The Reconciliation of Races and Religions Part 5

The Sa'idu'l-'Ulama first cut off the ears of Jenab-i-Kuddus, and tortured him in other ways, and then killed him with the blow of an axe. One of the Sa'idu'l-'Ulama's disciples then severed the head from the lifeless body, and others poured naphtha over the corpse and set fire to it. The fire, however, as the Babis relate (for Subh-i-Ezel corroborates the _Parikh-i-Jadid_ in this particular), refused to burn the holy remains; and so the Sa'idu'l-'Ulama gave orders that the body should be cut in pieces, and these pieces cast far and wide. This was done, but, as Haji Mirza Jani relates, certain Babis not known as such to their fellow-townsmen came at night, collected the scattered fragments, and buried them in an old ruined _madrasa_ or college hard by. By this _madrasa_, as the Babi historian relates, had Jenab-i-Kuddus once pa.s.sed in the company of a friend with whom he was conversing on the transitoriness of this world, and to it he had pointed to ill.u.s.trate his words, saying, "This college, for instance, was once frequented, and is now deserted and neglected; a little while hence they will bury here some great man, and many will come to visit his grave, and again it will be frequented and thronged with people."' When the Baha'is are more conscious of the preciousness of their own history, this prophecy may be fulfilled, and Kuddus be duly honoured.

SAYYID YAHYA DARABI

Sayyid Yahya derived his surname Darabi from his birthplace Darab, near s.h.i.+raz. His father was Sayyid Ja'far, surnamed Kashfi, i.e.

discloser (of the divine secrets). Neither father nor son, however, was resident at Darab at the period of this narrative. The father was at Buzurg, and the son, probably, at Tihran. So great was the excitement caused by the appearance of the Bab that Muhammad Shah and his minister thought it desirable to send an expert to inquire into the new Teacher's claims. They selected Sayyid Yahya, 'one of the best known of doctors and Sayyids, as well as an object of veneration and confidence,' even in the highest quarters. The mission was a failure, however, for the royal commissioner, instead of devising some practical compromise, actually went over to the Bab, in other words, gave official sanction to the innovating party.

[Footnote: _TN_, pp. 7, 854; Nicolas, _AMB_, pp. 233, 388.]

The tale is an interesting one. The Bab at first treated the commissioner rather cavalierly. A Babi theologian was told off to educate him; the Bab himself did not grant him an audience. To this Babi representative Yahya confided that he had some inclination towards Babism, and that a miracle performed by the Bab in his presence would make a.s.surance doubly sure. To this the Babi is said to have answered, 'For such as have like us beheld a thousand marvels stranger than the fabled cleaving of the moon to demand a miracle or sign from that Perfect Truth would be as though we should seek light from a candle in the full blaze of the radiant sun.'

[Footnote: _NH_, p. 122.] Indeed, what marvel could be greater than that of raising the spiritually dead, which the Bab and his followers were constantly performing? [Footnote: Accounts of miracles were spiritualized by the Bab.]

It was already much to have read the inspired "signs," or verses, communicated by the Bab, but how much more would it be to see his Countenance! The time came for the Sayyid's first interview with the Master. There was still, however, in his mind a remainder of the besetting sin of mullas'--arrogance,--and the Bab's answers to the questions of his guest failed to produce entire conviction. The Sayyid was almost returning home, but the most learned of the disciples bade him wait a little longer, till he too, like themselves, would see clearly. [Footnote: _NH_, p. 114.] The truth is that the Bab committed the first part of the Sayyid's conversion to his disciples.

The would-be disciple had, like any novice, to be educated, and the Bab, in his first two interviews with the Sayyid, was content to observe how far this process had gone.

It was in the third interview that the two souls really met. The Sayyid had by this time found courage to put deep theological questions, and received correspondingly deep answers. The Bab then wrote on the spot a commentary on the 108th Sura of the Kur'an.

[Footnote: Nicolas, p. 233.] In this commentary what was the Sayyid's surprise to find an explanation which he had supposed to be his own original property! He now submitted entirely to the power of attraction and influence [Footnote: _NH_, p. 115.] exercised so constantly, when He willed, by the Master. He took the Bab for his glorious model, and obtained the martyr's crown in the second Niriz war.

