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CHAPTER IV MULLA HUSAYN'S JOURNEY TO TIHRÁN
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WITH these noble words ringing in his ears, Mullá
Husayn embarked upon his perilous enterprise.
Wherever he went, to whatever class of people
he addressed himself, he delivered fearlessly and
without reserve the Message with which his beloved Master
had entrusted him. Arriving in Isfahán, he established himself
in the madrisih of Nim-Avard. Around him gathered
those who on his previous visit to that city had known him
as the favoured messenger of Siyyid Kázim to the eminent
mujtahid, Hájí Siyyid Muhammad-Báqir.
[1]
He, being now
dead, had been succeeded by his son, who had just returned
from Najaf and was now established upon the seat of his
father. Hájí Muhammad-Ibrahim-i-Kalbasi had also fallen
seriously ill, and was on the verge of death. The disciples
of the late Hájí Siyyid Muhammad-Báqir, now freed from
the restraining influence of their departed teacher, and
alarmed at the strange doctrines which Mullá Husayn was
propounding, vehemently denounced him to Hájí Siyyid
Asadu'lláh, the son of the late Hájí Siyyid Muhammad-Báqir.
"Mullá Husayn," they complained, "was able, in the
course of his last visit, to win the support of your illustrious
father to the cause of Shaykh Ahmad. No one among the
Siyyid's helpless disciples dared to oppose him. He now
comes as the upholder of a still more formidable opponent
and is pleading His Cause with still greater vehemence and
vigour. He is persistently claiming that He whose Cause he
now champions is the Revealer of a Book which is divinely
inspired, and which bears a striking resemblance to the tone
and language of the Qur'án. In the face of the people of this
city, he has flung these challenging words: `Produce one like
it, if you are men of truth.' The day is fast approaching when
the whole of Isfahán will have embraced his Cause!" Hájí
Siyyid Asadu'lláh returned evasive answers to their complaints.
"What am I to say?" he was at last forced to reply.
Do you not yourselves admit that Mullá Husayn has, by
his eloquence and the cogency of his argument, silenced a
man no less great than my illustrious father? How can I,
then, who am so inferior to him in merit and knowledge,
presume to challenge what he has already approved? Let
each man dispassionately examine these claims. If he be
satisfied, well and good; if not, let him observe silence, and
not incur the risk of discrediting the fair name of our Faith."
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Finding that their efforts had failed to influence Hájí
Siyyid Asadu'lláh, his disciples referred the matter to Hájí
Muhammad-Ibrahim-i-Kalbasi. "Woe betide us," they loudly
protested, "for the enemy has risen to disrupt the holy Faith
of Islám. ln lurid and exaggerated language, they stressed
the challenging character of the ideas propounded by Mullá
Husayn. "Hold your peace," replied Hájí Muhammad-Ibráhím.
"Mullá Husayn is not the person to be duped by
anyone, nor can he fall a victim to dangerous heresies. If
your contention be true, if Mullá Husayn has indeed espoused
a new Faith, it is unquestionably your first obligation
to enquire dispassionately into the character of his teachings,
and to refrain from denouncing him without previous and
careful scrutiny. If my health and strength be restored, it
is my intention, God willing, to investigate the matter myself,
and to ascertain the truth."
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This severe rebuke, pronounced by Hájí Kalbasi, greatly
disconcerted the disciples of Hájí Siyyid Asadu'lláh. In
their dismay they appealed to Manúchihr Khán, the Mu'tamídu'd-Dawlih,
the governor of the city. That wise and
judicious ruler refused to interfere in these matters, which
he said fell exclusively within the jurisdiction of the `ulamás.
He warned them to abstain from mischief and to cease disturbing
the peace and tranquillity of the messenger. His
trenchant words shattered the hopes of the mischief-makers.
Mullá Husayn was thereby relieved from the machinations
of his enemies, and, for a time, pursued untrammelled the
course of his labours.
