CHAPTER XVII THE BÁB'S INCARCERATION IN THE CASTLE OF CHIHRÍQ |
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1 | THE incident of Níyálá occurred in the middle of the month of Sha'bán, in the year 1264 A.H. [1] Towards the end of that same month, the Báb was brought to Tabríz, where He suffered at the hands of His oppressors a severe and humiliating injury. That deliberate affront to His dignity almost synchronised with the attack which the inhabitants of Níyálá directed against Bahá'u'lláh and His companions. The one was pelted with stones by an ignorant and pugnacious people; the other was afflicted with stripes by a cruel and treacherous enemy. |
2 |
I shall now relate the circumstances that led to that
odious indignity which the persecutors of the Báb chose to
inflict upon Him. He had, in pursuance of the orders issued
by |
3 |
Despite the emphatic character of that injunction, and in
the face of the unyielding opposition of the all-powerful
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4 | One day the Báb asked that some honey be purchased for Him. The price at which it had been bought seemed to Him exorbitant. He refused it and said: "Honey of a superior quality could no doubt have been purchased at a lower price. I who am your example have been a merchant by profession. It behoves you in all your transactions to follow in My way. You must neither defraud your neighbour nor allow him to defraud you. Such was the way of your Master. The shrewdest and ablest of men were unable to deceive Him, nor did He on His part choose to act ungenerously towards the meanest and most helpless of creatures." He insisted that the attendant who had made that purchase should return and bring back to Him a honey superior in quality and cheaper in price. |
5 |
During the Báb's captivity in the castle of Chihríq, events
of a startling character caused grave perturbation to the
government. It soon became evident that a number of the
most eminent among the siyyids, the `ulamás, and the government
officials of Khúy had espoused the Cause of the
Prisoner and had completely identified themselves with His
Faith. Among them figured Mírzá |
6 |
It came to pass at that time that a prominent official of
high literary ability, Mírzá Asadu'lláh, who was later surnamed
Dayyán by the Báb and whose vehement denunciations
of His Message had baffled those who had endeavoured
to convert him, dreamed a dream. When he awoke, he determined
not to recount it to anyone, and, fixing his choice
on two verses of the Qur'án, he addressed the following
request to the Báb: "I have conceived three definite things
in my mind. I request you to reveal to me their nature."
Mírzá |
7 |
That same year the Báb had expressed His desire that
forty of His companions should each undertake to compose
a treatise and seek, by the aid of verses and traditions, to
establish the validity of His Mission. His wishes were instantly
obeyed, and the result of their labours was duly
submitted to His presence. Mírzá Asadu'lláh's treatise won
the unqualified admiration of the Báb and ranked highest
in His estimation. He bestowed on him the name Dayyán
and revealed in his honour the |
8 | The people of the Bayán, who utterly misconceived the purpose underlying that Tablet, thought it to be a mere exposition of the science of Jafr. [7] When, at a later time, in the early years of Bahá'u'lláh's incarceration in the prison city of Akká, Jinab-i-Muballigh made, from Shíráz, his request that He unravel the mysteries of that Tablet, there was revealed from His pen an explanation which they who misconceived the words of the Báb might do well to ponder. Bahá'u'lláh adduced from the statements of the Báb irrefutable evidence proving that the appearance of the Man-Yuzhiruhu'llah [8] must needs occur no less than nineteen years after the Declaration of the Báb. The mystery of the Mustagháth [9] had long baffled the most searching minds among the people of the Bayán and had proved an unsurmountable obstacle to their recognition of the promised One. The Báb had Himself in that Tablet unravelled that mystery; no one, however, was able to understand the explanation which He had given. It was left to Bahá'u'lláh to unveil it to the eyes of all men. |
9 |
The untiring zeal which Mírzá Asadu'lláh displayed induced
his father, who was an intimate friend of |
10 | A further cause for apprehension on the part of the government authorities was supplied by the arrival at Chihríq of a dervish who had come from India and who, as soon as he met the Báb, acknowledged the truth of His Mission. All who met that dervish, whom the Báb had named Qahru'llah, during his sojourn at Iski-Shahr, felt the warmth of his enthusiasm and were deeply impressed by the tenacity of his conviction. An increasing number of people became enamoured of the charm of his personality and willingly acknowledged the compelling power of his Faith. Such was the influence which he exercised over them that a few among the believers were inclined to regard him as an exponent of Divine Revelation, although he altogether disclaimed such pretensions. He was often heard to relate the following: "In the days when I occupied the exalted position of a navváb in India, the Báb appeared to me in a vision. He gazed at me and won my heart completely. I arose, and had started to follow Him, when He looked at me intently and said: `Divest yourself of your gorgeous attire, depart from your native land, and hasten on foot to meet Me in Ádhirbayján. In Chihríq you will attain your heart's desire.' I followed His directions and have now reached my goal." |
11 | The news of the turmoil which that lowly dervish had been able to raise among the Kurdish leaders in Chihríq reached Tabríz and was thence communicated to Tihrán. No sooner had the news reached the capital than orders were issued to transfer the Báb immediately to Tabríz in the hope of allaying the excitement which His continued residence in that locality had provoked. Before the news of this fresh order had reached Chihríq, the Báb had charged Azím to inform Qahru'llah of His desire that he return to India and there consecrate his life to the service of His Cause. "Alone and on foot," He commanded him, "he should return whence he came. With the same ardour and detachment with which he performed his pilgrimage to this country, he must now repair to his native land and unceasingly labour to advance the interests of the Cause." He also bade him instruct Mírzá Abdu'l-Vahhab-i-Turshizi, who was living in Khúy, to proceed immediately to Urúmíyyih, where He said He would soon join him. Azím himself was directed to leave for Tabríz and there inform Siyyid Ibráhím-i-Khalíl of His approaching arrival at that city. "Tell him," the Báb added, "that the fire of Nimrod will shortly be kindled in Tabríz, but despite the intensity of its flame no harm will befall our friends." |
12 | No sooner had Qahru'llah received the message from his Master than he arose to carry out His wishes. To anyone who wished to accompany him, he would say: "You can never endure the trials of this journey. Abandon the thought of coming with me. You would surely perish on your way, inasmuch as the Báb has commanded me to return alone to my native land." The compelling force of his reply silenced those who begged to be allowed to journey with him. He refused to accept either money or clothing from anyone. Alone, clad in the meanest attire, staff in hand, he walked all the way back to his country. No one knows what ultimately befell him. |
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14 | I have heard Shaykh Hasan-i-Zunúzí relate the following: "At about the same time that the Báb dismissed Azím from His presence, I was instructed by Him to collect all the available Tablets that He had revealed during His incarceration in the castles of Máh-Kú and Chihríq, and to deliver them into the hands of Siyyid Ibráhím-i-Khalíl, who was then living in Tabríz, and urge him to conceal and preserve them with the utmost care. |
15 | "During my stay in that city, I often visited Siyyid Aliy-i-Zunuzi, who was related to me, and frequently heard him deplore the sad fate of his son. `He seems to have lost his reason,' he bitterly complained. `He has, by his behaviour, brought reproach and shame upon me. Try to calm the agitation of his heart and induce him to conceal his convictions.' Every day I visited him, I witnessed the tears that continually rained from his eyes. After the Báb had departed from Tabríz, one day as I went to see him, I was surprised to note the joy and gladness which had illumined his countenance. His handsome face was wreathed in smiles as he stepped forward to receive me. `The eyes of my Beloved,' he said, as he embraced me, `have beheld this face, and these eyes have gazed upon His countenance.' `Let me,' he added, `tell you the secret of my happiness. After the Báb had been taken back to Chihríq, one day, as I lay confined in my cell, I turned my heart to Him and besought Him in these words: "Thou beholdest, O my Best-Beloved, my captivity and helplessness, and knowest how eagerly I yearn to look upon Thy face. Dispel the gloom that oppresses my heart, with the light of Thy countenance." What tears of agonising pain I shed that hour! I was so overcome with emotion that I seemed to have lost consciousness. Suddenly I heard the voice of the Báb, and, lo! He was calling me. He bade me arise. I beheld the majesty of His countenance as He appeared before me. He smiled as He looked into my eyes. I rushed forward and flung myself at His feet. "Rejoice," He said; "the hour is approaching when, in this very city, I shall be suspended before the eyes of the multitude and shall fall a victim to the fire of the enemy. I shall choose no one except you to share with Me the cup of martyrdom. Rest assured that this promise which I give you shall be fulfilled." I was entranced by the beauty of that vision. When I recovered, I found myself immersed in an ocean of joy, a joy the radiance of which all the sorrows of the world could never obscure. That voice keeps ringing in my ears. That vision haunts me both in the daytime and in the night-season. The memory of that ineffable smile has dissipated the loneliness of my confinement. I am firmly convinced that the hour at which His pledge is to be fulfilled can no longer be delayed.' I exhorted him to be patient and to conceal his emotions. He promised me not to divulge that secret, and undertook to exercise the utmost forbearance towards Siyyid `Alí. I hastened to assure the father of his determination, and succeeded in obtaining his release from his confinement. That youth continued until the day of his martyrdom to associate, in a state of complete serenity and joy, with his parents and kinsmen. Such was his behaviour towards his friends and relatives that, on the day he laid down his life for his Beloved, the people of Tabríz all wept and bewailed him." |
1. [July 3-August 1, 1848 A.D.]
2. [According to "A Traveller's Narrative" (p. 18) the Báb remained for three months in the castle of Chihríq before He was taken to Tabríz to be examined.]
3. ["The Báb was subjected to a closer and more rigorous confinement at Chihríq than he had been at Máh-Kú. Hence he used to call the former `the Grievous Mountain' (Jabál-i-Shadíd the numerical value of the word `Shadid'--318--being the same as that of the name Chihríq), and the latter `the Open Mountain' (Jabál-i-Basít)." ("A Traveller's Narrative," Note L, p. 276.)]
4. ["There like everywhere else, the people crowded around him. M. Mochenin says in his memoirs concerning the Báb: `In the month of June, 1850, (is this not more likely to be 1849?), having gone to Chihríq on duty, I saw the Bala-Khanih from the heights of which the Báb taught his doctrine. The multitude of hearers was so great that the court was not large enough to hold them all; most of them stayed in the streets and listened with religious rapture to the verses of the new Qur'án. Very soon after the Báb was transferred to Tauris (Tabríz) to be condemned to death.'" (Journal Asiatique, 1866, tome 7, p. 371.)]
5. [Literally "Tablet of the Letters."]
6. [One of the titles of the Báb.]
8. [Reference to Bahá'u'lláh. See Glossary.]