God Passes By Part 4

And yet the Fire which the Hand of Omnipotence had lighted, though smothered by this torrent of tribulations let loose upon it, was not quenched. The flame which for nine years had burned with such brilliant intensity was indeed momentarily extinguished, but the embers which that great conflagration had left behind still glowed, destined, at no distant date, to blaze forth once again, through the reviving breezes of an incomparably greater Revelation, and to shed an illumination that would not only dissipate the surrounding darkness but project its radiance as far as the extremities of both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. Just as the enforced captivity and isolation of the Bab had, on the one hand, afforded Him the opportunity of formulating His doctrine, of unfolding the full implications of His Revelation, of formally and publicly declaring His station and of establis.h.i.+ng His Covenant, and, on the other hand, had been instrumental in the proclamation of the laws of His Dispensation through the voice of His disciples a.s.sembled in Bada_sh_t, so did the crisis of unprecedented magnitude, culminating in the execution of the Bab and the imprisonment of Baha'u'llah, prove to be the prelude of a revival which, through the quickening power of a far mightier Revelation, was to immortalize the fame, and fix on a still more enduring foundation, far beyond the confines of His native land, the original Message of the Prophet of _Sh_iraz.

At a time when the Cause of the Bab seemed to be hovering on the brink of extinction, when the hopes and ambitions which animated it had, to all human seeming, been frustrated, when the colossal sacrifices of its unnumbered lovers appeared to have been made in vain, the Divine Promise enshrined within it was about to be suddenly redeemed, and its final perfection mysteriously manifested. The Babi Dispensation was being brought to its close (not prematurely but in its own appointed time), and was yielding its destined fruit and revealing its ultimate purpose-the birth of the Mission of Baha'u'llah. In this most dark and dreadful hour a New Light was about to break in glory on Persia's somber horizon. As a result of what was in fact an evolving, ripening process, the most momentous if not the most spectacular stage in the Heroic Age of the Faith was now about to open.

During nine years, as foretold by the Bab Himself, swiftly, mysteriously and irresistibly the embryonic Faith conceived by Him had been developing until, at the fixed hour, the burden of the promised Cause of G.o.d was cast amidst the gloom and agony of the Siyah-_Ch_al of ?ihran. "Behold,"

Baha'u'llah Himself, years later, testified, in refutation of the claims of those who had rejected the validity of His mission following so closely upon that of the Bab, "how immediately upon the completion of the ninth year of this wondrous, this most holy and merciful Dispensation, the requisite number of pure, of wholly consecrated and sanctified souls has been most secretly consummated." "That so brief an interval," He, moreover has a.s.serted, "should have separated this most mighty and wondrous Revelation from Mine own previous Manifestation is a secret that no man can unravel, and a mystery such as no mind can fathom. Its duration had been foreordained."

St. John the Divine had himself, with reference to these two successive Revelations, clearly prophesied: "The second woe is past; and, behold the third woe cometh quickly." "This third woe," 'Abdu'l-Baha, commenting upon this verse, has explained, "is the day of the Manifestation of Baha'u'llah, the Day of G.o.d, and it is near to the day of the appearance of the Bab." "All the peoples of the world," He moreover has a.s.serted, "are awaiting two Manifestations, Who must be contemporaneous; all wait for the fulfillment of this promise." And again: "The essential fact is that all are promised two Manifestations, Who will come one following on the other." _Sh_ay_kh_ A?mad-i-Ahsa'i, that luminous star of Divine guidance who had so clearly perceived, before the year sixty, the approaching glory of Baha'u'llah, and laid stress upon "the twin Revelations which are to follow each other in rapid succession," had, on his part, made this significant statement regarding the approaching hour of that supreme Revelation, in an epistle addressed in his own hand to Siyyid Kazim: "The mystery of this Cause must needs be made manifest, and the secret of this Message must needs be divulged. I can say no more. I can appoint no time. His Cause will be made known after ?in (68)."

The circ.u.mstances in which the Vehicle of this newborn Revelation, following with such swiftness that of the Bab, received the first intimations of His sublime mission recall, and indeed surpa.s.s in poignancy the soul-shaking experience of Moses when confronted by the Burning Bush in the wilderness of Sinai; of Zoroaster when awakened to His mission by a succession of seven visions; of Jesus when coming out of the waters of the Jordan He saw the heavens opened and the Holy Ghost descend like a dove and light upon Him; of Mu?ammad when in the Cave of Hira, outside of the holy city of Mecca, the voice of Gabriel bade Him "cry in the name of Thy Lord"; and of the Bab when in a dream He approached the bleeding head of the Imam ?usayn, and, quaffing the blood that dripped from his lacerated throat, awoke to find Himself the chosen recipient of the outpouring grace of the Almighty.

