CHAPTER VII THE BÁB'S PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA AND MEDINA |
|
1 |
THE letter of Mullá |
2 |
I have heard |
3 |
The Báb Himself, in the Persian Bayán,
[3]
refers to the
hardships of that voyage. "For days," He wrote, "we suffered
from the scarcity of water. I had to content myself with the
juice of the sweet lemon." Because of this experience, He
supplicated the Almighty to grant that the means of ocean
travel might soon be speedily improved, that its hardships
might be reduced, and its perils be entirely eliminated.
Within a short space of time, since that prayer was offered,
the evidences of a remarkable improvement in all forms of
maritime transport have greatly multiplied, and the Persian
Gulf, which in those days hardly possessed a single steam-driven
vessel, now boasts a fleet of ocean liners that can,
within the range of a few days and in the utmost comfort,
carry the people of Fárs on their annual pilgrimage to |
4 | The peoples of the West, among whom the first evidences of this great Industrial Revolution have appeared, are, alas, as yet wholly unaware of the Source whence this mighty stream, this great motive power, proceeds--a force that has revolutionised every aspect of their material life. Their own history testifies to the fact that in the year which witnessed the dawn of this glorious Revelation, there suddenly appeared evidences of an industrial and economic revolution that the people themselves declare to have been unprecedented in the history of mankind. In their concern for the details of the working and adjustments of this newly conceived machinery, they have gradually lost sight of the Source and object of this tremendous power which the Almighty has committed to their charge. They seem to have sorely misused this power and misunderstood its function. Designed to confer upon the people of the West the blessings of peace and of happiness, it has been utilised by them to promote the interests of destruction and war. |
5 | Upon His arrival in Jaddih, the Báb donned the pilgrim's garb, mounted a camel, and set out on His journey to Mecca. Quddús, however, notwithstanding the repeatedly expressed desire of his Master, preferred to accompany Him on foot all the way from Jaddih to that holy city. Holding in his hand the bridle of the camel upon which the Báb was riding, he walked along joyously and prayerfully, ministering to his Master's needs, wholly indifferent to the fatigues of his arduous march. Every night, from eventide until the break of day, Quddús, sacrificing comfort and sleep, would continue with unrelaxing vigilance to watch beside his Beloved, ready to provide for His wants and to ensure the means of His protection and safety. |
6 | One day, when the Báb had dismounted close to a well in order to offer His morning prayer, a roving Bedouin suddenly appeared on the horizon, drew near to Him, and, snatching the saddlebag that had been lying on the ground beside Him, and which contained His writings and papers, vanished into the unknown desert. His Ethiopian servant set out to pursue him, but was prevented by his Master, who, as He was praying, motioned to him with His hand to give up his pursuit. "Had I allowed you," the Báb later on affectionately assured him, "you would surely have overtaken and punished him. But this was not to be. The papers and writings which that bag contained are destined to reach, through the instrumentality of this Arab, such places as we could never have succeeded in attaining. Grieve not, therefore, at his action, for this was decreed by God, the Ordainer, the Almighty." Many a time afterwards did the Báb on similar occasions seek to comfort His friends by such reflections. By words such as these He turned the bitterness of regret and of resentment into radiant acquiescence in the Divine purpose and into joyous submission to God's will. |
7 | On the day of Arafat, [4] the Báb, seeking the quiet seclusion of His cell, devoted His whole time to meditation and worship. On the following day, the day of Nahr, after He had offered the feast-day prayer, He proceeded to Muná, where, according to ancient custom, He purchased nineteen lambs of the choicest breed, of which He sacrificed nine in His own name, seven in the name of Quddús, and three in the name of His Ethiopian servant. He refused to partake of the meat of this consecrated sacrifice, preferring instead to distribute it freely among the poor and needy of that neighbourhood. |
8 | Although the month of Dhi'l-Hijjih, [5] the month of pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, coincided in that year with the first month of the winter season, yet so intense was the heat in that region that the pilgrims who made the circuit of the sacred shrine were unable to perform that rite in their usual garments. Draped in a light, loose-fitting tunic, they joined in the celebration of the festival. The Báb, however, refused, as a mark of deference, to discard either His turban or cloak. Dressed in His usual attire, He, with the utmost dignity and calm, and with extreme simplicity and reverence, compassed the Ka'bih and performed all the prescribed rites of worship. |
9 |
On the last day of His pilgrimage
to Mecca, the Báb met Mírzá Muhít-i-Kirmání.