MULLA MUHAMMAD 'ALI OF ZANJAN

He was a native of Mazandaran, and a disciple of a celebrated teacher at the holy city of Karbala, decorated with the t.i.tle Sharifu-'l Ulama ('n.o.blest of the Ulama'). He became a _mujtah[i]d_ ('an authority on hard religious questions') at Zanjan, the capital of the small province of Khamsa, which lay between Irak and Azarbaijan. Muslim writers affirm that in his functions of _mujtahad_ he displayed a restless and intolerant spirit, [Footnote: Gobineau; Nicolas.] and he himself confesses to having been 'proud and masterful.' We can, however, partly excuse one who had no congeniality with the narrow s.h.i.+'ite system prevalent in Persia. It is clear, too, that his teaching (which was that of the sect of the Akhbaris), [Footnote: _NH_, pp. 138, 349.] was attractive to many. He declares that two or three thousand families in Khamsa were wholly devoted to him.

[Footnote: _Ibid_. p. 350.]

At the point at which this brief sketch begins, our mulla was anxiously looking out for the return of his messenger Mash-hadi Ahmad from s.h.i.+raz with authentic news of the reported Divine Manifestation. When the messenger returned he found Mulla Muhammad 'Ali in the mosque about to give a theological lecture. He handed over the letter to his Master, who, after reading it, at once turned to his disciples, and uttered these words: 'To search for a roof after one has arrived at one's destination is a shameful thing. To search for knowledge when one is in possession of one's object is supererogatory.

Close your lips [in surprise], for the Master has arisen; apprehend the news thereof. The sun which points out to us the way we should go, has appeared; the night of error and of ignorance is brought to nothing.' With a loud voice he then recited the prayer of Friday, which is to replace the daily prayer when the Imam appears.

The conversion [Footnote: For Muhammad 'Ali's own account, see Nicolas, _AMB_, pp. 349, 350.] of Mulla Muhammad 'Ali had important results, though the rescue of the Bab was not permitted to be one of them. The same night on which the Bab arrived at Zanjan on his way to Tabriz and Maku, Mulla Muhammad 'Ali was secretly conveyed to Tihran. In this way one dangerous influence, much dreaded at court, was removed. And in Tihran he remained till the death of Muhammad Shah, and the accession of Nasiru'd-din Shah. The new Shah received him graciously, and expressed satisfaction that the Mulla had not left Tihran without leave. He now gave him express permission to return to Zanjan, which accordingly the Mulla lost no time in doing. The hostile mullas, however, were stirred up to jealousy because of the great popularity which Muhammad 'Ali had acquired. Such was the beginning of the famous episode of Zanjan.

KURRATU'L 'AYN

Among the Heroes of G.o.d was another glorious saint and martyr of the new society, originally called Zarrin Taj ('Golden Crown'), but afterwards better known as Kurratu'l 'Ayn ('Refreshment of the Eyes') or Jenab-i-Tahira ('Her Excellency the Pure, Immaculate'). She was the daughter of the 'sage of Kazwin,' Haji Mulla Salih, an eminent jurist, who (as we shall see) eventually married her to her cousin Mulla Muhammad. Her father-in-law and uncle was also a mulla, and also called Muhammad; he was conspicuous for his bitter hostility to the Sheykhi and the Babi sects. Kurratu'l 'Ayn herself had a flexible and progressive mind, and shrank from no theological problem, old or new. She absorbed with avidity the latest religious novelties, which were those of the Bab, and though not much sympathy could be expected from most of her family, yet there was one of her cousins who was favourable like herself to the claims of the Bab. Her father, too, though he upbraided his daughter for her wilful adhesion to 'this s.h.i.+raz lad,' confessed that he had not taken offence at any claim which she advanced for herself, whether to be the Bab or _even more than that_.

Now I cannot indeed exonerate the 'sage of Kazwin' from all responsibility for connecting his daughter so closely with a bitter enemy of the Bab, but I welcome his testimony to the manifold capacities of his daughter, and his admission that there were not only extraordinary men but extraordinary women qualified even to represent G.o.d, and to lead their less gifted fellow-men or fellow-women up the heights of sanct.i.ty. The idea of a woman-Bab is so original that it almost takes one's breath away, and still more perhaps does the view--modestly veiled by the Haji--that certain men and even women are of divine nature scandalize a Western till it becomes clear that the two views are mutually complementary. Indeed, the only difference in human beings is that some realize more, and some less, or even not at all, the fact of the divine spark in their composition. Kurratu'l 'Ayn certainly did realize her divinity. On one occasion she even reproved one of her companions for not at once discerning that she was the _Kibla_ towards which he ought to pray. This is no poetical conceit; it is meant as seriously as the phrase, 'the Gate,' is meant when applied to Mirza 'Ali Muhammad. We may compare it with another honorific t.i.tle of this great woman--'The Mother of the World.'