What, we may well inquire at this juncture, were the nature and implications of that Revelation which, manifesting itself so soon after the Declaration of the Bab, abolished, at one stroke, the Dispensation which that Faith had so newly proclaimed, and upheld, with such vehemence and force, the Divine authority of its Author? What, we may well pause to consider, were the claims of Him Who, Himself a disciple of the Bab, had, at such an early stage, regarded Himself as empowered to abrogate the Law identified with His beloved Master? What, we may further reflect, could be the relations.h.i.+p between the religious Systems established before Him and His own Revelation-a Revelation which, flowing out, in that extremely perilous hour, from His travailing soul, pierced the gloom that had settled upon that pestilential pit, and, bursting through its walls, and propagating itself as far as the ends of the earth, infused into the entire body of mankind its boundless potentialities, and is now under our very eyes, shaping the course of human society?

He Who in such dramatic circ.u.mstances was made to sustain the overpowering weight of so glorious a Mission was none other than the One Whom posterity will acclaim, and Whom innumerable followers already recognize, as the Judge, the Lawgiver and Redeemer of all mankind, as the Organizer of the entire planet, as the Unifier of the children of men, as the Inaugurator of the long-awaited millennium, as the Originator of a new "Universal Cycle," as the Establisher of the Most Great Peace, as the Fountain of the Most Great Justice, as the Proclaimer of the coming of age of the entire human race, as the Creator of a new World Order, and as the Inspirer and Founder of a world civilization.

To Israel He was neither more nor less than the incarnation of the "Everlasting Father," the "Lord of Hosts" come down "with ten thousands of saints"; to Christendom Christ returned "in the glory of the Father," to _Sh_i'ah Islam the return of the Imam ?usayn; to Sunni Islam the descent of the "Spirit of G.o.d" (Jesus Christ); to the Zoroastrians the promised _Sh_ah-Bahram; to the Hindus the reincarnation of Krishna; to the Buddhists the fifth Buddha.

In the name He bore He combined those of the Imam ?usayn, the most ill.u.s.trious of the successors of the Apostle of G.o.d-the brightest "star"

s.h.i.+ning in the "crown" mentioned in the Revelation of St. John-and of the Imam 'Ali, the Commander of the Faithful, the second of the two "witnesses" extolled in that same Book. He was formally designated Baha'u'llah, an appellation specifically recorded in the Persian Bayan, signifying at once the glory, the light and the splendor of G.o.d, and was styled the "Lord of Lords," the "Most Great Name," the "Ancient Beauty,"

the "Pen of the Most High," the "Hidden Name," the "Preserved Treasure,"

"He Whom G.o.d will make manifest," the "Most Great Light," the "All-Highest Horizon," the "Most Great Ocean," the "Supreme Heaven," the "Pre-Existent Root," the "Self-Subsistent," the "Day-Star of the Universe," the "Great Announcement," the "Speaker on Sinai," the "Sifter of Men," the "Wronged One of the World," the "Desire of the Nations," the "Lord of the Covenant," the "Tree beyond which there is no pa.s.sing." He derived His descent, on the one hand, from Abraham (the Father of the Faithful) through his wife Katurah, and on the other from Zoroaster, as well as from Yazdigird, the last king of the Sasaniyan dynasty. He was moreover a descendant of Jesse, and belonged, through His father, Mirza Abbas, better known as Mirza Buzurg-a n.o.bleman closely a.s.sociated with the ministerial circles of the Court of Fat?-'Ali _Sh_ah-to one of the most ancient and renowned families of Mazindaran.

To Him Isaiah, the greatest of the Jewish prophets, had alluded as the "Glory of the Lord," the "Everlasting Father," the "Prince of Peace," the "Wonderful," the "Counsellor," the "Rod come forth out of the stem of Jesse" and the "Branch grown out of His roots," Who "shall be established upon the throne of David," Who "will come with strong hand," Who "shall judge among the nations," Who "shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips slay the wicked," and Who "shall a.s.semble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth." Of Him David had sung in his Psalms, acclaiming Him as the "Lord of Hosts" and the "King of Glory." To Him Haggai had referred as the "Desire of all nations," and Zachariah as the "Branch" Who "shall grow up out of His place," and "shall build the Temple of the Lord." Ezekiel had extolled Him as the "Lord" Who "shall be king over all the earth," while to His day Joel and Zephaniah had both referred as the "day of Jehovah," the latter describing it as "a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers." His Day Ezekiel and Daniel had, moreover, both acclaimed as the "day of the Lord," and Malachi described as "the great and dreadful day of the Lord" when "the Sun of Righteousness" will "arise, with healing in His wings," whilst Daniel had p.r.o.nounced His advent as signalizing the end of the "abomination that maketh desolate."