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The first to embrace the Cause of the Báb in that city
was a man, a sifter of wheat, who, as soon as the Call reached
his ears, unreservedly accepted the Message. With marvellous
devotion he served Mullá Husayn, and through his
close association with him became a zealous advocate of the
new Revelation. A few years later, when the soul-stirring
details of the siege of the fort of Shaykh Tabarsí were being
recounted to him, he felt an irresistible impulse to throw in
his lot with those heroic companions of the Báb who had
risen for the defence of their Faith. Carrying his sieve in
his hand, he immediately arose and set out to reach the scene
of that memorable encounter. "Why leave so hurriedly?"
his friends asked him, as they saw him running in a state of
intense excitement through the bazaars of Isfahán. "I have
risen," he replied, "to join the glorious company of the defenders
of the fort of Shaykh Tabarsí! With this sieve which
I carry with me, I intend to sift the people in every city
through which I pass. Whomsoever I find ready to espouse
the Cause I have embraced, I will ask to join me and hasten
forthwith to the field of martyrdom." Such was the devotion
of this youth, that the Báb, in the Persian Bayán, refers to
him in such terms: "Isfahán, that outstanding city, is distinguished
by the religious fervour of its shí'ah inhabitants,
by the learning of its divines, and by the keen expectation,
shared by high and low alike, of the imminent coming of the
Sáhibu'z-Zamán. In every quarter of that city, religious
institutions have been established. And yet, when the Messenger
of God had been made manifest, they who claimed
to be the repositories of learning and the expounders of the
mysteries of the Faith of God rejected His Message. Of all
the inhabitants of that seat of learning, only one person, a
sifter of wheat, was found to recognise the Truth, and was
invested with the robe of Divine virtue!"
[2]
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Among the siyyids of Isfahán, a few, such as Mírzá
Muhammad-`Alíy-i-Nahrí, whose daughter was subsequently
joined in wedlock with the Most Great Branch,
[3]
Mírzá Hádí,
the brother of Mírzá Muhammad-`Alí, and Mírzá Muhammad-Riday-i-Pa-Qal'iyi,
recognised the truth of the Cause.
Mullá Sádiq-i-Khurasaní, formerly known as Muqaddas, and
surnamed by Bahá'u'lláh, Ismu'lláhu'l-Asdaq, who, according
to the instructions of Siyyid Kázim, had during the last five
years been residing in Isfahán and had been preparing the
way for the advent of the new Revelation, was also among
the first believers who identified themselves with the Message
proclaimed by the Báb.
[4]
As Soon as he learned of the arrival
of Mullá Husayn in Isfahán, he hastened to meet him. He
gives the following account of his first interview, which took
place at night in the home of Mírzá Muhammad-`Alíy-i-Nahrí:
"I asked Mullá Husayn to divulge the name of Him
who claimed to be the promised Manifestation. He replied:
`To enquire about that name and to divulge it are alike
forbidden.' `Would it, then, be possible,' I asked, `for me,
even as the Letters of the Living, to seek independently the
grace of the All-Merciful and, through prayer, to discover
His identity?' `The door of His grace,' he replied, `is never
closed before the face of him who seeks to find Him.' I immediately
retired from his presence, and requested his host
to allow me the privacy of a room in his house where, alone
and undisturbed, I could commune with God. In the midst
of my contemplation, I suddenly remembered the face of a
Youth whom I had often observed while in Kárbilá, standing
in an attitude of prayer, with His face bathed in tears at the
entrance of the shrine of the Imám Husayn. That same countenance
now reappeared before my eyes. In my vision I
seemed to behold that same face, those same features, expressive
of such joy as I could never describe. He smiled
as He gazed at me. I went towards Him, ready to throw
myself at His feet. I was bending towards the ground,
when, lo! that radiant figure vanished from before me. Overpowered
with joy and gladness, I ran out to meet Mullá
Husayn, who with transport received me and assured me
that I had, at last, attained the object of my desire. He
bade me, however, repress my feelings. `Declare not your
vision to anyone,' he urged me; `the time for it has not yet
arrived. You have reaped the fruit of your patient waiting
in Isfahán. You should now proceed to Kirmán, and there
acquaint Hájí Mírzá Karím Khán with this Message. From
that place you should travel to Shíráz and endeavour to rouse
the people of that city from their heedlessness. I hope to
join you in Shíráz and share with you the blessings of a joyous
reunion with our Beloved.'"
