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The Reconciliation of Races and Religions

T >> Thomas Kelly Cheyne >> The Reconciliation of Races and Religions




On the whole, there can hardly be a doubt that Muhammad 'Ali, called
Kuddus, was (as I have suggested already) the most conspicuous
Babi next to the Bab himself, however hard we may find it to
understand him on certain occasions indicated by Prof. Browne. He
seems, for instance, to have lacked that tender sense of life
characteristic of the Buddhists, and to have indulged a spiritual
ambition which Jesus would not have approved. But it is unimportant to
pick holes in such a genuine saint. I would rather lay stress on his
unwillingness to think evil even of his worst foes. And how abominable
was the return he met with! Weary of fighting, the Babis yielded
themselves up to the royal troops. As Prof. Browne says, 'they were
received with an apparent friendliness and even respect which served
to lull them into a false security and to render easy the perfidious
massacre wherein all but a few of them perished on the morrow of their
surrender.'

The same historian tells us that Kuddus, loyal as ever, requested
the Prince to send him to Tihran, there to undergo judgment before the
Shah. The Prince was at first disposed to grant this request, thinking
perhaps that to bring so notable a captive into the Royal Presence
might serve to obliterate in some measure the record of those repeated
failures to which his unparalleled incapacity had given rise. But when
the Sa'idu'l-'Ulama heard of this plan, and saw a possibility of his
hated foe escaping from his clutches, he went at once to the Prince,
and strongly represented to him the danger of allowing one so eloquent
and so plausible to plead his cause before the King. These arguments
were backed up by an offer to pay the Prince a sum of 400 (or, as
others say, of 1000) _tumans_ on condition that Jenab-i-Kuddus
should be surrendered unconditionally into his hands. To this
arrangement the Prince, whether moved by the arguments or the
_tumans_ of the Sa'idu'l-'Ulama, eventually consented, and
Jenab-i-Kuddus was delivered over to his inveterate enemy.

'The execution took place in the _meydan_, or public square, of Barfurush.
The Sa'idu'l-'Ulama first cut off the ears of Jenab-i-Kuddus, and
tortured him in other ways, and then killed him with the blow of an
axe. One of the Sa'idu'l-'Ulama's disciples then severed the head from
the lifeless body, and others poured naphtha over the corpse and set
fire to it. The fire, however, as the Babis relate (for
Subh-i-Ezel corroborates the _Parikh-i-Jadid_ in this particular),
refused to burn the holy remains; and so the Sa'idu'l-'Ulama gave
orders that the body should be cut in pieces, and these pieces cast
far and wide. This was done, but, as Haji Mirza Jani relates, certain
Babis not known as such to their fellow-townsmen came at night,
collected the scattered fragments, and buried them in an old ruined
_madrasa_ or college hard by. By this _madrasa_, as the Babi
historian relates, had Jenab-i-Kuddus once passed in the company
of a friend with whom he was conversing on the transitoriness of this
world, and to it he had pointed to illustrate his words, saying, "This
college, for instance, was once frequented, and is now deserted and
neglected; a little while hence they will bury here some great man,
and many will come to visit his grave, and again it will be frequented
and thronged with people."' When the Baha'is are more conscious of
the preciousness of their own history, this prophecy may be fulfilled,
and Kuddus be duly honoured.


SAYYID YAHYA DARABI

Sayyid Yahya derived his surname Darabi from his birthplace Darab,
near Shiraz. His father was Sayyid Ja'far, surnamed Kashfi, i.e.
discloser (of the divine secrets). Neither father nor son, however,
was resident at Darab at the period of this narrative. The father was
at Buzurg, and the son, probably, at Tihran. So great was the
excitement caused by the appearance of the Bab that Muhammad Shah
and his minister thought it desirable to send an expert to inquire
into the new Teacher's claims. They selected Sayyid Yahya, 'one of
the best known of doctors and Sayyids, as well as an object of
veneration and confidence,' even in the highest quarters. The mission
was a failure, however, for the royal commissioner, instead of
devising some practical compromise, actually went over to the Bab,
in other words, gave official sanction to the innovating party.
[Footnote: _TN_, pp. 7, 854; Nicolas, _AMB_, pp. 233, 388.]

The tale is an interesting one. The Bab at first treated the
commissioner rather cavalierly. A Babi theologian was told off to
educate him; the Bab himself did not grant him an audience. To this
Babi representative Yahya confided that he had some inclination
towards Babism, and that a miracle performed by the Bab in his
presence would make assurance doubly sure. To this the Babi is
said to have answered, 'For such as have like us beheld a thousand
marvels stranger than the fabled cleaving of the moon to demand a
miracle or sign from that Perfect Truth would be as though we should
seek light from a candle in the full blaze of the radiant sun.'
[Footnote: _NH_, p. 122.] Indeed, what marvel could be greater
than that of raising the spiritually dead, which the Bab and his
followers were constantly performing? [Footnote: Accounts of miracles
were spiritualized by the Bab.]