The love of G.o.d and the love of man were in fact equally prominent in the character of Kurratu'l 'Ayn, and the Glorious One (el-Abha) had endowed her not only with moral but with high intellectual gifts. It was from the head of the Sheykhi sect (Haji Sayyid Kazim) that she received her best-known t.i.tle, and after the Sayyid's death it was she who (see below) instructed his most advanced disciples; she herself, indeed, was more advanced than any, and was essentially, like Symeon in St. Luke's Gospel, a waiting soul. As yet, it appears, the young s.h.i.+raz Reformer had not heard of her. It was a letter which she wrote after the death of the Sayyid to Mulla Huseyn of Bushraweyh which brought her rare gifts to the knowledge of the Bab. Huseyn himself was not commissioned to offer Kurratu'l 'Ayn as a member of the new society, but the Bab 'knew what was in man,' and divined what the gifted woman was desiring. Shortly afterwards she had opportunities of perusing theological and devotional works of the Bab, by which, says Mirza Jani, 'her conversion was definitely effected.' This was at Karbala, a place beyond the limits of Persia, but dear to all s.h.i.+'ites from its a.s.sociations. It appears that Kurratu'l 'Ayn had gone thither chiefly to make the acquaintance of the great Sheykhite teacher, Sayyid Kazim.

Great was the scandal of both clergy and laity when this fateful step of Kurratu'l 'Ayn became known at Kazwin. Greater still must it have been if (as Gobineau states) she actually appeared in public without a veil. Is this true? No, it is not true, said Subh-i-Ezel, when questioned on this point by Browne. Now and then, when carried away by her eloquence, she would allow the veil to slip down off her face, but she would always replace it. The tradition handed on in Baha-'ullah's family is different, and considering how close was the bond between Bahaa and Kurratu'l 'Ayn, I think it safer to follow the family of Baha, which in this case involves agreeing with Gobineau. This n.o.ble woman, therefore, has the credit of opening the catalogue of social reforms in Persia. Presently I shall have occasion to refer to this again.

Mirza Jani confirms this view. He tells us that after being converted, our heroine 'set herself to proclaim and establish the doctrine,' and that this she did 'seated behind a curtain.' We are no doubt meant to suppose that those of her hearers who were women were gathered round the lecturer behind the curtain. It was not in accordance with conventions that men and women should be instructed together, and that--horrible to say--by a woman. The governor of Karbala determined to arrest her, but, though without a pa.s.sport, she made good her escape to Baghdad. There she defended her religious position before the chief mufti. The secular authorities, however, ordered her to quit Turkish territory and not return.

The road which she took was that by Kirmanshah and Hamadan (both in Irak; the latter, the humiliated representative of Ecbatana). Of course, Kurratu'l 'Ayn took the opportunity of preaching her Gospel, which was not a scheme of salvation or redemption, but 'certain subtle mysteries of the divine' to which but few had yet been privileged to listen. The names of some of her hearers are given; we are to suppose that some friendly theologians had gathered round her, partly as an escort, and partly attracted by her remarkable eloquence. Two of them we shall meet with presently in another connection. It must not, of course, be supposed that all minds were equally open. There were some who raised objections to Kurratu'l 'Ayn, and wrote a letter to the Bab, complaining of her. The Bab returned discriminating answers, the upshot of which was that her homilies were to be considered as inspired. We are told that these same objectors repented, which implies apparently that the Bab's spiritual influence was effectual at a distance.

Other converts were made at the same places, and the idea actually occurred to her that she might put the true doctrine before the Shah. It was a romantic idea (Muhammad Shah was anything thing but a devout and believing Muslim), not destined to be realized. Her father took the alarm and sent for her to come home, and, much to her credit, she gave filial obedience to his summons. It will be observed that it is the father who issues his orders; no husband is mentioned. Was it not, then, most probably on _this_ return of Kurratu'l 'Ayn that the maiden was married to Mulla Muhammad, the eldest son of Haji Mulla Muhammad Taki. Mirza Jani does not mention this, but unless our heroine made two journeys to Karbala, is it not the easiest way of understanding the facts? The object of the 'sage of Kazwin'

was, of course, to prevent his daughter from traversing the country as an itinerant teacher. That object was attained. I will quote from an account which claims to be from Haji Muhammad Hamami, who had been charged with this delicate mission by the family.

'I conducted Kurratu'l 'Ayn into the house of her father, to whom I rendered an account of what I had seen. Haji Mulla Taki, who was present at the interview, showed great irritation, and recommended all the servants to prevent "this woman" from going out of the house under any pretext whatsoever, and not to permit any one to visit her without his authority. Thereupon he betook himself to the traveller's room, and tried to convince her of the error in which she was entangled. He entirely failed, however, and, furious before that settled calm and earnestness, was led to curse the Bab and to load him with insults. Then Kurratu'l 'Ayn looked into his face, and said to him, "Woe unto thee, for I see thy mouth filling with blood."'

