The Reconciliation of Races and Religions Part 4

'But since Mirza Muhammad 'Ali, athirst for the draught of martyrdom, declared (himself) in the most explicit manner, they dragged him along with that (Central) Point of the Universal Circle [Footnote: i.e. the Supreme Wisdom.] to the barrack, situated by the citadel, and, opposite to the cells on one side of the barrack, suspended him from one of the stone gutters erected under the eaves of the cells. Though his relations and friends cried, "Our son is gone mad; his confession is but the outcome of his distemper and the raving of lunacy, and it is unlawful to inflict on him the death penalty," he continued to exclaim, "I am in my right mind, perfect in service and sacrifice." .... Now he had a sweet young child; and they, hoping to work upon his parental love, brought the boy to him that he might renounce his faith. But he only said,--

"Begone, and bait your snares for other quarry; The 'Anka's nest is hard to reach and high."

So they shot him in the presence of his Master, and laid his faithful and upright form in the dust, while his pure and victorious spirit, freed from the prison of earth and the cage of the body, soared to the branches of the Lote-tree beyond which there is no pa.s.sing. [And the Bab cried out with a loud voice, "Verily thou shalt be with me in Paradise."]

'Now after this, when they had suspended His Holiness in like manner, the Shakaki regiment received orders to fire, and discharged their pieces in a single volley. But of all the shots fired none took effect, save two bullets, which respectively struck the two ropes by which His Holiness was suspended on either side, and severed them. The Bab fell to the ground, and took refuge in the adjacent room. As soon as the smoke and dust of the powder had somewhat cleared, the spectators looked for, but did not find, that Jesus of the age on the cross.

'So, notwithstanding this miraculous escape, they again suspended His Holiness, and gave orders to fire another volley. The Musulman soldiers, however, made their excuses and refused. Thereupon a Christian regiment [Footnote: Why a Christian regiment? The reason is evident. Christians were outside the Babi movement, whereas the Musulman population had been profoundly affected by the preaching of the Babi, and could not be implicitly relied upon.] was ordered to fire the volley.... And at the third volley three bullets struck him, and that holy spirit, escaping from its gentle frame, ascended to the Supreme Horizon.' It was in July 1850.

It remained for Holy Night to hush the clamour of the crowd. The great square of Tabriz was purified from unholy sights and sounds. What, we ask, was done then to the holy bodies--that of Bab himself and that of his faithful follower? The enemies of the Bab, and even Count Gobineau, a.s.sert that the dead body of the Bab was cast out into the moat and devoured by the wild beasts. [Footnote: A similar fate is a.s.serted by tradition for the dead body of the heroic Mulla Muhammad 'Ali of Zanjan.] We may be sure, however, that if the holy body were exposed at night, the loyal Babis of Tabriz would lose no time in rescuing it. The _New History_ makes this statement,--

'To be brief, two nights later, when they cast the most sacred body and that of Mirza Muhammad 'Ali into the moat, and set three sentries over them, Haji Suleyman Khan and three others, having provided themselves with arms, came to the sentries and said, "We will ungrudgingly give you any sum of money you ask, if you will not oppose our carrying away these bodies; but if you attempt to hinder us, we will kill you." The sentinels, fearing for their lives, and greedy for gain, consulted, and as the price of their complaisance received a large sum of money.

'So Haji Suleyman Khan bore those holy bodies to his house, shrouded them in white silk, placed them in a chest, and, after a while, transported them to Tihran, where they remained in trust till such time as instructions for their interment in a particular spot were issued by the Sources of the will of the Eternal Beauty. Now the believers who were entrusted with the duty of transporting the holy bodies were Mulla Huseyn of Khurasan and Aka Muhammad of Isfahan, [Footnote: _TN_, p. 110, n. 3; _NH_, p. 312, n. 1.] and the instructions were given by Baha-'ullah.' So far our authority.

Different names, however, are given by Nicolas, _AMB_, p. 381.

The account here given from the _New History_ is in accordance with a letter purporting to be written by the Bab to Haji Suleyman Khan exactly six months before his martyrdom; and preserved in the _New History_, pp. 310, 311.