To His Dispensation the sacred books of the followers of Zoroaster had referred as that in which the sun must needs be brought to a standstill for no less than one whole month. To Him Zoroaster must have alluded when, according to tradition, He foretold that a period of three thousand years of conflict and contention must needs precede the advent of the World-Savior _Sh_ah-Bahram, Who would triumph over Ahriman and usher in an era of blessedness and peace.

He alone is meant by the prophecy attributed to Gautama Buddha Himself, that "a Buddha named Maitreye, the Buddha of universal fellows.h.i.+p" should, in the fullness of time, arise and reveal "His boundless glory." To Him the Bhagavad-Gita of the Hindus had referred as the "Most Great Spirit,"

the "Tenth Avatar," the "Immaculate Manifestation of Krishna."

To Him Jesus Christ had referred as the "Prince of this world," as the "Comforter" Who will "reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment," as the "Spirit of Truth" Who "will guide you into all truth," Who "shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak," as the "Lord of the Vineyard," and as the "Son of Man" Who "shall come in the glory of His Father" "in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory," with "all the holy angels" about Him, and "all nations" gathered before His throne. To Him the Author of the Apocalypse had alluded as the "Glory of G.o.d," as "Alpha and Omega," "the Beginning and the End," "the First and the Last." Identifying His Revelation with the "third woe," he, moreover, had extolled His Law as "a new heaven and a new earth," as the "Tabernacle of G.o.d," as the "Holy City," as the "New Jerusalem, coming down from G.o.d out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." To His Day Jesus Christ Himself had referred as "the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of His glory." To the hour of His advent St. Paul had alluded as the hour of the "last trump," the "trump of G.o.d," whilst St. Peter had spoken of it as the "Day of G.o.d, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat." His Day he, furthermore, had described as "the times of refres.h.i.+ng," "the times of rest.i.tution of all things, which G.o.d hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy Prophets since the world began."

To Him Mu?ammad, the Apostle of G.o.d, had alluded in His Book as the "Great Announcement," and declared His Day to be the Day whereon "G.o.d" will "come down" "overshadowed with clouds," the Day whereon "thy Lord shall come and the angels rank on rank," and "The Spirit shall arise and the angels shall be ranged in order." His advent He, in that Book, in a surih said to have been termed by Him "the heart of the Qur'an," had foreshadowed as that of the "third" Messenger, sent down to "strengthen" the two who preceded Him.

To His Day He, in the pages of that same Book, had paid a glowing tribute, glorifying it as the "Great Day," the "Last Day," the "Day of G.o.d," the "Day of Judgment," the "Day of Reckoning," the "Day of Mutual Deceit," the "Day of Severing," the "Day of Sighing," the "Day of Meeting," the Day "when the Decree shall be accomplished," the Day whereon the second "Trumpet blast" will be sounded, the "Day when mankind shall stand before the Lord of the world," and "all shall come to Him in humble guise," the Day when "thou shalt see the mountains, which thou thinkest so firm, pa.s.s away with the pa.s.sing of a cloud," the Day "wherein account shall be taken," "the approaching Day, when men's hearts shall rise up, choking them, into their throats," the Day when "all that are in the heavens and all that are on the earth shall be terror-stricken, save him whom G.o.d pleaseth to deliver," the Day whereon "every suckling woman shall forsake her sucking babe, and every woman that hath a burden in her womb shall cast her burden," the Day "when the earth shall s.h.i.+ne with the light of her Lord, and the Book shall be set, and the Prophets shall be brought up, and the witnesses; and judgment shall be given between them with equity; and none shall be wronged."

The plenitude of His glory the Apostle of G.o.d had, moreover, as attested by Baha'u'llah Himself, compared to the "full moon on its fourteenth night." His station the Imam 'Ali, the Commander of the Faithful, had, according to the same testimony, identified with "Him Who conversed with Moses from the Burning Bush on Sinai." To the transcendent character of His mission the Imam ?usayn had, again according to Baha'u'llah, borne witness as a "Revelation whose Revealer will be He Who revealed" the Apostle of G.o.d Himself.

About Him _Sh_ay_kh_ A?mad-i-Ahsa'i, the herald of the Babi Dispensation, who had foreshadowed the "strange happenings" that would transpire "between the years sixty and sixty-seven," and had categorically affirmed the inevitability of His Revelation had, as previously mentioned, written the following: "The Mystery of this Cause must needs be made manifest, and the Secret of this Message must needs be divulged. I can say no more, I can appoint no time. His Cause will be made known after ?in (68)" (i.e., after a while).

Siyyid Kazim-i-Ra_sh_ti, _Sh_ay_kh_ A?mad's disciple and successor, had likewise written: "The Qa'im must needs be put to death. After He has been slain the world will have attained the age of eighteen." In his _Sh_arh-i-Qasidiy-i-Lamiyyih he had even alluded to the name "Baha."