It was already much to have read the inspired "signs," or verses,
communicated by the Bab, but how much more would it be to see his
Countenance! The time came for the Sayyid's first interview with the
Master. There was still, however, in his mind a remainder of the
besetting sin of mullas'--arrogance,--and the Bab's answers to the
questions of his guest failed to produce entire conviction. The Sayyid
was almost returning home, but the most learned of the disciples bade
him wait a little longer, till he too, like themselves, would see
clearly. [Footnote: _NH_, p. 114.] The truth is that the Bab
committed the first part of the Sayyid's conversion to his disciples.
The would-be disciple had, like any novice, to be educated, and the
Bab, in his first two interviews with the Sayyid, was content to
observe how far this process had gone.

It was in the third interview that the two souls really met. The
Sayyid had by this time found courage to put deep theological
questions, and received correspondingly deep answers. The Bab then
wrote on the spot a commentary on the 108th Sura of the Kur'an.
[Footnote: Nicolas, p. 233.] In this commentary what was the Sayyid's
surprise to find an explanation which he had supposed to be his own
original property! He now submitted entirely to the power of
attraction and influence [Footnote: _NH_, p. 115.] exercised so
constantly, when He willed, by the Master. He took the Bab for his
glorious model, and obtained the martyr's crown in the second Niriz
war.


MULLA MUHAMMAD 'ALI OF ZANJAN

He was a native of Mazandaran, and a disciple of a celebrated teacher
at the holy city of Karbala, decorated with the title Sharifu-'l Ulama
('noblest of the Ulama'). He became a _mujtah[i]d_ ('an authority on
hard religious questions') at Zanjan, the capital of the small
province of Khamsa, which lay between Irak and Azarbaijan. Muslim
writers affirm that in his functions of _mujtahad_ he displayed a
restless and intolerant spirit, [Footnote: Gobineau; Nicolas.] and he
himself confesses to having been 'proud and masterful.' We can,
however, partly excuse one who had no congeniality with the narrow
Shi'ite system prevalent in Persia. It is clear, too, that his
teaching (which was that of the sect of the Akhbaris), [Footnote:
_NH_, pp. 138, 349.] was attractive to many. He declares that two or
three thousand families in Khamsa were wholly devoted to him.
[Footnote: _Ibid_. p. 350.]

At the point at which this brief sketch begins, our mulla was
anxiously looking out for the return of his messenger Mash-hadi
Ahmad from Shiraz with authentic news of the reported Divine
Manifestation. When the messenger returned he found Mulla Muhammad
'Ali in the mosque about to give a theological lecture. He handed over
the letter to his Master, who, after reading it, at once turned to his
disciples, and uttered these words: 'To search for a roof after one
has arrived at one's destination is a shameful thing. To search for
knowledge when one is in possession of one's object is supererogatory.
Close your lips [in surprise], for the Master has arisen; apprehend
the news thereof. The sun which points out to us the way we should go,
has appeared; the night of error and of ignorance is brought to
nothing.' With a loud voice he then recited the prayer of Friday,
which is to replace the daily prayer when the Imam appears.

The conversion [Footnote: For Muhammad 'Ali's own account, see
Nicolas, _AMB_, pp. 349, 350.] of Mulla Muhammad 'Ali had
important results, though the rescue of the Bab was not permitted to
be one of them. The same night on which the Bab arrived at Zanjan on
his way to Tabriz and Maku, Mulla Muhammad 'Ali was secretly
conveyed to Tihran. In this way one dangerous influence, much dreaded
at court, was removed. And in Tihran he remained till the death of
Muhammad Shah, and the accession of Nasiru'd-din Shah. The new Shah
received him graciously, and expressed satisfaction that the Mulla
had not left Tihran without leave. He now gave him express permission
to return to Zanjan, which accordingly the Mulla lost no time in
doing. The hostile mullas, however, were stirred up to jealousy
because of the great popularity which Muhammad 'Ali had
acquired. Such was the beginning of the famous episode of Zanjan.


KURRATU'L 'AYN

Among the Heroes of God was another glorious saint and martyr of the
new society, originally called Zarrin Taj ('Golden Crown'), but
afterwards better known as Kurratu'l 'Ayn ('Refreshment of the
Eyes') or Jenab-i-Tahira ('Her Excellency the Pure, Immaculate'). She
was the daughter of the 'sage of Kazwin,' Haji Mulla Salih, an
eminent jurist, who (as we shall see) eventually married her to her
cousin Mulla Muhammad. Her father-in-law and uncle was also a
mulla, and also called Muhammad; he was conspicuous for his bitter
hostility to the Sheykhi and the Babi sects. Kurratu'l 'Ayn
herself had a flexible and progressive mind, and shrank from no
theological problem, old or new. She absorbed with avidity the latest
religious novelties, which were those of the Bab, and though not
much sympathy could be expected from most of her family, yet there was
one of her cousins who was favourable like herself to the claims of
the Bab. Her father, too, though he upbraided his daughter for her
wilful adhesion to 'this Shiraz lad,' confessed that he had not taken
offence at any claim which she advanced for herself, whether to be the
Bab or _even more than that_.