'Two nights after my martyrdom thou must go and, by some means or other, buy my body and the body of Mirza Muhammad 'Ali from the sentinels for 400 tumans, and keep them in thy house for six months. Afterwards lay Aka Muhammad 'Ali with his face upon my face the two (dead) bodies in a strong chest, and send it with a letter to Jenab-i-Baha (great is his majesty!). [Footnote: _TN_, p. 46, n. 1] Baha is, of course, the short for Baha-'ullah, and, as Prof. Browne remarks, the modest t.i.tle Jenab-i-Baha was, even after the presumed date of this letter, the t.i.tle commonly given to this personage.

The instructions, however, given by the Bab elsewhere are widely different in tendency. He directs that his remains should be placed near the shrine of Shah 'Abdu'l-'Azim, which 'is a good land, by reason of the proximity of Wahid (i.e. Subh-i-Ezel).'

[Footnote: The spot is said to be five miles south of Tihran.] One might naturally infer from this that Baha-'ullah's rival was the guardian of the relics of the Bab. This does not appear to have any warrant of testimony. But, according to Subh-i-Ezel himself, there was a time when he had in his hands the destiny of the bodies. He says that when the coffin (there was but one) came into his hands, he thought it unsafe to attempt a separation or discrimination of the bodies, so that they remained together 'until [both] were stolen.'

It will be seen that Subh-i-Ezel takes credit (1) for carrying out the Bab's last wishes, and (2) leaving the bodies as they were. To remove the relics to another place was tantamount to stealing. It was Baha-'ullah who ordered this removal for a good reason, viz., that the cemetery, in which the niche containing the coffin was, seemed so ruinous as to be unsafe.

There is, however, another version of Subh-i-Ezel's tradition; it has been preserved to us by Mons. Nicolas, and contains very strange statements. The Bab, it is said, ordered Subh-i-Ezel to place his dead body, if possible, in a coffin of diamonds, and to inter it opposite to Shah 'Abdu'l-'Azim, in a spot described in such a way that only the recipient of the letter could interpret it. 'So I put the mingled remains of the two bodies in a crystal coffin, diamonds being beyond me, and I interred it exactly where the Bab had directed me. The place remained secret for thirty years. The Baha'is in particular knew nothing of it, but a traitor revealed it to them. Those blasphemers disinterred the corpse and destroyed it. Or if not, and if they point out a new burying-place, really containing the crystal coffin of the body of the Bab which they have purloined, we [Ezelites] could not consider this new place of sepulture to be sacred.'

The story of the crystal coffin (really suggested by the Bayan) is too fantastic to deserve credence. But that the sacred remains had many resting-places can easily be believed; also that the place of burial remained secret for many years. Baha-'ullah, however, knew where it was, and, when circ.u.mstances favoured, transported the remains to the neighbourhood of Haifa in Palestine. The mausoleum is worthy, and numerous pilgrims from many countries resort to it.

EULOGIUM ON THE MASTER

The gentle spirit of the Bab is surely high up in the cycles of eternity. Who can fail, as Prof. Browne says, to be attracted by him?

'His sorrowful and persecuted life; his purity of conduct and youth; his courage and uncomplaining patience under misfortune; his complete self-negation; the dim ideal of a better state of things which can be discerned through the obscure mystic utterances of the Bayan; but most of all his tragic death, all serve to enlist our sympathies on behalf of the young prophet of s.h.i.+raz.'

'Il sentait le besoin d'une reforme profonde introduire dans les moeurs publiques.... Il s'est sacrifie pour l'humanite; pour elle il a donne son corps et son ame, pour elle il a subi les privations, les affronts, les injures, la torture et le martyre.' (Mons. Nicolas.)

_In an old Persian song, applied to the Bab by his followers, it is written_:--

In what sect is this lawful? In what religion is this lawful?

That they should kill a charmer of hearts! Why art thou a stealer of hearts?

MULLA HUSEYN OF BUSHRAWEYH

Mulla Huseyn of Bushraweyh (in the province of Mazarandan) was the embodied ideal of a Babi chief such as the primitive period of the faith produced--I mean, that he distinguished himself equally in profound theosophic speculation and in warlike prowess. This combination may seem to us strange, but Mirza Jani a.s.sures us that many students who had left cloistered ease for the sake of G.o.d and the Bab developed an unsuspected warlike energy under the pressure of persecution. And so that ardour, which in the case of the Bab was confined to the sphere of religious thought and speculation and to the unlocking of metaphorical prison-gates, was displayed in the case of Mulla Huseyn both in voyages on the ocean of Truth, and in warfare. Yes, the Mulla's fragile form might suggest the student, but he had also the precious faculty of generals.h.i.+p, and a happy perfection of fearlessness.

