The Reconciliation of Races and ReligionsCheyne, T. K. (Thomas Kelly)
Religion
The Reconciliation of Races and Religions
Cheyne, T. K. (Thomas Kelly)
Bahais
It was, in fact, an ecclesiastical crisis, as the authors of the
_Traveller's Narrative_, as well as the Ezelite historian,
distinctly recognize. Baha-'ullah, too,--to give him his nobler
name--endorses this view when he says, 'Then, in secret, the Sayyid of
Isfahan circumvented him, and together they did that which caused a
great calamity.' It was, therefore, indeed a crisis, and the chief
blame is laid on Sayyid Muḥammad. [Footnote: _TN_, p. 94. 'He
(i.e. Sayyid Muḥammad) commenced a secret intrigue, and fell
to tempting Mirza Yaḥya, saying, "The fame of this sect hath risen
high in the world; neither dread nor danger remaineth, nor is there
any fear or need for caution before you."'] Ṣubḥ-i-Ezel is still
a mere youth and easily imposed upon; the Sayyid ought to have known
better than to tempt him, for a stronger teacher was needed in this
period of disorganization than the Ezelites could produce. Mirza
Yaḥya was not up to the leadership, nor was he entitled to place
himself above his much older brother, especially when he was bound by
the tie of gratitude. 'Remember,' says Baha-'ullah, 'the favour of thy
master, when we brought thee up during the nights and days for the
service of the Religion. Fear God, and be of those who repent. Grant
that thine affair is dubious unto me; is it dubious unto thyself?' How
gentle is this fraternal reproof!
There is but little more to relate that has not been already told in
the sketch of Baha-'ullah. He was, at any rate, harmless in Cyprus,
and had no further opportunity for religious assassination. One
cannot help regretting that his sun went down so stormily. I return
therefore to the question of the honorific names of Mirza Yaḥya,
after which I shall refer to the singular point of the crystal coffin
and to the moral character of Ṣubḥ-i-Ezel.
Among the names and titles which the Ezelite book called _Eight
Paradises_ declares to have been conferred by the Bāb on his
young disciple are Ṣubḥ-i-Ezel (or Azal), Baha-'ullah, and the
strange title _Mir'at_ (Mirror). The two former--'Dawn of
Eternity' and 'Splendour of God'--are referred to elsewhere. The third
properly belongs to a class of persons inferior to the 'Letters of the
Living,' and to this class Ṣubḥ-i-Ezel, by his own admission,
belongs. The title Mir'at, therefore, involves some limitation of
Ezel's dignity, and its object apparently is to prevent
Ṣubḥ-i-Ezel from claiming to be 'He whom God will make manifest.'
That is, the Bāb in his last years had an intuition that the eternal
day would not be ushered into existence by this impractical nature.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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