal, vol. &, 8th im ression, . 1$=6. 2ee also A;al/s Notes, . 8#8, 1$--. Baha did not divorce any of his wives, and all of them, with the ossible e7ce tion of Nawwaba, survived him. #<. A;al/s Notes, 5. 6:97. #?. $aterials, 5. B6, B9. #,. A;al/s Notes, 5. B@. A:. &dem., 5. 6:A6. -1. +uthors of !asht 2ihisht !uoted in A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, @ctober 1??,, . ,,;, ,,8. . -81:-8=, -<$, -<1, ?.R.A... Euly 1??,, . ;1<,

-#. 5n one of his "ablets written near the end of his life, and ublished in a book of #,; ages called &shra*at, Tara;at at +and- Ta,alliat, on ages 1#, 1=:1;, Bahaullah re eatedly admonished his followers to avoid sedition, strife, murder and lunder, and to associate with all sects of eo le with love and friendshi . "hen he addedD "hough in the early days there had been revealed from the 2u reme 0en what is obviously re ugnant to the new &ause of Cod, for instance assages such as these, the necks have stretched out in discord, where are the swords of thy 0ower, @ 1ominant of the %orldsL But the abject thereof was not strife and sedition.....MbutN that the o ression of the 0haroahs of the earth has reached such a itch that the like of this verse had been revealed from the 2u reme 0en. +nd now we e7hort Cods servants not to adhere henceforth to some of the utterances, and not to become a cause of hurt to other MfellowN servants. 5n this rather veiled statement it seems that Bahaullah admits that the swords were literally used at his command by his followers against his enemies, hut that this must not be inter reted by his followers in later times as ermission to engage in sedition and murder. /ow: ever, in the early days the Bealous followers of Bahaullah, acting on the authority of this and other statements of their (aster, were able to assassinate a number of +Bali leaders in various laces, as has been narrated in &ha ter A5. 2ee A;al/s Notes, 55. 6@7)67A, and 6666)666AA, and A55endiK &&, LC9. --. $aterials, -=. -=. 5bid., . ;;:;?. . -;:=-, A;al/s 6l/otes, . ;$#. . ,;=:,8$, A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, . K'A, 1$#:1$;, $aterials, . =<:=,. . 1$?:1;1, -,$:=$$. . 8<:1??.

-;. ?.R.A... @ctober 1??,,

-8. + art of this e istle is found in A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, -<. Li e o $ohammad, (uir, 'ondon 1?81, vol. 5A, . ;=. -?. ?.R.A... @ctober 1??,, =$. 5bid., . ,8?. =1. 5bid., 5. ,<$. =#. 5bid., =-. 5bid., ==. 5bid., . ,8$:,8-. . ,;=:,8$. . ,8-:,88. . ;?:8$. . ,;-:,<#, A;al/s Notes,

. -<-:=#=, 2aha/i .cri5tures,

-,. ?.R.A... @ctober 1??,, . ,8,.

=;. $aterials,

=8. Bahaullah and his second wife lived in the (ansion at Bahji, while his first wife lived with her son +bbas )fendi and his wife and his sister in +kka. Bahas third wife and her daughter lived in a house o osite the (ansion 42ubhi, Payam)i)Padar, . 1$<6. =<. A;al /s Notes, . =?:;1. . KKK, K'555. 8, of ##$ =?. Ni3u, Dilsi a)i)Ni3u, vol. 55, . 1#<. =,. Tra#ellerPs Narrati#e,

;$. 5bid., . KKK. ;1. 5bid., . KKKA5. ;#. 5bid., . KKK5K. ;-. 2ee )7odus -D;. B'. A Tra#eller/s Narrati#e, . K'55, (aterials, . =, note l. BB. ?.2.A... @ctober 1??,, Notes, . 1$--6. . 8,=, 8,;. "he traveller was (irBa +!a *han a son:in:law of 2ubh:i:+Bal 4+Bal s ed at (t. 2inai 4)7odus -#D1:8, *oran

;8. "he reference is to the Colden &alf which the &hildren of 5srael worshi #D=?, ??, etc.6. ;<. Niku, Dilsi a)i)Ni3u, Aol. 55, . 1#?. ;?. "his figure is certainly much too large +A;al/s Notes, . 1$#=6. ;,. Browne in A. Tra#eller/s P6a;rati#e, 8$. $aterials, . ;,:81. 81. &%id., 55. 86, 89. 8#. A;al/s Notes, 5. '7. 8-. (hanum in 0ersian usage is the e!uivalent of (iss or (rs. 8=. A;al/s Notes, . ?,. 8;. $aterials, . 81. 2ee + endi7 55, O#1. 88. 5bid., . 81, 8#. 8<. ?.R.A..., @ctober 1??,, . <$8, <$,. . =1$, =11.

8?. Al)(ita% Al)A*das, by Bahaullah, translated by ). ). )lder, 9oyal +siatic 2ociety, 'ondon 1,81, . -=. 8,. 5t is interesting to note that in the year 1??,, three years before the death of Bahaullah, a man in 5ndia 4now 0akistan6 ut forth the claim that he was the reci ient of divine revelation. (irBa Chulam +hmad, born into a (uslim family in Gadian in the 0anjab, like the Bab in 5ran forty:five years earlier, became dee ly influenced by the o ular e7 ectation of the coming of the (ahdi. 3inally he announced that he was the great world "eacher whose coming had been redicted by the scri tures not only of the Eews, &hristians and (uslims, but also of the Qoroastrians, /indus, and Buddhists, and that the ho es of all the nations were to be fulfilled in him. /e taught that Cod from time to time sends renewers of religion, and he claimed that in him as the (ahdi the 0ro het (uhammad had made his second advent. /e rejected, however, the o ular conce tion that the (ahdi was to be a man of war, and said that his ,ihad 4religious war6 was to he only a s iritual warfare. /e attacked the (ullas for kee ing the eo le in ignorance, and so made many enemies. +ccordingly, he was condemned as an a ostate by the orthodo7 (uslims, and some of his followers were killed. 5n s ite of this o osition many eo le believed on him, and became known as +hmadis, and carried on aggressive missionary work at home and in other lands. 2ince the claims of (irBa Chulam +hmad greatly resembled and absolutely contradicted those of Bahaullah, it is not sur rising that there was no love lost between the Bahais and the +hmadis. @ne of the +hmadi missionaries by the name of 2adrud:1in wrote a am hlet in 0ersian to rove the fallacy of the Bahai faith.

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1= The &octrines and &ecrees of the BahaEuEllah


It is im"ossible in one cha"ter to give more than an outline of the teachings of BahaEuEllah= 9ike= the Bab and )ubh*i*+,al? he .as a very "rolific .riter? and during a "eriod of some thirty years he is said to have com"osed more than one hundred volumes and countless e"istles=D1F 0ost of his .ritings .ere addressed to individuals or grou"s of believers .ho had asked him ;uestions? and .ere usually not very lengthy= They .ere ca11ed BTablets=C )ome .ere .ritten in Persian? some in +rabic? often in a style .hich is difficult to understand= Ho collection of all these .ritings has been made? or could be made= Ho.ever? all are considered by BahaEis to be the 6ord of 5od= +s Professor Bro.ne discovered during his soAourn in Iran? the BahaEis have no definite canon of )cri"ture? as do <e.s? Christians and 0uslims= )ome of the .ritings of BahaEuEllah have been translated into other languages? and are being circulated outside the +rabic and Persian areas? so that it is no. "ossible for a larger number of readers to became ac;uainted .ith his doctrines and commandments and e$hortations= Hotably a large and .ell*edited book of '/- "ages entitled Bahai 2cri tures4#6 .as "ublished in 127 .ith the a""roval of the Bahai Committee on 0ublications in +merica, more than half of which consists of writings of Bahaullah. (ore recently another com ilation of his writings and those of his son +bdu1:Baha has been ublished by the Bahai 0ublishing "rust under the title 2aha/i World Daith.+A- "his book of ==, ages has been com iled, according to the editor, to re lace the work ublished in 1.,#- under the title of 2aha/i .cri5tures, and contains later and more accurate translations.4=6 "o these volumes the reader is referred for first:hand ac!uaintance with Bahaullahs teachings. "he theological background of the Bahai faith is the same as that of the Bayan of the Bab. Bahaullah like the Bab taught that Cod is unknowable e7ce t through his (anifestations. /e considered the Creat (anifestations to be those referred to by the Bab, namely, +dam, Noah, +braham, Noses, Eesus and (uhammad. /aving himself been a Babi, and knowing that he and all the other early Babis had considered the Bab to he a (ajor (anifestation of Cod who had taken the lace of (uhammad, Bahaullah did not deny this belief. /owever, he sought to lessen the status of the Babby fre!uently referring to him as my forerunner, and he made it to a ear that the chief function of the Bab was to re are the way for him, a much greater (anifestation. +s was e7 lained in &ha ter A5, Bahaullah claimed to be /e:%hom:Cod:%ill:(anifest, and took for himself all the high titles and divine attributes which the Bab in the Bayan had said the coming (anifestation would ossess 4&ha ter 5A6. /e also said he was the return of the 5mam /usayn of the 2hiites. 4;6 +lso he claimed to be the return of Eesus &hrist, and the &omforter romised by &hrist 4Cos el of Eohn 1=D18,1<6, as well as the (anifestation of Cod the 3ather.486 "hough the Bab undertook to establish a universal religion,4<6 he directed his a eal almost entirely to the 2hiite (uslims. Bahaullah, however, e7tended his invitation to Eews, &hristians and Qoroastrians as well, and a ealed to them from their own 2cri tures. "he osition which Bahaullah claimed for himself was not merely that of a teacher or ro het, but was that of Cod. /ence, his wards ur orted to be not those of man, but of Cod /imself. Bahaullah claimed to have knowledge which no one else ossesses, or is able to ossess. /e says that nothing can move between heaven and earth without his ermission. /e is infallible in everything. 5f /e declares water to be wine, or heaven to be earth, or light to be fire, it is true and there is no doubt thereinJ and no one has the right to o ose /im, or to say why or wherefore.....Aerily no account shall be demanded of /im for what /e shall do.....Aerily if /e declares the right to be left, or the south to be north, it is true and there is no doubt therein. Aerily /e is to he raised in /is deeds and to be obeyed in /is command. /e hath no associate in /is behest and no hel er in /is owerJ /e doeth whatsoever /e willeth, and commandeth whatever /e desireth.4?6
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+ccording to the doctrine of (anifestations, whenever a new (anifestation a ears it is incumbent on all men of all religions in. the world to lay aside their former beliefs and ractices and acce t /im:%hom:Cod:/as:(anifested and submit to his new laws and follow his teachings. "he Bab claimed to be the new (anifestation after (uhammad and undertook to establish a "heocracy and a new state of society, based on the laws of the Bayan, and governed by Babi rulers. +s we have seen, the o osition was too strong, many lives were lost, and the Babs ho e was not realiBed. Bahaullah, by claiming to be the (anifestation redicted by the Bab, was able to take over the leadershi of the movement. /e, like the Bab, ro osed to establish a "heocracy and a new state of society, which would be governed by Bahai rulers on the basis of doctrines and laws given by Bahaullah. 5t should be clearly understood that Bahaullah gave to men not only ethical. and s iritual rinci les which could be taken or refused, but also civil laws far his ro osed society which would he enforced by the olitical and olice owers of a Bahai state. "his will become clear when the laws are considered later in this cha ter. "he eo le who believed on the Bab were all 2hiite (uslims, who had followed a religion of law which re: scribed in amaBing detail what they were to eat and drink and wear, how they were to bathe, how many wives a man could take, how and when they could divorce their wives, what things were ceremonially clean and what unclean, how the dead were to be buried, how inheritance was to be divided among the heirs of the deceased, how and when to ray and to fast, etc., etc. "he Bab, as we have seen in &ha ter 5A, changed many of the 2hiite laws, and established another system of law which in some matters was more detailed and difficult to observe than that of 5slam. But before the Babis had been able to learn and ractice these regulations, Bahaullah came forward as a new (anifestation, and the Babis who followed him at once began to ask what his laws were. 2hould they obey the laws of the Bayan, or had the Bayan been abrogated by him, as the *oranic laws had been abrogated by the BabL +nd if so, what rules for life and worshi did Bahaullah give themL 2ince Bahaullah had claimed to be /e:%hom:Cod:%ill:(anifest, it was to be e7 ected that he would at once abrogate the Bayan, and give his followers a new Book from Cod. 2trange as it may seem, there is no evidence whatever that Bahaullah abrogated the Bayan. @n the contrary, while he was in Baghdad in 1?8# Bahaullah wrote a letter in which he saidD4,6 5 swear by Cod that if any of the eo le of the Bayan MBabisN was to mention that the Book MBayanN is abrogated, may Cod break the mouth of the s eaker and the calumniator. "hen, if the Bayan is not abrogated, are its laws binding on Bahais as well as on BabisL 2uch !uestions continued to come to Bahaullah after he reached +kka, and he accordingly su lied the answer. +s he wrote in his Ninth Eshra* near the end of his lifeD41$6 /is /oliness the 3orerunner Mthe BabN revealed laws. But the world of command was de endent on acce tance. "herefore, this wronged one MBahaullahN im lemented some of them, and revealed them in Al)(ita% Al)A*das couched in other terms.....2ome laws of new doctrines were also revealed.4116 "his book, which he named the (ost /oly Book,41#6 erha s because in both +rabic and 0ersian the Bible is called the /oly Book, was com osed in 1?<#, or soon after.41-6 5t was written in the +rabic language, like the *oran, though most of the Bahais at that time were 5ranians to whom +rabic was a foreign language. "he +!das, as the book is. fre!uently called, is small, about the siBe of the Cos el of Nark, but it is the most im ortant of all the Bahai literature. "o it alone of all his books did Bahaullah refer in his %ill 4"he Book of (y &ovenant6 when he wroteD41=6 9eflect u on that which is revealed in my book the +!das, calling attention to the rovision given in it regarding the succession. 'ikewise his son +bbas )fendi 4+bdul:Baha6 in his 'ast %ill and "estament wroteD 41;6 .nto the (ost /oly Book everyone must turn, and all that is not e7 ressly recorded therein must be referred to the .niversal /ouse of Eustice. +nd 2hoghi )ffendi, the great:grandson of Bahaullah, the first Cuardian of the &ause, states 4186 that this little volume may rank as the most signal act of /is MBahaullahs6 ministry. "his $ost !oly 2oo3,1 he continues, whose
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rovisions must remain inviolate for no less than a thousand years, and whose system will embrace the entire lanet, may well he regarded as the brightest emanation of the mind of Bahaullah, as the. (other Book of /is 1is ensation, and the &harter of /is New %orld @rder. "he (ost /oly Book was not rinted far a number of years after it was written, since it was no doubt im ossible to ublish such a book in 2yria where Bahaullah could not o enly make known his claims. +fter some years the author authoriBed his son (irBa (uhammad +li and (irBa +!a Ean of *ashan 4called the 2ervant of Cod641<6 to revise the +!das and other of the sacred writings, and then take them to Bombay and su ervise the ublication of them. "his was done in 1,,$. "he &*an and the (ita%)i)$u%in +.ura)yi)!ay)3al6 and the (ita%)i)&*tidar and other books as well as the (ita%)i)A*das were thus ublished for the first time. 2ince all these writings were revised rior to ublication, they in their resent form are to be dated near the end of the +kka eriod of the life of Bahaullah, and while he no doubt a roved changes made in the te7t by the revisers, they cannot he considered the work of Bahaullah. alone.41?6 9ealiBing the im ortance of the (ita%)i)A*das in the Bahai system, 0rofessor Browne in 1??, ublished in )nglish a resume of its contents.41,6 5n 1?,, a 9ussian scholar, +. (. "umansky, ublished the +rabic te7t of the +!das, with a translation into 9ussian, and a lengthy introduction. 4#$6 +lso, several other western scholars have ublished translations of ortions of the book. /owever, no com lete translation into )nglish had been made till 1,81, when 1r. ). ). )lder, a com etent +rabic scholar, with the assistance of several scholars who had an intimate knowledge of Bahai terminology and beliefs, ublished al)(ita% al)A*das, an accurate and readable translation of the whole book, with introduction and notes.4#16 /owever, in view of what the founder and leaders of the Bahai movement have said about the uni!ue im ortance of the +!das, it is sur rising, to say the least, that as yet no authoriBed translation made by Bahai scholars of the whole +!das has been ublished, either in 0ersian the language of 5ran, or in any other language. 5n 2ahai .cri5tures among the #8# ages filled with the words of Bahaullah, only a few brief aragra hs taken from the (ost /oly Book are to be found. 'ikewise in the later ublication entitled 2aha/i World Daith N .elected Writings o 2aha/u/llah and A%du/l) 2aha +67B@-, the +!das is referred to in the inde7 4 . =;<6 only si7 times, and the book contains no !uotations of any length from this brightest emanation of the mind of Bahaullah. 5t is almost im ossible to obtain an +rabic co y of the +!das, and even the head!uarters of the Bahai 3aith in +merica stated in writing that they had never had a co y of the book.4##6 5n 1,== 2hoghi )fendi, the Cuardian of the &ause, stated that the codification of the *itab:i:+!das, the (other:Book of the Bahai 9evelation, and the systematic romulgation of its laws and ordinances are as yet unbegun.4#-6 But more im ortant than a codification is an authoriBed translation, and certainly a scholarly Bahai translation of this book is long overdue. +lthough, as was stated above, Bahaullah did not by a decree abrogate the Bayan of the Bab, he was successful in eliminating it. Not only did he forbid his followers to read it,4#=6 he also caused it to he removed from circulation so com letely that most of his followers were entirely uninformed as to its contents. /e then, according to his own account !uoted above, re roduced some of the laws of the Bayan, changed others, added numerous e7hortations, and issued the resulting roduction as his own (ost /oly Book. (r. +Bal has made an e7haustive study of the relation of the +!das to the Bayan,4#;6 and has demonstrated, as our notes will indicate, that most of the laws found in the +!das are derived from the Babs Bayan. /e calls the +!das a rehash of the Bayan. Because of its uni!ue im ortance in. the Bahai system and the fact that it is so little known, 1r. )lders translation of the entire +!das is included as + endi7 5 at the end of this volume, and the reader is encouraged to study it with care. /owever, to assist him in becoming ac!uainted with this book of Bahaullahs laws, we will now give a rather full summary of the contents of the (ost /oly Book. "he book begins with a statement regarding the necessity of knowing Bahaullah. "he
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first thing that Cod ordained concerning /is creatures is the knowledge of the 2unrise: lace of /is revelation and the 9ising: lace of /is &ause, who was the 2tation of /imself in the world of command and creation. %hoever attains unto /im attains unto all good, and whoever is de rived of /im is of the eo le of error, even though he erform all MgoodN works.4#86 /e then enjoins obedience to the commands which follow, saying, 3rom (y sti ulations there asses the sweet smell of my gown, and. by them the standards of victory are erected on hillocks and hills. "he tongue of (y ower has s oken in the might of (y greatness, addressing (y eo le, MsayingN, 0erform (y sti ulations out of love for (y beauty. 4#<6 3irst there come regulations for worshi . %arshi has been ordained far you P nine rostrations to Cod %ho sent down the versesJ when noon is ast, in the morning and in the late afternoon.....%henever you desire to worshi , turn your face towards (y most holy direction. 4#?6 "he (uslim worshi consists of seven: teen rostrations each day, divided among the five times of rayer, with rescribed wards in the +rabic language, as the worshi er faces (ecca. "he Babi worshi consists of nineteen rostrations at noon facing 2hiraB. "he worshi ordained by Bahaullah is briefer, and is to be erformed three times each day, between sunset and two hours after sunset, and between sunrise and noon, and between noon and late afternoon. "he words to be re eated are not given in the +!das. "he worshi er is to face the lace where Bahaullah resides, which is +kka.4#,6 +s in the Bayan, all congregational warshi is abolished, e7ce t in the case of rayers for the dead. "he wearing of garments which contain the hair of animals, or which are made of their skins, or have buttons of bone, does not render worshi invalid, as is the case in 5slam. +ll men and women above the age of fifteen must say the rayers, hut the old and sick are e7cused. 5f water for the ablutions before worshi is not available, the worshi er must say in +rabic five times, 5n the Name of Cod, the 0urest, the 0urest. %omen during their menstrual eriods are not to erform the worshi but are to make the ablutions, and re eat in raise to Cod ninety:five4-$6 times each day, 0raise be to Cod, the 0ossessor of &ountenance and Beauty. "ravellers are to make one rostration only, or if this is im ossible, to say, 0raise he to CodI +fter com leting the re!uired rostrations, the worshi er is to sit on the floor with feet crossed under him and hands on his knees, and re eat eighteen times, 0raise he to Cod, the 0ossessor of the kingdoms of this world and the ne7tI +ll the rayers are to be in +rabic. Cad is to be thanked for this great Crace, resumably, for this new 9evelation.4-16 "hen follow the regulations for fasting.4-#6 $ multitude of creation, we have ordained the 3ast for you, certain limited days. +fter the com letion of them we have made al:NayruB MNo 9uBN a feast for you. 5n his arrangements for the 3ast and also far the Badi&alendar, Bahaullah ado ted what the Bab had re:scribed in the Bayan. "he arrangement for the 3ast is as followsD "he year is to be divided into nineteen months of nineteen days each 41, 7 1, S -816. "he nineteenth month is the month of the 3ast. 5mmediately following the 3ast comes the ancient 5ranian festival of No 9uB 4New Fear6, which is to be observed with joy and gladness. "he four or five intercalary days were laced between the eighteenth and nineteenth months, and were to be s ent in entertaining relations and friends and in feeding the oor. "hus Bahaullah followed the Bab in restoring the old 5ranian solar year in lace of the +rabian lunar year, and in giving religious sanction to the observance of the great festival of No 9uB, which from ancient times had been celebrated at the vernal e!uino7 4on or about (arch #16 as the first day of the new year, a national rather than as a religious feast. 4--6 1uring the nineteen. days of the 3ast, no food or drink is to be taken from sunrise till sunset. "he Bahai 3ast is, therefore, less severe than that of 5slam, which lasts for twenty:eight days, and. when 9amaBan comes in the summer the day may be si7teen hours long. "his does not cause difficulty far the one who is on a journey, or for the ill, for the regnant woman, or the ane who is nursing, that is, such ersons are e7em t from fasting.

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)ach day every believer should wash his hands, then his face, and having seated himself facing Cod Mat +kkaN should re eat ninety:five times, Allahu A%haQ1 4Cod is (ost 2 lendid6. 5n like manner, erform ablutions before %arshi because of a command from Cod.4-=6 (urder, adultery, back: biting and calumniation are unlawful.4-;6 "hen follows the law of 5nheritance as given by the Bab P "hus commanded /e who gave Cood News of (e.4-86 +ccording to the Bayan, the ro erty of the deceased must be divided into nine une!ual arts. "wo arts are to be used for funeral e7 enses, and the balance is then to be divided into =# e!ual arts, of which 16 &hildren will receive ,, #.6 /usbands or %ives ?, -6 3athers <, =6 (others 8, ;6 Brothers ;, 86 2isters ', and <6 "eachers -, making a total of =#. "his division, however, was changed by Bahaullah. /e says that when he heard the rotests of unborn children saying that they would not get enough of the inheritance, he doubled their share, and reduced the shares of others. /ow this was to be done is not stated in the +!das, but Bahaullah in another of his books entitled 0uestion and Ans4er made the division as followsD 16 &hildren 1?, #6 /usbands or %ives 8.;, -6 3athers ;.;, =6 (others =.;, ;6 Brothers -.;, 86 2isters #.;, and <6 "eachers 1.;, total =#. "hen follow in the +!das directions as to how the division is to be made in s ecial circumstances. %hen there are no heirs to the ortions for any of the above classes, their shares are to go to the /ouse of Eustice. 5t would be interesting to know how many loyal Bahais during the ast century since this law was given have been able to divide their ossessions in accordance with this scale. Ne7t, rovision is made for the /ouse of Eustice named above.4-<6 5n every city there shall be a /ouse of Eustice, and the souls according to al)2aha will assemble in it. "he numerical value of the +rabic letters in 2aha/ is nine, hence the /ouse of Eustice must have nine or more members. "hey are to be Cods stewards, and must consult about the welfare of men for the sake of Cod. (ale believers who are able must make the ilgrimage to the /ouse,4-?6 that is, the Babs house in 2hiraB, and the house occu ied by Bahaullah in Baghdad. +ll Bahais must be engaged in some useful occu ation, for work is worshi .4-,6 "he kissing of the hands of men, as was done to show res ect to religious leaders, is forbidden. +lso it is forbidden to confess sins to men.4=$6 Believers are bidden to arise and serve the &ause, but not in a way that will cause them to be troubled by the unbelievers. +scetic ractices are forbidden.4=16 %hoever attains unto (y love has a right to sit on a throne of native gold in the chief seat.....%hoever is de rived of my 'ove, were he to sit on the ground, the very dust would Mno te7t rovidedN "hen comes a warning against any one who may falsely claim to be a (anifestation.4=#6 %hoever claims &ommand 4amr6 before the com letion of a thousand years is a false liar.....%hoever e7 lains this verse or inter rets it in any other way than that lainly sent down, he will be de rived of the 2 irit and (ercy of Cod.....3ear Cad and follow not your illusions. Bahaullah in this statement made it clear that his dis ensation will last at least till +..1. #?88. Ne7t, believers are told not to be troubled when the sun of (y beauty goes down and the heaven of (y tem le is hidden,4=-6 that is, when Bahaullah dies, but they must rise u and hel the &ause.
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"hey are warned against ride of wealth and osition. 9eligious endowments4==6 are to he controlled by Bahaullah. as long as he lives, and at his death the control is to go to the Branches, that is, his sons. +fter them it is to go to the /ouse of Eustice. "he shaving of the head, as was done by some (uslim men, and was ermitted in the Bayan, is forbidden. (en are not to allow their hair to fall below their ears. "hen comes the law for the unishment of a thief. 4=;6 Banishment and rison have been commanded Mas unishmentN for the thief. 3or the third offence ut sign on his forehead Mbrand himN. "hus he will he known, so that the cities and the rovinces of Cod do not receive him. Beware lest ity take hold on you... "he use of gold and silver vessels is not forbidden as in 5slamic law.4=86 &leanliness and good manners in eating are rescribed. 5t is incumbent on every father to have his sons and daughters ro erly educated.4=<6 5f he fails to do so, the /ouse of Eustice must su ervise their education, using charity funds for this ur ose when necessary. %hoever educates his son or anyones sons, it is as though he had educated one of (y sons. Ne7t is given the unishment for adultery.4=?6 Cad has commanded that every adulterer and adulteress ay a fine to the /ouse of Eustice. "he sum is nine mith*als of gold. 3or the second offence double the unishment.....%hoever is overcome by sin, let him re ent and turn back to Cad. /e, indeed, forgives whom /e wills..... 2ince the Babi mith*al is intended, the amount of fine for the first offence would have been, at the time the +!das was ublished, about V#1.$$. (usic, forbidden in 5slam, is ermitted.4=?6 %e have made it lawful to you to listen to MsingingN voices and to songs. Beware lest listening take you beyond the bounds of good breeding and dignity. %hile Bahaullah lives, dis uted oints are to be referred to him for settlement.4=,6 +fter his death they are to be referred to his writings. @ 0eo le, he says, do not be troubled when the kingdom of (y (anifestation has disa eared.....5n (y (anifestation there is wisdom, and in (y 1isa earance there is another wisdom. /os itality has been rescribed Mas an obligationN, once every month, even though it he with water only. 4;$6 5n this way believers will be drawn close together. Be like the fingers of the hand and the limbs of the body. "he eo le of 5ran ride themselves on their hos itality. %hen a hunter kills his rey he must name the name of Cod,4;16 and the game will become lawful for him to eat, without cutting its throat, as is re!uired in 5slam. "ake care not to be wasteful in that MhuntingN. "hen comes the unishment for the murderer and the incendiary. %hoever burns a house intentionally, burn him. %hoever kills a erson with intent, kill him. "ake the ordinances of Cod with hands of ower and might.....5f you condemn them Mthe incendiary and the murdererN to er etual rison, you have done no harm according to the Book.4;#6 "he regulations for (arriage fill several ages of the +!das.4;-6 Cod has ordained marriage for you beware lest you go beyond two MwivesN, and whoever is satisfied with one of the handmaidens, his soul is at rest and so is hers, and one does no harm in taking a virgin into his service. +ll must marry, that there may be born those who will make mention of (e among (y creatures. 0eo le are warned not to corru t the earth with immorality. 5n the Bayan the Bab had made the consent of the two arties the condition for marriage, but Bahaullah changed this regulation to make the consent of the arents of the bride and groom also a condition, to insure harmony in the family situation. 5n (uslim marriages it is customary for the husband to give the bride a dowry 4mahr6.
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Bahaullah followed this custom in his marriage regulations, just as the Bab had done. 5n the +!das as in the Bayan, the ma7imum amount of the dowry was set at ninety:five mith*als of gold for city jewellers, and the same amount of silver for villagers, and the minimum amount was nineteen mith*als. 9elationshi by marriage is not realiBed e7ce tD by M ayment ofN dowries. 5f a husband goes on a journey he must inform his wife and fi7 the time for his return. 5f he does not kee his word, and does not inform his wife, she must wait nine months for him, after which she is free to remarry. 5f trouble should arise between husband and wife, he must not divorce her within a year. 5f after a year the wound is not healed there is no harm in divorce. +s in 5slam, no rovision is made for the woman to divorce her husband. +fter divorce the man may take his wife back again at the end of every month, rovided she has not married someone else. Cod loves union and agreement and hates division and divorce. "raffic in slaves is forbidden.4;=6 Believers must adorn themselves with the beautiful garments of MgoodN works. 'et no one o ose anotherJ nor one erson kill another.....1o you kill him whom Cod brought to life through a 2 irit from /imL4;;6 &eremonial uncleanness is abolished, but cleanliness is enjoined.4;86 &atch hold of the ro e of 0urity so that no traces of filth are seen in your clothes..... "here is no harm, however., in one who has an e7cuse Mfor not being cleanN.....&leanse every unseemly thing with water which has not changed in three res ects Mthat is, in color, smell oB tasteN. 3ear Cod and he of the urified. "he rayers of the one who is seen with filth on his clothes do not ascend to Cod......se rose water, then ure erfume. "his is what Cod, who had no beginning, loved from the beginning. "he Bab had commanded in the Bayan that all non Babi books should be abandoned. Bahaullah abrogates this law.4;<6 %e have ermitted you to read of the learning Mof the 5slamic doctorsN what is useful to you, but not that which results in controversy in s eech. Bahaullah then addresses various kings and rulers of the earth, and e7horts them to acce t him. By Cod, he says, we do not desire to take ossession of your kingdoms, hut we have come to ossess your hearts.....Blessed is the king who arises to hel (y cause in (y kingdom and cuts himself off from all but (eI "he king of +ustria Mthe )m eror 3ranB Eose hN is rebuked because he assed +kka on his way to Eerusalem Min 1?8,N without sto ing to in!uire about Bahaullah.4;?6 "o the king of Berlin M robably %ilhelm 5N he says, Beware lest conceit kee thee from the 9ising: lace of (anifestation and assion screen thee from the 0ossessor of the "hrone and the )arth. "o the rulers of +merica he says,4;,6 @ kings of +merica and chiefs of the multitude in it, hear what the 1ove on the branches of &ontinuing )ternity warbles, saying, "here is no god besides (e, the &ontinuing, the 3orgiving, the Cenerous. +dorn the tem le MbodyN of the *ingdom with the garment of Eustice and 0iety, and its head with the crown of the 9emembrance of your 'ord. "he @ttoman )m ire is severely rebuked and threatened,48$6 no doubt because of its treatment of him. "he address to 5ran is most conciliatory, though it was here that the Babis had suffered most. @ land of al)Ta M"eheranN, do not be sorrowful for anything. Cod has made three the 9ising: lace of the Eoy of the worlds. 5f /e %ills, /e will bless thy throne through him who rules with justice and gathers the shee of Cod which have been scattered by wolves.....9ejoice thou in that Cod has made thee the /oriBon of 'ight since the 9ising: lace of (anifestation MBahaullahN was born in thee and thou art called by this Name..... "hings shall be overturned in thee and the multitude of eo le shall rule thee. "he rovince of *hurasan also is addressed with words of ho e.4816 2ince the +!das was not ublished till. 1?,$ +.1., and was not translated from +rabic, it is im robable that any of the kings and rulers here addressed ever read or heard of the messages
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intended for them. Bahaullah then continues giving laws and regulations for his eo le. 3irst he rescribes the amount of. the ca ital ta7.48#6 5f anyone ossesses a hundred mith*als of gold, nineteen mith*als of them are for Cod, the (aker of earth and heaven. Beware, @ eo le, lest you deny yourselves this great favour. %e have commanded you. to do this although we can do without you.....By that command Cad desired the urification of your wealth.....@ eo le, do not he dishonest in the duties awed to CodJ do not s end MCods moneyN e7ce t by /is ermission. "his money was to be given to Bahaullah, and there is evidence that this was done by many Bahais.48-6 "o the learned men of 5slam who criticiBed the style of the writings of Bahaullah, he re lies that his Book is itself the standard, and that which the nations have may be weighed by this Creat Balance. 48=6 "his is the same as the re ly of the (uslims to those who criticiBed the style of the *oran. "hen follow more regulations.48;6 "he nails are to be ared. + weekly bath must be taken in water sufficient to cover the whole body. 5t is not ermissible to get into water that has already been used, or to go to the bath:houses of the 5ranians, in which the water in the ools was seldom changed. 5t is like us and urulent matter.....5t is better for one who washes his body to our water over him instead of getting into it. 5ndeed, /e desired to make matters easy for you..... "he wives of your fathers are unlawful unto you. 4886 2ince this is the only limitation im osed by Bahaullahs marriage laws, it has been inferred by some that all other women may be lawfully married. +nd regarding ederasty he says, %e are ashamed to mention the commandments regarding boys. "he li s are not to be moved in rayer as one walks through the streets,4886 as is sometimes done by those who wish to be seen of men. %orshi is to be erformed in a lace of worshi , or in ones own home. "he writing of a will has been made incumbent an everyone.....@ne must adorn the to of the age with the (ost Creat Name and confess his faith in the .nity of Cod, in the + earance of /is (anifestation.4886 5n this way the Bahai testifies that he died in the faith. "here are to he two great festivals. 48<6 "he first commemorates the declaration of Bahaullah. "he date for this is not given in the +!das, but it is observed by Bahais in the 3east of 9iBwan from + ril #1 to (ay # 4&ha ter A6. "he second festival is the day on which %e sent /im who should tell the eo le the Cood News of this Name by which the dead are raised, that is, the declaration of the Bah, which was on (ay #-. 5t is noteworthy that Bahaullah here refers to the Bab not as a revious (anifestation, but as one wham he had sent to tell the good news of his coming. "hen reference is made to another festival, which comes on the first day of the first month +2aha- of the Babi year, namely, the ancient 5ranian national 3east of No 9uB 4(arch #16. 5t is the source and beginning of the months, and in it moves the breath of life, that is, the coming of s ring. Blessed is the one who a rehends it with joy and sweetness. %hen ill, consult the skilful ones of the hysicians. 5ndeed, %e have not set aside the means Mof healingN but have rather established them by this 0en.48<6 "he Bab had commanded that when his followers came to him they should bring him as a gift their most recious ossession. 9egarding this command Bahaullah says, %e have e7em ted you from this as a favour from /im. /e, indeed, is the Cenerous Civer.48?6 "he 2unrise: lace of 9emembrance +mashri* al)adh3ar 6 is the name given to Bahai laces of worshi . 5t is good to go to such laces in the early mornings, mentioning Mthe Name of CodN, remembering, and asking forgiveness. the worshi er should sit in silence, listening to those who
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chant the verses given by Bahaullah, for in this way a s iritual state is roduced.48?6 /e who s eaks other than that sent down in (y "ablets is not one of (ine. Cad has ermitted those who so desire to learn different languages that they may ro agate the &ause of Cod and tell of it in the east and west of the earth, and make mention of it among the states and religious grou s.48?6 "he use of alcohol is discouraged. "he rational erson does not drink that which takes away his reason.48,6 "hen follows this e7cellent injunctionD +dorn your heads with the crown of faithfulness and integrity, your hearts with the cloak of iety, your tongues with true veracity and your tem les MbodiesN with the garment of good breeding.48,6 Ne7t comes a brief command of great im ortance for followers of Bahaullah. %hen the 2ea of .nion Mwith (eN is dried u and the Book of Beginning is finished in the )nd, then turn to the one whom Cod desires, the one who is a Branch from the ancient 9oot..48,6 "hat is, one of his sons is to succeed him, but he does not here indicate which son is intended. (ore definite directions were given in Bahaullahs 2oo3 o $y Co#enant 4&ha ter 5K6. 3reedom, says Bahaullah, is a dangerous thing.4<$6 %e see some eo le who desired freedom boasting of it. "hey are in manifest ignorance. "he conse!uences of freedom end in sedition, the fire of which is un!uenchable.....(an must be under regulations.....'ook at mankindJ they are like shee , they must have a she herd to kee them.....3reedom is in following (y commands. "he number of months is nineteen according to the Book of Cod.4<$6 "hus Bahaullah ado ts the Babi calendar. +lso, in the matter of the burial of the dead he ado ts the regulations given by the Bab. "he dead are to be buried, as directed in. the Bayan, in coffins of crystal or rare stones or beautiful hard woods. But the inscri tions on the rings which must be laced on their fingers are to be different from what the Bab had commanded, and for both men and women the inscri tion 4in +rabic6 is to beD 5 had my origin in Cod and 5 returned to /imJ 5 am se arated from all but /im, and 5 hold fast to /is Name, the (erciful, the &om assionate.4<16 "he Bab had commanded that the body be wra ed in not: more than five garments of silk and cotton., but Bahau15ah says,D %hoever is unable to do this, one of them will be sufficient far him. (oreover, the carrying of dead bodies to shrines at distant laces, as the (uslims did, is forbidden. 5t is unlawful for you to carry the dead body farther than the distance of an hour from the city. Bury him with joy and sweetness in a nearby lace.4<16 "his would be four or five miles, when horse:drawn vehicles were used. "hen follows a long e7hortation to mankind, first those who have believed on the (anifestation, and then those who have not.4<#6 $ multitude of &reation, hear the call of the 0ossessor of Names. /e calls you from the direction of /is (ost Creat 0rison M+kkaN, saying, "here is no god besides (e, the 0owerful, the 0roud, the 2coffer, the )7alted, the *nower, the %ise. "hey are reminded of what the Bab, who told the Cood News of (e, had said about Bahaullah, and the Babis who had not acce ted him are urged to do so. %hoever knows (e, knows the 1esired @ne. %hoever turns his face to (e, turns his face to /im who is worshi ed... 5t is better for a erson to read one of (y verses than for him to read the books of the ancients and the moderns.....@ (ultitudes of al) 2ayan MBabisN, B adjure you by your 'ord, the (erciful, to look with the eye of e!uity at what has been sent down in "ruth Mthe writings of BahaullahN, and be not of those who see the roof of Cod and deny it. +nd again Bahaullah insists that the chief ur ose of the Babwas to e7alt him, this .na roachable, )7traordinary (anifestation. "he 2hiites of 5ran considered eo les of other religions unclean., and so were forbidden to associate with them. Bahau15ah says,4<-6 +ssociate with those of other religions with jay and sweetness, that they may find in you the odour of the (erciful. "ake care that the fanaticism of the 1ays of 5gnorance among mankind does not take hold on you. +nd he adds, "ake care not to enter
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a house when its owner is absent, unless Myou haveN his ermission.4<=6 0ersist in doing good on all occasions, and be not of the careless ones. @ne of the five illars of religion. in 5slam is the aying of the 0oor:rate +;a3at-. Bahaullah ado ted this, saying, 5t has been ordained for you that you make ure MlawfulN your food by aying the oor:rate.4<;W /e romises to tell later in detail on what ro erty the oor:rate is to be aid. Both begging and giving to beggars is forbidden. 5t has been ordained that everyone earn his living. %hoever is unable to do so, let the guardians and the rich a oint for him what is sufficient.4<;6 5n the Bayan !uarrelling, dis uting, and striking were forbidden, and anyone who caused sorrow to another was re!uired to ay a fine of nineteen mith*als of gold, or if oor, of silver. Bahaullah says that in this (anifestation his followers are e7em ted from this enalty, and are e7horted to righteousness and iety. 1o not a rove for another what you do not a rove for yourselves.4<;6 /e then commands that they recite the verses of Cod every morning and evening. %hoever does not recite does not fulfil the covenant and bond of Cod.4<;6 But it is not good to become roud through reading and raying a great deal. %ere one to read one of the verses with joy and sweetness, it were better for him than if he recite laBily the volumes of Cod.4<86 &hildren must be taught to chant the verses of Cod in such a way that the hearts of those who slee are attracted. "he Bab commanded that house:furnishings must be renewed every nineteen years, and both he and Bahaullah e7em t him who is unable to do this.4<86 +lso, the Bab commanded that believers must take a bath every four days. Bahaullah says, %ash your feet every day in summer, and in winter once every three days.4<86 "hen follows this e7hortation which is an echo of the 2ermon on the (ount, %hoever becomes angry with you, meet him with gentleness. %hoever does evil to you, do not do evil to him. 'eave him to himself and de end on Cod, the +venger, the Eust, the 0owerful.4<86 "he verses of Cod are not to be recited from high ul its, as in the mos!ues, but from a latform, on which the reciter is seated.4<86 Cambling and the use of o ium are forbidden 5nvitations to feasts and ban!uets are to be acce ted with joy and gladness, and whoever kee s his romise Mto comeN is secure from threats.4<<6 5t is forbidden to carry arms e7ce t in times of necessity.4<?6 "he wearing of silk, which was for: bidden in 5slamic law, is made ermissible for Bahais. +lso the Bab gave certain regulations regarding clothing and the hair and the beard. Bahaullah says,4<?6 Cod has lifted from you the commandment restricting clothing and beards, as a favour from /im.....1o what the u right minds do not disa rove of.....Blessed is the one who is adorned with the garment of good breeding and conductI +nd to justify these changes in the divine regulations he says, 5f Cod should make lawful what was forbidden in the eternity of ast eternities, or vice versa, no one should find fault with /im.4<?6 Ne7t come several ages of condemnation of the 2haykhis in *irman 4&ha ter 56 and the doctors of 5slam for their rejection of Bahaullah. 4<,6 "hey are urged to recogniBe the truth of Cod, and believe, and are warned against reventing eo le from coming to him. "hen follows another im ortant command, briefly given.4?$6 $ eo le of &reation, whenever the dove flies from the forest of raise and makes for the furthermost hidden goal, then refer what you did not understand in the Book to the Bough which branches from the 2elf:2ubsistent 2tock. "hat is, after the death of Bahaullah, !uestions about the inter retation of his Book are to he referred to his son. /e does not here state which son is intended. @nce more Bahaullah a eals to the eo le of the Bayan to recogniBe and acce t him. 4?16 "ake care, he warns, not to argue with God and Mdis uteN /is &ause. /e was manifested in such a way that /e knows thoroughly all that was and will be....."ake care that what is in al)2ayan does not
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kee you away from your 'ord, the (erciful. By Cod, it Mthe BayanN was sent down as a reminder of (e, if you only knew. "he sincere find in it only the odour of (y love and of (y Name.....@ 0eo le, face towards what has been sent down from (y /ighest 0en. 5f you find in it an odour of Cod, do not turn away from it and do not de rive yourselves of the Crace and benefits of Cod. "hen follows a stern a eal to an unnamed o onent, who was his brother 2ubh:i:+Bal.4?#6 $ 9ising: lace of 1eviation, !uit concealing Mthe truthI.....By Cod, my tears have flowed down (y cheeks when 5 saw thee following thy assion and forsaking the @ne who created thee and fashioned thee. 9emember the Crace of thy (aster when %e educated thee by night and day for the service of the &ause 3ear Cod and be of the enitent to Cod. "he allusion is to Bahaullahs tutoring his brother when he was !uite young. "hen, referring to /ajji 2ayyid (uhammad 5sfahani, Bahaullah says, Cod has taken the one who seduced thee. "his devoted Babi, who became the husband of the second widow of the Bab, was held res onsible by Bahaullah for the failure of 2ubh:i:+Bal to acce t him as a (anifestation, and was assassinated by the Bahais in +kka in 1?<#. 4?-6 "herefore, continues Bahaullah, return to /im MCodN submissive, humble, and humiliated. /e will ardon thy evil doings. "hy 'ord is, indeed, the 9elenting, the 0owerful, and (erciful. But in s ite of this lea 2ubh:i:+Bal never submitted to his brother. @f the (ost /oly Book he says,4?#6 "his is a Book that has become a lam for the feet of all those in the world and his straightest way for the worlds 2ayD 5ndeed, it is the 9ising: lace of the knowledge of Cod, if you only knew. 5t is the 2unrise: lace of Cods commands, if you only knew. 3inally on the last age a few mare commands are added. 4?=6 +nimals are not to be overloaded. %hoever kills a erson by mistake must ay blood:money to his eo le, and the amount is one hundred mith*als of gold. 0eo les of the councils of different countries are to choose a language among the languages, to be s oken by those on earth. &hoose likewise the handwriting to be used....."his is a means for MattainingN union, if you only knew, and the greatest reason for agreement and civiliBation.4?;6 +nd again he says, "he smoking of o ium has been rohibited to you.....%hoever smokes it is not one of us. "hen the (ost /oly Book ends with these wordsD 3ear Cod, @ eo le of intelligence, By (y (ost Creat, (ost. /oly, /igh, and (ost 2 elndid Name. 5n the above summary all the im ortant laws and rece ts 4but not all the e7hortations6 contained in this book of fifty )nglish ages have been noted in. the order, or rather disorder, in which Bahaullah re: ared them. 5t will be remembered that the Bab had said that /e:%hom:Cod:%ill: (anifest would abrogate the Bayan.4?86 +ccordingly, Bahaullah, claiming to be /e, roceeded to change certain Bayanic regulations, as we have seen above, though he never stated categorically that the Bayan had been abrogated. 5t is evident, therefore, that the laws of the Bayan which were not changed or rescinded by Bahaullah in the +!das remain in effect for Bahais. But how are they to know these laws if co ies of the Bayan are not avail: able to themL +s one studies the +!das it becomes clear that while it contains numerous ethical and religious teachings which might be followed in any society anywhere, such as kindness to others, abstention from drink and o ium, rovision for worshi and fasting, etc., there are also in it numerous laws which resu ose the e7istence of a Bahai 2tate, with an e7ecutive, a judiciary and a olice force. /ow else could ta7es and fines be collected, and crimes be unished by im risonment and death. Bahaullah definitely antici ated the time when the 0eo le of Baha like the 0eo le of 5slam will establish a regime in which 9e1igion and 2tate will be one. "he (ost /oly Book is su osed to contain the basic laws for this world "heocratic:2tate for the coming one thousand or more years. +s we have seen, mention is made several times in the +!das of the /ouse of Eustice +2aytu/l)Adl-, which must be established in every town, and to which various civil and religious res onsibilities
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are assigned. "here is also a suggestion that there is to be a 2u reme /ouse of Eustice, one of the duties of which is to administer the religious endowments after the death of Bahaullah. But no clear directions are given in the +!das for the formation or the res onsibilities of such a body. /owever, in the )ighth )shra! of the 2oo3 o Eshra*at, Bahaullah amended the +!das, as followsD 4?<6 "his assage by the 2u reme 0en MBahaN has been written at this moment and shall be read Mtogether with andN as forming art of the (ita%)i)A*das. +ffairs of the eo le are de endent on godly men of the /ouse of Eustice. "hey are the agents of Cod..... each day calls for an order, and each moment for an e7 ediency. &onse!uently matters shall be referable to the /ouse of Eustice so that it may ut into ractice whatever it considers to be the re!uirements of e7 ediency.....+11 olitical matters shall be refer: able to the /ouse of Eustice..... 3rom this statement it is evident that Bahaullah antici ated a time when a state, having a arliamentary system of government, shall have ado ted Bahaism as the state religion, with full authority to legislate for the conduct of the state, subject to the rovisions of the +!das. +s (irBa Badiullah, the youngest son of Bahaullah says,4??6 "he ur ose underlying this command is that matters should be dealt with by consultation and not by one man rule. 5t is said that the last book written by Bahaullah before his death was the E5istle to the .on o the %olf.4?,6 5n this ) istle of 1?$ ages Bahaullah addressed the son of the (uslim leader who had ordered the e7ecution of two notable Bahais in 5sfahan 4c. 1??$ +.1.6,4,$6 hut the message is intended for everyone. Bahaullah sternly rebukes this man, whom he calls 2haykh, for his evil deeds, and bids him re ent and believe. /e bemoans all the sufferings he 4Bahaullah6 has endured from his enemies, and defends himself from the charges brought against him, which he denounces as false. "oward the 2hah of 5ran, who had ordered the e7ecution of the Bab and had bitterly a osed the Babis, he shows a most conciliatory attitude, saying that he has ever striven for the eace and goad of the eo le of 5ran and of the world. /e begs the 2hah to treat well the Bahais in 5ran. /e !uotes long section from his own revious writings. /e also !uotes much from the sayings and writings of the Bab, whom he calls his forerunner, but neither he nor his inter ret indicates from what writings of the Bab these !uotations are taken. /e !uotes assages from both the Cod and the New "estaments in order to convince Eews and &hristians, and the *oran and 5slamic traditions for the benefit of (uslims. /ere at the end of his life he restates his claims to be a (anifestation, and a eals to the 0eo le of the Bayan 4followers of 2ubh:i:+Bal6 to acce t him. +nd he bitterly com lains of the wicked o osition of his brother 2ubh:i:+Bal, whom he calls (irBa Fahya, and those who had followed him. Bahaullah forbade the ublication of this ) istle during his lifetime, and it was not ublished till later.4,16 2ome of the finest of Bahaullahs wards found in various writings of his are the following, which are !uoted by (irBa Eawad in his /istorical ) itomeD +ll of you are the fruit of one "ree and the leaves of one Branch. 5t is not for him who loves his country to be roud, but MratherN for him who loves the whole world.4,#6 $ eo le of BahaI Fe are the 9ising: laces of 'ove and the 1ays rings of 1ivine Crace. 1o not defile the tongue with the vitu eration and cursing of anyone. *ee the eye from that which is not seemly. Be not the cause of sorrow, much less of strife and sedition. 4,#6 By the (ost Creat Name, if one of the &om anions ve7eth any one, it is as though he had ve7ed Cod /im: self. Fe are forbidden strife, !uarrelling, sedition, murder and the like thereof with a. stringent rohibition in Cods Book.4,-6 5 swear by the 2un of the 1awning of the 1ivine .nity, if the 3riends of Cod be slain it is better in the eyes of this @ ressed @ne than that they should injure anyone.4,-6 $ eo le of Cod, do not concern yourselves with yourselvesD take thought for the reformation of the world and the urification of its eo les. "he reformation of the world will be MeffectedN by
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good and ure deeds and gracious and well: leasing virtues.4,=6 $ eo le of earth, make not Cods 9eligion a cause of difference amongst youI Aerily /e hath revealed the "ruth for the concord of all who are in the world. 4,=6 5n 2ahai .cri5tures this saying of Bahaullahs is !uotedD4,;6 "he rinci le of faith is to lessen words and to increase deeds. /e whose words e7ceed his acts, know verily that his non:being is better than his being, and death better than his life. %hat has attracted many ersons in various lands to Bahaullah has been not some uni!ue service rendered by him to humanity, and not the laws which he romulgated for his ro osed Bahai "heocracy, but rather these ethical and humanitarian teachings regarding eace and unity among the eo le of the world. "hese teachings are, says Professor Bro.ne?D2-FCin themselves admirable? though inferior=? in my o"inion? both in beauty and sim"licity to the teachings of Christ=C B0oreover?C continues Bro.ne? Bas it seems to me? ethics is only the a""lication to everyday life of religion and meta"hysics? and to be effective must be su""orted by some s"iritual sanction@ and in the case of BahaEism? .ith its rather vague doctrines as to the nature and destiny of the soul of man? it is a little difficult to see .hence the driving*"o.er to enforce the ethical ma$ims can be derived=C "his was the mature judgement of a great scholar who had studied Bahaism with sym athy for more than thirty years. 2hortly before his death Bahaullah sent to 0rofessor Browne a little manuscri t entitled Good Ne4s which contained a com endium of his rinci al teachings com osed es ecially for Browne. "hese were in brief as followsD4,<6 16 )7 unction of the commandment for ?ihad 4/oly %ar6 from the Book of Cod. #6 +ll sects and eo les to associate with one another with joy and sweetness. -6 0ermission to study foreign languages, with a recommendation that kings and ministers of state choose one e7isting language and scri t as a medium for international communication, or else create one.4,?6 =6 Bahais must loyally serve and su ort any king who e7tends rotection to their faith. ;6 Bahais must behave themselves honestly, truthfully and sincerely towards the country in which they dwell. 86 0romise of the (ost Creat 0eace revealed by the 2u reme 0en. <6 +ll are ermitted, subject to the dictates of decency and good taste, to follow their own inclinations as to dress and the wearing of the hair. ?6 &hristian monks and riests must abandon their seclusion and engage in useful service. %e have vouched them ermission to marry. ,6 2ins are to be confessed not to men hut to Cod. 1$6 )7 unction of the commandment 4of the Bah6 far the annullment of books from writings and tablets.4,,6 116 "he study of useful arts and sciences is commanded. 1#6 +15 men must learn and ractice same craft, trade or rofession. 1-6 2ubject to the rules for worshi laid down in the +!das, the /ouse of Eustice is the com etent authority to enact legislation for the eo le. 1=6 0ilgrimages to the tombs of saints and martyrs 4as commanded by the Bab6 are no longer obligatory.
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1;6 "he best form of government is a combination of a monarchy and a re ublic. "hese are the Bahai 0rinci les as stated by Bahaullah himself in 1?,1. (ost of them are taken from the Bayan and the +!das. 5t is instructive to com are this statement with the &*an, written by Bahaullah some thirty years earlier, to see how his interests had broadened as a result of his e7 erience and his studies of books and news a ers dealing with world roblems while in +kka. 41$$6 5t is also instructive to com are this list of teachings with the rinci les attributed to Bahaullah which were later ado ted by Bahais. "he %ill of Bahaullah and his rovision for the succession and the leadershi of the Bahai &ause after his death will be considered in the following cha ter.
N@")2 1. l. (irBa Eawad in (aterials, . 8=. #. Bahai 2cri tures, edited by /orace /olley, a roved by Bahai &ommittee on 0ublications, New Fork, Brentanos, 1,#-. -. Bahai %orld 3aith, Bahai 0ublishing "rust, %ilmette, 5llinois, #nd edition 1,;8. =. 5bid., . =;=. ;. +Bals Notes, . #;=, Cod 0asses By, by 2hoghi )ffendi, Bahai 0ublishing "rust, 1,8;, . ,=. 8. +Bals Notes, . =#-, Bahai 2cri tures, . 1$#: 1$=, Cod 0asses By, . ,=. <. 0ersian Bayan, 555, 8, ?. ?. Bahai 2cri tures, . #=1, #=-. ,. +Bals Notes, . 18;, ;,,, 1$;;, 1$;8, 1$?8, 'etter No. @ne of Baha. 2ee a endi7 55, O=. 1$. +Bals Notes, . 1$?8. 11. 3rom this statement it is clear that Bahaullah had read and studied the Bayan. 1t is therefore sur rising to find in his ) istle to the 2on of the %olf 4translated by 2hoghi )ffendi, Bahai 0ublishing "rust6 on age 18; the following confessionD Cod testifieth and beareth me witness that this %ronged @ne MBahaullahN hath not erused the Bayan nor been ac!uainted with its contents. 2ee + endi7 55, O88. 1#. al:*itab al.:+!das or "he (ost /oly Book, translated by ). ). )lder, "he 9oyal +siatic 2ociety, 'ondon, 1,81, . ;1. *itab:i:+!das is the 0ersian name of the book. 1-. Cod 0asses By, . #1-. 1=. Bahai 2cri tures, . #81. 1;. 5bid., . ;;=. 18. Cod 0asses By, . #1-. 1<. (aterials, . ,, 1<. see + endi7 55, O8#. 1?. Browne in (aterials, . 1,;, Bahai world #,#8: #,#B, . #$$, +Bals Notes, . <:1-, ?-, ?,, 11=, #=,, -8;, -88, .1$;,. 1,. E.9.+.2., @ctober 1??,, . ,<#:,?1. #$. (aterials, . 1?<. #1. 2ee Note $1#. "he 5ntroduction and Notes of the 1,81 edition should be corrected to conform to what the author, after getting fuller and more accurate information, has written in the resent volume. ##. 'etter to (r. %ill @rick. #-. Cod 0asses By, . =11. #=. +Bals Notes, . 1$,$. #;. 5bid., . 1$;=:1$?<. #8. +!das, . #-. #<. 5bid., . #=. #?. 5bid., . #=, #;. "he worshi of nine rostrations is a dead letter. 5n actual ractice Bahais hold three services of one rostration each 4+Bals Notes, . 1$8$6. #,. +!das, . #;, 8$. -$. "he number ,; derives its authority from al:Bayan, the name first a lied to Cod. +ll the mystery of the Bayan is manifest in this nameJ because the numerical value of al:Bayan 4S,=6 lus the %ahid without number 4S16 make ,;. +lso, the numerical value of the letters in %ahid 4S1,6 multi lied by the number of the letters in Bab 4S ;6 is ,;. Note that the number 1,, to which the Bab attached so much im ortance, is retained in the Bahai system 4+Bals Notes, . 1$8#, 1$8-6. -1. +!das, . #8, #<. +ll these matters regarding worshi are fully rovided for in the Bayan. -#. +!das, . #<, #?. --. Browne in + "ravellers Narrative, . =1?:=#;. "he Bahai %orld 1,-8:#,??, . ==<, ==?, states that the Bahai ?= of ##$

-=. -;. -8. -<. -?. -,. =$. =1. =#. =-. ==. =;. =8. =<. =?. =,. ;$. ;1. ;#. ;-.

;=. ;;. ;8. ;<.

;?. ;,. 8$. 81. 8#. 8-. 8=. 8;. 88. 8<.

)ra commences with the year of the Babs declaration 4(ay #-, 1?== +.1., 1#8$ +./.6, and !uotes Bahaullah as saying, "he year of the 1eclaration of the Bab must be regarded as the beginning of the Badi &alendar. "he No 9uB after the declaration 4(arch #1, 1?=;6 is accounted the first No 9uB of the Badi &alendar. /owever, according to the clear statements by the Bab in his autogra h ersonal 1iary, in the book 3ive Crades 4 . 1#, 18, 1,6 and in other writings by him, the Babi )ra 4Badi &alendar6 began on No 9uB 4(arch 1,6 of 1#88 +./. and 1?;$ +.1., shortly before the Babs e7ecution. 5t is noteworthy that Bahaullah decreed that his )ra begin, not at the time of his declaration, nor at the time decreed by the Bab, but at the time of the declaration of the Bab, whom he called his 3orerunner. 3or a full discussion of the Badi &alendar see +Bals Notes, . 1$8;:1$8?. +!das, . #,. "hese rovisions for worshi are taken from the 0ersian Bayan, A, 1< and A555, 1$. +!das, . #,. "aken from 0ersian Bayan, 5A, ; and +rabic Bayan, K, ;. +!das, . #,:-1, +Bals Notes, . 1$<$. +!das, . -1. "he Bab had rovided for a council of #; members to assist the Babi authority which would be established 4+rabic Bayan, K5, #6. Baha re laced this by a /ouse of Eustice of , or more members. +!das, . -#, --, ;,. +!das, . -#. "aken from +rabic Bayan, A5QQ, 1<. +!das, . -#. 3rom 0ersian Bayan, A55, 1=, where it is commanded that forgiveness should be sought from the (anifestation as long as he lives, and after his death it must be sought from Cod. +!das, . --. 3rom 0ersian Bayan, A5, < and A555, 1;, +rabic Bayan, K, 1$, where it is commanded that all must marry. +!das, . -=. +!das, . -=, -;. +!das, . -8. "here is no rovision in the Bayan which would enable the Bab or his a ointed successor to control religious endowments. +!das, . -8, -<. "he +rabic Bayan, K, ; forbids theft, but there is no rovision for banishment, im risonment or branding. +!das, . -<. 3rom 0ersian Bayan, A5, ,. +!das, . -<, -?. "he Bab in his book 3our Crades made full rovision for the education of ones children. +!das, . -?. "he +rabic Bayan, K, ; says that adultery is a thing to be eschewed. "he im osition of a fine is Bahaullahs rovision. "here is no rovision in the Bayan regarding music. +!das, . -,. +!das, . -,, =$. 3rom +rabic Bayan, K5, 1<. +!das, . =$. "here is no rovision in the Bayan for hunting. +!das, . =$. "he +rabic Bayan, K, ; forbids arson, hut it a ears that it. makes no rovision for unishment. (urder also is strictly forbidden in the 0ersian Bayan, 5A, ;, and in. the +rabic Bayan, K5, 18 it is commanded that the murderer must ay 11,$$$ mith!als of ure gold to the heirs of the murdered erson. +!das, . =$:=-. 5n the 0ersian and +rabic Bayans, A5, 18 the Bab commanded that a husband may not absent himself from his home for more than two years if on land, and more than five years if at sea. Bahaullah removed this restriction. )7ce t for this and other minor amendments, all the rovisions regarding marriage found in the +!das are taken from the +rabic Bayan, A5, 1#, 1<, A555, 1;, K, 1$. +!das, . =-. 5t a ears there is no rovision in the Bayan regarding slavery. +!das, . ==. 3rom +rabic Bayan, K, 1?. +!das, . ==, =;. 3ull rovision is made for this in 0ersian and +rabic Bayans, 1A, 1$. +!das, . =;. "he Bab taught that when a new (anifestation a ears the Book of the revious (anifestation is abrogated, and its validity is destroyed. 'ikewise, religious books written by men in the former dis ensation no longer have validity. "he Bab, accordingly, forbade the Babis to read the hooks written by the (uslim theologians 40ersian Bayan, A5, 86. /e 0ermitted them to read only the Bayan, or books with the rescribed colo hon from the +rabic Bayan, K, 11. "he Bab forbade the tearing u of books 4+Bals Notes, . 1$<86. +!das, . =<, =?. 5bid., . =?. 5bid., . =,. 5bid., . =,, ;$ 5bid., . ;$, ;1. "his law, e7ce t for the ro: for the dis osal of the money, is from the +rabic and 0ersian Bayans, A555, 18. +vareh . 1--, in *ashful:/iyal, resumably first edition, +Bals Notes, . =?:;1. +!das, Bayan, . ;1. "his also is from the 0ersian Bayan, 55, 1. +!das, . ;#, ;-. "he rules for cleanliness are from the Bayans, 5A. +!das, . ;-. 0ederasty is forbidden in the +rabic Bayan K, ;. 5t a ears there is no rohibition in the Bayan against moving li s in rayer in the street. "he rovision regarding laces of worshi is taken from the +rabic Bayan 5K, ,, and that for writing a will is from the +rabic and 0ersian Bayans, A, 1-. +!das, . ;=. ?; of ##$

+!das, . ;;. "he Babs rovision for bringing the most riceless thing to him is found in the 0ersian Bayan, A5, 18. "he Bab did not forbid the learning of foreign languages, but the study of the 2cience of @bsolete %ords 40ersian Bayan, 5A, 1$6 . 8,. +!das, . ;8. "he use of alcohol is forbidden in the +rabic and 0ersian Bayans, 5K, ?. <$. +!das, . ;8, ;<. "here a ears to be no rovision in the Bayan regarding freedom. <1. +!das, . ;?. "he rovisions for burial are taken from the +rabic Bayan, A, 11 and A555, 11. <#. +!das, . ;?:8#. <-. 5bid., . 8#. <=. 5bid., . 8#. 3rom the +rabic Bayan, A5, 18. <;. +!das, . 8-. 5n +rabic Bayan, A555, 1<, begging and giving to beggars is forbidden, and earning ones living and giving relief to the destitute is commanded. <8. +!das, . 8=. "he reading of verses is commanded in the +rabic Bayan, A, ?. Bathing is enjoined in the +rabic Bayan, A555, 8. /igh ul its are forbidden in the +rabic Bayan, A55, 11. Cambling and the use of o ium are forbidden in the +rabic Bayan, 5K, ? and K, ;. <<. +!das, . 8;. <?. +!das, . 88. &arrying arms e7ce t in time of necessity was forbidden in the +rabic Bayan, A55, 8. "he rovisions about clothing and hair are taken from the 0ersian Bayan, A5, , and A555, B. <,. +!das, . 8<:8,. ?$. 5bid., . <$. ?1. 5bid., . <1:<#. ?#. 5bid., . <-:<=. ?-. Browne in + "ravellers Narrative, . ,-, note 1 and -<$. ?=. +!das, . <=. 0rovisions regarding overloading animals, and killing by mistake, and blood:money are taken from the +rabic Bayan, K, 1; and 7, ?, 18 ?;. +!das, . <=. +n artificial language known as )s eranto was invented for. universal use by a 0olish hysician 1r. '. '. Qamenhof before the +!das was revised and rinted in 1?,$. ?8. 0ersian Bayan, )nglish 5ntroduction to Nu!tatul:*af, . '5A. ?<. +Bals Notes, . --=, --;. 2ee + endi7 55, O8<. ??. 5bid., . --#. ?,. "ranslated by 2hoghi )ffendi, Bahai 0ublishing "rust. ,$. Browne, E.9.+.2., Euly 1??,, . =?,:=,1, and Browne, + "ravellers Narrative, . =$$:=$-. ,1. +Bals Notes, . 1= ,#. (aterials, . 8;. ,-. 5bid., . 8<. ,=. 5bid., . 8,, <$. ,;. 2cri tures, . 1;?. ,8. (aterials, . KK5. ,<. E.9.+.2., @ctober 1?,#, . 8<?, +Bals Notes, . 1$,$:1$,?. 2ee + endi7 55, O8,. ,?. + new scri t called *hatt:i:Badi was created by Bahas son, (irBa (uhammad +li, and was a roved by his father. + s ecimen was rinted in +varehs *ashful:/iyal, vol. 555, -rd rinting, . 1??: 1?,. 2ee E.9.+.2., Euly 1??,, . =,? and @ctober 1?,#, . <$,, note -. 2ee + endi7 55, O<$ ,,. 2ee Note ;<. 1$$. Bahaullah had agents osted in Beirut, &airo, 1amascus and other cities who furnished him regularly with daily a ers, eriodicals and books on world roblems. 3or e7am le, he received from the famous 2ayyid Ealalud:1in +fghani a co y of the eriodical he was ublishing in &airo, and he read the article in the +rabic )ncyclo edia which the 2ayyid had written on the Babi movement. )vidence of his wide reading is found in his "ablets 4+Bals Notes, . 111=:111;6. 2ee + endi7 55 O<-.