Like the Bab himself in his preparation-period, he gave his adhesion to the Sheykhi school of theology, and on the decease of the former leader (Sayyid Kazim) he went, like other members of the school, to seek for a new spiritual head. Now it so happened that Sayyid Kazim had already turned the eyes of Huseyn towards 'Ali Muhammad; already this eminent theosophist had a presentiment that wonderful things were in store for the young visitor from s.h.i.+raz. It was natural, therefore, that Huseyn should seek further information and guidance from 'Ali Muhammad himself. No trouble could be too great; the object could not be attained in a single interview, and as 'Ali Muhammad was forbidden to leave his house at s.h.i.+raz, secrecy was indispensable. Huseyn, therefore, was compelled to spend the greater part of the day in his new teacher's house.

The concentration of thought to which the constant nearness of a great prophet (and 'more than a prophet') naturally gave birth had the only possible result. All barriers were completely broken down, and Huseyn recognized in his heaven-sent teacher the Gate (_Bab_) which opened on to the secret abode of the vanished Imam, and one charged with a commission to bring into existence the world-wide Kingdom of Righteousness. To seal his approval of this thorough conversion, which was. .h.i.therto without a parallel, the Bab conferred on his new adherent the t.i.tle of 'The First to Believe.'

This honourable t.i.tle, however, is not the only one used by this Hero of G.o.d. Still more frequently he was called 'The Gate of the Gate,'

i.e. the Introducer to Him through Whom all true wisdom comes; or, we may venture to say, the Bab's Deputy. Two other t.i.tles maybe mentioned. One is 'The Gate.' Those who regarded 'Ali Muhammad of s.h.i.+raz as the 'Point' of prophecy and the returned Imam (the Ka'im) would naturally ascribe to his representative the vacant dignity of 'The Gate.' Indeed, it is one indication of this that the Subh-i-Ezel designates Mulla Huseyn not as the Gate's Gate, but simply as the Gate.

And now the 'good fight of faith' begins in earnest. First of all, the Bab's Deputy (or perhaps 'the Bab' [Footnote: Some Babi writers (including Subh-i-Ezel) certainly call MullaHuseyn 'the Bab.']--but this might confuse the reader) is sent to Khurasan, [Footnote: _NH_, p. 44.] taking Isfahan and Tihran in his way. I need not catalogue the names of his chief converts and their places of residence. [Footnote: See Nicolas, _AMB_.] Suffice it to mention here that among the converts were Baha-'ullah, Muhammad 'Ali of Zanjan, and Haji Mirza Jani, the same who has left us a much 'overworked' history of Babism (down to the time of his martyrdom). Also that among the places visited was Omar Khayyam's Nishapur, and that two attempts were made by the 'Gate's Gate' to carry the Evangel into the s.h.i.+'ite Holy Land (Mash-had).

But it was time to reopen communications with the 'lord from s.h.i.+raz'

(the Bab). So his Deputy resolved to make for the castle of Maku, where the Bab was confined. On the Deputy's arrival the Bab foretold to him his own (the Bab's) approaching martyrdom and the cruel afflictions which were impending. At the same time the Bab directed him to return to Khurasan, adding that he should 'go thither by way of Mazandaran, for there the doctrine had not yet been rightly preached.' So the Deputy went first of all to Mazandaran, and there joined another eminent convert, best known by his Babi name Kuddus (sacred).

I pause here to notice how intimate were the relations between the two friends--the 'Gate's Gate' and 'Sacred.' Originally the former was considered distinctly the greater man. People may have reasoned somewhat thus:--It was no doubt true that Kuddus had been privileged to accompany the Bab to Mecca, [Footnote: For the divergent tradition in Nicolas, see _AMB_, p. 206.] but was not the Bab's Deputy the more consummate master of spiritual lore? [Footnote: _NH_, p. 43, cp. p. 404.]

It was at any rate the latter Hero of G.o.d who (according to one tradition) opened the eyes of the majority of inquirers to the truth. It is also said that on the morning after the meeting of the friends the chief seat was occupied by Kuddus, while the Gate's Deputy stood humbly and reverentially before him. This is certainly true to the spirit of the brother-champions, one of whom was conspicuous for his humility, the other for his soaring spiritual ambition.