Furthermore, to his disciples, as his days drew to a close, he had significantly declared: "Verily, I say, after the Qa'im the Qayyum will be made manifest. For when the star of the former has set the sun of the beauty of ?usayn will rise and illuminate the whole world. Then will be unfolded in all its glory the 'Mystery' and the 'Secret' spoken of by _Sh_ay_kh_ A?mad.... To have attained unto that Day of Days is to have attained unto the crowning glory of past generations, and one goodly deed performed in that age is equal to the pious wors.h.i.+p of countless centuries."

The Bab had no less significantly extolled Him as the "Essence of Being,"

as the "Remnant of G.o.d," as the "Omnipotent Master," as the "Crimson, all-encompa.s.sing Light," as "Lord of the visible and invisible," as the "sole Object of all previous Revelations, including The Revelation of the Qa'im Himself." He had formally designated Him as "He Whom G.o.d shall make manifest," had alluded to Him as the "Abha Horizon" wherein He Himself lived and dwelt, had specifically recorded His t.i.tle, and eulogized His "Order" in His best-known work, the Persian Bayan, had disclosed His name through His allusion to the "Son of 'Ali, a true and undoubted Leader of men," had, repeatedly, orally and in writing, fixed, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the time of His Revelation, and warned His followers lest "the Bayan and all that hath been revealed therein" should "shut them out as by a veil" from Him. He had, moreover, declared that He was the "first servant to believe in Him," that He bore Him allegiance "before all things were created," that "no allusion" of His "could allude unto Him," that "the year-old germ that holdeth within itself the potentialities of the Revelation that is to come is endowed with a potency superior to the combined forces of the whole of the Bayan." He had, moreover, clearly a.s.serted that He had "covenanted with all created things" concerning Him Whom G.o.d shall make manifest ere the covenant concerning His own mission had been established. He had readily acknowledged that He was but "a letter" of that "Most Mighty Book," "a dew-drop" from that "Limitless Ocean," that His Revelation was "only a leaf amongst the leaves of His Paradise," that "all that hath been exalted in the Bayan" was but "a ring"

upon His own hand, and He Himself "a ring upon the hand of Him Whom G.o.d shall make manifest," Who, "turneth it as He pleaseth, for whatsoever He pleaseth, and through whatsoever He pleaseth." He had unmistakably declared that He had "sacrificed" Himself "wholly" for Him, that He had "consented to be cursed" for His sake, and to have "yearned for naught but martyrdom" in the path of His love. Finally, He had unequivocally prophesied: "Today the Bayan is in the stage of seed; at the beginning of the manifestation of Him Whom G.o.d shall make manifest its ultimate perfection will become apparent." "Ere nine will have elapsed from the inception of this Cause the realities of the created things will not be made manifest. All that thou hast as yet seen is but the stage from the moist-germ until We clothed it with flesh. Be patient until thou beholdest a new creation. Say: Blessed, therefore, be G.o.d, the Most Excellent of Makers!"

"He around Whom the Point of the Bayan (Bab) hath revolved is come" is Baha'u'llah's confirmatory testimony to the inconceivable greatness and preeminent character of His own Revelation. "If all who are in heaven and on earth," He moreover affirms, "be invested in this day with the powers and attributes destined for the Letters of the Bayan, whose station is ten thousand times more glorious than that of the Letters of the Qur'anic Dispensation, and if they one and all should, swift as the twinkling of an eye, hesitate to recognize My Revelation, they shall be accounted, in the sight of G.o.d, of those that have gone astray, and regarded as 'Letters of Negation.'" "Powerful is He, the King of Divine might," He, alluding to Himself in the Kitab-i-iqan, a.s.serts, "to extinguish with one letter of His wondrous words, the breath of life in the whole of the Bayan and the people thereof, and with one letter bestow upon them a new and everlasting life, and cause them to arise and speed out of the sepulchers of their vain and selfish desires." "This," He furthermore declares, "is the king of days," the "Day of G.o.d Himself," the "Day which shall never be followed by night," the "Springtime which autumn will never overtake," "the eye to past ages and centuries," for which "the soul of every Prophet of G.o.d, of every Divine Messenger, hath thirsted," for which "all the divers kindreds of the earth have yearned," through which "G.o.d hath proved the hearts of the entire company of His Messengers and Prophets, and beyond them those that stand guard over His sacred and inviolable Sanctuary, the inmates of the Celestial Pavilion and dwellers of the Tabernacle of Glory." "In this most mighty Revelation," He moreover, states, "all the Dispensations of the past have attained their highest, their final consummation." And again: "None among the Manifestations of old, except to a prescribed degree, hath ever completely apprehended the nature of this Revelation."

Referring to His own station He declares: "But for Him no Divine Messenger would have been invested with the Robe of Prophethood, nor would any of the sacred Scriptures have been revealed."