Such is the oral tradition which our informant reproduces. In criticizing it, we may admit that the gift of second sight was possessed by the Babi and Bahai leaders. But this particular anecdote respecting our heroine is (may I not say?) very improbable. To curse the Bab was not the way for an uncle to convince his erring niece. One may, with more reason, suppose that her father and uncle trusted to the effect of matrimony, and committed the transformation of the lady to her cousin Mulla Muhammad. True, this could not last long, and the murder of Taki in the mosque of Kazwin must have precipitated Kurratu'l 'Ayn's resolution to divorce her husband (as by Muhammadan law she was ent.i.tled to do) and leave home for ever. It might, however, have gone hardly with her if she had really uttered the prophecy related above. Evidently her husband, who had accused her of complicity in the crime, had not heard of it. So she was acquitted. The Bab, too, favoured the suggestion of her leaving home, and taking her place among his missionaries.

[Footnote: Nicolas, _AMB_, p. 277.] At the dead of night, with an escort of Babis, she set out ostensibly for Khurasan. The route which she really adopted, however, took her by the forest-country of Mazandaran, where she had the leisure necessary for pondering the religious situation.

The sequel was dramatic. After some days and nights of quietude, she suddenly made her appearance in the hamlet of Badasht, to which place a representative conference of Babis had been summoned.

The object of the conference was to correct a widespread misunderstanding. There were many who thought that the new leader came, in the most literal sense, to fulfil the Islamic Law. They realized, indeed, that the object of Muhammad was to bring about an universal kingdom of righteousness and peace, but they thought this was to be effected by wading through streams of blood, and with the help of the divine judgments. The Bab, on the other hand, though not always consistent, was moving, with some of his disciples, in the direction of moral suasion; his only weapon was 'the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of G.o.d.' When the Ka'im appeared all things would be renewed. But the Ka'im was on the point of appearing, and all that remained was to prepare for his Coming. No more should there be any distinction between higher and lower races, or between male and female. No more should the long, enveloping veil be the badge of woman's inferiority.

The gifted woman before us had her own characteristic solution of the problem. So, doubtless, had the other Babi leaders who were present, such as Kuddus and Baha-'ullah, the one against, the other in favour of social reforms.

It is said, in one form of tradition, that Kurratu'l 'Ayn herself attended the conference with a veil on. If so, she lost no time in discarding it, and broke out (we are told) into the fervid exclamation, 'I am the blast of the trumpet, I am the call of the bugle,' i.e. 'Like Gabriel, I would awaken sleeping souls.' It is said, too, that this short speech of the brave woman was followed by the recitation by Baha-'ullah of the Sura of the Resurrection (lxxv.). Such recitations often have an overpowering effect.

The inner meaning of this was that mankind was about to pa.s.s into a new cosmic cycle, for which a new set of laws and customs would be indispensable.

There is also a somewhat fuller tradition. Kurratu'l 'Ayn was in Mazandaran, and so was also Baha'ullah. The latter was taken ill, and Kurratu'l 'Ayn, who was an intimate friend of his, was greatly concerned at this. For two days she saw nothing of him, and on the third sent a message to him to the effect that she could keep away no longer, but must come to see him, not, however, as. .h.i.therto, but with her head uncovered. If her friend disapproved of this, let him censure her conduct. He did not disapprove, and on the way to see him, she proclaimed herself the trumpet blast.

At any rate, it was this bold act of Kurratu'l 'Ayn which shook the foundations of a literal belief in Islamic doctrines among the Persians. It may be added that the first-fruits of Kurratu'l 'Ayn's teaching was no one less than the heroic Kuddus, and that the eloquent teacher herself owed her insight probably to Baha-'ullah. Of course, the supposition that her greatest friend might censure her is merely a delightful piece of irony. [Footnote: _NH_, pp. 357-358.]

I have not yet mentioned the long address a.s.signed to our heroine by Mirza Jani. It seems to me, in its present form, improbable, and yet the leading ideas may have been among those expressed by the prophetess. If so, she stated that the laws of the previous dispensation were abrogated, and that laws in general were only necessary till men had learnt to comprehend the Perfection of the Doctrine of the Unity. 'And should men not be able to receive the Doctrine of the Unity at the beginning of the Manifestation, ordinances and restrictions will again be prescribed for them.' It is not wonderful that the declaration of an impending abrogation of Law was misinterpreted, and converted into a licence for Antinomianism.

