The Reconciliation of Races and ReligionsCheyne, T. K. (Thomas Kelly)
Religion
The Reconciliation of Races and Religions
Cheyne, T. K. (Thomas Kelly)
Bahais
The words of the prophetess came true. She was taken to Niyavaran, and
publicly but gently asked, 'Are you a Bābī?' She answered what she
had said that she would answer in such a case. She was taken back to
Tihran. Her martyrdom took place in the citadel. She was placed upon a
heap of that coarse straw which is used to increase the bulk of
woollen and felt carpets. But before setting fire to this, the
executioners stifled her with rags, so that the flames only devoured
her dead body.
An account is also given in the London manuscript of the _New
History_, but as the Mirza suffered in the same persecution as the
heroine, we must suppose that it was inserted by the editor. It is
very short.
'For some while she was in the house of Maḥmūd Khan, the Kalantar,
where she exhorted and counselled the women of the household, till one
day she went to the bath, whence she returned in white garments,
saying, "To-morrow they will kill me." Next day the executioner came
and took her to the Nigaristan. As she would not suffer them to remove
the veil from her face (though they repeatedly sought to do so) they
applied the bow-string, and thus compassed her martyrdom. Then they
cast her holy body into a well in the garden. [Footnote: _NH_,
pp. 283 _f_.]
My own impression is that a legend early began to gather round the
sacred form of Her Highness the Pure. Retracing his recollections even
Dr. Polak mixes up truth and fiction, and has in his mind's eye
something like the scene conjured up by Count Gobineau in his
description of the persecution of Tihran:--
'On vit s'avancer, entre les bourreaux, des enfants et des femmes, les
chairs ouvertes sur tout le corps, avec des mèches allumées
flambantes fichées dans les blessures.'
Looking back on the short career of Ḳurratu'l 'Ayn, one is chiefly
struck by her fiery enthusiasm and by her absolute unworldliness. This
world was, in fact, to her, as it was said to be to Ḳuddus, a mere
handful of dust. She was also an eloquent speaker and experienced in
the intricate measures of Persian poetry. One of her few poems which
have thus far been made known is of special interest, because of the
belief which it expresses in the divine-human character of some one
(here called Lord), whose claims, when once adduced, would receive
general recognition. Who was this Personage? It appears that
Ḳurratu'l 'Ayn thought Him slow in bringing forward these claims. Is
there any one who can be thought of but Baha-'ullah?
The Bahaite tradition confidently answers in the negative.
Baha-'ullah, it declares, exercised great influence on the second
stage of the heroine's development, and Ḳurratu'l 'Ayn was one of
those who had pressed forward into the innermost sanctum of the
Bāb's disclosures. She was aware that 'The Splendour of God' was 'He
whom God would manifest.' The words of the poem, in Prof. Browne's
translation, refer, not to Ezel, but to his brother Baha-'ullah. They
are in _TN_, p. 315.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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