The Báb: The Herald of the Day of DaysBalyuzi, H. M.
Religion
The Báb: The Herald of the Day of Days
Balyuzi, H. M.
Bab, Ali Muhammad Shirazi, 1819-1850; Bahai Faith
It was still early in the afternoon when the Báb requested
Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid `Alí to bring His pen-case and some
paper. He then started to reveal His commentary on the Súrih
of Kaw[_th_]ar. How am I to describe this scene of
inexpressible majesty? Verses streamed from His pen with a
rapidity that was truly astounding. The incredible swiftness
of His writing, the soft and gentle murmur of His voice,
and the stupendous force of His style, amazed and bewildered
me. He continued in this manner until the approach of
sunset. He did not pause until the entire commentary of the
Súrih was completed. He then laid down His pen and asked for
tea. Soon after, He began to read it aloud in my presence.
My heart leaped madly as I heard Him pour out, in accents of
unutterable sweetness, those treasures enshrined in that
sublime commentary. I was so entranced by its beauty that
three times over I was on the verge of fainting. He sought
to revive my failing strength with a few drops of rose-water
which He caused to be sprinkled on my face. This restored my
vigour and enabled me to follow His reading to the end.[7]
[Footnote CD: Qur'án, cviii. Kaw[_th_]ar is said to be a
river in Paradise.]
The Báb's conquest of Siyyid Yaḥyá was total. That night and the
two following nights, as instructed by the Báb, Siyyid Yaḥyá
remained a guest in the house of Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid `Alí, until he
himself and Mullá `Abdu'l-Karím-i-Qazvíní, the scribe, (later known as
Mírzá Aḥmad-i-Kátib), completed the transcription of the Báb's
commentary. Siyyid Yaḥyá has stated:
We verified all the traditions in the text and found them to
be entirely accurate. Such was the state of certitude to
which I had attained that if all the powers of the earth
were to be leagued against me they would be powerless to
shake my confidence in the greatness of His Cause.[8]
Siyyid Yaḥyá had stayed away for such a long time from the
Governor's residence that Ḥusayn [_Kh_]án's suspicions were
aroused. To his impatient queries, Siyyid Yaḥyá replied:
No one but God, who alone can change the hearts of men, is
able to captivate the heart of Siyyid Yaḥyá. Whoso can
ensnare his heart is of God, and His word unquestionably the
voice of Truth.[9]
Ḥusayn [_Kh_]án was nonplussed and, for the moment, could only hold
his peace; but he wrote bitterly to Muḥammad [_Sh_]áh to denounce
Siyyid Yaḥyá. Nabíl-i-A`ẓam states that Muḥammad [_Sh_]áh
reprimanded his Governor, replying:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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