[5]
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From Isfahán, Mullá Husayn proceeded to Káshán. The
first to be enrolled in that city among the company of the
faithful was a certain Hájí Mírzá Jání, surnamed Par-Pa,
who was a merchant of note.
[6]
Among the friends of Mullá
Husayn was a well-known divine, Siyyid Abdu'l-Baqi, a
resident of Káshán and a member of the shaykhí community.
Although intimately associated with Mullá Husayn during
his stay in Najaf and Kárbilá, the Siyyid felt unable to sacrifice
rank and leadership for the Message which his friend had
brought him.
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Arriving in Qum, Mullá Husayn found its people utterly
unprepared to heed his call. The seeds he sowed among them
did not germinate until the time when Bahá'u'lláh was exiled
to Baghdád. In those days Hájí Mírzá Músá, a native of
Qum, embraced the Faith, journeyed to Baghdád, and there
met Bahá'u'lláh. He eventually quaffed the cup of martyrdom
in His path.
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From Qum, Mullá Husayn proceeded directly to Tihrán.
He lived, during his stay in the capital, in one of the rooms
which belonged to the madrisih of Mírzá Salíh, better
known as the madrisih of Pay-i-Minar. Hájí Mírzá Muhammad-i-Khurásání,
the leader of the shaykhí community of
Tihrán, who acted as an instructor in that institution, was
approached by Mullá Husayn but failed to respond to his
motivation to accept the Message. "We had cherished the
hope he said to Mullá Husayn, "that after the death of
Siyyid Kázim you would strive to promote the best interests
of the shaykhí community and would deliver it from the
obscurity into which it has sunk. You seem, however, to
have betrayed its cause. You have shattered our fondest
expectations. If you persist in disseminating these subversive
doctrines, you will eventually extinguish the remnants
of the shaykhís in this city." Mullá Husayn assured him
that he had no intention of prolonging his stay in Tihrán,
that his aim was in no wise to abase or suppress the teachings
inculcated by Shaykh Ahmad and Siyyid Kázim.
[7]
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During his stay in Tihrán, Mullá Husayn each day would
leave his room early in the morning and would return to it
only an hour after sunset. Upon his return he would quietly
and alone re-enter his room, close the door behind him, and
remain in the privacy of his cell until the next day.
[8]
Mírzá
Músá, Aqáy-i-Kalím, the brother of Bahá'u'lláh, recounted
to me the following: "I have heard Mullá Muhammad-i-Mu'allim,
a native of Núr, in the province of Mazindarán,
who was a fervent admirer of both Shaykh Ahmad and Siyyid
Kázim, relate this story: `I was in those days recognised as
one of the favoured disciples of Hájí Mírzá Muhammad, and
lived in the same school in which he taught. My room adjoined
his room, and we were closely associated together.
On the day that he was engaged in discussion with Mullá
Husayn, I overheard their conversation from beginning to
end, and was deeply affected by the ardour, the fluency, and
learning of that youthful stranger. I was surprised at the
evasive answers, the arrogance, and contemptuous behaviour
of Hájí Mírzá Muhammad. That day I felt strongly attracted
by the charm of that youth, and deeply resented the
unseemly conduct of my teacher towards him. I concealed
my feelings, however, and pretended to ignore his discussions
with Mullá Husayn. I was seized with a passionate desire
to meet the latter, and ventured, at the hour of midnight,
to visit him. He did not expect me, but I knocked at his door,
and found him awake seated beside his lamp. He received
me affectionately, and spoke to me with extreme courtesy and
tenderness. I unburdened my heart to him, and as I was
addressing him, tears, which I could not repress, flowed
from my eyes. "I can now see," he said, "the reason why I
have chosen to dwell in this place. Your teacher has contemptuously
rejected this Message and despised its Author.
My hope is that his pupil may, unlike his master, recognise
its truth. What is your name, and which city is your home?"
"My name," I replied, "is Mullá Muhammad, and my surname
Mu'allim. My home is Núr, in the province of Mazindarán."
