Chapter 13

In Paris, Zillu's-Sultan(114) related the following, swearing to the truth of it upon his oath: "Many and many a time I warned those two great scions of the Prophet's House, but all to no avail. At the last I summoned them one night, and with extreme urgency I told them in so many words: 'Gentlemen, the _Sh_ah has three times condemned you to death. His farmans keep on coming. The decree is absolute and there is only one course open to you now: you must, in the presence of the 'ulamas, clear yourselves and curse your Faith.' Their answer was: 'Ya Baha'u'l-Abha! O Thou Glory of the All-Glorious! May our lives be offered up!' Finally I agreed to their not cursing their Faith. I told them all they had to say was, 'We are not Baha'is.' 'Just those few words,' I said, 'will be enough; then I can write out my report for the _Sh_ah, and you will be saved.' 'That is impossible,' they answered, 'because we are Baha'is. O Thou Glory of the All-Glorious, our hearts hunger for martyrdom! Ya Baha'u'l-Abha!' I was enraged, then, and I tried, by being harsh with them, to force them to renounce their Faith, but it was hopeless. The decree of the rapacious She-Serpent and Wolf, and the _Sh_ah's commands, were carried out."

After those two were martyred, _Sh_amsu'd-Duha was hunted down, and had to seek a refuge in her brother's house. Although he was not a believer, he was known in Isfahan as an upright, pious and godly man, a man of learning, an ascetic who, hermit-like, kept to himself, and for these reasons he was highly regarded and trusted by all. She stayed there with him, but the Government did not abandon its search, finally discovered her whereabouts and summoned her to appear; the evil 'ulamas had a hand in this, joining forces with the civil authorities. Her brother was therefore obliged to accompany _Sh_amsu'd-Duha to the Governor's house. He remained without, while they sent his sister into the women's apartments; the Governor came there, to the door, and he kicked and trampled her so savagely that she fainted away. Then the Governor shouted to his wife: "Princess! Princess! Come here and take a look at the Baha'is' Lady of Light!"

The women lifted her up and put her in one of the rooms. Meanwhile her brother, dumbfounded, was waiting outside the mansion. Finally, trying to plead with him, he said to the Governor: "This sister of mine has been beaten so severely that she is at the point of death. What is the use of keeping her here? There is no hope for her now. With your permission I can get her back to my house. It would be better to have her die there, rather than here, for after all, she is a descendant of the Prophet, she is of Muhammad's noble line, and she has done no wrong. There is nothing against her except her kinship to the son-in-law." The Governor answered: "She is one of the great leaders and heroines of the Baha'is. She will simply cause another uproar." The brother said: "I promise you that she will not utter a word. It is certain that within a few days she will not even be alive. Her body is frail, weak, almost lifeless, and she has suffered terrible harm."

Since the brother was greatly respected and trusted by high and low alike, the Governor released _Sh_amsu'd-Duha in his custody, letting her go. She lived for a while in his house, crying out, grieving, shedding her tears, mourning her dead. Neither was the brother at peace, nor would the hostile leave them alone; there was some new turmoil every day, and public clamor. The brother finally thought it best to take _Sh_ams away on a pilgrimage to Ma_sh_had, hoping that the fire of civil disturbances would die down.

They went to Ma_sh_had and settled in a vacant house near the Shrine of the Imam Rida.(115)

Because he was such a pious man the brother would leave every morning to visit the Shrine, and there he would stay, busy with his devotions until almost noon. In the afternoon as well, he would hasten away to the Holy Place, and pray until evening. The house being empty, _Sh_amsu'd-Duha managed to get in touch with various women believers and began to associate with them; and because the love of God burned so brightly in her heart she was unable to keep silent, so that during those hours when her brother was absent the place came alive. The Baha'i women would flock there and absorb her lucid and eloquent speech.