And last but not least is 'Abdu'l-Baha's own tribute to the transcendent character of the Revelation identified with His Father: "Centuries, nay ages, must pa.s.s away, ere the Day-Star of Truth s.h.i.+neth again in its mid-summer splendor, or appeareth once more in the radiance of its vernal glory." "The mere contemplation of the Dispensation inaugurated by the Blessed Beauty," He furthermore affirms, "would have sufficed to overwhelm the saints of bygone ages-saints who longed to partake for one moment of its great glory." "Concerning the Manifestations that will come down in the future 'in the shadows of the clouds,' know verily," is His significant statement, "that in so far as their relation to the source of their inspiration is concerned they are under the shadow of the Ancient Beauty. In their relation, however, to the age in which they appear, each and every one of them 'doeth whatsoever He willeth.'" And finally stands this, His illuminating explanation, setting forth conclusively the true relations.h.i.+p between the Revelation of Baha'u'llah and that of the Bab: "The Revelation of the Bab may be likened to the sun, its station corresponding to the first sign of the Zodiac-the sign Aries-which the sun enters at the vernal equinox. The station of Baha'u'llah's Revelation, on the other hand, is represented by the sign Leo, the sun's mid-summer and highest station. By this is meant that this holy Dispensation is illumined with the light of the Sun of Truth s.h.i.+ning from its most exalted station, and in the plenitude of its resplendency, its heat and glory."

To attempt an exhaustive survey of the prophetic references to Baha'u'llah's Revelation would indeed be an impossible task. To this the pen of Baha'u'llah Himself bears witness: "All the Divine Books and Scriptures have predicted and announced unto men the advent of the Most Great Revelation. None can adequately recount the verses recorded in the Books of former ages which forecast this supreme Bounty, this most mighty Bestowal."

In conclusion of this theme, I feel, it should be stated that the Revelation identified with Baha'u'llah abrogates unconditionally all the Dispensations gone before it, upholds uncompromisingly the eternal verities they enshrine, recognizes firmly and absolutely the Divine origin of their Authors, preserves inviolate the sanct.i.ty of their authentic Scriptures, disclaims any intention of lowering the status of their Founders or of abating the spiritual ideals they inculcate, clarifies and correlates their functions, reaffirms their common, their unchangeable and fundamental purpose, reconciles their seemingly divergent claims and doctrines, readily and gratefully recognizes their respective contributions to the gradual unfoldment of one Divine Revelation, unhesitatingly acknowledges itself to be but one link in the chain of continually progressive Revelations, supplements their teachings with such laws and ordinances as conform to the imperative needs, and are dictated by the growing receptivity, of a fast evolving and constantly changing society, and proclaims its readiness and ability to fuse and incorporate the contending sects and factions into which they have fallen into a universal Fellows.h.i.+p, functioning within the framework, and in accordance with the precepts, of a divinely conceived, a world-unifying, a world-redeeming Order.

A Revelation, hailed as the promise and crowning glory of past ages and centuries, as the consummation of all the Dispensations within the Adamic Cycle, inaugurating an era of at least a thousand years' duration, and a cycle destined to last no less than five thousand centuries, signalizing the end of the Prophetic Era and the beginning of the Era of Fulfillment, unsurpa.s.sed alike in the duration of its Author's ministry and the fecundity and splendor of His mission-such a Revelation was, as already noted, born amidst the darkness of a subterranean dungeon in ?ihran-an abominable pit that had once served as a reservoir of water for one of the public baths of the city. Wrapped in its stygian gloom, breathing its fetid air, numbed by its humid and icy atmosphere, His feet in stocks, His neck weighed down by a mighty chain, surrounded by criminals and miscreants of the worst order, oppressed by the consciousness of the terrible blot that had stained the fair name of His beloved Faith, painfully aware of the dire distress that had overtaken its champions, and of the grave dangers that faced the remnant of its followers-at so critical an hour and under such appalling circ.u.mstances the "Most Great Spirit," as designated by Himself, and symbolized in the Zoroastrian, the Mosaic, the Christian, and Mu?ammadan Dispensations by the Sacred Fire, the Burning Bush, the Dove and the Angel Gabriel respectively, descended upon, and revealed itself, personated by a "Maiden," to the agonized soul of Baha'u'llah.

"One night in a dream," He Himself, calling to mind, in the evening of His life, the first stirrings of G.o.d's Revelation within His soul, has written, "these exalted words were heard on every side: 'Verily, We shall render Thee victorious by Thyself and by Thy pen. Grieve Thou not for that which hath befallen Thee, neither be Thou afraid, for Thou art in safety.