8?.

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2= The 3ule of +bduEl*Baha


Eust as the Bab, following the 2hiite rinci le by which each 0ro het and 5mam a ointed his successor, designated 2ubh:i:+Bal to succeed him, so Bahaullah in like manner named his successor. +s we have seen, he indicated in the (ita%)i)A*das some years before his death that he was to be succeeded by him whom .Cod has meant, who has branched from this ancient 9oot.416 By this he meant that his successor was to he his son, hut he did not s ecify which of his four sons was intended. /owever, before his death Bahaullah clarified this im ortant matter in. his %ill and "estament, which he called (ita%)i)Ahdi 4Book of (y &ovenant6, in which he saysD "he reference in this blessed verse is to the (ost (ighty Branch +Ghusn)i)A/;am, the title for +bbas )fendi6. "hen he continuesD Aerily, Cod hath decreed the station of the (ost Creat Branch +Ghusn)i)A3%ar, the title for (irBa (uhammad +li6 after the station of the former. Aerily, /e is the &ommanding @ne, the %ise. %e have surely chosen the (ost Creat after the (ost (ighty because of a command from the *nower.4#6 3rom this assage it is clear that it was Bahaullahs intention that he should be succeeded by his eldest son +bbas )fendi, a man of about fifty years of age at the death of his father,4-6 and that +bbas )fendi should be succeeded by another son (irBa (uhammad +li 4the eldest son of Bahaullahs second wife6, then about forty years of age. 5t is ine7cusable that the Bahai com iler of 2ahai .cri5tures should have translated a3%ar Creater when he translated a/;am Createst, thus indicating that the rank of (irBa (uhammad +li was lower than that of +bbas )fendi. +nd although it was claimed that the translation in 2aha/i World Daith was more accurate than that in 2ahai .cri5tures 4&ha ter A5556, this same flagrant mistranslation is re eated in that volume on ages #$,:#1$ where A3%ar the title of (uhammad +li is translated Creat, and A/;am the title of +bbas is rendered (ost Creat. "he two +rabic words used in the titles given by Bahaullah to his two alder sons both mean great or mighty, and both are here to be translated by the su erlative (ost Creat or (ost (ighty. A3%ar, the title of (uhammad +li, is the same used in the Bahai term (ost. Creat 0eace, and in the (uslim confession Cod is (ost Creat. 5t is even more ine7cusable that 2hoghi )ffendi should have been guilty of the same erroneous translation when he !uotes this assage, saying that Bahaullah ordains the station of the Greater/ 2ranch/ 4(irBa (uhammad:+li6 to be beneath that of the $ost Great 2ranch./ 4+bdul:Baha, Mthat is, +bbas )fendiN6.4=6 "he reason for this mistranslation will become evident as we roceed with the story. Both of these sons had been loyal to their father, and were trusted by him +bbas )fendi was a ointed b Bahaullah to be in charge of e7ternal affairs of the &ause, and (irBa (uhammad +li was given charge of internal affairs.4;6 Bahaullah did not think highly of (unira *hanum, the wife of +bbas )fendi, and erha s it was in art for this reason that +bbas )fendi and his wife and daughters and sister and mother lived together in the city of +kka,486 while Bahaullah and his other wives and sons and the remaining members of his family lived in the Bahji 0alace several miles away. "o +bbas )fendi was given the res onsibility of writing the authoriBed version of the history of the Babi:Bahai movement, which he did in 1??8 as an anonymous work under the title A Tra#eler/s Narrati#e.+C- !e rocured the ro erty on (t. &armel near /aifa on which, as a result of his efforts, the mausoleum for the Babwas later built.4?6 "o (irBa (uhammad +li also was given great res onsibility. "o him Bahaullah dictated his ) istles, and to him were entrusted all the sacred writings.4;6 +nd to him was given the authority to revise, with the hel of a trusted believer, and to ublish several of Bahaullahs books, including the +!das.4,6 "his was done in Bombay in 1?,$, two years before the death of the father, and there is no evidence that Bahaullah e7 ressed any dissatisfaction with the service rendered by his son. %hen the Bab chose (irBa Fahya as his successor and gave him high titles, he a ointed one whom he had never seen, and later it might have been said by some that in doing so he made a mistake. /owever, such a criticism could not be made of Bahaullah, for he chose as his successors his own
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sons, men known and trusted, not only by him but also by all the Bahais. +nd to revent the kind of schism which had occurred between him and 2ubh:i:+Bal, he made the a ointment !uite definite and clear in his %ill. 5n this document41$6 the father, no doubt realiBing that trouble was brewing and might eru t after his death, leads with all members of his family and all believers to love and honor the Branches and to love one another and live in eace. "he creed of Cod is for love and union, he says, make it not the cause of discord and disunion...../e hath forbidden dis utes and strife with an absolute rohibition in the Book M+!dasN. "his is the command of Cod in this Createst (anifestation.....@ (y Branches, (y "wigs and (y 9elationsI (ake not the course of order to be the cause of confusion .....9es ect and regard for the Branches is incumbent u on all.4116 .nfortunately, these leas for harmony fell on deaf ears. "he sad story of the events that followed the death of Bahaullah are related thus by (irBa Eawad, who had come with Bahaullah from )dirne, and had remained a faithful follower all through the years at +kkaD41#6 +las, alas for what we see todayI +ll these s iritual virtues and humane ractices have undergone a com lete change. &oncord has been re laced by dissension, constancy by cruelty, and affection by enmity. 1issent and mutual avoidance have a eared in this community.....antagonism and se aration arose between father and son, brother and sister, husband and wife, and so forthJ nay, Cod be our refugeI even envy and hatred. "he cause of this dissension was, according to (irBa Eawad, the love of self and seeking after su remacy of +bbas )fendi. (irBa Eawad continues,41-6 "he first differences which ha ened after the death of /is Creat /oliness our (aster within this community was that +bbas )fendi concealed some art of the book of MBahaullahsN "estament entitled the Book of my "estament, which book was given to him by Bahaullah in his own holy writing. "he detail of this is that on the ninth day after the +scension Mi.e., the death of BahaullahN +bbas )fendi chose nine ersons from amongst the &om anions, one of whom was the author 4of this book6 and disclosed to them this document, concealing, however, a ortion of it with a blue leaf Mof a erN, without any reason or justification, and gave it to them that they might enjoy the blessing of its erusal. @ne of them...read,...to the lace concealed by the blue leaf, whereu on +bbas )fendi said to the ersons above mentioned, Aerily a ortion of this book is concealed for a good reason, because the time doth not admit of its full disclosure. 'ater on the same day it was read to a number of other relatives and believers, down to the concealed ortion. 'et it not be hidden, concludes (irBa Eawad, ...that the injunctions set forth in the above: mentioned book all refer to this community generallyJ haw then could it be right for +bbas )fendi to disclose what he wished and conceal a ortion thereofL 3or there is no doubt that if what was concealed had not been suitable Mfor general ublicationN /is /oliness Bahaullah would not have written it in his august writing. "here is no !uestion that Bahaullah a ointed +bbas )fendi as his successor. But what authority was he to haveL "he Bab had indicated that his successor 2ubh:i:+Bal had the same rank that he had, and was one with him.41=6 But Bahaullah made it very clear that anyone who succeeded him could never claim to share his rank as a Creat (anifestation. 3or before his death he had stated in the (ita%)i)A*das 41;6 that anyone who claims &ommand, that is, claims to have the rank of a (anifestation, before a thousand years is a false liar. /ence, +bbas )fendi was not authoriBed to take his fathers lace, and be a continuation of his (anifestation, But very soon it began to a ear that this was what he wanted to do. /e called himself A%du/l)2aha 4the slave of Baha6, and rofessed erfect submission to his fathers will. But he also assumed the title, the &enter of the &ovenant, a title which many Bahais thought belonged only to Cod.4186 +bbas )fendi, writes (irBa Eawad,41<6 after he had attained to su remacy..... claimed such lofty stations and high degrees as belong e7clusively to 1ivine "heo hanies. +nd he !uotes several ages of sayings of the new leader which show how high his as irations were.

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@ne of +bbas )fendis claims was that he alone had the right to inter ret the writings of Bahaullah. "his servant is the e7 ositor of the 0ers icuous Book, and whatever of Cods writings is not confirmed by this servant is not worthy of credence.41?6 5n another lace he says,41,6 Fou must ask him M+bdulP BahaN regarding the meaning of the te7ts of the verses. %hatsoever he says is correct. %ithout his will not a word shall anyone utter. "hough he never called himself a new (anifestation, by claiming to be the sole infallible inter reter of the %ard of Cod, and by asserting that his writings were e!ually authoritative with those of his father, he assumed a station of which Bahaullah would most robably have warmly disa roved. (odern Bahais, however, fully agree to these claims. 3or instance, the volume entitled 2ahai .cri5tures, to which fre!uent reference has been made, has two arts. 0art 5 com rises the verses of Bahaullah, and 0art 55 4larger than 0art 56, the writings and addresses of +bdu1:Baha. Both are considered e!ually authoritative. "he words of +bdul:Baha..... have e!ual rank and s iritual validity with those of the (anifestation.4#$6 5t seems that most of the Bahais, both in +kka and abroad, were !uite ready to follow their divinely: a ointed leader, no matter what station he might claim for himself. /owever, there were a. number who, like (irBa Eawad, for various reasons dee ly resented the attitude and the acts of +bdul:Baha, and the leader of the o osition soon came to be (irBa (uhammad +li, brother of +bbas )fendi, and a ointed by Bahaullah as the second in succession. 5t seems that (uhammad +li did not claim to be the rightful successor to his father, for he had no right to the leadershi of the &ause till +bbas should die. /is rotest, and that of those who joined him, was against the claims of the &enter of the &ovenant to absolute authority. /e and his arty called themselves .nitarians,4#16 while they were stigmatiBed by +bdu1:Baha and his followers as Aiolators of the &ovenant.4##.6 "he strife wa7ed fierce, and much was said and done by both sides that was unseemly. "he .nitarians sought a conference with the arty of +(u1:Baha that they might refer the matter to the writings of Bahaullah,4#-6 as had been commanded in the (ita%)i)A*das. 4#=6 +bdul:Baha did not re ly to their fre!uent re!uests, and the conference was never held. 5t seems that almost all of the members of the family of Bahaullah sided with (irBa (uhammad +li and the .nitarians. 2hoghi )fendi says4#;6 that Bahaullahs two surviving wives, his two other sons, his daughter and her husband, and other relatives, all united in a deter: mined effort to subvert the foundations of the &ovenant, and +bdu1:Baha was left alone..... /e, accordingly, took disci linary action and e7communicated all of his relatives who o osed him.4#86 Not only so, hut he later de rived them of their allowances, which Bahaullah had reviously given them from the funds that came to him from the believers in 5ran and other lands.4#<6

The original photograph $as signed and presented to the author "y his grandson1 !hoghi %fendi/
"he sons and relatives of Bahaullah, being e7iles and olitical risoners in +kka, had not learned to su ort themselves and had de ended on gifts from others far their living. "he fact that the action of +bbas )fendi in cutting off their shares of the income caused them real difficulty is attested by 9osamund 1ale @wen, a long:time resident in /aifa. 2he has stated in. her book $y Perilous Wi e in Palestine+9@l that she was well ac!uainted with the these sons of Bahaullah in +kka.4#,6 2he. was much concerned about the financial condition of (irBa Badiullah, the youngest son, and his family of seven eo le, who were facing starvation because the eldest brother. +bbas )fendi had cut off their allowances, and she had given them considerable assistance. 2o when she was asked to act as arbitrator in their !uarrel she was !uite ready to do so, and wrote to each of the three brothers, inviting them to meet her at the tomb of their father and there together read his %ill. 2he ho ed in
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this way to clear u any misunderstanding about Bahaullahs arrangements for the division of the allowances. (irBa Badiullah and (irBa (uhammad +li at once re lied in writing and agreed to com ly to her suggestion. But though she wrote a second time to +bbas )fendi he did not re ly. 5t was therefore im ossible for her to hel in solving the roblem. (rs. @wen e7 ressed sur rise at this lack of love in the family of Bahaullah, when his teachings about love were so fre!uently !uoted by his followers in the %est. "he correctness of (rs. @wens account has been attested by the son of (irBa Badiullah.4-$6 +fter five years of strife ?ana%)i)(hachmu/l9ah, the 2ervant of Cod, who had first encouraged Bahaullah to ut forward his claim to be a (anifestation, and had been his lifelong amanuensis, invited all the &om anions to the shrine of Bahaullah on the anniversary of his death, and according to (irBa Eawad,4-1l addressed them as followsD "his servant hath been silent all this time and hath not uttered a word, for fear of giving rise to dissension. Now, however, 5 erceive that my silence causeth increase of discord in Cods 9eligionJ therefore 5 say unto you that the deeds and words which have issued from +bbas )fendi and his com any are all contrary to Cods commands, and at variance with his injunctions revealed in the /oly 2cri tures. "he &ovenant and 0romise mentioned aforetime in the 5mmaculate writings refer e7clusively to revious and subse!uent "heo hanies, hut +bbas )fendi hath a ro riated them to himself, and ye have so acce ted them, wherein ye have greatly erred. "hen (irBa Eawad related4-#6 that when +bbas )fendi was informed of what was going on he immediately a eared on the scene, seiBed the old man 4the 2ervant of Cod6 by the hand, and e7 elled him from the house bareheaded and barefooted, while his followers beat him on the head and face. 0aying no attention to his rotests, they dragged him to the tomb of Bahaullah, where +bbas )fendi struck him with his hand a ainful blow, after which he was im risoned in a stable. 'ater, after being released, he went to the house of +bbas )fendi in +kka, ho ing to have a conference with him about the situation, hut he was refused admittance, and finally was handed over to the olice. 3our years later he died, and all the relics and writings of Bahaullah which. were in his ossession were taken away by night by +bbas )fendi. "hese included twelve /oly ortraits 4of Bahaullah6, #1< /oly "ablets..., and. a number of the /oly head:dresses, garments and hairs, besides many sacred 1moks.4--6 "his is the story as told by the .nitarians. +nd now let us hear what the followers of +bdu1:Baha have to say. 5t will he sufficient to !uote what 2hoghi )ffendi, the grandson of +bdul:Baha has written in his history God Passes 2y in the cha ter entitled "he 9ebellion of (irBa (uhammad: +li.4-=6 @f +bdul:Baha he saysD /is 4Bahaullahs6 own beloved 2on, the a le of /is eye, /is vicegerent on earth, the )7ecutive of /is authority, the 0ivot of /is &ovenant, the 2he herd of /is flock, the )7em lar of /is faith, the 5mage of /is erfections, the (ystery of /is 9evelation, the 5nter reter of /is mind, the +rchitect of /is %orld @rder, the ensign of /is (ost Creat 0eace, the 3ocal 0oint of /is unerring guidance P in a word, the occu ant of an office without eer or e!ual in the entire field of religious history..... 2uch an one, he concludes, was fully !ualified to guard the &ause, blaBon abroad its fame, and consummate its ur ose.4-;6 But first, says 2hoghi )fendi, a crisis arose at the very heart and center of /is faith, and was rovoked by no one less than a member of /is own family, a half:brother of +bdul:Baha, s ecifically named in the Book of the &ovenant, and holding a rank second to none e7ce t /im who had been a ointed as the &enter of that &ovenant. "he result of this crisis was that an irre arable breach 4was created6 within the ranks of Bahaullahs own kindred, sealing ultimately the fate of the great majority of the members of /is family, and gravely damaging the restige.....of the 3aith itself. "he true ground of this crisis was the burning, the uncontrollable, the soul:festering jealousy...of +bdul:Baha...in (irBa (uhammad:+li, the arch breaker of the &ovenant. +n envy as blind as that which had ossessed the soul of (irBa Fahya M2ubh:i:+BalN.....as dee :seated as that which had blaBed in the bosom of &ain and rom ted him to slay his brother +bel, had...been smouldering in the recesses of (irBa (uhammad+lis heart.4-86
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"hen followed a long list of charges made by the .nitarians against +bdul:BahaD 4-<6 "o friend and stranger, believer and unbeliever alike, to officials both high and low, o enly and by insinuation, verbally as well as in writing, they re resented +bdul:Baha as an ambitious, a self: willed, an un rinci led and itiless usur er, who had deliberately disregarded the testamentary instructions of /is 3atherJ who had, in language intentionally veiled and ambiguous, assumed a rank co:e!ual with the (anifestation /imself..... /e had, for /is rivate ends, fomented discord, fostered enmity...that /e had actually corru ted the /oly "e7t, inter olated assages written by /imself. "he same charges were hurled back at "he followers of (uhammad +li. "hey were accused of stealing sacred writings, of corru ting the te7ts, and even of cons iring to murder +bdul:Baha. "he &ovenant of Bahaullah had, by acts such as these, says 2hoghi )fendi been manifestly violated.4-?6 +nd years later near the end of his life +bdul:Baha in his %ill and "estament wrote that (uhammad +li and his artisans are ferocious lions, ravening wolves, and blood thirsty beasts, in whose talons are held fast this wronged servant of "hine.4-,6 "hese men who brought such grievous accusations against one another were brothers, both sons of Bahaullah, both (ost Creat Branches from the ancient 2tock, both chosen by their father to be in turn his successors, and both enjoined by him in. his %ill to honor and love one another. 6riting about a "am"hlet .hich had been com"osed by one of the follo.ers of +bduE1*Baha in 1121? Professor Bro.ne remarks?D%4F B8ne fact .hich is very clearly brought out by this "am"hlet is that the detestation in .hich the follo.ers of +bbas #fendi hold the rival faction of his half*brother 0uhammad +li e;uals? if it does not e$ceed? that in .hich the BahaEis generally hold the +,alis? and far sur"asses the dislike entertained by any of these three "arties for the adherents of other creeds .hich stand entirely outside the Babi*BahaEi circle=====This second schism amongst the Babi community=====.as singularly fierce and bitter=C +nd in another "laceD%1F he .rites of the same ;uarrel: BThis last schism? I confess? and the bitterness to .hich it gave rise? created a very "ainful im"ression on my mind? for? as I have re"eatedly in;uired of my BahaEi friends? .here is the com"elling and constraining "o.er .hich they regard as the essential and incontrovertible sign of the &ivine 6ord? .hen? in the face of such te$ts as E+ssociate .ith Dthe follo.ers of allF religions .ith s"irituality and fragranceE and E>e are all the fruit of one Tree and the leaves of one BranchE? they can sho. such bitter animosity to.ards those of their o.n householdGC )7cellent advice for ersons in such a situation was given later by +bdul:Baha himself. /e said,4=#6 5f two souls !uarrel and contend about a !uestion...differing and dis uting...both are wrong... 2hould there a ear the least trace of controversy, t:hey must remain silent..... Not only did +bdu1:Baha and his followers not remain silent, they went beyond angry wards. Browne has ublished evidence4=-6 which roves conclusively that at least in one instance the old Babi method of assassination was resorted to by +bdul:Baha to get rid of a dangerous enemy. + certain (irBa Fahya, who had been first an +Bali, then had become a Bahai, and finally had given his whole:hearted su ort to (uhammad +li and the .nitarians, was carrying on active ro aganda against +bbas )fendi. 3inally, +bdul:Baha issued a "ablet in which he sternly rebuked (irBa Fahya for his disobedience and commanded him to re ent and desist from his o osition, if erchance he might he forgiven. 3or if not, he added, then e7 ect the 1ivine Aengeance, and look for blackness of face MdisgraceN in both worlds.....3or abasement, remorse and disgrace shall be the ortion of those who violate the &ovenant of the /igh, the (ighty. "his threatening message was taken at +bdul:Bahas orders to Eedda, near (ecca, where (irBa Fahya was living in the home of the 5ranian &onsul, his father:in:law, who was faithful to +bdul:Baha, and was read to him by the bearer. (irBa Fahya refused to re ent, and said he had no faith in either the sender or his father 4Baha6. + few nights later (irBa Fahya was found in the house in serious condition with blood flowing from his throat, and after several days he died. "his occurred in @ctober, 1?,?.
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"he messenger who had carried the "ablet to (irBa Fahya and had read it to him was /ajji (ulla /usayn. "his man re orted what had ha ened in a letter, in which he declared4==6 that Cod, mighty in /is glory, has removed Fahya, that incorrigible &ovenant:breaker... "he simoon of 1ivine %rath blew, and the gale of &elestial +nger breathed, and his MFahyasN darkened s irit, fulfilled, with envy and hatred, descended to the abyss of /ell. 5n November, 1?,? a am hlet was ublished in )gy t4=;6 describing this event as a remarkable instance of +hdu1:Bahas foreknowledge and ower. "he author, /ajji (irBa /asan, a follower of +bdul:Baha, says that never was so clear a threat followed by so swift and condign a unishment, or so e7 licit a ro hecy so s eedily accom lishedJ for though Cods atience is almost ine7haustible, there at last comes an end to it, and the guilty must erish. "he cause of the sudden death of (irBa Fahya, having occurred in the 5ranian &onsulate in Eedda, was not investigated, and was no doubt accounted an act of Cod. %hile these unha y events were taking lace in +kka, the first Bahai missionary to +merica was busily engaged in reaching and making converts in the %est. "he interesting story of 1r. *hayrullah 4*heiralla6, called by his (aster a 2econd &olumbus, &on!ueror of +merica, and his successful mission will he told in the following cha ter. "he glowing re orts which came from him must have brought much comfort and ho e to the &enter of the &ovenant and his arty in +kka. (eanwhile, +bbas )fendi continued to live and worshi as a (uslim, saying the (uslim rayers, and kee ing the 3ast of 9amaBan, just as his father had done. +nd the marriages and funerals in the family were all conducted according to the (uslim rites by the (uslim religious leaders.4=86 +bdu1:Baha was without doubt a man of great ability and ossessed a commanding ersonality, as is seen from the im ression made by him an 0rofessor Browne 4&ha ter A556. %hile he was warmly hated by the &ovenant:breakers he was literally adored by some of the new converts who began coming from +merica to visit "he (aster in +kka. @ne of them, (r. /orace /olley, who became one of the outstanding Bahai leaders in +merica, and edited 2ahai .cri5tures, s eaks thus of his feelings on meeting +bdul:BahaD4=<6 /e dis layed a beauty of stature, an inevitable harmony of attitude and dress 5 had never seen or thought of in men. %ith: out ever having visualiBed the (aster, 5 knew that this was he. (y whole body underwent a shock. (y heart lea ed, and my knees weakened, a thrill of acute, rece tive feeling flowed from head to foot.....3rom sheer ha iness 5 wanted to cry.... %hile my own ersonality was flowing away...a new being, not my own, assumed its lace. + glory, as it were, from the summits of human nature oured into me....5n +bdul:Baha 5 felt the awful resence of Bahaullah, and....5 realiBed that 5 had thus drawn as near as man now may to ure s irit and ure being. 5n the same manner some of the +merican women who came to +kka in 1ecember, 1?,? saw in +bdul:Baha one to be worshi ed. 2ays (rs. 0hoebe +. /earst in a letter from %ashington dated November 1,, 1?,,D4=?6 "he (aster 5 will not attem t to describe. 5 will only state that 5 believe with all my heart that /e is the (aster, and my greatest blessing in this world is that 5 have been rivileged to be in /is 0resence and look u on /is sanctified face....%ithout a doubt +bbas )ffendi is the (essiah of this day and generation, and we need not look for another. +nother member of the same arty was !uoted in the Literacy Digest as followsD4=?6 1r. *heiralla went ahead, and by the violent beating of my heart 5 knew that we were soon to see the Blessed face of the 0rince of the /ouse of 1avid, the *ing of the whole world. %e reached the door and sto ed before us in the center of the roam stood a man clad in a long garment with a white turban on /is head, stretching out one hand toward us....%e stood thus far a moment unable to move P when my heart gave a great throb and, scarcely knowing what 5 was doing, 5 held out my arms, crying, (y 'ord, my 'ordI and rushed to /im, kneeling at /is blessed feet, sobbing like a child. /e ut /is dear hands u on our beloved heads and said, in a voice that seemed to our ears like a strain of sweet music, %elcome, welcome, my dear children, you are welcome, arise and be of good cheer.

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Not long after this, 1r. /enry /. Eessu , who was for many years a resident in Beirut and head of the famous +merican &hristian 0ress in that city, visited /aifa and called on +bbas )fendi. +fter a friendly conversation about religious matters, in which +bbas )fendi told 1r. Eessu that he believed that Eesus &hrist was the 2aviour, and that he himself had faith in him as his 2aviour, and believed that. &hrist would come to judge the world, 1r. Eessu told him of this article in the Literacy Digest which he had read. /e said that in the article it was stated that a woman from +merica had fallen at his feet, wee ing, and saying, (y 'ord, my 'ordI Now, continued 1r. Eessu , 5 could not believe this, and thought it a news a er invention. 5 want to ask you whether this is true. &an it be right for the creature to acce t the worshi due only to the &reatorL +bdul: Baha smiled, and seemed somewhat disturbed, and asked why 1r. Eessu had changed the subject. "hen he said calmly, 5 am only the oorest and humblest of servants. +nd soon the visit came to an end,4=,6 %hen Bahaullah and his followers were sent to +kka as olitical risoners in 1?8? they were for some time confined to the city. +fter several years they were given considerable liberty of movement, and were allowed to travel to other arts of the country. "hen because of the activities of the Bahais and the strife which we have described, the @ttoman government sent a commission to investigate the situation, and as a result of its re ort the freedom which they had enjoyed for mare than twenty years was taken from them, and they were once more confined to the city of +kka. "his occurred in 1,$1.4;$6 "he entire blame for this unfortunate occurrence was laced by +bdu1:Baha on his brother (irBa (uhammad +li, whom he charged with giving false information to the "urkish authorities this restriction was continued till the 9evolution of 1,$? in "urkey, when all olitical risoners were set free. "hereafter the Bahais could go anywhere they wished. "hough confined in +kka, +bdu1:Baha was not revented from receiving visitors, and many came to him both from the %est4;16 and also from the )ast. "he %estern ilgrims icture the (aster as s ending his time in deeds of loving service to the oor and needy and in visiting the sick and afflicted in their homes. @ne who visited +kka at this time writesD4;#6 5t is the custom of +bdu1: Baha each week, on 3riday morning, to distribute alms to the oor. 3rom his own scanty store he :gives a little to each one of the needy who come to him to ask assistance. "he writer then describes the crowd of a hundred beggars whom he had seen waiting to receive money from +bdul:Baha. 5t seems that the son had forgotten that giving to beggars had been forbidden by his father in the (ost /oly Book. /owever, an 5ranian seeker for truth who came to +kka, having travelled some two thousand miles, much of the way on foot, told !uite a different story.4;-6 1uring the seventy days while he was with the Bahais in +kka, having dined with +bbas )fendi himself, he saw nothing of this attention to the oor. (any guests were entertained, but they were chiefly officials and im ortant eo le. 5t seems that the %esterners heard nothing while there of the strife that had s lit the family of Bahaullah into two hostile cam s, and they were not ermitted to see the members of the family whom +bdul:Baha had e7communicated. 2ays (r. "hornton &haseD4;=6 3ive days we remained within those walls, risoners with /im who dwells in that Createst. 0rison. 5t is a rison of eace, of love and service. No wish, no desire is there save the good of mankind, the eace of the world....+11 trouble, tumults, worries, or an7ieties for worldly things are barred out there. "hese men are 'overs, writes (r. 0hel s,4;;6 lovers of Cod, of their (aster and "eacher, and of each other, and of all mankind. (uch of the time of +bdul:Baha was s ent in writing, for he, like his father, carried an a large corres ondence with believers in 5ran and in other lands, and his "ablets were as highly esteemed as had been those of Bahaullah. By the strength of his ersonality and the remarkable influence which he e7ercised over his followers he was able to draw the great majority of the Bahais of the world after him, and the .nitarians never became a strong arty, and gradually disa eared from the scene. +fter the restrictions of travel were removed, +bdu1:Baha in 1,11 made a journey to )uro e and )gy t. Ne7t year he sailed for +merica, where he remained for seven months, and on
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the return journey again visited )uro e, Creat Britain and )gy t. + fuller account of his work in the %est will he given in the following cha ter. 1uring the eight years that followed these journeys +bdul:Baha remained in /aifa, which is near to +kka. +t the time of the 3irst %orld %ar 41,1=:1,1?6 he is said to have done much for the relief of the famine stricken eo les about him, and to have been mast generous in giving of his own rovisions to the oor.4;86 3inally, /aifa fell into the hands of the British, and "urkish rule came to an end on 2e tember #-, 1,1?. 3rom the beginning of the British occu ation, large numbers of soldiers and Covernment officials of all ranks, even the highest, sought interviews with +bdul: Baha....2o rofoundly im ressed were the Covernment re resentatives by his noble character and his great work in the interests of eace, conciliation, and the true ros erity of the eo le, that a knighthood of the British )m ire was conferred on +bdu1:Baha, the ceremony taking lace in the garden of the (ilitary Covernor of /aifa on the #<th day of + ril, 1,#$. "hus the &enter of the &ovenant became 2ir +bdu1: Baha +bbas, *.B.).4;<6 1uring the winter of 1,1,:1,#$ (r. E. ). )sselmont s ent two and a half months in /aifa. as the guest of +bdu1:Baha, and writes of his gracious host as followsD4;?6 +t that time, although nearly seventy: si7 years of age, he was still remarkably vigorous, and accom lished daily an almost incredible amount of work. +lthough often very weary he showed wonderful owers of recu eration.../is unfailing atience, gentleness, kindliness and tact made his resence like a benediction.....Both at lunch and su er he used to entertain a number of ilgrims and friends, and charm his guests with ha y and humorous stories.....(y house is the home of laughter and mirth, he declared, and indeed it was so. /e delighted in gathering together eo le of various races, colours, nations and religions in unity and cordial friendshi around his hos itable board. @n 3riday, November #;, 1,#1, +bdu1:Baha attended the noonday (uslim rayer at the (os!ue in. /aifa, and afterwards distributed alms to the oor with his own hands, as was his wont 'ess than three days later he died, on November #?.4;,6 "he following day the funeral services were conducted by the (uslim clergy, and a very large number of eo le from various religions attended, along with the British /igh &ommissioner and other officials of the Covernment. Nine re resentatives from the (uslim, &hristian and Eewish communities s oke in raise of the deceased, and then the body was carried to (t. &armel and buried in the mausoleum of the Bab,48$6 and his grave became a lace of ilgrimage for Bahais. "he rovision which +bdul:Baha made for the future of the Bahai &ause will be considered in &ha ter K5.
N@")2 1. +!das, . ;8. #. Bahai 2cri tures, . #81. "he +rabic te7t of the original is given in +Bals Notes, . <?:<,. 2ee also +varehs official history +l:*awakibP +l:1urriyya, vol. 55, . #$:##. 2ee + endi7 55, $;,. -. +ccording to (irBa Eawad 4(aterials, . 8#, -#$6, +bbas )fendi was born in 5ran in 1?=1. "he statement made by some Bahais that his birth occurred on Nay #-, 1?==, in the very hour in which the Bab declared his mission 4)sselmont, Bahaullah and the New )ra, first edition, . ;-6 is clearly a fiction. =. Cod 0asses By, . #=$. ;. +Bals Notes, . ?,. 8. 5bid., . ??. <. 2ee 5ntroduction. ?. Cod 0asses By, . #=1, -=;. ,. +Bals Notes, . ?,, 1$;, 4with te7t6. 2ee + endi7 Q5, O8#. 1$. 2cri tures, . #;,:#8#. 11. 5bid., . #8$:#81. 1#. +Bals Notes, . <-:<=, 1,;. (aterials, . <= ff., from +n ) itome of Babi and Bahai /istory, by (. Eawad 41,$=6, translated from +rabic by Browne. 1-. (aterials, . <;. 1=. 2ee &ha ter A. 1;. +!das, . -=. ,= of ##$

18. 1<. 1?. 1,. #$. #1. ##. #-. #=. #;. #8. #<. #?. #,. -$. -1. -#. --. -=. -;. -8. -<. -?. -,. =$. =1. =#. =-. ==. =;. =8. =<. =?. =,. ;$. ;1. ;#. ;-. ;=. ;;. ;8. ;<. ;?. ;,. 8$.

Cod 0asses By, . #=-, +Bals Notes, . ,<, 1;-. (aterials, . <<. 5bid., . <?. 2tar of the %est, November #-, 1,1-, . #-?. Bahai %orld, 1,#8:1,#?, vol. 5Q, . ?1, +Bals Notes, . #1<. (aterials, . ?1. Cod 0asses By, . #=8, etc. (aterials, . ?#. +!das, . -,. Cod 0asses By, . #=<, +Bals Bates, . 1;-. +Bals Notes, . =;, #;1. 5bid., . ;1, #,,, (aterials, . ?;. (y 0erilous 'ife in 0alestine, Ceorge +llen and .nwin, 'ondon, 1,#?, . #-$:#-=. Qiyaullah, the third son of Bahaullah, died in 1?,? 4(aterials, . ?;6. +Bals Notes, . ==-. (aterials, . ?<. 5bid., . ??. 5bid., . ,$:,1. Cod 0asses By, . #== ff. 5bid., . #=;. 5bid., . #=8. 5bid., . #=?. 5bid., . #=,. Bahai %orld, 1,#8:1,#?, vol. 55, . ?#. (aterials, . 18<. Browne, Nu!tatul:*af, . K'5K. 2cri tures, . ;==. (aterials, . 1;;:18<. 5bid., . 18=:18;. 5bid., . 1;? ff. +Bals Notes, . 88. Guoted by 9obert 0. 9ichardson in "he @ en &ourt, @ctober 1,18, . 88;. (aterials, . ,<, ,?, "he 'iteracy 1igest, @ctober #$, 1,$$, +Bals Notes, . ===. "he erson referred to was (rs. 'ua (oore Cetsinger, whose own detailed re ort of this visit is found in 0ersia by +saac +dams, rivately ublished in 1,$$, robably in &hicago, . =<?:=?=. /enry /. Eessu , "he @utlook, Eune ##, 1,$1. Cod 0asses By, . #8-:#<#, (aterials, . ,1, ,#. 5n Bahai %orld 1,=$:1,== there is a list of about 1$$ eo le from the Nest who visited +kka rior to 1,1#. Guoted in Bahaullah and t:he New )ra, )sselmont, first edition, . ;?. "en (uslims (eet &hrist, %. (. (iller, )erdmans 1,8,, . 1$,, 111. Bahaullah and the New )ra, . ;,. +bbas )fendi, 0hel s, 0utnams, 1,$-. Bahaullah and the New )ra., . 8-, 8=. 5bid., . 8=. 5bid., . 8=, 8;. 5bid., . 8;, 88. Cod 0asses By, . -1-.

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14= The BahaEi Faith 5oes 6est and #ast


2ince the time when the followers of (uhammad set forth from +rabia in the seventh century of the &hristian era to make 5slam the religion of the world, no other new religion born in the Near )ast attem ted to become a universal religion till Bahai missionaries less than a century ago undertook to convert to their faith the eo les not only of the )ast but also of the %est. 5n this cha ter we will tell the most interesting story of the establishment of the Bahai &ause in +merica, and in other distant lands. "he first Bahai missionary to +merica was 1r. 5brahim Ceorge *heiralla 4*hayrullah6, a native of 'ebanon, and a graduate 41?<$6 of the +merican &ollege in Beirut which had been founded by 0rotestant missionaries.456 1r. *heiralla was born in a &haldean family in 1?=,, the year before the death of the Bab in 5ran. 5t was said by one who knew him well that he was a man of great mental acumen, who at various times was a teacher, a healer of nervous diseases, a writer, a trader, and retty much everything else.4#6 5t was said that because of his irregular conduct he was rejected by his &hristian community in his native land. 4-6 /e was a man of strong mind, acute argumentative faculties, fine conversational owers and altogether an interesting ersonality.4=6 5n 1?<#, four years after the arrival of Bahaullah in +kka, *heiralla went from 'ebanon to )gy t, where he remained for twenty:one years engaged in trade. "here in 1?,$ he was converted to the Bahai faith by /ajji +hdul:*arim of "eheran.4;6 5n re ly to a letter which he wrote to Bahaullah, he received a "ablet from his (aster. 2oon after the death of Bahaullah in 1?,#, 1r. *heiralla went to 9ussia on ersonal business, and from there travelled to )uro e, and thence to +merica, where he arrived in 1ecember 1?,#. + writer in &airo who knew the facts has stated that +bdu1:*arim aid the travel e7 enses of 1r. *heiralla, with the understanding that money received in +merica would be divided with him.486 "he missionary at once began as he had o ortunity to tell the Cood News of the + earance of the 3ather and the establishment of /is *ingdom on earth, and it was through his tireless efforts that the Bahai &ause was first established in the New %orld. +fter s ending some time in New Fork and (ichigan, 1r. *heiralla went to &hicago in 3ebruary, 1?,=, which he made his center. 5n the &ongress of 9eligions which was held in connection with the &hicago )7 osition in 1B,-, the Babi:Bahai (ovement had received favorable notice, and there were numerous eo le in and about &hicago who were eager to learn more about this new religion from the )ast. +fter having made many converts, 1r. *heiralla wrote to +bdul:*arim in &airo and also to +bdul:Baha to re ort his success. %hen his Creek wife who had remained in &airo refused to join him he divorced her, and in 1?,; married an )nglish woman. %ith her he made a journey to )ngland, and then returned to &hicago, where he a lied himself day and night, without wearying, to teaching the eo le. 5n *enosha, fifty miles from &hicago, he met with great success.4<6 5n 1?,8 he ublished a book entitled Babud:1in, "he 1oor of the "rue 9eligion P 9evelation from the )ast, in which he refuted the &hristian doctrine of the atonement.4B6 "he method used by the missionary was that of teaching in!uirers in rivate lessons, saying that this religion was not for the masses but for truth:seekers only. @ne of the first rivate u ils wroteD 5n their secret lessons they allegoriBe and e7 lain awayJ in ublic by means of mental reservation and the use of words in a double sense, they a ear as they wish to a ear.4?6 +nd he adds that the Bahai &ause has succeeded because, like a counterfeit coin, it has assed for what it is not.4,6 2ome of the new converts had moved to New Fork, and or their invitation 1r. *heiralla went to 5thaca and New Fork &ity to meet and teach the eager in!uirers, of whom there were many. 5n New
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Fork &ity he divided the #$$ seekers into three grou s which met in different laces. +t the end of four months in 1?,?, 1=1 of these had become believers, and he formed them into a congregation and set over them as a teacher (r. /oward (acNutt. /e also made visits to 0hiladel hia where there was a small grou of believers. %hile in New Fork he com osed his book Beha.llah in two volumes,41$6 in the 0reface of which he states that the ur ose of the book is to demonstrate that the )ver: lasting 3ather, the 0rince of 0eace, has a eared in human form and established /is kingdom on earth. 5n the same year two of his u ils were married in his house in New Fork, and received his blessing. "hey were (r. and (rs. ). &. Cetsinger, who taught in!uirers in 5thaca, and later in &alifornia. 5t was estimated that in two years 1r. *heiralla had converted no less than #$$$ +mericans, <$$ or more in and about &hicago, #;$ in %isconsin, =$$ in New Fork, and the rest in Boston and other laces.4116 /ow did this ioneer missionary from the )ast roclaim the message of Bahaullah and win hundreds of converts in a country where &hristian ideas were revalentL 3ortunately, one of the ersons who attended the New Fork meetings took careful notes on 1r. *heirallas lectures, and sent them at once to rofessor Browne in )ngland. 'ater Browne ublished this corres ondence in full.41#6 "he corres ondent was im ressed by and attracted to 1r, *heiralla, but was greatly uBBled by many things he said. 3rom her re orts it is evident that the first ten lectures had little to do with the Bahai faith, and dealt with meta hysics, dreams, numbers, allegorical inter retations of the Bible, rayer, etc. But the intense curiosity of the hearers was aroused by the romise of the revelation of some mystery in the eleventh lesson. +ccordingly, in that lecture the a earance of the Bab, Bahaullah and +bdu1:Baha was roclaimed. "he Bab had announced that the 3ather had come, and the 3ather was Bahaullah. +bdu1:Baha was Eesus &hrist, the 2on of Cod. "he (illennium, said 1r. *heiralla, would come in 1,1<, when one third of the eo le of the world would become Bahais. /e stated that there were at that time 41?,?6 fifty:five million Bahais in the world. /e inter reted all the ro hecies in the book of 1aniel and the 9evelation as a lying to Bahaullah, in order to convince &hristians that his coming had been foretold in their Bible. %e have been taught nothing about the life and character of Baha, wrote the corres ondent, no ethics, no religious life, does he retend to teach. @nly ersons who were willing to write a letter to +bdu1:Baha, rofessing faith in him, were ermitted to attend more than thirteen lectures. "he letter given to the students to sign and send was in art as followsD "o the Createst Branch, 5n Cods Name, the Createst Branch, 5 humbly confess the oneness and singleness of +lmighty Cod, my &reator, and 5 believe in /is a earance in the human farmJ 5 believe in /is establishing /is holy householdJ in /is de arture, and that /e has delivered /is kingdom to "hee, @ Createst Branch, /is dearest son and mystery. 5 beg that 5 may be acce ted in this glorious kingdom and that my name may be registered in the Book of Believers..... (ost humbly thy servant. "o those who wrote the letter great s iritual gifts were romised, and a knowledge of the Createst Name of Cod. 5 am sorry to say, wrote the corres ondent, that some eo le have sent the letter for the sake of the rest of the teaching and for a mysterious something which they ho e to get.....+n air of mystery is over the whole affair. "he converts were not told that any books had been written about the Bab or Bahaullah, and all were ho elessly ignorant of the history of the movement. 2ubh:i:+Bal was not mentioned, e7ce t to be called 2atan. @ne of the most enthusiastic believers, when asked who 2ubh:i:+Bal was, said that she had heard him lecture P she thought he was one of the /indoo 2wamisI @f 1r. *heiralla
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the corres ondent wroteD %hen 5 met him 5 saw that at last 5 had found one who really believes his own teaching and is giving all that he has to s read what he thinks is trueJ right or wrong, he is faithful. No charge was made for attendance at the lectures. (r. + 0. 1odge aid all the e7 enses of the missionary and his wife while they were in New Fork.41-6 5n the summer of 1?,? a ilgrimage was arranged to +kka. (rs. 0hoebe /earst was to ay the e7 enses, and 1r. and (rs. *heiralla were invited to join the arty, along with (r. and (rs. Cetsinger and several others. +s they assed through )ngland and 3rance 1r. *heiralla gave the (ost Creat Name to a number of believers, thus establishing the Bahai faith in )uro e. +fter visiting )gy t the members of the arty, numbering in all si7teen ersons, in 1ecember arrived in +kka, and were there welcomed by a re resentative of +hdu1:Baha. %hen 1r. *heiralla entered the house in which +bdu1: Baha lived, he received a very cordial welcome. +bdu1: Baha kissed him, and said, %elcome to thee, $ Bahas 0eter, @ second &olumbus, &on!ueror of +mericaI /e had a feB ut on his head as a mark of s ecial honor, and took him to the tomb of Bahaullah, telling him that he was the first ilgrim to whom the door of this chamber had been o ened far rayer. /e was also given the uni!ue honor of joining +bdu1: Baha in breaking ground for the (ausoleum which he was about to build on (t. &armel, in which was to be laced the body of the Bab soon to be brought from 5ran. "his is an honor which none of the believers e7ce t thee has enjoyed, said +bdul:Baha to him. +nd he gave him the title of 2he herd of Cods flocks in +merica. /owever, before long difficulties began to arise. 1r. *heiralla was eager to e7 lain his teaching to his (aster, and to discuss !uestions of theology with him, but +bdu1:Baha was not inclined to answer the !uestions ut to him and was dis leased when his missionary differed with him. 1r. *heiralla wanted co ies of books of Bahaullah which he did not ossess, but +bdu1:Baha would not give them to him, even denying their e7istence, and he had to ac!uire them later in )gy t. (oreover, none of the ilgrims was ermitted to see any of the other members of the family of Bahaullah, e7ce t the sister of +(u1:Baha, or any followers of (irBa (uhammad +li, though they learned of the serious s lit in the family. 1r. *heiralla stayed si7 months, long enough to understand fully what was going on. "hen the Cetsingers accused 1r. *heiralla of immoral conduct, and +bdul:Baha re eated these stories to (rs. *heiralla, with the result that on their return to )gy t she left her husband. +nd certain financial irregularities of the arty further disgusted (rs. /earst and chilled her faith.41;6 2o the ilgrimage was not an altogether ha y e7 erience. /owever, one of the ro hecies of +bdul:Baha made a rofound im ression on the +mericans. @nce when they were seated at table (r. Cetsinger asked his host for ermission to take his hotogra h. +bdu1:Baha refused, saying that it would be taken only when his fathers crown should he laced on his head and he should be led forth to martyrdom, when thousands of rifle bullets should ierce his body. /is words, says (irBa Eawad, had a great effect, so that some of the auditors we t bitterly.4186 "his ro hecy was never fulfilled. +fter returning to +merica 1r. *heiralla became increasingly estranged from )bdu1:Baha. +s he studied the *itab:i:+!das and other writings of Bahaullah he became convinced that the claims which +bdu1:Baha was making for himself were unjustified, and from his conduct and corres ondence he concluded that he was double:faced in his dealings, and was romoting discord rather than harmony and love among believers so after seven months 1r. *heiralla definitely broke with +bbas )fendi and went over to the arty of (irBa (uhammad +li.41<6 +t the same time the devotees of +bbas )fendi in +merica rejected 1r. *heiralla @f this develo ment 1r. 2amuel N. %ilson, who was ac!uainted with 1r. *heiralla writes as followsD41?6
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(r. Cetsinger, on his return to +merica, announced that he was to be the re resentative of +bbas )ffendi because 1r. *heirallas teachings were erroneous and his conduct immoral. 1r. *heiralla res onded with counter charges against his accuser....."he &hicago and *enosha assemblies were rent asunder. 5n the corres ondence, some of which 5 have in my ossession, they hurl at each other such terms as falsehood, lie, malevolence, injustice..... 2ome of the leaders were accused of dishonesty in handling the finances of the &ause. 2everal hundred of the believers sided with 1r. *heiralla, and became known as Behaists, but the majority, who called themselves Bahais remained faithful to +bdul:Baha. 5mmediate ste s were taken by +bdu1:Baha to destroy the influence of the 2he herd of Cods flocks in +merica, and to revent the shee from being led astray. 5n 1,$$ +hdu1:*arim, the man who had converted 1r. *heiralla in )gy t, was sent from +kka to try to win him back and !uiet matters, but he oured oil on the flames.41?6 /e romised me lenty of money, wrote 1r. *heiralla later,41,6 and when 5 refused he denounced me and rohibited believers from buying or reading my hooks. +bdu1: *arim was not notably conciliatory in his remarks to the a ostate. 4#$6 $ violator 4of the &ovenant6, thou s otted snake, thou shalt be seiBed with a great torture and unishment, he said, and he declared that he would call on Cod for vengeance against 1r. *heiralla. %hen the first messenger failed others were sent from +kka. "he first of the new emissaries was /ajji b1irBa /asan of *hurasan, a leading Bahai from &airo, the author of the am hlet describing the death of (irBa Fahya at Eedda 4&ha ter 5K6. /e came to &hicago, and according to 1r. *heiralla made the following statement to him on November -$, 1,$$D4#16 5 came here es ecially to bring you back to your allegiance to +bbas )fendi, and am re ared to stay ten years if necessary. 5f you return to +bbas )fendi, 5 will cause the +merican believers to follow you as head in every: thing even better than before. 5f you will not listen to me and become a follower of +bbas, your abode will be in the bowels of the earth.....5f you will not listen your life will be short. 5f +bbas )fendi should give me the word to cut you to ieces, or to tear your eyes out, or to kill you, l will do so at once...... /e then re eated to me, continued 1r. *heiralla, the fate of (irBa Fahya of Eedda, and offered me a co y of the am hlet ublished by himself entitled "he Creat (iracle of +bbas )ffendi. 1r. *heiralla re lied, 5 know these @rientals better than you do know what they did to the +Balis. +t the ne7t discussion he had olice concealed in his house far rotection.4##6 Ne7t came (irBa +sadullah of 5sfahan and (irBa +bul:3aBl of Cul ayagan,4#-6 learned and e7 erienced Bahai missionaries and authors. "hey, too, failed in the attem t to bring back the lost shee and their 2he herd, but they had some success in making new converts. Nevertheless, the disgraceful !uarrel caused many believers to desert the &ause. 5n 1,$# 1r. 0ease wroteD4#=6 +bout 1<$$ have left us because they would not engage in religious scandal. "he whole number in the country is now 8$$ or <$$. @f these -$$ are Behaist 4.nitarians6J the others are +bbasites of one sect or another, holding belief that +bbas is 'ord and (aster. +ccording to the ..2. &ensus of 1,$8, the Behaists had dwindled to =$, and the Bahais had increased to 1#?$. Both sides wrote books and am hlets stating their own case and denouncing their rivals. "he s irit of love and forgiveness was noticeably absent from these olemics. 2ome years later 1r. *heiralla wrote as followsD4#;6 +bbas )ffendi is a owerful and shrewd "urkish and 9omish di lomat combinedJ and his olicies are ut in ractice with such management and tact as to overwhelm even his most intelligent followers...../e meets all his visitors with lave and kindness and surrounds them with some of his adherents at +kka and /aifa, who move with
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them wherever they move and humbly serve and obey them, and never leave them alone until they go to bed. "hen they re ort to him all the events of the day. "his system of s ying is used in all countries where there are followers. /e kee s his followers from reading the 9evelations of Baha.llah, that they may remain ignorant of the true teachings of the Bahai religion. /is talks and writings are athetic and full of accusations against his brother..... 5n this way he gains their sym athy and estranges them Mhis visitorsN from his good brother, so that they may not meet him and learn the truth. /e made rules to interfere in all the actions, dealings and corres ondence of his followers with each other, and always tried to s lit them into arties against each other in order that all of them might a eal to him and ask his assistance. "he worst thing he has done is to ut himself between his followers and their Cod, and to threaten them with hell fire if they dare to disobey him. 5n 1,1= 1r. *heiralla formed in &hicago the National +ssociation of the .niversal 9eligion, under the headshi of (irBa (uhammad +li, whom he claimed to re resent in the ..2.+. "he ur ose of the +ssociation was to romulgate the amalgamation of all different religions into one .niversal 9eligion. /e com osed twenty:si7 9e!uisitions for the members, drawing on the Bible and the *itab:i:+!das and the doctrines of .niversalism. + Branch +ssociation was established in Newark, New Eersey.4#86 @f this +ssociation no trace can he found today. )ven 1r. *heiralla, Bahas 0eter, seems to have been com letely forgotten. 5n the New "estament, Eudas 5scariot is named as one of the "welve + ostles of Eesus, but in the official lists of Bahai missionaries to +merica the name of 5brahim Ceorge *heiralla never a ears. "he arrival of the numerous Bahai missionaries from the )ast, and the rogress of the &ause in the %est, were ubliciBed in the +merican ress, and no doubt many readers were amaBed at what they read. "he front age of the New Fork /erald of +ugust 1#, 1,$$ was adorned with ictures of +kka and of +bbas )fendi, and had the headlinesD "hese Believe that &hrist has 9eturned to )arth P 2trange 3aith has +ttracted (any 3ollowers P + New Cos el +ccording to +bbas of +cre. 4#<6 "he article begins as followsD 5s &hrist living in the world todayL "here are tens of thousands of ersons who believe that /e is....."here are hundreds who claim to have looked u on the face and to have listened to the voice of the 1ivinity. "he North +merican 40hiladel hia6 of 3ebruary 18, 1,$#, with ictures of +bbas. )fendi and two of the missionaries in their oriental robes, has the heading, "he +stonishing 2 read of Babism. "he article states that hundreds have been converted to +bbas )fendi in Baltimore, and !uotes a statement of (irBa +bul:3aBl, who saidD if we make the same ercentage of converts throughout the country as we have made in Baltimore and %ashington, within a years time the Babi faith will have two million adherents in the .nited 2tates. 4#,6 /e added that thus far about -$,$$$ followers of +bbas )fendi are claimed in +merica. it is evident that the learned s eaker had not consulted the ..2. &ensus re orts. @n 1ecember 1?, 1,$= the New Fork "imes carried a full age article under the heading, Babist 0ro aganda (aking /eadway /ere,4#,6 describing a 2unday morning gathering of New Fork believers in this New @riental &ult, with a. history of the religion and its 0resent /igh 0riest, the (aster at +cre, +bbas )fendi. Nearly #$$ men and women were resent. @riental silken garments swished as a grou of handsomely gowned women entered the "abernacle. (en of iron Cray hair and steel Cray eyes P thinkers and doers rather than dreamers :accom anied them..... "here were men from %all 2treet, and Broadway and 3ifth +venue men, whose names figure fre!uently in the ublic rints, and whose fortunes run into many figures. "hey had lenty of financial sinew to su ort the movement and /im %ho 'ives at +cre. +t the close of the meeting
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it was announced that a few days reviously nine +merican ilgrims, including (r. /oward (acNutt, conducted by (irBa +bul:3aBl, had started for +cre to ac!uaint the @ne %ho 'ives "here with the amaBing rogress the &ause is making in +merica. %ithout doubt their arrival with gifts was a great encouragement to the @ne who was confined in the city of +kka by the "urkish authorities as a result of the !uarrel in the family of Bahaullah. +s the number of Behaists 4.nitarians6 decreased, so did the fame of 1r. *heiralla. /e wrote to 0rofessor Browne after some years4-$6 that after the sad dissension reached the Nest he had refrained from missionary work, thinking that calling the eo le to this Creat "ruth was e!uivalent to inviting them into a !uarrel. /owever, after the visit of +(u1:Baha to +merica in 1,1#, his false teachings, his misinter retations of Bahaism, his dissimulations....aroused me to rise u for hel ing the work of Cod. /e seems to have met with but little success in his efforts to defeat the arty of +bbas. )fendi, and in 1,#, he died, the year before his Cuide, (irBa (uhammad +li, died in /ayfa.4-16 %ith them died the arty of the .nitarians. "he Bahai &ause, having suffered greatly from internal strife, made little rogress in +merica till the visit of +bdu1:Baha himself in 1.,1#. +fter the "urkish 9evolution in 1,$? the risoners in +kka were free to travel wherever they wished, and +bdu1: Baha soon took advantage of this welcome liberty to visit the lands in the %est where his Bealous missionaries had re ared the way for him. 5t is noteworthy that he did not go to 5ran, the land of his birth, where the great majority of Bahais were then to be found. /is first long journey out of +kka, where he had lived for forty:three years, was to 3rance and )ngland in 1,11. /e s ent some time in 'ondon and 0aris, meeting believers and in!uirers, and giving many addresses. @n the return journey he visited )gy t, then under British rule, where many 5ranian Bahais had gone seeking freedom and business. "his tour roved so rewarding that in the s ring of 1,1# +bdul:Baha, no doubt at the invitation and the e7 ense of the believers in +merica, set forth on a journey which lasted nearly two years. /is coming had been re ared for long in advance by attractive ublicity. "he New Fork "imes of Euly #, 1,11 ublished a full: age article entitled Bahaism, 3ounded in (artyrdom, "aking 9oot. /ere. 5n large letters it stated that "hough "his 0ersian 9eligion %as )stablished @nly 2eventy Fears +go, 5ts 3ollowers /ave 2uffered 0ersecutions 9ivaling "hose of the )arly &hristians P Now Numbers 1$,$$$,$$$ +dherents. "here were ictures of +bdul:Baha, of a grou of bearded and turbaned Bahai leaders, of the rison in which Baha .llah wrote many of his hooks, as well as of his house in +kka, and his tomb. "he article layed u the ersecutions which the Bahais have endured, stating that the number of martyrs in 5ran in the years 1?=?:1?;# was 1$,$$$, and according to some, -$,$$$. 5t was not e7 lained that those who died were not Bahais but Babis, and the number of the Babis killed in the several insurrections 4&ha ter 5556 is less than. ;,$$$. "he story of the history of the movement told in the article is that derived from + "ravellers Narrative, not from the more accurate history of (irBa Eani. "he sect inculcates, says the article, a love of the world rather than of country, and declares all religions to be e!ually true. 5t is clear that the author of the article ossessed more literary skill than knowledge of the history of the Babi:Bahai (ovement. @n the arrival of +bdu1:Baha in New Fork a woman re orter was sent to interview him, and her story a eared as a full: age article in the New Fork "imes of + ril #1, 1,1#, under the headingD + (essage 3rom +bdul Baha, /ead of the Bahais. "he article begins thusD %ithin the last week there has come to New Fork an old man with a worn and beautiful face, who wears a long brown gown and a white turban, and s eaks the strange:sounding guttural language of 0ersia. @n the ier he was welcomed by hundreds of eo le, for he is +bdul Baha, or "he 2ervant of Cod, the head
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of the Bahaist movement, and he is known to tens of thousands of followers all over the world as the (aster. 3or forty years he had been in rison, and his father, the former head of the Bahaists, died in rison...."hey reached the love of Cod and the brotherhood of man, and for this the 0ersian Covernment e7iled and the "urkish Covernment im risoned them. +fter giving the orthodo7 Bahai account of the history of the &ause, the re orter tells of her interview with the (aster. 2he found the rece tion. room in his a artment filled with flowers. + rather small man with a white beard and the kindest and gentlest face in the world held out a hand. 5n his brown habit he was e7traordinarily ictures!ue, hut one did not think of that, for he smiled a charming smile, and walking before and holding his visitors hand, he led her to a chair. )vidently the (aster was as ha y to meet the re orter as she was to meet him. 5n fact, he told her so. +fter raising the women of +merica, and s eaking about the oneness of humanity, and dictating a message to the eo le of +merica, he gave his visitor a rose as she was de arting, atted her on the shoulder, and s oke to her in 0ersian. /is inter reter said, /e says he is leased with you. Nor was she the only one whose heart was wan by this ictures!ue and kind old man. @ne of the +merican Bahais said to the re orter, 3or that man 5d jum head first from a fifteenth story window. +nd the re orter added, 2o it is with everybody who has come in contact with +bdul: Baha. %ith this aus icious beginning, +bdu1:Bahas trium hal tour took him to many arts of +merica. /e addressed the 0ersian:+merican )ducational 2ociety in %ashington on + ril #$. "his was an organiBation o erated by Bahais, one of whom was (irBa +hmad 2ohrab, of whom we will hear later.4-#6 @n (ay 1 in the 9iBwan 3east +bdul:Baha was resent in %ilmette, 5llinois, for the dedication of the grounds on which the famous (ashri!ul:+dhkar was to be built, and his icture taken with a grou of friends on this occasion may be seen in the Bahai %orld.4--6 + site of five acres near the shore of 'ake (ichigan north of &hicago had been urchase, and +bdu1.:Baha, using a golden trowel, broke ground, and others of the different races who were resent used icks and shovels and re ared a lace into which +bdu1:Baha ut a stone. /e saidD "he mystery of this building is great. 5t cannot be unveiled yet, but its erection is the most im ortant undertaking of this day. "his tem le of Cod in &hicago will be to the s iritual body of the world what the inrush of the s irit is to the hysical body of man...."he (ashri!ul:+dhkar will he like a beautiful Bou!uet. "he central lofty edifice will have nine sides, surrounded by nine avenues interlacing nine gardens where nine fountains will lay. "here will be nine gateways and columns....3urther, its meetings are to he held on the ninth of each month. 4-=6 5t will be remembered that , is the numerical e!uivalent of the +rabic letters in Baha. "he lans far the tem le were elaborate, and the money came in slowly, but at last it was finished at a cost of two and a half million dollars, and was dedicated on (ay #, 1,;-. &ould the (aster have seen the realiBation of his dreams he would no doubt have been very ha y. @n +ugust 18, 1,1# +bdul:Baha and his 5ranian followers visited the beautiful Creen +cre Bahai &enter at )liot, (aine, and remained there a week. +fter the &ongress of 9eligions in &hicago in 1?,-, a gifted lady named (iss 3armer established at Creenacre an annual summer conference, the ur ose of which was to bring together eo le of diverse creeds and o inions for friendly discussion. (any of the outstanding lecturers of +merica were brought to these conferences, which became !uite famous. "he general s irit of the lace was that each should look u on a heretic.....not as a erson to he avoided or merely tolerated, hut as one to learn from and sym athiBe with. @ne of the many religions re resented in the Creenacre conferences was Bahaism, and some of the
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eo le in attendance were converted to this faith. 'ater (iss 3armer herself, after a visit to +kka, rofessed faith in +bdul:Baha. By degrees the Bahais were able to gain control of the conference, and to transform it into a Bahai gathering. "his was contrary to the wishes of (iss 3armer, who wanted it to remain as a meeting lace for all varieties of o inion, and she was so greatly disturbed that she became insane. 3inally, the ro erty was ac!uired by the Bahais, and was for many years the most im ortant of their centers in +merica. +fter (iss 3armers conversion, the s elling of the name was changed from Creenacre to Creen +cre, with reference to the city in which the (aster resided.4-;6 5n the Bahai %orld there is an interesting icture of +bdu1:Baha as he walked about the Creen +cre grounds followed by three 5ranian disci les.4-86 "heir names are not given, but friends recogniBed two of them as (irBa +hmad 2ohrab and 1r. 3areed, both of whom were later rejected. 5n the conference +bdul: Baha delivered lectures on "he 5nvestigation of 9eality and 'ove. + divine joy seemed to fill the heart of +bdul:Baha at Creen +cre, far here were found many souls ca able of res onding to his message. /is time was fully occu ied with interviews and addresses. 'ater +bdul:Baha went to &anada, and as far west as &alifornia. /e gave addresses, always through his gifted inter reter, in &hristian churches and various other religious gatherings, in womens clubs, colleges, eace societies, and all sorts of grou s and organiBations. /is rinci le in his ublic addresses was to talk about things u on which we agree and say nothing about things u on which we differ.4-<6 /is own ress agents were active and aggressive, furnishing many articles for news a ers and magaBines. "he re: orters took the e7aggerated statements of the Bahais without sifting. /e erformed his art fairly well and allowed himself to be interviewed and hotogra hed with the atience of an actress. /e osed for the movies..../e sat for an oil ainting and a roved of his bust in marble.4-?6 +fter this busy and successful seven months tour in +merica, +bdu1:Baha sailed from New Fork on 1ecember ;, 1,1# for Creat Britain. "here he remained si7 weeks, visiting various cities, encouraging believers, giving addresses as before, and receiving many notables. /e then s ent two months in 0aris, after which he visited Cermany and +ustria. 3inally, he resided for si7 months in )gy t, and reached +kka on 1ecember ;, 1,1-, after an absence of twenty months. "his long tour was no doubt both leasant to the traveller and rofitable to the &ause. + most enthusiastic and o timistic account of these travels is found in Cod 0asses By 4&ha ter K5K6, written by 2hoghi )ffendi, the grandson of +bdul:Baha, in which the laces visited are listed and many of the im ortant ersonages who were received by him are mentioned by name. /e writesD4-,6 +s soon as /e was released from his forty:year long ca tivity.... /e arose with sublime courage, confidence and resolution to consecrate what little strength remained to /im, in the evening of /is life, to a service of such heroic ro ortions that no arallel to it is to be found in the annals of the first Bahai century. 5n: deed /is three years of travel, first to )gy t, then to )uro e and later to +merica, mark, if we would correctly a raise their historic im ortance, a turning oint of the utmost significance in the history of the century. 5n closing his account of the tour 2hoghi )ffendi saysD4=$6 + most significant scene in a century:old drama had been enacted. + glorious cha ter in the history of the first Bahai century had been written. 2eeds of undreamt of otentialities had, with the hand of the &enter of the &ovenant /imself, been sown in some of the fertile fields of the %estern world. Never in the entire range of religious history had any 3igure of com arable stature arisen to erform a labor of such magnitude and im erishable worth.
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/owever, not all who met +bdu1:Baha on these journeys were able to share the enthusiasm of 2hoghi )ffendi. 5n %ashington, 1.&., )llen 2layden in Nay, 1,1# wrote thus in her journalD4=16 +bdul Baha, "he &omforter, "he Beloved @ne, etc. etc., of the Bahaists has come and gone, and considering how interested 5 was in his coming, 5 am shamefully indifferent to his de arture. 5 hel ed at the afternoon meetings for him in (rs. 0arsons beautiful home for three successive days, and 2aturday evening at a rece tion for five hundred eo le, and never got a moment of s iritual e7altation. /e was just a nice old man who might sit in an oriental market lace and e7 ound latitudes to his hearts content, like the good 0asha in the +rabian Nights, but his doctrines and his way of resenting them are too elementary for this wicked and erverse generation. /e was followed by crowds, he talked and answered !uestions from five oclock +.(. till midnight, and must have been weary beyond telling, though his followers assured me he could not feel fatigue because he was sustained by the s irit. But none of these things roved his divinity nor even his s ecial a ostleshi to me. 5 think it is the turban, the long white robe and sli ers, and atriarchal wagging of his long Cray beard and the mystery of the 0ersian tongue that attracts eo le who reverence any: thing that is riest like and unusual. %hen he sat in a large chair and said oracularly, his inter reter re eating, 5 love all humanity. +ll men are brothers. "here is only one good. 2orrows must come, but every night has a. day, every day has a night, every s ring has an autumn, every autumn has a s ring, his followers listened eagerly and wrote it into their notebooks.... 5f he had warn a sack suit and s oken )nglish no one would have listened. /e is undoubtedly sincere kind and unworldly, but it is absurd for such moral milk far babes to he administered to justices of the 2u reme &ourt, scholars and ublic officials... +nother interested observer wroteD4=#6 "he visit of +bdul Baha did not leave any great im ression. /is ersonality had no dee influence. /e a eared cons icuous neither for intellectuality nor for s irituality...5 was in Baltimore when he was there. /e caused scarcely a ri le on. the surface. /is addresses were tame and full of latitudes. 5t was told me that his visit led to doubt and coldness on the art of some adherents....@ne of the distinguished clergymen whose ul it he occu ied said to me, "he man has no s ecial message. /e is a fakir.....2ome of the +merican disci les, es ecially the ladies, idoliBed him. No doubt the memories of the many kindnesses shown him by eo le of all races and religions during these journeys hel ed to cheer the weary traveller during the last years of his ilgrimage in +kka. 2ince the story of the introduction of the Bahai 3aith to +merica has been told at some length, no attem t will be made to give a detailed account of the s read of the movement in Creat Britain and )uro e. +s we have already noted, both +bdu1:Baha and his missionaries visited the various countries, s oke in churches and in all sorts of gatherings, met in!uirers, and established Bahai grou s, as they had done west of the +tlantic. 2ome of the writings of Bahaullah and +bdu1: Baha were translated and ublished in )nglish and 3rench and Cerman. +fter his return to +kka, +bdu1:Baha directed to the scattered grou s of believers an unceasing flow of /is "ablets.4=-6 /owever, it was not only in the %est that converts to the Bahai &ause were being made, for in the )ast also Bealous believers were busily engaged in telling the Coad News of Bahaullah. "wo teachers, resumably +merican Bahais, went to Ea an in 1,1= and established meetings in "okyo. "here some young eo le who were dissatisfied with other religions found the Bahai (essage acce table. 5t does not re!uire of them to give u the ast teachings, but rather e7 lains that the foundation of all religions is one, writes (iss +gnes +le7ander.4==6 + number of Bahai hooks were translated into Ea anese and ublished, as were many news a er articles. +bdul:Baha during the last years of his life addressed nineteen "ablets to eo le in Ea an. +nd from Ea an the
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Bahai (essage was taken in 1,#1 to *orea. "he number of converts in Ea an. and *orea at that time is not known, but it was not great. (any 5ranians had gone from their country to 5ndia to trade or to reside, and Bahais soon found that 5ndia under British rule was a field in which they could labor with a freedom they did not enjoy anywhere in the Near )ast. "here they ublished a monthly magaBine in )nglish, 0ersian and Burmese, and there the *itab:i:+!das, the 5!an, and other im ortant Bahai books had been ublished in 1?,$ and brought back to +kka. But while some converts were made from the natives of 5ndia, it is evident from the hotogra h of 9e resentative Bahais of 1ndia in the Bahai %orld 4=;6 that most of the believers were not 5ndians but 5ranians. /owever, (rs. 5neB &ook, an +merican Bahai, wrote a mast interesting account 4=86 of her visit to the village of *injangoon in Burma, all the 2G@ inhabitants of which, according to (rs. &ook, had been converted by 2ayyid (ustafa, an 5ranian Bahai missionary. @ne would like to know more of the subse!uent history of this Burmese mass movement. "he Bahai (essa!e was taken further east to +ustralia and New Qealand by +merican believers.4=<6 5n order to enjoy the freedom which "Barist 9ussia offered, some 5ranian Bahais emigrated to the &aucasus and to 9ussian "urkistan, and there they ros ered, both materially and religiously. "he first (ashri!ul:+dhkar 4Bahai tem le6 to be built was erected in 5sh!abad in "urkistan, near the northern border of 5ran. %hile it was under construction it was visited in 1,$? by (r. (ason 9emey, a Bahai leader from +merica, who wrote of it as followsD4=?6 "he (ashri!ul:+dhkar stands in the center of the city, surrounded by a large garden, which is bounded by four streets. 5t rises high above the surrounding buildings and trees, its dome being visible for miles....."he building in lan is a regular olygon of nine sides.....+t the four corners of the garden are four buildings. @ne is a school. @ne is a house where travelling Bahais are entertained. @ne is to be used as a hos ital.... (uch of the ro erty in the immediate vicinity of the enclosure belongs to Bahais, so the (ashri!ul:+dhkar is the center of the community materially, as well as s iritually. "hat which im ressed me more than all else....was the fact that the Bahais of the )ast had all worked with one accord and had given freely toward its erection... %hen +bdu1:Baha was in &hicago in 1,1# he saidD4=,6 5n all the cities of 0ersia there are (ashri!ul:+dhkar, hut the great dawning oint was founded in ish!abad. 5t ossessed su erlative im ortance because it was the first (ashri!ul:+dhkar built. +ll the Bahai friends agreed and contributed their utmost assistance and effort. /is holiness, the +fnan, devoted his wealth, gave all he had to it...."he (ashri!ul:+dhkar in 5sh!abad is almost com leted.....Now they are building a hos ital, a school for or hans, a home for cri les, a hos ice and a large dis ensary. Cod willing when it is fully com leted it will be a aradise. 5 ho e the (ashri!ul:+dhkar in &hicago will be like this. @f this undertaking 2hoghi )ffendi wroteD4;$6 "his enter rise must rank not only as the first major undertaking launched through the consecrated efforts of /is M+hdu1:BahasN followers....but as one of the most brilliant and enduring achievements in the history of the first Bahai century. "his tem le was later taken. over by the 2oviet government and made an art gallery, and the 5ranian Bahai community in 5sh!abad, as in other arts of 9ussia, was dis ersed, many of the 5ranians being sent back to 5ran.4;16 5n arts of the Near )ast where most of the o ulation were 2unnite (uslims, and where there was little or no freedom of religion, there were few Bahais who were not 5ranians. @ne of the largest grou s of believers outside 5ran was found in )gy t, where many 5ranians resided, and where under British rule Bahais were able to ublish books and carry on other activities which were not ossible
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in lands under the rule of "urkey. Naturally the largest number of Bahais during this eriod was in the land of Bahaullahs birth. "he Bahais were located in all the larger cities and towns as well as in many villages of 5ran, but since no census was ever taken it is im ossible to make an accurate estimate of their numbers. 3ollowing the e7am le of their leaders in +kka, they usually con: formed to the religious ractices of their 2hiite (uslim neighbours and seldom rofessed o enly their Bahai faith. /owever, meetings that were more or less secret were held in homes, and tactful but effective missionary work was carried on by a number of !uite able a ostles, as well as by many of the faithful, bothD men and women. Books were re ared and rinted outside 5ran, or secretly in 5ran, containing detailed instructions for giving the Bahai (essage to (uslims, Eews, &hristians and Qoroastrians whom they would try to convert, and for answering the objections of these unbelievers. )ven the Bahai young eo le were often clever and effective ro agandists of the &ause. Not only (uslims but also a number of Eews and a few Qoroastrians were converted. /owever, while new converts were being made, many who once rofessed faith fell away, and it is robable that the number of Bahais in 5ran in 1,#1 was less than that in 1?,#. "he government of 5ran recogniBed four religions, Qoroastrianism, Eudaism, &hristianity and 5slam, and allowed the three minority grou s to worshi and conduct their affairs according to the laws of their several religions. "hough the Bahais out:numbered the Qoroastrians, and claimed to be more numerous than the Eews and &hristians of 5ran, they were not recogniBed as a se arate religious community, but were counted as (uslims, and were seldom ersecuted by the government. /owever, when the Bahais became too aggressive in ro agating their religion they some: times stirred u fanatical o osition on the art of the (uslims, which occasionally resulted in riots and murders. "he worst of these occurred in Fard and 5sfahan in 1,$- when a hundred eo le were said to have been killed. /owever, not all of the unfortunate eo le counted as martyrs were Bahais, for it sometimes ha ened that a erson who wished to get rid of an enemy or a creditor would brand him as a Bahai, and would then incite the (uslim clergy or the authorities to kill him for being an infidel. "he total number of Bahai martyrs in 5ran during the reign of +bdul:Baha has been given by one authority as #;, and by another as about 1$$.4;#6 2hoghi )fendi has given the names and an account of the sufferings of some of these martyrs.4;-6 "he usual tolerant attitude of the 5ranian government4;=6 is indicated by the fact that many Bahais were em loyed in the 0ost @ffice and the &ustoms and in other government offices. 5n the rovinces there was usually less freedom than in the &a ital. 1uring the 9evolution in 5ran 41,$8:1,$,6, which resulted in the granting by the 2hah of a &onstitution and the establishment of a 0arliament, Bahais were forbidden by +bdu1:Baha to become involved in the struggle, and usually took no art in freeing their country from the des otic rule of the Gajar 1ynasty. 4;;6 5n fact, there is evidence that both +(u1:Baha and his followers in 5ran were sym athetic to the 2hah before his defeat by the &onstitutionalists.4;86 "he 5ranian Bahais were fairly numerous and some of them had wealth, but they did very little as a grou to minister to the sick and oor and uneducated ortion of the o ulation of their country, though it was commonly re orted that they were often ready to find jobs for eo le whom they were trying to convert. "here were several good schools in "eheran and other laces which were established by %estern Bahais, and for a time a small medical work was carried on by foreigners, not by the 5ranian believers.
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Bahais in 5ran differed little from their (uslim neighbours. @utwardly they wore the same clothes, and heir women usually a eared in ublic covered by the same sort of veils used by (uslims. Nor were their characters and morals different. "hey sometimes racticed olygamy, as did some of the (uslims. "hey usually racticed ta!iya 4concealment of religious belief6, and this often led to lying as to their religion, and to untruthfulness and dishonesty in general. "hough there were of course e7ce tions, 5ranian Bahais on the whole were not at the time of +bdu1:Baha cons icuous for the virtues of urity, honesty, truthfulness, love and service to others which their leaders in +kka had enjoined on them. @f their devotion to +bdu1:Baha there was to !uestion, but like some adherents to other religions they often failed to demonstrate their faith in their daily lives. Before the death of +bdul:Baha, his &ause had been carried to many lands, both )ast and Nest, hut the number of Bahais in all the world was still com aratively small, robably less than ;$,$$$. 4;<6 Hotes
1 # -. =. ;. 8. <. ?. ,. 1$. 11. 1#. 1-. 1=. 1;. 18. 1<. 1?. 1,. #$. #1. ##. #-. #=. #;. #8. #<. #?. #,. -$. -1. -#. --. -=. -;. -8. "he icture of Ceorge *heiralla is to be seen in the +lumni (agaBine of the +merican .niversity of Beirut, 2 ring 1,<$, . =, with the graduates of 1?<$, the first class to graduate from that institution. 1r. /. /. Eessu , "he @utlook, Eune 1,$1, . =;-. 'etter of 1r. 2aeed to the author. 2amuel C. %ilson, Bahaism and its &laims, 9evell 1,1;, . #88. (irBa Eawad, (aterials, . ,-, ,=. "his account is confirmed by 1r. *heirallas own book @ &hristiansI %hy 1o Fe Believe Not @n &hristL &hicago 1,1<, in which he tells the story of his life. (aterials, . 1=5bid., . ,;, ,8, %ilson, . #88. %ilson, . #88. 5bid., . #8<, #8?. Beha.llah 4"he Clory of Cod6, by 5brahim Ceorge *heirulla, &hicago 1,$$. %ilson, . #8<. (aterials, . 11;:1=#. 5bid., . 1#;. 5bid., . ,,, 1$$, $ &hristiansI, . 1<1 ff. %ilson, . #8?, #8,. 5bid., . 1$,:11#. +ccording to 1r. *heiralla 4@ &hristians, . 1?16, it was (irBa (uhammad +li who bestowed on him the degree of 1octor of 1ivinity. %ilson, . #8,. "he "hree Guestions, . #-. %ilson, . #<$. (aterials, . 1;= %ilson, . #<$ @f the four 5ranian missionaries to +merica, (irBa +hdul:*arim 41,$$6, (irBa +sadullah 41,$$6, /ajji (irBa /asan 41,$$6, and (irBa +bul:3aBl 41,$16, the first three finally fell away from the Bahai &ause. %ilson, . #<1 @ &hristians, . 1<8, 1<<. 5bid., . 1?#:1,$. (aterials, . 1;$. 5bid., . 1;1. 5bid., . 1;#. 5bid., . 1<1. + relative has stated that 1r. *heiralla died in Beirut on (arch ?, 1,#,, and was to the end a believer in Bahaullah. (aterials, . 1?-. Bahai %orld 1,#8:1,#?, Aol. 55, . 11;, 1#$. %ilson, . #<,, 2tar of the %est, Eune ;, 1,1=. Bahai %orld 1,#8:1,#?, vol. 55, . 1;1 ff., 9obert 0. 9ichardson, "he @ en &ourt, +ugust 1,1;, . =<? ff. and (arch 1,-1. Bahai %orld, Aol. 55, . 1;$. 2tar of the %est (arch 1,1-, . 1?. 1$< of ##$