In those days life in Ma_sh_had was hard for the believers, with the malevolent always on the alert; if they so much as suspected an individual, they murdered him. There was no security of any kind, no peace. But _Sh_amsu'd-Duha could not help herself: in spite of all the terrible ordeals she had endured, she ignored the danger, and was capable of flinging herself into flames, or into the sea. Since her brother frequented no one, he knew nothing of what was going on. Day and night he would only leave the house for the Shrine, the Shrine for the house; he was a recluse, had no friends, and would not so much as speak to another person. Nevertheless there came a day when he saw that trouble had broken out in the city, and he knew it would end in serious harm. He was a man so calm and silent that he did not reproach his sister; he simply took her away from Ma_sh_had without warning, and they returned to Isfahan. Here, he sent her to her daughter, the widow of the King of Martyrs, for he would no longer shelter her under his roof.

_Sh_amsu'd-Duha was thus back in Isfahan, boldly teaching the Faith and spreading abroad the sweet savors of God. So vehement was the fiery love in her heart that it compelled her to speak out, whenever she found a listening ear. And when it was observed that once again the household of the King of Martyrs was about to be overtaken by calamities, and that they were enduring severe afflictions there in Isfahan, Baha'u'llah desired them to come to the Most Great Prison. _Sh_amsu'd-Duha, with the widow of the King of Martyrs and the children, arrived in the Holy Land. Here they were joyously spending their days when the son of the King of Martyrs, Mirza 'Abdu'l-Husayn, as a result of the awful suffering he had been subjected to in Isfahan, came down with tuberculosis and died in Akka.

_Sh_amsu'd-Duha was heavy of heart. She mourned his absence, she wasted away with longing for him, and it was all much harder because then the Supreme Affliction came upon us, the crowning anguish. The basis of her life was undermined; candle-like, she was consumed with grieving. She grew so feeble that she took to her bed, unable to move. Still, she did not rest, nor keep silent for a moment. She would tell of days long gone, of things that had come to pass in the Cause, or she would recite from Holy Writ, or she would supplicate, and chant her prayers--until, out of the Most Great Prison, she soared away to the world of God. She hastened away from this dust gulf of perdition to an unsullied country; packed her gear and journeyed to the land of lights. Unto her be salutations and praise, and most great mercy, sheltered in the compassion of her omnipotent Lord.

TAHIRIH

A woman chaste and holy, a sign and token of surpassing beauty, a burning brand of the love of God, a lamp of His bestowal, was Jinab-i-Tahirih.(116) She was called Umm-Salma; she was the daughter of Haji Mulla Salih, a mujtahid of Qazvin, and her paternal uncle was Mulla Taqi, the Imam-Jum'ih or leader of prayers in the cathedral mosque of that city. They married her to Mulla Muhammad, the son of Mulla Taqi, and she gave birth to three children, two sons and a daughter; all three were bereft of the grace that encompassed their mother, and all failed to recognize the truth of the Cause.

When she was still a child her father selected a teacher for her and she studied various branches of knowledge and the arts, achieving remarkable ability in literary pursuits. Such was the degree of her scholarship and attainments that her father would often express his regret, saying, "Would that she had been a boy, for he would have shed illumination upon my household, and would have succeeded me!"(117)

One day she was a guest in the home of Mulla Javad, a cousin on her mother's side, and there in her cousin's library she came upon some of the writings of _Sh_ay_kh_ Ahmad-i-Ahsa'i.(118) Delighted with what he had to say, Tahirih asked to borrow the writings and take them home. Mulla Javad violently objected, telling her: "Your father is an enemy of the Twin Luminous Lights, _Sh_ay_kh_ Ahmad and Siyyid Kazim. If he should even dream that any words of those two great beings, any fragrance from the garden of those realities, had come your way, he would make an attempt against my life, and you too would become the target of his wrath." Tahirih answered: "For a long time now, I have thirsted after this; I have yearned for these explanations, these inner truths. Give me whatever you have of these books. Never mind if it angers my father." Accordingly, Mulla Javad sent over the writings of the _Sh_ay_kh_ and the Siyyid.

One night, Tahirih sought out her father in his library, and began to speak of _Sh_ay_kh_ Ahmad's teachings. The very moment he learned that his daughter knew of the _Sh_ay_kh_i doctrines, Mulla Salih's denunciations rang out, and he cried: "Javad has made you a lost soul!" Tahirih answered, "The late _Sh_ay_kh_ was a true scholar of God, and I have learned an infinity of spiritual truths from reading his books. Furthermore, he bases whatever he says on the traditions of the Holy Imams. You call yourself a mystic knower and a man of God, you consider your respected uncle to be a scholar as well, and most pious--yet in neither of you do I find a trace of those qualities!"

For some time, she carried on heated discussions with her father, debating such questions as the Resurrection and the Day of Judgment, the Night-Ascent of Muhammad to Heaven, the Promise and the Threat, and the Advent of the Promised One.(119) Lacking arguments, her father would resort to curses and abuse. Then one night, in support of her contention, Tahirih quoted a holy tradition from the Imam Ja'far-i-Sadiq;(120) and since it confirmed what she was saying, her father burst out laughing, mocking the tradition. Tahirih said, "Oh my father, these are the words of the Holy Imam. How can you mock and deny them?"

From that time on, she ceased to debate and contend with her father. Meanwhile she entered into secret correspondence with Siyyid Kazim, regarding the solution of complex theological problems, and thus it came about that the Siyyid conferred on her the name "Solace of the Eyes" (Qurratu'l-'Ayn); as for the title Tahirih ("The Pure One"), it was first associated with her in Bada_sh_t, and was subsequently approved by the Bab, and recorded in Tablets.

Tahirih had caught fire. She set out for Karbila, hoping to meet Siyyid Kazim, but she arrived too late: ten days before she reached that city, he passed away. Not long before his death the Siyyid had shared with his disciples the good news that the promised Advent was at hand. "Go forth," he repeatedly told them, "and seek out your Lord." Thus the most distinguished of his followers gathered for retirement and prayer, for fasts and vigils, in the Masjid-i-Kufih, while some awaited the Advent in Karbila. Among these was Tahirih, fasting by day, practicing religious disciplines, and spending the night in vigils, and chanting prayers. One night when it was getting along toward dawn she laid her head on her pillow, lost all awareness of this earthly life, and dreamed a dream; in her vision a youth, a Siyyid, wearing a black cloak and a green turban, appeared to her in the heavens; he was standing in the air, reciting verses and praying with his hands upraised. At once, she memorized one of those verses, and wrote it down in her notebook when she awoke. After the Bab had declared His mission, and His first book, "The Best of Stories,"(121) was circulated, Tahirih was reading a section of the text one day, and she came upon that same verse, which she had noted down from the dream. Instantly offering thanks, she fell to her knees and bowed her forehead to the ground, convinced that the Bab's message was truth.

This good news reached her in Karbila and she at once began to teach. She translated and expounded "The Best of Stories," also writing in Persian and Arabic, composing odes and lyrics, and humbly practicing her devotions, performing even those that were optional and supernumerary. When the evil 'ulamas in Karbila got wind of all this, and learned that a woman was summoning the people to a new religion and had already influenced a considerable number, they went to the Governor and lodged a complaint. Their charges, to be brief, led to violent attacks on Tahirih, and sufferings, which she accepted and for which she offered praise and thanks. When the authorities came hunting for her they first assaulted _Sh_amsu'd-Duha, mistaking her for Tahirih. As soon, however, as they heard that Tahirih had been arrested they let _Sh_ams go--for Tahirih had sent a message to the Governor saying, "I am at your disposal. Do not harm any other."

The Governor set guards over her house and shut her away, writing Ba_gh_dad for instructions as to how he should proceed. For three months, she lived in a state of siege, completely isolated, with the guards surrounding her house. Since the local authorities had still received no reply from Ba_gh_dad, Tahirih referred her case to the Governor, saying: "No word has come from either Ba_gh_dad or Constantinople. Accordingly, we will ourselves proceed to Ba_gh_dad and await the answer there." The Governor gave her leave to go, and she set out, accompanied by _Sh_amsu'd-Duha and the Leaf of Paradise (the sister of Mulla Husayn) and her mother. In Ba_gh_dad she stayed first in the house of _Sh_ay_kh_ Muhammad, the distinguished father of Aqa Muhammad-Mustafa. But so great was the press of people around her that she transferred her residence to another quarter, engaged night and day in spreading the Faith, and freely associated with the inhabitants of Ba_gh_dad. She thus became celebrated throughout the city and there was a great uproar.