Mirza Jani mentions, but with some reticence, the unseemly conduct of some of the Babis.

There must, however, have been some who felt the spell of the great orator, and such an one is portrayed by Mme. H. Dreyfus, in her dramatic poem _G.o.d's Heroes_, under the name of 'Ali. I will quote here a little speech of 'Ali's, and also a speech of Kurratu'l 'Ayn, because they seem to me to give a more vivid idea of the scene than is possible for a mere narrator. [Footnote: _G.o.d's Heroes_, by Laura Clifford Barney [Paris, 1909], p. 64, Act III.]

'ALI

'Soon we shall leave Badasht: let us leave it filled with the Gospel of life! Let our lives show what we, sincere Muhammadans, have become through our acceptance of the Bab, the Mahdi, who has awakened us to the esoteric meaning of the Resurrection Day. Let us fill the souls of men with the glory of the revealed word. Let us advance with arms extended to the stranger. Let us emanc.i.p.ate our women, reform our society. Let us arise out of our graves of superst.i.tion and of self, and p.r.o.nounce that the Day of Judgment is at hand; then shall the whole earth respond to the quickening power of regeneration!'

QURRATU'L-'AIN

(_Deeply moved and half to herself._)

'I feel impelled to help unveil the Truth to these men a.s.sembled. If my act be good the result will be good; if bad, may it affect me alone!

'(_Advances majestically with face unveiled, and as she walks towards Baha-'ullah's tent, addresses the men._) That sound of the trumpet which ushers in the Day of Judgment is my call to you now!

Rise, brothers! The Quran is completed, the new era has begun. Know me as your sister, and let all barriers of the past fall down before our advancing steps. We teach freedom, action, and love. That sound of the trumpet, it is I! That blast of the trumpet, it is I!

(_Exit_ Qurratu'l 'Ain.)'

On the breaking up of the Council our heroine joined a large party of Babis led by her great friend Kuddus. On their arrival in Nur, however, they separated, she herself staying in that district. There she met Subh-i-Ezel, who is said to have rendered her many services. But before long the people of Mazandaran surrendered the gifted servant of truth to the Government.

We next meet with her in confinement at Tihran. There she was treated at first with the utmost gentleness, her personal charm being felt alike by her host, Mahmud the Kalantar, and by the most frigid of Persian sovereigns. The former tried hard to save her. Doubtless by using Ketman (i.e. by pretending to be a good Muslim) she might have escaped. But her view of truth was too austere for this.

So the days--the well-filled days--wore on. Her success with inquirers was marvellous; wedding-feasts were not half so bright as her religious soirees. But she herself had a bridegroom, and longed to see him. It was the attempt by a Babi on the Shah's life on August 15, 1852, which brought her nearer to the desire of her heart. One of the servants of the house has described her last evening on earth. I quote a paragraph from the account.

'While she was in prison, the marriage of the Kalantar's son took place. As was natural, all the women-folk of the great personages were invited. But although large sums had been expended on the entertainments usual at such a time, all the ladies called loudly for Kurratu'l 'Ayn. She came accordingly, and hardly had she begun to speak when the musicians and dancing-girls were dismissed, and, despite the counter attractions of sweet delicacies, the guests had no eyes and ears save for Kurratu'l 'Ayn.

'At last, a night came when something strange and sad happened. I had just waked up, and saw her go down into the courtyard. After was.h.i.+ng from head to foot she went back into her room, where she dressed herself altogether in white. She perfumed herself, and as she did this she sang, and never had I seen her so contented and joyous as in this song. Then she turned to the women of the house, and begged them to pardon the disagreeables which might have been occasioned by her presence, and the faults which she might have committed towards them; in a word, she acted exactly like some one who is about to undertake a long journey. We were all surprised, asking ourselves what that could mean. In the evening, she wrapped herself in a _chadour_, which she fixed about her waist, making a band of her _chargud_, then she put on again her _chagchour_. Her joy as she acted thus was so strange that we burst into tears, for her goodness and inexhaustible friendliness made us love her. But she smiled on us and said, "This evening I am going to take a great, a very great journey." At this moment there was a knock at the street door. "Run and open," she said, "for they will be looking for me."

'It was the Kalantar who entered. He went in, as far as her room, and said to her, "Come, Madam, for they are asking for you." "Yes," said she, "I know it. I know, too, whither I am to be taken; I know how I shall be treated. But, ponder it well, a day will come when thy Master will give thee like treatment." Then she went out dressed as she was with the Kalantar; we had no idea whither she was being taken, and only on the following day did we learn that she was executed.'

One of the nephews of the Kalantar, who was in the police, has given an account of the closing scene, from which I quote the following: