The Reconciliation of Races and Religions — John Shaqi
The Reconciliation of Races and ReligionsCheyne, T. K. (Thomas Kelly)
Religion
The Reconciliation of Races and Religions
Cheyne, T. K. (Thomas Kelly)
Bahais
A constant stream of Tablets (letters) flowed from his pen. In this
way he kept himself in touch with those who could not see him in the
flesh. But there were many who could not rest without seeing the
divine Manifestation. Pilgrims seemed never to cease; and it made the
Bāb still happier to receive them.
This stream of Tablets and of pilgrims could not however be
exhilarating to the Shah and his Minister. They complained to the
castle-warden, and bade him be a stricter gaoler, but 'Ali Khan, too,
was under the spell of the Gate of Knowledge; or--as one should rather
say now--the Point or Climax of Prophetic Revelation, for so the Word
of Prophecy directed that he should be called. So the order went
forth that 'Ali Muḥammad should be transferred to another
castle--that of Chihriḳ. [Footnote: Strictly, six or eight months
(Feb. or April to Dec. 1847) at Maku, and two-and-a-half years at
Chihriḳ (Dec. 1847 to July 1850).]
At this point a digression seems necessary.
The Bāb was well aware that a primary need of the new fraternity was
a new Ḳur'an. This he produced in the shape of a book called _The
Bayan_ (Exposition). Unfortunately he adopted from the Muslims the
unworkable idea of a sacred language, and his first contributions to
the new Divine Library (for the new Ḳur'an ultimately became this)
were in Arabic. These were a Commentary on the Sura of Yusuf (Joseph)
and the Arabic Bayan. The language of these, however, was a barrier to
the laity, and so the 'first believer' wrote a letter to the Bāb,
enforcing the necessity of making himself intelligible to all. This
seems to be the true origin of the Persian Bayan.
A more difficult matter is 'Ali Muḥammad's very peculiar
consciousness, which reminds us of that which the Fourth Gospel
ascribes to Jesus Christ. In other words, 'Ali Muḥammad claims for
himself the highest spiritual rank. 'As for Me,' he said, 'I am that
Point from which all that exists has found existence. I am that Face
of God which dieth not. I am that Light which doth not go out. He that
knoweth Me is accompanied by all good; he that repulseth Me hath
behind him all evil.' [Footnote: _AMB_, p. 369.] It is also certain
that in comparatively early writings, intended for stedfast disciples,
'Ali Muḥammad already claims the title of Point, i.e. Point of
Truth, or of Divine Wisdom, or of the Divine Mercy. [Footnote: _Beyan
Arabe_, p. 206.]
It is noteworthy that just here we have a very old contact with
Babylonian mythology. 'Point' is, in fact, a mythological term. It
springs from an endeavour to minimize the materialism of the myth of
the Divine Dwelling-place. That ancient myth asserted that the
earth-mountain was the Divine Throne. Not so, said an early school of
Theosophy, God, i.e. the God who has a bodily form and manifests the
hidden glory, dwells on a point in the extreme north, called by the
Babylonians 'the heaven of Anu.'
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