-<. -?. -,. =$. =1. =#. =-. ==. =;. =8. =<. =?. =,. ;$. ;1. ;#. ;-. ;=. ;;. ;8.

%ilson, . #<;. 2hoghi )fendi, Cad 0asses By . #<,. 5bid., . #,=. %ashington %ife, Eournal of )llen (aury 2layden 1?,<:1,1,, /ar er and 9ow 1,8-, . 1<#, 1<-. %ilson, . #?1. Cod 0asses By, . -$-. Bahai %orld, vol. 55, . =#, =-. 5bid., . 1==. 5bid., . 1=1:1=-. 5bid., . =$. 5bid., . 1#1, 1##. 5bid., . 11,. Cod 0asses By, . -$$. 5bid, . -8$, -81. +Bals Notes, . ;$#, %ilson, . 1-<. Cod 0asses By, . #,8:#,,. + Fear +mongst the 0ersians, )dward Browne, 'ondon, 1?,-, . 1$1. 0ersian 9evolution, )dward Browne, . =#=:=#,. %ilson, . 1-?:1=1. +vareh, the Bahai historian, after his defection stated in his book *ashful:/iyal 4first rinting, . 1,#6 that 2hoghi )fendi after becoming Cuardian in 1,## took a census of the Bahais of the world, and found that the number of men, women and children was #$,$$$. +ccording to +Bals Notes 40. <##6, at the time of the death of +bdul:Baha the number of Bahais in "urkey, )gy t, 'ebanon, 2yria, 5ra!, 2audi +rabia, 0alestine and Eordan did not e7ceed one thousand. "here were not more than #$$ in 5ndia and Burma. "here were about thirty in the .nited *ingdom, 3rance and Cermany, and si7ty in ish!abad 49ussia6. "he ..2. &ensus of 1,18 gave the number in +merica as #,??=. No accurate statistics for the Bahais of 5ran have ever been available.

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11= The Teachings and 6ill of +bduEl*Baha


+t the time when +bbas )fendi was a child his father Baha was an ardent disci le of the Bab. "he Bab was e7ecuted when +bbas was nine years old, and from that time, till he reached the age of twenty:five, he, like his father, was obedient to 2ubh:i:+Bal his uncle, the successor to the Bab. %hen his father Baha in 1,88 claimed to be a new (anifestation, +bbas )fendi became a Bahai. /is beliefs, therefore, were first those of the 0eo le of the Bayan 4&ha ter 5A6, and later those inculcated by his father Bahaullah 4&ha ter 1116 +s long as his father lived, +bbas )fendi faithfully followed his teachings. /e when a Babi had held the doctrine, on which the Babi system was built, that Cod is unknowable e7ce t in his (anifestations, who are one with his %ill. "hese (anifestations, who a eared at intervals of about one thousand years, were, according to the doctrine of the Bab and Bahaullah, the same as the Creat 0ro hets of 5slam, +dam, Noah, +braham, (oses, Eesus and (uhammad. "o these the Babis added +li (uhammad the Bab, whom they considered the greatest of the (anifestations who had so far a eared. "his was undoubtedly the belief of +bbas )fendi before he became a Bahai. /e then rofessed faith in his father as the greatest of the (anifestations, and relegated the Bab to the osition of 3orerunner for Bahaullah, and ortrayed 2ubh:i:+Bal as the arch:enemy of the &ause of Cod. "his change in his belief is clearly seen in the book which he wrote in 1??8, + "raveller s Narrative, which set forth the official Bahai version of the history of the movement 4see 5ntroduction6. %hen Bahaullah died in 1?,# and +bbas )fendi became, in accordance with his fathers %ill, the divinely a ointed head of the Bahai community, the first roblem which faced him was that of his own osition and authority. 5n his %ill, as well as in the *itab:i:+!das, Bahaullah had commanded all believers to honor and obey the Branches, es ecially the two eldest who were in turn to succeed him.416 Bahaullah had been a (anifestation, and. he s oke as Cod. But how will his successor s eak, and how much authority will he haveL Bahaullah had made it !uite clear that his son could not follow his e7am le and claim to be a (anifestation, for in the *itab:i:+!das 4#6 he had stated, %hoever claims &ommand 4amr6 before the com letion of a thousand years is a false liar..... %hoever e7 lains this verse or inter rets it in. any other way than that lainly sent down, he wi51 be de rived of the 2 irit and (ercy of Cod... /owever, he also commanded4-6 that after his death all matters which his followers do not understand in the +!das are to be referred to the Branch. But will the inter retations of the Book by the branch be infallibleL and will the decisions and ronouncements of the Branch he absolutely authoritative, as were those of BahaullahL +s we have seen, +bbas )fendi gave to himself the title +bdul:Baha 4"he 2lave of Baha6 to indicate his com lete submission to his father. But he also claimed for himself the sole right to inter ret the writings of Bahaullah, and called himself the &enter of the &ovenant. 5n &hicago he !uoted a saying of his father, from the Book of /is &ovenant, as followsD4=6 Aerily, 5 have a ointed a erson who is the &enter of (y &ovenant. +ll must obey /imJ all must turn to /imJ he is the e7 ounder of (y Book and /e is informed of (y ur oses. +ll must turn to /im. %hatsoever /e says is true, for verily, /e knoweth the te7ts of (y Book. @ther than /e, none knoweth the Book. +nd again he said,4;6 /e MBahaullahN has, therefore, commanded that whatever emanates from the &enter of the &ovenant is right....while everything else is error....whoever deviated the least from the &enter of the &ovenant is of the eo le of treachery and well deserves the wrath of Cod. +s was recorded in &ha ter 5K, when +bbas )fendi began to assume these titles and e7ercise this
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authority, a number of the old and devoted and rominent followers of his father, who had access to the %ill of Bahaullah and to the +!das, became disaffected and left him. /owever, as his a ointment as the first successor to Bahaullah could not be called in !uestion by anyone, the majority of Bahais, including a number of the missionaries of the faith, readily gave him theD same reverence and devotion that they had given to his father, and received and cherished his "ablets as ins ired and infallible ronouncements. +bdul:Baha became to them not so much a new (anifestation as an e7tension of Bahaullah. 0robably the death of the father made little difference to the believers in 5ran and other lands, because his son, the (ost (ighty Branch, did for them all that Bahaullah had done. 5n the *itab:i:+!das Bahaullah had said486 that men are like shee and must have a she herd to kee them. +bdu1:Baha undertook to be that she herd, and many, but not all, of the shee followed him. @ver them he e7ercised absolute authority. %hen Bahaullah in 1?88 took over the leadershi of the Babi movement and undertook to lead the Babis forward, he made certain changes in the laws given by the Bab, claiming that he was himself a new lawgiver sent by Cod. %hen his son +bdul:Baha assumed the leadershi of the Bahai community, he realiBed that the changes made by his father were not drastic enough, and still more reforms in the religion must be made if it were to survive and e7 and. 2ince he was not a (anifestation he could not abrogate the laws of Bahaullah and give new ones in their lace, so it was necessary for him to content himself with being an 1nter reter and change the im ractical regulations by his infallible inter retation. "his he did as occasion arose. 3or e7am le, one of the most im ractical and im ossible of the laws of the *itab:i:+!das, which Bahaullah had taken from the Bayan of the Bab, was the law of inheritance. 4<6 %hat could the 5nter reter do with thisL 3or all ractical ur oses he abrogated it by declaring that this law is to be enforced only when a man dies intestate, and that every man has the right to dis ose of his ro erty as he thinks fit.4?6 Bahaullah had stated 4,6 that the writing of a %ill has been made incumbent an everyone, so no obedient Bahai would ever die intestate. 'ikewise, the only limitations which Bahaullah in the *itab:i:+!das laces on marriage are that a man may not marry more than two women at the same time, and that a son may not marry his fathers wives. 41$6 "his second rovision seemed to +bdul: Baha to give to a man too much latitude, so he declared4116 that this does not mean that he is free to marry any other woman, but that the more distant the relationshi between. a man and woman the better it is. "hus the divine laws were made to conform to the o inions and customs revalent in the world of the "wentieth &entury into which +bdul:Baha was introducing the Bahai &ause. 5t seems that +bdu1:Baha even more than his father was disinclined to engage in the mystical and meta hysical s eculations which had characteriBed the writings of the Bah. %hen 1r. *heiralla, just back from +merica, tried to engage his (aster in a discussion about the )ssence of Cod, he was !uietly ushed aside.41#6 +hdu1: Baha said that he did not want any disagreement with the learned men of 5ran. /e was content to maintain in his contacts with the )ast the same basic beliefs about Cod and man and the world that had come to his father from the 2haykhis and 2ufis. /owever, when the &enter of the &ovenant began to turn his attention toward the %est he found the situation !uite different, and it became necessary for him to adjust his teaching to the beliefs of eo le who had been influenced more or less by &hristian or western conce ts. 1r. Eessu of Beirut once com ared +bbas )fendi to a tower clock in the military barracks in Beirut which had two faces. "he eastern face gave the hours from sunset, as was done then in the )ast, while the western face gave the hours from noon as was done in the %est. 2o, said 1r. Eessu , +bbas )fendi resented one face to the (uslims and the "urkish Covernment and the Bahais of 5ran, and !uite a different face to the )uro eans and +mericans who visited him in +kka, and whom
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he later visited in their own lands. 41-6 /aving studied the Bible he might ossibly have said in self: defence that he, like 0aul, had to become all things to all men that he might by all means win some followers. Both the Bab and Bahaullah had read the Bible, and the writings of both were somewhat influenced by Biblical teachings. 5n the 5!an es ecially Bahaullah refers to and inter rets the meaning of several assages from the Bible, though most of his references are to the *oran. Both of these men sowed their seed chiefly in soil that was 5slamic, and they did not gra le with the roblem of resenting their doctrines to eo le who called. Cod 3ather and who considered Eesus to be the 2on and erfect revealer of Cod. %e have in the revious cha ter seen how 1r. *heiralla, himself from a &hristian background, sought to make Bahaism intelligible and attractive to +mericans. /e largely ignored (uhammad, who was never greatly admired by &hristians either in the Nest or in the )ast.. /e introduced Bahaullah as the (anifestation of Cod the 3ather, and therefore greater than Eesus &hrist the 2on of Cod. +nd who was +bdu1:BahaL /e was &hrist come again, as he had romisedI 2o the +merican converts came to +kka to see &hrist, and some of them worshi ed him as (aster. 1id +bdul:Baha acce t this inter retationL 5t seems that at first he did so, for he gave the highest raise to his clever missionary who had converted so many eo le in the Nest to the Bahai &ause. + little later the learned Bahai writer (irBa +bu1:3aBl went to +merica and s ent several years there as a missionary of +bdul:Baha. /e ublished several books in )nglish, in which he undertook to rove that the coming of Bahaullah and his son had been redicted in the Bible. 3or e7am le, he stated that when Cod said in 0salm #., *iss the son lest he be angry,41=6 the reference was to +bdu1:Baha. +lso when it was said in the book of 5saiah 41;6 that the branch of the 'ard will be beautiful and glorious, the (ost (ighty Branch is foretold. 'ikewise, the same Branch is s oken of in the book of Qechariah, when the 'ord says,4586 Behold, the man whose name is the Branch....and he shall build the tem le of the lord....and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule u on his throne.... (irBa +bu1:3aBl e7 lains the assage as followsD 41<6 +nd these gracious verses and great tidings are e7ceedingly clear. +fter the occultation of the Blessed 'ord MBahaullahN, the Branch of /is )7cellency shall sit on the throne of raise. "he Branch that s ringeth forth from the +ncient 2tock shall take his lace u on the throne of glory, and sha51 build the tem le of the 'ord, in other words, he shall build the lace around which the arch: angels circle, and shall make the word of Cod owerful and victorious in )ast and %est. "he reference in Qechariah is, of course, to the a ointment of Qerubbabel as ruler in Eerusalem 4;-? B.&.6. 5n like manner verses from the New "estament are inter reted by (irBa +bu1:3aBl as clear references to +bdu1:Baha. "hus when Eesus says,41?6 3or the 2on of man shall come in the glory of his 3ather with his angels, the 3ather is Bahaullah and the 2on of man is +hdu1:Baha. +gain, when in the book of 9evelation it is said,41,6 "he kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our lord, and of his &hristD and he shall reign for ever and ever, we are told that the 'ord is Bahaullah, and his &hrist is +(u1:Baha, who will reign for ever. 9egarding these inter retations of (irBa +bul:3aBl, 9ichards writesD4#$6 "here is nothing in the teaching of Bahaullah to justify this method of inter retation, for, though he teaches that all references to Cod in 2cri ture are to be read as referring to the (anifestation, he definitely claims to ossess a uni!ue station which is shared by none.4#1.6 "hroughout (irBa +bu1:3aBls teaching we see the tendency to associate +bdul:Baha with, his father as ossessing e!ual glory. /e sits on the throne of glory, and the kingdom is e!ually his... 5t is +hdu1: Baha who judges men,
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and rewards them according to their deeds. /e is no longer the inter reter of Bahai teaching and the slave of Bahaullah, he is the co: ruler, showing forth in himself all the glory that belonged to Bahaullah as the erfect (anifestation. 5t seems that +bdu1:Baha acce ted these inter retations, as he had a roved the reaching of 1r. *heiralla, for there is no evidence that he re udiated either the teaching or (irBa +bu1:3aBl the teacher. /owever, after his visits to the %est it a ears that he found these high titles and the worshi which some gave to him a cause of embarrassment, and in 1,1= he e7 ressed himself !uite strongly about his osition. 4##6 /e saidD 5 am +bdul Baha, and no more. 5 am not leased with whoever raises me with any other title. 5 am the 2ervant at the threshold of the Blessed 0erfection....%hoever mentions any other name save this will not lease me at all....+fter the 1e arture of the Blessed 0erfection and until the + earance of the ne7t (anifestation there is no other station save the 2tation of 2ervitude, ure and absolute. +nd at another time he statedD4#-6 5 am not &hrist, 5 am not )ternal Cod, 5 am hut the servant of Baha. /owever, by many of the Bahais he was still thought to be one with his 3ather in ower and glory, and his writings were included with those of Bahaullah in their sacred 2cri tures.4#=6 "hus the )ditors in the 3oreword to the )7cer ts from the %ill of +bdu1:Baha ublished in the Bahai %orld writeD4#;6 By the a ointment of +bdu1:Baha as the &enter of /is &ovenant, Bahaullah rolonged /is own ministry for well:nigh thirty years.....3or the words of +bdul:Baha, according to the te7t of this a ointment, have e!ual rank and s iritual validity with those of the (anifestation 4i.e., Bahaullah6. %e may, therefore, conclude that in the %est as well as in the )ast +bdu1: Baha was widely thought of as a divine being, a continuation of the (anifestation of Bahaullah. 2ince all that +bdu1:Baha wrote and s oke is considered by his followers as ins ired and infallible teaching, and since he between 1?,# and 1,#1 s oke and give in this cha ter more than a few sam les of his rece ts and ronouncements. "he )nglish reader is referred to Bahai 2cri tures4#=6 in which are found nearly -$$ large ages filled with the words of +bdul: Baha, most of which were directed to eo le in the %est. +lso to Bahai %orld 3aith4#8l, and to other translations of his teachings. +bdu1:Baha taught that Bahaullah is Cod (anifest. "his is the day in which the 'ord of /osts has come down from heaven on the clouds of glory,4#<6 and he is the greatest of the (anifestations,4#?6 and was foretold in all the revious 2cri tures.4#,6 "he +bha Beauty is the 2u reme (anifestation of Cod and the 1ays ring of /is (ost 1ivine )ssence.4-$6 5t is noteworthy that +bdul:Baha, even in +merica and )ngland, did not often s eak of Cod as 3ather. 0robably one reason was that he, coming out of a (uslim tradition in which it was considered blas hemous to call Cod 3ather and Eesus 2on of Cod, found it difficult to use these terms. (oreover, according to his belief, Cod is im ersonal and unknowable. 0ersonality is in the (anifestation of the 1ivinity, not in the essence of the 1ivinity.....By seeing Cod is meant beholding the (anifestation of /imself.4-16 No one hath any access to the 5nvisible )ssence. "he way is barred and the road im assable.4-#6 5f Cod does not ossess ersonality, it would of course be im ossible to address him as 3ather, or to address him at all. 2o +bdul:Baha usually follows the 5slamic custom of calling him 'ord, and of s eaking of believers not as children of Cad,4--6 but as Cods slaves, which in )nglish has been translated servants. )ven the eldest son of Bahaullah the 'ord took as his title the 2lave of Baha. (uslims have often accused &hristians of corru ting their 2cri tures, and have said that the Bible is
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no longer authentic. "his charge was ronounced false by Bahaullah, and both he and his son fre!uently referred to the Bible as a roof of their doctrines. /owever when the Bible teaching did not agree with Bahai ideas it was often inter reted in a way to change com letely the meaning. 3or instance, all miraculous events like the healing of the sick and the resurrection of &hrist were said to have only a s iritual meaning. +bdul:Baha declared that all the holy (anifestations were united and agreed in ur ose and teaching, and here he names Qoroaster and Buddha along with the traditional (anifestations.4-=6 4%e wonder what the Babwould have said of this innovation6 "here is no differentiation ossible, he continued, 4-;6 in their mission and teachingsJ all are reflectors of reality followers of these systems have disagreed. "herefore, he says,4-86 %hen &hristians act according to the teachings of &hrist they are called Bahais. 3or the foundations of &hristianity and the religion of Baha are one. +s the sun of today is the same as the sun of yesterday, so the (anifestations are all one 2un.4-<6 /ence, all the great religions are true, and all followers of these faiths can and should unite on one world faith, which is the Bahai 3aith.. "his teaching was leasing to eo le in the %est of .nitarian and .niversalist and ultra:liberal tendencies, who resented the e7clusive claims of &hristianity as well as of 5slam. 3or those members of the &hristian community who had only a su erficial ac!uaintance with &hristianity and the other religions it was !uite easy to assent to the ro osition that all religions are one. "he !uestion as to whether a Eew could remain a member of the synagogue, and a &hristian a member of a church, on becoming a Bahai was not answered clearly by +bdul:Baha. /owever, since he attended the (uslim mos!ue and observed the rites of 5slam in +kka, and was recogniBed by (uslims as being one of them, the conclusion could easily be drawn that such dual membershi of Bahais was ossible and desirable. "hough +bdul:Baha was welcomed in a number of churches during his tours in the %est, and was ermitted to s eak in them, it seems that he did not think highly of the &hristian &hurch. @f course, from his oint of view, &hristians had twice failed to believe on Cods (anifestations, once when they rejected (uhammad, and again when they rejected Bahaullah, so their guilt was great, and their &hurch was a body without a s irit. 5n re ly to a !uestion from a member of a church he wroteD4-?6 "hou hast !uestioned how thou canst acce t this divine &ause, for thou art a member of the church. *now thou in the day of the (anifestation of &hrist, many souls became ortionless and de rived because they were members of the /oly of /olies in Eerusalem. +ccording to that membershi , they became veiled from his brilliant Beauty. "herefore, turn thy face to the &hurch of Cod, which consists in divine instructions and merciful e7hortations. 3or what similarity is there between the church of stone and cement, and the &elestial /oly of /oliesL )ndeavour that thou mayest enter this &hurch of Cod.....+lthough they consider the wine and the bread in the church as the blood and body of &hrist, yet this is but a earance and not reality....."he erformance of the celebration of ba tism would cleanse the body, but the s irit hath no shareJ hut the divine teachings and the e7hortations of the Beauty of +bha will ba tiBe the soul. 5 ho e that thou wilt receive this ba tism. 3rom the New "estament +bdul:Baha had learned the rimary im ortance of 'ove, and love to all men occu ied a large lace in his teaching. 5n his address on 'ove at Creen +cre in 1,1# he said4-,6 that love is the cause of the e7istence of all henomena and that the absence of love is the cause of disintegration or non:e7istence.....5f love were e7tinguished, the ower of attraction dis elled, the affinity of human hearts destroyed, the henomena of human life would disa ear....9eal love is the love which e7ists between Cod and /is servants P the love which hinds
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together holy souls.....%ere it not far the love of Cod hearts would be inanimate, s irits would wither... +mong the signs of /is 'ove which a ear in the world are the 1awning:0oints of /is (anifestations....3or the sake of guiding the eo le they have willingly forfeited their lives..."hey have acce ted the crass...."herefore consider how much they love. %ere it not for their love far humanity, 2 iritual 'ove would be a mere name. +nd in another connection he saysD4=$6 'et us have love, and more love, a love that melts all o osition, that swee s away all harriers, that con!uers all foes, a love that aboundeth in charity....)ach one must he a sign of love, a center of love, a sun of love....a universe of love. /ast thou loveL "hen thy ower is irresistible. +nd againD4=16 Fou must love humanity in order to u lift and beautify humanity. )ven if eo le slay you, yet you must love them..... %e are creatures of the same Cod, therefore we must love all as children of Cod even though they are doing us harm. &hrist loved his ersecutors. 5t is ossible for us to attain to that love. +fter reading these beautiful words it is disa ointing to discover in other utterances of +bdul: Baha that he found it im ossible to love certain eo le. 5t a ears that he to the end of his life cherished great bitterness toward the &ovenant:breakers, the leader of whom had been his own brother (irBa (uhammad +li. 5n his %ill he s eaks of them as ferocious lions, ravening wolves, blood:thirsty beasts,4=#6 and there is no evidence that he ever forgave and showed love to them. 5n his addresses and e istles to eo le in the %est +bdul:Baha said little about the (anifestation who followed &hrist, who according to the Bab and Bahaullah was su erior to &hrist, for he knew that eo le ac!uainted with the Bible and the *oran would not readily agree that (uhammad occu ied a higher lace than &hrist, and that the teachings of the *oran were su erior to those of the 2ermon on the (ount. .sually he by: assed 5slam, and s oke of Bahaullah as the (anifestation after &hrist, or the return of &hrist. 5t is evident from his teachings that +bdu1:Baha was not so much concerned about mans relation to Cod as he was about the roblems of mans life on earth. 5n short, he wrote,4=-6 by religion we mean those necessary bonds which unify the world of humanity. +nd again, 4==6 +ll the religions are revealed for the sake of good fellowshi . "he fundamentals, the foundations, of all are fellowshi , unity and love. +nd so he s oke much about the unity of all mankind. 5t is unfortunate that some of the ublic ronouncements of +bdul:Baha were marred by inaccuracies which have found their why into the Bahai 2cri tures. 3ar e7am le, he saidD4=;6 "he Blessed 0erfection Bahaullah belonged to the royal family of 0ersia. But it is well known that he was not a rince. +lso he saidD 4=86 "he Blessed 0erfection was a risoner twenty:five years. 1uring all this time he was subjected to the indignities and revilement of the eo le. /e was ersecuted, mocked and ut in chains. +nd againD 4=<6 +fter twenty:four years in the greatest rison, +cca, /is life was ended in great trouble and hardshi . 5n short, all the time of the sojourn of the Blessed 0erfection MBahaullahN....in this mortal world, /e was either restrained with chains or ke t under hanging swords, enduring the most ainful afflictions. %hile Bahaullah had many troubles, he lived during the later years of his life in comfort in the Bahji 0alace outside +kka, where there were no chains or swords. 5n s eaking of Nasirud:1in the 2hah of 5ran he saidD4=?6 /e was a des ot who through his decree could kill a thousand men each day. "here was not a day during which he did not kill many eo le. %hile the 2hah was not without faults, this statement of his ferocity is of course a gross e7aggeration. 5n the same aragra h the Babi heroine Gurratul:+yn is called a Bahai, whereas her rank among the Babis was higher than that of Baha. +nd there also a ears the statement,4=,6 so often !uoted by Bahais, that for the establishment of 5nternational 0eace the blood of twenty:
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thousand Bahais was s lit. +s was stated reviously, it is doubtful whether there have been in all more than two or three hundred Bahai martyrs. +nd if the Babis, killed in the insurrections, are counted as Bahais, a fact which was strenuously denied by Baha in his conciliatory e istle to the 2hah,4;$6 robably less than five thousand of them lost their lives. +nd to say that either the Babis or the Bahais died for 1nternational 0eace is hardly e7act. Nor was his remark that 2arah was the sister of +brahams mother4;16 any more accurate. 3inally, the thousands of Eews whose ancestors have lived in 5ran for #;$$ years would certainly he sur rised to learn from +bdul:Baha4;#.6 that before the rise of &hrist....the name of (oses had not been heard in 0ersia. "hese glaring inaccuracies suggest that the infallibility of the 5nter reter did not cover details of history. 5t is easier to overlook such minor mistakes, however, than to e7cuse +l7iu1:Baha for untrue statements such as the followingD4;-6 5n the @rient the various eo les and nations were in a state of antagonism and strife, manifesting the utmost enmity and hatred toward one another. 1arkness encom assed the world of mankind. +t such a time as this, Bahaullah a eared. /e removed all the imitations and rejudices which had caused se aration and misunderstanding, and laid the foundation of the one religion of Cod. %hen this was accom lished, (ohammedans, &hristians, Eews, Qoroastrians, Buddhists all were united in actual fellowshi and love. +nd againD4;=6 %e have for our subject the reconciliation of the religious systems of the world.....1o not !uestion the racticability of this and be not astonished. 5t has been effected and accom lished in 0ersia M5ranN.....No traces of discord or difference remainJ the utmost love, kindness, and unity are a arent. "hey are united and live together like a single family in harmony and accord. 1iscord and strife have assed away. 'ove and fellowshi now revail instead. "he im ression which one would get from hearing these statements about the influence of Bahaullah in his native land is that Bahaism is the dominant religion in 5ran, and that because of it religious strife has disa eared. "he most charitable thing that can be said is that +bdul:Baha left 5ran when a boy and had not seen it since, and was !uite uninformed as to the situation. "he Bahais have always been a small minority in 5ran, and their resence has unfortunately created discord more often than it has roduced eace. %hen +bdul:Baha was at &lifton, )ngland, on Eanuary 18, 1,1-, he made a memorable address in which, among other things, he saidD4;;6 Nearly si7ty years ago when the horiBon of the @rient was in a state of the utmost gloom, warfare e7isted and there was enmity between the various creeds.....at such a time /is /ighness Bahau15ah arose from the horiBon of 0ersia M5ranN like a shining sun. /e boldly roclaimed eace, writing to the kings of the earth and calling on them to arise and assist in the hoisting of this banner. 5n order to bring eace out of the chaos, he established certain rece ts or rinci les. /e then roceeds to enumerate and e7 lain ten of the rinci les of Bahaullah. Briefly they are as followsD 16 #6 -6 =6 ;6 86 <6 ?6 "he inde endent investigation of truth. "he oneness of the human race. 5nternational eace. "he conformity of religion to science and reason. 9eligious, racial, olitical, and atriotic rejudice must be banished. "he e!uality of men and women. +ll classes of society are to work together in love and harmony. "he arliament of man as a court of last a eal in international !uestions.
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,6 1$6

.niversal education. + universal language.

5t is instructive to com are this list with that drawn u by Bahaullah himself some twenty:three years earlier 4&ha ter A5556. 2ince most of these rinci les are not found in the fifteen items listed by Bahaullah, it is more accurate to attribute these ten rinci les to +bdu1:Baha himself. (ost of them are not religious rinci les at all, and could easily be ado ted not only by Eews, &hristians and (uslims, but also by materialists and atheists. 5t is indeed remarkable how successful +bdu1:Baha has been in this statement of his &ause to the eo le in the %est, in shaking off every vestige of the old Babi order, and clothing his movement in more modern garments suited to the new age. 9egarding these changes 0rofessor Browne wrote in 1,1?D4;86 "he olitical ideals of the Bahai have undergone considerable evolution since their ro aganda achieved such success in +merica, where they have come into more or less connection with various international, acifist and feminist movements. "hese tendencies were, however, im licit in Bahaullahs teachings at a much earlier date, as shown in the recommendation of a universal language and scri t in the *itab:i:+!das, the e7altation of humanitarianism over atriotism, the insistence on the brotherhood of all believers, irres ective of race or colour, and the ever: resent idea of the (ost Creat 0eace. + brief consideration of these 0rinci les will suffice here. "he inde endent investigation of truth was not a new idea, for the 2hiite theologians had long ago maintained that in matters which. concern the fundamentals of religion, ersonal investigation 4tah!i!6 is obligatory.4;<6 "he !uestion arises, what ossibility remains for inde endent investigation when +bdu1:Baha is the only authoriBed inter reter of the Bahai 2cri tures, and when he tells us,4;?6 %hatever emanates from the &enter of the &ovenant is right..... while everything else is errorL Nor is the doctrine of the oneness of humanity new, either to readers of the Bible, or to 5ranians who memoriBed in childhood the beautiful verse of the thirteenth century oet 2aadi, who wrote, "he children of. +dam are members of one another, created from one essence, created from one source. Bahaullah had early issued ronouncements about reducing armaments because of their great e7 ense, and had forbidden religious war 4Eihad6. %hen @ld "estament ro hecies were inter reted as redictions of the coming of Bahaullah, it vas easy to take the words in (icah.4;,6 about the time when men would beat their swords into lowshares as a romise of his (ost Creat 0eace. 5t is indeed distressing that during the century following this romise of eace the most terrible wars of history have been waged, and there is no eace on earth. "he conformity of religion to science and reason is something that was entirely new, no trace of which can be found in the teachings of Bahaullah. %hence came this new elementL 5t seems to have come from 3rance. "he Bahai faith was introduced into 3rance by /i olyte 1reyfus a Eewish convert, who in his effort to make it acce table to the rationalistic eo le of. 3rance resented it as a scientific religion.48$6 0reviously the (uslim ancestors of the Bahais had gloried in miracles, but now the miraculous becomes taboo, and all miracles in the 2cri tures are inter reted s iritually. +bdul:Baha welcomed this 3rench flavouring for his 3aith. +ll sorts of rejudice must be banished. "his would follow from the unity of mankind. +hdu1: Baha well knew the evil of the rejudice and hatred from which the Bab and Bahaullah had suffered. /e also must have recogniBed the bitterness in the attitude of the Bahais toward the +Balis, and of him and his followers to the .nitarians. /ence, from ersonal e7 erience he could insist on the need for the elimination of all rejudice.
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+s for the e!uality of men and women, Bahaullah knew nothing of this rinci le, which would have seemed to him !uite heretical. 5n the *itab:i:+!das a man is ermitted to marry two women, and both the divorce and inheritance laws allow rivileges to men which are denied to women.4816 "his new teaching emanated not from +kka but from the %est. "he working together of all classes of society in love and harmony is a beautiful ideal, e7 ressed long ago in the divine command to love ones neighbour as oneself. But how are men to be changed so that they will have both the desire and the ower to so actL "he idea of the arliament of man is no doubt derived from the /ouse of Eustice ro osed by Bahaullah, which would have full authority after the death of his two Branches, +bbas )fendi and (irBa (uhammad +li. 5t was of course to he com osed of Bahais, and chosen by Bahais, to rule over a Bahai 2tate. 5t would, therefore, be some time before this rinci le could be realiBed in ractice. (eanwhile, the .nited Nations com osed mostly of unbelievers is trying to assist the eo les of the world at least to talk to each other. Bahaullah commanded48#6 that Bahais educate their children, and this many of them have faithfully done. "he thought of universal education was introduced by +hdu1:Baha after seeing what was done in this field in the %est. +nd, finally, the command that one language be chosen and taught to everybody so that eo le would not disagree was from Bahaullah, 48-6 but it was never determined which language it was to be )s eranto was tried for a time, but was a failure. 3rom the oint of view of Bahai organiBation the most im ortant of the writings of +bdul:Baha is his 'ast %ill and "estament, a lengthy document in 0ersian and +rabic, which was ublished in 1,#= in &airo by the Bahai 2 iritual +ssembly. 5t a ears that the different ortions of the %ill were written at different times, some being !uite early. "he %ill, in addition to other matters, contains 4a6 allegations against 2ubh:i:+Bal, 4h6 allegations against (irBa (uhammad +li, 4c6 allegations against (irBa Badiullah, 4d6 rovisions for the Cuardianshi , and 4e6 rovisions for the national and international /ouses of Eustice. )7cer ts from the %ill have been translated and ublished in )nglish.48=6 +lso, e7cer ts in the original languages, with a full discussion of the contents of the %ill, are found in +Bals Notes.48;6 +ccording to +Bal, this %ill was never robated.4886 "he ortions of this document which are of rinci al interest to us at this oint are those which make rovision for the leadershi of the Bahai &ause after the death of the &enter of the &ovenant. %e have already e7 lained at the beginning of &ha ter 5K that Bahaullah had made it !uite clear in the *itab:i:+!das and in his %ill that on the death of his eldest son +bbas )fendi the leadershi was to go to a younger son, (irBa (uhammad +li. /e did not a oint a successor to (uhammad +li, but commanded that thereafter matters should be referred to the /ouse of Eustice, and determined by members of that /ouse in accordance with his ins ired writings.48<6 @ne would have assumed that the man who called himself the 2lave of Baha would have scru ulously obeyed his fathers command, and in his 'ast %ill and "estament would have turned over the leadershi to his brother (irBa (uhammad +li. "his, however, he did not do. +fter having for years stigmatiBed his brother as &ovenant:breaker, +bdu1:Baha in his 'ast %ill and "estament com letely ignored his fathers &ovenant, and a ointed as his successor not his brother but his grandson 2hoghi )fendi,48?6 with the title Cuardian of the &ause 4%aliul:+mr6. %e will !uote some of the rovisions of the %ill as translated in the Bahai %orld. 48,6 @ my loving friendsI +fter the assing away of this wronged one, it is incumbent u on the +ghsan
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4Branches6, the +fnan 4"wigs64<$6....the /ands of the &ause of Cod,4<16 and the loved ones of the +bha Beauty MBahaullah1 to turn unto 2hoghi )ffendi..... as he is the sign of Cod, the guardian of the &ause of Cod...../e is the e7 ounder of the words of Cod, and after him will succeed the first: born of his lineal descendants. "he sacred and youthful branch, the guardian of the &ause of Cod, as well as the .niversal /ouse of Eustice, to be universally elected and established, are both under the care and rotection of the +bha Beauty.....%hatsoever they decide is of Cod. %hoso obeyeth him not, neither obeyeth them, hath not obeyed CodJ whoso rebelleth against him and against them hath rebelled against CodJ whoso o oseth him hath o osed Cod.....whoso dis uteth with him hath dis uted with CodJ whose denieth him hath denied CodJ whoso disbelieveth in him hath disbelieved in Cod.....(ay the wrath, the fierce indignation, the vengeance of Cod rest u on himI.....5t is incumbent u on the members of the /ouse of Eustice, u on all the +ghsan, the +fnan, the /ands of the &ause of Cod to show their obedience, submissiveness and subordination unto the guardian of the &ause of Cod, to turn unto him and be lowly before him....."he /ands of the &ause of Cod must be ever watchful and so soon as they find anyone beginning to o ose and rotest against the guardian of the &ause of Cod, cast him out from the congregation of the eo le of Baha and in no wise acce t any e7cuse from him. 5t is incumbent u on the guardian of the &ause of Cod to a oint in his own lifetime him that shall become his successor, that differences may not arise after his assing. /e that is a ointed must manifest in himself detachment from all worldly things, must be the essence of urity, must show in himself the fear of Cad, knowledge, wisdom and learning. "hus, should the first:born of the guardian of the &ause of Cod not manifest in himself the truth.....and his glorious lineage not be matched with a goodly character, then must he 4the guardian6 choose another branch to succeed him. "he /ands of the &ause of Cod must elect from their own number nine ersons that shall at all times be occu ied in the im ortant services in the work of the guardian of the &ause of Cad.....and these.....must give their assent to the choice of the one whom the guardian of the &ause of Cod hath chosen as his successor....."he /ands of the &ause of Cod must be nominated and a ointed by the guardian of the &ause of Cod. +ll must be under 1Dis shadow and obey his command. 2hould any....disobey and seek division, the wrath of Cod and his vengeance will be u on him..... "he obligations of the /ands of the &ause of Cod are to diffuse the 1ivine 3ragrances, to edify the souls of men, to romote learning....."hey must manifest the fear of Cod by their conduct, their manners, their deeds and their words..... %herefore, @ my loving friendsI &onsort with all the eo les, kindreds and religions of the world with the utmost truthfulness....kindliness, good:will and friendliness....2hould other eo les and nations be unfaithful to you show your fidelity to them....should they show their enmity be friendly toward them, should they oison your lives sweeten their souls.... +nd now concerning the /ouse of Eustice which Cod hath ordained as the source of all good and freed from all error, it must be elected by universal suffrage, that is, by the believers. 5ts members must be manifestations of the fear of Cod.... By this /ouse is meant the .niversal /ouse of EusticeJ that is in all countries a secondary /ouse of Eustice must he instituted, and these secondary /ouses of Eustice must elect the members of the .niversal one. .nto this body all things must be referred. 5t enacteth all ordinances and regulations that are not to be found in the e7 licit /oly "e7t. By this body all the difficult roblems are to be resolved, and the guardian of the &ause of Cod is its sacred head and the distinguished member for life of that body....2hould any of the members commit a sin, injurious to the common weal , guardian of the &ause of Cod hath at his own discretion the right to e7 el him, whereu on the eo le must 1 t another one in his stead......nto the (ost /oly Book
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4*itab:i:+!das6 every one must turn and all that is not e7 ressly recorded therein must he referred to the .niversal /ouse of Eustice. "hat which this body, whether unanimously or by a majority doth carry, is verily the "ruth and the 0ur ose of Cod /imself. 5n closing his %ill +du>l Baha makes another a eal to all Bahais to be loyal to the Cuardian. 5t is incumbent u on you to take the greatest care of 2hoghi )ffendi....that no dust of des ondency and sorrow may stain his radiant nature.... 3or he is, after +bdul:Baha, the Cuardian of the &ause of Cod..../e that obeyeth him not hath not obeyed CadJ he that turneth away from him hath turned away from Cod ....."o none is given the right to gut forth his own o inion or e7 ress his articular convictions. +ll must seek guidance and turn to the &enter of the &ause and the /ouse of Eustice. +nd he that turneth unto whatsoever else is indeed in grievous error. 3rom these rovisions for the future of the &ause it is evident that as +bdul:Baha, without ever calling himself a (anifestation, had assumed for himself the same authority that had been claimed by Bahaullah, so by bestowing absolute authority on 2hoghi )fendi as the infallible Cuardian of the &ause of Cod, and by authoriBing him to a oint his son or one of his lineal descendants as his successor, +bdul:Baha intended to e7tend indefinitely the Baha (anifestation, making it hereditary in his family, similar to the 2hiite 5mamate. /e commanded that the members of the .niversal /ouse of Eustice and the /ands of the &ause and all believers must be com letely obedient and subservient to the Cuardian, and no one is to have the right to !uestion anything he says or does. 5t is not clear how the doctrine of the infallible and omni otent Cuardianshi is to be reconciled with the 0rinci le of the 5nde endent 5nvestigation of "ruth. Nor is it clear how the command for all believers to turn to the (ost /oly Book 4*itab:i:+!das6 could have been obeyed, since no authoriBed translation of this rare +rabic book had been ublished. +s for the establishment of /ouses of Eustice, the reader will recall.4<#6 that Bahaullah in his rovisions in the +!das for the /ouses of Eustice antici ated the time when some nation or nations would acce t his religion and would be ruled by a Bahai government and Bahai laws. "he legislative body would then be what he termed the /ouse of Eustice, to which all matters not rovided for in the *itab:i:+!das would be referred for decision, and the laws enacted by this body would be enforced by the Bahai government. 5t seems that +bdul:Bahas lan for the /ouse of Eustice was similar to that of his father, for in his %ill, in a section omitted from the )7cer ts 3rom the %ill +nd "estament @f +bdu1:Baha in "he Bahai %orld 1,#8:1,#?, he statesD4<-6 "he /ouse of Eustice is the legislative authority and the government the e7ecutive ower, "he legislative body must reinforce the e7ecutiveJ and the e7ecutive must aid and assist the legislative body, so that, through the connection and consolidation of these two forces, the foundation of fairness and justice may become firm and strong, that regions 4of earth6 may become....0aradise. "hus, though +bdul:Baha knew that no nation in the near future would ado t the Bahai faith as its established religion, he nevertheless commanded that national /ouses of Eustice and an international /ouse of Eustice be established, and that 2hoghi )fendi as Cuardian of the &ause of Cod be the head of the .niversal /ouse of Eustice. 5t is evident that so long as there is no government to enforce the decisions of the /ouse of Eustice, this body would function more like a church. court than a olitical arliament, and many of the laws of the *itab:i:+!das would be ineffectual. 5n the following cha ter we will see how the commands of the &enter of the &ovenant were carried out by his grandson.
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5bid., . -,, ;8, <$. 5n his re ly to %ar!a 4!uoted in the %ill of (irBa (uhammad +li, . 1?:1,, refer to +Bals Notes, . 1$,,6, Bahaullah stated that by Book he intended only the *itab:i:+!das since he did not name the branch from whom inter retation of the +!das should be sought, it would seem that both of his sons had the right of inter retation of the Book. 2cri tures, . #?#. "he %ill of Bahaullah, which he called the Book of (y &ovenant, is found in the official history of the Bahai movement written by +yati 4+vareh6 under the title +l:*awakib +l:1urriyya, ublished in &airo in 1,#=, in vol. 55, . #$:##. 3rom this document it is clear that +bdul:Baha was authoriBed only to maintain the law of the +!das, and to e7 lain the +!das to any who could not understand it. 2ince it was written in +rabic it was a closed book to most Bahais. "here seems to be nothing in Bahaullahs %ill to substantiate +bdul:Bahas statement here !uoted. 5bid., . ;=<. +!das, . ;<. 5bid., . #,, see &ha ter A555. "he 9eligion of the Bahais, E. 9. 9ichards, 'ondon 1,-#, . ,?, !uoting (okatib:i:+bdul:Baha, Aol. 555, . -<#. +!das, . ;-. 5bid., . =$, ;-. 9ichards, . ,?, !uoting (ok., vol. 555, . -<$. (aterials, . 1$#, 1$-. "he @utlook, /. /. Eessu , Eune ##, 1,$1, . =;8. 0salm #D1#. 5saish =D#. Qechariah 8D1#,1-. 9ichards, . 181, 18#. (atthew 18D#<. 9evelation 11D1;. 9ichards, . 18-, 18=. +!das, . -=. 2cri tures, . #?=, #?;. 9ichards, . ,=, !uoting (ok, Aol. 555, . 1?,. 2ee Bahai 2cri tures, 1,#-. Bahai %orld 1,#8:1,#?, ublished by Bahai 0ublishing &ommittee 1,#?, . ?l. Bahai %orld 3aith, Bahai ublishing "rust, %ilmette, 5llinois, 1,=-. 2cri tures, . #88. 5bid., . =81. 5bid., . =88. 5bid., . ;;=. 5bid., . =?#. 5bid., . =;,. 1 Eohn -D1,#. 2cri tures, . --$. 5bid., . --1. 5bid., . -?#. 5bid., . -?#, =81. 5bid., . =;<, =;?. 5bid., . -;8:-;,. 5bid., . =;=. 5bid., . =;$. 5bid., . ;;-. 5bid., . ==?. 5bid., . #<;. 5bid., . #?8. 5bid., . #?,. 5bid., . -81. 5bid., . -$,. 5bid., . -18, -1<. + "ravellers Narrative, . 1;8:18$. Bahaullah stated to the 2hah that his followers have made no disturbance or rebellion. 2cri tures, . -,-. 5bid., . -,=. 1#$ of ##$

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5bid., . --;, --8. 2cri tures, . -;1. 5bid., . #<;:#<,. (aterials, . K5K. al:Babul:/adi +shar, %illiam (c)lwee (iller, 'uBac, 'ondon, 1,#?, . <. 2cri tures, . ;=<. (icah =D1:;. 9ichards, . 1$1, 11#. +!das, . #,, =$:=-. 5bid., . -<, -?. 5bid., . <=. Bahai %orld 1,#8:1,#?, . ?1:?,. +Bals Notes, . 1;$ ff., and facsimile of the rinted co y of the %ill in the original te7t. 2ee + endi7 55, Nos. 1#, 1=, 1;, 1?, 1,, and =8. 5bid., . 1;$. +!das, . -1, -?, -,. +bdu1:Baha had no son. 2hoghi )fendi was the son of his eldest daughter Qiyaiyya and (irBa /adi of 2hiraB. 5t is said that (unira the wife of +bdul:Baha set her heart on having her grandson as the successor, and incited her husband to a oint him 4+Bals Notes, . #,8, 8;,6. Bahai %orld 1,#8:1,#?, . ?=:?,. "he +ghsan were the sons of Bahau11ah, and the +fnan were relatives of the Bab 4(aterials, . =,, n. #6. "he /ands of the &ause were formerly the leaders. 'ater in 1,;1 2hoghi )fendi made the /ands an office, and a ointed certain eo le to it. 2ee &ha ter A555. +Bals Notes, . ?#-, ?#=, %ill, and "estament of +bdul:Baha, issued by the Bahais of 'ancaster, 0ennsylvania, ..2.+., . 1=, 1;.