Tahirih also maintained a correspondence with the 'ulamas of Kazimayn; she presented them with unanswerable proofs, and when one or another appeared before her she offered him convincing arguments. Finally she sent a message to the _Sh_i'ih divines, saying to them: "If you are not satisfied with these conclusive proofs, I challenge you to a trial by ordeal."(122) Then there was a great outcry from the divines, and the Governor was obliged to send Tahirih and her women companions to the house of Ibn-i-Alusi, who was mufti of Ba_gh_dad. Here she remained about three months, waiting for word and directions from Constantinople. Ibn-i-Alusi would engage her in learned dialogues, questions would be asked and answers given, and he would not deny what she had to say.

On a certain day the mufti related one of his dreams, and asked her to tell him what it meant. He said: "In my dream I saw the _Sh_i'ih 'ulamas arriving at the holy tomb of Imam Husayn, the Prince of Martyrs. They took away the barrier that encloses the tomb, and they broke open the resplendent grave, so that the immaculate body lay revealed to their gaze. They sought to take up the holy form, but I cast myself down on the corpse and I warded them off." Tahirih answered: "This is the meaning of your dream: you are about to deliver me from the hands of the _Sh_i'ih divines." "I too had interpreted it thus," said Ibn-i-Alusi.

Since he had discovered that she was well versed in learned questions and in sacred commentaries and Texts, the two often carried on debates; she would speak on such themes as the Day of Resurrection, the Balance, and the Sirat,(123) and he would not turn away.

Then came a night when the father of Ibn-i-Alusi called at the house of his son. He had a meeting with Tahirih and abruptly, without asking a single question, began to curse, mock and revile her. Embarrassed at his father's behavior, Ibn-i-Alusi apologized. Then he said: "The answer has come from Constantinople. The King has commanded that you be set free, but only on condition that you leave his realms. Go then, tomorrow, make your preparations for the journey, and hasten away from this land."

Accordingly Tahirih, with her women companions, left the mufti's house, saw to arranging for their travel gear, and went out of Ba_gh_dad. When they left the city, a number of Arab believers, carrying arms, walked along beside their convoy. Among the escort were _Sh_ay_kh_ Sultan, _Sh_ay_kh_ Muhammad and his distinguished son Muhammad-Mustafa, and _Sh_ay_kh_ Salih, and these were mounted. It was _Sh_ay_kh_ Muhammad who defrayed the expenses of the journey.

When they reached Kirman_sh_ah the women alighted at one house, the men at another, and the inhabitants arrived in a continuous stream to seek information as to the new Faith. Here as elsewhere the 'ulamas were soon in a state of frenzy and they commanded that the newcomers be expelled. As a result the kad-_kh_uda or chief officer of that quarter, with a band of people, laid siege to the house where Tahirih was, and sacked it. Then they placed Tahirih and her companions in an uncovered howdah and carried them from the town to an open field, where they put the captives out. The drivers then took their animals and returned to the city. The victims were left on the bare ground, with no food, no shelter, and no means of traveling on.

Tahirih at once wrote a letter to the prince of that territory, in which she told him: "O thou just Governor! We were guests in your city. Is this the way you treat your guests?" When her letter was brought to the Governor of Kirman_sh_ah he said: "I knew nothing of this injustice. This mischief was kindled by the divines." He immediately commanded the kad-_kh_uda to return all the travelers' belongings. That official duly surrendered the stolen goods, the drivers with their animals came back out of the city, the travelers took their places and resumed the journey.

They arrived in Hamadan and here their stay was a happy one. The most illustrious ladies of that city, even the princesses, would come to visit, seeking the benefits of Tahirih's teaching. In Hamadan she dismissed a part of her escort and sent them back to Ba_gh_dad, while she brought some of them, including _Sh_amsu'd-Duha and _Sh_ay_kh_-Salih, along with her to Qazvin.

As they traveled, some riders advanced to meet them, kinsmen of Tahirih's from Qazvin, and they wished to lead her away alone, unescorted by the others, to her father's house. Tahirih refused, saying: "These are in my company." In this way they entered Qazvin. Tahirih proceeded to her father's house, while the Arabs who had formed her escort alighted at a caravanserai. Tahirih soon left her father and went to live with her brother, and there the great ladies of the city would come to visit her; all this until the murder of Mulla Taqi,(124) when every Babi in Qazvin was taken prisoner. Some were sent to Tihran and then returned to Qazvin and martyred.