He stood facing the Black Stone, when the Báb approached
him and, taking his hand in His, addressed him in these
words: "O Muhit! You regard yourself as one of the most
outstanding figures of the shaykhí community and a distinguished
exponent of its teachings. In your heart you
even claim to be one of the direct successors and rightful
inheritors of those twin great Lights, those Stars that have
heralded the morn of Divine guidance. Behold, we are both
now standing within this most sacred shrine. Within its
hallowed precincts, He whose Spirit dwells in this place can
cause Truth immediately to be known and distinguished
from falsehood, and righteousness from error. Verily I
declare, none besides Me in this day, whether in the East
or in the West, can claim to be the Gate that leads men to
the knowledge of God. My proof is none other than that
proof whereby the truth of the Prophet |
10 | This peremptory challenge, thrust so unexpectedly by the Báb upon Mírzá Muhít-i-Kirmání, profoundly distressed him. He was overpowered by its directness, its compelling majesty and force. In the presence of that Youth, he, notwithstanding his age, his authority and learning, felt as a helpless bird prisoned in the grasp of a mighty eagle. Confused and full of fear, he replied: "My Lord, my Master! Ever since the day on which my eyes beheld You in Kárbilá, I seemed at last to have found and recognised Him who had been the object of my quest. I renounce whosoever has failed to recognise You, and despise him in whose heart may yet linger the faintest misgivings as to Your purity and holiness. I pray You to overlook my weakness, and entreat You to answer me in my perplexity. Please God I may, at this very place, within the precincts of this hallowed shrine, swear my fealty to You, and arise for the triumph of Your Cause. If I be insincere in what I declare, if in my heart I should disbelieve what my lips proclaim, I would deem myself utterly unworthy of the grace of the Prophet of God, and regard my action as an act of manifest disloyalty to `Alí, His chosen successor." |
11 | The Báb, who listened attentively to his words, and who was well aware of his helplessness and poverty of soul, answered and said: "Verily I say, the Truth is even now known and distinguished from falsehood. O shrine of the Prophet of God, and you, O Quddús, who have believed in Me! I take you both, in this hour, as My witnesses. You have seen and heard that which has come to pass between Me and him. I call upon you to testify thereunto, and God, verily, is, beyond and above you, My sure and ultimate Witness. He is the All-Seeing, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. O Muhit! Set forth whatsoever perplexes your mind, and I will, by the aid of God, unloose My tongue and undertake to resolve your problems, so that you may testify to the excellence of My utterance and realise that no one besides Me is able to manifest My wisdom." |
12 | Mírzá Muhit responded to the invitation of the Báb and submitted to Him his questions. Pleading the necessity of his immediate departure for Medina, he expressed the hope of receiving, ere his departure from that city, the text of the promised reply. "I will grant your request," the Báb assured him. On My way to Medina I shall, with the assistance of God, reveal My answer to your questions. If I meet you not in that city, My reply will surely reach you immediately after your arrival at Kárbilá. Whatever justice and fairness may dictate, the same shall I expect you to fulfil. `If ye do well, to your own behoof will ye do well: and if ye do evil, against yourselves will ye do it.' `God is verily independent of all His creatures.'" [6] |
13 | Mírzá Muhit, ere his departure, again expressed his firm resolve to redeem his solemn pledge. "I shall never depart from Medina," he assured the Báb, "whatever may betide, until I have fulfilled my covenant with You." As the mote which is driven before the gale, he, unable to withstand the sweeping majesty of the Revelation proclaimed by the Báb, fled in terror from before His face. He tarried awhile in Medina and, faithless to his pledge and disregardful of the admonitions of his conscience, left for Kárbilá. |
14 |
The Báb, faithful to His promise, revealed, on His way
from Mecca to Medina, His written reply to the questions
that had perplexed the mind of Mírzá Muhit, and gave it the
name of Sahifiyi-i-Baynu'l-Haramayn.