But let us return to the evangelistic journey. The first signs of the approach of Kuddus were a letter from him to the Bab's Deputy (the letter is commonly called 'The Eternal Witness'), together with a white robe [Footnote: White was the Babite colour. See _NH_, p. 189; _TN_, p. x.x.xi, n. 1.] and a turban. In the letter, it was announced that he and seventy other believers would shortly win the crown of martyrdom. This may possibly be true, not only because circ.u.mstantial details were added, but because the chief leaders of the Babis do really appear to have had extraordinary spiritual gifts, especially that of prophecy. One may ask, Did Kuddus also foresee the death of his friend? He did not tell him so in the letter, but he did direct him to leave Khurasan, in spite of the encyclical letter of the Bab, bidding believers concentrate, if possible, on Khurasan.

So, then, we see our Babi apostles and their followers, with changed route, proceeding to the province of Mazandaran, where Kuddus resided. On reaching Miyami they found about thirty believers ready to join them--the first-fruits of the preaching of the Kingdom. Unfortunately opposition was stirred up by the appearance of the apostles. There was an encounter with the populace, and the Babis were defeated. The Babis, however, went on steadily till they arrived at Badasht, much perturbed by the inauspicious news of the death of Muhammad Shah, 4th September 1848. We are told that the 'Gate's Gate' had already foretold this event, [Footnote: _NH_, p. 45.] which involved increased harshness in the treatment of the Bab. We cannot greatly wonder that, according to the Babis, Muhammad Shah's journey was to the infernal regions.

Another consequence of the Shah's death was the calling of the Council of Badasht. It has been suggested that the true cause of the summoning of that a.s.sembly was anxiety for the Bab, and a desire to carry him off to a place of safety. But the more accepted view--that the subject before the Council was the relation of the Babis to the Islamic laws--is also the more probable. The abrogation of those laws is expressly taught by Kurratu'l 'Ayn, according to Mirza Jani.

How many Babis took part in the Meeting? That depends on whether the ordinary Babis were welcomed to the Meeting or only the leaders. If the former were admitted, the number of Babis must have been considerable, for the 'Gate's Gate' is said to have gathered a band of 230 men, and Kuddus a band of 300, many of them men of wealth and position, and yet ready to give the supreme proof of their absolute sincerity. The notice at the end of Mirza Jani's account, which glances at the antinomian tendencies of some who attended the Meeting, seems to be in favour of a large estimate. Elsewhere Mirza Jani speaks of the 'troubles of Badasht,' at which the gallant Riza Khan performed 'most valuable services.' Nothing is said, however, of the part taken in the quieting of these troubles either by the 'Gate's Gate' or by Kuddus. Greater troubles, however, were at hand; it is the beginning of the Mazandaran insurrection (A.D. 1848-1849).

The place of most interest in this exciting episode is the fortified tomb of Sheykh Tabarsi, twelve or fourteen miles south of Barfurush. The Babis under the 'Gate's Gate' made this their headquarters, and we have abundant information, both Babite and Muslim, respecting their doings. The 'Gate's Gate' preached to them every day, and warned them that their only safety lay in detachment from the world. He also (probably as _Bab_, 'Ali Muhammad having a.s.sumed the rank of _Nukta_, Point) conferred new names (those of prophets and saints) on the worthiest of the Babis, [Footnote: This is a Muslim account. See _NH_, p. 303.] which suggests that this Hero of G.o.d had felt his way to the doctrine of the equality of the saints in the Divine Bosom. Of course, this great truth was very liable to misconstruction, just as much as when the having all things in common was perverted into the most objectionable kind of communism. [Footnote: _NH_, p. 55.]

'Thus,' the moralist remarks, 'did they live happily together in content and gladness, free from all grief and care, as though resignation and contentment formed a part of their very nature.'

Of course, the new names were given with a full consciousness of the inwardness of names. There was a spirit behind each new name; the revival of a name by a divine representative meant the return of the spirit. Each Babi who received the name of a prophet or an Imam knew that his life was raised to a higher plane, and that he was to restore that heavenly Being to the present age. These re-named Babis needed no other recompense than that of being used in the Cause of G.o.d. They became capable of far higher things than before, and if within a short s.p.a.ce of time the Bab, or his Deputy, was to conquer the whole world and bring it under the beneficent yoke of the Law of G.o.d, much miraculously heightened courage would be needed. I am therefore able to accept the Muslim authority's statement. The conferring of new names was not to add fuel to human vanity, but sacramentally to heighten spiritual vitality.