Mulla Taqi's murder came about in this way: One day, when that besotted tyrant had mounted his pulpit, he began to mock and revile the great _Sh_ay_kh_ Ahmad-i-Ahsa'i. Shamelessly, grossly, screaming obscenities, he cried out: "That _Sh_ay_kh_ is the one who has kindled this fire of evil, and subjected the whole world to this ordeal!" There was an inquirer in the audience, a native of _Sh_iraz. He found the taunts, jeers and indecencies to be more than he could bear. Under cover of darkness he betook himself to the mosque, plunged a spearhead between the lips of Mulla Taqi and fled. The next morning they arrested the defenseless believers and thereupon subjected them to agonizing torture, though all were innocent and knew nothing of what had come to pass. There was never any question of investigating the case; the believers repeatedly declared their innocence but no one paid them any heed. When a few days had passed the killer gave himself up; he confessed to the authorities, informing them that he had committed the murder because Mulla Taqi had vilified _Sh_ay_kh_ Ahmad. "I deliver myself into your hands," he told them, "so that you will set these innocent people free." They arrested him as well, put him in the stocks, chained him, and sent him in chains, along with the others, to Tihran.

Once there he observed that despite his confession, the others were not released. By night, he made his escape from the prison and went to the house of Rida _Kh_an--that rare and precious man, that star-sacrifice among the lovers of God--the son of Muhammad _Kh_an, Master of the Horse to Muhammad _Sh_ah. He stayed there for a time, after which he and Rida _Kh_an secretly rode away to the Fort of _Sh_ay_kh_ Tabarsi in Mazindaran.(125) Muhammad _Kh_an sent riders after them to track them down, but try as they might, no one could find them. Those two horsemen got to the Fort of Tabarsi, where both of them won a martyr's death. As for the other friends who were in the prison at Tihran, some of these were returned to Qazvin and they too suffered martyrdom.

One day the administrator of finance, Mirza _Sh_afi, called in the murderer and addressed him, saying: "Jinab, do you belong to a dervish order, or do you follow the Law? If you are a follower of the Law, why did you deal that learned mujtahid a cruel, a fatal blow in the mouth? If you are a dervish and follow the Path, one of the rules of the Path is to harm no man. How, then, could you slaughter that zealous divine?" "Sir," he replied, "besides the Law, and besides the Path, we also have the Truth. It was in serving the Truth that I paid him for his deed."(126)

These things would take place before the reality of this Cause was revealed and all was made plain. For in those days no one knew that the Manifestation of the Bab would culminate in the Manifestation of the Blessed Beauty and that the law of retaliation would be done away with, and the foundation-principle of the Law of God would be this, that "It is better for you to be killed than to kill"; that discord and contention would cease, and the rule of war and butchery would fall away. In those days, that sort of thing would happen. But praised be God, with the advent of the Blessed Beauty such a splendor of harmony and peace shone forth, such a spirit of meekness and long-suffering, that when in Yazd men, women and children were made the targets of enemy fire or were put to the sword, when the leaders and the evil 'ulamas and their followers joined together and unitedly assaulted those defenseless victims and spilled out their blood--hacking at and rending apart the bodies of chaste women, with their daggers slashing the throats of children they had orphaned, then setting the torn and mangled limbs on fire--not one of the friends of God lifted a hand against them. Indeed, among those martyrs, those real companions of the ones who died, long gone, at Karbila--was a man who, when he saw the drawn sword flashing over him, thrust sugar candy into his murderer's mouth and cried, "With a sweet taste on your lips, put me to death--for you bring me martyrdom, my dearest wish!"

Let us return to our theme. After the murder of her impious uncle, Mulla Taqi, in Qazvin, Tahirih fell into dire straits. She was a prisoner and heavy of heart, grieving over the painful events that had come to pass. She was watched on every side, by attendants, guards, the farra_sh_es, and her foes. While she languished thus, Baha'u'llah dispatched Hadiy-i-Qazvini, husband of the celebrated _Kh_atun-Jan, from the capital, and they managed, by a stratagem, to free her from that embroilment and got her to Tihran in the night. She alighted at the mansion of Baha'u'llah and was lodged in an upper apartment.