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17= The 5uardianshi" of )hoghi #ffendi 8rgani,ation of the Cause


"he death of +bdu1:Baha in 1,#1 marked the end of an era of Bahai history, and the beginning of a new and different day. +s 2hoghi )fendi, the Cuardian of the &ause of Cod, writesD416 "he /eroic, the + ostolic +ge of the 1is ensation of Bahaullah.....had now terminated....."he 3ormative 0eriod, the 5ron +ge, of that 1is ensation was now beginning... "he story of this formative eriod, which is no doubt of im ortance to devoted Bahais who are concerned about the develo ment and growth of their 3aith, is of much less general interest than the stirring events of the heroic age. Bahaullah and his son +bdu1:Baha were, as we have seen in the receding cha ters, very strong and im ressive ersonalities. %hatever one may think of their claims and their conduct, they undoubtedly ossessed great ersonal magnetism, and were able to win and hold the com lete allegiance of numbers of eo le in the %est as well as in the )ast. "hey also made many enemies who bitterly o osed them. 5n the new age there were no leaders of e!ual stature, and both the devotion and the animosity shown to the successor of +bdu1:Baha were ro ortionately less. 5n designating his grandson 2hoghi as his successor, +bdu1:Baha in his %ill says of himD4#6 Behold, he is the blest and sacred bough that hath branched out from the "win /oly "rees.....that rimal branch of the 1ivine and 2acred 'ote:"ree.....the most wondrous, uni!ue and riceless earl that doth gleam from out the twin surging seas.....he is the sign of Cod, the chosen branch, the guardian of the &ause of Cod..... /e is the e7 ounder of the words of Cod, and after him will succeed the first:born of his lineal descendants .....whoso o oseth him hath o osed Cod. "he reference in the term "win /oly "rees is to 2hoghis arents. /is mother was Qiyaiyya *hanum, eldest daughter of +hdu1:Baha. /is father was (irBa /adi +fnan of 2hiraB, a distant relative of the Bab. 2hoghi was, therefore, a branch from the two holy families. /e was born in +kka on (arch -, 1?,8, and was designated. by +bdu1:Baha as his successor when he was about ten years of age.4-6 0ersian was his mother tongue, and +rabic, the language of the eo le of +kka and /aifa, was known to him and his family. /e received an )nglish and +rabic education in the +merican .niversity of Beirut, but was not an outstanding student. @ne of his rofessors told the author that 2hoghi was more interested in novels than in his studies. 'ater he was sent to @7ford .niversity in )ngland, and remained there till his grandfather died, when he returned to /aifa to assume the res onsibilities of the Cuardianshi . 5n (arch, 1,#- the author was assing through Beirut on his way from 5ran to +merica, and was given a note of introduction to 2hoghi )fendi by one of his former teachers. /aving met a number of Bahais during my residence in 5ran, 5 was eager to see the new leader of the movement, and arranged to sto off in /aifa on my way to Eerusalem. @n my arrival 5 walked to his residence, resented the note of introduction, and received a warm welcome. 2hoghi )fendi himself led me into his handsome and well:furnished home. /e was a young man, short of stature and unim ressive in a earance, hut courteous and friendly. 5 was at once introduced to his father (irBa /adi, who knew no )nglish. 5, therefore, suggested that we converse in 0ersian, but 2hoghi )fendi said that he could e7 ress himself more easily in )nglish, so most of our conversation was in that language. /ad the command of Bahaullah that everybody learn one of the languages of the world4=6 been obeyed, we would not have encountered this difficultyI (y host was most humble, making no claims for him: self, and insisting that he was entirely unworthy of the great res onsibility which had been laid u on him. /e urged me, with the courtesy
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of an 5ranian gentle: man, to sit in the seat of honor 4the chair farthest from the door6, and when 5 refused and urged him to take it, he ac!uiesced. + bright little Ea anese believer with a long beard brought me a cu of tea, and 2hoghi )fendi himself gave me an orange. %hen 5 re!uested that he kindly give me a icture of himself, he re lied that he would refer to give me one of his grandfather. "his he did, writing an inscri tion on it in both 0ersian and )nglish, the latter beingD + 0recious souvenir resented to my dear friend (r. (iller, /aifa, 0alestine, (arch #-, 1,#-. 2hoghi 9abbani.4;6 5n answer to my !uestions 2hoghi )fendi said that Bahaullah was not an 5ncarnation, for Cod is 4in /is )ssence6 beyond all reach, and cannot dwell in flesh and blood. /e was rather a (anifestation of Cod, and in: him all the attributes of Cod were found and could be known. "he Bab who re ared the way for him, and +(u1:Baha who carried on his work after him, were !uite different in rank from the (anifestation, for they were only divinely re ared men. /e said that +bdu1:Baha had not considered himself sinless, but used constantly to confess his sins and ask Cod for ardon. /is grandfather had a ointed him to carry on the (ovement, and he was busy organiBing the %orld &ouncil which was to be associated with him in this task.486 /e stated that his rinci al effort would be to unite the friends of the )ast with those of the %est. %hen asked what the Bahai religion had to offer which &hristianity did not have, 2hoghi )fendi re lied that the rinci les of both were the same, and only the outward forms differed, and Bahais thought the teachings of Bahaullah were best for today 4he did not s ecify why, or in what res ects6 . /e said that many eo le wanted to limit the Bahai &ause, and narrow it, but it must be broad and include all religions, even Buddhism and other faiths, for all were from Cod. 5t was evident that the Cuardian was more interested in the organiBation and the ethical teachings of the &ause than in its hiloso hical and theological foundations. /ow very different was this friendly informal visit of mine to the Cuardian of the &ause of Cod from the audience granted to 0rofessor Browne by 2hoghi )fendis great:grandfather BahaullahI4<6 %e have seen in the earlier cha ters of this book how, after the deaths. of the Bab and Bahaullah, bitter !uarrels regarding the succession arose among the believers. 3ortunately on the death of +hdul:Baha no one dis uted the succession. "his, however, did not indicate that all the followers of Bahaullah welcomed the accession of the Cuardian, and were ready to obey him. %e recall that in the early years of the rule of +bdu1:Baha, most of the members of the family of Bahaullah vigorously rotested against what they considered unlawful assum tion of authority on the teachings of Bahaullah were best for today 4he did not s ecify why, or in what res ects6. /e said that many eo le wanted to limit the Bahai &ause, and narrow it, hut it must be broad and include ell religions, even Buddhism and other faiths, for all were from Cod. 5t was evident that the Cuardian was mare interested in the organiBation and the ethical teachings of the &ause than in its hiloso hical and theological foundations. /ow very different was this friendly informal visit of mine to the Cuardian of the &ause of Cod from the audience granted to 0rofessor Browne by 2hoghi )fendis great:grandfather BahaullahI 4<6 )arly ne7t morning 5 climbed to the to of (t. &armel, and while descending 5 chanced u on the Cuest /ouse where ilgrims from 5ran were entertained when 5 addressed in 0ersian an 5ranian who was standing outside, he invited me in, and 5 was cordially received and given. a breakfast of tea and bread and cheese, in the style of 5ran. 5 soon found that these Bahais knew of my visit to their (aster on the revious afternoon, and when 5 rose to go they kindly offered to take me to see the (ausoleum of the Bab and +bdul:Baha which was nearby. @n entering we took off our shoes, and walked over the gorgeous 0ersian car et to the threshold of the shrine itself. "here my conductor rostrated himself and re eated the +rabic formulas a ointed for the visitation. 2ince it was
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necessary for me to go on to Eerusalem that morning, 5 was unable to acce t the gracious invitation of 2hoghi )fendi to accom any him to the shrine of Bahaullah in +kka. %e have seen in the earlier cha ters of this book how, after the deaths of the Bab and Bahaullah, bitter !uarrels regarding the succession arose among the believers. 3ortunately on the death of +bdu1:Baha no one dis uted the succession. "his, however, did not indicate that all the followers of Bahaullah welcomed the accession of the Cuardian, and were ready to obey him. %e recall that in the early years of the rule of +bdul:Baha, most of the members of the family of Bahaullah vigorously rotested against what they considered unlawful assum tion of authority on the art of one who called himself the 2lave of Baha, and as a result were rejected by +bdu1:Baha.4?6 +t the time of his death, the only members of Bahaullahs family who had not been rejected by +bdu1:Baha were his sister, his wife, his four daughters and their husbands.4,6 /e showed great bitterness towards his brothers (irBa (uhammad +li and (irBa Badiullah, and devoted large sections of his %ill to a denunciation of (irBa (uhammad +li, charging his own followers to avoid him altogether. Naturally (irBa (uhammad +li and all other members of the family who sym athiBed with him were not ready to yield un!uestioning obedience to +bdu1: Bahas grandson, es ecially since Bahaullah in his %ill 4(y &ovenant.6 had made it clear that after his eldest son +bbas )fendi, the leader of the Bahai &ause was to be his second son (irBa (uhammad +li. 1uring the life of +bdu1:Baha, his brother (irBa (uhammad +li did not advance any claim to the leadershi of the movement, though he did rotest the ronouncements and acts of +bdu1:Baha, on the grounds that they resembled those of a new (anifestation. %hen +bdul:Baha died, why did not (irBa (uhammad +li, knowing that his father had s ecifically named him as the successor to his brother,41$6 ut forward his claim and declare himself the leader of the &ause and the infallible inter reter of the words of CodL %hy did he not dis ute the a ointment of 2hoghi )fendi as Cuardian as being contrary to the *itab:i:+!das and the &ovenant of BahaullahL "he reason was twofold. 5n the first lace, (irBa (uhammad +li was unwilling to refer the matter to a (uslim court, where the %ill and other writings of Baha would most certainly be investigated, and his claim to be a 1ivine (anifestation and the founder of a new religion su erior to 5slam, which he and his followers had carefully concealed all the years they were in +kka, would be brought to light. "his would be dangerous for all members of the family, including (irBa (uhammad +li and his followers. 3or the same reason 2hoghi )fendi never had his grandfathers %ill robated in a court. 4116 +bdu1:Baha and his Crandson, 2hoghi )fendi the Cuardian "he second reason why (irBa (uhammad +li did not ress his claims was that +bdu>l:Baha has been successful in winning to his side the great majority of Bahais, both in 5ran and in the %est, and had convinced them that (irBa (uhammad +li was indeed a wicked &ovenant:breaker and an enemy of Cod. (irBa (uhammad +li, therefore, knew in advance that any effort on his art to claim the heritage and osition assigned to him by his father was sure to meet with defeat from those who revered +bdul:Baha as the &enter of the &ovenant and the infallible )7 ounder of the Bahai teaching. /ad he not d creed that the successor should be 2hoghi )fendi, Dhe first Cuardian of the &ause of Cod, and that he would in turn be succeeded by his eldest sonL %hatever he decreed was the decree of Cod, and must. be acce ted 2o 2hoghi )fendi assumed the Cuardianshi uno osed.41#6

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"he honor of being Cuardian was not an em ty one, for in his %ill +bdu1:Baha arranged that his grandson should be well rovided for financially. 5n the *itab:i:+!das Bahaullah had commanded41-6 that believers ay to Cod a 1,H 0urification "a7 on ca ital funds 4gold6. "his money was to he e7 ended only as Bahaullah ermitted. "he ayment of this ta7 la sed at the death of Bahaullah, for in his %ill he sti ulated that Cod has not decreed for the Branches MBahas sonsN a right in ones ro erty.41=6 /owever, in this matter as well as in others, +bdu1:Baha disregarded his fathers %ill, claimed this ta7 for himself 4in addition to the voluntary offerings of believers6,41;6 and in his own %ill commanded4186 that a fi7ed money offering 4hu!u!ullah, the rights of Cod6 to aid to the guardian of the &ause of Cod, that it may be e7 ended for the diffusion of the 3ragrances of Cod and the e7altation of /is %ord, for benevolent ursuits and for the common weal. "his rovision was omitted from the )7cer ts from the %ill rinted in the Bahai %orld 1,#?:1,#?. 5t is re orted on good authority that 2hoghi )fendi ke t all the income for his lans and ur oses, and failed to share it with other members of the family of +hdu1:Baha, who ke t !uiet lest they make a breach in the &ause of Cod. 41<6 5t seems that 2hoghi )fendi, leading inability to enter u on the duties of his office forthwith, retired into solitude for several years after his return to /aifa, leaving the management of Bahai affairs in the hands of the older members of the family of +bdu1: Baha. Bahiyya *hanum, the 2u reme 'eaf, the daughter of Bahaullah who had remained loyal to her brother, became the titular head of the movement, while (unira *hanum, the grandmother of 2hoghi )fendi, who had induced her husband to make him the Cuardian and successor, was the ower behind the throne.41?6 +fter a time, however, 2hoghi )fendi began to realiBe the e7tent of the authority vested in him by the %ill of +(u1:Baha,41,6 came forth from his seclusion, and roceeded to e7ercise his ower as Cuardian of the &ause. +cting in accordance with the rovisions of the %ill, he took over the reins of the Bahai +dministration, and demanded ready and im licit obedience from the servants of Cod, in default of which any servant of Cod was liable to e7communication or summary e7 ulsion from the faith under some retence or rete7t..../is decisions were absolute and final an? his words authorative.4#$6 5t is not sur rising that this olicy brought the Cuardian into conflict not only with numerous believers but also with the members of his own family, and resulted in their e7communication. "he first erson to be urged by 2hoghi )fendi was his grandmother (unira *hanum, wife of +bdu1: Baha, the first lady of the Bahai realm, to whom the Cuardian, to a considerable e7tent, was indebted for his osition.4#16 'ater all the members of +bdu1:Bahas family, his daughters, his descendants, his sons:in:law, the brothers and sisters of 2hoghi )fendi, and last of all his own arents were e7communicated.4##6 9iyadh 9abbani, a younger brother of the Cuardian, has stated 4#-6 that he for years had assisted 2hoghi )fendi in his work. "hen when 2hoghi e7communicated his arents he called u on 9iyadh to make a choice between him and his arents. 9iyadh decided to side with his arents whereu on he was rejected by his brother. 5t seems that 2hoghi )fendis family acce ted this severe disci line without resistance, for to whom could they a eal far redressL 2everal !uarrels, however, took lace at the center of the &ause, one of which was over the custodianshi of the shrine of Bahaullah in +kka. %hile +bdul:Baha lived, he in accordance with (uslim law as eldest son had the res onsibility for his fathers grave. %hen he died the custodianshi should have gone according to law to Bahaullahs eldest surviving son (irBa (uhammad +li. Not long after his accession to the Cuardianshi , 2hoghi )fendi ordered the caretaker of the shrine to refuse entrance to certain eo le. "hen the keys were taken from the caretaker by someone, and handed to the legal custodian (irBa (uhammad +li, and neither the
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+merican Bahais who intervened nor the British /igh &ommissioner were able to dis ossess (irBa (uhammad +li of his rights. 2hoghi )fendi could not go to court aver this, for the %ill of his grandfather which a ointed him Cuardian had not been robated, 3inally, 2hoghi )fendi a roached the British 1istrict &ommissioner, and he sent his +rab assistant who was on friendly terms with both arties to arrange a settlement out of court. "his was done, the keys were turned over to 2hoghi )fendi, and (uhammad +li and his artisans were allowed free access to the tomb of Bahaullah, without let or hindrance.4#=6 (any years later in 1,;# the daughter of (irBa Badiullah, (rs. Gamar Bahai, went to +kka accom anied by a friend, and attem ted to visit the tomb of her grandfather Bahaullah the caretaker em loyed by 2hoghi )fendi was rude to them, and denied them entrance to the shrine. %hereu on (rs. Bahai brought an action n the 5sraeli 1istrict &ourt in /aifa against 2hoghi )fendi, to show cause why she was denied access to the tomb of her grandfather. 2he a eared in court in erson accom anied by her counsel. 2hoghi )fendi did not a ear, but was re resented by his counsel and two +merican Bahais. "he 0resident of the &ourt, in an effort to settle the matter out of court, took (rs. Bahai into his office and asked her if she would meet 2hoghi )fendi for an amicable settlement, and she agreed. But to the great sur rise of the 0resident of the &ourt, the two +merican Bahais rejected the ro osal. 3inally, the matter was referred to the (inister for 9eligious +ffairs in the 5sraeli Covernment, who called in the arties se arately, and worked out a settlement, whereby free access to the shrine, without let or hindrance, was granted to all members of the family of Bahaullah, and to this both arties subscribed.4#;6 1uring the lifetime of Bahaullah, +bdul:Baha and his family had resided in the town of +kka, while his brothers and their families had lived in the Bahji 0alace several miles from +kka near their father. +fter the death of Bahaullah they continued to live there, owning undivided shares in the ro erty, but without the income which +bdul:Baha received they were unable to kee this large ro erty in good re air. %hen 2hoghi )fendi became the head of the Bahai &ause, he naturally felt it was im ortant for him to control all the sacred sites. /e, therefore, ro osed to (irBa (uhammad +li that he and the others move out of the 0alace to nearby buildings, that 2hoghi might re air the 0alace, and this was done. %hen they moved out they took with them the household e!ui ment that they had been using, and this was re laced by 2hoghi )fendi.4#86 "hus the 0alace also became a lace of ilgrimage for Bahais. No doubt the Cuardian was ha y to turn away from these family roblems and direct his attention and energies to the task of establishing the +dministrative @rder in which he was es ecially interested. 5n the *itab:i:+!das Bahaullah had commanded4#i6 that a /ouse of Eustice be established in every city, consisting of nine or more members. +ccordingly, 2hoghi )fendi wrote to Bahais in +merica and elsewhere instructing them to form, in every lace where there were nine or more believers, Bahai grou s which would be called 2 iritual +ssemblies, an a ellation that must in the course of time be re laced by their ermanent and more descri tive title of /ouses of Eustice, bestowed u on them by the +uthor of the Bahai 9evelation.4#?6 "his was done, and in the Bahai %orld 1,#8:1,#? 4#,6 the addresses of eighty:3ive +ssemblies are given, most of them being in +merica.4-$6 5t was the function of these +ssemblies to advance the Bahai &ause in every way ossible. "hese local +ssemblies were the base of the edifice which the +rchitect of the +dministrative @rder M+bdul:BahaN....had directed them to erect. 4-16 "he ne7t ste was to form, in countries where the local grou s had sufficiently advanced in numbers and influence, National +ssemblies, which had been designated in the %ill of +bdu1: Baha as 2econdary /ouses of Eustice, the members of which were to be elected by the local +ssemblies. "he National +ssemblies, in turn, were to elect the members of the .niversal /ouse
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of Eustice rovided for in the %ill. 5n the Bahai %orld 1,#8:1,#?4-#6 nine National +ssemblies are listed. 1he National +ssemblies a ointed National &ommittees to be res onsible for the numerous as ects of the rogram of the &ause, and a list of si7ty:one of these committees has been su lied by 2hoghi )fendi.4--6 /ow !uickly the &ause of Cod became +mericaniBed. 5n his booklet on "he +dministrative @rder of the 1is ensation of Bahaullah.,4-=6 2hoghi )fendi e7 lains the uni!ue e7cellence of this @rder, which has no arallel, he says, .in any other religion or olitical system in the world. "hen he continuesD +n attem t, 5 feel, should at the resent juncture be made to e7 lain the character and function of the twin illars that su ort this mighty +dministrative 2tructure P the 5nstitution of the Cuardianshi and the .niversal /ouse of Eustice.....two fundamental organs of the %ill of +bdul:Baha....."hese twin institutions should be regarded as divine in origin, essential in their functions and com lementary in their aim and ur ose. "heir common, their fundamental object is to insure the continuity of that divinely: a ointed authority which flows from the 2ource of cur 3aith....+cting in conjunction with each other these two inse arable institutions administer its affairs.....and are ermanently and fundamentally united in their aims. /e then roceeds to e7 lain the essential nature of both Cuardianshi and /ouse of Eustice. 1ivorced from the institution of the Cuardianshi , he says, the %orld @rder of Bahaullah would be mutilated and ermanently de rived of that hereditary rinci le .....which has been invariably u held by the 'aw of Cod.....%ithout such an institution the integrity of the 3aith would be im erilled.4-;6 +ll that 2hoghi )fendi says in this connection is in full accord with the rovisions in the %ill of +bdul:Baha which insure that the Cuardianshi shall be continued in his family to future generations, and he !uotes the %ill to substantiate his statements. Ne7t he shows the im ortance of the /ouse of Eustice. 2evered from the no less essential .niversal /ouse of Eustice, he says, this same 2ystem of the %ill of +bdu1:Baha would be aralyBed in its action and would be owerless to fill in those ga s which the +uthor of the *itab:i: +!das has deliberately left in the body of his legislative and administrative ordinance. +nd he !uotes the command of +bdul:Baha that everyone must turn to the *itab:i:+!das, and matters not rovided for in it must be referred to the .niversal /ouse of Eustice,4-86 of which the Cuardian is to be the ermanent head and distinguished member for life.4-<6 3rom these statements, continues 2hoghi )fendi, it is made indubitably clear and evident that the Cuardian of the 3aith has been made the 5nter reter of the %ard, and that the .niversal /ouse of Eustice has been invested with the function of legislating on matters not e7 ressly revealed in the teachings.4-?6 "hen the Cuardian modestly disclaims e!uality with his famous grandfather, the &enter of the &ovenant. "hough he insists that the Cuardianshi and the .niversal /ouse of Eustice are twin institutions, both essential in the Bahai &ause, it is noteworthy that the Cuardian for thirty:si7 years guided the &ause without the coo eration of the .niversal /ouse of Eustice, since no such /ouse was established during his lifetime. /owever 2hoghi )fendi a ointed a number of ersons from different countries to be 0illars of the &ause of Cod, and /eralds of the &ovenant, to assist him in his work, 5n the Bahai %orld 1,#?:1,-$ he states that of these, 1, were in 5ran and 1, in )uro e and +merica.4-,6 5n 1,#8 the +merican Bahai community ado ted a National &onstitution, which became the model for the other National +ssemblies. + "rust was ado ted and legally incor orated under the name, "he National 2 iritual +ssembly of the .nited 2tates and &anada. By:taws also were ado ted, with regulations for membershi , officers, elections, etc., which were later translated into other languages and used by Bahais in other countries. +fter this incor oration of both National and
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'ocal +ssemblies, it became ossible for the Bahai &ause to hold ro erties and receive gifts and endowments. "he 1eclaration of "rust, the By:'aws of the National 2 iritual +ssembly, as well as letters from the Cuardian regarding this formal organiBation of the &ause may be read in the Bahai %orld l,#8:#,#?,4=$6 /aving now ac!uired a legal status, it became necessary to define membershi in the Bahai &ause. %ho is a Bahai< +bdul:Baha in one of his addresses in the .nited 2tates was !uoted as saying that when &hristians act in accordance with the teachings of &hrist, they are called Bahais.4=16 &learly this definition would be inade!uate far determining who might vote and hold office in the new organiBation. &oncerning this im ortant matter 2hoghi )fendi wrote as follows on @ctober #=, 1,#;D4=#6 9egarding the very delicate and com le7 !uestion of ascertaining the !ualifications of a true believer, 5 cannot in this connection em hasiBe too strongly the su reme necessity for the e7ercise of the utmost discretion, caution and tact.....5 would only venture to state very briefly.....the rinci al factors that must be taken into consideration before deciding whether a erson may be regarded a true believer or not. 3ull recognition of the station of the 3orerunner MBabN, the +uthor MBahaullahN, and the "rue )7em lar of the Bahai &ause as set forth in +bdul:Bahas "estament M%illNJ unreserved acce tance of, and submission to whatsoever has been revealed by their 0enJ steadfast adherence to every clause of our sacred %illJ and close association with the well as the form of the resent:day Bahai administration throughout the world P these, 5 conceive the fundamental and rimary considerations be fairly, discreetly and thoughtfully ascertained before reaching such a vital decision. 5t might have been hel ful to the +merican Bahais who did not know +rabic and 0ersian if the Cuardian had e7 lained how they could honestly romise unreserved acce tance of and submission to whatsoever has been revealed by the ens of the Bab and Bahaullah and +bdul: Baha when according to his own statement 4=-6 most of the writings of the Babhave been lost, and those that remain are not accessible, and even the +rabic *itab:i:+!das of Bahaullah, to which so much im ortance was attached, had not at that time been translated and ublished by Bahais in other languages, /owever, the +merican believers, without !uestion or comment, incor orated this statement from the infallible Cuardian in their By:'aws.4==6 .ndeterred, it seems, by this !uestion of honesty, #;?= ersons in the .nited 2tates &ensus of 1,-8 declared themselves as Bahais. %hile busy with affairs in other lands, the Cuardian was also interested in establishing ade!uate facilities for the &ause in /aifa. Near the (ausoleum of the Bab and +bdul:Baha two 5nternational +rchives were rovided in which riceless treasures were de osited and dis layed to visiting ilgrims. "hese included ortraits of both the Bab and BahaullahD ersonal relics such as the hair, the dust and garments of the BabJ the locks and blood of Bahaullah..../is watch and /is GuranJ manuscri ts and "ablets of inestimable value....the 0ersian Bayan.... "here on (t. &armel, says 2hoghi )fendi, will eventually be established that ermanent world +dministrative &enter of the future Bahai &ommonwealth.4=;6 )arly in the Cuardianshi of 2hoghi )fendi in the year 1,#; an event occurred in )gy t which doubtless to the Bahais concerned seemed a tragedy, but which in the eves of the Cuardian was a great blessing to the &ause. 3or a half:century Bahais had been residing in )gy t, but they had a arently been so successful in concealing their faith that the (uslims of )gy t had not realiBed that they followed a faith different from 5slam. +t last, however, in a village where same (uslims had become Bahais, the (uslim clergy ronounced them a ostates, and in accordance with 5slamic
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law, decreed that their (uslim wives must be taken from them. "he case was finally referred to the highest religious authorities in &airo, where the decision of the lower court was u held, the marriages were annulled, and the converts to Bahaism were condemned as heretics. "he verdict was as followsD4=86 "he Bahai 3aith is a new religion, entirely inde endent, with beliefs, rinci les and laws of its own, which differ from, and are therefore in conflict with, the beliefs, rinci les and laws of 5slam. No Bahai, therefor, can be regarded a (uslim or vice:versa. 5t seems that the death enalty for the crime of a ostasy Xas not ronounced against them, and it was decreed that if they re ented and returned to 5slam their wives would be restored to them. 5t is not known whether or not they did so. "he result of this event was that in )gy t and in some other lands, Bahais attem ted to gain recognition from their res ective governments as members of an inde endent religion. 5n )gy t, then under British rule, they achieved considerable though not com lete inde endence. 5n 0alestine, also under the British, they were even more successful. 5n %estern countries it was not difficult to gain official recognition. But in 5ran, where most of the Bahais resided, no recognition was granted them, and they were officially considered to be (uslims, though a limited amount of tolerance was shown to them. 5t seems that 2hoghi )fendi had become strongly o osed to his followers having a dual religious affiliation, and he began to urge ail of them in all lands to avoid all dissembling of their faith, and as far as ossible live according to the laws of the *itab:i:+!das, to sever their connections with their farmer religions, and o enly rofess their Bahai faith. 5n Bahai News of Euly 1,-; the Cuardian wrote as followsD &oncerning membershi in non: Bahai religious associations, the Cuardian wishes to re:em hasiBe the general rinci le already laid down.....that no Bahai who wishes to he a whole:hearted, sincere u holder of the distinguishing rinci les of the &ause can acce t full membershi in any non:Bahai ecclesiastical organiBation....1uring the days of the (aster M+bdul:BahaN the &ause was still in a stage that made such an o en and shar dissociation between it and other religious organiBations, and articularly the (uslim 3aith, not only inadvisable but ractically im ossible to establish. But since his assing events throughout the Bahai world....have develo ed to a oint that has made such an assertion of the inde endence of the &ause not only highly desirable but absolutely essential. "his command undoubtedly disturbed the believers in (uslim lands where such o en rofession would result in ersecution, and also sur rised some friends in the Nest who thought they could ado t Bahai rinci les while maintaining membershi in their churches. 3or instance, (r. (ountfort (ills, an outstanding leader, who drafted the Bahai 1eclaration of "rust and By:'aws, was 2enior %arden of the 0rotestant ) isco al &hurch of 2t. (ark in New Fork, and according to a re ort in the New Fork "imes, in 1,#; arranged B resentation of Bahaism in, his church, and himself stated that one could become a Bahai and still remain a &hristian, (uslim or Eew. 5t is not known what (r. (ill did in regard to his dual affiliation after receiving orders from /aifa. 4=<6 /owever, according to 2hoghi )fendi,4=?6 the loyal believers in )ast and Nest res onded and through the severance of all ties of affiliation with, and membershi in, ecclesiastical .institutions of whatever denomination....have arisen to roclaim with one voice the inde endent character of the religion of Bahaullah. "o the eyes of 2hoghi )fendi the black cloud of (uslim o osition which had darkened the sky for thew Bahais in )gy t had a silver lining, but in some other lands o osition to the &ause arose which brought little blessing to the believers. 5n 5ra! the Bahais had ke t ossession of the house in which Bahaullah had lived during most of the time he was in Baghdad, and this holy site had become a lace of ilgrimage. /owever, the (uslims of 5ra!, acting no doubt an the assum tion
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that the Bahais were a ostates, and that according to (uslim law their ro erty could be taken from them, seiBed and refused to give u the house. 3ortunately for the Bahais, 5ra! had became a British (andate, and they were able to a eal their case from one court to another, till it was finally brought in 1,#? to the 'eague of Nations. "he decision was favorable to the Bahais, and the case received considerable ublicity, for which the Bahais were grateful. But before the house was returned to them, the British (andate terminated, and 5ra! became a member of the 'eague of Nations, and the Bahais never got ossession of their holy lace.4=,6 'ikewise, the first (ashri!ul:+dhkar to be built by Bahais, which was located in 9ussian "urkistan, was taken from them by the 2oviet government in 1,-?, and converted into an art gallery. "he community of believers was scattered, some having been im risoned or e7iled, and the majority were de orted to 5ran, their native land.4;$6 5n Cermany during the NaBi regime the ublic teaching of the 3aith, with its unconcealed em hasis on eace and universality, and its re udiation of racism, writes 2hoghi )fendi,4;16 was officially forbiddenJ Bahai +ssemblies and their committees were dissolved....and the ublication of all Bahai literature was sus ended. 5n addition to these attacks from without, the Bahai &ause continued to suffer from internal dissension and defection of some of its influential members. +n +merican by the name of (rs. 9uth %hite, who had met +bdu1: Baha in Boston in 1,1#, and who twice visited him shortly before his death in /aifa, became an enthusiastic admirer and disci le of the (aster. %hen he died in November, 1,#1, a cable signed by the sister of +bdu1:Baha was received in +merica in Eanuary, 1,##, stating that 2hoghi )fendi had been a ointed in the Nill as Cuardian of the &ause and /ead of the /ouse of Eustice. "his news came to (rs. %hite and other in +merica like a thunder bolt out of a blue sky, for they had never heard +bdul:Baha say anything about a ointing a successor. +fter four weeks a ty ed co y of the %ill was received in +merica, undated and unsigned. +s (rs. %hite studied this document she eventually came to realiBe that it contained laws which, in her o inion, would change com letely the Bahai teaching. @f these she mentions the followingD4;#6 3irst, the a ointment of a continual line of successors or o es for a thousand years who are to control mans conscience....2econd, these successors are to be su reme dictators over the /ouse of Eustice ...."hirdly, the ta7es....which were to be aid to the /ouse of Eustice are to be aid to 2hoghi )fendi. 3ourthly, there was to be no organiBation of the religion itself, and no aid officials or riest: craft, yet des ite this the Bahais, at the dictation of 2hoghi )fendi, have incor orated the Bahai 9eligion and are trying to control it through a more bigoted riest:craft than almost any other in e7istence. +s time assed (rs. %hite became convinced that this alleged %ill could not be authentic. 2he therefore re!uested (r. /olley and (r. (ills, the chief men in the +merican Bahai +dministration, to submit a hotogra hic co y of the 0ersian original to an e7 ert and get his o inion. "hey did not dcD this. 2o (rs. %hite herself, at great ersonal e7 ense and trouble, went to )ngland in 1,#? and succeeded in ac!uiring a hotogra hic co y of the %ill, and gave it to a recogniBed e7 ert to e7amine. %hile in )ngland she discovered that there the administration of 2hoghi )fendi has brought chaos to the Bahai &ause. 'ady Bloomfield4;-6.....said there was ractically no longer a Bahai &ause in )ngland,4;=6 "he handwriting e7 ert for the British (useum, 1r. &. +insworth (itchell, after long and careful study, on Eune -, 1,-$ wrote a detailed re ort to (rs. %hite, in which he statedD + minute com arison of the authenticated writing Mof +bdu1:BahaN with the writing on every age of the alleged will....has failed to detect in any art of the will the characteristics of the writing of +bdul Baha.4;;6

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5n four of her books and am hlets4;86 (rs. %hite rofessed com lete devotion to +bdul:Baha, but brought a most scathing indictment against his grandson and the Bahai +dministration. 'ater, however, it seems that (rs. %hite transferred her devotion from +bdul:Baha to a man in 5ndia named (ehr Baba, who had a considerable following as a result of maintaining unbroken silence since the year 1,#;, and in 1,;< she wrote enthusiastically about visiting her new hero. 5t is re orted that in 1,8, (rs. %hite, at the age of 1$$ went to 5ndia to take (ehr Babas 1aushan. 4;<6 9egarding (rs. %hites efforts &o rove that the %ill was a forgery, 2hoghi )fendi wrote as followsD 4;?6 "he agitation rovoked by a deluded woman who strove diligently both in the .nited 2tates and in )ngland to demonstrate the unauthenticity of the &harter....and even to induce the civil authorities of 0alestine to take legal action in the matter P a re!uest which to her great chagrin was curtly refused as well as the defection of one of the earliest ioneers and founders of the 3aith in Cermany whom that same woman had so tragically misled,4;,6 roduced no effect whatsoever. 5t is evident that whatever the merits of the case were, the civil authorities of 0alestine would be unable to take any action on a %ill which had not been robated. +ccordingly, the Bahai administration, unwilling to submit the %ill for a robate, and unha y that anyone should undertake an inde endent investigation of truth as to the authenticity of the %ill, did nothing but denounce the investigator and ignore her charges. %hile some like (rs. %hite had their doubts as to the authenticity of the %ill, there were others who acce ted the %ill as authentic, but were unha y about the way in which the Cuardian used the authority which the %ill had bestowed u on him. +mong these were two devoted Bahais, one an +merican and the other an 5ranian. +s their story is instructive it will be told in some detail. %hen +bdul:Baha in 1,1, sent to +merica the "ablets containing the 1ivine 0lan, the man to whom he entrusted them was (irBa +hmad 2ohrab, who had himself written the "ablets at the (asters dictation.48$6 2ohrab was born of a Bahai family in 5sfahan, 5ran, was educated in "eheran and )gy t, was intimate with +bdul:Baha and his friends in /aifa, and was instructed in the Bahai 3aith by (irBa +bul:3aB1, foremost among the Bahai teachers and writers.4816 %hen the latter went to +merica for missionary work 2ohrab accom anied him, being sent on this mission by +bdul:Baha as the inter reter. 2ome years rior to this mission, when (irBa +bul:3aBl was in 5ran, he was arrested and im risoned in "eheran on the charge of being a Babi. %hen he was interrogated by the officials he denied that he vas a Babi, and called down Cods curse on them and their chief.48#6 5n s ite of this he was trusted by +bdul:Baha and held in high honor by the Bahais, and the +merican tour was a great success. 5n 1,1# when +bdu1:Baha himself made a tour of +merica, 2ohrab was one of those who accom anied him everywhere he went. /is icture may be seen in the Bahai %orld #,#8:1,#?, . 1;$, as he was engaged in writing down the words of his (aster. /e returned with +bdul:Baha to /aifa, and was with him there till 1,1,, when he returned to +merica to travel with 3aBel, another 5ranian Bahai missionary. "hus 2ohrab met many eo le and became widely known as a Bahai leader.48-6 %hen +bdu1:Baha died in 1,#1 2ohrabs financial su ort ceased, and he su orted himself by lecturing and writing in &alifornia. %hen in New Fork on a visit in 1,#<, (irBa +hmad 2ohrab was introduced to (rs. 'ewis 2tuyvesant &hanler, a gifted and enthusiastic Bahai, who insisted that 2ohrab should come to New Fork and serve the &ause there. /e did so, and delivered a series of educational lectures on 0ersian literature in the home of (r. and (rs. &hanler. 'ater he gave twelve lectures at the Bahai &enter in New Fork which were largely attended. %hen he was not invited to deliver more lectures at the
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&enter, (rs. &hanler arranged another series which was given in a hotel salon. 'ater she urged him to give the eo le more s iritual food than you are giving them. 2o he rather reluctantly began s eaking on the Bahai faith on 2unday evenings. (any Bahais and others attended, but some of the Bahai leaders became unha y because this successful effort did not have official a roval from the 2 iritual +ssembly.48=6 "he meetings were then moved to the &hanler home, where on + ril ;, 1,#, a grou of those resent decided to form what they called "he New /istory 2ociety, for the ur ose of furthering the Bahai &ause, which they felt was making no rogress whatever. "his decision brought down on them the wrath of the Bahai +dministration, which accused them of causing division, and soon the Cuardian began writing fre!uent letters to (rs. &hanler about this effort. 2hoghi )fendi knew 2ohrab well, as they had been close friends in /aifa before he became Cuardian, But now the situation had changed. 2hoghi )fendi had given his hearty a roval to the organiBation set u in +merica by the able and tireless leaders /orace /olley, who acted as 2ecretary of the National 2 iritual +ssembly for many years, and his devoted coworker (ountfort (ills. )7ercising his unlimited authority as Cuardian, he had bestowed great authority under him to the National 2 iritual +ssembly of the ..2.+. and &anada.48;6 +ny insubordination to this body, therefore, must be inter reted as o osition to him, and had not +bdul:Baha said in his %ill, %hoso o oseth him M2hoghi )fendiN hath o osed CodL "he Cuardian, therefore, was not at all ha y that another man from 5ran, older than he, who had been with +bdul:Baha more than he, and who robably knew more than he about the Bahai 3aith, and who had many more ersonal ac!uaintances among the Bahais of +merica and their friends than he had, should carry on an inde endent and successful missionary cam aign in New Fork. "o rotect 2ohrab, (rs. &hanler took full res onsibility for all that was being done. 2he gave the Cuardian fre!uent re orts of their activities, and he at first e7 ressed keen a reciation. Four manifold services, he wrote, 4886 are truly worthy of raise and admiration. (rs. &hanler begged him to su ort her in the inde endent efforts she and 2ohrab were making to advance the Bahai &ause. But then the National 2 iritual +ssembly informed all Bahais that. the activities conducted by +hmad 2ohrab through the New /istory 2ociety are to be considered as entirely inde endent of the &ause....and hence in no wise entitled to the coo eration of Bahais...., the Cuardian a roved their action.48<6 5n this way, in the year 1,-$ (irBa +hmad 2ohrab and (rs. Eulie &hanler were e7communicated. 5n all the corres ondence (rs. &hanler demonstrated remarkable restraint and a s irit of love toward those who o osed her. 2he did not allow these disa ointments to dam en her ardor, for under her direction and that of 2ohrab the work of the New /istory 2ociety was e7 anded. (eetings were arranged at which outstanding s eakers discussed world roblems, 0riBe &om etitions were conducted for young eo le on such to ics as world eace, world religion, etc., books and am hlets were ublished in a number of languages, a monthly magaBine was ublished in )nglish, and an organiBation named "he &aravan was established to unite young eo le in different countries, and various other methods were used to get the Bahai message to the eo les of the world. 5n November, 1,-, they o ened the Bahai Booksho in New Fork. + month later they were informed by a law firm re resenting the 2 iritual +ssembly of the Bahais of New Fork that it was illegal for them to use the term Bahai,48?6 which had been registered by the National 2 iritual +ssembly of Bahais in the ..2. 0atent @ffice, No. #=;,#<1, as a trade mark, and therefore their use of the name for the Bahai Booksho constitutes trade mark infringement.48,6 (rs. &hanler
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em loyed a lawyer, who attem ted to e7 lain that she was a Bahai and was working for the Bahai &ause, and therefore was entitled to use this name for the Booksho . /owever, the 2 iritual +ssembly brought suit against her, and on Eanuary #- 2hoghi )fendi gave the +ssembly his encouragement and blessing by sending, a cableD 0raying victory....be achieved over the insidious adversaries....4<$6 3ifteen months assed. "hen on + ril 1, 1,=1 a message was delivered to (rs. &hanler and (irBa +hmad 2ohrab which caused them to wee for joy. "hey had won their caseI +nd they considered this a victory not alone for themselves but also for the cause of religious liberty in +merica. "he o inion of the 2u reme &ourt of New Fork was that the com laint failed to state a good cause of action. "he laintiffs have no right to a mono oly of the name of a religion. "he defendants, who ur ort to be members of the same religion, have an e!ual right to use the name of the religion in connection with their own meetings, lectures classes and other activities. "he 2 iritual +ssembly a ealed the case, but lost again. Naturally they were unha y over the outcome of the suit, and the Cuardian was more than unha y when he wrote thus about his old friend (irBa +hmad 2ohrabD4<16 /e is no doubt the most subtle, resourceful and indefatigable enemy the faith has had in +merica...@bscure in his origin, ambitious of leadershi ....odious in the ho es he nurses, contem tible in the methods he ursues, shameless in his deliberate distortions of truth he 1.as long since ceased to believe in, he.... can not but in the end be subjected, as remorselessly as his infamous redecessors, to the fate which they invariably have suffered. 2ohrab stated that after his e7communication he had for eleven years ke t silence, but that this law suit had finally im elled him to s eak out. 2o he wrote and ublished the book Broken 2ilence, from which we have been !uoting. "he hook is a denunciation of what 2ohrab considered to be the totalitarian s irit and methods o. the Bahai +dministration. /e maintains that he is a true Bahai, believing in Bahaullah and +bdul:Baha, and he insists that the %ill of +bdul:Baha is valid, but says it has been overem hasiBed while other im ortant ronouncements of +bdul:Baha have been neglected.4<#6 /e acce ts the a ointment of 2hoghi )fendi as Cuardian, but insists that 2hoghi has been des otic in the use of his authority. /e feels strongly that the +merican Bahai leaders, in forcing the Bahai &ause into the strait jacket of "rust and By:'aws, have killed its s irit. "o 2ohrab the Bahai &ause means freedom, lave, joy, serve. %hat is a BahaiL he asks.4<-6 + Bahai is a torch in the darkness, a joy for grief, a sea for the thirsty, a refuge for the unfortunate, an arm for the o ressed. 5n his denunciation of the +dministration, 2ohrab !uotes the saying of +bdul:BahaD4<-6 Fou cannot organiBe the Bahai (ovement. "he Bahai (ovement is s irit of the age. 5t is the essence of all the highest ideals of the century. "he Bahai &ause is an inclusive (ovement. "he teachings of all religions and societies are found here. 5t is 2ohrabs belief that the &ause should be o en to all, no matter what their creed may be. 5t includes, he contends, and brings together eo le of all religions, and is not itself a new religion. 5t is a golden thread on which the s iritual jewels of all religions were to be strung.4<=6 /e, therefore, strongly o oses the re!uirements far membershi as stated in the By:'aws of the National 2 iritual +ssembly, and the rovision that a Bahai must sever his connection with his former religion.4<;6 /e is likewise o osed to the order of the National 2 iritual +ssembly that Bahais should not vote in olitical elections in which two or more candidates were com eting for office, and should not hold any olitical office, which if obey d would com letely isolate believers, and revent them from erforming their duties as citiBens.4<8j +lso he sternly rejects the right of 2hoghi )fendi to e7communicate believers.4<<6 +nd he rotests the censorshi which was established by 2hoghi
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)fendi in 1,##, when he wroteD4<?6 Not only with regard to ublication, but all other matters without any e7ce tion whatsoever, regarding the interest of the &ause in that locality, .individually or collectively, should he referred e7clusively to the 2 iritual +ssembly.... which shall decide u on it. "his edict, says 2ohrab, brought to an end for Bahais all freedom of s eech and of the ress, and made im assible the 5nde endent 5nvestigation of "ruth, one of the most im ortant of the 0rinci les of the 3aith. 5n 1,;= a friend called to the attention of (irBa +hmad 2ohrab the fact that in the resence, of Bahas %ill and "estament, +bbas )fendis %ill and "estament a ointing 2hoghi )fendi as guardian was null and void. 2ohrab in re ly admitted that the %ill of +bdu1:Baha was in fact invalid, but added that he could not bring himself to denounce it in ublic, as such a move on his art was bound to ruin the business of the &aravan 4New /istory 2ociety6.4<,6 2o it a ears that even after his declaration of inde endence from the Bahai +dministration, 2ohrab was unwilling to rofess and follow the truth which he through inde endent investigation had discovered. /ad he been willing to roceed further in ursuit of truth, he would have also admitted that it was indeed the ur ose of both the Bab and Bahau15ah to establish new religions, which would take the lace of all former religions, 42@6 and that 2hoghi )fendi was following their lead when he insisted that Bahais sever their connections with synagogues, churches and mos!ues.4?16 "he o osition of 2ohrab to the +dministration was in art the rebellion of a oetic 5ranian against the organiBation of his 3aith by +mericans, but it was chiefly a ower struggle between two ambitious men. 2hoghi )fendi could not tolerate the resence in the leadershi of the &ause in +merica, from which much of his su ort came, of an able and o ular missionary like 2ohrab, and so he used the National 2 iritual +ssembly as a facade to eliminate him. 5t is not known how many devoted believers like the &hanlers were last to the Cuardian by this unfortunate conflict. "he majority, however, were loyal to him, and believed that his rule at the head of the +dministrative @rder was essential to the Bahai &ause. "hus 2hoghi )fendi, su orted by the %ill of his grandfather, with the able and Bealous assistance of the +merican believers, in s ite of many difficulties, succeeded in establishing the Bahai +dministrative @rder, of which he was the /ead. 2tanwood &obb writing in %orld @rder 4?#6 takes the reader to the year #$$1 +.1. and shows him the world as it will have been reconstructed by that time according to the Bahai lan, a wonderful .to ia, in which there is no war, no overty, no illiteracy and no religious division. "he a e7 and keystone of this world structure, he writes, is the institution of the Cuardianshi established by Bahaullah as the focal oint around which the worlds thought and action revolve, creating a functional unity unassailable by the disru tive !uality.....0ermeating universally the ordering and functioning of this new MBahaiN government is the ractice of collective turning to the 1ivine 9uler of the .niverse Mthe Cuardian.N for guidance in the solution of all the difficult legislative and administrative roblems.
N@")2 1. Cod 0asses By, 2hoghi )ffendi, Bahai 0ublishing &om any 1,8;, . -#=. #. Bahai %orld 1,#8:1,#?, Aol. 55, . ?1, ?#, ?=. -. +Bals Notes, . -1#. =. +!das, . <=. ;. "he surname of the father of 2hoghi )ffendi was +fnan. "o distinguish his offs ring for those of another son:in: law with the same surname, it is said that +bdul:Baha gave to them the surname 9abbani 41ivine6, and hence 2hoghi and his brother used this as their family name. /owever, after becoming Cuardian 2hoghi largely gave u the use of 9abbani, and signed his name 2hoghi )ffendi, which was e!uivalent to (r. 2hoghi. /is followers always addressed him by this name. 2ee +Bals Notes, . <-$, <-1. 8. "his is resumably the body rovided for in the %ill of +bdul:Baha, where he commandedD "he /ands of the 1-= of ##$

<. ?. , 1$. 11. 1#. 1-. 1=. 1;. 18. 1<. 1?. 1,. #$. #1. ##. #-. #=. #;. #8. #<. #?. #,. -$. -1. -#. --. -=. -;. -8. -<. -?. -,. =$. =1. =#. =-. ==. =;. =8. =<. =?. =,. ;$. ;1. ;#. ;-. ;=. ;;. ;8. ;<.

&ause of Cod must elect from their own number nine ersons that shall at all times be occu ied in the im ortant services in the world of the guardian of the &ause of Cod 4Bahai %orld, Aol. 55, . ?;6. 2ee &ha ter A555. 2ee &ha ter 5K. +Bals Notes, . =;. 2ee &ha ter 5K. +Bals Notes, . =;. (irBa (uhammad +li died in /aifa in 1,-$ 4+Bals Notes, . =$6. +!das, . ;$, ;1. 1= +Bals Notes, . -18. 5bid., . ;$, ;1. %ill and "estament of +bdul:Baha, 'ancaster, 0enna., . 1;. +Bals Notes, . ;#. 5bid., . =8. Bahai %orld 1,;8:1,#?, Aol. 55, . ?;. +Bals Notes, . =<. 5bid., . ==$:==#. 5bid., . ;-, ,?, -=$, ==1:==-, 8?$. @ne well ac!uainted with the situation has stated that the chief cause of these unha y family divisions was the love of money. 5bid., . 8?$. 5bid., . ,1, ,#, Cod 0asses By, . -;8. +Bals Noes, . ,#, ,-. 5bid., . -=1, -=#, Cod 0asses By, . -;8. +!das, . -1. Cod 0asses By, . --1. Bahai %orld 1,#8:1,#?, Aol. 55, . 1?#:1?;. "he ..2. &ensus of 1,#8 gives the number of Bahai +ssemblies in the ..2.+. as ==, and the number of Bahais as 1#=<. Cod 0asses By, . --# . Bahai %orld 1,#8:1,#<, Aol. 55, . 1?1. Cod 0asses By, . --=, %ritten in 1,-=, ublished by Bahai 0ublishing "rust, si7th rinting 1,8$, . ;:8. +dministrative @rder, . 8. Bahai %orld 1,#8:1,#?, Aol. 55, . ?<. 5bid., . ?<. +dministrative @rder, . ?. Bahai %orld, Aol. 555, . ?$, ?1, ?=, ?;. Bahai %orld, vol. 55, . ?,:1$<, Cod 0asses By, . --;:--<. 2cri tures, . -?#. =#.Bahai %orld 1,#8:1,#?, Aol. 55, . 1$8. 1awn:Breakers, 2hoghi )ffendi, +merican edition, . 8;;, +Bals Notes, . -#,, --$. Bahai %orld 1,#8:1,#?, Aol. 55, . ,-. Cod 0asses By, . -=<, -=?. 5bid., . -8;. 'ater, for some unknown reason 2hoghi )ffendi e7communicated (r. (ills. %hen word reached /aifa of the death of (ills in + ril 1,=,, the Cuardian cabled %ilmette to forbid all +merican Bahais from attending his funeral and from honouring his memory in any way 4'etter to author from (r. %ill @rick, (ay #1, 1,8,6. Cod 0asses By, . -<=. 5bid., . -;8:-8$. 5bid., . -81. 5bid., . -8#. "he Bahai 9eligion and its )nemy the Bahai @rganiBation, by 9uth %hite, "he "uttle &om any, 9utland, Aermont 1,#,. +uthor of "he &hosen /ighway, Bahai 0ublishing "rust. +bdul Baha and the 0romised +ge, by 9uth %hite, 1,#<, + endi7, . 1<. +bdul Baha s +lleged %ill is 3raudulent, by 9uth %hite, 1,-$, . 18. 2ome years later (rs. %hite wrote yet another book, Bahai 'eads @ut of the 'abyrinth, 1,==, which is similar to +bdul Baha and the 0romised +ge. 'etter from (ollie 'u7, (ehr 2 iritual &enter, (yrtle Beach, 2.&., to E. +nthony 2istrom. 5t is re orted that (ehr Baba died in 1,8,. 1-; of ##$

;?. ;,.

8$. 81. 8#. 8-. 8=. 8;. 88. 8<. 8?. 8,. <$. <1. <#. <-. <=. <;. <8. <<. <?. <,. ?$.

?1. ?#.

Cod asses By, . -8#. (r. /ermann Qimmer, one of the ioneers of the Bahai 3aith in Cermany, roved his devotion to the &ause by going at his own e7 ense, and at the risk of his life, to Berlin during %orld %ar 55, in an attem t to have the ban on Bahais removed, but he did not succeed. /e has stated that his friend (r. %ilhelm /errigel, also one of the Bahai ioneers in Cermany, was not misled by (rs. %hite, as 2hoghi )ffendi stated, but came to the same conclusion by inde endent study of the evidence, and as a result, formed the 3ree Bahais with a number of members who rebelled against the Cuardian and the Bahai @rganiBation. (r. Qimmer also is o osed to what he calls Bahai totalitarianism, and has written e7tensively against it. 4'etters from (r. Qimmer to E. +nthony 2istrom6. Broken 2ilence, (irBa +hmad 2ohrab, .niversal 0ublishing &o., New Fork 1,=# 48$? ages6, . #,?, #,,. 5bid., . -<, -#$, )sselmont, first edition, . ##,, 0ayam:i:0adar, 2ubhi, . 1??, Bahai %orld 1,#8:1,#?, Aol. 55, . =?. Broken 2ilence, . -$#, +Bals Notes, . ==$, ;$:;# 4where the interrogation is re roduced6. Broken 2ilence, . =1, ;;, ;8. 5bid., . 8-:8<. 5bid., . -##. 5bid., . ?1. 5bid., . 1$=, 1$<, 11-. 2ohrab s elt the name of his faith Bahai. Broken 2ilence, . 1#8, 1#<. 5bid., . 1-;. 5bid., . =#=, #;- 4Bahai News, Euly and @ctober, 1,=16. 5bid., . #8, =<, =,, =##. 5bid., . 1=1. 5bid., . 1;$, #<;, #<<. 5bid., g. -#=, -#;. 5bid., . -#;, =?;:;1#. 5bid., . ==?. 5bid., . -??, -,1, Bahai +dministration, . #-, #=. +Bals Notes, . ;8. 5t seems that 2ohrab believed there were two (anifestations at the same time, the Bab, a (anifestation of Cod for 5slam, and Bahaullah, a (anifestation of Cod for the whole world. "his belief was totally at variance with the teachings of both the Bab and Bahaullah, as has been e7 lained in revious cha ters. 2ee "he &aravan, Aol. KKA5, No. =, @ctober 1,8$. (irBa +hmad 2ohrab died on + ril #$, 1,;? in New Fork, and is buried in the churchyard of 2t. 0auls at Clen &ave, 'ong 5sland. "he New Fork /erald "ribune of (arch 1#, 1,81 re orts the death of (rs. &hanler on (arch 11, 1,81. %orld @rder, + ril 1,-<.

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1 = The 5uardianshi" of )hoghi #fendi: 9osses and 5ains


%hile in +merica 2ohrab and (rs. &hanler and their com anions in the &aravan went their own way, devoted to the Bahai &ause, but rejected by the Bahai +dministration. "here were in 5ran several former leaders in the &ause who not only re udiated the +dministration, there were in 5ran several former whole Babi:Bahai (ovement, and who wrote and ublished books in 5ran, telling in detail why they had defected. @ne of these defectors was a man named /, Niku, who was for fourteen years a Bahai, and became one of the leading missionaries of the &ause. /is icture is to he seen in the Bahai %orld 1,#8: 1,#?, 416 seated in the midst of a grou of Burman Bahais. /e said that even after he had given u the Bahai faith, the Bahais of "eheran continued to claim him as one of themselves, and he was forced to write several volumes in 0ersian entitled "he 0hiloso hy of Niku, to rove that he had left the movement. 5n an able and interesting manner Niku described the things which he had seen and heard which disillusioned him, such as the worldly ambition of +bdul:Baha, his greed for money, and his flattering e istles to great and wealthy eo le whom he ho ed to win as disci les. /e gave a list of all the laces in the world where there were Bahais, and estimated that the number of men was ;#$<.4#6 +nother man who deserted the &ause was +yati, to whom +bdul:Baha had given the name +vareh 4%anderer6. 3or twenty:one years he was a BahaiJ he was a ointed one of the /ands of the &ause, and was chosen by +(u1:Baha for a certain very im ortant mission.4-6 /e became one of the outstanding writers and missionaries of the (ovement, and was greatly revered by the Bahais. +bdul:Baha commissioned him to write the official history of the Babi:Bahai (ovement, which he did in 0ersian.4=6 /e is referred to by the famous Bahai writer 1r. )sselmont as the learned 0ersian historian of the Bahai (ovement, to wham lie is greatly indebted, and whom he !uotes as an authority.4;6 +vareh served 2hoghi )fendi for a number of years, and was sent by him to )uro e to make converts, but on his return he left the (ovement.486 +fter coming back to 5ran he was e7communicated by the Cuardian. /e then wrote a book in 0ersian in three volumes entitled *ashful:/iyal Y"he )7 osure of 1ece tion6, in which he related how he had 1:iecome a Bahai, and why he had defected. /e said that before he left 5ran he had been told that there were millions of Bahais in )uro e and +merica, and he believed it.4<6 'ater when he went, to +kka he began to discover the fraud and corru tion which e7isted there at the center of the &ause, and his faith began to waver. /e said that when he wrote the history of the (ovement, +bdul:Baha forced him to misre resent the facts, insisting that there should be no discre ancy between this new history and + "ravellers Narrative 4written by +bdul:Baha6, and that it should not conform to the Nu!tatul:*af of (irBa Eani. +fter he had defected +vareh wroteD 4?6 5 hereby declare that al:*awakib:al:1urriya Mthe title of the historyN, of two volumes, has totally lest its character, if authority. %hen +vareh went to )uro e and failed to find the millions of believers of whom he had so often heard he realiBed how greatly they had all been deceived. 5t was robably to +vareh that 2hoghi )fendi referred when he wroteD 4,6 "he volumes which a shameless a ostate com osed and disseminated, during that same eriod in 0ersia in his brarBen efforts, not only to disru t that @rder but to undermine the very 3aith which had conceived it, roved....abortive. + third 5ranian Bahai leader to desert the &ause was (irBa 2ubhi, a member of a Bahai family, and a relative of the third wife of Bahaullah. /e was for a number of years the 0ersian amanuensis
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of +bdu1:Baha, and was intimately ac!uainted with all members of his family, including 2hoghi )fendi before he became Cuardian. 'ater he was sent to 5ran for missionary work, but there he began to show a lack of Beal in the service of the &ause, and was e7communicated by 2hoghi )fendi.4,6 +s a result, 2ubhi was unable to find em loyment in "eheran, for (uslims rejected him as a Bahai agent, and Bahais rejected him as an a ostate 3rom their faith. 5t was then that a friend found a osition for him in a &hristian mission school, saving him from dire need. 'ater he became a famous teller of stories for children on the "eheran 9adio. 2ubhi wrote two books in 0ersian e7 laining why he had given u the Bahai religion. 5n the second volume entitled 0ayam:i:0adar 4+ 3athers (essage6, acts and deeds of 2hoghi )fendi....are brought into bold relief in a manner far from flattering to 2hoghi )fendi,41$6 %hen a friend once invited 2ubhi to become a &hristian, he re liedD %e who have left Bahaism are like eo le who had been invited to a great feast, and had been romised all sorts of delicious foods, and had been seated at a table loaded with many big dishes and latters, all covered P but when the lids were taken off, the dishes were found to be em ty. %e were romised the finest of s iritual foods in the Bahai 3aith, but we came away hungry. 5t is now hard for us to believe that there is any truth anywhere. 5t is robably to 2ubhi that 2hoghi )fendi refers when he mentions the infamous and insidious machinations of a former secretary of +bdul:Baha. 4116. 5f these men who left the (ovement were as evil as 2hoghi said they were, it is indeed strange that they were ermitted to serve the Bahai &ause for so long in such im ortant ositions. "he ublication of the books of Niku and +vareh and 2ubhi one after another roduced !uite a stir in 5ran, for they were eagerly read by (uslims and Bahais. 2oon, however, all available co ies were bought u , resumably by Bahais, to be destroyed. Numerous Bahais as a result of reading these damaging disclosures followed the e7am le of the defectors and gave u their Bahai connections. 5t seems, however, that the majority of the Bahais in 5ran, like their Cuardian, ignored the charges brought against their beloved &ause as untrue or unim ortant, and failing to ractice their 0rinci le of 5nde endent 5nvestigation of "ruth, continued for one reason or another follow their Cuide. 'ike his grandfather and great:grandfather, 2hoghi )fendi was a rolific writer. /e wrote reams of letters to the believers in +merica and other lands "hese letters have been ublished in several volumes entitled (essages to +merica, (essages to the Bahai %orld, Bahai +dministration, etc. 41#6 an im ortant service to the Bahai &ause which 2hoghi )fendi rendered in the field of literature was his translation into )nglish of several books, such as the 5!an and the ) istle to the 2on of the %olf and /idden %ords, all by Bahaullah. /e also translated the first art of Nabils Narrative, an account of the early days of the (ovement, under the title, "he 1awn Breakers.41-6 3or some, reason he did not translate the *itab:i:+!das, which he called the (other:Book of the Bahai 9evelation, nor did he undertake the codification of the laws and ordinances contained in this basic document of Bahai faith and government. 41=6 0erha s the most retentious work by the en of the Cuardian was Cad 0asses By, a book of more than =$$ ages, which ur orts to be a history of the Babi:Bahai (ovement during the first century of its e7istence 41?==:1,==6. "his volume is a mine of information, not all of which, however, is correct. 5t is the fourth official Bahai history, the first three being the New /istory, and "ravellers Narrative by +bdulPBaha, and Nabils Narrative. Nabil was one of those Babs who in the Baghdad eriod claimed to be /e:whom:Cod:%ill:(anifest, but later withdrew his claimed became a disci le of Bahau11ah.41;6 5n his history, 2hoghi )fendi has failed to give any documentary su ort whatever for his statements, erha s on the assum tion that statements of the infallible e7 ositor of the %ords of Cod needed no such confirmation.
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"he book would have been far more valuable had the author made use of the Nu!tatul:*af of (irBa Eani, and de ended less on the inaccurate accounts given by Nabil and +bdul:Baha. 9egarding the historical value of these various accounts, one who knows the history well has writtenD4186 By the assage of time .Bahai accounts have assumed a chameleonic character, totally divorced from truth. 2im le events and incidents are distorted and misre resented in the furtherance of rivate ends and ersonal ambitions. "he cases treated in these ages Mof Cod 0asses ByN are glaring e7am les of misre resentations of historical facts. 5t was said that. 2hoghi )fendi when a student in Beirut was very fond of reading novels, and Cod 0asses By should be considered an historical novel rather than authentic history. 5n reading this book one is disa ointed to find that the guardian of a &ause which has rofessed allegiance to eace and 1ove and world:brotherhood and absence of any sort of rejudice should have e7 ressed such bitterness toward many of the members of his own family. /e refers41<6 to Bahaullahs second son (irBa (uhammad +li as the 0rime (over of sedition, he s eaks of the third and fourth sons as the vacillating (irBa Qiyaullah and the treacherous (irBa Badiullah,41?6 and he calls the sons:in:law of Bahaullah infamous and crafty. 5n his (essages also the Cuardian sometimes condemned with great severity those who differed with him. "he cable from 2hoghi )fendi addressed to the Bahais of the .nited 2tates, which was rinted in Bahai News, No. #;8, and dated + ril 1;, 1,;#, a art of which will be !uoted below, is a sam le of his style. 5n this (essage the Cuardian announced the death in /aifa of 2ayyid +li Nayyir +fnan, a grandson of Bahaullah, and husband of 2hoghis eldest sister 9uhangeB. 5t is said that 2ayyid +li had a charming ersonality, and associated with, and befriended, men of all walks of life. /e e7 ressed himself strongly as being o osed to the Cuardians olicy of rejecting anyone who did not fully agree with him, and as result he was himself e7communicated 4+Bals Notes, . l1$<6 "he -$$:word cable begins thusD41,6 Cods +venging %rath. 5nform National +ssemblies 4that6 Cods avenging wrath....4has6 now struck down....2ayyid +li Nayer +fnan, ivot 4of6 (achinations, connecting link. 4between6 old 4and6 new &ovenant: breakers. "his alone 4will6 reveal e7tent 4of6 havoc wreaked 4by6 this virus 4of6 violation: injected, fostered over two decades 4in6 +bdul Bahas family....4who6 was re eatedly denounced by &enter 4of the6 &ovenant 4as6 his chief enemy......... "hus did the Cuardian announce to the friends in +merica the decease of his brother:in:law. @f course in s eaking thus he was only following the e7am le o Bahaullah in his denunciations of his brother 2ubh:i:+Bal, and of +bdul:Baha in his recriminatory charges in his %ill against his brother (irBa P(irBa (uhammad +li. 5f these characteriBations of members of the family of Bahaullah were true, it would seem that the (anifestation was not articularly successful in his training of his own children. +nd if they were false, it does not s eak well for the infallibility of the Cuardian. 3rom his writings it is evident that though 2hoghi )fendi had been a ointed in +bdul:Bahas %ill to be the e7 ounder of the words of Cod,4#$6 he had little interest in theology. /e seems to have acce ted all the doctrines handed down to him by Baha ullah, and +bdul:Baha and to have added nothing to them. "here was one roblem, however, which had faceYI the former leaders of the (ovement, and which the Cuardian of the &ause also, because of differences of o inion among believers, was forced to face. "his was the definition of the 2tation of the Bab, and the authority of
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the Bayan. Bahaullah, as was seen in cha ter A5, had for the ur ose of magnifying himself as a major (anifestation, minimiBed the status of the Bab by s eaking of him as his forerunner,4#16 in the way that Eohn the Ba tist was the forerunner of &hrist. +bdul:Baha in his book + "ravellers Narrative, written in 1??8, ado ted the same attitude toward the Bab.4##6 5t a ears that twenty:five years later +bdu1:Baha had changed his mind, far in his %ill he s oke of the Bab as the (anifestation of the .nity and @neness of Cod, and the 3orerunner of the +ncient Beauty MBahaN. 4#-6 %hat, then, was 2hoghi )fendi to say about the BabL 5n his 5ntroduction to the 1awn:Breakers 2hoghi )fendi writesD4#=6 +s Eohn the Ba tist had been the /erald or Cate of the &hrist, so was the Bab the /erald or Cate of Bahaullah. 'ater, however, he was !uoted as sayingD4L;6 "he Bab has been com ared to Eohn the Ba tist, but the station of the Bab is not merely that of the herald or forerunner. 5n himself the Bab was a (anifestation of Cod, the founder of an 5nde endent religion, even though that religion was limited in time to a brief eriod of years. "he Bahais believe that the Bab and Bahaullah were &o: 3ounders of their 3aith.4#86 +nd what did 2hoghi )fendi say about the binding character of the doctrines and laws of the Babs book the BayanJ Bahaullah had said4#<6 that the Bayan had not been abrogated, that is, it was incumbent on Bahais to acce t its teachings and obey its rece ts,. /owever, in the *itab:i:+!das Bahaullah changed a number of the laws of the Bayan.4#?6 'ater +bdul:Baha said the Bayan had been abrogated, and asked Nicholas why he had translated this abrogated book into 3rench.4#,6 2hoghi )fendi in this matter disagreed with his grandfather, for in his re!uirements for membershi in the Bahai 3aith he sti ulated that a Bahai must rofess unreserved acce tance of, and submission to, whatsoever has been revealed by their 0en 4that is, the writings of the Bab, Bahaullah and +bdul:Baha6.4-$6 /ence, according to 2hoghi )fendi, he Bayan of the Bab had not been abrogated, and believers must submit to its doctrines and laws, even though they have never seen or been &aught the book. 5n these difficult matters it seems that the )7 ositor of the %ords of Cod did not greatly clarify the Bahai teaching. 5n addition to 2hoghi )fendi, the Bahai &ause boasted a number of gifted writers in )nglish, among whom were E. ). )sselmont /orace /olley, (arBieh Cail, 2tanwood &obb, 'ady Bloomfield and Ceorge "ownshend. 5t is most unfortunate that these authors, most of whom had little or no knowledge of 0ersian and +rabic, were either unable or unwilling to study the basic documents of the Babi:Bahai (ovement, and by following blindly the accounts given by the Bahai leaders have misled their many readers. "he result of this is that the legendary story of the &ause has been generally acce ted as history, and anyone who tries to relate the true history is charged with ignorance or intentional falsification of the facts. "he key figure in the develo ment of the Bahai (ovement in +merica during the Cuardianshi of 2hoghi )fendi was /orace /olley, whose e7ecutive and literacy efforts were outstanding. 5t was he who drafted the official +dministrative @rder of the National 2 iritual +ssembly of +merica, which became the model or other +ssemblies round the world, it was he who edited the large volume entitled Bahai 2cri tures. 4-16 and as 2ecretary of the National 2 iritual +ssembly from 1,#= to 1,;; he edited the large and informative year book of the &ause entitled the Bahai %orld, and wrote a number of the leading articles in each volume. @ver a eriod of thirty years, twelve volumes of the Bahai %orld were ublished by /olley, the one for 1,=$:1,== having 1$$- ages. "hese volumes contain detailed information of the rogress of the Bahai &ause throughout the world, with many ictures of grou of converts in various countries, re rints of the Bahai
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&onstitution and By:'aws in a number of languages, commendations of the &ause by the en of numerous notables, lists of the laces where there are +ssemblies or Crou s of believers, and of books and eriodicals favorable to the &ause 4critical accounts are usually not listed6. /olley also wrote several looks about the 3aith. /e died on Euly 1#, 1,8$. @ne of the great achievements which brought joy to many Bahai hearts was the com letion of the (ashri!ul:+dhkar in %ilmette, 5llinois, +s was related in &ha ter K, the ground for this "em le was dedicated by +bdul:Baha in 1,1#, but the lans were large, and the friend: were few, so the task they had undertaken was truly tremendous. 0lans for a uni!ue and beautiful structure, ictures of which may be seen in many Bahai ublications, were drawn by the &anadian architect 'ouis E. Bourgeois. &onstruction began in 1,#$. 5n 1,#; a three:year drive to collect V=$$,$$$ for this building was undertaken by the National 2 iritual +ssembly the lan being that each of the 1,#=< Bahais in +merica 4-#6 should contribute V,.$$ a month for the three years.4--6 "he su erstructure was com leted in 1,-1, and a devotional service was conducted in the "em le on (ay 1, 1,-1, just 1, years after the dedication of the land. "he beautification of the structure continued for twelve mare years, and was com leted in 1ecember 1,=:, shortly before the celebration of the &entenary in 1,==. 5t had taken twenty:two and a half years to build the "em le, the first to be erected in the %est, and the total cost was V1,-=#,?1-.$,. 4was the .$, accidentalL6. "he full story of this undertaking, with ictures of the "em le, is told in the Bahai %orld 1,=$:1,== and the Bahai &entenary 1?==:1,==, both by the en of /orace /olley. +bdul:Baha had attached great im ortance to the building of this first (ashri!ul:+dhkar in the %estern %orld. /e was !uoted as sayingD4-=6 %hen that 1ivine )difice is com leted, a most wonderful and thrilling motion will a ear in the world of e7istence.....5t marks the ince tion of the *ingdom of Cod on earth. 9ealiBing the urgency of the erection of this "em le, it seems that the believers devoted most of their gifts, a art from what they sent to the Cuardian in /aifa,4-;6 o its com letion. +ccording to the architect who designed this remarkable building,4-=6 5nto this new design s woven, in symbolic form, the great Bahai teaching of unity P the unity of all religions and of all mankind. 2ince its com letion, untold thousands of tourists have visited the nine:sided "em le, so different from anything else n %ilmette, and no doubt some have been attracted by it to the 3aith. 5n re aration far the observance of "he l,== &entenary of the (ovement, a 2even Fear 0lan in true +merican style was ado ted in 1,-< by the National 2 iritual +ssembly, the aim of which was to make new converts to the &ause, and to establish a 2 iritual +ssembly in every state and rovince in North +merica where there had been none. "his determination was in accord with and in obedience to the command found in the %ill of +bdul:BahaD4-86 @ ye that stand fast in the &ovenantI....5t is incumbent u on...all the friends and laved ones, one and all to bestir themselves....to diffuse the sweet savours of Cod, to teach /is &ause and to romote /is 3aith ..."hey must dis erse themselves in every land, ass by every clime and travel throughout all regions...."he disci les of &hrist forgot themselves and all earthly things... scattered far and wide and engaged in calling the eo les of the world to the divine Cuidance, till at last they made the world another world....3inally in various lands they suffered glorious martyrdom. 'et them MBahaisN that are men of action follow in their footste sI +ccordingly, there was a burst of missionary Beal in the ranks of the believers, and in seven years the number of +ssemblies in North +merica rose from <$ to 1#=, the number of new areas being -=. 2ince it was the olicy of the administrator not to re ort the number of members, it is not known how many new converts were made in this eriod.