Not all Babis, it is true, were capable of such insight. From the Babi account of the night-action, ordered on his arrival at Sheykh Tabarsi by Kuddus, we learn that some Babis, including those of Mazandaran, took the first opportunity of plundering the enemy's camp. For this, the Deputy reproved them, but they persisted, and the whole army was punished (as we are told) by a wound dealt to Kuddus, which shattered one side of his face. [Footnote: _NH_, 68 _f_.] It was with reference to this that the Deputy said at last to his disfigured friend, 'I can no longer bear to look upon the wound which mars your glorious visage. Suffer me, I pray you, to lay down my life this night, that I may be delivered alike from my shame and my anxiety.' So there was another night-encounter, and the Deputy knew full well that it would be his last battle. And he 'said to one who was beside him, "Mount behind me on my horse, and when I say, 'Bear me to the Castle,' turn back with all speed." So now, overcome with faintness, he said, "Bear me to the Castle." Thereupon his companion turned the horse's head, and brought him back to the entrance of the Castle; and there he straightway yielded up his spirit to the Lord and Giver of life.' Frail of form, but a gallant soldier and an impa.s.sioned lover of G.o.d, he combined qualities and characteristics which even in the spiritual aristocracy of Persia are seldom found united in the same person.

MULLA MUHAMMAD 'ALI OF BARFURUSH

He was a man of Mazandaran, but was converted at s.h.i.+raz. He was one of the earliest to cast in his lot with G.o.d's prophet. No sooner had he beheld and conversed with the Bab, than, 'because of the purity of his heart, he at once believed without seeking further sign or proof.'

[Footnote: _NH_, p. 39.] After the Council of Badasht he received among the Babis the t.i.tle of Jenab-i-Kuddus, i.e. 'His Highness the Sacred,' by which it was meant that he was, for this age, what the sacred prophet Muhammad was to an earlier age, or, speaking loosely, that holy prophet's 're-incarnation.' It is interesting to learn that that heroic woman Kurratu'l 'Ayn was regarded as the 'reincarnation' of Fatima, daughter of the prophet Muhammad.

Certainly Kuddus had enormous influence with small as well as great. Certainly, too, both he and his greatest friend had prophetic gifts and a sense of oneness with G.o.d, which go far to excuse the extravagant form of their claims, or at least the claims of others on their behalf. Extravagance of form, at any rate, lies on the surface of their t.i.tles. There must be a large element of fancy when Muhammad 'Ali of Barfurush (i.e. Kuddus) claims to be a 'return'

of the great Arabian prophet and even to be the Ka'im (i.e. the Imam Mahdi), who was expected to bring in the Kingdom of Righteousness. There is no exaggeration, however, in saying that, together with the Bab, Kuddus ranked highest (or equal to the highest) in the new community. [Footnote: In _NH_, pp. 359, 399, Kuddus is represented as the 'last to enter,' and as 'the name of the last.']

We call him here Kuddus, i.e. holy, sacred, because this was his Babi name, and his Babi period was to him the only part of his life that was worth living. True, in his youth, he (like 'the Deputy') had Sheykhite instruction, [Footnote: We may infer this from the inclusion of both persons in the list of those who went through the same spiritual exercises in the sacred city of Kufa (_NH_, p. 33).]

but as long as he was nourished on this imperfect food, he must have had the sense of not having yet 'attained.' He was also like his colleague 'the Deputy' in that he came to know the Bab before the young s.h.i.+razite made his Arabian pilgrimage; indeed (according to our best information), it was he who was selected by 'Ali Muhammad to accompany him to the Arabian Holy City, the 'Gate's Gate,' we may suppose, being too important as a representative of the 'Gate' to be removed from Persia. The Bab, however, who had a gift of insight, was doubtless more than satisfied with his compensation. For Kuddus had a n.o.ble soul.