"Tell me," further enquired Mullá Husayn, "is
there to-day among the family of the late Mírzá Buzurg-i-Nuri,
who was so renowned for his character, his charm, and
artistic and intellectual attainments, anyone who has proved
himself capable of maintaining the high traditions of that
illustrious house?" "Yea," I replied, "among his sons now
living, one has distinguished Himself by the very traits which
characterised His father. By His virtuous life, His high
attainments, His loving-kindness and liberality, He has proved
Himself a noble descendant of a noble father." "What is
His occupation?" he asked me. "He cheers the disconsolate
and feeds the hungry," I replied. "What of His rank and
position?" "He has none," I said, "apart from befriending
the poor and the stranger." "What is His name?" "Husayn-`Alí."
"In which of the scripts of His father does He excel?"
"His favourite script is shikastih-nasta'liq." "How does He
spend His time?" "He roams the woods and delights in the
beauties of the countryside."
[9]
"What is His age?" "Eight
and twenty." The eagerness with which Mullá Husayn
questioned me, and the sense of delight with which he welcomed
every particular I gave him, greatly surprised me.
Turning to me, with his face beaming with satisfaction and
joy, he once more enquired: "I presume you often meet Him?"
"I frequently visit His home," I replied. "Will you," he
said, "deliver into His hands a trust from me?" "Most assuredly,"
was my reply. He then gave me a scroll wrapped
in a piece of cloth, and requested me to hand it to Him the
next day at the hour of dawn. "Should He deign to answer
me," he added, "will you be kind enough to acquaint me with
His reply. I received the scroll from him and, at break of
day, arose to carry out his desire.
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"`As I approached the house of Bahá'u'lláh, I recognised
His brother Mírzá Músá, who was standing at the gate, and
to whom I communicated the object of my visit. He went
into the house and soon reappeared bearing a message of
welcome. I was ushered into His presence, and presented the
scroll to Mírzá Músá, who laid it before Bahá'u'lláh. He
bade us both be seated. Unfolding the scroll, He glanced at
its contents and began to read aloud to us certain of its passages.
I sat enraptured as I listened to the sound of His
voice and the sweetness of its melody. He had read a page
of the scroll when, turning to His brother, He said: "Músá,
what have you to say? Verily I say, whoso believes in the
Qur'án and recognises its Divine origin, and yet hesitates,
though it be for a moment, to admit that these soul-stirring
words are endowed with the same regenerating power, has
most assuredly erred in his judgment and has strayed far
from the path of justice." He spoke no more. Dismissing
me from His presence, He charged me to take to Mullá Husayn,
as a gift from Him, a loaf of Russian sugar and a package
of tea,
[10]
and to convey to him the expression of His appreciation
and love.
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"`I arose and, filled with joy, hastened back to Mullá
Husayn, and delivered to him the gift and message of Bahá'u'lláh.
With what joy and exultation he received them from
me! Words fail me to describe the intensity of his emotion.
He started to his feet, received with bowed head the gift
from my hand, and fervently kissed it. He then took me in
his arms, kissed my eyes, and said: "My dearly beloved
friend! I pray that even as you have rejoiced my heart,
God may grant you eternal felicity and fill your heart with
imperishable gladness." I was amazed at the behaviour of
Mullá Husayn. What could be, I thought to myself, the
nature of the bond that unites these two souls? What could
have kindled so fervid a fellowship in their hearts? Why
should Mullá Husayn, in whose sight the pomp and circumstance
of royalty were the merest trifle, have evinced such
gladness at the sight of so inconsiderable a gift from the
hands of Bahá'u'lláh? I was puzzled by this thought and
could not unravel its mystery.
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"`A few days later, Mullá Husayn left for Khurásán.
As he bade me farewell, he said: "Breathe not to anyone what
you have heard and witnessed. Let this be a secret hidden
within your breast. Divulge not His name, for they who envy
His position will arise to harm Him. In your moments of
meditation, pray that the Almighty may protect Him, that,
through Him, He may exalt the downtrodden, enrich the poor,
and redeem the fallen. The secret of things is concealed from
our eyes. Ours is the duty to raise the call of the New Day
and to proclaim this Divine Message unto all people. Many
a soul will, in this city, shed his blood in this path. That
blood will water the Tree of God, will cause it to flourish,
and to overshadow all mankind."'"
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