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
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 Bāb himself and that
of his faithful follower? The enemies of the Bāb, and even Count
Gobineau, assert that the dead body of the Bāb was cast out into the
moat and devoured by the wild beasts. [Footnote: A similar fate is
asserted by tradition for the dead body of the heroic Mullā
Muḥammad 'Ali of Zanjan.] We may be sure, however, that if the holy
body were exposed at night, the loyal Bābīs 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 Muḥammad '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 Mullā Ḥuseyn of Khurasan and Aḳa Muḥammad 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 Bāb 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 Muḥammad 'Ali from the
sentinels for 400 tumāns, and keep them in thy house for six
months. Afterwards lay Aḳa Muḥammad '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 title Jenab-i-Baha was, even after
the presumed date of this letter, the title commonly given to this
personage.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account