The name Kuddus is somewhat difficult to account for, and yet it must be understood, because it involves a claim. It must be observed, then, first of all, that, as the early Babis believed, the last of the twelve Imams (cp. the Zoroastrian Amshaspands) still lived on invisibly (like the Jewish Messiah), and communicated with his followers by means of personages called Babs (i.e. Gates), whom the Imam had appointed as intermediaries. As the time for a new divine manifestation approached, these personages 'returned,' i.e. were virtually re-incarnated, in order to prepare mankind for the coming great epiphany. Such a 'Gate' in the Christian cycle would be John the Baptist; [Footnote: John the Baptist, to the Israelites, was the last Imam before Jesus.] such 'Gates' in the Muhammadan cycle would be Waraka ibn Nawfal and the other Hanifs, and in the Babi cycle Sheikh Ahmad of Ahsa, Sayyid Kazim of Resht, Muhammad 'Ali of s.h.i.+raz, and Mulla Huseyn of Bushraweyh, who was followed by his brother Muhammad Hasan. 'Ali Muhammad, however, whom we call the Bab, did not always put forward exactly the same claim. Sometimes he a.s.sumed the t.i.tle of Zikr [Footnote: And when G.o.d wills He will explain by the mediation of His Zikr (the Bab) that which has been decreed for him in the Book.--Early Letter to the Bab's uncle (_AMB_, p. 223).] (i.e. Commemoration, or perhaps Reminder); sometimes (p. 81) that of Nukta, i.e. Point (= Climax of prophetic revelation). Humility may have prevented him from always a.s.suming the highest of these t.i.tles (Nukta). He knew that there was one whose fervent energy enabled him to fight for the Cause as he himself could not. He can hardly, I think, have gone so far as to 'abdicate' in favour of Kuddus, or as to affirm with Mirza Jani [Footnote: _NH_, p. 336.] that 'in this (the present) cycle the original "Point" was Hazrat-i-Kuddus.' He may, however, have sanctioned Muhammad 'Ali's a.s.sumption of the t.i.tle of 'Point' on some particular occasion, such as the a.s.sembly of Badasht. It is true, Muhammad 'Ali's usual t.i.tle was Kuddus, but Muhammad 'Ali himself, we know, considered this t.i.tle to imply that in himself there was virtually a 'return' of the great prophet Muhammad. [Footnote: _Ibid_. p. 359.] We may also, perhaps, believe on the authority of Mirza Jani that the Bab 'refrained from writing or circulating anything during the period of the "Manifestation" of Hazrat-i-Kuddus, and only after his death claimed to be himself the Ka'im.'

[Footnote: _Ibid_. p. 368.] It is further stated that, in the list of the nineteen (?) Letters of the Living, Kuddus stood next to the Bab himself, and the reader has seen how, in the defence of Tabarsi, Kuddus took precedence even of that gallant knight, known among the Babis as 'the Gate's Gate.'

On the whole, there can hardly be a doubt that Muhammad 'Ali, called Kuddus, was (as I have suggested already) the most conspicuous Babi next to the Bab himself, however hard we may find it to understand him on certain occasions indicated by Prof. Browne. He seems, for instance, to have lacked that tender sense of life characteristic of the Buddhists, and to have indulged a spiritual ambition which Jesus would not have approved. But it is unimportant to pick holes in such a genuine saint. I would rather lay stress on his unwillingness to think evil even of his worst foes. And how abominable was the return he met with! Weary of fighting, the Babis yielded themselves up to the royal troops. As Prof. Browne says, 'they were received with an apparent friendliness and even respect which served to lull them into a false security and to render easy the perfidious ma.s.sacre wherein all but a few of them perished on the morrow of their surrender.'

The same historian tells us that Kuddus, loyal as ever, requested the Prince to send him to Tihran, there to undergo judgment before the Shah. The Prince was at first disposed to grant this request, thinking perhaps that to bring so notable a captive into the Royal Presence might serve to obliterate in some measure the record of those repeated failures to which his unparalleled incapacity had given rise. But when the Sa'idu'l-'Ulama heard of this plan, and saw a possibility of his hated foe escaping from his clutches, he went at once to the Prince, and strongly represented to him the danger of allowing one so eloquent and so plausible to plead his cause before the King. These arguments were backed up by an offer to pay the Prince a sum of 400 (or, as others say, of 1000) _tumans_ on condition that Jenab-i-Kuddus should be surrendered unconditionally into his hands. To this arrangement the Prince, whether moved by the arguments or the _tumans_ of the Sa'idu'l-'Ulama, eventually consented, and Jenab-i-Kuddus was delivered over to his inveterate enemy.

'The execution took place in the _meydan_, or public square, of Barfurush.