Ere long will G.o.d raise up the treasures of the earth-men who will aid Thee through Thyself and through Thy Name, wherewith G.o.d hath revived the hearts of such as have recognized Him.'" In another pa.s.sage He describes, briefly and graphically, the impact of the onrus.h.i.+ng force of the Divine Summons upon His entire being-an experience vividly recalling the vision of G.o.d that caused Moses to fall in a swoon, and the voice of Gabriel which plunged Mu?ammad into such consternation that, hurrying to the shelter of His home, He bade His wife, _Kh_adijih, envelop Him in His mantle. "During the days I lay in the prison of ?ihran," are His own memorable words, "though the galling weight of the chains and the stench-filled air allowed Me but little sleep, still in those infrequent moments of slumber I felt as if something flowed from the crown of My head over My breast, even as a mighty torrent that precipitateth itself upon the earth from the summit of a lofty mountain. Every limb of My body would, as a result, be set afire. At such moments My tongue recited what no man could bear to hear."

In His Suratu'l-Haykal (the Surih of the Temple) He thus describes those breathless moments when the Maiden, symbolizing the "Most Great Spirit"

proclaimed His mission to the entire creation: "While engulfed in tribulations I heard a most wondrous, a most sweet voice, calling above My head. Turning My face, I beheld a Maiden-the embodiment of the remembrance of the name of My Lord-suspended in the air before Me. So rejoiced was she in her very soul that her countenance shone with the ornament of the good-pleasure of G.o.d, and her cheeks glowed with the brightness of the All-Merciful. Betwixt earth and heaven she was raising a call which captivated the hearts and minds of men. She was imparting to both My inward and outer being tidings which rejoiced My soul, and the souls of G.o.d's honored servants. Pointing with her finger unto My head, she addressed all who are in heaven and all who are on earth, saying: 'By G.o.d!

This is the Best-Beloved of the worlds, and yet ye comprehend not. This is the Beauty of G.o.d amongst you, and the power of His sovereignty within you, could ye but understand. This is the Mystery of G.o.d and His Treasure, the Cause of G.o.d and His glory unto all who are in the kingdoms of Revelation and of creation, if ye be of them that perceive.'"

In His Epistle to Na?iri'd-Din _Sh_ah, His royal adversary, revealed at the height of the proclamation of His Message, occur these pa.s.sages which shed further light on the Divine origin of His mission: "O King! I was but a man like others, asleep upon My couch, when lo, the breezes of the All-Glorious were wafted over Me, and taught Me the knowledge of all that hath been. This thing is not from Me, but from One Who is Almighty and All-Knowing. And he bade Me lift up My voice between earth and heaven, and for this there befell Me what hath caused the tears of every man of understanding to flow.... This is but a leaf which the winds of the will of Thy Lord, the Almighty, the All-Praised, have stirred.... His all-compelling summons hath reached Me, and caused Me to speak His praise amidst all people. I was indeed as one dead when His behest was uttered.

The hand of the will of Thy Lord, the Compa.s.sionate, the Merciful, transformed Me." "By My Life!" He a.s.serts in another Tablet, "Not of Mine own volition have I revealed Myself, but G.o.d, of His own choosing, hath manifested Me." And again: "Whenever I chose to hold My peace and be still, lo, the Voice of the Holy Spirit, standing on My right hand, aroused Me, and the Most Great Spirit appeared before My face, and Gabriel overshadowed Me, and the Spirit of Glory stirred within My bosom, bidding Me arise and break My silence."

Such were the circ.u.mstances in which the Sun of Truth arose in the city of ?ihran-a city which, by reason of so rare a privilege conferred upon it, had been glorified by the Bab as the "Holy Land," and surnamed by Baha'u'llah "the Mother of the world," the "Day-spring of Light," the "Dawning-Place of the signs of the Lord," the "Source of the joy of all mankind." The first dawnings of that Light of peerless splendor had, as already described, broken in the city of _Sh_iraz. The rim of that Orb had now appeared above the horizon of the Siyah-_Ch_al of ?ihran. Its rays were to burst forth, a decade later, in Ba_gh_dad, piercing the clouds which immediately after its rise in those somber surroundings obscured its splendor. It was destined to mount to its zenith in the far-away city of Adrianople, and ultimately to set in the immediate vicinity of the fortress-town of Akka.

The process whereby the effulgence of so dazzling a Revelation was unfolded to the eyes of men was of necessity slow and gradual. The first intimation which its Bearer received did not synchronize with, nor was it followed immediately by, a disclosure of its character to either His own companions or His kindred. A period of no less than ten years had to elapse ere its far-reaching implications could be directly divulged to even those who had been intimately a.s.sociated with Him-a period of great spiritual ferment, during which the Recipient of so weighty a Message restlessly antic.i.p.ated the hour at which He could unburden His heavily laden soul, so replete with the potent energies released by G.o.d's nascent Revelation. All He did, in the course of this pre-ordained interval, was to hint, in veiled and allegorical language, in epistles, commentaries, prayers and treatises, which He was moved to reveal, that the Bab's promise had already been fulfilled, and that He Himself was the One Who had been chosen to redeem it. A few of His fellow-disciples, distinguished by their sagacity, and their personal attachment and devotion to Him, perceived the radiance of the as yet unrevealed glory that had flooded His soul, and would have, but for His restraining influence, divulged His secret and proclaimed it far and wide.