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Not only in North +merica but also in other lands an aggressive cam aign for e7tending the 3aith was carried on under the guidance of the Cuardian. "he order went out from /aifa that Bahais should become ioneers, leave their homes, and go to the unoccu ied laces and establish Crou s 4less than , members6 which would grow into +ssemblies 4more than ,6. 2hoghi )fendi was for some reason es ecially concerned that the ioneers go to many of the isolated islands of the world to tell the Cood News.4-<6 (issionaries from North +merica went south, and established centers a number of cities in 2outh +merica, and they went also to )uro ean countries and to other lands. 5t seems that growth in Creat Britain was slow. 5n writing of the missionary service of these ioneers of the 3aith, 2hoghi )fendi says4-?6 that most of the activities have been carried out through the resourcefulness of the members of the +merican Bahai &ommunity, who have assumed direct res onsibility for the s iritual con!uest of the vast majority of these countries.... "hrough such efforts as these the breeBes of Cods vitaliBing 9evelation have been blown u on the uttermost corners of the earth. 3rom 5ran also missionaries went forth to other lands, 5t was re orted4-,6 that a hundred new centers had been o ened by them in )ast +frica. 5n 1,;, when the author was in +smara, )thio ia, he met there a Bahai dentist from 5ran who was racticing his rofession and ro agating his 3aith, and had converted a Cerman doctor residing there. "he doctor said that he had gone to the dentist for treatment of a tooth, and while he was in the chair, with his mouth o en, the dentist suddenly said to him, 1o you know that Eesus &hrist has come againL "he atient was startled, and thought the dentist must have gone out of his mind. But after work on his teeth had been finished, the dentist ke t him far two hours, and told him the Cood News of the coming of Bahaullah, and as a result the doctor believed. 5 had been a 9oman &atholic, he said, but in medical school in Cermany 5 lost my faith. Now 5 am a believer. +nd he !uoted several verses from the New "estament to demonstrate his faith. + few )thio ians also had gathered about the Bealous missionary. Clowing re orts of the labors and successes of the ioneers are found in every volume of the Bahai %orld. +mong the outstanding missionaries of the &ause was (artha 9oot, whom 2hoghi )fendi describes4=$6 as that archety e of Bahai itinerant teachers, to whom, he says, must be awarded....the title of 'eading +mbassadress of /is 3aith and 0ride of Bahai teachers, whether men or women, in both the )ast and the Nest. 3or twenty years she travelled, circling the earth four times, visiting &hina, Ea an and 5ndia, and all im ortant cities in 2outh +merica. 2he romoted the translation and distribution of Bahai literature, she interviewed im ortant eo le in many lands, and is said to have converted Gueen (arie of 9umania.4=16 2he died while on a journey to /onolulu in 1,-,. +nd there were others, such as (rs. (ay (a7well, who had visited +bdu1: Baha in +kka in 1?,?, and who died when working in +rgentina, and 1r. 2usan. (oody 4d.1,-=6 and (iss *eith 9ansom:*ehler 4d.1,-86 who died in 5ran.4=#6 %hatever one may think of the &ause for which these missionaries labored, one cannot but admire their devotion and Beal in ro agating their 3aith. /owever, there were same Bahais who felt that, since it was the boast of their 3aith that it should be s read by the voluntary efforts of believers and not by a aid clergy, it was not in accordance with the teachings of Bahaullah to send out these aid ioneers, effective though their efforts in winning converts had roved to be, es ecially in +frica.4=-6 5n 1,=? the olitical situation in 0alestine radically changed, and +kka and /aifa became a art of 5srael. "hough the Bahais 1n the ast had been closely linked to the (uslim +rabs, it seems that the new Covernment acce ted their resence and afforded them the same liberty which they had enjoyed under the British (andate. "he 0resident visited the shrine of the Bab and called on.
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2hoghi )fendi.4==6 No doubt 5srael was the mare ready to tolerate the resence of this non:Eewish institution in /aifa because of its value as a tourist attraction, and because the Bahais there seem to have given u the (uslim cuD:toms which were always followed rior to the death of +bdul:Baha, and also because no effort was made in 5srael to convert others to the Bahai 3aith. 5t is said that most of the 5ranian Bahais left 5srael voluntarily, or were sent away by 2hoghi )fendi. 1uring this eriod how was the Bahai &ause faring in 5ran, the land of its birthL Because of the necessity for avoiding ublicity, there is not a great deal to be found in the volumes of the Bahai %orld regarding the rogress of the 3aith in 5ran, where the majority of the Bahais of the world resided. "he first National &onvention of Bahais was held in "eheran in 1,-=, the icture of which is shown in the Bahai %orld, and about the same time the first National 2 iritual +ssembly was organiBed.4=;6 5n 1,=$ the large and im ressive /aBiratl.:guds 4/ead!uarters6 was com leted in "eheran.4=86 /ere many believers and their friends used fre!uently to assemble for various activities. But Bahai activity often resulted in increased o osition from fanatical (uslims. 5n the Bahai %orld or #,==:#;=8 4 . -;P=86 there is a long and detailed re ort of ersecution in various arts of 5ran, during which ro erty was destroyed, Bahais were beaten, and several were killed. 5n 1,;;, when anti:Bahai feeling was strong in the country, the large dome of the /aBiratul:Guds was destroyed, and the ro erty was taken over by the Covernment. 'ater it was restored to the Bahais. 5t is im ossible to estimate the number of Bahais in 5ran at this time. +n interesting and informative article written in 1,;; by (r. ). +. Bayne, an +merican economist who was sent to 5ran by the .nited 2tates Covernment, resents the favorable im ression he received of the character of the Bahais he met in 5ran, and from this we will !uote e7tracts at some lengthD4=<6 1e ending u on the ferocity of o osition, Bahais have been forced in 5ran to o erate more or less secretly. .(ail is often carried by hand from center to center, and rinted matter is smuggled in from +merica or .nited *ingdom sources. "he whole makes for a national network, if you choose to look at it as such, even though it might be used solely for religious ur oses. Bahai centers throughout the country 4there are about 1$$ of them6 took on some of the as ects of an underground railway. "he district governor of GaBvin 4GaBvin6, for e7am le, told me the other day that although the records of the &haBBan center indicated that there were only fifteen members of the sect locally 4there are about #$$,$$$ in the country6, the records showed an annual budgetary e7 enditure of more than V#$,$$$, which financed among other things, a ten:bed dormitory.....%hile Bahais maintain that the sect re!uires im licit obedience to its national and international hierarchy and theoretically e7acts from all its members 1, ercent of their income, its methods of recruitment seem somewhat la7 and virtually anyone who rofesses to eace, world union, honesty, and the reliability of a faith that acce ts the history of other faiths can be accounted a member. Eudging from its ro aganda, its membershi claims seem samewhat grandiose, and often involve mere association or ever, sim le roof that the member has received Bahai literature. 0eriodically, according to some members there are urges of the dissenters, and backsliders are asked to resign. "wo years ago 41,;-6 there were a number of such disci linary actions in 5ran ordered by the central authorities, re aratory to the undertaking of a ten:year e7 ansion rogram that has encouraged members to leave 5ran and establish centers in +frica and 5ndia. (ore than a hundred new centers are claimed to have been established since then in )ast +frica alone. +nother objective was the constitutional recognition of the faith in 5ran, an objective that would a ear to be ho eless. Bahais in 5ran have established a re utation for honesty 4+ banker in the "eheran baBaarD +s a (uslim banker, 5 tell you that the Bahais are the most reliable element in the baBaar. Being a
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Bahai is a good credit rating in itself. "hey are honest clever eo leI6, and have often been laced in ositions of trust in business and in governmentD 4something like finding &hinese cashiers in Ea anese bankers and vice versa6. 5n the 5ranian government they hold many ositions of some im ortance, des ite the fact that they can never ho e, under the constitution, to attain ministerial or even truly senior civil status. "he army, for e7am le, has several hundred Bahai officers, at least one of whom is a major general. "he National Bank em loys several scores of Bahais, as do moat governmental agencies. 0ayrolls of 0oint 5A4=?6 activities include several hundred Bahais. "he +merican )mbassy and other embassies use Bahais. 5t is safe to assume that there are more Bahais in official agencies than there are members of any other minority grou J and certainly there are more Bahais than &hristians, who are e!ually barred from ministerial osts, although they, which the Eewish minority, are ermitted delegates to the 0arliament4=,6....."eheran has the largest concentration of the sect, with an estimated =$,$$$ adherents, who constitute an im ortant segment of the middle:class and much of its administrative strength. (r. Bayne then gives an account of the 1,;; ersecution of the Bahais in 5ran. "he 2hahs hysician, a Bahai who had served him for twelve years, was dismissed. + doBen Bahai em loyees of the government ro aganda office were fired. "hree hundred army officers are being !uietly retired. "he Bahais have been li!uidating their businesses, and in so doing have been drawing substantial funds from the o erating ca ital of the baBaar. "he result has been a series of major bankru tcies, carrying with them a score of minor crashes, because the baBaar is a sensitive center of 5ranian commerce, in a country always short of o erating ca ital. "he fundamental clash between the (ullas and theD Bahai is a clash between the traditional authority and social restige of the (ullas, and the develo ment of or educated middle:class which the Bahais artly re resent.....'ike all minority sects that are subject to ersecution, the Bahais a ear to have develo ed clannish characteristics, and des ite their alleged admirable !ualities they are now the target for the sus icions of ignorant and insecure eo le..... 5t MBahaismN offers a faith that detracts little from the history of other faiths, offers an ethical code, and..... resents an interesting syncretism that could be a ealing to a casual believer.....5t a ears to serve in 0ersia 45ran6 as a standard around which ersons of res onsibility can rally and have rallied, ersons who as a grou re resent rogress and modern thought in regard to social and economic roblems. "hose who have resided in 5ran longer than (r. Bayne would agree with him that many Bahais are able businessmen, and by assisting their fellow:believers to get jobs have not only increased the membershi of the 3aith, but have also raised the economic level the whole community. .sually by concealing their faith they have been able to hold ositions in many government agencies. 1uring the twentieth century there has been but little real ersecution of Bahais in 5ran. "hat of 1,;; was short:lived, and soon the Bahais in the baBaar and elsewhere carried on as usual. "hey are hated by confirmed (uslims because they hold that Bahaullah has taken the lace of (uhammad, whom they consider the last and the 2eal of the 0ro hets. 5t s true that on the whole they are more rogressive than many (uslims, and, since honesty is the best olicy, they may in business be more honest than some other grou s. /owever, after listening to this favorable account written by a foreigner who had but a brief ac!uaintance with the eo le of 5ran, it would b well to hear the o inion of 1r. 2aeed *han, a highly:res ected hysician and a man of absolute integrity who had as a doctor treated the second widow of the Bab, and had for a lifetime known intimately both Babis and Bahais and Bahais in
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/amadan and "eheran. /is verdict was that if the morals of Bahais were not worse than those of (uslim, they were not better. %riting in 1,#8 he saidD4;$6 "here is no conscience with them, they kee to no rinci le, they tell you what is untrue, ignoring or denying undoubted historical facts, and this is the character of both the leader and the led.....+s to morality and honesty, the whole system has roved sadly disa ointing.....5 have been in contact with many Bahais, and have had dealings with many and have tested many, and unfortunately 5 have met not a single one who could be called honest or faithful in the full sense of these words. +nd +vareh, after being an effective and honored missionary of the 3aith for twenty years and after writing the history of the (ovement, stated after his defection from the &ause, %e have seen little of it MhonestyN among the Bahais, indeed we have not seen it at all.4;16 /e then related with some glee how he had himself once deceived 1r. )sselmont in giving him false information about the history of the (ovement. /e says of )sselmont, /e is absolutely uninformed as to the rinci les of Bahaism. /e thanked me for correcting the errors in his book 4Bahaullah and the New )ra6, whereas the book is so faulty that it is beyond correction. 5t is indeed unfortunate that this hook is still recommended as a standard introductory te7t:book, outlining the history and teachings of the 3aith.4;#6 %as +vareh lying when he said this about )sselmonts book, or when he wrote his two:volume history of the (ovementL "o understand the antagonism to the Bahai &ause .in 5:an, one must remember that from the first there were olitical as well as religious as ects of the ( movement which were obno7ious to many eo le. 5t was widely believed by (uslims that the Bealous Babis at 2haykh "abarsi lanned to march to "eheran and over: throw the government and set u a Babi regime in its lace. 'ikewise, Bahaullah in the *itab:i:+!das romulgated the laws by which the Bahai religious: olitical state would be governed for a thousand years. +nd 2hoghi )fendi, though realiBing how remote such a day might be, continued to hold before his flack the ho e of world dominion. "hus in the Bahai %orld 1,-=:1,-8 4 . 1,,6 he is !uoted as sayingD 3armer faiths ins ired hearts and illumined souls.... "he 3aith of Bahaullah, likewise renewing mans s iritual life, will gradually roduce the institutions of an ordered society fulfilling not merely the functions of the churches of the ast, but also the of the 1ivine %ill in a higher degree than in former ages, humanity will emerge from that immature civiliBation in which church and state are se arate, and artake of a true civiliBation in which s iritual and social rinci les are at last reconciled as two as ects of one and the same "ruth. +gain in the Bahai %orld i,-8:1,-? 4 . #=<6 the Cuardian of the &ause saysD "he 2 iritual +ssemblies.....in future....will be enabled to add to their resent functions those owers....necessitated by the recognition of the 3aith of Bahaullah not merely as one of the recogniBed religious systems of the world, but as the 2tate 9eligion of an inde endent and 2overeign 0ower. +nd as the Bahai 3aith ermeate the masses of the eo les of )ast and %est, and truth is embraced by the majority of the eo le: of a number of the 2overeign 2tates of the world, will the .niversal /ouse of Eustice attain the lenitude of its ower, and e7ercise, as the su reme organ of the Bahai commonwealth, all the rights, the duties, and res onsibilities incumbent u on the worlds future su er:state. 2uch a rediction of a Bahai su er:state, in which church and state would be one, would evoke only a smile from most %esterners. But in 5ran where Bahais claimed that they were "wo million strong, and where their (ovement had usually remained underground, it is not sur rising that they were often sus ected t lotting to take aver the control of the country and make 5ran a Bahai state, or else of being the secret agents of some foreign government. /ence recognition of the
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Bahai 3aith by the government of 5ran is unlikely. 5n his %ill +bdul:Baha had commandedD4;-6 5t is incumbent u on the guardian of the &ause of Cod to a oint in his own lifetime him that shall became h: successor, that differences may not arise after his assing......"he /ands of the &ause of Cod must be nominated and a ointed by the guardian of the &ause of Cod. +ll must be under his shadow and obey his command......"he obligations of the /and of the &ause of Cod are to diffuse the 1ivine 3ragrances, to edify, the souls of men, to romote learning......"he /ands of the &ause of Cod must elect from their own number nine ersons that shall at all times be occu ied in the im ortant services in the work of the guardian of the &ause of Cod, and these....must give their assent to the choice of the one whom the guardian of the &ause hath chosen as his successor. 5n 1ecember, 1,;1, just thirty years after becoming Cuardian, 2hoghi )fendi made his first a ointment of 'iving /ands. +t first 1# were named, and later the number was increased to l,, and then in 1,;< to #<. "here is no record that these /ands ever chose the body of nine to assist the Cuardian, and to give assent to the one a ointed as his successor. 5n 1,;= the Cuardian ordered the /ands outside /aifa to a oint five +u7iliary Boards, one for each continent.4;=6 %hen any of the /ands died, the Cuardian a ointed others to take their lace, so that at his death there were still #< 'iving /ands. No more were a ointed. +ccording to +bdul:Bahas %ill, the /ands were to obey the Cuardian. %hen he died, whom were they to obeyL +lso, the %ill of +bdul:Baha rovided for the establishment of the .niversal /ouse of Eustice, of which the Cuardian was to be the sacred head and the distinguished member for life. 4;;6 /owever, during the lifetime of 2hoghi )fendi the /ouse of Eustice never came into being. But, according to the Bahai %orld 1,;$:1,;= 4 . =$6, 5n Eanuary, 1,;1 the Cuardian made known to the National 2 iritual +ssemblies of )ast and %est his weighty e och:making decision to form the first 5nternational Bahai &ouncil, as a forerunner of the .niversal /ouse of Eustice destined to emerge in the fullness of time. "he 0resident of the &ouncil was &harles (ason 9emey, and all the members were in /aifa. 9emey later stated4;86 that the members of the &ouncil took orders directly from the Cuardian, but as a &ouncil or functioning body, we never undertook any services of any nature whatsoever. "hus from his delay in a ointing /ands and his failure to establish the .niversal /ouse of Eustice, and even to allow the &ouncil to function effectively, it is evident that 2hoghi )fendi referred to govern the &ause alone. 5n the following cha ter we will describe the confusion caused by the a ointment of (ason 9emey to this osition. 'ong letters written to /olley and others by (ason 9emey as 0resident of the &ouncil are ublished in Bahai %orld #,;$:1,;= 4 . -<?:-,$6. "he leaders of the Bahai &ause have learned how to make goad use of their anniversaries to ins ire their followers to action. +s the 1$$th anniversary of the 1eclaration of the Bab a roached, elaborate lans were made far the celebration of the &entenary in 1,==, and goals were set for the e7tension of the &ause. 5n the Bahai %orld4;<6 enthusiastic re orts were ublished of the victories won during this cam aign by the Bealous missionaries of the 3aith. 5t was re orted that Bahais had established residence in <? countries, and their literature had been translated and ublished in =1 languages. "he Bahai endowments in 0alestine were worth ;$$,$$$ ounds sterling, and those in +merica were valued at V1,<$$,$$$. 5m ressive celebrations of the &entenary were held in %ilmette and other laces in the west, and at /aifa at the 2hrine of the Bab, and in 2hiraB where his 1eclaration was made. + large &entenary volume was re ared by the indefatigable /orace /olley which contained many ictures of historic sites and ersonages and articles about the rogress of the 3aith during its first century.

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5n 1,;$ the 1$$th anniversary of the martyrdom of the Bab was observed, and the 2hrine of the Bab on (t. &armel was greatly enlarged and beautified and a golden dome was laced on it, at a cost of V<;$,$$$. 4;?6 5n 1,;# the &entenary of the alleged intimation of mission, which Bahais say came to Bahaullah in the rison in "eheran, was duly celebrated. +nd in 1,;-, in re aration far the alleged announcement of Bahaullah s mission in the 9iBwan Carden near Baghdad in 1?8-, a "en:Fear 5nternational "eaching 0lan. was ado ted, with #< 4,7-6 objectives P the most challenging task ever set for the followers of a ro het to achieve.4;,6 +mong the objectives were t1ie establishment of the 3aith in 1-1 new lands, the translation of Bahai te7ts into ,1 new tongues, and the organiBation of =? new National 2 iritual +ssemblies. 3our 5ntercontinental "eaching &onferences were held in 1,;- to launch the cam aign, one in .ganda, the second in &hicago at which #-$$ eo le were resent, a third in 2weden, and the fourth in New 1elhi, 5ndia. (ason 9emey the 0resident of the 5nternational &ouncil and other /ands of the &ause were the leaders of these gatherings, and in &hicago ortraits of the Bab and Bahaullah the "win (anifestations of Cod were resented. 2everal regional conferences also were held to ins ire the believers to advance the &ause. @n the slo es of (t. &armel above /aifa, showing the domed shrine of the Bab and +bdu>l:Baha, and the +rchives Building in the lower center. 5t is sur rising to one who turns the thousands of ages of the twelve large volumes o1 the Bahai %orld covering the years 1,#1:1,;=, which contain so many interesting ictures and so much biogra hical material concerning the Bahai leaders, to find no ictures of the Cuardian of the &ause, and very little information about his life and labors for the 3aith. 5t seems that for some reason 2hoghi )fendi did not desire this kind of ublicity, though he was not at all reluctant to make known in his voluminous corres ondence and his messages to the believers his convictions and commands concerning the 3aith. /is residence was always in /aifa, and he seldom visited other lands, and never followed in the ste s of his grandfather in making grand tours in )uro e and +merica. /aving e7communicated most of the members of his family, his life must have been a somewhat lonely one. 2hoghi )fendi was to have married his cousin (aryam, daughter of (irBa Ealal 2hahid, but decided not to do so.48$6 3inally, in 1,-< when he was forty:one years of age, he married Nary (a7well., to whom he gave the name 9uhiyyih *hanum 4'ady 2 iritual6. 5n this marriage )ast and %est were united. (ary (a7well was the daughter of (ay Bolles, who had been a member of the first arty of +mericans to visit +kka in 1?,?, and who from that time till her death devoted herself to the ro agation of the Bahai 3aith. 2he in 1,$# married a &anadian architect %illiam 2utherland (a7well, who in 1,$- became a Bahai, the first in &anada. "he (a7wells resided in (ontreal, and their home became the center for Bahai activities in that city, and in 1,1# had the honor of welcoming +bdul:Baha as a guest. 5n 1,1$ (ary, their first and only child, was born, and was from childhood like her mother a devoted believer. 5n 1,#- mother and daughter s ent seven months in /aifa, and again in 1,-< they visited the Cuardian and assisted him in his work. 5t was then that 2hoghi )fendi chose (ary to be his wife. + revealing account of this marriage, which must have come as a great sur rise to the believers, es ecially those in 5ran and the )ast, was given in 'ondon in 1,8- in a large meeting of Bahais by 9uhiyyih *hanum herself, and was !uoted by the Bahai writer Eessyca Caver as followsD4816 %hen the day of our marriage came, said the bride, 5 was dressed entirely in black, because in those days they wore black whenever the ladies went out on the street in the )ast. 5 had a black
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turban an my head and black shoes and a black bag and a black suit and black gloves. 5 had on a white blouse, 5 admit, but that was my wedding outfit. 5 came aver to the (asters /ouse 4where +bdul: Baha has lived6 P 5d been frightfully cross to my arents all morning, because 5 was so terribly, terribly nervous. (ost eo le only get married once, but not everybody gets married to a Cuardian. 2o, 5 would alternately get cross with my arents, then throw my arms around their necks and wee and beg forgiveness all morning. By the time the afternoon came, 5 went over and the beloved Cuardian came out and got into his car. 5 got in beside him, and the heavens fe51. in /aifa, because no one had wind of this. "hey were all sim ly astonished at the Cuardian, since going off in an automobile with a )astern Bahai woman was sim ly unheard of .....%e went aver to the 2hrine of Bahaullah Mat +kkaN and grayed, and this ring that 5 wear was 2hoghi )ffendis Bahai ring.....%e just had rayers in the 2hrine, and he ut the ring on my finger. "hat was all. 2ilently. 5t was no lace for conversation..... +nd we went back and in the room of the Createst /oly 'eaf Msister of +bdu1:BahaN we had this sim le ceremony of Bahaullah P utting hand in hand, and 5 recited a verse which 5 had learned with great difficulty in +rabic and he recited it and that was allI "hen 5 think he went over and sat with his family for a few moments, and 5 finally went back to the ilgrim house and waited for him to come aver for dinner just as he always did P we sat with my mother and father, and. 5 was there with his brother, just like we did every other night.....and then after dinner my luggage was carried across the street u stairs. %e went and sat and visited for some time in a room with his arents and brothers and sisters, and that was our marriage. Eust as sim le as that. No wedding veil, no s ecial flowers, no long "ablets chanted.....5t seemed to me very wonderful and very recious.....5 had a room ne7t to his bedroom which was also his working room. /e had his bed and his desk side by side, because he used to work until he was so e7hausted that he just fell into bed, and then he would go on working in his bed. +nd nothing 5 did could get 2hoghi )ffendi to se arate his bedroom from his office. 3or si7teen and the twenty years that they were together 9uhiyyih *hanum acted as the secretary for her husband. "hey were not blessed with offs ring. 5f ever a wife adored her husband MsheN adored 2hoghi. /er adoration is vividly e7 ressed in the address she gave at the meeting of Bahais in 'ondon si7 years after his death, as re orted by Eesyca Caver.48#6 + few sentences !uoted from her address will clearly reveal her feelings. 5 dont know how anybody could convey the sweetness and the loveableness of the Cuardian.....l have never seen such e7 ressive eyes in my whole life, never seen eyes that could change so much.....5 always thought that these beautiful, beautiful eyes looking at you with such enthusiasm were like two suns rising over the horiBon, ..../e had e7ceedingly beautiful hands...."hey were sensitive and highly develo ed..../e was the humblest erson that 5 have ever met in my whole life....but when it came to the &ause of Cod he was just like a lion....%hen he was angry, which he was sometimes, justifiably, his voice was just like the crack of a whi . Nobody could withstand his anger. 5t was the %rath of Cod...../e loved mountaineering and used to go for these long, long walks....in the mountains. /e climbed some high mountains in 2witBerland..../e seemed to find a great comfort from the mountains, even u to the end of his life....@ne of the strongest characteristics of the Cuardian was his absolutely iron rinci le that nothing could interfere with what he considered right. Nothing swayed him at all. Neither love nor hate nor danger P absolutely nothing ... +nd she told of his tireless and unremitting labors, his love of order in everything, even in the arrangement of the a ers on his desk, his desire to do everything himself, even when it came to arranging the flower lots in the garden or building a staircase. 5t seems that he did not know how to delegate tasks to others, and so save his own time and strength.
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0erha s this tendency was accentuated by the conviction that the Cuardian of the &ause of Cod is infallible, and others are not. 3or the sad story of the last illness and death of the Cuardian we are again indebted to Eessyca Carver 48-6 and to 9uhiyyih *hanum.48=6 2hoghi )fendi and his wife went to 'ondon in @ctober, 1,;< for the ur ose of ordering furniture and fi7ings for the +rchives Building on (t. &armel in which both were dee ly interested. 5t is also said that he went to seek medical advice, since his health was not good.48;6 @n @ctober #< he felt !uite unwell, and his wife also became ill, and the hysician who visited them said they both had +siatic influenBa, and ordered rest. 9uhiyyih *hanum recovered after a few days, but 2hoghi )fendi did not. /e was restless, and insisted on reading his mail and carrying on his work. /e was trying to com lete the ma he was re aring to show the rogress of the "en:Fear &rusade at its halfway aint, and would not listen to his wife when she begged him to desist. /owever, he seemed better, and the doctor agreed to his leaving for /aifa soon. But on the morning of November = when 9uhiyyih *hanum went to his roam she found him dead. "he doctor said he had suffered a heart attack, and had died eacefully in slee . 3ortunately for his bereaved widow, half:mad with grief, kind friends rushed to her assistance. /ands of the &ause soon arrived from near and far, and hel ed her inform the Bahai %orld &ommunity of what had ha ened, and also make lans for the burial. .nwilling to deal the naked blow to the hearts of other Bahais which she herself had received, she sent the following cable to /aifa ho ing it would re are the believers for the newsD Beloved Cuardian des erately ill +siatic flu tell 'eroy 45oas6 inform all National +ssemblies inform believers su licate rayers divine rotection 3aith. "his method of breaking bad news gently is one that is widely racticed in 5ran. 9uhiyyih *hanum and the other /ands of the &ause were greatly concerned that the body of the Cuardian he buried e7actly in accordance with the laws laid down by Bahaullah in the *itab:i: +!das.4886 Cod has commanded, wrote Bahaullah, that the dead be buried in 4coffins of6 crystal or rare stones or beautiful hard woods, and that engraved rings be laced on their fingers. 5ndeed, /e is the *nower, the 0retender. @n the rings are to be inscribed in +rabic the wordsD 5 had my origin in Cod and 5 returned /imJ 5 am se arated from all but /im, and 5 hold fast to /is Name, the (erciful, the &om assionate. +nd Bahaullah continuedD +nd 4Cod commanded that6 ,you wra 4the dead body6 in five garments of silk or cotton. %hoever is unable to do this, one of them will be sufficient for him.......5t. is unlawful for you to carry the dead body farther that the distance of an hour from the city. Bury him with joy and sweetness in a nearby lace. Before burial the body must be washed. %ho should render this last service to the Cuardian 9uhiyyih *hanum decided to ask the /and of the &ause +delbert (uhlschlegel, a hysician, to come from Cermany to do this, since he was a man known for his s irituality, 4and6 would not only be able to endure the sorrow of erforming the last service for the beloved Cuardian of washing his blessed body, but would do it in the s irit of consecration and rayer called for on such a sacred occasion. /e acce ted immediately, with dee est gratitude for this inestimable rivilege. "he widow then urchased nine yards of the heaviest and finest white silk available and nine yards of slightly lighter weight for the first should, as well as towels and cloths and soa to wash the body....2he waited in an anteroom while he 4the doctor6 washed the recious remains and wra ed them in the first shroud, anointing the body with attar:of:rose. 'ater 1r. (uhlschlegel wrote thus to 9uhiyyih about this e7 erienceD 2omething new ha ened to me in that hour that 5 cannot, even after a few days, s eak of, but 5 can mention the wisdom and lave that 5 felt our over me. 5n that room.....there was a tremendous s iritual force such as 5 have
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only felt in my life in the holy 2hrines.....+s 5 washed each member of his body and anointed it, 5 thanked those beloved hands which had worked and written to establish the &ovenant, those feet that had walked for us, that mouth that had s oken to us, that head that had thought for us, and 1 rayed and meditated and su licated that in the short time left. to me, the members of my body might hasten to follow in his ath of service... "he roblem which caused 9uhiyyih *hanum, and the other /ands who had hastened to 'ondon to assist her, much concern was that of finding a suitable lace of burial not more than an hour s journey from 'ondon. +fter considerable search an ideal s ot was discovered in the Creat 5 Northern &emetery at New 2outhgate, a lot was immediately urchased, and four small cy ress trees were lanted at the four corners, in memory of the hundreds of cy ress trees that the beloved Cuardian had lanted... around the /oly 0laces in Bahji and /aifa. and all was made ready far the burial in a strong, dee vault. +fter much deliberation it was decided that for the resent, as well as the future, the wisest course would he to have a lead coffin which could be hermetically sealed, and that this should be laced in a beautiful bronBe cas1cet, the most dignified, costly and enduring that could be found. By doing this the /ands were assured that in the future when the means of trans ort became so ra id that the journey from 'ondon to /aifa can be accom lished in an hour, it would be ossible to convey the sacred remains of the Cuardian to the /oly 'and. 2ince the casket weighed nearly half:a:ton, s ecial bearers were chosen to carry it. 5n view of the great difficulty of carrying out the rovisions of the *itab:i:+!das in a non:Bahai city, the devoted /ands of the &ause will surely be forgiven for their failure to rovide a crystal coffin and the ro erly:inscribed ring far the deceased Cuardian, es ecially since they may never have read this assage in their (ost /oly Book. @n 2aturday, November , more than si7ty automobiles accommodating over three hundred and si7ty eo le, moved off in solemn file.....5t was robably the largest column of vehicles seen in 'ondon for many years in attendance on a funeral.....+lready a great crowd of believers was waiting at the door of the &ha el 4in the cemetery6 when the funeral cortege drove u J on every face was written its own measure or heart:break and many sobs were heard....."he Creat Cuardian was carried in and laid on the soft green covering of the catafal!ue. "he &ha el was crowded to t1ie doors, one many had to remain outside. +ll stood while the wonderful rayer, ordained by Bahaullah for the dead, was chanted in +rabic. 2i7 other rayer and e7cer ts from the "eachings were then read by friends with beautiful voices, some in )nglish, some in 0ersian, and re resentative Bahais from )uro e, +frica, +merica, +sia P Negro, Eew, and +ryan. "he casket was then taken to the grave, and as all stood, silently waiting for the coffin to be lowered into the grave, 9uhiyyih. *hanum felt the agony of the hearts around her enetrate into her own great grief. /e was their Cuardian. /e was going forever from their eyes, suddenly snatched from them by the immutable decree of Cod.....2he decided to ask for it to be announced that before the coffin was laced in the grave, the friends who wished might ass by it and ay their res ects. 3or over two hours the believers, eastern and western, filed by. 3or the most art they knelt and kissed the edge or the handle of the casket. 9arely indeed in history can such a demonstration of love and grief have been seen. %hen the last believers in this grief:stricken rocession had filed by, 9uhiyyih *hanum a roached the casket, kissed it and knelt in rayer for a moment. 2he then had the green all s read over it....."hen the mortal remains of him whom +bdul:Baha designated the most wondrous, uni!ue and riceless earl that doth gleam from out the "win 2urging 2eas48<6 were slowly, lowered into the vault.....+ll this time : a service that had lasted almost four hours P the
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re resentative of the 5sraeli Covernment, obviously dee ly moved, had been in attendance, himself ste ing beside the coffin, and, with bowed head, aying his solemn res ects. %hen the majority of mourners had left, the /ands of the &ause and other leaders remained to see the vault sealed. "hen more rayers were said in many foreign languages, and flowers were hea ed about the tomb, symbols of the love, the suffering, of so many hearts, and no doubt the silent bearers of vows to make the 2 irit of the Cuardian ha y now, to fulfil his lans, carry on his work, be worthy at last of the love and ins ired self:sacrificing leadershi he gave them for thirty:si7 years of his life. 2hoghi )fendi, great:grandson of Bahaullah, had been gathered to his fathers, and buried far from his fathers native land. 2 eedily the /ands of the &ause of Cod made their way to /aifa to read the %ill of the Cuardian, and learn what rovision he had made for a successor.
N@")2 1. #. -. =. ;. 8. <. ?. ,. 1$. 11. 1#. 1-. 1=. 1;. 18. 1<. 1?. 1,. #$. #1. ##. #-. #=. #;. #8. #<. #?. #,. -$. -1. -#. --. -=. -;. Bahai %orld 1,#8:1,#?, vol. 55, . 1=,. 3ilsafa:i:Niku, Aol. 55, . #1$, #1-. +Bals Notes, . #=$, #=1. +l:*awakib +l:1urriyya, by +yati, # Aol., &airo 1,#=. 2ee +Bals Notes, . 1$,,:11$$. Bahaullah and the New )ra, E. ). )sselmont, first edition, Brentano s, New Fork, . ?, ##, #1;. +Bals Notes, . #< +vareh !uoted by )sselmont, . #1;, #18. +Bals Notes, . #-1, +vareh in *ashful:/iyal, im ression, . 1-,, 1=$. +Bals Notes, . -;, Cod 0asses By, . -#<. +Bals Notes, . -8. Cod 0asses By, . -#<. 5n Bahai Books, the 'iterature &atalogue of the Bahai 0ublishing "rust, %ilmette 1,8<, these books by 2hoghi )fendi, along with books by Bahaullah and +bdul:Baha, are listed under the title, Bahai 2acred %ritings and "e7ts. "he word 2cri ture is not used in designating any of them. 5t is to be regretted that these translations are not always accurate. 5t is evident that in some instances 2hoghi )fendi intentionally mistranslated the 0ersian original. 2ee &ha ter A, note <$, and, +Bals Notes, . ;,$, ;,1, 8;-. Cod 0asses By, . =11. "here is a retort that 2hoghi )fendi did translate the +!das, in whole or in art, into )nglish, but if he did this translation was not ublished. +Bals Notes, . ;$$. Nabils Narrative is no more reliable than are the first two official Bahai histories. +Bals Notes, . ;$$. Cod 0asses By, . #=<. (irBa Badiullah died in /aifa on November 1#, 1,;$, aged ?#. 2ee + endi7 55, O<1. Bahai %orld, Aol. 55, . ?;. +Bals Notes, . #;=, #;;, +!das, . #8, #,, ;=, ;;, ;?, ;,. 5t is noteworthy that while Bahaullah called the Babhis forerunner, he also in the +!das referred to him as CodZ, "he 0oint of the Bayan, and "he (aster of the %orlds. + "ravellers Narrative, . 7v, 7vi, #-$. Bahai %orld 1,#8:1,#?, . ?<. 2ee + endi7 55, O=8. "he 1awn:Breakers, +merican )dition, 1,-#, . 777. Bahaullah and the, New )ra, )sselmont, 9evised )dition, 3irst 0rinting, 1,-<, . #8. +Bals Notes, . 1#-, 1#;, #8$, #81. 5bid., . 18;, ;,, 4'etter No. 1 of Baha6 . 2ee + endi7 55, O=. 2ee &ha ter A555. "he re ly of Nicholas to +bdul:Baha is !uoted in +Bals Notes, . 1118. Bahai %orld 1,#8:1,#?, . ,-. Bahai 2cri tures, Brentanos, New Fork, 1,#-. .. 2. &ensus 1,#8. +bdul Bahas +lleged %ill is 3raudelent, 9uth %hite, 1,-$. Cod 0asses By, . -;1. 5n ten weeks in 1,#;, V,,?$8 was sent by the National 2 iritual +ssembly in +merica to 2hoghi )fendi in /aifa 1;1 of ##$

-8. -<. -?. -,. =$. =1.

=#. =-. ==. =;. =8. =<. =?. =,. ;$. ;1. ;#. ;-. ;=. ;;. ;8. ;<. ;?. ;,. 8$. 81. 8#. 8-. 8=. 8;. 88. 8<.

4+bdul Baha and the 0romised +ge, 9uth %hite, 1,#<, + endi7, 1,#,6. Bahai %orld 1,#8:1,#?, . ?=. 'etter from (r. %ill @rick, @ctober #?, 1,8=. Cod 0asses By, . -<,. (r. ). +. Bayne, see note =<. Cod 0asses By, . -?8. "he conversion of Gueen (arie to the Bahai 3aith was widely and joyfully acclaimed by Bahais as the fulfilment of Bahaullahs ro hecy in the +!das 4 . =8:=<6 that kings would su ort his &ause 4Bahai %orld, vol. 55, . 1<-:1<8, Cod 0asses By, . -?<:-,;6. /owever, regarding this alleged conversion (other +le7andra, now (other 2u erior of the @rthodo7 (onastery of the "ransfiguration, wrote to (r. E. +nthony 2istrom on +ugust <, 1,<$ as followsD 5t is erfectly true that my mother, Gueen (arie, did receive (iss (artha 9oot several times.....2he came at the moment when we were undergoing very great family and national stress. +t such a moment it was natural that we were rece tive to any kind of s iritual message, but it is !uite incorrect to or any of us at any time contem lated say that my mother tem lated becoming a member of the Bahai faith. Cod 0asses By, . -,?, =$$. (ason 9emeys 2tatement of Eanuary 1,8<. 5t seems that same of the ioneers su orted themselves in various ways. Bahai %orld 1,;$:1,;=. Bahai %orld 1,-=:1,-;, . #8?, --;. Bahai %orld 1,=$:1,==. Bahais +gainD "he 'arger Guestion of the &ontinuing 0ersecution of the Bahai 9eligious 2ect in 5ran, letter from ). +. Bayne, Eune #, 1,;;, +merican .niversities 3ield 2taff 9e orts. 0oint 5A was a .. 2. government agency which rovided assistance in various fields to 5ran. "he 5ranian &onstitution recogniBes three religious minorities, Qoroastrians, Eews, and &hristians, and grants them re resentation in 0arliament, but does not recogniBe Bahais as belonging to a se arate religion. Bahais vote as (uslims. (ission 0roblems in New 0ersia, Beirut, 1,-8, . ?-, ?<, B2. *ashful:/iyal, Aol. 5, 3irst )dition, +vareh, . 18, 8=. Bahai Books, Bahai 0ublishing "rust, @ctober 1,8<, . 1-. Bahai %orld 1,#8:1,#?, . ?;, ?8. Bahai %orld 1,;$:1,;=, . -?, 1$?:11=, 1,;=:1,8-, . --Bahai %orld 1,#8:1,#?, . ?<. 0roclamation of (ason 9emey, + ril 1-8$. Bahai %orld 1,==:#,=?, . <<, 1=#:1=;. Bahai %orld 1,;$:1,;=, . #1:-$. 5bid., . #8 +Bals Notes, . <#= "he Bahai 3aith, by Eessica 9ussell Cayer, +ward Books, New Fork, 1,8<, . 1##:1#=. 5bid., . 118:1#1. 5bid., . 1#,:1=$. "he 0assing of 2hoghi )ffendi, Bahai ublishing "rust 1,;?. "he !uotations which follow are all taken from this valuable document. +Bals Notes, . <#;. +!das, . ;<:;?. Bahai %orld 1,#8:1,#?, . ?1.

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1%= The 3ule of the Peo"le


"he Bab several months before his e7ecution in Euly 1?;$ a ointed 2ubh:i:+Bal as his successor. Bahaullah si7teen years after the death of the Bab re udiated 2ubh:i:+Bals a ointment, and declared that he himself was a new (anifestation. /e in his %ill a ointed his two eldest sons to succeed him turn, first +bbas )fendi, and after him (irBa (uhammad +li. But +bbas, better known as +bdul: Baha, ignored his fathers %ill, and in his own %ill a ointed his grandson 2hoghi )fendi as his successor and Cuardian of the &ause of Cod, sti ulating that it should be succeeded by his eldest son. But when 2hoghi )fendi died in 1,;< he left no %ill and a ointed no successor, thereby violating both the command of Bahaullah that the writing of a 1Aill has been made incumbent on everyone,416 and also the rovision in the %ill of +bdul:Baha that he should a oint in his own lifetime him that shall become his successor, that differences may not are arise after his assing. +fter him will succeed the first:horn of his lineal descendants. +nd, in case the first:born is not worthy, he must choose another branch to succeed him.4#6 2ince the Cuardian died childless, and therefore no branch e7isted, he may be forgiven for his failure to carry out this rovision in the %ill of his grandfather on which he had leaned so heavily for his authority. But why did 2hoghi )fendi not write a %illL /ad he not read the *itab:i:+!das, which, he had said, 4-6 may well be regarded as the brightest emanation of the mind of Bahaullah, as the (other Book of /is 1is ensation, and the &harter of /is New %orld @rderL @r had death overtaken him un re aredL @r was he, infallible as he was su osed to be, unable to solve the roblem of the succession, or unwilling to continue any longer the game of laying 1ivinity, and by failing to leave a %ill intentionally ended the Cuardianshi D 0erha s his wife and his close friends knew what was .in the mind of 2hoghi )fendi, but if they knew they have not divulged his secret to others. 4=6 5t seems clear that the /ands of the &ause, a ointed by the Cuardian to assist him in everything, were not e7 ecting this eventuality. +ccording to "ime (agaBine,4;6 twenty:si7 of the twenty:seven /ands hastened to /aifa shortly after the death of the Cuardian, and ransacked the head!uarters at No. < 0ersian 2treetJ they searched 2hoghi )fendis safe:bo7 without success, all week long they met in secret session, were tight:li ed about rumours of stormy rivalry between two candidates for the Cuardian P one of them said to be an +merican. +t last they announce the solutionD there would be no new Cuardian at all, but a nine:man &ouncil of /ands at /aifa, titled /ands of the &ause of Cod on /oly 'and. "he new body will have no owers to inter ret scri ture. )verything would certainly have been much sim ler if 2hoghi had made a %ill, said a /and from 0aris when the meeting was over. "he interim &ouncil was called the &ustodian /ands of the 3aith. @n November #;, 1,;<, about three weeks after the death of 2hoghi )fendi, the /ands issued a long statement, e7 laining to the Bahais of the world what they had done. 5n this they saidD 5n our ca acity as &hief 2tewards of the embryonic %orld &ommonwealth of Bahaullah, we /ands of the &ause have constituted a body of nine /ands to serve at the Bahai %orld &entre. "he document ended with the words, 5n service to the 3aith of Bahaullah, and was signed by all #8 of the /ands who were in /aifa. "he full statement is ublished in Bahai %orld, vol. K555, , #;1ff. "ruly the /ands inherited a very difficult roblem. 2ince 2hoghi )fendi had no offs ring he could not a oint a successor in accordance with +bdul:Bahas %ill, and +bdul:Baha had made no rovision for the succession in case 2hoghi )fendi should be childless. /ence, as the /ands realiBed, there was no way in which a successor could be a ointed that would be in conformity to the %ill. +bdul:Baha was mistaken in the su osition that there would be Cuardians in his family
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generation after generation. "he lan which the /ands ado ted was that the .niversal /ouse of Eustice, in accordance with the rovision in the %ill of +bdul:Baha, should at last be established, and should head u the Bahai 3aith. But had they forgotten that it was sti ulated in the same %ill that the head of the /ouse of Eustice must be the Cuardian, or someone a ointed by himD486 "herefore, without a Cuardian or someone a ointed by him to reside over the .niversal /ouse of Eustice, this body, when elected, would have no head P and headless bodies do not function hel fully. (oreover, according to the %ill, the /ands of the &ause are to be a ointed by the Cuardian, and are re!uired to turn to him, and guard him, and be occu ied in the im ortant services in the work of the Cuardian, be under his shadow and obey his command.4<6 But if there is no Cuardian, whom will the /ands obey, and whom will they serveL /ands without a head to direct them are at best ineffective. +ccordingly, if the %ill of +bdul:Baha is taken as authoritative, with the death of 2hoghi )fendi the whole Bahai 2tructure colla sed, Cuardianshi , /ands of the &ause of Cod, and .niversal /ouse of Eustice. 5t must have seemed to some that Cod had failed them, or, as others e7 lained the situation, that /e had changed /is mind about the future of /is &ause. %hat, then, could the devoted /ands who gathered in /aifa do to rescue the &ause of Cad from e7tinctionL + arently, they did the only thing ossible under he circumstances, they ignored the rovisions of the %ill of +bdul:Baha regarding the Cuardianshi , while retaining the institutions of the /ands of the &ause and the National and .niversal +ssemblies rescribed by him, and went back to the rovisions in the *itab:i:+!das and the %ill of Bahaullah according to which the affairs of the &ause, after the deaths of the two Branches +bbas )fendi and (irBa (uhammad +li, were to be ordered by the /ouse of Eustice.4?6 %ere there no loyal believers in the infallibility of +bdul:Baha resent at /aifa to rotest this treatment of the &enter of the &ovenant, the )7 onent of the %ord of CodL @nly the /ands know what was said in the secretD sessions, and having been sworn to secrecy they, with one e7ce tion, have revealed nothing. 5t is indeed amaBing how easily the great majority of Bahais seem to have forgotten immediately all they had said and written about the absolute indis ensability of the 5nstitution of the Cuardianshi , and to have acce ted cheerfully and without !uestion the more democratic system of rule through the .niversal /ouse of Eustice. "here was one, however, who had a better memory than the rest, and greater reverence for the %ill of the (aster. /e was &harles (ason 9emey, a member of the &ustodian /ands in /aifa. (r. 9emey, born in 1?<=, member of an eminent +merican family, was reared as a &hristian, was educated as an architect, and had an outstanding career. /is achievements and honors are recorded in %hos %ho in +merican became a Bahai when he was a young man in 1?,,, and served the &ause Bealously for many years. 5n 1,$,:1,1$ he made a round:the:world tour on behalf of his faith. /e wrote many books and am hlets about the Bahai &ause, which are de osited in the 'ibrary of &ongress and fifty other libraries in the ..2.+. and abroad.4,6 /is name a eared fre!uently for many years in the Bahai records. /e was a ointed to draw the lans for the +rchives Building on (t. &armel and the Bahai tem les in +frica and +ustralia. 2hoghi )fendi called (ason 9emey to /aifa, where he remainXd for ten years, made him a /and of the &ause and when he established the first 5nternational Bahai &ouncil in 1,;1 he a ointed 9emey as the 0resident of this body, which, according to 2hoghi )fendi, would eventually become the .niversal /ouse of Eustice, and always gave him the lace of honor ne7t to himself.41$6 +t the death of 2hoghi )fendi the Covernment of 5srael in their official year book for 1,;< gave the name (ason 9emey as the New /ead of the Bahai 3aith.
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(r. 9emey has stated in his various writings that since both +bdul:Baha and the 3irst Cuardian had mad it clear that there must always be a Cuardian, he had after the death of 2hoghi )fendi earnestly tried to ersuade the other /ands that the Cuardianshi must be continued, but they all refused to listen to him. Cradually he came to realiBe that since 2hoghi )fendi had made him the 0resident of the 5nternational &ouncil, he himself was the one a ointed by the 3irst Cuardianshi succeed him. /e says he waited more than two years, for the /ands in /aifa to realiBe this fact, and or, their own initiative concur in his assuming the leadershi as the 2econd Cuardian. /owever, it became evident they did not want to have a 2econd Cuardian, and were gradually re aring the believers to acce t a new ty e of organiBation. 2o at the end of 1,;, he left the /ands in /aifa, returned to +merica, and issued in + ril, 1,8$ a statement roclaiming himself as Cuardian, and calling on all Bahais to acce t him. /is rinted 0roclamation to the Bahais of the %orld was sent to the +nnual &onvention of Bahais of the ..2.+., meeting in %ilmette, 5llinois. +fter giving in detail his reasons for claiming the Cuardianshi arid the grounds on which he based his claim, 9emey says, 5 am now declaring my osition of command in the &ause to believers here in +merica....and through this &onvention to all the Bahai %orld. /e then ordered the /ands in /aifa to desist at once from the lans they were making for 1,8-, resumably lans far electing the .niversal /ouse of Eustice, and says, t alone in all the world have been given the authority and the ower to accom lish this....5t is from and through the Cuardianshi that infallibility is vested and that the /ands of the 3aith receive their orders. /e says he bases his authority on his a ointment by 2hoghi )fendi to the 0residency of the 5nternational &ouncil. 5t seems that this lea for fidelity to the Cuardianshi and to him as 2econd Cuardian fell largely on deaf ears, for the /ands went ahead with their lans for 1,8-, and only a small minority of Bahais rallied about the 2econd Cuardian. "he majority wearied, erha s, by the demands of a 1ivine 1ictator, had discovered that the Cuardian had not been infallible, and desired to change to a more democratic form of government of the &ause. (r. 9emey ublished in 1,8$ a small book of ;# ages entitled + '+2" +00)+' "@ "/) /+N12 @3 "/) 3+5"/ P + 0rivate and 2ecret 1ocument to be 9ead @nly by the /ands of the 3aith, in which he with a conciliatory s irit and at great length e7horts them to abandon their rogram for 1,8-, and that they seek to find the 2econd Cuardian of the Bahai 3aith, and that they u hold the %ill and testament of the (aster +bdul:Baha and the +dministration of the 3aith as established by the Beloved Cuardian 2hoghi )ffendi, that at resent is under a cloud of violation that threatens the fulfilment of its mission to mankind. 2ince no minutes were ke t in the meetings of the /ands, and none was ermitted to reveal what was said and done in these sessions, 9emey s account of the roceedings, now available to the ublic after his formal break with the /ands of the 3aith, is of considerable historical im ortance. %e will, therefore, !uote a number of assages that tell the story and reveal the attitude of the Bahai leaders at this critical time. Now at this date the guidance of the &ause is of the track, as it wereJ for it is not the rovince of the /ands of the 3aith, to guide the 3aith. "hey are to serve the Cuardian of the 3aith and are to carry on and carry out his commands. 5t is therefore u on these grounds that 5, 0resident of the Bahai 5nternational &ouncil, command them to desist from their attem ts and cease their rogram of tam ering with the 5nternational &ouncil and give u their rogram for 1,8-, that is a violation of the %ill and "estament of the (aster +bdul:Baha, as well as a violation of the +dministration of the Beloved Cuardian bu1t u in accordance with the command of +bdul:Baha. %hether the
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Beloved Cuardian realiBed or knew of his a roaching death, he left his &ause fully rotected when he a ointed me 0resident of the Bahai 5nternational &ouncilJ for by so doing he vested in me, (ason 9emey, the authority to guard the 3aith against this violation of the +dministration... 4 . 86 /+N12 @3 "/) 3+5"/. +bandon your rogramI +wakeI 1esire that the Cuardianshi continue and diligently seek your Cuardian...."he Cuardian of the 3aith who will ere long a ear is calling to you to make you ready for his coming. +wake, /ands of the 3aith, and make yourselves ready to meet him, the 2econd Cuardian of the Bahai 3aith 4 . <6. +n influential grou of individuals within the body of the twenty:seven /ands of the 3aith consult together in rivate from the others 4and6 made a covenant between themselves and then roceeded to ut this over the others...."his is indeed a violation of the %ill and "estament, a violation clear and distinctI "here is but one Bahai method of meeting violation and that is to cut it out com letely and cast it out of the &ause without any com romising whatsoeverI 4 . ?6. +ll the /ands of the 3aith know of the defection of +hmad 2ohrab....Now why is it that the /ands of the 3aith cannot see that the stand that hey are now united u on is one of violationL ...."heirs is the same stand as that taken by +hmad 2ohrabI +hmad 2ohrab announced in rint that he acce ted the teachings of Bahaullah and +bdu1:Baha, but without the Cuardianshi . %hy is it that the /ands of the 3aith cannot see this oint in my argumentL 4 . ,6. %hen the first conclave of the /ands of the 3aithJ assembled at Behje M alace of Bahaullah near +kkaN to learn that no %ill or "estament of 2hoghi )ffendi could be found amongst his a ers, rayers were chanted and read and the conclave closed to convene on the following morning. 3or the most art, if not all the +merican /ands returned to /aifa for the night, while for the most art, if not all, the ten /ands who were 0ersians were !uartered for the night at Behje. %hen the conclave went into session the following morning one of the 0ersian /ands arose making the statement that since 2hoghi )ffendi left no son to inherit the Cuardians in a shi and since no %ill or "estament of his could be found among his a ers, that the Cuardians in o the 3aith must be considered to be ended....thereu on all of the other 0ersian, 'ands !uickly arose in su ort of this move, with the result that this move had the immediate su ort of the majority of the /ands. &ircumstantial evidence of the situation shows beyond a doubt that the 0ersian friends had consulted amongst themselves between these two meetings....and that they had come to an agreement between themselves that the Cuardianshi be abandoned. "hus in the confusion and heat of the moment the Cuardianshi was definitely abandoned by the majority of the conclave. "hus was violated the %ill and "estament of the (aster +bdu1:BahaD. 2ince that first conclave all of the roceedings of the /ands of the 3aith in conclave, and the objects and su ort by the &ustodian /ands of the 3aith in the /oly 'and, have been based u on the assum tion that the Cuardianshi is now closed forever, although this has not been said definitely to the Bahai world....."hat this was all a re lanned move on the art of these 0ersian /ands was most obvious 4 . 1$ 116. %ithout the institution of the Cuardianshi there can be no administration, the two are one and coe7istent. "he two divine verities....form the message that the Bahais had for the world in the days of the Cuardianshi ....1uring the resent interregnum of the ast two years and more, the teachers of the 3aith, the ioneers, have had no message for the world, for as things are now in the 3aith, with no assurance of Cuardianshi , they are no longer able to teach the %ill and "estament. 5n other
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words, the 3aith is at a standstill, the dangers of which are so increasing daily that this is indeed a time of eril such as this &ause has never before faced in its entire history 4 . 11, 1#6. 3or the ast year and more 5ve tried to use gentle and acific reasons for arguments in defence of the Cuardianshi against the united intention of the body of the /ands that there shall never be another Cuardian. Now seeing that this violation of the (asters %ill and "estament is daily becoming stronger until it threatens to become the acce ted way of life of the &ause, as a last resort 5 am obliged single handedly to come out into the o en and use my rerogatives as 0resident of the 5nternational Bahai &ouncil as a ointed by our late Beloved Cuardian, to force the /ands of the 3aith to relin!uish their united stand against the Cuardianshi ....(y way of forcing this issue is sim ly by announcing to the /ands that in no way shall 5 countenance their right to do anything at all about or with the Bahai international &ouncil.....5 take the stand that there can be no functioning of "he &ouncil until there he a recogniBed and acce ted Cuardian of the 3aith to institute it. "he /ands of the 3aith have no right to command the election of an 5nternational &ouncil....5n other words, 5 block their actions in this.... 4 . 1-6. "he /oly 2 irit in this dis ensation only functions through the channel of the Cuardianshi ...."he resent romises being made by the /ands of the 3aith of the election....of an 5nternational Bahai &ouncil and the .niversal /ouse of Eustice to follow are not for the /ands of the 3aith to institute but for the Cuardian of the 3aith himself to create and inaugurate....."he 2econd Cuardian mercifully delays his advert into the active Bahai world in order to give these /ands a little more time that they may awake and be re ared to acce t him w hen he roclaims himself the time is short 4 . 1=, 186. "hose /ands who wanted the Cuardianshi abolished offered to form a substitute infallibility to the infallibility a the Cuardianshi J4116 namely the fallacious infallibility that they claimed the /ouse of Eustice would have that they ro osed to establish in 1,8- 4 . #86. %hy is it t us that the resident /ands in the /oly 'and dont want a 2econd CuardianL %hy is it soL 5t looks to me as if they ersonally on dont want their easy way of life disturbed by the resence amongst t em o a the h f Cuardian who would command t e &ause and very ro a y curtail their lu7uries and er!uisites that they are enjoying during this interregnum and that they never had in the days o f the Beloved Cuardian 4 . #<6. %hen 5 made my stand in the last conclave 41,;,6 for the continuation of the Cuardianshi and 5 refused to sign my name endorsing the fallacies of the resent rogram of the /ands of the 3aith, the /ands as a body, took the ground that 5 would cause a s lit in the &ause the world aroundJ and again subse!uently after the conclave, several of the /ands came to me individually urging and entreating me not to continue with my refusal to sign my name to the edicts issue y the body of the /ands, telling me of the evils of disunion and inharmony among the Bahais, and that all should u hold and with all sincerity relin!uish their own ersonal o inions... and su ort the ideas of the majority. 5n each of these cases 5 re lied o them that this resent roblem in our 3aith which 5 had reci itated was not a matter of inharmony and disunity but one of violation that had to be treated not by coming together in union but by se arating and casting out the violation and to isolate it so that it could no longer harm the &ause....."his matter of violation no one of the fiends could understand. "hey had become so conditioned to the thought that the Cuardianshi be ended that they just couldnt see that the %ill and "estament was being violated.....No one of the /ands but .5 saw this, therefore, 5 had to arise alone and make this stand in order to save the Bahai &ause 4 . #,6.