[7]
Mírzá Muhit, who
received it in the early days of his arrival in Kárbilá, remained
unmoved by its tone and refused to recognise the precepts
which it inculcated. His attitude towards the Faith was one
of concealed and persistent opposition. At times he professed
to be a follower and supporter of that notorious adversary of
the Báb, |
15 |
No sooner had the Báb performed the last of the observances
in connection with His pilgrimage to Mecca than
he addressed an epistle to the Sherif of that holy city, wherein
He set forth, in clear and unmistakable terms, the distinguishing
features of His mission, and called upon him to arise
and embrace His Cause. This epistle, together with selections
from His other writings, He delivered to Quddús, and instructed
him to present them to the Sherif. The latter, however,
too absorbed in his own material pursuits to incline his
ear to the words which had been addressed to him by the
Báb, failed to respond to the call of the Divine Message.
|
16 |
From Mecca the Báb proceeded to Medina. It was the
first day of the month of Muharram, in the year 1261 A.H.,
[10]
when He found Himself on the way to that holy city. As
He approached it, He called to mind the stirring events that
had immortalised the name of Him who had lived and died
within its walls. Those scenes which bore eloquent testimony
to the creative power of that immortal Genius seemed to be
re-enacted, with undiminished splendour, before His eyes.
He prayed as He drew nigh unto that holy sepulchre which
enshrined the mortal remains of the Prophet of God. He
also remembered, as He trod that holy ground, that shining
Herald of His own Dispensation. He knew that in the
cemetery of Baqi', in a place not far distant from the shrine
of |
1. [According to
2. ["He retained the most disagreeable impression of his voyage. `Know that the sea voyages are hard. We do not favor them for the faithful; travel by land,' he wrote in the Kitab-i-Baynu'l-Haramayn in addressing himself to his uncle, as we shall soon see. He elaborates upon this subject also in the Bayán. Do not consider this childish, the feelings which moved the Báb in his horror of the sea are far more noble. "Struck by the selfishness of the pilgrims which was heightened by the discomforts of a long and dangerous sea voyage, equally shocked by the unclean conditions that the pilgrims were obliged to endure on board, he wished to prevent men from yielding to their lower instincts and treating one another harshly. We know that the Báb especially commended politeness and the most refined courtesy in all social relations. `Never sadden anyone, no matter whom, for no matter what,' he enjoined, and during this voyage he experienced the meanness of man and his brutality when in the presence of difficulties. `The saddest thing that I saw on my pilgrimage to Mecca was the constant disputes of the pilgrims between themselves, disputes which took away the moral benefit of the pilgrimage.' (Bayán, 4:16.) "In time he arrived at Mascate where he rested for several days during which he sought to convert the people of that country but without success. He spoke to one among them, a religious man probably, one of high rank, whose conversion might also have been followed by that of his fellow citizens, at least so I believe, though he gives us no details upon this subject. Evidently he did not attempt to convert the first comer who would have had no influence on the other inhabitants of the city. That he attempted a conversion and did not succeed is an indisputable fact because he himself affirms it: `The mention of God, in truth, descended upon the earth of Mascate and made the way of God come to one of the inhabitants of the country. It may be possible that he understood our verses and became one of those who are guided. Say: This man obeyed his passions after having read our verses and in truth this man is by the rules of the Book, among the transgressors. Say: We have not seen in Mascate men of the Book willing to help him, because they are lost in ignorance. And the same was true of all these voyagers on the boat with the exception of one who believed in our verses and became one of those who fear God.'" (A. L. M. Nicolas' "Siyyid
3. ["It is thus that I myself saw, on the voyage to Mecca, a notable who was spending considerable sums of money but who hesitated to spend the price of a glass of water for his fellow-traveler. This happened on the boat where the water was scarce, so scarce in fact, during the voyage from Búshihr to Mascate, which lasted twelve days with no opportunity to get water, that I had to content myself with sweet lemons." ("Le Bayán Persan," vol. 2, p. 154.) "One cannot imagine on the sea anything but discomfort. One cannot have all the necessities as in land travel. The mariners are obliged to live thus but by their services they come nearer to God, and God rewards actions performed on the land and on the sea but He grants a two-fold recompense for those services accomplished by one of the servants on the sea, because their work is more arduous." (Ibid., pp. 155-156.) "I have seen (on the way to Mecca) acts of the vilest kind, in the eyes of God, which were sufficient to undo the good resulting from the pilgrimage. These were the quarrels among the pilgrims! Verily, the House of God has no need of such people!" (Ibid., p. 155.)]
4. [The day preceding the festival.]
7. ["The Epistle between the Two Shrines."]
10. [Friday, January 30, 1845 A.D.]