Chapter VII: Baha'u'llah's Banishment to 'Iraq

The attempt on the life of Na?iri'd-Din _Sh_ah, as stated in a previous chapter, was made on the 28th of the month of _Sh_avval, 1268 A.H., corresponding to the 15th of August, 1852. Immediately after, Baha'u'llah was arrested in Niyavaran, was conducted with the greatest ignominy to ?ihran and cast into the Siyah-_Ch_al. His imprisonment lasted for a period of no less than four months, in the middle of which the "year nine"

(1269), antic.i.p.ated in such glowing terms by the Bab, and alluded to as the year "after ?in" by _Sh_ay_kh_ A?mad-i-Ahsa'i, was ushered in, endowing with undreamt-of potentialities the whole world. Two months after that year was born, Baha'u'llah, the purpose of His imprisonment now accomplished, was released from His confinement, and set out, a month later, for Ba_gh_dad, on the first stage of a memorable and life-long exile which was to carry Him, in the course of years, as far as Adrianople in European Turkey, and which was to end with His twenty-four years'

incarceration in Akka.

Now that He had been invested, in consequence of that potent dream, with the power and sovereign authority a.s.sociated with His Divine mission, His deliverance from a confinement that had achieved its purpose, and which if prolonged would have completely fettered Him in the exercise of His newly-bestowed functions, became not only inevitable, but imperative and urgent. Nor were the means and instruments lacking whereby his emanc.i.p.ation from the shackles that restrained Him could be effected. The persistent and decisive intervention of the Russian Minister, Prince Dolgorouki, who left no stone unturned to establish the innocence of Baha'u'llah; the public confession of Mulla _Sh_ay_kh_ 'Aliy-i-Tur_sh_izi, surnamed A?im, who, in the Siyah-_Ch_al, in the presence of the ?ajibu'd-Dawlih and the Russian Minister's interpreter and of the government's representative, emphatically exonerated Him, and acknowledged his own complicity; the indisputable testimony established by competent tribunals; the unrelaxing efforts exerted by His own brothers, sisters and kindred,-all these combined to effect His ultimate deliverance from the hands of His rapacious enemies. Another potent if less evident influence which must be acknowledged as having had a share in His liberation was the fate suffered by so large a number of His self-sacrificing fellow-disciples who languished with Him in that same prison. For, as Nabil truly remarks, "the blood, shed in the course of that fateful year in ?ihran by that heroic band with whom Baha'u'llah had been imprisoned, was the ransom paid for His deliverance from the hand of a foe that sought to prevent Him from achieving the purpose for which G.o.d had destined Him."

With such overwhelming testimonies establis.h.i.+ng beyond the shadow of a doubt the non-complicity of Baha'u'llah, the Grand Vizir, after having secured the reluctant consent of his sovereign to set free his Captive, was now in a position to dispatch his trusted representative, ?aji 'Ali, to the Siyah-_Ch_al, instructing him to deliver to Baha'u'llah the order for His release. The sight which that emissary beheld upon his arrival evoked in him such anger that he cursed his master for the shameful treatment of a man of such high position and stainless renown. Removing his mantle from his shoulders he presented it to Baha'u'llah, entreating Him to wear it when in the presence of the Minister and his counsellors, a request which He emphatically refused, preferring to appear, attired in the garb of a prisoner, before the members of the Imperial government.

No sooner had He presented Himself before them than the Grand Vizir addressed Him saying: "Had you chosen to take my advice, and had you dissociated yourself from the Faith of the Siyyid-i-Bab, you would never have suffered the pains and indignities that have been heaped upon you."

"Had you, in your turn," Baha'u'llah retorted, "followed My counsels, the affairs of the government would not have reached so critical a stage."

Mirza aqa _Kh_an was thereupon reminded of the conversation he had had with Him on the occasion of the Bab's martyrdom, when he had been warned that "the flame that has been kindled will blaze forth more fiercely than ever." "What is it that you advise me now to do?" he inquired from Baha'u'llah. "Command the governors of the realm," was the instant reply, "to cease shedding the blood of the innocent, to cease plundering their property, to cease dishonoring their women, and injuring their children."

That same day the Grand Vizir acted on the advice thus given him; but any effect it had, as the course of subsequent events amply demonstrated, proved to be momentary and negligible.