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"hese /ands of the 3aith ro ose that the mass of the Bahais form an 5nternational +ssembly which they claim will have the infallibility necessary to guide the 3aith without regard to the divinely ins ired element necessary that only the Cuardian can rovide, 5t just doesnt make any sense at all, for it is the antithesis of the hiloso hy and teaching of the %ill and "estament, namely these /ands lan the destruction of +bdul:Bahas lan of the +dministration of the *ingdom, to be re laced by a urely re ublican or democratic form that. has none of the elements of the *ingdom of Cod necessary to make it a *ingdom, a *ing and his nobility and his eo le 4 . -<6. "he /ands decided that in sending out their letters of information and instructions.....all nine of us were to sign these letters under the words 5n the 2ervice of the Beloved Cuardian of the 3aith. "o me this....was one of those fallacies invented to su ort and reinforce the fallacy reviously made, that of no more Cuardianshi .....%hen one violation starts there is no sto ing it. 5t is a devastating disease in the body Bahai...."herefore 5 refused to sign my name as still being in the service of 2hoghi )ffendi, 4who is6 dead and in the +bha 9ealms of e7istence, whereas we of the 3aith in this world according to the +dministration should be now signing ourselves 5n the 2ervice of the second Cuardian of the Bahai 3aith 4 . -?6. "he Cuardianshi on one side, and the 5nternational +ssembly u on the other side, are the two su orts of the .niversal /ouse of Eustice as e7 lained by the Beloved Cuardian and acce ted by all of the believers. "he .niversal /ouse of Eustice can only function in its infallibility when it has these two su orts.... "he 5nternational +ssembly that is the voice of the mass of the eo le of the 3aith and is chosen by them is alone and by itself not endowed with infallibility., "his 5 have e7 lained many times in the conferences of the &ustodian hands in, /aifa as well as to the body of the /ands in both the second and third conclaves, but a arently all to no effect. 3or the /ands hold that the 5nternational +ssembly is itself infallible without the Cuardianshi , which they think is none7istent. /ow any one of normal mental ca acity can reason thus is a mystery to me...."his lack of logic and reasoning not only makes no sense hut is ositively ernicious. .....5t is like a disease that the body of the /ands brought u on themselves when they forsook the Cuardianshi at their first conclave 4 . ==, =;6. (ason 9emey says that he had ke t his romise and a with the /ands h d discussed these secret matters only with the hands of the 3aith. But having after two years of earnest effort failed to convince the other /ands that they were violating the %ill and "estament, he was forced to break with them, to announce that he as 0resident of the 5nternational &ouncil was the one a ointed by the 3irst Cuardian to succeed him, and he therefore felt no longer bound by the romise to kee all these matters secret. 1id it ever occur to (r. 9emey that in claiming to be the Cuardian he was himself violating the %ill, which re!uired that the successor to the Cuardian be the first:born of his lineal descendants, or another branch, another of his childrenL +nd had he never read the rovision that Bahau15ah made in his %ill for the succession, and realiBed that in a ointing 2hoghi )fendi as Cuardian, +bdul:Baha violated his fathers %illL +nd it is robably too much to e7 ect that he should have delved dee enough into the early history of the (ovement to discover that Bahaullah in claiming to he a (anifestation had flagrantly violated the Babs rovision for his successor. /ad he known more of Bahai history (r. 9emey would not have been so amaBed at the conduct of the /ands of the 3aith in this crisis of the &ause. 'ater, in a long statement addressed to 1r, 2. 'evy, 'ibrarian of the 2tate +rchives in Eerusalem, (ason 9emey in 2e tember, 1,8#, wrote as followsD "his most recent MBahaiN 1is ensation differs from those of the ast in that ast ro hetic dis ensations e7 erienced eriods of occultation
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between the missions of the 0ro hets or (anifestations..... %ith the death of the 0ro het, eriods as long as a thousand years assed before the advent of another (anifestation.....5n this 1ay of Cods *ingdom "rium hant . on )arth, however, a continuous uninterru ted shower of Blessings has been assured mankind. By virtue of the 5nstitution of the RCuardianshi of the Bahai 3aith, a living oint of 1ivine Cuidance for the eo le of the world is accom lished. "his means that the world will never again witness eriods of abject 2 iritual 1arkness... 5n this same statement to 1r. 'evy, (ason. 9emey e7 lains his belief that, according to redictions of the ancient ro hets and a ostles, a terrible catastro he is to occur on the earth in the near future, in which two:thirds of the o ulation of the world will erish. "his, he thinks, will be the result of a sli of the crust of the earth, which some scientists have redicted as a ossibility, with the result that the osition of the oles will change, the climate of large sections of the earth wi11 be radically altered, and most of the lowlying lands will be inundated by the oceans. (t. &armel, according to (r. 9emey, will not be submerged, but Eerusalem will became a sea ort. +fter this deluge Cods *ingdom through Bahaullah will be established on earth. 5n a am hlet entitled "he 5m ending %orld &atastro he dated (arch, 1,8#, (r. 9emey writes that in 1,$, +bdul:Baha, in re ly to his !uestions about the ro hecies in the Book of 1aniel, re lied, +fter the year 1,1< there is coming a very great catastro he in the world. %hen asked about the e7act time he said, Not soon after or distant.41#6 "hen the author continuesD /aving beer endowed with infallible guidance as Cuardian of the Bahai 3aith (ason 9emey not only warns the eo le again of this destruction, hut states that it will ha en very soon. 5t may come any time after + ril, 1,8-. 2o sure is (r. 9emey that this calamity will soon be u on us that he had all his ersonal records removed in 1,81 from &hicago to 2anta 3e, New (e7ico ..2.+. which is <$$$ feet above sea level and would not be flooded. /imself unable now to reside in Eerusalem as he ho es one day to do is living in 3lorence, 5taly, an one of the high surrounding hills that will be....above the inundations of the seas in which the Creat &ities of both )uro e and +merica will go down under the rising waters. /e very thoughtfully wrote to the author of this book on 2e tember 1<, 1,8=, 2ince 5ran according to my calculations will not be inundated....5 trust you may at that time of "ribulation find yourself in "eheran. +s the 5ranians say, %e will see. @n +ugust ,, 1,8= (ason 9emey issued a statement an the 5nfallibility of the Cuardianshi , in which he saysD "he infallible Cuidance flowing from the /oly 2 irit to the 'iving Cuardian of the 3aith guides him in his decisions...."he seat of infallibility can only be vested in one living erson "he Cuardian4116 in order that dissension, discord and differences of o inion may be avoided...."he .nity of the 3aithful as a body is maintained throughout this e och of the "rium h of the Bahai 3aith under the 'iving Cuardianshi . "hen in his letter to friends of Eanuary, 1,8<, (ason 9emey made a statement which must have come as a great sur rise to devout believers in the infallibility of their former leader, but not to others. /e wroteD +s the friends read this letter let them be re ared for another shock P namely that 2hoghi )fendi was all wrong in teaching that the future world government would be installed on (t. &armel.... 1n other words, 2hoghi )fendi was a sick and disorganiBed soul....5t is very un leasant for (ason 9emey to have to tell the Bahai %orld these violations of the 3aith that were made unwittingly by 2hoghi )fendi. +bout the same time he wrote to a 2 iritual brother in 5ranD %e may consider the (anifestation of Cod P Bahaullah P to be 5nfallibleJ the (aster, +bdul: Baha, is infallible at times and at times may not be clear in his statements and may make mistakesJ while the Cuardians of the 3aith are under the rotection of Cod they are not infallible.
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5t is refreshing to find in a man ,- years of age such willingness to face the facts and re udiate the convictions of a lifetime, and should (ason 9emey be able and willing to delve yet more dee ly into Bahai history he might include yet others in his list of non:infallibles. (r. 9emey is distressed by some modern Bahai teachings, which he considers a distortion of the true Bahai 3aith. 5n a letter of (arch, 1,8? to believer he writesD 3or the ast seven years 5 have been begging the Believers to study the Book of 2ome +nswered Guestions Mby +bdul:BahaN, and they will not do it....2ome of these old Bahais know nothing about the 'aws of Cod...."he Creen +cre 2ummer 2chool has become an enemy of the Bahai 3aith. Bahais go there and are e7horted to study and to ractice all the ancient religions of the ast....2o with all this mess of contradictory truths of the resent and su erstitions of the ast it has become the center of s iritual disturbance and s iritual illness, contaminating the Bahai 3aith the world around. %hen a Bahai is confirmed in his faith he sto s there, and ceases to search for truth in any of the older religions. "his a ears to be a rotest against syncretism in the Bahai 3aith. 5n another letter written about the same time 9emey says, @ne of the greatest sins that a Believer can commit is to change the /oly Bahai "e7ts. 5 am now finding low confused the most sincere Believers are becoming by these alterations and changes and additions to the /oly "eachings. /e had been shocked to read in the introduction to a certain Bahai book the statementD Briefly it M"he Bahai 3aithN is not so much a New 9eligion but 9eligion 9enewed. "his is most misleading, says (r. 9emey. "he Bahai 3aith is not a renewal of &hristianity. 5t is an entirely New 9eligion that is going to su ersede &hristianity. 5n this im ortant matter, therefore, (ason 9emey agreed with the 3irst Cuardian, and disagreed with (irBa +hmad 2ohrab. 5n 1,8? the 2econd Cuardian announced the a ointment of the first five )lders of the Bahai ) och, from four countries, with 1onald /arvey as first, and the robable a ointee as 9emeys successor. /e also urged the believers to ay the ta7 rescribed in the *itab:i:+!das,41-6 to cover the e7 enses of the office in 3lorence. +nd he has chosen for those loyal to him the name, "he @rthodo7 +bha %orld 3aith. "he minority of Bahais loyal to the /ereditary Cuardianshi of (ason 9emey, carried on various activities in +merica and 0akistan and same other lands. 3rom their head!uarters in 2anta 3e they ublished for several year "he Clad "idings P + Bulletin of the Bahais .nder the /ereditary Cuardianshi , in which messages from the 2econd Cuardian an8 news of the rogress of the true Bahai 3aith were ublished monthly. + National 2 iritual +ssembly was organiBed, and was registered by the .. 2. Covernment as an organiBation se arate from that of the Bahais with head!uarters at %ilmette who rejected 9emey. @n November 8, 1,8= the 2anta 3e Bahais brought suit against the %ilmette Bahais for the ownershi of all the Bahai ro erties worth several million dollars, but the %ilmette arty reviously had changed their 1eclaration of "rust, omitting from it all mention of the lace of the Cuardian in the Bahai organiBation. 2o with no legal ground to stand on, the 2anta 3e arty lost the suit. "hen the %ilmette Bahais sued the 2anta 3e arty for misuse of the Bahai names and symbols, and in Eune, 1,88 a 3ederal &ourt in &hicago gave a decision in their favour. 5t seems that (ason 9emey has not been involved in these suits, and has told his followers to desist, and to dissolve their National 2 iritual +ssembly which they did. /owever, he has been disturbed by dissension among his followers, and has written a strong letter to them about the evil of backbiting and !uarrelling, and the danger of becoming so involved in roblems of administration that they would neglect their rimary duty of giving s iritual teaching to needy eo le. "hough (ason 9emey stood loyally in su ort of the thirty:si7 year old tenet of the Bahai +dministration that it was Cods will and absolutely essential to the &ause that there always be an
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5nfallible Cuardian, he was rejected by the great majority of the Bahais of the world, and every effort was made by them to minimiBe the im ortance of the schism which had occurred in the 3aith. "he only reference to it in "he Bahai %orld, vol. K555, is on age -;- where yet another severe test is mentioned. "his veiled statement is e7 lained by the following footnoteD "he defection of (ason 9emey, who after signing the 0roclamation of November #;, 1,;<, claimed in + ril, 1,8$ to be the Rheredity Cuardian of the &ause of Cad. "his attem t to create schism in the 3aith resulted in his e7 ulsion by the /ands of the &ause. 4&onclave of 4@ctober 1,8$6. "he decision to dis ense with the Cuardianshi was as radical a ste for the Bahais to take as a vote by the &ardinals to abolish the 0a acy would be for the 9oman &atholics, yet that was what they did. 5t seems that there were many besides (rs. %hite and (rs. &hanler and 2ohrab who had resented the dictatorshi of 2hoghi )fendi, but had of necessity submitted to his absolute control of the (ovement. "he death of the Cuardian gave them an o ortunity to free themselves, and they rom tly did so. /ence, for the first time in more than a century the majority of members of the (ovement found themselves without a living head whom they held to be divinely:a ointed and infallible. +s has been noted more than once in the receding ages, one of the matters which has for many years sur rised students of the Bahai &ause is the failure of +bdul:Baha and 2hoghi )fendi to ublish an authoriBed translation of the *itab:i:+!das, to which both referred as the most im ortant of the writings of Bahaullah. "his failure made it im ossible for most of the Bahais to obey +bdul:Bahas command in his %ill41=6 that .nto the (ost /oly Book 4*itab:i:+!das6 everyone must turn, and all that is not e7 ressly recorded therein must be referred to the .niversal /ouse of Eustice. 3or years (r. %ill @rick, an +merican lawyer who had many contacts with Bahais, and was a careful and informed observer of the (ovement, but was not himself a Bahai, had sought for an )nglish translation of the +!das, but without success. 3inally, in 1,;= he wrote to the Bahai 0ublishing &ommittee in %ilmette to ask if they could su ly him with a co y, and was told by the (anager that they had never had a com lete co y of the +!das. /e then wrote to (r. /orace /olley, the 2ecretary of the National 2 iritual +ssembly of the Bahais of the .nited 2tates saying that he was baffled by the fact that, while 5 read in the %ill of Bahaullah R9eflect u on that which is revealed in y book "he +!das, and in the %ill of +bdul: Baha .nto the (ost /oly Book 4the +!das6 every one must turn, your believers, after all these years, can neither reflect u on nor turn to the +!dasD because it is not avail: able to them...."here must be a reason for having withheld the (ost /oly Book, the very basis of Bahai teaching, judging from the words of bath Bahaullah and +bdul:Baha, from +merican believers. +nd the reason was asked for by (r. @rick.41;6 (r. /olley re lied at some length, saying that the 'aws of Bahaullah are found in many of his writings which are available to Bahais, and that the +!das is a document which cannot be administered till the su reme legislative body of the Bahai 3aith comes into being. +nd he ointed to the Cuardianshi which rovides guidance for the community.4186 (r. @rick re lied that even if it were inadvisable at this time to ut the +!das into the hands of all Bahais, he would be grateful if (r. /olley would send him a co y from his own files, which he would return after erusal.41<6 "o this re!uest (r. /olley re lied that he did not have a co y of the +!das on file.41?6 .ndiscouraged, (r. @rick then wrote to the Cuardian 2hoghi )fendi in /aifa, telling him of (r. /olleys inability to su ly him with a co y of the +!das, and calling his attention to the unfavourable im ression all of this cannot fail to make on intelligent +merican readers. "hey, he continues, when brought face to face with the evident non:com liance by the successors to
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Bahaullah and +bdul:Baha of the lainly worded directions of these founders of the Bahai faith, will inevitably sus ect an abrogation of the original teachings, even though this may not e7ist. 5, for one, view the withholding of "he +!das from an unbiased student of Bahai teachings as a serious handica to their understanding. +nd 5 feel that by your sending me a co y from your files at the earliest ossible date, referably an )nglish translation, much could be accom lished in enabling me to resent a clearer icture of the Bahai aims 4in my book.41,6 "o this re!uest a brief re ly came signed by 9. 9abbani, resumably the wife of the Cuardian, saying that the +!das was going to be translated in full, but this was a difficult task, and would re!uire both time and able scholarshi . +nd nothing was said about su lying the re!uest for a co y of the +!das.4#$6 5n 1,8$ (r. @rick once more wrote to (r. /olley at %ilmette to ask whether it was ossible for him yet to su ly him with an )nglish translation of the +!das. /e was informed that at the %ilmette head!uarters they still did not have an )nglish translation of the +!das, and they did not know when it would be translated. +lso, (r. @rick was informed that (r. /olley had died.4#16 .nable to get any assistance from the Bahai leaders, (r. @rick turned to others for hel . /e ersuaded 1r. ). ). )lder, an acknowledged +rabic scholar,4##6 to undertake this task, with the assistance of the author of this book. "he translation was checked and a roved by scholars intimately ac!uainted with the +rabic language as well as with Bahai terminology and ractice, and was acce ted for ublication as a scholarly work by the 9oyal +siatic 2ociety in 'ondon.4#-l "he +rabic te7t from which the translation was made was ublished at the command of Bahaullah in Bombay about 1?,$, and the co y which was used had been autogra hed by +bdul:Baha on (arch #;, 1?,,, and resented to (rs. 'ua (oore Cetsinger when she visited him in +kka. 0hotogra hic co ies of the 8; ages of the +rabic te7t are reserved in the 0ublic 'ibrary of New Fork, and are available to scholars. "he autogra hed co y was from the Bahai &aravan 'ibrary, 1-# )ast 8;th 2treet, New Fork &ity. (r. @rick has stated that (rs. Eulie &hanler, the owner of the rare co y of the +!das which she had kindly though reluctantly loaned to him for translation, earnestly re!uested that the translator should not ut into )nglish certain assages of the original. 2he was es ecially an7ious that the common , 4#;6 %hoever burns a house intentionally, burn him, be omitted, for she said, %hat would converts from &hristianity say to thatI Neither (r. @rick nor 1r. )lder was willing to tam er with the te7t of the (ost /oly Book. 4=<6 "he rece tion given this translation by Bahais was interesting. (ason 9emey at once welcomed it, wrote letters of a reciation to the authors, and urged his followers to read it and so become ac!uainted with the laws of Bahaullah. /owever, the authorities in %ilmette rejected it, and forbade their members to read it. "he News Bulletin of 2e tember 1,8# issued by Bahais in &alifornia says that the National 2 iritual +ssembly M%ilmetteI has informed them of the translation of the *itab:i:+!das by 1r. )lder, and states that not only is the translation oorly done, but in many instances it gives the wrong im ression of the rovisions of the +!das..... "he believers.....should com letely ignore this oor and rejudicial translation. (r. @rick wrote to %ilmette to in!uire on what grounds they had condemned 1r. )lders translation as inade!uate. 5n their re ly they failed to give any reasons, and said that they did not wish to enter into any controversy with anyone whomsoever regarding the translation of the *itab:i:+!das or any other work of Bahaullah by any non Bahai.....and did not wish to endorse or circulate 1r. )lders translation for reasons of their own.4#86D +nd so (r. @ricks !uestion remained unanswered. /owever, (r. Eelal +Bal, a scholar whose com etence to translate Bahaullahs +rabic into )nglish cannot he !uestioned, after reading the )lder translation wroteD 4#<6 "he translators of the +!das
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are to be congratulated on their e7cellent work. "he work itself is worthy of being warmly recommended to all students of &om arative 9eligion and the history of 9eligious )volution....."he hostile rece tion accorded by he Bahais to the e7cellent rendering into )nglish of the +!das is not a matter of sur rise to me 0rofessor Browne received a similar condemnation when he trace, rinted and ublished the te7t of /aji (irBa Eani of *ashans Nu!tatul:*af. "he a earance of an authoriBed Bahai translation of the (ost /oly Book, which will be no less accurate and scholarly than that of 1r. )lder, is still being awaited.4#=6 .nabashed by their failure to make it ossible for every one to obey the command of +(u1: Baha and turn unto the. (ost /oly Book, and undeterred by the a eals of /and of the &ause and 0resident of the 3irst 5nternational Bahai &ouncil, (ason 9emey, to continue the Cuardianshi , the remaining hands of the &ause roceeded with their lans for the future government of the &ause without a Cuardian. "he 5nternational Bahai &ouncil was reorganiBed in /aifa in 1,81, resumably by the &ustodian /ands, with some new members, and with (r. &harles %olcott, ormer 2ecretary of the National 2 iritual. +ssembly of the ..2.+. as 2ecretary:Ceneral. "he &ouncil would cease to e7ist when the .niversal /ouse of Eustice was formed. +rrangements were made for a %orld &ongress of Bahais to be held in 'ondon in 1,8-, to celebrate the &entenary of the alleged 1eclaration of Bahaulla in the Carden of 9iBwan near Baghdad in + ril, 1?8- 4&ha ter A, end6, and also to elect the nine:member .niversal /ouse of Eustice.. 3or membershi in this su reme tribunal, which was su osed to ossess the infallibility formerly residing in the Cuardian, four 5ranians, three )nglishmen and three +mericans were chosen. No woman was ejected to the /ouse of Eustice. "he 0resident was not the 2econd Cuardian, a son of 2hoghi )fendi, as was sti ulated in the %ill of +bdu1:Baha. "he election was by the delegates from the ?1 National 2 iritual +ssemblies in as many different countries. 5t is said that <$$$ Bahais attended the &ongress, only a fraction of them were voting delegates. @f this historic event, /and of the &ause (r. 0aul /aney s ake as follows in Eune, 1,8< in /onaluluD 4#?6 "he living Cuardianshi came to an end.....why, we do not know. But the romise of Bahaullah that "his is the day that shall not be followed by night was fulfilled through the establishment of the .niversal /ouse of Eustice, in the right way in the right time. 3or the first time in human history there has been 1ivine guidance flowing into the world not through a divinely:guide an in fallible individual such as +bdul:Baha and the Cuardian, but through an 5nstitute a grou of Baha is such as you and u and 5.....but only n the meet together as an 5nstitution are they infallibly guided, in the s here of their res onsibility....."he world has never had an 5nstitution such as the /ouse of Eustice.....@nly to the deliberations and decisions of the .niversal /ouse of Eustice is infallibility vouchsafed.4116 "herefore, it is our refuge and the future salvation of the Baha is and of the world ....."he institutions must be channeled for the flow of the s irit, for it is this s irit which will furnish the basis for the establishment of Bahaullahs %orld @rder, and when we realiBe this, and understand our true objectives, we will hasten their accom lishment, under the infallible guidance of the .niversal /ouse of Eustice. 5t is not evident who vouchsafed this uni!ue infallibility to the .niversal /ouse of Eustice, or in which of the ronouncements of Bahaullah or +bdul:Baha is it stated that this kind of .niversal /ouse of Eustice, without the Cuardian as its head, will ossess infallibility. /owever im ortant in the eyes of the Bahais the .niversal /ouse of Eustice may seem to be, it is !uite evident that the real rulers in the &ause of Cod after the death of 2hoghi )fendi were the
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nobles of the realm, the /ands of the &ause, of whom the most influential was robably +matul: Baha 9uhiyyih *hanum, the widow of the Cuardian, one of the two 'iving /ands who were women. 2ince the /ands were aging, and some had died, and no others were to be a ointed in their lace, they chose to assist them in their task of ro agating the 3aith numerous members of +u7iliary Boards in different lands, and the .niversal /ouse of Eustice, in consultation with the /ands, established far the same ur ose a doBen &ontinental Boards of &ounsellors. 9uhiyyih *hanum and three other /ands resided in /aifa, and other /ands were assigned to twelve different arts of the world in which the &ontinental Boards had been established. "he following cable from the .niversal /ouse of Eustice informed the world community how this ecclesiastical machinery was to functionD4#,6 &@N"5N)N"+' B@+912 )N"9.2")1 5N &'@2) &@''+B@9+"5@N /+N12 &+.2) %5"/ 9)20@N25B5'5"F 159)&"5@N +.K5'5+9F B@+912 +N1 &@N2.'"+"5@N N+"5@N+' 20595".+' +22)(B'5)2. /+N12 &+.2) C@1 %5'' /)N&)3@9"/ 5N&9)+2) 5N")9&@N"5N)N"+' 2)9A5&)2 +22.(5NC %@9'1%51) 9@') 09@")&"5CN 09@0+C+"5@N 3+5"/. ()(B)92 +.K5'5+9F B@+912 %5'' 9)0@9" B) 9)20@N25B') "@ &@N"5N)N"+' B@+912 @3 &@.N2)''@92. /+N12 &+A2) 9)2515NC /@'F '+N1 5N +115"5@N 2)9A5NC '5+52@N B)"%))N .N5A)92+' /@.2) &53 E.2"5&) +N1 &@N"5N)N"+' B@+912 &@.N2)''@92 %5'' +2252" 3.".9) )2"+B'52/()N" 5N")9N+"5@N+' ")+&/5NC &)N")9 /@'F '+N1 3@9)2/+1@%)1 %95"5NC2 B)'@A)1 C.+915+N. 3rom this it is evident that the &ause was now being administered in accordance with efficient +merican business ractices. "he leaders of the &ause knew well from ast e7 erience the value of fre!uent conferences and assemblies in celebration of the im ortant events in the history of the movement, both to increase the Beal of the believers and also to im ress the outside world. /ence, following close on the 1,8&ongress in 'ondon, more great meetings were lanned for 1,8<. "hese were to celebrate the centenary of Bahaullahs roclamation of his (essage in 2e tember[@ctober 1?8< to the kings and rulers of the world.....,and also to celebrate the 1;$th anniversary of his birth. "he Bahai News of 1ecember, 1,8< contains re orts of the si7 5ntercontinental &onferences which were held simultaneously in 0anama &ity, %ilmette, 2ydney, *am ala, 3rankfurt and New 1elhi. 5n 0anama 9uhiyyih *hanum laid the cornerstone of the tem le ta be erected there and addressed the assembly at %ilmette where -$$$ Bahais gathered, three /ands of the &ause made addresses, the oldest of whom was (r. 2amandari of 5ran who had seen Bahaullah with his own eyes. 4-$6 "here was a tele hone hook:u with the five other &onferences, and what a thrill it was to hear 1r. 1aniel Eordan s eak words of greeting, and then to hear similar greetings from each of the five other continents. %hen an a eal was made for ioneers to serve the &ause, #18 ersons came forward as volunteers. @nly when it Mthe &onferenceN was over, wrote one of those resent,4-16 did one realiBe that all the events of this North +merican &onference had been arranged to bring him closer to Bahaullah. /e had looked u on /is face as recorded by an actual hoto: gra h, had seen and heard one who had looked u on /is living face and heard /is voice, and had been shown the laces where /e had walked. "he .niversal /ouse of Eustice, that su reme, infallible vehicle of divine guidance today, had focused the light on Bahaullah alone. 2eeking no glory for themselves, they had taken loving care to enable each one to >gaBe on /is >beauty, and observe whatsoever is in /is >book.

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"he &onferences in 3rankfurt, *am ala, New 1elhi and 2ydney were not as large as that in %ilmette, hut were no less enthusiastic in their welcome to the /ands who visited them and in their devotion to the memory of Bahaullah. 5t seems that by this time all had become used to the idea that the infallible /ouse of Eustice had taken the lace of the infallible Cuardian, and no e7 lanation or defence of this transfer of authority is found in the re orts of the &onferences, "ruly a new day had dawned in the history of the &ause. 3ortunately another im ortant event had occurred in 1?8?, and accordingly lans were made for a centenary celebration in +ugust, 1,8? of Bahaullahs journey from )dirne to +kka. 5n November, 1,8< the .niversal cause of Eustice sent forth the following message by cableD4-#6 .....+NN@.N&) &@NA@&+"5@N "%)N"F:"/591 "@ "%)N"F:353"/ +.C.2" 1,8? 3592" @&)+N5& &@N3)9)N&) B+/+5 %@9'1 0+')9N@ 25&5'F /)+9" 2)+ "9+A)92)1 C@12 (+N53)2"+"5@N &)N".9F +C@ 09@&))15NC 5N&+9&)9+"5@N (@2" C9)+" 0952@N. "%@3@'1 0.90@2) &@N3)9)N&) &@N251)9 (@()N"@.2 3.'35''()N" +C):@'1 09@0/)&5)2 "95.(0/ C@12 ()22)NC)9 @A)9 )A)9F C95)A@2 &+'+(5"F +N1 &@N2.'" 0'+N2 09@0+C+"5@N &+.2) 52'+N12 '+N12 B@91)95NC ()15")99+N)+N 2)+. 0+9"5&50+N"2 5NA5")1 /@'F '+N1 5(()15+")'F 3@''@%5NC &@N3)9)N&) +"")N1 &@(()(@9+"5@N +995A+' '@91 /@2"2 "/)2) 2+&9)1 2/@9)2 9)&@N2)&9+") "/)(2)'A)2 "/9)2/@'1 /52 2/95N) 09@2)&."5@N C'@95@.2 "+2*2 +/)+1. "he .niversal /ouse of Eustice has not e7 lained why it continues to couch its ronouncements in such uncouth language. 5n any case, the friends understood the message, and some #-$$ of them assembled in 2icily in +ugust, 1,8? to remember the sad journey of Bahaullah and his little grou of relatives and friends, olitical risoners being sent to the enal colony of +kka. 3rom 2icily 1?$$ of the ilgrims went on to /aifa, and it was re orted that on 2e tember <, Bahai from <$ countries gathered at the Bahji (ansion near +kka where Bahaullah had lived, and commemorated there the arrival of the risoners a century before. 4--6 5n connection with this celebration, /and of the &ause .go 9. Ciachery writes enthusiastically of the amaBing growth of the Bahai movement since Bahaullah was e7iled to +kka.4-=6 /e states that the &ause has now been established in i-; inde endent, nations, has ublished its literature in more than =$$ language, 1-; +u7iliary Board members are aiding the /ands in advancing the &ause. +nd at the to of the structure is that su reme organ of the Bahai &ommonwealth the .niversal /ouse of Eustice....."he bejeweled crown res lendent in its genuine beauty, infallible, created of e!uity, justice and universal love now leads the 3aith of Bahaullah to its ultimate destiny....."he stu endous dome of an indestructible structure, the .niversal /ouse of Eustice, the s lendour and glory of the Bahai world. (ason 9emey and other Bahais were convinced that without a living infallible Cuardian the &ause of Cod would suffer irre arable loss. "he fact is, however, that after 1,;<, and even before the infallible /ouse of Eustice came into being, the &ause took on new life. + Nine Fear 0lan was ado ted in 1,8= by the .niversal /ouse of Eustice for the ur ose of achieving certain goals by 1,<-, one of which was to im rove greatly the ro erty of the %orld &enter on (t. &armel at /aifa. "o make this ossible large budgets were ado ted, the 1,8<:1,8? budget in the ..2.+. being V1,$8$,$$$, of which #1H was to go to the %orld &enter. (ore than half of the budget was to come from endowments and ublications, and the balance 4about V=;,$$$6 was to be su lied by contributions from the 1<,$$$ Bahais in the ..2.+., which would be an average gift of V#< a member for the year.
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/owever, the chief goal of the Nine Fear 0lan was to get new members. "o this end most aggressive efforts were ut forth to inform and interest eo le in the &ause, and to convert them to it. +t the &onvention in %ilmette in 1,8< it was re orted4-;6 that in &anada there is a lan for si7 annual hases of roclamation, each directed towards a articular segment of the o ulation. 1elegations are being sent to thirty:four religious organiBations to resent "he 0roclamation of Bahaullah and on @ctober 1; a co y of this book is being resented to the 0rime (inister. "en thousand clergymen are receiving a series of four letters from the &anadian Bahai community, these letters to be dis atched at eight week intervals. 0roclamation material will be sent to 5ndian &hiefs of &ouncils and 9eservations and there will he a s ecial em hasis on Bahai teachings an social justice in the ho e that eventually the majority of the &anadian Bahai membershi will be 5ndians. 5n the ..2.+. the cam aign for new members was headed u by a retired +ir 3orce officer who was chairman of the National "eaching &ommittee. 5t was re orted that he was assisted by ,$$ ublic information re resentatives located throughout the country. 0roclamation of the Bahai &ause concentrated on major media4-86 romotion and ublic meetings for seven s ecial eventsD %orld 0eace 1ay 42e tember 1;6, .nited Nations 1ay 4@ctober #=6, Birthday of Bahaullah 4November 1#6, /uman 9ights 1ay 41ecember 1$6, %orld 9eligion 1ay 4Eanuary 1,6, No 9uB 45ranian New Fear, (arch #16, and 9ace .nity 1ay 4Eune ?6. By caking an active art in these events Bahais ho ed that numerous contacts would be made with interested eo le, who could then be brought into firesides, i.e., meetings in rivate homes.4-<6 +lso films were shown describing the rogress of the Bahai 3aith in over ;8,$$$ localities throughout the world. "hose who are ersuaded to become members declare themselves to be Bahais by signing a card which is then forwarded to %ilmette. "he card reads as followsD 5..........42ignature6 acce t the !ualifications of the faith as defined on reverse side of this card, and a ly for enrolment as member of the Bahai community. @n the reverse side is the statement by 2hoghi )fendiD "he rinci al factors that must be taker into consideration before deciding whether a erson may be regarded as a true believer or not.....3ull recognition of the station of the 3orerunner Mthe BabN, the +uthor MBahaullahN, and the "rue )7em lar M+bdul:BahaN of the Bahai &ause, as set forth in +bdul: Bahas 1estamentJ unreserved acce tance of, and submission to, whatsoever has been revealed by their 0enJ loyal and steadfast adherence to every clause of our Beloveds sacred %illJ and close association with the s irit as well as the farm of the resent day Bahai administration throughout the world. 5t would seem that for one to be able to sign this statement with understanding and honesty he would have to s end many months in study, and would need to know both the 0ersian and +rabic languages to be able to read all that is e7tant and available of the voluminous writings revealed by their 0en. +nd if the a licant for membershi were able to do all this, which robably no living Bahai has done, could he today give steadfast adherence to the clauses of +bdul:Baha %ill re!uiring that there always be a Cuardian in the line of 2hoghi )fendi when now the &ause is without a CuardianL 5t seems, however, that these considerations have not deterred eager a licants from becoming devoted converts to the &ause. %hen the card, signed by the new believer, has been sent to head!uarters, the convert is entitled to attend the feast, that is, the meeting for worshi which is held every 1, days. /e is also e7 ected to contribute to the Bahai fund, and to hold his own firesides for the ur ose of converting others. /e will receive each month a co y of Bahai News which is for circulation among Bahais only. +ccording to Bahai re orts, the Nine Fear 0lan ado ted in 1,8= was almost successful. 5n the ..2.+. the number of registered members increased from 1<,$$$ in 1,8< to ##,$$$, a third of
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whom were said to be in &alifornia.4-?6 "he +merican Bahai of + ril, 1,<- announces that the number of Bahais in the ..2.+. has tri led in the ast ten years, and there are now members of the 3aith in 8$$$ localities. (ost of the members are young eo le and eo le from minority grou s. 5n a few weeks in the winter of 1,<$:1,<1 thousands of black eo le in the southern art of ..2.+. were converted. + re orter from 1illon, 2. &. in 3ebruary, 1,<# wrote as followsD 'ike a hungry flame news of the new 3aith of Cod s read itself from town to town and village to village.....5ns ired by the cry of %in 5ncreasing Numbers, a meager handful of Bahais.....s read out .....seeking souls who would res ond to their messageD /ave you heard the good newsL..... Cod has sent a new 0ro het to the world...../is name is Bahaullah...../is laws will eliminate overty, rejudice, injustice..... 4"he +merican Bahai, + ril, 1,<-6. (ultitudes of souls res onded. 5n the New Fork "imes of + ril ?, 1,<# there a eared an announcement of the showing of a Bahai fi1m,which te11s the story of more than #$,$$$ +mericans in 2outh &arolina 4who6 have enrolled in the Bahai 3aith since 1,<$. @ne who was interested to learn who these new converts are and how they were converted made a journey to 2outh &arolina and re orted as follows in a letter to the editor of "he &hristian &enturyD4-,6 5 am currently writing a book about Bahai in +merica and recently visited several of the mass conversion regions in 2outh &arolina and (aryland. "he method of conversionD roving grou s of visiting Bahais went from house to house u and down the roads asking the rural blacks if they believed in eace, brotherhood and e!uality. %hen the res onse was Fes the blacks were told that in that case they were Bahais and should sign the declaration cards to affirm their belief. "hey were not told about many of the restrictions which the Bahai faith would lace on them.....5n some instances rural blacks were led to believe that educational, scholarshi and welfare rograms would result from this membershi in Bahai. 5n + ril and (ay of 1,<- there was a general celebration of the successful conclusion of the Nine Fear 5nternational "eaching 0lan, which had been a eriod of un recedented growth of the worldwide Bahai community. 2ome of the results as stated in "he +merican Bahai 4+ ril 1,<-6 wereD 1. #. -. =. ;. 11- National 2 iritual +ssemblies electedJ + /ouse of %orshi , the first in 'atin +merica, dedicated in 0anama &ity in 1,<#J Bahai literature translated into ;$1 languagesJ 1; 5ntercontinental &onferences conducted by the .niversal /ouse of EusticeJ Fouth &onferences held in 0akistan, 5ndia, &osta 9ica, as well as in the ..2.+.

5n the National Bahai 9eview 4for Bahais only6 of 3ebruary, 1,<- it was stated that ;$; of the local +ssemblies in the ..2.+. have this year contributed toward the Budget of V1,<18,$$$, and Bahais are encouraged to contribute regularly. 5n this issue of the 9eview there was no statement of how this large sum of money is to be disbursed. + list was ublished of near seventy localities in different arts of the ..2.+. in which the 'ocal +ssemblies were in jeo ardy, because the number of members in each had fallen below nine, and it was stated that homefront settlers are needed in these localities to bring the number u to nine. "hough the re orts indicate that the increase of members had been great, there are indications that there is also a considerable cooling off or even falling away of members who were formerly !uite active. 5t is said that one reason far this is the authoritarian rule of the resent +dministration. 5f some Bahais thought that by the elimination of a Cuardianshi that was dictatorial they would get more freedom, they have been sadly disa ointed. 5t is re orted that members of the 3aith s y on
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one another, and live in fear of what might ha en to them if they are sus ected of being disloyal to their rulers. 5t seems that the 5nfallible .niversal /ouse of Eustice of nine members has inherited both the osition and the s irit of the 5nfallible Cuardian, and no one dares to !uestion its authority. 3or e7am le, all Bahais were ordered to have no dealings with (ason 9emey, who had been e7 elled, and not even to o en letters from him. @ne old friend received a ersonal invitation from (r. 9emey to visit him in 3lorence, and was so unwise that he not only read the letter but also sent a olite note in re ly saying that he could not acce t. 3or this offense he was unished by the Bahai rulers. @f course some believers like a dictatorshi , whether it be by the rule of one or of nine. But if this sort of rule continues, it is robable that there will be vet more +ssemblies in jeo ardy. %hat is the total number of Bahais in the worldL + leader of the &ause s eaking in a ublic meeting in New Fork in 1,8= stated that the number is two million, but he did not indicate where all these believers are to be found. %hen asked how many Bahais are now in 5ran, one of their leaders in that land re lied, 5t is very difficult to give the number of adult Bahais in 5ran, because any figure we give you in 5ran or any art of the world today is obsolete tomorrow with the 3aith growing so ra idly. 'ikewise, in all Bahai ublications and ronouncements the im ression is given that the growth of the movement is henomenal, and that it is e7ercising a great influence in all arts of the world. /owever, when the author sought information from non:Bahais in a doBen different countries in +sia and +frica as to the rogress of the 3aith, the im ression he received was !uite different. + corres ondent who has been intimately ac!uainted with, and has travelled widely in, all the North +frican countries for a number of years wroteD4=$6 5 wish 5 could give you some information regarding this sect in North +frica but u to the resent it has been so restricted that 5 have not come across a single Bahai, foreign on native. %hen in!uiries were made from an authority on the religious situation in Burma regarding the alleged conversion of a whole village to the Bahai 3aith4=16, the re ly was as followsD4=#6 5 do not recall having any contact with Bahais in Burma, unless it had been an occasional +merican traveler going through.....5n the twelve years 5 was in Burma 5 was not conscious of any grou of Bahai eo le.....5 do not know of any educational, medical or social work carried on Min BurmaN under Bahai aus ices. "he re ly from the 0hili ines wasD4=-6 5 have not seen any evidence of this religion until recently 5 came across a little ad in the (anila "imes. + long:time resident in *orea states4==6 that the Bahai &ause was established in that land in 1,;$ at the time of the *orean %ar by several +merican service:men in the (edical &or s, and most of the *orean converts have been eo le from service:connected civilian or military grou s, or from universities. "he Bahais are now beginning to try to make converts from the &hristians in the churches. "hey claim a membershi of 11,$$$, but robably have no more than =$$$ members, and do not seem to be increasing in members. "heir movement is small, com ared to the 0rotestant church membershi in *orea of some 1,?$$,$$$. "he Bahai organiBation is loose, and eo le drift into their meetings and out again without severing their connection with the church. +s far as is known the r have no medical or educational or charitable work in *orea. "hey are intros ective, meditative, academic, not aggressively outreaching....."hey claim to give their converts all that is good in &hristianity, but more. "hree of the nine members of the National 2 iritual +ssembly have +merican names. 5n %est 0akistan, according to an +merican Bahai who was resident there, there were in 1,8, more than 1,$$$, but not over -,$$$ Bahais, the majority of whom are of 5ranian (uslim e7traction, though some were formerly /indus or &hristians. 2ome of the leaders of the &ause are well educated. &onverts are drawn to this faith by its teachings of love and world: brotherhood and
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the other Bahai 0rinci les. "he &ause is not growing ra idly, though recently in *arachi fifteen (uslims were converted. + erson well ac!uainted with )ast 0akistan has stated that a art from one cou le who were from another country, he had not in that land come across any Bahais, nor had he seen any evidence of their literature or their ro aganda. %hen he made in!uiry of this cou le they told him that they had no knowledge of any indigenous Bahai work in )ast 0akistan.4=;6 'etters sent to long:time residents in Ea an, 5ndia, Fucatan, 5ndonesia, 'ebanon and other lands brought no re ly, resumably because of lack of information regarding the resence of Bahais in those lands. 5t seems that they are not yet in. most countries like a city set on a hill which cannot be hid. 3rom 5ran, however, two reliable informants who have for many years been in close touch with the Bahai &ause, and whose near relatives are among the Bahai leaders of that land, wrote full re lies to the !uestionnaire sent them. "hey among other things4=86 saidD "he Bahais do not have educational institutions. "hey have big firms and factories.....and em loy large numbers erha s many thousands. "hey mostly em loy Bahais. "here are also many well:known doctors and s ecialists Mwho are BahaisN. "here are also many in high laces in Covernment service. "here are two to three hundred local grou s of not more than a hundred each in "eheran, making a total of around #$,$$$. No estimate was given as to the number in the rovinces of 5ran, but it is robably not greater than in the &a ital. %hile Bahais are ready to conceal their faith when the situation re!uires it, many are roud to rofess their faith o enly. No Eews are now becoming Bahais, unless for ersonal benefits. 5n re ly to the !uestion, %hat factors induce eo le in 5ran to become Bahais L the re ly wasD 3inding jobsJ /onor among BahaisJ (arriageJ "hinking Bahaism agrees with (odernism and free life, and satisfaction of being religious and leasing Cod. "he Bahai religion is not recogniBed by the government of 5ran, but Bahais are not ersecuted by the government if they are good citiBens, and the eo le of 5ran do not generally o ose them. 5t is robable that some of the Bahais in high ositions have taken an im ortant art in the recent reforms in 5ran, but they did not do so as Bahais. "o the !uestion, /ow do average Bahais com are with (uslims in 5ran in moral characterL the re ly was that since they consider Bahaism to he a modern religion, they are less honest and moral than religious (uslims. "hey think they are only re!uired to believe in Bahaullah. "o the !uestion, %ill 5ran ever become a Bahai countryL the re ly wasD N)A)9. 5t may become anything but Bahai.....Bahai laws are not ractical for managing the Covernment. "he Bahais in 5ran who were !uestioned by my corres ondents rofessed ignorance of the claims of (ason 9emey, or else brushed them aside as of no conse!uence. @ne of the recent achievements of the Bahai leaders is the ublication in 1,<$ of Aolume. K555 of "he Bahai %orld, a large book of nearly 1-$$ ages, which rovides much valuable material from the years 1,;= to 1,8- +.1. "his volume, issued by "he .niversal /ouse of Eustice, /aifa, 5srael, is a ro riately dedicated "o 2hoghi )ffendi, 1?,<:1,;<, Cuardian of the Bahai 3aith.....in love and homage, in ride and sorrow. 5t contains a long account 418, ages6 of the life and labors and achievements of the Cuardian written by his widow, with many ictures of him, and of the sacred laces in /aifa and +kka which he had develo ed and beautified. 5t also contains selections from the writings of the Bab, Bahaullah, +bdul:Baha and 2hoghi )fendi P but none from the *itab:i: +!das. "here is also an account of the im ortant events which followed the death of the Cuardian and the rule of the /ands of the &ause, "here are ictures of the /ands, of believers who have died in recent years, and of the many nine:member National +ssemblies in countries round the world.
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"here are ictures of grou s of believers and of large Bahai gatherings. +nd there are e7haustive lists of countries and towns in all lands in which Bahais reside, but without addresses. "here are valuable lists of books in many languages about the Bahai 3aith, written by Bahais and non: Bahais. +nd there are several Bahai hymns with notes. 5t vas no doubt difficult to roduce such a b ok without the aid of /orace /olley, who had re ared most of the receding volumes of "he Bahai %orld. 5t is said that most of the Bahais cannot afford to attend at their own e7 ense the numerous conferences and conventions which are held to ins ire the friends to greater activity, with the result that the same eo le go year after year to the state and nation: al meetings. 5f the re ortD is correct, only one:third of the elected delegates were able to attend the international convention at /aifa in 1,8?. +merica and )uro e were solidly re resented, but only a few Bahais from +frica, +sia and 'atin +merica were resent. 3rom this it would seem that the %estern influence in the &ause is now redominant. "hough there are more. Bahais, in 5ran than n all the other countries ut together, only two men from 5ran were elected in 1,8? to the nine:member .niversal /ouse of Eustice. @ne of the achievements of the &ause, for which Bahais are rightly roud, and into which they have oured their contributions for many years, is the establishment of the /ead!uarters at /aifa and +kka 4+cre6 in 5srael. "he very beautiful buildings and rounds in which the sacred shrines are located are visited annually by tens of thousands of tourists, both from 5srael and from foreign lands, and doubtless the im ression made on many of them is most favorable. "he Bahai leaders, shortly after the establishment of the 2tate of 5srael, declared that they would make no effort to convert the Eews to their religion, and it is said that they have faithfully ke t their word. +s a result, they have enjoyed the favor of the 5sraeli Covernment, and have recently received official recognition as being one of 5sraels religions. No doubt the tourists bring considerable income to the country. 5t is said that at the shrines Bahai literature is given only when it is asked for by visitors. 5n the time of Bahaullah and +bdul:Baha, the Bahais in +kka and /aifa, who were mostly 5ranians, lived and worshi ed like the 2unni (uslims about them, and the local o ulation as well as the officials considered them a sect of 5slam. But since the increase of %estern control in the Bahai 3aith, and s ecially since the establishment of Eewish rule in 0alestine, it seems that little evidence of 5slamic influence remains at the Bahai /ead!uarters. 5f the (uslims, &hristians and Eews residing in that region of 5srael knew what the Bahais really believe, they might not be on as friendly terms with them as they are said to be. But care is taken that they remain in ignorance. 5t seems rather strange that the Bahai missionaries are attem ting to convert all the eo le of the world, e7ce t those nearest to them in 5srael.
N@")2 1. #. -. =. +!das, . ;-. Bahai world 1,#8:1,#?, . ?;. Cod 0asses By, . #1-. 1t is !uite evident from 2hoghi )fendis voluminous writings that he had read not only the +!das and the Bayan, but also all the available literature on the Babi:Bahai movement, both oriental and occidental 4+Bals Notes, . 11#;6. /e was aware that the institution of Cuardianshi , created in the %ill of +bdul:Baha, was a violation of the %ill of Bahaullah. /e knew that he had no right to a oint anyone as his successor, and so he did the only thing he could do. 5t seems that by failure to leave a %ill he attem ted to terminate the whole Bahai "he, 1ecember ,, 1,;<. Bahai %orld 1,#8:1,#?, . ?<. 5bid., . ?;, 28. Bahaullahs /ouse of Eustice was intended to be a legislative body, and the e7ecutive body was to be a Bahai government. But as no Bahai government e7ists, the rovision for the /ouse of Eustice cannot in accordance with Bahaullahs %ill be carried out, and the .niversal /ouse of Eustice which Bahais have set u is not the 1<$ of ##$

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,. 1$. 11.

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sort of institution which Bahaullah intended. 5n the 'ibrary of &ongress #- writings of (ason 9emey are listed. Bahai %orld 1,;$:1,;=, . =1, and @ en 'etter of 9emey to the &ustodian /ands at /aifa. 5n the +!das 4 . -<6 Bahaullah says that infallibility belongs only to the (anifestation. "he 9ising:0lace of &ommand MBahaullahN has no artner in the Aery Creat 0reservation from )rror..... + artner in this Creat and .na roachable 1ignity has not been destined for anyone else. 5t is therefore clear that the claims of +bdu1: Baha and 2hoghi )fendi and others to infallibility, artial or total, were contrary to the decree of Bahaullah 4+Bals Notes, . 11#-, 11#=6. 2ee also +bdul Baha and the 0romised +ge, . 1<=, 1<;. +!das, . ;$. Bahai %orld 1,#8:1,#?, . ?<. Braun to @rick, Eanuary #;, 1,;=, @rick to /olley, 3ebruary :?, 1,;=. /olley to @rick, (arch ?, 1,;=. @rick to /olley, (arch 1;, 1,;=. /olley to @rick, (arch #=, 1,;=. @rick to 2hoghi )fendi, @ctober #<, 1,;=. 9. 9abbani to @rick, November #=, 1,;=. %olcott to @rick, Euly <, 1,8$, and (arch #, 1,81. +mong 1r. )lders writings are +rabic Crammar, by ). ). )lder, +merican .niversity at &airo, 1,-<, -=? ages, and + &ommentary on the &reed of 5slam 4"aftaBani on the &reed of Nasafi6. "ranslated and with 5ntroduction and Notes, )arl )dgar )lder, &olumbia .niversity 0ress, New Fork, 1,;$, 1?< ages. al:*itab al:+!das, or "he (ast /oly Book, by (irBa /usayn +li Bahaullah, "ranslated from the @riginal +rabic and )dited by )arl ). )lder, 0h.1., 1.1. and %illiam (c). (iller, (.+., 1.1. 0ublished by the 9oyal +siatic 2ociety, 'ondon, 1,81. 1r. )lder died on + ril 11, 1,<-. 5n the 3ebruary 1,<- issue of National Bahai 9eview 4for Bahais only6, the following notice occu ies the whole front ageD *5"+B:5:+G1+2D 2yno sis and &odification to be 0ublished at 9idvan Eoyfully +nnounce &om letion 2yno sis &odification *itab:i:+!das for 0ublication 9idvan 2ynchroniBing &elebration. 1$$th +nniversary 9evelation (ost /oly Book 3ulfilling %orld &entre Coal Nine Fear 0lan. &onfident 9elease this 0ublication. )nvisaged by Beloved Cuardian and whose (ain 3eatures /e @utlined will &onstitute +nother 2ignificant 2te 0ath 'eading Bahai &ommunity 3ull (aturity )stablishment %orld @rder Bahaullah "he .niversal /ouse of Eustice /aifa, 5srael, Eanuary 1,, 1,<"he author was ha y to urchase a co y of this hook from the Bahai 0ublishing "rust in %ilmette, 5llinois, ..2.+. "he title is + 2yno sis and &odification of "/) *5"+B:5:+G1+2 the (ost /oly Book of B+/+.''+/, Bahai %orld &entre, /aifa, 1,<-. 5t is an attractive little book of 88 ages, rinted in )ngland. 5n the 5ntroduction the great im ortance of the *itab:i:+!das is duly em hasiBed, and reasons are given for the long delay in translating and ublishing it. 2hoghi )ffendi, towards the end of his life, ado ted as one of the goals of the "en Fear &rusade the codification of the laws and ordinances of the *itab:i:+!das, and he himself worked u on it, leaving an outline of a syno sis and codification in )nglish, and notes in 0ersian. "his constituted a great art of the task which the .niversal /ouse of Eustice included as a goal of the Nine Fear 0lan and which it then com leted according to the attern he had set 42yno sis, . <6, +ll who have wished to know more about the contents of the +!das, which because of its +rabic language and its unavailability has been to most eo le a sealed book, will be grateful to the .niversal /ouse of Eustice for this first attem t by Bahais to make known in )nglish all of its laws and teachings. +fter the 5ntroduction, 1? ages of the 2yno sis contain assages from the *itab:i:+!das translated by 2hoghi )ffendi, which had been reviously ublished. "hese include a few of the laws, but are chiefly e7hortations and statements of the high claims of Bahaullah. "hen follow 1, ages of 2yno sis and &odification of the laws of the +!das, divided into si7 main sections. "he numerous to ics mentioned in the +!das are listed, and in a number of instances the content of the laws is briefly stated. .nfortunately, neither the +rabic te7t nor an )nglish translation is rovided, so the reader is unable to consult the original ordinance as written by Bahaullah. +nyone who is well ac!uainted with the +!das will recogniBe that some of the ordinances listed are not found in the +!das, but are taken from other writings of Bahaullah, or else 1<1 of ##$

are inter retations of +bdul:Baha and 2hoghi )ffendi. 3or e7am le, we read in the 2yno sis 4 . -;6D 5. "he + ointment of +bdul:Baha as the 2uccessor @f Bahaullah.... 5t is direct that +bdul:Baha was a ointed by his father to succeed him, but this rovision is found not in the +!das but in the %ill of Bahaullah. +lso, one might in!uire where in the +!das is it stated that, should the weather be too cold the use of warm water is recommended 4in making the ablutions before rayers P 2yno sis, . -<6. + number of such inter retations have found their way into the laws which are said to be from the +!das. %hile some of the +!das laws are accurately stated and e7 lained in the 2yno sis, others are not. 3or e7am le, under the heading 4y6 0rohibitions on . =<, -# actions are listed, such as 5nter retation of the /oly %rit, 2lave trading, .se of ul its, +rson, (urder, etc. "he 2yno sis does not state that Bahaullah in the +!das 4 . =$6 decreed thatD %hoever burns a house, intentionally, burn him. %hoever kills a erson with intent, kill him 4or else sentence them to life im risonment6. @ne of the things listed as rohibited is lurality of wives. "his is indeed sur rising. 3or Bahaullah himself had three wives who were alive at the same time. +lso, in the +!das 4 . =$6 it is writtenD Cod has ordained marriage. Beware lest you go beyond two 4wives6, and whoever is satisfied with one of the handmaidens, his soul is at rest, and so is hers. "his law encourages monogamy, but most certainly does not rohibit lurality of wives. 5n his e7 lanation in 2yno sis 4 . ;,, Note 1<6, 2hoghi )ffendi definitely contradicts the law of Bahaullah. 2imilarly, Bahaullahs detailed laws for the division of 5nheritance 4+!das, . #,:-16 are ractically annulled by the inter retation in the 2yno sis 4 . =86, which is not found in the +!das, which states +ny erson is at liberty to will his ossessions as he sees fit. Bahaullah decreed that every one must write a %ill 4+!das, . ;-6. 5f each erson writes his %ill as he sees fit, what becomes of Bahaullahs elaborate scheme for the division of 5nheritance, and his concern that children get a large shareL 5t was Bahaullah himself who saidD /e who s eaks other than that sent down in (y "ablets is not one of mine 4+!das, . ;;6. "he ublication of this little book, inade!uate as it is, is welcome, and it is ho ed that an accurate translation of the whole of the *itab:i:+!das by the infallible .niversal /ouse of Eustice will soon follow. +!das, . =$. 'infoot to @rick, 3ebruary #;, 1,8-. +Bals Notes, . 1:;. (r. +Bal kindly ointed out several errors in the 5ntroduction to )lders "ranslation of the +!das, in statements concerning the Babs relation to the 'etters of the 'iving, the abrogation of the Bayan, etc. &orrections for these errors have been incor orated in &ha ters 55, 555 and 5A of this volume. /awaii Bahai News, Euly 1,8<. Bahai News, +ugust 1,8?. (r. 2amandari died in 1,8? at the age of ,-. Bahai News, +ugust 1,8?, . #$. 5bid., 1ecember:1,8<. Eerusalem 0ost %eekly, 2e tember ,, 1,8,. "his full: age re ort of the event, with a resume of Babi:Bahai history, is marred by as many inaccuracies as are usually found in articles the information 3or which has been su lied by Bahais. Bahai News, 1ecember 1,8?, . ;. 5bid., 1ecember 1,8<, . 1=. /ere is a sam le of Bahai news a er advertising taken from the "hursday, November 1#, 1,<$ co y of the CaBette of 2cotia, New ForkD "he world has entered a new stage of history, the age of the maturity of man and the beginning of a world civiliBation. "he source of this new develo ment was a (an who was e7iled, torture8, banished and im risoned for more than =$ years. /e lived during the last century. /is name : B+ /+ . ' '+ / "/) C'@9F @3 C@1 Bahaullah is the latest in the succession of 1ivine (essengers sent by Cod since the beginning of mans e7istence. /e is the 0romised +ge of 3ulfillment mentioned in all the ro hecies of the ast. Bahaullah brings Cods 0lan for world eace, world justice and world unity. 3@9 5N3@9(+"5@ND B+/+5 3+5"/ Bo7 #;?1, 2chenectady, N.F. 1#-$, 5n the 1aily News 0ost of (onrovia, &alifornia of 3riday, 2e tember 1,, 1,8, is an article under the heading B+/+5 &@((.N5"F @3 (@N9@A5+ %5'' +"")N1 %@9'1 0)+&) 1+F 5N 0+2+1)N+, 5t states that the theme of this years %orld 0eace 1ay will be Fouth P Builders of a New %orld, and the 1ay will be 1<# of ##$

#;. #8. #<. #?. #,. -$. -1. -#. --. -=. -;. -8.

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observed on 2unday by members of the Bahai communities located in over #,;$$ +merican cities. +lso, the article states that there are weekly firesides 4talks and discussions6 held in (onrovia every 3riday evening. + hone number is given for further information. Bahai sources re ort that as of + ril #1, 1,<$ there are #-,?<, members of the 3aith in the ..2.+., e7cluding +laska and /awaii, of whom ;,$$$ are missing. "here was a net increase of -,#1, members in the receding year. 'etter of &. '. 2eeberger, "he &hristian , &entury, (ay ;, 1,<1. (r. /. %. 2talley to (iller, Eanuary #=, 1,8,. Bahai %orld 1,#8:#,?, . 1=1:1;$. 1r. 0aul &las er to (iller, Eanuary -$, 1,8,. 1r. 3. 1ale Bruner to (iller, (ay 8, 1,8,. 1r. 2amuel (offett to (iller, Euly 1#, 1,8,. (r. %arren %ebster to (iller, November -, 1,8,. (r. Eollynoos /akim and (r. +BiBollah (ebesser to (iller, (arch 1$ and -1 and + ril ?, 1,8,. (ason 9emey died in his residence in 3lorence, 5taly on 3ebruary =, 1,<=, just ,, days before his 1$$th birthday. 5t is robable that his body will be buried in the 0om ey /ill &emetery in the state of New Fork in his family lot. "he decision regarding his successor has as yet not been made known.

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1'= Conclusion
+ny system that makes a claim to be a universal religion thereby invites the earnest consideration and careful a raisal of all who are seeking for Cod and for true life in this world and the ne7t. "he Bahai %orld 3aith is not just a crusade for world eace and unity and e!uity, im ortant as these goals are. 9ather, as has become clear in the receding cha ters, it claims to he the one true faith far the whole world for a thousand years, uniting in itself and taking the lace of all revious religions. +s is stated in the 5ntroduction to vol. K555 of "he Bahai %orld, 5t is the avowed faith of Bahais that this 9evelation has established u on earth the s iritual im ulse and the definite rinci les necessary for social regeneration and the attainment of one true religion and social order throughout the world. 5t is, therefore, our rivilege and res onsibility to weigh the validity of this high claim with all due care. %hoever eruses the thousands of ages of the thirteen large volumes of "he Bahai %orld will be im ressed by the factJ that the Bahai 3aith is indeed a world faith. 3or Bahais, as well as for &hristians and (uslims, the .field is the world, and it is their aim to bring to all eo les the Coad News of Bahaullah, and to unite all the conflicting religions in one. 5n a world that is today sorely divided, any effort to unite mankind in the bonds of true brotherhood is to be commended. 5t order to convert the eo le of the world to this 3aith, Bahais have been most Bealous in their missionary work. Believing that they have the latest and best religion in the world, they use every means in their ower to ro agate it, not only in their home communities, but also in foreign lands Xhere, in obedience to the command of their leaders, they have gone to reside. @ne cannot but admire the Beal of those who with heart and mind and hands work for a cause in which they believe. @f course Beal, and even the readiness to die for a cause, do not necessarily rove the validity and value of the cause, for history reminds us there have been many martyrs who have died for error as well as for truth. %hether the devoted missionaries are (ormons or (uslims, Ba tists or Baha is, their message must be e7amined and evaluated on its merits. %hat then shall we say of the teachings of the Bahai 3aith as set forth in the writings of Bahaullah and those who followed himL 5t would seem that in the official literature of the 3aith s ecial em hasis is laced on the 0rinci les which were listed and discussed in &ha ter K5. "hough the tabulation of these 0rinci les should be attributed to +bdul:Baha rather than to his father, and though they are not original with him, certainly most ersons of good will would readily assent to the im ortance of 5nde endent national eace, &onformity of religion to science and reason 4 rovided it is true science and sound reason6, Banishment of all rejudice, )!uality of men and women, + world arliament, .niversal education and + universal language. "hese are social and ethical teachings which eo le of most religions, or of no religion, might ado t. "hey are not strictly religious rinci les, and there is no mention of Cod in connection with them. "o evaluate the Bahai system as a religion, it is necessary to go back of the 0rinci les to the 'aws of Bahaullah which are contained in his *itab:i:+!das, a summary of which has been given in &ha ter A555. +s the un rejudiced reader eruses the regulations which Bahaullah gave for worshi in the +rabic language for the 1,:day fast, for the division of inheritance, for or the establishment of a 1,:month calendar of 1, days in each month, for severe unishment for an arsonist and light unishment for an adulterer, for olygamous marriages, etc., is he convinced that this is the code of laws by which the lives of all the eo le of the world should be regulated for the ne7t one thousand yearsL 5t has been said b y some Bahais that the world is not yet ready to receive the laws of the *itab:i:+!das. "his is no doubt true. But will it ever be ready to ado t this code of lawsL

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(oreover, it is clear from the +!das and from the writings of later leaders that the Bahai 3aith is olitical as well as social and religious in its to the day when the rulers of the nations will become believers and will use their olitical ower to su ort the Bahai 3aith and enforce its laws, when the .niversal /ouse of Eustice will become the 2u reme &ourt of the %orld, and when not only the ersonal lives of believers but also the olitical affairs of the world will be ordered according to the laws of Bahaullah. 5n the Bahai system there is to be no se aration of &hurch and 2tate. 0rior to the death of 2hoghi )fendi in 1,;<, one of the chief merits of the 3aith, according to Bahai writers, was the abiding resence in the world at all times of a living infallible leader and guide, who would be the su reme head of the world &hurch:2tate. 2ince the 3irst Cuardian died without a ointing a successor, mostD of the Bahais agree that the rule now resides in the ,:member .niversal /ouse of Eustice, and for "his body also infallibility is claimed. 5t would indeed be a welcome and wonderful change to live in a world the rulers of which were infallible, but such a ho e has been shattered by Bahaullah himself when he stated 416 that infallibility belongs to the (anifestation Bahaullah6 alone. 2ince the tree is known by its fruit, we may ask how effective Bahais have been in racticing their 0rinci les and obeying their 'aws. 5t seems that their greatest success has been in demonstrating the absence of racial rejudice and romoting good race relations. 3rom the early days in +merica then +mity meetings were held to bring together members of different races, to the resent time when it is said that one:third of the believers in +merica are blacks, the efforts of the Bahais here and in other lands are most commendable, and it is not sur rising that members of minority grou s are attracted to a movement that cordially acce ts them. 5t would seem that in +merica and robably also in other lands the strongest a eal of the 3aith is not so much its teachings as e fellowshi which it offers, the feeling of belonging to a community, something which had not been found elsewhere. 2ince the local Bahai units are usually not large the members are drawn close together in the service of the &ause. + young man in &alifornia who was urged by an ac!uaintance to attend Bahai meetings wrote of his e7 erience as followsD "he bond of community was very strong. 5 notice d that strangers from out of town would a ear at a meeting, declare themselves Bahais, and the following week Baha is had found them a job and a lace to stay. 5 thought the ractice of embracing every Negro and @riental that came to the meetings terribly atroniBing..... @ut of a history of dece tion and intrigue has come the arado7 of a community of earnest and generous souls. But an intense community life c an be a hideous thing when it turns a deaf ear to the suffering of human beings outside the coBy club.4#6 +s for 5nternational 0eace, Baha is like many other grou s religious and secular have talked much about eace an have no doubt done what they could to achieve the goal redicted by the ancient ro hets of 5srael and announced by Bahaullah as the (ost Creat 0eace. 5n addition to what individuals may have done in their writings and addresses, "he Bahai %orld, vol. K555, contains a ro osal submitted by the Bahai 5nternational &ommunity to the .nited Nations for a revision of the &harter. /ere is a ortion of the long statementD "he Bahai conce t of world order is defined in these termD + %orld 2u er:2tate in whose favor all the nations of the world will have ceded every claim to make war, certain rights to im ose ta7ation, and all rights to maintain armaments, e7ce t for ur oses of maintaining internal order within their. res ective dominions. "his 2tate will have to include an 5nternational )7ecutive ade!uate to enforce su reme and unchallenged authority on every recalcitrant member of the &ommonwealth, a %orld 0arliament whose members are elected by the eo les in their res ective countries and whose election is confirmed by their res ective governments, a 2u reme "ribunal whose judgment has a binding effect even in cases where the arties concerned have not voluntarily agreed to submit their case to its consideration. 5t seems that
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the .nited Nations did not view this ro osal for revision of its &harter with favor. 5n their understandable desire to show that the Bahai 3aith has had an influence for good on the history of the world, Bahais have sometimes made the mistake that others have made of claiming credit far something that was not theirs. +n e7am le is the statement made by Cuy (urchie4-6 that. %oodrow %ilsons daughter was an ardent student of the Bahai teachingsJ it is said that she was instrumental in influencing her father to include the Bahai rinci les in his 3ourteen 0oints at Aersailles. 4=h:n !uestioned as to the accuracy of this statement which has been fre!uently re eated by Bahais, the 3rancis 2ayre, grandson of 0resident %ilson and 1ean of the &athedral in %ashington, 1.&., re lied4=6 that his aunt had no interest in the Bahai movement, and there was no foundation for the claim that the 3ourteen 0oints were in any way influenced by her or by the Bahai 0rinci les. 5n education and medicine and other fields Bahais in 5ran and in other lands have rendered valuable service usually in a rivate ca acity and not in the name of their 3aith. 5n vol. K555 of "he Bahai %orld which re orts fully the activities of believers in all lands for the years 1,;=:1,8- the reader found only one mention of a Bahai service institution, which was a home for the aged in %ilmette. +s has been ointed out in the revious cha ters, Bahais have not been outstanding in their ractice of the fine 0rinci le designated 5nde endent investigation of truth. @ne wonders how it would be ossible for an o en minded Bahai to investigate the history and doctrine of his religion while under the rule of an infallible &enter of the &ovenant or Cuardian or /ouse of Eustice who claim the sale authority to inter ret the sacred writings. 2uch investigation becomes yet more difficult when the *itab:i:+!das, ranked by 2hoghi )fendi4;6 as the brightest emanation of the mind of Bahaullah, has not yet been made available to Bahais, who have been strictly forbidden to read a translation of the +!das by non:Bahai scholars. %e have told the story of the fate of +hmad 2ohrab and (rs. %hite and Niku and +vareh and others who were rash enough to make known the results of their investigations. +nyone who !uestions the accuracy of the authoriBed version of Babi:Bahai history is denounced as an enemy of the &ause of Cod. 5m ortant as are the laws and ethical and social teachings of a religion, its basic beliefs about Cod and man on which all else de ends are of yet greater im ortance. %hat answer does it give to the !uestions which men in all ages have been asking P %ho or %hat is CodL %hat is manL /ow can man know CodL %hat must man do to be acce ted by CodL /ow can he get rid of the sin and evil which darkens his life and se arates him from both Cod and manL %hat does Cod want man to be and to doL 5s there life after deathL "he value of any religion de ends to a considerable degree on its ability to rovide ade!uate answers to these and similar !uestions. %hat does the Bahai 3aith tell us about CodL Bahaullah taught that Cod is unknowable, e7ce t through his (anifestations, who are +dam, Noah, +braham, (oses, Eesus, (uhammad and Bahaullah, each (anifestation being more erfect than the one which receded it. /e held that all the (anifestations are one, as the sun of today is the same as the sun of yesterday. /owever, anyone who takes a close and careful look at these 2uns will realiBe that they differ greatly from one another, and it would seem that on each a earance Cod has changed his character as well as his laws, and not always for the better. %hen later Qoroaster, Buddha and finally *rishna were included in the (anifestations, the confusion became com ounded. "he Babhad taught that there could be only one 2un in the heavens at a time to reveal the @ne Cod. But if Qoroaster, Buddha and *rishna also are (anifestations, then there would have been two or more 2uns in the sky at once, and it would seem that Cod had become twins or tri lets. /ence the message of the modern Bahai 3aith about Cod is far from clear and is by no means ade!uate. 0robably each believer brings into his
1<8 of ##$

Bahai faith the conce tion of Cod which he had gotten from his revious faith, or no:faith. "he Eews, &hristians and (uslims would think of Cod as @ne and the /indus might continue to believe in a multitude of gods. "he re ly of the Bahais would no doubt be that in this age Cad is revealed more erfectly than ever before in Bahaullah. 5s it im ro er to in!uire which of the divine attributes are revealed more erfectly in Bahaullah than in the great ro hets of the @ld "estament and in Eesus &hristL +nd whether Cods love is more erfectly manifested in Bahaullahs service to the world than in the service of any other messenger of CodL @ne of the hrases fre!uently found in Bahai literature is rogressive revelation. 5t is said that eo le usually think of ro hets as men who lived and revealed Cod in the distant ast, and do not imagine it ossible far Cod to reveal himself now. Fet Bahaullah not only lived in our time, but was contem orary in the fullest sense of the word. /is teachings a things are....e7tremely advanced, says one Bahai writer.486 %e are com elled to ask, 5s Bahaullah really contem oraryL /e died in 1?,#, eleven years e ore e %right brothers made their first flight, before automobiles were seen on our roads, before "A ictures were shown to incredulous eyes, and before anyone dreamed that bombs would e made that could blow u the world. 5f it is Cods lan in rogressive revelation. to send new (anifestations to guide the eo le of the world in new situations, sure y something more relevant than the *itab:i:+!das is needed for today, and a erson closer to us than Bahaullah. But, according to Bahaullah, no new (anifestation will come before #?88 +.1. 5f many of Bahaullahs ronouncements seem to fit our modern situation, so do the "en &ommandments of Noses and the 2ermon on the (ount of Eesus. + study of the +!das will make it clear that Bahaullah is closer to the (iddle +ges than to the world of 1,<-. %hat is the Bahai doctrine of manL 2ince in Bahai teaching Cod is not usually called 3ather, e7ce t when &hristians are being addressed, man is consic1ered not a child of Cod but a servant or slave of Cod. /owever, the Bahai view of man is !uite o timistic, artistic for it is thought that all man needs is laws and rece ts and an )ducator. "he evil that resides in man s heart be he savage or civiliBed, evil that causes the horrible crimes that have blotted the ages of the histories of the most advanced nations, is largely ignored. Neither in and the later leaders, e7ce t when they are denouncing their enemies, is there any ade!uate consideration of mans deadly disease which is sin. 3ew are the a eals to men to re ent of their sins as the ro hets of old a ealed,4<6 few the assurances of Cods love for sinners and his romises to them of forgiveness and a new life of holiness. 2ince the diagnosis of mans disease is faulty, the rovision which the Bahai faith makes for his cure is inade!uate. 5n all Bahai literature can there be found a romise of a 2avior from sin, or a icture of welcome by Cad to a enitent as a ealing as the arable of the 0rodigal 2onL %hat would +bdul:Baha have said to give ho e to a drug addict on skid row, or to guide and comfort a convict in a death cellL 2inners need salvation, and the Bahai 3aith fails to rovide a 2avior. Z5f a man die shall he live againL asked Eob. "o this vital !uestion the re ly of Bahaullah is vague and unsatisfying. 9esurrection in the Bahai system means the coming of a new (anifestation. 2uch terms as entering the +bha *ingdom, drinking the wine of immortality, hastening to the 2u reme &oncourse, 0aradise of +bha, the everlasting abode of glorious, sacred souls, are found in the +!das and other writings. But it is not clear whether ersonal immortality is romised, or merely the merging of man with the 5nfinite, like the return of a raindro to the sea from which it came. 3or many students of the Bahai history, one of its most disa ointing as ects is the failure of its founders and leaders to reveal in their ersonal lives, and in their dealings with members of their
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families and others who differed with them, the s irit of love of which they so often s oke and which they enjoined on others. 5n the receding cha ter it has become abundantly clear that Bahaullah in his relations with his brother 2ubh:i:+Bal, +bdul:Baha in his relations with his brother (irBa (uhammad +li, and 2hoghi )fendi in his relations with numerous relatives and former friends revealed an attitude of bitterness that was hardly a worthy e7am le for their followers. %e are reminded of the !uestion asked by an a ostle of old,4,6 /e that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love Cod whom he hath not seenL +nd how can he ade!uately and effectively manifest Cods love to othersL %ith its lack of clarity in its doctrine of CodJ with its legalism which characteriBes its (ost /oly BookJ with its rescri tion in this Book of ractices long since outdatedJ with the inade!uacy of its treatment of sin and of its rovision for the cure of evil in manJ with the vagueness of its teaching about life after deathJ with the gross failure of its founders to e7em lify among their own families the love they so strongly advocated P with these and other defects which are manifest in its history, can the Bahai %orld 3aith be an ade!uate religion for the world for today, and for the millennium to comeL @nly one answer is ossible, and that is decidedly negative.
N@")2 1. #. -. =. ;. 8. <. ?. ,. +!das, . -<. E. 2istrom to (iller. &hicago 2unday "ribune, article by Cuy (urchieD 5 am a Bahai, Euly -, 1,;?, . =. 2ayre to 2istrom, + ril #;, 1,8,. Cod asses By, 2hoghi )fendi, . #1-. (anifestation P Not 5ncarnation, by +lbert )ntBminger, Bahai 0ublishing "rust 1,8?, . B. Bahaullah commanded his brother 2ubh:i:+Bal, who had refused to submit to him, to re ent and believe, and he romised to forgive him if he did so 4+!das, . <-6. +lso in "he Ninth Clad "idings of Bahaullah sinners are commanded to confess to Cod and ask his forgiveness 4Bahai 2cri tures, . 1=#6. Eob l=D1-. 5 Eohn =D#$.

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+""endi$ 1
Translation of +l*:itab +l*+;das

83I#HT+9 T3+H)9+TI8H F!H& H#6 )#3I#) (89!0# III(III :IT+B +9*+J&+) or TH# 08)T H899> B88: by

0I3K+ H>)+>H +9I B+H+'!'99+H Translated from the 8riginal +rabic and #dited by #+39 #= #9&#3? PH=&=? &=& and 6I99I+0 0C#= 0I99#3? 0=+=? &=& P!B9I)H#& B> TH# 38>+9 +)>+TIC )8CI#T> and soled by its +gents 9!K+C +H& C80P+H> 9T&= %- 53#+T 3!))#9 )T3##T 98H&8H? 6=C=1 12-1

Co"yright #= #= #9&#3 +ll rights reserved= Congressional 9ibrary Ho= -1*111-1 P3IHT#& IH 53#+T B3IT+IH B> )T#PH#H +!)TIH +H& )8H)? 9T&=? H#3TF83&? H#3T)

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09)3+&) +nyone who studies Bahaism learns very soon of the volume sacred to those who rofess this religion and known as "he (ost /oly Book . @f this book Baha in his %ill said, ... reflect u on that which is revealed in my book the +!das. +nd his son and successor +bdul Baha said in his %ill, unto the +!das everyone must turn. Fet, strange to say, although the teachings of Baha have been widely roclaimed in CreatJ Britain and +merica, only fragments of al:*itab al:+!das have been translated reviously into )nglish. +nother interesting oint is that it is written in +rabic, although the founder of the religion was 0ersian and the first romulgation of this doctrine was in 0ersia 4now known as 5ran6, where +rabic is not generally known. %hen a translation was contem lated reliance was laced on an )dition ublished in +rabic at Baghdad, 5ra!, in 1,-1. /ow ever, the attention of those interested was turned to a co y of the work, a gift of +bdul Baha to one of the first +merican Bahais to visit him in 0alestine. "his co y had been autogra hed by +bdul Baha on #;th (arch, 1?,,. By the ermission of the resent owner, this version has been used in the translation. 5t was this te7t which was first distributed by Baha among his followers P in handwriting. +bout 1??$ he sent one of his sons and a disci le to 5ndia to re are the manuscri t for ublication. 0hotogra hic co ies of the si7ty:five ages of this te7t are in the collections reserved in the 0ublic 'ibrary of New Fork &ityJ 5t is available there to any who wish to ursue the investigation of the te7t in the original +rabic. 2ince the Bahai +dministration at %ilmette, 5llinois, admittedly does not ossess a co y of the book, nor has it been circulated in +merica, this translation will afford many the o ortunity of gaining at 8rst hand knowledge of the rinci les of the faith. 5n com aring this rather authentic co y with the Baghdad edition one discovers a great many differences of minor im ortance. "he omission of three lines a earing in the Baghdad co y from the te7t on age ;< and again of four lines on age 8$ of this edition constitute the most cons icuous differences. /owever, no im ortant doctrine is introduced in these lines that has not already been stressed. 5n fact in both cases the words are e7hortation to the recognition of Cods ower and might. "hese have often been stressed reviously. 5n translating the Baha>s holy book one faces the roblem of giving a critical study of the manifold differences in the te7t, or of ignoring the elaborate a aratus for collating readings and resenting a readable translation with e7 lanatory notes. "he latter method was chosen with the idea of making the book interesting to a wider circle of readers. "he +rabic, like that of the Guran, is often 1ofty and sometimes difficu1t to e7 ress in language easy to be understood by %esterners. "he reader must remember that Baha was of 0ersian origin and the +rabic words and terminology sometimes have a 0ersian flavour. 2ome references to the shades of difference in meaning in the two languages are to be found in the notes. %hen +. /. "umansky translated al:*itab al:+!das into 9ussian more than si7ty years ago, he felt an introduction was im erative. "hat it reached to three times the length of the original work translated, is not sur rising when one remembers that the background is crammed with a long history. +n introduction and full notes of many oints unfamiliar to a %estern reader were absolutely essential, (uch of the inter retive e7 lanation in the Notes has been secured from one thoroughly familiar with Babism through years of close, connection with the movement. 5n conclusion, lest readers. imagine the trans1ation was not sufficiently checked, it is only right to
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mention that it has been reviewed and only by those who know +rabic and 0ersian well, but by three ersons who have an intimate ac!uaintance with the teachings of Bahaullah. "he transliteration of the +rabic words has often been given to enable +rabists to know the original. +t times words which rhyme give some suggestion of the style of the com osition, resembling the rhyming rose of the Guran. 3urther discussion of style and subject matter is necessary since the book s eaks for itself. +mong those who have reviewed the translation and introduction, mention should be made of (r. %ill @rick and 9ev. &ady /. +llen. (r. @rick, among many services in connection with this work, arranged for the ty ing of the entire manuscri t for the rinters. 9ev. &ady /. +llen has given invaluable assistance in many suggestions regarding unctuation and hrasing. "he figures given in arenthesis in the te7t are the ages of the co y from which the transition has been made. )+9' *. )'1)9. +':*5"+B +':+G1+2

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5n the name of /im who is the 9uler 4al:hakim6 over what was and what will be. "he first thing which Cod ordained 4kataba6 concerning /is creatures 4al:ibad6 is the knowledge of the 2unrise: lace 4nmahri!6 of /is revelation and the 9ising: lace 4matla6 of /is &ause 4amrihi6, who was the station 4ma!am6 of /imself in the world of command and creation.M1N %hoever attains unto /im 4faBa bihi6 attains unto all good, and whoever is de rived of /im is of the eo le of error 4al:dalal6, even though he erforms all 4good6 works 4al:amal6 %henever you attain unto this most noble 2tation and most high /oriBon 4ufu!6, every soul must follow what has been commanded by the 1esired @ne 4al:ma!sud6, because these twoM#N are 4to be taken6 togetherJ and one is not acce ted without the other. "his is what the 9ising: lace of illumination 4al:5lham6 has ruled 4hakama6. "hose who have been given sight by Cod see the sti ulations 4ul:hudud, bounds6 of Cod, 4which are6 the greatest cause for the setting of thy world in order and the reserving of the nations. %hoever is careless is of the rabble 4hamaj6 and the ruffians 4raa6. %e have commanded you to break the bounds of the self and assion 4al:hawa6J not that which was written 4ru!ima6 by the (ost /igh 0en 4al:!alam al:ala6. 5t is the s irit of 'ife 4ruh al:hayawan6 for whoever is in the 4realm of the6 ossible 4al:imkan6M-N. "he seas of wisdom and e7 lanation have raged. 4majat6.with that whereby the breeBe of the (erciful 4al:rahman6 was violent 4hajat6. 2eiBe the o ortunityJ @ ossessors of minds 4ulal:albab6I "hose who broke:the covenant of Cod 4manifest6 in /is commands and turned back from the ath of justice are of the eo le of error 4al: dalal6 before the )7alted 2elf:2ufficient @ne 4al:ghani al:mutaal6. @ multitudes 4mala6 of the earth, know that (y commands are the lam s of (y rovidence among (y creatures and the keys of (y (ercy to (y eo le 4barriyati6. "hus was the command sent down 4nuBBila6 from the heaven of the will of your 'ord, the 0ossessor 4malik6 of religions. %ere one to find the sweetness of the e7 lanation which a eared from the mouth of the will of the (erciful, he would s end what he has, even though it were the treasures of the whole earth, in order to establish one of /is commands which arise from the horiBon of rovidence and benefits 4al: altaf6J 2ayD 3rom (y sti ulations there asses the sweet smell 4arf6 of (y gown and. by them the standards of victory are erected on hillocks and hills. "he tongue of (y ower 4!udrati6 has s oken in the might 4jaburut6 of (y greatness, addressing (y eo le, 4saying6, 0erform (y sti ulations out of love for (y beauty 4jamali6. Blessed is the lover who found the sweet smell of the beloved 4coming6 out of this word from which aromas of grace were diffused, that they be not described 4only6 by remembrancesI 5 swear by (y life 4la amri6, whoever drinks of the ure wine 4rahi!6 of e!uity from the hands of the benefits will make the circuit of (y commands which arise from the horiBon of new things 4al: abada6. 1o not reckon that %e have sent down the commandments to you, but rather %e have o ened the seal of the sealed ure wine by the fingers of ower and might. %hat was sent down from the 0en of 9evelation 4al:wahy6 bears witness to that. "hink thereon, 4=6 $ ossessors of thoughts. %orshi 4al:2alat6 has been ordained for you P nine rostrations 4rakaat6 to Cod %ho has sent down the versesJ when noon is ast 4al:Bawa16, in the morning 4al:bukur6 and in the late afternoon 4al:asal6.M=N %e have e7em ted 4afwana6 4you6 from the other number on account of a command in the Book of Cod.M;N 5ndeed /e is the 0owerful, the &hoosing, the &ommanding @ne. %henever you desire to worshi , turn your face towards (y most holy direction 4shatri6, the /oly 2tation which Cod made the lace of circumambulation for the angels 4al:mala al:ala6, and the
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direction for worshi of the eo le of the cities of continuing eternity, and. the source of command to all who are on the earths and in the heavens, and at the setting of the 2un of 9eality and clear )7 lanation, the 9esting: lace 4al:mayarr6 which we have decreed for you.M8N /e is the *nower, the 2trong:@ne. )verything is realiBed by /is confirmed command whenever the 2un of commandments rises from the horiBon of )7 lanation 4al:bayan6 that all may follow them even if by a command by which are cleft asunder the heavens of the hearts of religions.M<N /e does what /e wills and /e is not !uestioned about what /e willed and what the Beloved, @ne rules. /e is, indeed, Beloved and the 0ossessor of 5nvention. %hoever finds the sweet smell 4arf6 of the (erciful and of the 9ising: lace of this )7 lanation will meet with his eyes the arrows for establishing the commandments among mankind. Blessed is the one who came amid attained unto the message of the discourseI %e have analysed worshi at length in another a er. Blessed is the one who did as commanded by the 0ossessor of ersons 4al:ri!ab6 I 5n worshi for the dead the saying of si7 takbiras has been sent down 4as a commandment6M?N from Cod who sends down the verses.4;6 %hoever knows how to read must read what has been sent down beforehand, and if he does not Cod has forgiven him. /e is indeed the 3orgiving, the (ighty @ne. /air does not make void your worshi , nor does that which has been de rived of s irit, such, for e7am le, as bones and other things.M,N %ear sable 4sammur6 just as you wear silk and s!uirrel:skin and other things. 5ndeed, this was not forbidden in the 3ur!an 4i.e. the Guran6, but the learned ones were uncertain about it. 5ndeed /e is the *nower, the (ighty @ne. %orshi and 3asting are obligatory to you on your coming to maturityM1$N a command. from Cod, your 'ord and the 'ord of your early fathers. %hoever is weak from illness or advanced age, Cod e7em ts him because of a Crace on /is art. /e is the Cenerous @ne, the 3orgiver. Cod ermits you to rostrate yourselves on everything ure, and we have taken away the ruling sti ulated in the Book.M11N Cod knows and you do not. %hoever does not find water, let him re eat five times, bi:sm: illah, al:athar, al:athar 45n the name of Cod, the 0urest, the 0urest,6 and then begin worshi . "his is what the (aster of the worlds commanded. 5n those lands where nights and day are long they may erform worshi by 4using6 clocks and objects which determine the times. /e is the %ise @ne, the )7 lainer. %e have e7em ted you from worshi 4on the occasion6 of wonders.M1#N %henever they a ear, make mention of Cod with greatness and ower. /e is the /earing @ne, the 2eeing @ne. 2ayD al:aBama lillah, rabb ma yura wa ma la yure, rabb al:alamin 4Creatness belongs to Cod, the 'ord of what is seen and. what is unseen, the 'ord of the worlds6. 486 %orshi as individuals has been ordained for youJ the commandment regarding grou worshi is remitted 4rufia6, e7ce t in worshi for the dead.M1-N /e is the %ise @ne, the &ommanding @ne. Cod has e7em ted women from worshi and fastingJ whenever they find blood 4in menstruating6. "hey have to erform ablutions and raise Cod ninety: five times from afternoon to afternoon, saying subhan allah dhi al:tala wa l:jamal 40raise be to Cod, the 0ossessor of &ountenance and. Beauty6. "his is what we decreed in the Book,M1=N if you be of the knowing ones. +nd for you men and women, if, on journeys you sto and rest in a safe location, 4there is re!uired6 in lace of the whole ritual of worshi 4only6 one rostration and the saying of the words, subhan +llah dhi al:aBama wal:ijlal val:mawhiba wal:afdal 40raise be to Cod, the 0ossessor of Creatness and. (ajesty, the 3ree Cift and the Craces6. %hoever is unable 4to
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do this6 will say, subhan +llah 40raise be to Cod6. "hus is the duty sufficiently erformed. /e is the 2atisfying, the &ontinuing, the 3orgiving, the (erciful @ne. +fter com leting the rostration, you and the women are to sit at the tem le of .nity 4haykal al:tawhid6M1;N and say eighteen times, subhan +llah dhi al:mulk wal:malakut 40raise be to Cod, the 0ossessor of the kingdoms of this world and the ne7t6. "hus Cod e7 lains the ways of 9eality and Cuidance. "hey end, indeed, in one way which is the 2traight 0ath 4al:sirat al:musta!im6. Cive thanks to Cod for this great Crace. 0raise Cod for this free gift which encom assed the heavens and. the earths. 9emember Cod for this mercy which receded the worlds. 2ayD Cod has made my hidden love the key 4<6 of the treasure, if you would only erceive. %ere it not for the key, it would be hidden for the eternity of ast eternities, if you were only certain. 2ayD "his is the 9ising: lace of 9evelation and the 2unrise: lace of the Brilliance by which the horiBons became light, if you only knew. "his is the established decision 4al:!ada6. By it every settled decision is established. $ 0en of the (ost /igh, sayD $ multitudes of creation 4al:insha6, we have ordained the 3ast for you, certain limited days. +fter the com letion of them we have made al:NayruB 4NawruB6 a feast for you.M18N "hus has the 2un of )7 lanation shone from the horiBon of the Book from before the resence of the 0ossessor of the 0lace of Beginning and 9eturn. +nd lace rior to the month of fasting the 4intercalary6 days which are in e7cess of the months.M1<N %e have, indeed, made them manifestations of al:haM1?N among the nights and days. "herefore these five day s are not included in the year and the months. 5t is fitting, then, that in them the 0eo le of Baha 42 lendor6 feed themselves and their relatives, then the oor and overty: stricken. "hey must e7alt, magnify, raise, and glorify their 'ord with joy and gladness. +nd whenever the days of givingM1,N are com leted, before the refraining 4from food6 let them enter u on the fast. 2o has the (aster of (ankind 4mawla, al:anam6 commanded. "his does not cause difficulty for the one who is on a journey, for the ill, for the regnant woman, or the one who is nursing. Cod has e7em ted them as a Crace on /is art. /e is the (ighty @ne, the 3ree Civer. "hese are the sti ulations of Cod which 4?6 were written by the (ost /igh 0en in the books and. tablets. /old fast to the orders and. commandments of Cod. Be not of those who have held to their own rinci les 4usul6 and have cast behind them the rinci les of Cod in following their o inions and illusions. 9estrain yourselves from eating and drinking from the rising 4of the sun6 until its setting. Beware lest assion hinder you from obtaining this grace which has been decreed to you in the Book. 5t has been ordained that whoever rofesses the religion of Cod the 9ewarder 4al:dayyan,6, should. wash his hands every day, then his face, and facing toward CodM#$N and say ninety:five times, +fllahu abha 4Cod is most 2 lendid6. 2o did the 3ormer 4fatir6 of heavens command as /e sits on the "hrones of the Names 4al:asma6 with Creatness and 0ower. 5n like manner, erform ablutions before %orshi because of a command from Cod, the @nly @ne, the &hoosing @ne. (urder and adultery are unlawful for you., also back:biting 4al:!hayba6 and calumniation 4al: iftira6. +void what you have been forbidden in the Books and. the "ablets. 5nheritances %e have divided according to the number al:Ba 4seven6. @f them we have a ortioned to your seed from the book al:ta 4nine6, according to the number al:ma!t 4;=$6J to husbands or wives from the book al:ha 4eight6, according to the number of al:ta and al:fa 4=?$6J to fathers from the book al:fa 4seven6, according to the number of al:ta and. el:kaf 4=#$6J and to mothers
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from the book al:waw 4si76, according to the number of al:rafi 4-8$6J and to brothers from the book al:ha 4five6, the number of al:shin 4-$$6J and to sisters from the book 4,6 al:dal 4four6, the number of al:ra and al:mim 4#=$6J and. to teachers from the book al:jim 4three6, the number of al:!af and cl:fa 41?$6. "hus commanded /e who gave Cood News of (e and who made mention of (e at nights and at daybreaks 4al:ashar6.M#1N 5ndeed when %e heard the clamour of the offs ring in the loins 4al:aslab6, %e doubled their wealth and took away from others.M##N /e is the 0owerful @ne over what /e wills and /e acts with /is authority as /e desires. %hoever dies having no offs ring, his rights return to the /ouse of Eustice 4bayt al:adl6 in order that the ?tewards of the (erciful 4umana al:rahman6 may s end it on or hans and widows, and on what bene8ts the multitude of eo le. "his, that they may thank their 'ord, the 3orgiving, the (ighty @ne. %hoever has offs ring but does not have anyone else of those sti ulated in the Book P two:thirds of what he leaves goes to his offs ring and one:third to the /ouse of Eustice. "hus ruled the 2elf: 2ufficient @ne, who is e7alted with Creatness and (ajesty. %hoever has no children M#-N but has relatives, sons and daughters of a brother or sister, they are to have two:thirds. @therwise the inheritance goes to aternal and maternal uncles and aternal and maternal auntsJ after them to their sons and daughters. "he third goes to the 9esting: lace 4/ouse6 of Eustice 4ma!arr el:adl6. "his is because of a command in the Book from Cod, the 0ossessor of 0ersons. %hoever dies without having any offs ring of those whose names have been sent down by the (ost /igh 0en, the whole of his wealth goes to the above:mentioned 9esting: lace, 41$6 to be s ent as Cod commanded.M#=N /e is the 0owerful, the &ommanding @ne. %e a ointed the dwelling house and the s ecial garments 4of the deceased6 for the males of the offs ring, not for the females and 4other6 heirs. /e is the Bountiful Civer. %henever a man who has offs ring dies, while his father is still living, his offs ring inherit what was their fathers according to the Book of Cod. 1ivide among them with ure justice. "hus the sea of Cod raged, and the earls of commandments were cast by the 0ossessor of 0eo le. if weak 4minor6 offs ring are left behind, their wealth is to be given to a guardian to trade with until they reach maturity, or to a com any. + oint to the guardian a ro er amount from what he has made by trading and gain. +ll this is to be aid after Cod receives /is rights and the debts are aid, if there are any, as well as roviding the things necessary for the shroud, the burial, and the carrying 4of the body6 with honour and glory. 2o ruled the 0ossessor of the Beginning and the 9eturn. 2ayD "his is the hidden knowledge which never changes because it begins with al:ta 4nine6,M#;N which indicates the treasures, manifest, well: fortified. and una roachable Name. "he inheritance which %e have assigned es ecially for the offs ring is of the favour 4fadl6 of Cod that they may thank their 'ord, the (erciful, the &om assionate. "hese are the sti ulations of Cod. 1o not transgress them because of your own assions. 3ollow what you are commanded to do 4116 by the 9ising: lace of )7 lanation 4al:Bayan6.M#8N "he sincere ones will see the sti ulations of Cod, the %ater of 'ife to the eo le of 4all6 religions, and the 'am of %isdom and 0ros erity to those who are in the earths and heavens. Cod has ordained that in every city they make a /ouse of Eustice,M#<N and. the souls according to the number of al:Baha will assemble in it. "here is no harm if the number increases. "hey shall see as though they are entering the resence of Cod, the /igh, the (ost /igh. +nd they shall see /im who is not seen. "hey must be stewards of the (erciful among 4those in the realm of6 the ossible and agents of Cod for the whole earth. +nd Cod has ordained that they shall consult about the welfare of creatures 4al:ibad6 for the sake of Cod, just as they consult about their own affairs, and that they choose what is the choice. "hus
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commanded your 'ord, the (ighty @ne, the 3orgiver. Beware lest you neglect what is inscribed in the "ablet.M#?N 3ear Cod, @ you who see. @ multitude of &reation, furnish houses 4of worshi 6 in the most com lete way ossible in the name of the 0ossessor of 9eligions in the lands. 1ecorate them with what is fitting, not with ictures and. statues. "hen make mention in them of your 'ord., the (erciful, with joy and sweetness 4bi l:rawh wa l:rayhan6. 5s it not by mentioning him that breasts are enlightened and eyes are consoledL Cod has ruled that those of you who are able P e7ce t the women P make the 0ilgrimage 4hajj6 to the /ouse.M#,N Cod has e7em ted the women as a mercy on /is art. /e is the (unificent @ne, the Cenerous @ne.41#6 @ 0eo le of al:Baha, it has been made incumbent on everyone of you to work at something, in artisan crafts, in gain or something like that. %e have made your working at them your very worshi 4ibada6 of Cod., the 9eal @ne. $ eo le 4ya !awm6, think u on the mercy and. benefits of Cod. "hen thank /im at eventide and sunrise. 1o not waste your time in idleness and laBiness. %ork at something that will benefit you and. others. "hus decided the &ommand in this "ablet, which has shone from the horiBon of the 2un of %isdom and &lear )7 lanation 4el:tibyan6. Cod hates most those who sit and beg. &atch hold of the 9o e of &auses, trusting in Cod, the &auser of &auses. "he kissing of hands is forbidden in the Book.M-$N "his 4kind of reverence for religious leaders6 is what you were forbidden by your 'ord, the (ighty, the %ise. No one need beg forgiveness of another.M-1N 9e ent to Cod for yourselves. /e is the (ighty and 9elenting Civer and 3orgiver. @ creatures of the (erciful @ne, rise to the service 4khidma6 of the &ause that griefs caused by those who disbelieved in the 9ising: lace of the Aerses 4al:ayat6 may riot overtake you.M-#N %hen the 0romise came and the 0romised @ne a eared, the eo le disagreed and each faction held to its own o inions and illusions. 2ome eo le sit in a 9ow of 2andals 4saff al:nial6,M--N seeking the seat of honour 4sadr al:jalal6. 41-6 2ayD %ho art thou, $ careless, conceited man 4al: gharrar6LM-=N @f them there is he who claims the /idden 4al:batin6 and the /idden of the /idden. M-;N 2ayD @ liar, by Cod, what thou hast is husks. %e have left it for you as bones are left for the dogs. By Cod, the "ruth, if one were to wash the feet of everybody in the world and worshi Cod in thickets and in green valleys, on mountains, hill:to s, and summits, and at every stone, and tree, and clod, and. yet the fragrance of (y good leasure be not diffused from him, he would never be acce ted. "his is what the (aster of (ankind has ruled, /ow many a creature in the isles of 5ndia has withdrawn from the world and de rived. himself of what Cod has made lawful for him and endured retreats and hardshi sJ yet these things will not be remembered by Cod who sends down the Aerses. 1o not make deeds 4al:amal6 a snare of ho es 42harak al:amal6. 1o not de rive yourselves of this end which was the ho e of those who drew nigh 4to Cod6 in the eternity of ast eternities. 2ayD "he s irit of the deeds is my good leasureJ everything de ends on my acce tance. 9ead the "ablets in order to know what is the ur ose of the books of Cod, the (ighty @ne, the (unificent. %hoever attains unto (y love has a right to sit on a throne of native gold in the chief seat in 4the realm of6 ossibility. %hoever is de rived of (y love, were he to sit on the ground, it would take refuge in Cod,M-8N the 0ossessor of 9eligions. %hoever claims &ommand 4amr6 before the com letion of a thousand years is 41=6 a false liar.M-<N %e ask Cod to hel him to return. 5f he re ents, /e is the 9elenting @ne. 5f he ersists in what he has.
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/e is the 2trong in unishment. %hoever e7 lains this verse or inter rets it in any other way than that lainly sent down, he will be de rived of the 2 irit and. (ercy of Cod, which receded the 'ord 3ear Cod and follow not your illusions. 3ollow what your or, the (ighty and %ise @ne, commands. "he sound of bleatingM-?N shall arise from most of the lands. $ eo le, avoid every vile sinner and. do not follow him. "his is what we informed you when we were in 5ra!, in the 2ecret 4fi ard al:sirr6,M-,N and in this illuminating 2 ectacle 4al:manBar al:munir6. $ eo le of the earth, when the sun of (y beauty goes downM=$N and the heaven of (y tem le is hidden, do not be troubled. +rise to the hel of (y &ause and. the e7altation of (y %ord among the worlds. %e are with you in all circumstances. %e shall hel you with "ruth. %e have been able. %hoever knows (e let him arise to (y service with an arising at which the hosts of heavens and earths do not cause him to sit down. 0eo le are aslee . %ere they to wake they would hasten with all their hearts to Cod, the *nower, the %ise @ne. "hey would. throw away what they have, even were it all the treasures of the resent world, that their (aster may remember them 41;6 with a word from /im. "hus /e who has knowledge of the .nseen announces to you in a "ablet what a eared in the realm of ossibility and what only /is 2elf, the @verseer of the %orlds, has e7amined. "he drunkenness of assion has seiBed u on them because they do not see the (aster of mankind 4al:wara6, whose cry is raised from all directionsD "here is no Cod besides (e, the (ighty, the %ise. 2ayD 1o not rejoice in what you ossess at nightfall, when at sunrise another will ossess it. "hus does the *nower, the @mniscient @ne, inform you. 2ayD /ave you seen that your assions remain or are loyal to you L NoI By (y soul, the (erciful. 5f only you were of the justI "he days of your life ass as ass the winds. "he car et of your glory shall fold u as did that of the ancients. "hink, $ eo leI %here are your ast daysL %here are the eras that have ela sed L Blessed are the days that have assed in the remembrance of Cod and the times s ent in the remembrance of /im, the %ise @ne. By (y life, the might of the (ighty shall not abide, nor the vanities of the rich, nor the om of the wicked.M=1N +ll shall ass away by a word from /im. /e, indeed, is the 0owerful, the (ighty, the 2trong @ne. "heir household goods will not bene8t eo le. "hey have been careless of what benefits them. "hey shall be aroused and yet not find what has assed them by in the days of their 'ord, the (ighty, the 0raiseworthy. 5f they only knew 4186, they would s end what they have, so that their names might be remembered before the "hrone, are they not of the dead L + certain man has been uffed u by learning and has been de rived thereby of (y 2elf:2ubsistent Name, and whenever he hears the sound of footste s behind him, he thinks himself bigger than Nimrod. 2ayD %here is he 4Nimrod6.M=#N @ rejected one 4al:mardud6L By Cod, he is certainly in the lowest hellfireI 2ayD $ assembly of the learned,M=-N do you not hear the scratching of (y (ost /igh 0en L 1o you not see the 2un rising from the most s lendid 4al:abha P from the same root as Baha6 /oriBon L /ow long will you ray in seclusion to the idols of your assionsL 'eave the illusions and face towards Cod, your )ternal (aster. "he religious endowments 4al:aw!af6M==N given es ecially for charity have been returned to Cod, the + earing: lace of Aerses 4maBhar al:ayat6. No one may s end them e7ce t after ermission of the 9ising: lace of 9evelation. +fter him the command goes back to the Branches,M=;N and after them to the /ouse of Eustice. 5f /is &ause is established throughout the lands, let them s end the endowments in the high laces of this &ause and for what they were commanded by the 0owerful, the (ighty @ne. @therwise let them 4the endowments6 return to the eo le of al:Baha who only s eak after ermission is given by /im, and only command that which Cod has commanded in this
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"ablet. "hose are the Cuardians of Aictory between the heavens and the earths. 41<6 'et them s end them in the way defined in the Book by a Cenerous, (ighty @ne. Neither show grief nor joy in times of calamity. 2eek that which is between two e7tremes, which means the remembering 4of Cod6 when in that state and the being aware of what the outcome may be. 2o does the @mniscient *nower announce to you. 1o not shave your heads. Cod has adorned them with hair. 5n that there are certainly signs to him who considers the re!uirements of nature 4el: tabia6 from the stand oint of the 0ossessor of (ankind. 5ndeed, /e is the (ighty, the %ise. 5t is not fitting to go beyond the limits of the ears.M=8N "his is what the (aster of the worlds commanded. Banishment and rison have been commanded 4as unishment6 for the thief. 3or the third o?ence ut a sign on his forehead.M=<N "hus he will be known, so that the cities and the rovinces of Cod do not receive him. Beware lest ity 4al:rafa6 take hold, on you in 4following6 the religion of Cod. P 1o what you have been commanded to do by the "ender:hearted 4el:mushfi!6, (erciful @ne. %e have disci lined you with the rods of %isdom and commandments that you may kee yourselves and e7alt your ositions, just as fathers disci line their sons. By (y life, if you only knew what %e desire for you by @ur holy commands, you would have devoted your souls to this /oly, (ighty, and 5m regnable &ause. "here is no harm in using vessels of gold and silverM=?N if one desires to do so. Beware of di ing your hands in large lates 4al:sihaf6 and basins 4al:suhun6.M=,N 41?6 /old, to what is closer to cleanliness.M;$N /e desires to show you the customs of the eo le of 0aradise 4ahl al:ridwan6 in /is 5m regnable, .na roachable *ingdom. /old fast to cleanliness in all circumstances, lest the eyes fall on that which you and the eo le of 0aradise abhor. %hoever transgresses 4the rule of cleanliness6, his work at once becomes futile. 5f he has an e7cuse, Cod e7em ts him for /e is the Cenerous, the 0owerful. "he 9ising: lace of &ommand. has no artner in the Aery Creat 0reservation from )rror 4el:isma al kubra6. /e is, indeed, an + earing: lace. /e does what /e wishes in the *ingdom of &reation. Cod has reserved this 2tation e7clusively for /imself. +nd a ortion in this Creat and .na roachable 1ignity has not been destined 4!uddira6 for anyone else. "his is the command of Cod. 5t was concealed in the veils of the .nknown. %e manifested it in this (anifestation. By it %e ierced the veil of those who knew not the command, of the book and were among the careless. 5t has been ordained for every father to educate his son and. daughter in learning, handwriting and other things defined in the "ablet. %hoever neglects what he has been commanded, the 2tewards must take from him whatever is necessary for their educationD that is, if he is rich. @therwise, their education ii referred to the /ouse of Eustice. %e have made it the shelter 4mawa6 of the oor and the needy. %hoever educates 41,6 his son or any ones sons, it is as though he had educated one of (y sons. @n him be (y 2 lendour 4bahai6, (y 0rovidence and (y (ercy, which receded the worlds. Cod has commanded that every adulterer and adulteress ay a one 4diya P blood money6 to the /ouse of Eustice. "he sum is nine mith!als of gold.M;1N 3or the second offence double the unishment. "his is what the 0ossessor of Names commanded for this world, and for the world to come a degrading unishment has been destined for them. %hoever is overcome by a sin, let him re ent and turn back to Cod. /e, indeed, forgives whom /e wills and /e is not to be !uestioned about what /e wills. /e is the 9elenting, the 0owerful, the 0raised. Beware lest raises of glory 4subuhat el:ja.lal6 hinder you from the urity of this sweet water 4Bulal hadha l:silsal6.
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"ake the bowls of ros erity on this morning in the name of the Breaker of the (orning 1awn 4fali! al:sabah6. "hen drink in remembrance of /im, the (ighty 5nventor 4al:badi6. %e have made it lawful to you to listen to 4singing6 voices and to songs. Beware lest listening take you beyond the bounds of good breeding and dignity. 9ejoice in the joy of (y Createst Name with which hearts are entranced and the minds of those brought near 4to Cod6 are attracted. %e have made 4music6 a ladder for the ascent of s irits to the highest /oriBon. 1o not make it a wing 4janah6 of the self and assion. 5 dislike that you be 4#$6 among the ignorant. %e have returned a third of all the fines to the 9esting: lace of Eustice. %e admonish its men to do absolute justice, that they s end all that has been collected by them in the way commanded by a %ise *nower. @ men of 4the /ouse6 of Eustice, be she herds of the shee of Cod in /is kingdom and kee them from the wolves who a ear in garments 4of shee 6, just as you kee your sons. "hus does the faithful +dviser advise you. 5f you differ on a matter, bring it back to Cod while the sun shines from the horiBon of this heaven. %henever it sets, go back to that which was sent down from /im.M;#N 5t is sufficient for the worlds. 2ayD @ 0eo le, be not troubled when the kingdom of (y (anifestation has disa eared and the waves of the sea of (y )7 lanation are calm. 5ndeed, in (y (anifestation there is wisdom and in (y 1isa earance there is another wisdom. No one knows this e7ce t Cod, the @mniscient, the 2olitary. %e see you from the most s lendid 4abha6 horiBon and %e assist him who rises u to ail (y &ause with the hosts of (y most e7alted 4heavenly6 beings and a tribe of angels who are brought near 4to Cod6. $ multitudes of the earth, by Cod, the "ruth, there have burst forth sweet alatable rivers from rocks which took of the sweetness of the e7 lanation of your 'ord, the &hooser, while you have been careless. 'eave 4#16 what you haveI "hen fly with the minions of 2e aration beyond, 5nnovation.M;-N "hus commands the 0ossessor of 5nvention, who by the moving of /is 0en turns worlds u side down. 1o you know from what horiBon your (ost 2 lendid 4abha6 'ord calls you L 1id you know by what 0en your 'ord, 0ossessor of the Names, commands youL NoI +nd by (y 'ife, if you had known, you would have forsaken the resent world, coming with your hearts to the side of the Beloved. "he shaking of the %ord has taken hold on you because the great world. has been shaken by it, and how 4not6 this small world L 'ikewise rains of (y generosity have fallen from the heaven of (y rovidence as a favour from (e that you may be thankful. +s for the commandments about wounds and blows, they differ just as there is a difference in the intensity 4of wounds and blows6. "he 9ewarder has ruled that for every degree there is a fi7ed fine. 5ndeed, /e is the (ighty, 0owerful 9uler. 5f %e wished %e might truly go into detail as a romise on @ur art. /e is the 'earned @ne who fulfills 4/is romises6. /os itality has been rescribed 4as an obligation6, once every month, even though it be with water only, Cod desired to bring hearts together even, if necessary, it be by the causes of heavens and, earths. Beware lest affairs of self and assion divide you. Be like the fingers of the hand and the limbs of the body. "hus does the 0en of 9evelation warn you, if you are of the believers. 'ook to the (ercy of Cod and /is benefits. /e commands you 4##6 what yet benefits you, since /e has no need of the worlds. Four evil deeds will not harm .s, just as your good deeds do not benefit .s. %e invite you only for the sake of Cod. )very knowing erson who sees bears witness to that. %hen in hunting you use
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birds of rey, make mention of Cod.M;=N "hen whatever they catch for you is lawful, even though you find it dead. 5ndeed, /e is the @mniscient, the *nower. "ake care not to be wasteful in that 4hunting6J hold to the 0ath of Eustice and )!uity in all matters. "hus does the 9ising: lace of (anifestation command you, if you are of those who know. 5ndeed, Cod has commanded you to love your relatives, but /e has not decreed. for them a right in ones ro erty.M;;N /e has no need of the worlds. %hoever burns a house intentionally, burn him. %hoever kills a erson with intent, kill him. "ake the ordinances 4sunan6 of Cod with hands of ower and might. "hen desert the ordinances of the ignorant. 5f you condemn them 4the incendiary and the murderer6 to er etual rison, you have done no harm according to the Book. 5ndeed, /e is the 9uler over what /e desires. Cod has ordained marriage 4el:nikah6 for you. Beware lest you go beyond two 4wives6, and whoever is satisfied with one of the hand:maidens, his soul is at rest and so is hers, and one does no harm in taking a virgin into his service.- 2o is the matter rescribed in truth by the 0en 4#?6 of 9evelation. (arry, @ eo le, that there may come from you 4be born of you6 those who will make mention of (e among (y creatures. "his is (y command to youJ take it as a hel for your souls. @ multitudes of &reation, do not follow your own selvesJ they command assions of e7cess and immorality. 3ollow the 0ossessor of things %ho commands righteousness and iety to you. /e is the +ll:2ufficient without the worlds. Beware lest you corru t the earth after it has been made good. %hoever corru ts is not one of us and we have nothing to do with him. 2o was the matter testified to, in truth, from the heaven of 9evelation. 5ndeed, in al:Bayan /e made the consent of the two arties the condition 4for marriage6. 2ince %e desired love and affection and the union of the creatures, %e made 4marriage6 de endent on the consent of the arents in addition to the two of them 4the bride and groom6,M;8N lest there occur rancour and hatred. +nd %e have other aims and so is the matter decided. 9elationshi by marriage is not realiBed e7ce t by 4 ayment of6 dowriesM;<N 4al:amhar, lural of mahr6. "he amount estimated for towns is nineteen mith!als of ure gold, and for villages it is 4the same amount of6 silver. %hoever desires more is forbidden to go beyond ninety:five mith!als. 2o is the matter recorded by (ight. %hoever is content with the first amount 4i.e., nineteen mithgals6, it is better for him according to the Book. /e enriches 4#=6 whomsoever /e wills by the causes of heavens and earth. Cod is owerful over everything. Cod has ordained for every man who desires to leave his country that he a oint a time to his s ouse for his return. 5f he returns and kee s his romise, he has followed the command of his (aster. /e is one of the doers of good. By the 0en of &ommand it is ordained. 5f he had a true e7cuse 4for not kee ing his romise6, he must inform his s ouse and do his utmost to return to her. 5f these two conditions are not fulfilled, she must yet delay nine full months. +fter she has com leted them, there is no harm in her choosing 4another6 husband. 5f she is atient, 4it is well, for6 /e loves atient women and atient men. 0erform (y commands and follow not every olytheist, who according to the "ablet is a sinner. 5f news comes during the time of her waiting, she must take this as a favour. 5ndeed, /e desires reconciliation between his servants and hand: maidens. Beware lest you commit what causes dissension among you. 2o is the matter decided and the
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romise was at hand. 5f news of the death or murder reaches her and it is con8rmed by common knowledge or by two u right ersons, she is to remain at home. %hen the a ointed months have assed, she may choose to do as she wishes.M;?N /e who is 2trong has commanded, thus in this matter. 5f trouble 4#;6 or dis leasure occurs between the two of them, he must not divorce her,M;,N but be atient for a whole year. 0erha s a fragrance of love may be erceived between them. +fter a year is com leted and loves erfume is not diffused, then there is no harm in divorce. /e is wise in everything. Cod. has forbidden you, as a favour from /im, what you have done following a tri le divorce, in order that you be of the thankful.M8$N 5n a "ablet it was inscribed by the 0en of &ommand, whoever divorces 4his wife6 has the choice of returning to her at the com letion of each month in 4a s irit of6 love and consent so long as she does not desire to marry 4another6. %henever she has become the wife of another, se aration has been realiBed in another way and so is the matter decided. "his ha ens unless there is an evident command. "hus was the command of the 9ising: lace of Beauty recorded in the "ablet of (ajesty with honour. 5f a difference occurs when a man travels with his wife, he must ay the e7 enses for a full year and return her to the abiding: lace from which she came or entrust her to some faithful erson and 4 rovide6 what she needs for the journey to get to her lace. "he 'ord, indeed, commands as /e wills by an authority which encom asses the worlds. 2he who is divorced because of something unworthy roved against her gets no e7 enses for the days of her waiting.M81N "hus the brilliance of the matter is seen from the horiBon of Eustice. Cod loves union and agreement and hates division 4#86 and divorce. /ave friendly relations, @ 0eo le, with joy and sweetness. By (y life, everyone in 4the realm of6 the ossible shall erish. "hat which continues is the good deed. Cod is a witness of what 5 say. @ (y creatures, make eace among yourselvesJ then listen to the counsel of the (ost )7alted 0en. 1o not follow a wretched tyrant. Beware lest the world make you conceitedM8#N as it did a eo le before you. 3ollow the sti ulations and ordinances of Cod. "hen walk in the 0ath which was laid out by the "rue @ne. "hose who cast off ini!uity and error and take hold on iety are the choice of &reation in the sight of the "rue @ne. "hey are remembered by the most e7alted Beings and the eo le of this 2tation which was raised u by the name of Cod.M8-N 5t is unlawful for you to buy or sell maid:servants and youths. @ne creature must not urchase another, since this is rohibited in the "ablet of Cod. "hus was the matter inscribed by the 0en of Eustice through Crace. No one should glory over another. +ll are slaves to /im and guides to the truth that there is no god but /e . /e is the @ne who is wise about everything. +dorn 4Bayyinu6 yourselves with the beautiful garments of 4good6 works. %hoever attains unto a good work in leasing /im is of the eo le of al:Baha 42 lendour6. /e has been remembered before the "hrone. +ssist the 0ossessor of (ankind by good works, then by %isdom and )7 lanation. "hus have you been commanded in most of the "ablets by the (erciful @ne. /e 4#<6 has knowledge of what 5 say. 'et no one o ose anotherJ nor one erson kill another. "his is what you were forbidden in a Book which was veiled in the tent of (ight.M8=N 1o you kill him whom Cod brought to life through a 2 irit from /im L "his is an error, which was great before the "hrone. 3ear Cod, and do not raBe by hands of o ression and tyranny what Cod has built. "hen take a way to "ruth. %hen the hosts of s iritual knowledge 4al:irfan6 a eared with the standards of al:Bayan 4the )7 lanation6, the hordes of religions retreated, with the e7ce tion of the one who desired to drink the river of 'ife 4kavthar al:hayewan6M8;N in 0aradise, which came into being from the breath of the 0raised @ne. Cod has comman8ed that li!uid semen is ceremonially ure.M88N "his is one of /is mercies to mankind. "hank /im with joy and sweetness and do not follow one who was far from the 9ising: lace of Nearness. +rise to the service of the &ause in all circumstances. /e aids you with an
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authority which encircles the worlds. &atch hold of the ro e of 0urity so that no traces of filth are seen on your clothes. "his is what /e has commanded, /e who is urer than all the ure. "here is no harm, however, in one who has an e7cuse 4for not being clean6. 5ndeed, /e is the (erciful, 3orgiving @ne. &leanse every unseemly thing 4makruh6M8<N with water which has not changed in three res ects. Beware of using 4#?6 water which is changed by the air or something else. Be the very element of urity among mankind. "his is what your (aster, the (ighty, the %ise @ne desired of you. "hus Cod has removed, the commandment regarding uncleanness from everything,M8?N and from other religious grou s 4milal6, a free gift from CodJ 5ndeed, /e is the Cenerous 3orgiver. +ll things were di ed in the 2ea of &leansing on the 3irst of al:9idwanM8,N when we a eared in glory to him who is in 4the realm of6 the ossible with our (ost Beautiful Names and our most high attributes. "his is of (y 3avour which encom assed the worlds. +ssociate with 4 eo le of6 other religions and ro agate the &ause of your 'ord, the (erciful. "his is certainly the crown of 4good6 deeds, if you only knew it. /e gave a command regarding the (ost Creat &leansing, and the washing of things that were soiled by dirt, how solidified filth 4is removed6, and other matters. 3ear Cod and be of the urified. "he rayers of the one who is seen with 8lth on his clothes do not ascend to Cod and the e7alted Beings avoid him. .se rose water, then ure erfume. "his is what Cod, who has no beginning, loved from the beginning. "his is in order that there might be diffused from you the odour that your 'ord, the (ighty and the %ise, desired. Cod has e7cused you from what was sent down in al:Bayan regarding the destruction of books.M<$N +nd we have ermitted you to read of the learning 4of the 5slamic doctors6 what is useful to you, but not that which results in controversy in s eech. 4#,6 "his is better for you, if you only knew it. @ assembly of kings 4al:muluk6, the 0ossessor 4al:malik6 has come and the sovereignty 4al:mulk6 belongs to Cod, the 2elf:2ubsistent @verseer. 1o not worshi anyone but Cod. "urn with your hearts full of light to the face of your 'ord, the 0ossessor of Names. "his is something une!ualled by anything you have, if you only knew. %e see you rejoicing in what you have gathered for others and de riving yourselves of the worlds which only (y 0reserved "ablet has enumerated. %ealth has distracted. you from the )nd 4maal6, "his should not be, if you only knew. &leanse your hearts of the odour 4i.e. treasures6 of the world 4dhafar al:dunya6 and hasten to the kingdom of your 'ord, (aker of earth and heaven. /e it is by whom the earth!uakes a eared and the tribes lamented, e7ce t the one that turned away from men and held on to what was ordered in the /idden "ablet. "his is a day in which the 5nterlocutor 4al:kalim6M<1N attained unto the lights of the )ternal and drank the ure water of .nion 4Balal al:wisal6 from this vessel in which the seas over8oweh. 2ayD By Cod, the "rue @ne, al:"urM<#N circumambulates the 9ising: lace of (anifestation, and the 2 iritM<-N calls from the *ingdom, . and come, $ sons of &onceitI "his is a day in which the host 4kum6 of Cod hastened because of a longing to meet /im. Qion cried, "he 0romise has comeJ that which was ordained in the "ablets of Cod, the )7alted, the (ighty, the Beloved, has a eared. 4-$6. @ assembly of kings, /e has sent down the great 'aw in the most illumined 2 ectacle. )verything concealed with the 0ossessor of 1estiny has a eared. /e is the one by whom the /our has come, the moon was s lit,M<=N and everything a ointed was given in detail.
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@ assembly of kings, you are the slaves 4al:mamalik6. "he 0ossessor has a eared in the best garment and /e calls you to /imself, the 2elf:2ubsistent @verseer. "ake care that conceit does not kee you from the 2unrise: lace of the (anifestation and. that the resent world does not hide you from the (aker of heaven. +rise to the service of the @bject of 1esire 4Cod6, who created you by a word of /is and made you manifestations of the 0ower to do what was and will be. By Cod, %e do not desire to take ossession of your kingdoms, but we have come to ossess your hearts. 5ndeed, they are the s ectacle of al:Baha 42 lendour6. "he *ingdom of Names bears witness to that, if you only understood. %hoever follows the (aster, indeed., turns away from the world entirely. %hat an honoured 2tation is thisI 'eave the housesJ come to the *ingdom. "his is what benefits you in the ne7t world and this. "he 0ossessor of (ight 4al:jabarut6 bears witness to this, if you only knew. Blessed is the king who arises to hel (y cause in (y *ingdom and cuts himself off from all but (eI /e is of the com anions of the 9ed 2hi M<;N which Cod made for the eo le 4-16 of al:Baha. )veryone must honour, esteem, and. assist him to con!uer the cities with the keys of (y Name. /e is the @verseer of all who are in the kingdoms of the .nseen and the 2een. /e is in the lace of sight for mankind, the bright gleam of dawn to the 3orehead of &reation and the /ead, of Cenerosity to the Body of the %orld. /el him, @ eo le of al:Baha, with your wealth and your ersons. @ king of +ustria 4al:namsa6, the 9ising: lace of the 'ight of .nity was in rison at +cre when thou wentest to the furthest (os!ue 4al:masjid al:a!sa6.M<8N "hou didst ass by and afterwards did not ask about /im, /e for %hom every house was raised u and every towering door was o ened. %e made it the meeting: lace 4 rayer:direction6M<<N for the world for (y remembrance, and thou didst neglect the @ne mentioned when /e a eared with the *ingdom of Cod, thy 'ord and the 'ord of the %orlds. %e were with thee in all circumstances. %e found thee clinging to the branch 4al:far6 and careless about the root 4al:asl6. "hy 'ord is a witness of what 5 say. 2orrows overtook us because %e saw thee going about @ur Name, not knowing that we are before thy face. @ en thine eyes to see this noble s ectacle, to know u on %hom thou callest night and day, and to see the light shining from this flashing horiBon. 2ayD @ king of Berlin,M<?N hear the call from this cons icuous "em le, "here is no god besides (e, the &ontinuing, the .ni!ue, the )ternal @ne. Beware lest conceit kee thee from the 9ising: lace 4-#6 of (anifestation and assion screen thee from the 0ossessor of the "hrone and the )arth. 5n like manner the (ost /igh 0en counsels thee. 5ndeed, /e is the Cenerous, the Cracious Civer. 9ememberM<,N the one who was greater than thee in dignity and more e7alted in ositionI %here is he and his ossessionsL +wakeI Be not of those who slee . /e flung the "ablet of Cod behind him when %e informed him of what the hosts of evil:doers had brought on .s. "herefore humiliation took hold on him from every side until he returned with great loss to the dust. @ king, think of him and others like thee who subdued the lands 4al:bilad6 and ruled, over creatures 4al:ibad6. "he (erciful brought them down from alaces to graves. &onsider and be one of those who remember. %e desire nothing from you, $ assembly of 2ultans. %e counsel you only for the sake of Cod and we are atient as we were atient about that which came to us from you. @ kings of +merica and chiefs of the multitude in it, hear what the 1ove on the branches of &ontinuing )ternity warbles, saying, "here is no god besides (e, the &ontinuing, the 3orgiving, the Cenerous. +dorn the tem le 4body6 of the *ingdom with the garment of Eustice and 0iety and its head with the crown of the 9emembrance of your 'ord, the (aker of /eaven. "hus does the
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9ising: lace of Names command you by a %ise *nower. "he 0romised @ne has been manifested in the noble 2tation at which 4--6 smiled the li s of )7istence at the .nseen and 2een. 'ay hold on the 1ay of Cod. 5ndeed, meeting /im is better for you than all that the sun rises on, if you only knew. @ assembly of rinces, hear the sound that arose from the 9ising: lace of CrandeurD "here is no god besides (e, the *nower, the 2 eaker. "hat which is broken restore with hands of Eustice and that which is sound and evil break with whi s of the commands of your 'ord, the %ise, the &ommanding @ne. @ assembly of ByBantium 4al:rum6,M?$N %e hear among you the voice of the owl 4al:bum6, /as drunkenness of assion overtaken you or are you of the careless onesL @ 0oint situated on the shore of the two seas, the throne of wickedness has settled on thee and the are of hatred has been lighted in thee. Because of this, the e7alted Beings 4angels6 lament, and so do those who go about an )7alted "hrone. 5n thee we see the ignorant ruling the intelligent and darkness boasting over light. "hou art 4filled6 with evident conceitJ has thy outward adornment made thee conceited L 5t will soon erishI By the 'ord of mankind, the daughters and widows and, the hordes within thee shall lament. "hus does the @mniscient, the *nower announce to thee. @ banks of the river 9hine, we have seen thee covered with blood because the swords of retribution have been drawn against thee. "hou hast another chance. %e hear the moaning of Berlin even though to:day it is in evident might. @ land of al:"a 4"eheran6, do not be sorrowful for anything. Cod. has made thee 4-=6 the 9ising: lace of the Eoy of the worlds. 5f /e %ills, /e will bless thy throne through him who ruled with justice and gathers the shee of Cod which have been scattered by wolves. /e looks u on the eo le of al:Baha with joy and gladness. /e is of the substance of &reation in the resence of the "rue @neI @n him is the 2 lendour of Cod 4Bahaullah6 and the 2 lendour 4baha6 of /im who is in the *ingdom of the &ause continually. 9ejoice thou in that Cod. has made thee the /oriBon of 'ight since the 9ising: lace of (anifestation was born in thee M?1N and thou art called by this Name, by which the 'ighting of 3avour shone and the heavens and earths are illumined. "hings shall be overturned in thee and the multitude 4jumhur6M?#N of eo le shall rule thee. 5ndeed, thy 'ord is the )ncom assing @ne, the *nower. Be tran!uil through the grace of thy 'ord. "he moments of benefits shall not be cut off from thee. +fter trouble tran!uility shall take hold of thee. "hus is the matter decided in a new book. @ land of al:*ha 4*hurasan6, %e hear in thee the voice of men remembering their 'ord, the )7alted, the 2elf:2ufficient. Blessed be the day in which the standards of Names shall be set u in the *ingdom of &reation in (y (ost 2 lendid NameI @n that day the sincere shall rejoice in the trium h of Cod and. the olytheists shall lament. No one shall turn his back on those who bear rule over creatures. 'eave to them what they have and look to your own hearts. 4-;6 @ most great 2ea, s rinkle on the nations that which thou wast commanded by the 0ossessor of )ternity, and adorn the tem les 4bodies6 of mankind with the garment of commandments by which hearts rejoice and eyes are refreshed. 5f anyone ossesses a hundred mith!als M?-N of gold, nineteen mith!als of them are for Cod, the (aker of earth and heaven. Beware, @ eo le, lest you deny yourselves this great favour. %e have commanded you to do this although %e can do without you and without all who are in the heavens and the earths. 5n that, there are wise and useful things of which no one has ac!uired knowledge e7ce t Cod, the @mniscient, the *nower. 2ayD By that command Cod desired the urification of your wealth and. your drawing near to those
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stations which are only attained by those whom Cod wills. 5ndeed, /e is the Cenerous, +lmighty Civer of Crace. @ 0eo le, do not be dishonest in the duties owed to CodJ do not s end 4Cods money6 e7ce t by /is ermission.M?=N "hus is the matter decided in the "ablets and. in this 0owerful "ablet. %hoever cheats Cod is cheated by Eustice, but when one does what he is commanded there descends u on him a b1essing from the heaven of giving, from his 'ord, the Bountiful, the Civer, the )ternal Bestower. /e desires for you that which you do not know to:day. "he 0eo le shall know it whenever s irits soar and the rich car ets of joy are folded u . "hus does he who has a 0reserved "ablet M?;N remind you. 4-86 Aarious etitions have been resented before the "hrone by those who believe, who asked !uestions in them of Cod., the 'ord of the 2een and the .nseen, the 'ord of the %orlds. "herefore we sent down the "ablet and adorned it with the garment of &ommand. M?8N 0erha s the eo le will act in accordance with the commandments of their 'ord. 5n like manner %e have been !uestioned reviously for many successive years and %e restrained the 0en through %isdom on our art. 3inally, letters came from numerous ersons in these days. 2o %e are answering them in truth with that which revives the hearts. 2ayD @ assembly of learned. (en,M?<N do not weigh the Book of Cod according to the 4grammatical6 rules and learning which you have. 5t is the Balance of "ruth for 4all6 &reation.M??N "hat which the nations have may be weighed by this Creat BalanceJ it is of 5tself, if you only knew, "he eye of (y rovidential care wee s over you because you know not /im u on whom you call at night and dawn and at every evening and morning. @ 0eo le, direct your ste s with white faces and hearts full of light towards the Blessed 9ed. 2 ot where the 'ote "ree of the )7tremity 4sidratu l:muntaha6 calls,M?,N "here is no god. besides (e, the 2elf:2ubsistent @verseer. @ assembly of learned men 4al:ulama6, is anyone of you able to com ete with (e in the field of 9evelation and 2 iritual *nowledge and go about with (e in the arena of %isdom and )7 lanationL NoI By (y (erciful 'ord, every one on the earth 4-<6 is mortal and this is the face of your 'ord, the (ighty @ne, the Beloved. @ 0eo le, %e, indeed, have a ointed the 4branches of6 learning for the s iritual knowledge of the *nown 4Cod6. But you have remained veiled by them from their source, /im by whom every hidden thing a ears. 5f you only knew the /oriBon from which the 2un of 2 eech arose, you would cast away eo le and what they have and would come to the 0raised 2tation. 2ayD "his is certainly a heaven in which is treasured the @riginal Book 4ummu lkitab6.M,$N 5f you only understoodI 5ndeed, this is /e by whom the 9ock cried out and. the 'ote "ree roclaimed on the lofty (ountain 4al:"ur6M,1N on the blessed landD "he sovereignty belongs to Cod, the (ighty @ne, the Beloved *ing. %e have not entered schools. %e have not erused the arguments. /ear that by which this 5lliterate @ne 4al:ummi6 M,#N calls you to Cod, the )verlasting. 5t is better for you than what has been treasured in the earth. 5f you only understoodI %hoever inter rets what has been sent from the heaven of 9evelation by taking it away from the evident meaning is one of those who have tam ered with the highest %ord of Cod and have suffered loss according to the 0ers icuous Book. "here are ordained for you the aring of nails, the getting into water that covers your whole body every week, and the cleansing of your bodies with what you have used. reviously,M,-N Beware lest
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your carelessness revent you from doing what you have been commanded to do by a Creat and (ighty @ne. )nter into water that has not been used, 4-?6 and it is not ermissible to get into what has already been used. "ake care not to a roach the bath:houses of the 5ranians 4al:ajam6. %hoever goes towards them discovers their stinking odour even before entering them. @ 0eo le, avoid them and be not of the ignominious. 5t is like us and urulent matter, if you are among those who know, +lso their stinking water:tanks, leave them alone and be of the ure ones. %e desired to see you as manifestations of 0aradise on earth, that there might diffuse from you that by which the hearts of those brought near 4to Cod6 are rejoiced. 5t is better for one who washes his body to our water over him instead of his getting into it.M,=N 5ndeed, /e desired to make matters easy for you because of /is favour, in order that you might be of the thankful. "he wives of your fathers are unlawful to you. %e are ashamed to mention the commandments regarding boys 4 ederasty6. 3ear the (erciful @ne, @ (ultitudes of the 4realm of the6 ossible, and do not commit what is forbidden in the "ablet. Be not of those who are bewildered in the desert of lusts. @ne should, not be moving his tongue before eo le as he walks on the streets and in the markets. %hoever desires to make mention of Cod should do so in the laces built for remembrance of Cod or in his own house. "his is much nearer to sincerity and iety. 4-,6 "hus has the 2un of %isdom risen from the horiBon of the )7 lanation 4al:Bayan6. Blessed are those who do 4these things6. "he writing of a will has been made incumbent on everyone. 45n writing his will6 one must adorn the to of the age with the (ost Creat Name and confess his faith in the .nity of Cod, in the + earance of /is (anifestation,M,;N and mention whatever of good he wants 4to remember6 in order that he may bear witness to /im in the worlds of &ommand and &reation. "hus he will have a treasure with his 'ord, the 3aithful *ee er. "he festivals are limited to two great feasts. "he first M,8N is the days in which the (erciful was revealed to those 4in the realm6 of the 0ossible by /is most beautiful Names and /is highest +ttributes. "he other M,<N 4feast6 is the day on which %e sent /im who should tell the eo le the Cood News of this Name by which the dead are raised and those who are in the heavens and earths are assembled.M,?N "he other two 4feasts6 are observed for two days.M,,N "hus was the matter decided by a %ise &ommander. Blessed is the one who attained unto the first day of the month of a,l:Baha M1$$N on which Cod ut this (ost Creat NameI Blessed is the one who on that day manifested the favour of Cod to himI By his action he manifests thanks to Cod, an indication of /is favour which encom asses the worlds.M1$1N 2ayD 5t is the source and beginning of the months,M1$#N and in it moves the breath of life among the ossible 4things6. Blessed is the one who a rehends it with joy and sweetness. %e bear witness that he is among those who attained. 2ayD 4=$6 "he greatest feast is the *ing 42ultan6 of the 3easts. @ 0eo le, remember the favour of Cod to you when you were aslee . /e aroused you with the breeBes of 9evelation and made known to you /is clear and straight %ay. 5f you become ill, consult the skilful ones of the hysicians. 5ndeed, we have not set aside the means 4of healing6 but have rather established them by this 0en, which Cod has made the 9ising: lace of /is 2hining, 5lluminating &ause. Cod has ordained that every erson a ear before the "hrone bringing his most riceless ossessions, but %e have e7em ted you from this as a favour from /im. /e, indeed, is the Cenerous Civer. Blessed is the one who faces the 2unrise: lace of 9emembrance M1$-N 4mashri! al: adhkar6 in the early mornings, mentioning 4the name of Cod6, remembering, and, asking
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forgivenessI %henever he enters, he sits !uietly in order to listen to the verses of Cod, the (ighty @ne, the 0raiseworthy *ing. 2ayD "he 2unrise: lace of 9emembrance is every house built for (y remembrance in cities and villages. "hus has it been named before the "hrone, if you are of those who know. "hose who recite the verses of the (erciful in the best tones com rehend from them that which the *ingdom of the 2overeignty of the heavens and. the earths does not e!ual. By them they find the odour of (y worlds which is only known today by the one who has been given sight of the Noble 2 ectacle. 2ayD "hey 4=16 attract the ure hearts to the s iritual worlds which are beyond definition either by overt e7 ression or even by gesture. Blessed are those who hearI /el , @ 0eo le, (y ure ones who ersevered in remembering (e in the midst of (y &reation and in e7alting (y %ord in (y *ingdom. "hose are the stars of the heaven of (y rovidence and the lam s of (y guidance to all creatures. /e who s eaks other than that sent down in (y "ablets is not one of (ine. Beware lest you follow every evil claimant. "he "ablets have been adorned. with the garment of the 2eal of the Breaker of 1awns %ho s eaks between the heavens and, the earths. /old. fast to the 5ndissoluble Bond 4bil:urwa al:wuth!a6 and the ro e of (y firm and strong &ommand Cod has ermitted those who so desire to learn different languages that they may ro agate the &ause of Cod and tell of it in the east and west of the earth, and make mention of it among the states and religious grou s.M1$=N "his is done in a way that hearts may be drawn thereby and every decayed bone revived. "he rational erson does not drink that which takes away his reason. /e should do what is incumbent on man and not that which every careless doubtful erson commits. +dorn your heads with the crown of faithfulness and integrity, your hearts with the cloak of iety, your tongues with true veracity and your tem les 4bodies6 with the garment of good breeding. +ll this is the natural dis osition of man, 4=#6 if you were only of those who have insight. @ 0eo le of al:Baha, hold fast to the ro e of servitude to Cod, the "ruthJ by so doing your 2tations are made manifest, your names are enrolled, and your ranks and remembrance in the 0reserved "ablet are e7alted. Beware lest someone on earth kee you from this strong, e7alted station. %e have recommended this to you in most of the "ablets, and in this "ablet, from the horiBon of which flashed the light of the commandments of your 'ord, the 0owerful, the %ise. %hen the 2ea of .nion 4with (e6 is dried u and the Book of Beginning is finished in the )nd, then turn to the one whom Cod desires, the one who is a Branch from the ancient 9oot.M1$;N 'ook at the eo le and their little:mindedness. "hey ask for what injures them and forsake that which benefits them. 5ndeed, they are bewilderedI %e see some eo le who desired freedom boasting of it. "hey are in manifest ignorance. "he conse!uences of freedom end in sedition, the fire of which is un!uenchable. "hus informs you the 'earned 9eckoner. *now that the lace where freedom arises and makes its a earance is life. But man must be under regulations which reserve him from ignorance of himself and, the harm of the crafty ones. 3reedom leads a man away from things of good breeding and sobriety and. makes him one of the basest 4creatures6. 'ook at 4=-6 mankindJ they are like shee , they must have a she herd to kee them. "his fact is certain. %e believe in freedom in some situations and not in othersJ we are of those who know. 2ayD 3reedom is in following (y commands, if you only knew it. 5f eo le were to follow what %e have sent down to them from the heaven of 9evelation, they, would most certainly find themselves in absolute freedom.
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Blessed is the one who knew the desire of Cod in what /e sent down from the heaven of /is will which su ervises the worldsI 2ayD "he freedom which benefits you is servitude to Cod, the "rue @ne, and. whoever has found this sweetness of freedom will not e7change it for the kingdom of sovereignty of the heavens and the earths. 5n al:Bayan it was forbidden you to ask. Cod has e7em ts you from this commandment that you may ask what your souls need, not what men before you s oke. 3ear Cod and be among the ious. +sk for what will benefit you, in the &ause and. +uthority of Cod. /e has o ened the door of Crace to those who are in the heavens and earths. "he number of months is nineteen according to the Book of CodJ the first was adorned with this Name, the @verseer of the %orlds.M1$8N Cod has commanded that the dead be buried in 4coffins of6 crystal or rare stones or beautiful hard woods, 4==6 and that engraved rings be laced on their fingers.M1$<N 5ndeed, /e is the *nower, the 0re:determiner. "his 4inscri tion6 was ordained for men, "o Cod belongs what is in the heavens and the earth and what is between them. Cod knows everything. "his was ordained for women, M1$?N "o Cod belongs the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth and what is between them. Cod is owerful over everything. "his is what was sent down reviously, when the 0oint of al:Bayan cried saying, @ Beloved of the %or1d of the 0ossible, s eak in this situation that by which the breeBes of "hy benefits are diffused among the worlds. %e have informed everybody that what was brought down in al:Bayan does not e!ual a word from "hee.M1$,N "hou art the 0owerful over what "hou willest. 1o not de rive "hy creatures of the abundance of the 2ea of "hy (ercy. "hou, indeed, art the 0ossessor of Creat Crace. %e have answered what /e desired. 5ndeed, /e is the +nswering @ne, the Beloved. 5f what was sent down at this time from Cod were engraved 4on the rings6, it would be better for the men and the women. %e are the rulers. 5 had my origin in Cod and 5 returned to /imJ 5 am se arated from all but /im, and 5 hold fast to /is Name, the (erciful, the &om assionate, M11$N "hus does Cod assign es ecial Crace from /im to whom /e wills. /e is the 0owerful, the (ighty @ne. +nd 4Cod commanded. that6 you wra 4the dead body6 in five garments of silk or cotton. %hoever is unable to do this, one of them will be sufficient for him. "hus was the matter decided by an @mniscient, who knows. 5t is unlawful 4=;6 for you to carry the dead body farther than the distance of an hour from the city. Bury him with joy and sweetness in a nearby lace. Cod has withdrawn that which al:Beyan commanded about limiting journeys.M111N /e is, indeed, the &hooserJ /e does what /e wills and. commands what /e desires. @ multitude of &reation, hear the call of the 0ossessor of Names. /e calls you from the direction of /is (ost Creat 0rison, saying, "here is no god besides (e, the 0owerful, the 0roud, the 2coffer, the )7alted, the *nower, the %ise. "here is no god besides /im, the 0owerful over the %orlds. 5f /e so willed, /e might take the world by a word from /im. "ake care not to delay in this &ause to which the (ost /igh Beings and the eo les of the cities of the Names submitted. 0ear Cod and be not of the veiled ones. Burn the veils with the fire of (y love and the curtains with this Name by which we con!uered the worlds. 9aise u the two houses in:the two laces,M11#N and. 4also6 in other laces where the "hrone of your 'ord, the (erciful, was settled. "hus commands you the 'ord of those who know.
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"ake care that the affairs of the earth hinder you not from that which you were commanded by a 3aithful, 2trong @ne Be manifestations of u rightness in the midst of mankind so that the doubts of those who do not believe in Cod will not hinder you when /e has a eared with Creat +uthority 4=86. "ake care that what was sent down in the Book does not kee you away from this Book which s eaks in truth, saying, "here is no god besides (e, the 0owerful, the 0raiseworthy. 'ook with the eye of e!uity at the @ne M11-N who came from the /eaven of %ill and (ight. Be not of the wicked ones. "hen remember what ha ened through the en of /im who told the Cood News of me in mentioning this (anifestation M11=N and what the rebels 4against Cod6 committed in his day. 5ndeed, they are among the heaviest losersI /e said, 5f you com rehend what %e manifest in you, you will ask from the Crace of Cod that /e bestow on you the favour of making /is abode in your secret hearts. /e is .nattainable, .na roachable 0ower. 3or /im to drink a cu of water with you is greater than that every one drink the water of /is e7istence, nay rather of everything. 5f, @ creatures of (ine, you would com rehendI "his is what was sent down from /im as a remembrance of (yself, if you only knew. %hoever thinks on these verses and is informed of what is concealed in them of treasured earls, by Cod, he will erceive the odour of the (erciful from the direction of the 0rison.M11;N +nd. he will hasten with all his heart to /im with a longing which the hosts of the heavens and the worlds can not hold. back. 2ayD 0roof and 1emonstration encom ass this (anifestation. "hus did the (erciful send it down P if you are of the fair:minded. 4=<6 2ayD "his is the s irit of the books. %ith it /e has breathed in the /ighest 0en and those who are of creation 4i.e., all creatures6 fainted e7ce t the one on whom the odour of (y (ercy and the erfume of (y benefits, which su ervise the worlds, took hold. @ multitude of al:Bayan, fear the (erciful @ne, then see what /e sent down in another lace. M118N /e said, 5ndeed, the %orshi :1irection 4al:!able6 is /e whom Cod manifests and wherever /e turns, it turns till /e is settled. M11<N "hus was it sent down from the 0ossessor of 1estiny, when /e desired to mention this greatest 2 ectacle.M11?N "hink, 0eo le, be not of the bewildered onesI 5f you were to deny /im by your assions to what 0rayer:1irection would you turn your faces, $ assembly of the carelessI "hink on this verse, then be fair to Cod. 0erha s you will find earls of mysteries in the sea, the waves of which swell by (y (ighty, .na roachable Name. @ne needs to:day to hold only to what has been manifested in the (anifestation. "his is the commandment of Cod both before and. afterwards, and by it the books of the ancients were adorned.. "his is the remembrance of Cod both before and afterwardsJ and by it the reface of the Book of )7istence has been embellished., if you are of those who erceiveI "his is the order of Cod both before and. afterwards. "ake care that you are not of the contem tible. Nothing avails you to:day and no one has a refuge other than Cod, the %ise, the *nower. %hoever knows (e, knows the 1esired. @ne. 4=?6 %hoever turns his face to (e, turns his face to /im who is %orshi ed. "hus has it been told in detail in the Book and thus decided by Cod, the 'ord of the %orlds. 5t is better for a erson to read one of my verses than for him to read the books of the ancients and. the moderns. "his is the )7 lanation 4al:Bayan6 of the (erciful, if you are of those who listen. 2ayD "his is the truth of what can be known, if you were of those who know .."hen look at what was sent down in another lace and erha s you will leave what you have and come to Cod, the 'ord of the %orlds. /e 2aidD Eoining together 4al:i!tiran6 is not lawful unless it is in al:Bayan.M11,N +nd if one 4not of al:Bayan6 enters 4into marriage with a Babi6 the ro erties belonging to the other 4the Babi6 become unlawful for him unless he returns. "his 4will go into effect6 after the rising u of the &ause of @ne whom %e manifest in truth, or what has been manifested in justice. "hat has been
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acce ted. 2o then come near, erha s you may raise u in this way the &ause of Cod. M1#$N "hus did the dove warble on the branches, mentioning her 'ord, the (erciful. Blessed are those who hearI $ (ultitudes of al:Bayan, 5 adjure you by your 'ord, the (erciful, to look with the eye of e!uity at what has been sent down in "ruth and be not of those who see the roof of Cod and deny it. "hey are, indeed, of those who erishI "he 0oint 4nu!te6 M1#1Nof al:Bayan has e7 lained 4the matter6 in this verse by e7alting (y &ause above his &ause. )very knowing erson of e!uity bears witness to that 4=,6 as you see to:day. 5t is e7alted in such a way that no one may deny it e7ce t those whose eyes were into7icated in this world, and in the other world they will have a severe unishment. 2ayD By Cod, 5 am indeed his Beloved.M1##N Now he hears what was sent down from the heaven of 9evelation and he laments what you committed in his days. 3ear Cod, be not of the transgressors. 2ayD @ 0eo le, even if you never believe on /im, do not find fault with /im. By Cod, the hosts of evil men who gathered against /im are sufficient.M1#-N /e has sent down some commandments in order that the (ost /igh 0en may not move in this (anifestation e7ce t at the remembrance of /is (ost /igh 2tations and his )7alted 2 ectacle. M1#=N 5ndeed, when %e desired grace 4for you6, %e truly e7 lained these things in detail, and %e made easy for you what %e desired. 5ndeed, /e is the Cenerous, the (unificent. /e informed you reviously what this %ise 9emembrance said.M1#;N /e s oke and /is %ord is true. 5ndeed /e s eaks in every condition, saying,M1#8N "here is no god. besides (e, the .ni!ue, the @ne, the @mniscient, who knows. Cod has made this 2 ecial 2tation for this .na roachable, )7traordinary (anifestation. "his is of the Crace of Cod., if you were among those who know. "his is of /is confirmed command and of /is greatest Name, and of /is most e7alted %ord and the 9ising: lace of /is beautiful Names P were you 4;$6 of those who know. 9ather by /im the 9ising: laces and the 2unrise: laces are made manifest. "hink, @ 0eo le, on what was sent down with "ruth and reflect on the results of it, and certainly be not of the transgressors. +ssociate with those of other religions with joy and, sweetness, that they may find in you the odour of the (erciful. "ake care that the fanaticism of the 1ays of 5gnorance 4al:jahiliyya6 M1#<N among mankind does not take hold on you. )verything has its beginning in Cod and returns to /im. /e is, indeed, the &reator of &reation and the 0lace of 9eturn for the %orlds. "ake care not to enter a house when its owner is absent, unless 4you have6 his ermission. 0ersist in doing good on all occasions, and be not of the careless ones. 5t has been ordained for you that you make ure 4lawful6 your food and other things by aying the oor:rate.M1#?N "his is what /e who sent down the verses commanded in this 5naccessible 0archment. %e shall tell you in detail of the ro erty on which the oor:rate is aid when Cod wills and desires. /e willed to detail what /e wishes by a knowledge which /e has. /e is the %ise and the *nower. 5t is not ermissible to beg, and when one is asked 4for money6, it is forbidden for him to give. 5t has been ordained that every one earn his living, %hoever is unable to do so, let the guardians and the rich a oint for him what is sufficient. 0erform the sti ulations and ordinances of Cod. "hen kee them as you kee your eyes, and be not among the losers. 5n the Book M1#,N you have been forbidden 4;16 things like !uarrelling 4al:jidal6, dis uting 4cl: niBa6, and striking 4al:darb6, and such like things which cause sorrows to hearts and souls.
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%hoever causes someone sorrow must give nineteen mith!als of gold. "his is what the (aster of the %orlds commanded. /e has e7em ted you from this in this (anifestation. /e e7horts you to righteousness and iety, a command from /im in this illumined "ablet. 1o not a rove for another what you do not a rove for yourselves.M1-$N 3ear Cod and certainly do not be among the roud. +ll of you were created from water and you will return to the earth. "hink u on your latter endJ be not of the wicked. 'isten to what the 'ote "ree M1-1N recites to you of the verses of Cod. "hey 4the verses6 are, indeed, the Balance of Cuidance from Cod, 'ord of the other %orld and this %orld. By them souls soar to the 9ising: lace of 9evelation and the hearts of those who come are enlightened. "hese are the sti ulations of Cod, which have been made obligatory for you, and these are the commands of Cod by which you were commanded in the "ablet. 1o them with joy and sweetness. "his is better for you, if you are of the knowing ones. 9ecite the verses of Cod every morning and evening. %hoever does not recite does not fulfill the covenant and bond of Cod. %hoever turns back from them today is of those who turn back from Cod in the eternity of ast eternities. 3ear Cod, 4;#6 all ye (y creatures, all of you togetherI 'et not the multitude of readings and acts of worshi night and. day M1-#N make you conceited. %ere one to read one of the verses with joy and sweetness, it were better for him than if he recite laBily the volumes of Cod, the @verseer, the 2elf:2ubsistent @ne. 9ecite the verses of Cod to such a degree that you are not overtaken by lassitude and. sorrows. 1o not weigh down s irits with what causes them lassitude and heaviness, but ut u on them that which lightens them so that they soar with the wings of the verses to the 9ising: lace of the e7 lanations. "his is nearer to Cod, if you were only wise. "each your offs ring that which was sent down from the heaven of greatness and ower so that they read the "ablets of the (erciful with the best tones in the rooms constructed. 4for that ur ose6 in the (askari! 4 lu.6 al:ddhkar.M1--N 5ndeed, the one on whom the attraction of the love of (y Name, the (erciful, takes hold reads the verses of Cod in such a way that the hearts of those who slee are attracted. Cood health to him who drinks the strong %ine of 'ife 4rahi! al:hayawan6 from the )7 lanation 4Bayan6 of his 'ord, the (erciful, in this Name by which every lofty elevated, mountain is ulled downI 5t was ordained for you to renew your house:furnishings after the e7 iration of nineteen years. "hus was the matter decided by an @mniscient *nower.M1-=N /e desired to cleanse you and what is yours. 3ear Cod 4;?6 and. do not be careless. Cod will e7em t him who is unable to do this. 5ndeed, /e is the Cenerous 0ardoner. %ash your feet every day in summer, and in winter once every three Bays. %hoever becomes angry with you, meet him with gentleness. %hoever does evil to you, do not do evil to him. 'eave him to himself and de end, on Cod, the +venger, the Eust, the 0owerful. Fou have been rohibited from mounting into ul its. %hoever desires to recite the verses of his 'ord to you, let him sit on a seat laced on a latform and mention 4the name of6 Cod, his 'ord and the 'ord of the worlds. Cod likes you to sit on latforms and. seats M1-;N because of the greatness of what you have of the love of Cod and. the 9ising: lace of /is 2hining, Brilliant &ause. Cambling and o ium are forbidden to you. @ assembly of &reation, avoid them. Be not of those who transgress. "ake care not to use what roduces lassitude in your tem les M1-8N and injures your bodies. %e only desire for you, what benefits you. +ll things testify to that, if you would, only listen. %henever you are invited to feasts and ban!uets, res ond with joy and gladness, and whoever
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kee s his romise is secure from threats. "his is a day in which every wise command has been e7 lained in detail. "here has been manifested the (ystery 4;=6 of @verturning for the enigma of the &hief. Blessed is the one whom Cod ailed to acknowledge the si7 who were raised u by this u right +lif.M1-<N "hey are, indeed, of the sincere. /ow many a ious man has turned away 4from Cod6 and how many a forsaker has come and said, "o "hee be the raise, $ 1esire of the %orldsI "he matter is in the hand of CodJ /e gives to whom /e wills what /e wills and /e kee s back from whom /e wills what /e desires. /e knows the secrets of the hearts and that by which the eyes of those who wink are moved. /ow many a careless one who came with sincerity %e set down on the throne of welcomeI /ow many an intelligent erson %e returned to the 3ire because of justice on @ur artI %e are the 9ulers. 5t is the 0lace of the (anifestation of Cod. 1oes %hat /e %ills , and. /e who sits on the "hrone commands what /e desires. Blessed is the one who has found the scent of the meanings in the trace of this 0enI %henever it moves, the breeBe of Cod diffuses its erfume in everything else and whenever it sto s, the e7istence of tran!uility a ears in the 4realm of6 ossibilityJ )7alted is the (erciful %ho is the 9evealer of this Creat Crace. 2ayD "he enduring of injustice made justice to a ear in what is other than Cod, and the acce tance of abasement caused the (ajesty of Cod to shine among the worlds. 5t is unlawful for you to carry arms e7ce t in time of necessity. "he wearing of silk is made ermissible for you.M1-?N Cod has lifted from you the commandment restricting 4;;6 clothing and beards, as favour from /im. /e is, indeed, the *nower, the &ommander. 1o what the u right minds do not disa rove of and do not make yourselves the laything 4laughing:stock6 of the ignorant. Blessed is the one who is adorned with the garment of good breeding and conductI /e is among those who hel the 'ord with clear and. evident action. Build dwellings and cities of Cod, then remember /im in them with songs of those who are near 4to Cod6. /earts are built u only by the tongue, just as houses and dwellings are built by hands and other means. 3or everything %e have decreed a means from usJ lay hold on this and de end on the @mniscient, %ise @ne. Blessed is the one who acknowledges Cod and /is wonders, and who confesses that /e is not to be asked about what /e does. "his is a %ord M1-,N which Cod has made the adornment and the basis for /is articles of belief, and by this %ord the deed of the doers is received. 0ut this %ord before your eyes lest the suggestions of those who turn away 4from Cod6 cause you to stumble. 5f Cod should make lawful what was forbidden in the eternity of ast eternities, or vice versa, no one should find fault with /im. %hoever auses less than a moment is of those who show hostility. "he one who does not attain unto this lofty rinci le and this most high 2tation is moved by the winds of doubt and the statements of the olytheists u set him. %hoever has attained 4;86 unto this rinci le has attained unto the greatest u rightness. Aery good indeed is this most s lendid 2tation by the remembrance of which every inaccessible "ablet is adorned. "hus Cod, teaches you what will deliver you from doubt and er le7ity and save you in this world and that which is to come. /e is the Cenerous 3orgiver. 5t is /e who sent the (essengers and sent down the Books since, "here is no god besides (e, the 0owerful, the %ise. @ land of al:kaf 4*6 and al:ra 496, %e see thee in a condition which Cod does not like, and %e see in thee that of which no one is informed e7ce t Cod, the @mniscient, the *nower.M1=$N %e ascertain what occurs in thee in the moat secret laces, for %e have knowledge of everything in the 0ers icuous "ablet. 1o not grieve because of what ha ened. Cod will manifest in thee ossessors
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of strong courage who will remember (e with u rightness. "he allusions of the learned men 4al:ulama6 M1=1N will not hinder them nor the sus icions of the doubters veil them. "hose will see Cod with their eyes and. hel /im with their ersons. "ruly they are of the firmly established. @ assembly of the learned men, when the verses came down and clear roofs were manifested %e saw you behind the veils. "his is none other than a wonderful thing. Fou gloried in (y Name but were careless about (yself when the (erciful came with reason and roof. %e tore off the veilsJ take care that you 4;<6 do not hide eo le with another veil. Break in ieces the chains of illusions 4al:awham,6 in the name of the 0ossessor of (ankind 4al:anam6, and be not of the deceivers. %henever you a roach Cod and enter into this &ause, do not act corru tly in it. 1o not measure the Book of Cod by your vain assions. "his is the counsel of Cod before and afterwards. Cods martyrs and. men of sincerity bear witness to that. %e are all witnesses to /im. 9emember the 1octor 4al:shaykh6 who was called (uhammad Gabl /asan. /e was one of the most learned of the learned men of his age. %hen the "rue @ne was manifested he turned away from /im, he and those like him, but he who winnows the wheat and, the barley came to Cod. "he 1octor wrote,M1=#N so he claimed, the commandments of Cod by night and day, but when the &hosen @ne came, not a letter of them was of benefit to him. /ad there been benefit to him, he would not have turned away from a 3ace by which the faces of those brought near 4to Cod6 were illumined. 5f you have believed on Cod at the time of /is (anifestation, the eo le would not have turned away from /im, and what you see to:day would not have befallen .s. 3ear Cod and be not of the careless.M1=-N "ake care that the names do not kee you away from their 0ossessor or a remembrance veil you from the %ise 9emembrance. @ assembly of the learned men, take refuge in Cod. 1o not make yourselves a veil between (e and (y &reation. "hus Cod warns you and commands you 4;?6 with justice, lest your acts 4of worshi 6 be of no avail while you are careless. 5s the one who turns away from this &ause able to establish truth in 5nnovation 4al:ibda6L No, by the 0ossessor of 5nventionI But eo le are behind a manifest veil. 2ayD By /im the 2un of 9eason shone, and the 'ighting of 0roof /ashed on all who were in the 4realm of the6 0ossible. 3ear Cod., @ ossessors of sight, and do not deny 4(e6. "ake care that the remembrance of the 0ro het does not kee you from this great ro hecy, and this guardianshi from the guardianshi of Cod which su ervises the worlds. /e has created. every Name by /is %ord and has attached every cause to /is &onfirmed, 0owerful, and )7traordinary &ause. 2ayD "his is the 1ay of Cod, and nothing shall be remembered in it but /is erson which oversees the %orlds. %hatever illusions and. idols you have were troubled by this &ause. %e see among you one who takes the Book and roves Cod from it just as each religion has roved Cod from its own book, Cod the @verseer, the 2elf:2ubsistent @ne. 2ayD By Cod, the "rue @ne, the books of the world and the volumes that are in it will not suffice you today e7ce t this Book, which s eaks in the +7is 4!utb6 M1==N of 5nnovation, saying, "here is no god besides (e, the %ise, the *nower. @ assembly of the learned men, 4;,6 take care that you are not the cause of disagreement in various laces as you were the cause of turning away 4from Cod6 at the beginning. Cet the eo le to agree together on this %ord 4al:kalima6 with which the stones cry out, 2overeignty belongs to CodJ the 9ising: lace of the 2igns. "hus does Cod warn you because of a Crace on /is art. /e is, indeed, the Cenerous 3orgiver.
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9emember *arim M1=;N when %e called him to Cod. 5ndeed, he magnified himself in that he followed his vain assion. "his was after %e sent to him that by which the eye of roof is made bright in the 4realm of6 ossibility and Cods demonstration was erfected for all in the heavens and the earths.M1=8N %e commanded him to come 4to Cod6 as a Crace from the )7alted 2elf:2ufficient @ne. 5ndeed, he has turned back, fleeing PM1=<Nuntil the angels of divine torment overtook him through a justice from Cod. %e are witnesses. "ear off the veils that the eo le of the *ingdom may hear the sound of their being torn. "his is the command of Cod from before and afterwards. Blessed is the one who did as he was commanded, and woe to those who fail to do. %e desired nothing in 2overeignty 4al:mulk6 e7ce t the manifestation of Cod and. /is authority, and for (e Cod suffices as a %itness. %e desired nothing in the *ingdom 4al:nmlakut6 e7ce t the e7alting of the &ause of Cod and. /is raise, and Cod suffiices (e as a 0leader. %e desired nothing in the 1ominion 4al:jabarut6 e7ce t the 9emembrance of Cod 48$6 and %hat was sent down from /im, and for me Cod suffices as a /el er. Blessed are you, @ assembly of the 'earned (en in al:Baha. M1=?N By Cod, you are waves of the most great 2ea and the stars of the /eaven of Crace and the banners of assistance among the heavens and the earths. Fou are the 9ising: laces of u rightness among mankind and the 2unrise: laces of )7 lanation to him who is in the 4realm of the6 ossible. Blessed is the one who comes to you and woe to the ones who turn away from you.M1=,N "o:day it is fitting that one who drinks the strong %ine of 'ife 4rahi! al:hayawan6 from the hand of the kindness of his 'ord, the (erciful @ne, should be throbbing continually like the veins in the body of 0ossibility, that by /im the world and every decayed bone might move. @ eo le of &reation, whenever the dove flies from the forest of raise and makes for the furthermost hidden goal, M1;$Nthen refer what you did not understand in the Book to the Bough which branches from the 2elf:2ubsistent 2tock. @ 0en of the (ost /igh, move over the "ablet by the ermission of "hy 'ord, (aker of the /eaven. "hen remember thou when the 9ising: lace of .nity desired the 2chool of 1etachment. 0erha s those who are free will be informed as much as an eye of a needle of what there is behind the veils of the mysteries of thy 'ord, the (ighty, the *nower. 2ayD %e entered the 2chool of (eanings and. )7 lanation when those in the 4realm of6 0ossibility were off their guard, and we witnessed what the (erciful had sent down, and. %e received 4816 what /e gave to (e of the verses of Cod, the 2elf:2ubsistent @verseer. %e heard what /e bore witness to in the "abletJ %e are witnesses. %e answered /im with a command on our artJ %e are commanders. @ multitude of al:Bayan, %e entered the school of Cod while you were reclining, and %e carefully observed the "ablet while you were aslee . By Cod, the "rue @ne, %e read it before its descent, but you were careless. %e had a thorough knowledge of the Book, while you were in the loins 4of your fathers6. "his is a reminder according to your measure, not according to that of CodJ that which is in the knowledge of Cod bears witness to this fact, if you only knew, and the tongue of Cod bears witness to that, if you were only learned. By Cod, if %e were to lift away the veil, you would faintI "ake care not to argue with Cod and. 4dis ute6 /is &ause.M1;1N /e was manifested. in such a way that /e knows thoroughly all that was and will be. 5f %e were to s eak in this 2tation with the tongue of the eo le of the *ingdom, %e would sayD Cod created this 2chool before /e created the heavens and the earth. +nd %e entered into it before al:kaf joined its su ort al:nun. M1;#N "his is the tongue of (y creatures in (y *ingdom 4malakuti6. "hink on what the tongue of the eo le of (y 1ominion 4jabaniti6 M1;-N might utter of what %e taught them as knowledge from .s,
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and of what is hidden in the knowledge of Cod and what the tongue of Creatness and 0ower utters in its 0raiseworthy 2tation 48#6. "his is not something to be layed with by your illusions. "his is not a 2tation into which every illusioned coward enters. By Cod, this is the training: lace 4midmar6 for unveiling and se aration 4from the world6 and the race:ground 4mayddn6 of Aision and )7altation. @nly the horsemen of the (erciful, who disregard the 4realm of6 ossibility, go about in it. "hose are the hel ers of Cod in the earth and in the 2unrise: laces of ower among the worlds. "ake care that what is in al:Bayan does not kee you away from your 'ord, the (erciful. By Cod, it was sent down as a reminder of (e, if you only knew, "he sincere find in it only the odour of (y love and of (y Name, which oversees every witness and thing witnessed. 2ayD @ 0eo le, face towards what has been sent down from (y /ighest 0en. 5f you find in it an odour of Cod, do not turn away from it and do not de rive yourselves of the Crace and benefits of Cod. "hus does Cod counsel youJ indeed, /e is the &ounsellor who knows. %hat you do not understand of al:Bayan ask Cod, your 'ord, and the 'ord of your fathers, the ancient ones. 5ndeed, if /e wills, /e will e7 lain 4from the same root as al:Bayan6 to you what came down in it, and what earls of knowledge and wisdom are hidden in the seas of its words. 5ndeed, /e is the @verseer of the Names. "here is no god besides /im, the 2elf:2ubsistent @verseer. @rder 4al:naBm6 has been disturbed by this (ost Creat @rder, and arrangement has been made different through this innovation, 48-6 the like of which the eye of invention has not seen.M1;=N 0lunge into the sea of (y )7 lanation 4bayani6 M1;;N and erha s you will become informed as to the earls of wisdom and. mysteries to be found therein. "ake care that you do not delay in this &ause, in which has been manifested the authority and ower of Cod. /asten to /im with white faces. "his is the religion of Cod, before and afterwards. %hoever desires, let him comeJ whoever does not desire P Cod indeed has no need of the %orlds. 2ayD "his Balance 4al:!ustas6 is the Cuidance to all who are in the heavens and the earths, and the greatest roof, if you only knew. 2ayD By it every roof has been established in all ages, if you were only certain. 2ayJ By it every oor man became rich, every learned man was taught and whoever wished to ascend to Cod went u . "ake care that you differ not about it. Be like the steadfast mountains in the &ause of your 'ord, the (ighty, the Beloved. 2ayD @ 9ising: lace of 1eviation, !uit concealing 4the truth6I M1;8N "hen s eak the "ruth in the midst of created beings. By Cod, (y tears have flowed down (y cheeks when 5 saw thee following thy assion and forsaking the @ne who created thee and fashioned thee. 9emember the Crace of thy (aster when %e educated thee by night and day for the service of the &ause. M1;<N 3ear Cod and be of the enitent to CodI 2u ose eo le were mistaken 48=6 about thy affairJ art thou mistaken about thyselfL 3ear Cod and remember when thou wast standing before the "hrone and wast writing what %e dictated to thee of the verses of Cod, the @verseer, the (ighty, the 0owerful. "ake care that Beal does not hinder thee from the .nity. 3ace towards /im, be not afraid because of thy 4evil6 works. /e forgives whom /e wills by Crace from /im. "here is no god besides /im, the Cenerous 3orgiver. 5t is only for the sake of Cod that we give thee this advice. 5f thou comest, it is for thyselfJ if thou turnest away, thy 'ord is sufficient without thee and those who follow thee in evident delusion. Cod has taken the one who seduced theeJ M1;?N therefore return to /im submissive,
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humble, and humiliated. /e will ardon thy evil doings. "hy 'ord is, indeed, the 9elenting, the 0owerful, the (erciful. "his is the counsel of Cod, if thou art of those who hear. "his is the Crace of Cod, if thou art of those who draw near. "his is the remembrance of Cod, if thou art of those who erceive. "his is the treasure of Cod, if thou art of those who know. "his is a Book that has become a lam for the feet of all those in the world and his straightest way for the worlds. 2ayD 5ndeed, it is the 9ising: lace of the knowledge of Cod, if you only knew. 5t is the 2unrise: lace of Cods commands, if you only knew. 1o not load an animal with what it is unable to carry. %e have strictly forbidden you to do this 48;6 in the Book. Be manifestations of justice and e!uity among the heavens and the earths. %hoever kills a erson by mistake must ay blood:money to his eo le, and the amount is one hundred mith!als of gold.M1;,N 1o what you were commanded to do in the "ablet. Be not of those who transgress. @ eo le of the councils in different countries, choose a language among the languages to be s oken by those on earth. &hoose likewise the handwriting to be used. 5ndeed, Cod will show you what benefits you and what makes you inde endent of others. "his is a means for 4attaining6 union, if you only knew, and, the greatest reason for agreement and civiliBation, if you would only erceive it. %e have made the two matters two signs of the worlds coming to maturity. "he first, and it is the greater M18$N foundation, we sent down in other "ablets. "he second we have sent down in this innovating "ablet. M181N "he smoking of o ium has been rohibited to you. %e have strictly forbidden this to you in the Book. %hoever smokes 4it6 is not one of us. 3ear Cod, @ eo le of intelligence, By (y (ost Creat, (ost /oly, /igh, and (ost 2 lendid NameI