The relative peace and tranquillity accorded Baha'u'llah after His tragic and cruel imprisonment was destined, by the dictates of an unerring Wisdom, to be of an extremely short duration. He had hardly rejoined His family and kindred when a decree from Na?iri'd-Din _Sh_ah was communicated to Him, bidding Him leave the territory of Persia, fixing a time-limit of one month for His departure and allowing Him the right to choose the land of His exile.

The Russian Minister, as soon as he was informed of the Imperial decision, expressed the desire to take Baha'u'llah under the protection of his government, and offered to extend every facility for His removal to Russia. This invitation, so spontaneously extended, Baha'u'llah declined, preferring, in pursuance of an unerring instinct, to establish His abode in Turkish territory, in the city of Ba_gh_dad. "Whilst I lay chained and fettered in the prison," He Himself, years after, testified in His Epistle addressed to the Czar of Russia, Nicolaevitch Alexander II, "one of thy ministers extended Me his aid. Whereupon G.o.d hath ordained for thee a station which the knowledge of none can comprehend except His knowledge.

Beware lest thou barter away this sublime station." "In the days," is yet another illuminating testimony revealed by His pen, "when this Wronged One was sore-afflicted in prison, the minister of the highly esteemed government (of Russia)-may G.o.d, glorified and exalted be He, a.s.sist him!-exerted his utmost endeavor to compa.s.s My deliverance. Several times permission for My release was granted. Some of the 'ulamas of the city, however, would prevent it. Finally, My freedom was gained through the solicitude and the endeavor of His Excellency the Minister. ...His Imperial Majesty, the Most Great Emperor-may G.o.d, exalted and glorified be He, a.s.sist him!-extended to Me for the sake of G.o.d his protection-a protection which has excited the envy and enmity of the foolish ones of the earth."

The _Sh_ah's edict, equivalent to an order for the immediate expulsion of Baha'u'llah from Persian territory, opens a new and glorious chapter in the history of the first Baha'i century. Viewed in its proper perspective it will be even recognized to have ushered in one of the most eventful and momentous epochs in the world's religious history. It coincides with the inauguration of a ministry extending over a period of almost forty years-a ministry which, by virtue of its creative power, its cleansing force, its healing influences, and the irresistible operation of the world-directing, world-shaping forces it released, stands unparalleled in the religious annals of the entire human race. It marks the opening phase in a series of banishments, ranging over a period of four decades, and terminating only with the death of Him Who was the Object of that cruel edict. The process which it set in motion, gradually progressing and unfolding, began by establis.h.i.+ng His Cause for a time in the very midst of the jealously-guarded stronghold of _Sh_i'ah Islam, and brought Him in personal contact with its highest and most ill.u.s.trious exponents; then, at a later stage, it confronted Him, at the seat of the Caliphate, with the civil and ecclesiastical dignitaries of the realm and the representatives of the Sul?an of Turkey, the most powerful potentate in the Islamic world; and finally carried Him as far as the sh.o.r.es of the Holy Land, thereby fulfilling the prophecies recorded in both the Old and the New Testaments, redeeming the pledge enshrined in various traditions attributed to the Apostle of G.o.d and the Imams who succeeded Him, and ushering in the long-awaited restoration of Israel to the ancient cradle of its Faith.

With it, may be said to have begun the last and most fruitful of the four stages of a life, the first twenty-seven years of which were characterized by the care-free enjoyment of all the advantages conferred by high birth and riches, and by an unfailing solicitude for the interests of the poor, the sick and the down-trodden; followed by nine years of active and exemplary disciples.h.i.+p in the service of the Bab; and finally by an imprisonment of four months' duration, overshadowed throughout by mortal peril, embittered by agonizing sorrows, and immortalized, as it drew to a close, by the sudden eruption of the forces released by an overpowering, soul-revolutionizing Revelation.

This enforced and hurried departure of Baha'u'llah from His native land, accompanied by some of His relatives, recalls in some of its aspects, the precipitate flight of the Holy Family into Egypt; the sudden migration of Mu?ammad, soon after His a.s.sumption of the prophetic office, from Mecca to Medina; the exodus of Moses, His brother and His followers from the land of their birth, in response to the Divine summons, and above all the banishment of Abraham from Ur of the Chaldees to the Promised Land-a banishment which, in the mult.i.tudinous benefits it conferred upon so many divers peoples, faiths and nations, const.i.tutes the nearest historical approach to the incalculable blessings destined to be vouchsafed, in this day, and in future ages, to the whole human race, in direct consequence of the exile suffered by Him Whose Cause is the flower and fruit of all previous Revelations.

'Abdu'l-Baha, after enumerating in His "Some Answered Questions" the far-reaching consequences of Abraham's banishment, significantly affirms that "since the exile of Abraham from Ur to Aleppo in Syria produced this result, we must consider what will be the effect of the exile of Baha'u'llah in His several removes from ?ihran to Ba_gh_dad, from thence to Constantinople, to Rumelia and to the Holy Land."