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N@")2 M1N"he world of command is the unseen world of realityJ the world of creation is the material world. ). C. Browne adds the following note 4Eournl of 9oyal +siatic 2ociety, 1??,, . ,<#6D "he first thing necessary to men is that they should know Beha, the resent (anifestation of Cod in the world, without which knowledge good actions are of no avail. M#N "hese two, that is, knowing and obeying. +l:imkan 4the ossible6 is s term for all creation which occurs often is al:*itab al:+!das. M=N "he rayers may be said from sunset until two hours after sunset, from sunrise until noon, and from noon until late afternoon. M;N +ccording to 5slamic law rayers are to be said 3ive times a day 4cf. )ncyclo edia of 5s1am, iv, ,? ff.6, but Bahaullah reduced the number to three. By the Book of Cod is meant al:*itab al: +!das. M8N Browne 4E.9.+.2., 1??,, . ,<-6 takes this as a reference to +cre, the lace where Bahaullah was at the time. But it may also mean that in worshi Bahais should face Bahaullah himself, wherever he may be. %hen he dies they are to face the erson who will be a ointed to succeed him. (uslims in rayer face (ecca. M<N "his means that this command may even o ose the laws of other religions. M?N 5n 5slam the saying of the words +llahu akbar 4Cod is most great6 is called the tskbir. &f. )nc. of 5slam, iv, 8#<. 5nstead of saying +lkhu +kbar as (uslims do, Bahais say +llahu ebha 4Cod is most s lendid6. M,N "ouching hair or bones 4or buttons made of bones6 renders worshi void in 5slam 4cf. +. E. %ensinck, + /andbook of )arly (uhammadan "raditions, . 1,16. Bahaullah here abrogates this law. M1$N Both boys and girls come to maturity according to the Bahai law at the age of fifteen. M11N 5n 5slam it is forbidden to erform rostrations an certain things even though they are ceremonially ure. "he Book in this case is resumably the Guran. M1#N 5slam re!uires s ecial rayers to be said at the time of wonders like earth!uakes and ecli ses 4cf. %ensinck, o . cit., . 8; f.6. "his is not necessary for Bahais. M1-N .nder certain conditions in 5slam grou worshi , as in the mos!ue on 3riday, is favoured 4cf. Guran, 8#D , and %ensinck, o . cit., 1,# f.6, but Bahaullah abrogated this with the e7ce tion of rayer over the dead. M1=N 5t seems that by Book the +!das is intended. M1;N "his e7 ression is said to mean sitting on the floor with ones feet crossed under him and his hands resting on his knees. M18N "his assage is translated by ). C. Browne in + "ravelers Narrative, . =#-. 3rom all this it would seem that the restoration of the old 0ersian solar year in lace of the +rabian lunar yearJ the solemn sanctioning of the great national festival of the NawruB, which corres onds with the beginning of this solar year, the !uickening of the earth after its winter tor or, and the entry of the 2un into the sign of +riesJ the division of the year into nineteen months of nineteen days eachJ and the nomenclature certainly of some and robably of all of these months were integral ortions of the system devised by the BabJ while the rovision of the 3ive intercalary days... and the enactments relating to their observance were su lementary details introduced by Beha. 5bid. . =#=. M1<N "he arrangement is that, beginning with the 5ranian New Fear 4NawruB, which usually falls on #1st (arch6, there will be eighteen months of nineteen days each. "hen will come the five intercalary days. +fter them will begin the nineteenth month, the month of fasting. 5mmediately after it will come the ne7t NawruB, the feast of the New Fear, according to ancient 5ranian custom. "he +rabic NayruB is from the 0ersian NawruB 4cf. ). %. 'ane, 'e7icon, . #<?-6. M1?N "he +rabic letter al:ha, which means him or his, also has the numerical value of five. 5t may here refer to /im 4Cod6 or to hos itality. "he five days are to be a time of rest and kindness
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to others before the fast begins. M1,N 1ays of giving, that is, the 3ive intercalary days. M#$N 0resumably the lace where Bahaullah is. M#1N Bahaullah here !uotes the law of inheritance given by the Bab. 5nstead of using numerals he uses the letters of the +rabic al habet and words from which the numerical value can derived. "he arrangement was for the ro erty of the deceased to be divided into nine une!ual arts. "wo arts were used for funeral e7 enses and the balance divided as follows among the heirsD P 416 "o &hildren ,[=# or 8=$[#;#$ 4#6 "o /usbands or %ives ?[=# or,=?$[#;#$ 4-6 "o 3athers <[=# or =#$[#;#$ 4=6 "o (others 8[=# or -8$[#;#$ 4;6 "o Brothers ;[=# or -$$[#;#$ 4b6 "o 2isters =[=# or #=$[#;#$ 4<6 "o "eachers -[=# or 1?$[#;#$. /e who gave good news of the coming of Bahaullah was the Bab. M##N Bahaullah says that when he heard the rotests of unborn children that they would not get enough of the inheritance, he doubled the amount for children and decreased the amounts for others. /e does not state here what the ro ortion will be, but it is given in a 0ersian book called Guestion and +nswer. M#-N 'it.D has no heirs . M#=N )vidently when there are no heirs of the classes mentioned, all the ro erty goes to the /ouse of Eustice 4see Note -, . -16. M#;N Nine is the numerical e!uivalent of baha 48 P #, h P ;, a P 1, P 1, which add u to nine6. M#8N "he 9ising: lace of )7 lanation is evidently Bahaullah. 0erha s he intended to suggest by this e7 ression that he is the source of the Babs book, the Bayan. M#<N 5n every city there is to be a /ouse of Eustice consisting of nine 4the numerical value of beha6 or more ersons, the members of which must regard themselves as the trustees and re resentatives of Cod in the world, and strive to fulfill for the ublic good the trust laced in them. ). C. Browne, E9+2., 1??,, . ,<=. M#?N By "ablet is robably meant the +!das. M#,N 0resumably this refers to the house Bahaullah occu ied while in Baghdad. M-$N 5n the )ast reverence for those who are considered great may be shown by kissing their hands, and religious leaders sometimes encourage this ractice. Bahaullah in his book 4al:+!das6 forbids it. M-1N +s in confession to riests. M-#N 0resumably the meaning is that Bahais are to serve the &ause in such manner that they will not be made sad by the o osition of unbelievers. 0erha s signs instead of verses J and so often. M--N @n entering s room, eo le leave their shoes near the door, hence the lowest lace near this is called the row of sandals . 2ome sitting here ho e that the host will say, &ome u higherI and they will thus get more honour. M-=N "he +rabic dictionaries translate this word deceiver, seducer . But the 0ersian word ghurur is ride and maghrur is a roud man. 0erha s he has deceived himself into thinking he is something when he is nothing. Bahaullah, being a 0ersian, seems to have used the word in the 0ersian sense. M-;N 0resumably this refers to one of the mystics who claimed to have esoteric knowledge. M-8N 5n 5slamic lands it is customary to say, 5 take refuge in CodI when one e7 resses horror at the thought of something. "he earth would be horrified that s erson who did not love Bahaullah should ollute it by sitting on it. M-<N "he word amr means a command, a thing and is used by Bahais to designate their religion or
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cause. "he meaning here seems to be that anyone who claims command before the end, of a thousand years is a false ro het. "o revent someone from a earing after a few years with the claim that he is s new manifestation, and the inter retation of s thousand years as meaning a thousand days or something else, Bahaullah insists that the lain meaning of the words is the correct meaning. M-?N Bleating, i.e., the clamour raised by o onents of the "ruth. M-,N Bahaullah was in Baghdad, 5ra!, with his brother 2ubh:i:+Bal from 1?;# to 1?8-, when they were de orted to +driano le, here referred to as the 'and of the 2ecret , because it was there that the secret of his being a new (anifestation was divulged. "hen in 1?8? he and his followers were sent to +cre, which he calls "his 5llumined 2 ectacle . M=$N "hat is, when Bahaullah will die. M=1N 'it.D wretched M=#N Nimrod, according to 5slamic tradition, dis uted with +braham and claimed to have the ower of life and death 4cf. Guran #D #8$ and )nc. of 5slam, iii, ?=# ff.6. Bahaullah says that there is a man who, when he hears the sound of the footste s of his disci les following him, is so uffed u with ride that he is rouder than Nimrod. M=-N By al:ulama, the theologians of 5slam are intended. M==N 5n 5slam there are ro erties of great value which have been be!ueathed by ious eo le to shrines, mos!ues, or schools and are administered by religious leaders or the state. Bahaullah here rules that all such endowments should return to Cod., that is, to his own control. M=;N "he religious endowments are to be controlled by Bahaullah as long as he lives. +t his death the command or control of them goes to the Branches , that is, the sons of Bahaullah. %hen they die the /ouse of Eustice will assume control. M=8N (en are not to wear their hair lower than their ears. M=<N "his command abrogates the law of al:Bayan that force was not to be used in unishment of the Babis. M=?N "he use of such vessels was forbidden by 5slamic law 4cf. (uslim, al:5mam +bu l:/ussyn, el: 2abih, vols. &airo, +./. 1-#<, Aol. ii, #$- ff.6 M=,N Bahaullah forbids the )astern custom of eating with the fingers, robably intending that forks and s oons be used. M;$N 'it.D 1elicacy, assim. M;1N + mith!al is a ro7imately five grammes or one:seventh of an ounce 4cf. )nc. of 5slam, iii, ;#?J ). %. 'ane, 'e7icon, . -=;6. 5t is ossible that the Babi mithgal is intended, in which case the amount of the fine would be about V#1. M;#N +s long as Bahaullah lives, dis uted oints are to be referred to him. %hen he dies they are to refer to his Book, which will be all:sufficient. M;-N )vidently this means to soar above the world of change to the changeless world of 9eality. M;=N "his may also mean that when you discharge missiles, you are to make mention of Cod. +fter ones death his relatives, beyond those already mentioned, have no right to claim a art of the inheritance. M;;N 5n his book, (aterials for the study of the Babi, 9eligion, . ?#$ f., ). C. Browne gives the names of Bahaullahs wives and children. /e says, Bahaullah had two wives, each of whom bore him si7 children. 5n 1?-; he married Nawwab, and +bdul:Baha was the oldest son who survived from this wife. 5n 1?=, he married his cousin (ahd:i:.lya, whose eldest son (uhhamad +li dis uted the succession with +bdul:Baha, after the death of their father. 5t has been stated by other authorities who were in a osition to know the facts that Bahaullah also married a wife named Cohar in 1?8<, who bore him a daughter named 3aru!iyya, and that in his old age he married Eamaliyya, the niece of his faithful follower, *hadim +llah. 5t is said that all his wives survived him. M;8N Bahaullah here changes the marriage law given by the Bab, which made only the consent of
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the bride and groom the condition for marriage. Bahaullah says that in order that there may be love and harmony, the arents also must give their consent. M;<N "he dowry is the money which the husband gives to the wife 4cf. )nc. of 5slam, iii, 1-<6. @ften in 5slam the arents of the bride re!uire the groom to romise a large sum and write it in the marriage contract, but they do not ask him to ay it at once. 5n case he should wish to divorce the woman, she would demand that the mahr be first given to her, in this way rotecting herself from divorce P since in 5slamic law the right to divorce belongs entirely to the man, who can divorce at will for any cause. Bahaullah follows the 5slamic custom of re!uiring the mahr, fi7ing the amount between nineteen and ninety:five mith!als of gold for city dwellers, and the same amount of silver for villagers. 42ee Note 1, . -?, for value of the mith!al6. M;?N "he a ointed time in 5slam is reckoned as three months and ten days. M;,N +s in 5slam, Bahaullah confines the right to give the divorce to the husband. "he wife cannot divorce her husband. M8$N +ccording to 5slamic law, if s msn gives his wife the tri le divorce, he cannot remarry her until after she has been married to another man and has been divorced by him. 2ee Guran #D #-$. M81N /er waiting, i.e., for the year mentioned above. M8#N 1eceive you. M8-N "hat is, the +ngels and those who are of the same rank as Bahaullah. M8=N )vidently, as kings secluded themselves in magnificent tents and furnishings to show their might, so al:*itab al:+!das is said to be veiled in s tent of (ight. M8;N +l:kawthar is, according to 5slamic belief, the name of a river in 0aradise 42ee commentaries on Guran 1$?D 1 and books of 5slamic eschatology6. "he meaning of the assage here is that when the Bab a eared with al:Bayan, the followers of other religions were turned back, e7ce t those who thirsted for the %ater of 'ife. M88N +ccording to 5slamic law semen is unclean. M8<N (akruh in 5slamic law is something dis roved 4like donkey flesh6 although it is not unlawful 4like ork6. "he changes in water referred to here are changes in color, smell, and taste. M8?N (any things in 5slamic law were considered ceremonially im ure, such as swine, dogs and dead bodies. @ne who touches such objects has to erform certain urifying rites. +lso according to the law of 2hiite 5slam, eo le of other religions, such as Eews and &hristians, are unclean. Bahaullah abrogates these laws and returns to the teachings of Eesus &hrist 4(ark <D 1? f.6. M8,N Eust before Bahau1lah and other Babis were de orted from Baghdad in 1?8-, they s ent twelve days in a garden near the city, which they named al:9idwan 4a name for 0aradise6. 5t seems that on the first day in the garden Bahsullah informed some of the eo le closest to him that he was a new (anifestation. 'ater in +driano le he made the claim ublicly. "hese twelve days were later commemorated by the 3east of al:9idwan which is observed each year from #1st + ril, to #nd (ay, the first, ninth and twelfth days being ke t as feast days. Bahaullah says that at that time everything was made clean by his a earing. "o him in the ossible means to all men. M<$N +ll non:Babi books were to be burned according to the Babs command. "he sciences and hiloso hy were not to be studied 40ersian Bayan, iv, 1$J vi, 86 Bahaullah abrogates these laws. M<1N (oses is often referred to as the kalim of +llah, that is, the one who talks with Cod. 2ee )ncy. of 5slam, ii, 8,,J iii, <-? f. "he 5nterlocutor is (oses. M<#N "ur P meaning mountain, is the name which (uslims often use for (ount 2inai, Guran #$D ?#. 2ee also )nc. of 5slam, iv, <$? f. M<-N Eesus is referred to in the Guran =D 18,, as the 2 irit of Cod 4ruh +llah6. /ere Bahaullah calls him the 2 irit. M<=N "here is an allusion here to the Guranic verse 4;=D 16, "he hour hath a roached and the moon hath been cleft 49odwells "ranslation, . <86. Bahaullah says that this ro hecy has been fulfilled in and by him. M<;N "he shi is the &ause of Baha and it is red with the blood of martyrs.
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M<8N "he )m eror 3ranB Eose h visited Eerusalem in 1?8,. /e was the first Cerman sovereign to visit the area since his ancestor, the )m eror 3rederick 5A, in 1=-8. +l:masjid al:a!sa is used in the Gur+n 1<D 1 to denote Eerusalem. 5t is also referred to as al:!uds or al:bayt al mu!addas or bayt al: ma!dis 4"he /oly /ouse6 42ee )nc. of 5slam, ii, 1$,= *, 'ane, 'e7icon, . #=,<6. 5f this is the visit here referred to, the +!das sould. have been written not long after 1?8,. M<<N "he Eews faced Eerusalem in rayer, and at first (uhammad in imitation of them led his followers in their worshi facing Eerusalem. 'ater he made (ecca the rayer:direction 4cf. )we. of 5slam, ii, ,?; *, %ensinck, o . cit., . 1#;6. Bahaullah says that Cod made Eerusalem the centre in order that men might there remember him 4Bahaullah6. M<?N *ing of Berlin, robably %ilhelm 5 who was king of 0russia, 1?81:1???. M<,N 0robably this is s reference to Na oleon 555 of 3rance, who was defeated by Cermany in 1?<$, was de osed, and died in 1?<-. "he "ablet or letter which Bahaullah sent to Na oleon 555 is described by ). C. Browne in E9+2., 1??,, 0 . ,8< f. 5t seems that Bahau1lah had informed Na oleon 555 of the way that the "urkish government had treated him, erha s ho ing that hel would be given him. Na oleon 555 as head of the 3rench government claimed to be the rotector of the &hristians in "urkey, but a arently did nothing to hel Bahaullah. M?$N "his is addressed to the "urks, by whom Bahaullah had been twice banished, first to +driano le, and then to +cre. 9um is the old name for 5stanbul. M?1N Bahaullah was born in "eheran, although his family came from (aBandaran near the &as ian 2ea. M?#N Eumhur ie the term used in 5ran for a re ublic and some think that Bahaullah here redicts that 5ran will become a re ublic. M?-N 2ee Note 1, . -?. M?=N "hat is, the 1,[1$$ of ca ital funds which belong to Cod are to be s ent only as Bahaullah ermits. M?;N 2ee Note 1, . ;#. M?8N 3rom this it a ears that al:*itab al:+!das was written at the re!uest of Bahais who wanted information and instructions as to their duties. M?<N By ulema only those learned in 5slamic lore are intended. M??N +l:*itab al:+!das cannot be measured by human standards, for it is itself the (easure of all things. M?,N 5t is said that this is a reference to a hill near +cre which was covered with red tuli s, "he 'ote "ree is said to be at the loftiest lace in 0aradise, 5t is called the "ree of )7tremity because neither men nor angels are allowed to ass it. 2ee &ommentaries on the Guran, ;-D 1=, also )nc. of 5slarn, i,1$1;. M,$N "he original of the books sent down by Cod is ke t in heaven. 5t is sometimes called the 0reserved "ablet. 5t seems that Bahaullah claims to be himself that heaven from which the books emanate. 3or a discussion of ummu l:kitab, see &ommentaries on Guran, 1-D -$, and )nc. of 5slam, iv, 1$1#. M,1N "his may be an allusion to the Burning Bush as a "ree from which s voice came. M,#N (uhammad is referred to in the Guran <D 1;8, 1;?, as al:nabi al:ummi. 2ee )nc. of 5slam, iv, 1$18, for the e7 lanation of the term. 5t is generally inter reted to mean the illiterate ro het , that is, unable to read or write. Bahaullah uses the term for himself although we know he had considerable education. M,-N "he reference is said to be to the owder (uslims used in the bath to remove hair from the body. M,=N +ccording to (uslim ractice, after certain acts, ablution re!uires that the whole body go under water. Babaullah here abrogates this regulation. 5n some laces in 5ran at the time of Bahaullah water was scarce and the heating of it was e7 ensive. /ence many eo le used the water in the tanks before it was changed. "his ractice was of course unsanitary, though the water
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was ceremonially clean . M,;N "he Bahai in his will must confess his faith in Bahaullah and a rove his laws and teachings, thus giving a witness to others on his death:bed. M,8N "his is the feast of the (anifestation of Baha,+llah. 2ee Note #, . =?. M,<N "his is the day when the Bab in 2hiraB made his claim to be the Cate 4al:Bab6 to the knowledge of the /idden 5mam 4see 5ntroduction6. "he date was the fifth of Eamadi +wwal +./.1#8$, or #-rd (ay, 1?==. Notice that Bahaullah refers to al:Bab not as a major manifestation 4Buhur6 as the Babis had considered him to be, but as a "eller:of:Cood:News about the coming of Bahaullah. %e sent him, says Bahaullah. M,?N "he word translated assembled is often used in (uslim teaching for the gathering at the last day, when after the 9esurrection men are gathered before Cod for judgment. "he Bahai teaching is that by his coming to earth and by his teaching, Bahaullah has brought the long:e7 ected resurrection of the dead. M,,N 2u osedly the two feasts mentioned here are the birthdays of the Bab and Bahaullah on the first and second days of the (uslim month (uharram, which are ke t as one feast. M1$$N "he first of the nineteen Babi months was called Baha. "he first day of Baha is, therefore, the 5ranian New Fear 4NawruB6. M1$1N By utting on new clothes, enjoying food re ared for the feast, and entertaining friends one e7 resses in action gratitude to Cod for /is gifts. M1$#N #1st (arch 4NawruB6 is the beginning of 2 ring. M1$-N (ashri! al:adhkar is the name for the lace of worshi to be built by Bahais in every lace they go. 5t is the custom to sit in a circle about the room. M1$=N "he learning of foreign 4e7tinct6 languages has been forbidden by the Bab. Bahaullah abrogates this command. M1$;N Bahaullah here directs his followers to look to a son of his as their leader after his death. /e does not say here which son. /is ur ose is e7 lained in the Book of the &ovenant 4*itab:ahd6 which is found in Bahai, 2cri tures, Brentano, 1,#-, . #;,:#8#. "here Bahaullah refers to this assage is el:*itab al:+!das and says that he is to be succeeded by the (ost (ighty Branch 4+bbas )ffendi6, who in turn will be succeeded by the (ost Creat Branch 4(uhammad +li6. "hese two sons were from different mothers. "he translator of Bahai 2cri tures mistakenly translated the two titles as the Creater and the Createst, whereas both terms have a su erlative and e!ually great meaning. +bbas )ffendi, known as +bdul:Baha succeeded his father. M1$8N /ere Bahaullah re eats what the Bab commanded in the Bayan, that is, there are to be nineteen months. "he Bab named the first month of the year Baha. M1$<N 2ee Nu!tatu1:*af, . 5777viii, 9ings. "he 0oint of al:Bayan is the Bab. M1$?N %ara!a, leaf, age, is often used by Bahais for women J one of Bahas wives had the title %ara!a:i: .lya the su reme leaf . /is sons were called branches . 2ee Browne, + "ravelers Narrative, . -$1. M1$,N Bahaullah !uotes here the command of the Bab in the Bayan regarding the burial of the dead and asserts his su eriority to the Bab. /e !uotes the Bab the Bab calling him the Beloved of the %orld , and claims that one word of his is worth more than the whole of the Bayan. M11$N Bahaullah here substitutes for what was in the Bayan his own new inscri tion for the rings of the dead, the same for both men and women. "he writing in the rings is of course to be in +rabic. +gain the regulations of the Bab are rela7ed. M111N "he Bab had forbidden travel to foreign lands 4by see6. M11#N 0resumably the two houses which must be built u or re aired are the house in 2hiraB where the Bab made his claim, and the house in "eheran in the 5mamBadeh (asum where, according to the Bahai account, the Babs holy was buried for a time before being taken to /aifa. By "hrone is meant the body of the Bab. M11-N "he @ne, i.e., Bahaullah.
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M11=N %ho told the good news, i.e., the Bab. M11;N "he rison, i.e., +cre. M118N "hat is, be ready to listen to what Cod is saying through Bahaullahs books. "he (ultitude of al1:Bayan are the Babis who have acce ted 4rejected6 Bahaullah. M11<N "he (uslim faces (ecca in worshi , but the Babi 4faces 2hiraB and is commanded to face R%hom Cod 2hall (ake (anifest when he a ears6 Bahai are to face the (anifestation, wherever /e may be. /e said, i.e., the Bab commanded this. M11?N Bahaullah claimed that /e was redicted by the Bab as the @ne %hom Cod (anifests. M11,N "he Bab commanded that the marriage of Babis must be with other Babis, that is, the 0eo le of the Bayan and according to the laws of the Bayan. M1#$N "his assage is difficult for translation. 5t a ears that according to the teaching of the Bab, if a Babi contracts a marriage with a non:Babi, the ro erty of the Babi becomes unlawful for him and will be taken from him, unless he re ents. Bahaullah sees in the assage a rediction of /is coming. M1#1N 0oint, i.e., the Bab. 2ee the 5ntroduction. M1##N "hat is, Bahaullah is the beloved of the Bab. "he Bab hears what Bahaullah has said to men. M1#-N "his is an a eal from Bahaullah to the Babis who do not want to acce t him, to refrain from o osition, since he has already suffered enough. M1#=N 0resumably, the Bab gave commandments only to e7alt Bahaullah. M1#;N +gain the reference is to the Bab. M1#8N Cod s eaks in everything, not only in rare a earances like /is s eaking to (oses in the Burning Bush. M1#<N (uslims refer to the times rior to (uhammads coming as the 1ays of 5gnorance when the +rabs were agans and barbarians. 2ee )nc. of 5slam, i, ,,, f. 0erha s Bahaullah is here alluding to the time when the Bealous Babis were fighting so furiously in (aBandaran, ho ing to con!uer the eo les of the world for their religion. Bahaullah bids his followers have friendly relations with non:Bahsis, rather than fight with them, the reason being that all men are from Cod. M1#?N "he aying of the 0oor:rate 4al:Bakat6 is one of the five illars of religion in 5slam. 2ee )nc. of 5slam, iv, 1#$# ff. 3or mith!al, see Note 1, . -?. M1#,N 0resumably the Book is al:Bayan, and the (aster of the %orld is the Bab. M1-$N "his negative form of the Colden 9ule is a well:known 0ersian saying. M1-1N 2ee Note 8, . ;1. M1-#N /ere Bahaullah shows his disdain of those who consider it meritorious to recite long readings from 2cri ture. M1--N 2ee Note #, . ;;. M1-=N 5t was ordained by the Bab. M1-;N 5n s ite of the objection to high ul its, those who recite verses of Cod should have the honour of sitting higher u than others. M1-8N By tem le is meant the human body. "he reference is doubtless to o ium which was much used in 5ran. M1-<N 5t is said that someone who is here called the &hief asked a !uestion about the coming of the /idden 5mam of the 2hiites. /e was snswered by 2haykh +hmad al:+hsai, the 2haykhi leader, in an enigma. 5t is to this re ly that Bahaullah alludes. +n alif, is the first letter of the +rabic al habet, is laced between two waws, the one to the left being u side down 4,6. "he Numerical value of waw is si7. "hen the waw to the right of alif indicates the si7 great manifestations before Bahsullah, namely +dam, Noah, +brabam, (oses, Eesus and (uhammad. "he waw to the left, which is inverted, indicates the si7 manifestations which will follow. +nd what is the alif L "he numerical valua of alif is one, and that indicates the @ne, who is Cod. 2o Bahaullah as the
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Createst (anifestation stands between the two grou s of si7, and is himself "he @ne. +nd /e it is who raised, u the 2i7. M1-?N 9egulations in 5slam forbade the wearing of silk 4cf. (uslim, ii, #$- ff6. M1-,N "o become a (uslim one must confess the brief creed, "here is no god but +llah and (uhammad is the (essenger of +llah. "his is often called the %ord 4al:kalima6. Baha,ullah uts forward. his %ord here. M1=$N By *:9, *erman is meant. %hat Cod disliked in *erman was the resence there of /aji (uhammad *arim *han, the head of the 2haykhis, who had o osed the Bab. M1=1N 2ee Note =, . ;1. M1=#N "he 1octor referred to above was resumably the father of +gha Najafi, a famous religious man of 5sfahan, who refused to believe in the Bab. "he learned men of 5slam turned eo le away from faith as the Bab and Bahaullah, and all the sufferings they endured were the result of this o osition. By 3ace is meant the Bab. M1=-N /ere the Baghdad te7t introduces the following linesD 2urely you will take refuge in Cod, avail yourselves of /im, talk with /im, ask /is assistance and seek e!uity from /im and drink before /im, the 'ord of the heavens and the earth, the 'ord of the seen and the unseen and 'ord of the Creat "hrone. M1==N 5n the language of the 2ufis 4the mystics of 5slam6 the man who reveals Cod, the head of the order, is often called the +7is 4gutb6, for about /im everything revolves. 4cf. )nc. of 5slam, iv, 8?=J ii, 1=8; ff.6. 5t seems that here Bahu,ullah is chiding the 0eo le of the Bayan for trying to rove from their book just what Eews and &hristians roved from their books, namely, that Bahaullah was not from Cod. /is re ly is that only his book will suffice them, for it is the final and com lete %ord of Cod, who in Bahaullah is doing a new thing. Bahaullah is, therefore, the +7is of 5nnovation. M1=;N 2ee Note 1, . 8<. M1=8N 5t seems that Bahaullah had sent an e istle to /aji *arim *han in *erman in which he tried to rove that his claim was true, but *arim was not convinced. M1=<N 5n this Guran verse 4#<D 1$6 (oses is said to have turned away from the rod which had been changed into a ser ent. 5n like manner *arim had fled from the signs of Cod revealed in Bahaullah till Cods wrath descended on him and he died. M1=?N "he learned men in al:Baha are the (uslim doctors of divinity who have believed in Bahaullah. M1=,N /ere the Baghdad te7t introduces the following lines, using as in Note #, . 8?, the em hatic form with nun in all the verbs. 2urely you will seek assistance from Cod, $ eo le of al:Baha, and scoff at all else but /im in the name of the 0owerful, (ighty 2coffer, and you will be su erior over all ossible things by the su eriority of your 'ord, the @verseer of the worlds, and be victorious over all e7istent things by the authority of your Aictorious, 0owerful, and %ise 'ord, and find your sufficiency in Cod, your 'ord, the 2elf:2ufficient, 0owerful, %ise, and +ll:*nowing @ne. M1;$N "his is another reference to !uestions about inter retations being referred to Bahaullahs son after his death. /e does not indicate which son is intended, 2ee Note #, . ;8. M1;1N 5n this assage Bahaullah re roves the Babis who have not acce ted him as a new (anifestation. %hile they were aslee new truth had been revealed, truth which he knew before they were born. @ne gets the im ression that there were many unbelieving Babis. M1;#N +ccording to (uslim belief, Cod created everything out of nothing by s eaking the +rabic word kun 4beI6 4cf. Guran -D =#6. Bahaullah teaches here that before the k was joined to the n, that is, before creation he was in Cods 2chool and knew Cods knowledge. M1;-N (any consider (a1akut as a high s iritual world and jabarut ss a yet higher world. )nc. of 5slam, i, ,?8, e7 lains how the meanings vary with different authors using the terms. M1;=N Babis is objected to Bahaullahs claim to be the new (anifestation because the 4minimum eriod of 1;116 years had not ela sed between the time of the Bab and his a earance. 5t may be in
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answer to this that Bahaullah says that the usual order and arrangement has been changed for a better order. M1;;N /ere Bahaullah either claims the Bayan, as his, or refers to his writings by that name. M1;8N 0resumably the erson addressed is 2ubh:i:+Bal, the 4half6 brother of Bahaullah. 2ee the 5ntroduction. "his assage is translated by Browne in "ravellers Narrative, . ,?. M1;<N 3rom the 5ntroduction we learned that Bahaullah was older than his brother, /e was also his tutor. M1;?N "he erson who, according to Bahaullah, deceived 2ubh:i:+Bal was someone who had been taken from this world by Cod. ). C. Browne says that the one alluded to was /aji 2ayyid (uhammad 5sfahani, who was one of the +Balis killed by the Bahais at +cre. 2ee "ravellers Narrative, . ,- f., -<$. M1;,N 2ee Note 1, . -?. M18$N "he first matter is said to be al:kimiya 4alchemy, chemistry6. M181N 0resumably this is the command given above to choose a universal language and al habet.

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+""endi$ 7
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corres ondence with the &omte de Cobineau re!uesting aid from 3rance. +Bals Notes . -8=, -<?. 3acsimile of letter from /usayn +li Baha to &omte de Cobineau. +Bals Notes . -8$, -8=, -<?:-?8. 'etter translated . -?$:-?-. 3ull list 4)nglish6 of a1-. members of the family of Bahaullah. +Bals Notes . 1$#:1$-. 3acsimile of the Babs autogra h e istle a ointing 2ubh:i:+Bal. as his successor. +Bals Notes . ;;#. + book containing a collection of facsimilies of some of the autogra h e istles of the Bab and of his amanuensis +!a 2ayyid /usayn, includingD a. + ointment of 2ubh:i:+Bal as his successor 4same as $#86. +Bals Notes . ;;-. b. &onferring on 2ubh:i:+Ba the same rank as himself. +Bals Notes . ;;=. c. @ther e istles confirming a ointment of 2ubh:i:+Bal. +Bals Notes . ;;=. 3acsimile of a transcri t made by 2ubh:i:+Bal of the Babs "estamentary 1is ositions to 2ubh:i: +Bal. +Bals Notes . ;;;. "y ed co y of ortion of the Babs ersonal 1iary, which shows that according to the Bab, the Babi )ra commenced on Eamad +wwal ;, 1#88 +./. 4(arch 1,, 1?;$6. 3acsimile of five ages of Babs ersonal 1iary, in which (irBa /usayn 4Baha6 is referred to not by a title, but as brother of the 3ruit 42ubh:i: +Bal6. +Bals Notes . 8$;, 8$<, 81-. "he e istle of the Bab to (irBa /usayn +li 4Baha6, ordering him to take the best ossible care of 2ubh:i:+Bal. "his is taken from the book "anbihun Naimin, . -#. +Bals Notes . 8$;:8$?. 3acsimile of the re ort of (irBa +!a *han of *irman of his interview with Baha in +kka, in which Baha admitted that the Bahais had lanned to kill 2ubh:i:+Bal in &y rus, and he had restrained them. +Bals Notes . 8-<, 881. 3acsimile of a letter written by 2ubh:i:+Bal to the @ttoman governor of 3amagusta in &y rus, informing him that some Bahais had come there to kill him. +Bals Notes . 8-<, + co y of the Babs /omily on the 'ights, in which he e7 lained that his denial in the mos!ue of 2hiraB was only a denial of being a Bab in the 2hiite conce tion of Babhood, that is, he was not a gate to the /idden 5mam +Bals Notes . <#,. "wo identical ictures of the Bab, one from +Bals files 4dim6, and the other from the book of +.'.(. Nicolas, 2ayyid +li (uhammad dit le Bab, 0aris 1,11. +Bals Notes . ?#,. "wo ictures of (irBa /useyn +li Baha 4at )dirne6. +Ba's Notes . ?#,:?-$. + co y of a statement by 2ubh:i:+Bal to 0rofessor Browne regardina the dis osal of the body of the Bab. +Bals Notes . ?;;, translated in the +Bals Notes . ??,. 0ersian te7t of . -$1:-$# of /asht Bihisht, which tells of the de arture of (irBa /usayn +li Baha in anger from Baghdad, as a result of the rebuke given him by some of the Babi leaders. +Bals Notes . ,;,. 3acsimile of 9isala:i:Badi . ,#:,-, in which (irBa /usayn +li Baha is !uoted as an authority that the murderer of 1ayyan in Baghdad was (irBa (uhammad of (aBanderan. +Bals Notes . ,88. 3acsimile of &ollection of the early writings of (irBa /usayn +li Baha P 5nde7 of &ontents, and 'etter No. 8$ 4to 2ayyid 5brahim *halil a follower of 1ayyan6. +Bals Notes . ,<$. 3acsimile of +rabic Bayan A5D1; P 5n the year nine ye will attain to all good. +Bals Notes . ,<<. 3acsimile of co y of the Babs communication to (ulla 2haykh +li +Bim from the Babs 3ive Crades . #;#:#,$. +Bals Notes g. ,<,. 0age ;, of the Babs 2even 0roofs, in which occurs the words bad hin 4after a while6. +Bals Notes . ,,$. 0age <$- from E.9.+.2. 4@ctober 1?,#6, taken from 5stidlaliyya of (irBa +bul 3adl of Cal ayagan, giving date of the manifestation of Bahaullah as 1?8? in +kka. +Bals Notes
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. ,,8. 0ersian Bayan A5D ? 4 . #1$:#1-6, where it is stated that /e:%hom:Cod:%ill:(anifest will be uninstructed in the learning of the world, and his knowledge will be imminent. +Ba's Notes . ,,?. 3acsimile of all of the %ill of +bbas )fendi +bdu1:Baha, with marginal notes by his brother (irBa Badiullah. @n . #$:#1 he states that the Bab is the (anifestation of the .nity and @neness of Cod. +Bals Notes, . 1$$;. 0ages 1,#:1,- from 0ersian Bayan A5D-, where the Bab states that 1, years will ela se after the a earance of /im:%hom:Cod:%ill:(anifest. +Bals Notes . 1$$8, 1$$8+. 3acsimile of a age from 2ahifa:a:+dlliya which was written by the Bab in 2hiraB. "he hrase ere nine in this assage has no reference to Baha. +Bals Notes . 1$5?:1$#$. 3acsimile of . <,:?$ of Bahas "ablet $ &reator of +ll &reation which referred to the Babs statement in =<. +Bals Notes . 1$$8, 1$#1. 3acsimile of ages ==, =;, #$8, #$<, #=? of a book by (irBa (uhammad Eawad, dated 1?,8, in which the claims of +bdu1:Baha are rejected, and states that Bahaullahs declaration was in 1?8-. +Bals Notes . 1$#1:1$#-. 0age 8# of +rabic Bayan K5D1,, in which it is stated that no one is ermitted to make in!uiries about /im:%hom:Cod:%ill:(anifest before he a ears. +Bals Notes . 1$-8: 1$-?. + co y of the com lete re ly of the Bab to (ulla Ba!ir of "abriB, in which the Bab rebuked him for asking about /im:%hom:Cod:%ill:(anifest. +Bals Notes . 1$-8, 1$-?:1$;#. 3acsimile of e7cer ts from the re ly of the Bab to (ulla Ba!ir of "abriB, taken from *itab: i: Quhur al:/a!!, vol. 555, . 1,:##. +Bals Notes . 1$-8:1$-?. 3acsimile of . 1, ?, ,, -< of Bahaullahs 9isala, date 1?8,. +Bals Notes . 1$-<, 1$=;. 0age ?8 of 0ersian Bayan 555D11, in which it is stated that the (anifestation is the &reator of all the 'etters, and is not himself one of the 'etters of the 'iving. +Bals Notes. 1$-<, 1$=<. 0age #$? of 0ersian Bayan A5D<. 'etters of the 'iving will be generated by /im:%hom: Cod:%ill: (anifest after his a earance. +Bals Notes . 1$-<, 1$=?. 0ages ,, and #-; of 0ersian Bayan 555D1; and A5D18, in which rovision for the &ovenant is made. +Bals Notes . 1$-<, 1$;#. 'ithogra hed and autogra hed %ill of (irBa (uhammad +li, second son of Bahaullah, signed and dated by him +./. 1-== 41,#;6, #= ages. 3acsimile of art of the %ill of Bahaullah, taken from +yatis 4+waras6 +l:*avakib +l: 1urriyya, Aol. 55, . #$:##. 0rovisions for the succession, first +bbas )fendi and then (irBa (uhammad +li. +Bals Notes . 1$-,+. 0ages from the 0erisan Bayan relating to the Babs theory of (anifestations and /im: %hom:Cod: %ill:(anifest, 5D#:1,, 555D=:?, A55D1$. +Bals Notes . 1$-<+, 1$-?+. 3acsimile of . -;8:-;< of Bahaullahs 9isala:i:Badi, in which he says that he maintains the Bayan of the Bab. +Bals Notes . 1$;;. 3acsimile of . -1, -#, =$ of rinted co y of /uwa 2ahifa +l:/ub ua +l:%iifa! 3i Bayan etc., date 1?,,. (irBa (uhammad +li the son of Baha and (irBa +!a Ean were given authority to revise some of the writings of Bahaullah, including the +!das. +Bals Notes . 1$;,. 0age -= of +rabia Bayan A55D<, in which the Bab states that the 0rayer 1irection is the (anifestation. +Bals Notes . 1$81. 0age 1,? of 0ersian Bayan A5D8, in which the Bab forbids the reading of hooks related to revious (anifestations. +Bals Notes . 1$<8. 0ages 1-$:1-# of 0ersian Bayan 5AD1$, which contains further regulations about reading and writing books. +Bals Notes . 1$<8. @ne age from "he Ninth 5shra!, in which Bahaullah states that the Bab had revealed
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laws, and he had im lemented some of them, and revealed them in +l:*itab +l:+!das. +Bals Notes . 1$?8. "hree ages of "he )ighth 5shra!, in which Bahaullah says he has amended the +!das by e7 laining the olitical character of the /ouse of Eustice. +Bals Notes . 1$?,. 3acsimile of &over and age 18 of 2hamshir:i: Burran 4"eheran 1,=?6, in which there is a reference to "ablet to the /ague about 0eace, written in 1,1,. +Bals Notes . 1$?,. 3acsimile of eleven ages of "ablet of Cood News 4Basharat6 by Bahaullah, containing 1; &ommands or 0rinci les. +Bals Notes . 1$,$:1$,?. 3acsimile of . 1??:1?, of *ashf:al:/iyal, Aol. 555, third rinting, by +yati, which contains a sam le of *hatt:i:Badi, the scri t invented by (irBa (uhammad +li and a roved by Bahaullah. +Bals Notes . 1$,1:1$,#. (essage of 2hoghi )fendi of + ril 1;, 1,;#, announcing the death of 2ayyid Nayyir +fnan, great:grandson of Bahaullah. +lso, a statement from .. 2. +ssemhly about credentials for travel. 3acsimile of ages 1, 1#, 1=:1; of 5shra!at, "araBat, "ajalliat which contain a "ablet written by Bahaullah shortly before his death in 1?,#, in which he admits that murders committed by Bahais in the early days were by orders. +Bals Notes . 111$:111-+. 3acsimile of e7tracts from a "ablet of Bahaullah, in the handwriting of (irBa (uhammad +li, which indicates that Baha was in close touch with events in the outside world. +Bals Notes . 111$, 111=:111;. 3acsimile of . ;?:8$ of "ablet of 5shra!at, in vhich Bahaullah states that only the (anifestation ossesses the (ost Creat 5nfallibility. +Bals Notes, . 11#=. 3acsimile of . 1#- of *alimat:i:3irdawsiyya 4%ords of 0aradise6 by Bahaullah. 5t is taken from the same book as ?<=, and contains rovisions for a 'egislative Body. +Bals Notes. 11-#.

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