Now I cannot indeed exonerate the 'sage of Kazwin' from all
responsibility for connecting his daughter so closely with a bitter
enemy of the Bab, but I welcome his testimony to the manifold
capacities of his daughter, and his admission that there were not only
extraordinary men but extraordinary women qualified even to represent
God, and to lead their less gifted fellow-men or fellow-women up the
heights of sanctity. The idea of a woman-Bab is so original that it
almost takes one's breath away, and still more perhaps does the
view--modestly veiled by the Haji--that certain men and even women are
of divine nature scandalize a Western till it becomes clear that the
two views are mutually complementary. Indeed, the only difference in
human beings is that some realize more, and some less, or even not at
all, the fact of the divine spark in their composition. Kurratu'l
'Ayn certainly did realize her divinity. On one occasion she even
reproved one of her companions for not at once discerning that she was
the _Kibla_ towards which he ought to pray. This is no poetical
conceit; it is meant as seriously as the phrase, 'the Gate,' is meant
when applied to Mirza 'Ali Muhammad. We may compare it with another
honorific title of this great woman--'The Mother of the World.'

The love of God and the love of man were in fact equally prominent in
the character of Kurratu'l 'Ayn, and the Glorious One (el-Abha) had
endowed her not only with moral but with high intellectual gifts. It
was from the head of the Sheykhi sect (Haji Sayyid Kazim) that she
received her best-known title, and after the Sayyid's death it was she
who (see below) instructed his most advanced disciples; she herself,
indeed, was more advanced than any, and was essentially, like Symeon
in St. Luke's Gospel, a waiting soul. As yet, it appears, the young
Shiraz Reformer had not heard of her. It was a letter which she wrote
after the death of the Sayyid to Mulla Huseyn of Bushraweyh which
brought her rare gifts to the knowledge of the Bab. Huseyn himself
was not commissioned to offer Kurratu'l 'Ayn as a member of the new
society, but the Bab 'knew what was in man,' and divined what the
gifted woman was desiring. Shortly afterwards she had opportunities of
perusing theological and devotional works of the Bab, by which, says
Mirza Jani, 'her conversion was definitely effected.' This was at
Karbala, a place beyond the limits of Persia, but dear to all Shi'ites
from its associations. It appears that Kurratu'l 'Ayn had gone
thither chiefly to make the acquaintance of the great Sheykhite
teacher, Sayyid Kazim.

Great was the scandal of both clergy and laity when this fateful step
of Kurratu'l 'Ayn became known at Kazwin. Greater still must it have
been if (as Gobineau states) she actually appeared in public without a
veil. Is this true? No, it is not true, said Subh-i-Ezel, when
questioned on this point by Browne. Now and then, when carried away by
her eloquence, she would allow the veil to slip down off her face, but
she would always replace it. The tradition handed on in Baha-'ullah's
family is different, and considering how close was the bond between
Bahaa and Kurratu'l 'Ayn, I think it safer to follow the family
of Baha, which in this case involves agreeing with Gobineau. This
noble woman, therefore, has the credit of opening the catalogue of
social reforms in Persia. Presently I shall have occasion to refer to
this again.

Mirza Jani confirms this view. He tells us that after being converted,
our heroine 'set herself to proclaim and establish the doctrine,' and
that this she did 'seated behind a curtain.' We are no doubt meant to
suppose that those of her hearers who were women were gathered round
the lecturer behind the curtain. It was not in accordance with
conventions that men and women should be instructed together, and
that--horrible to say--by a woman. The governor of Karbala determined
to arrest her, but, though without a passport, she made good her
escape to Baghdad. There she defended her religious position before
the chief mufti. The secular authorities, however, ordered her to
quit Turkish territory and not return.

The road which she took was that by Kirmanshah and Hamadan (both in
Irak; the latter, the humiliated representative of Ecbatana). Of
course, Kurratu'l 'Ayn took the opportunity of preaching her Gospel,
which was not a scheme of salvation or redemption, but 'certain subtle
mysteries of the divine' to which but few had yet been privileged to
listen. The names of some of her hearers are given; we are to suppose
that some friendly theologians had gathered round her, partly as an
escort, and partly attracted by her remarkable eloquence. Two of them
we shall meet with presently in another connection. It must not, of
course, be supposed that all minds were equally open. There were some
who raised objections to Kurratu'l 'Ayn, and wrote a letter to the
Bab, complaining of her. The Bab returned discriminating answers,
the upshot of which was that her homilies were to be considered as
inspired. We are told that these same objectors repented, which
implies apparently that the Bab's spiritual influence was effectual
at a distance.

Other converts were made at the same places, and the idea actually
occurred to her that she might put the true doctrine before the
Shah. It was a romantic idea (Muhammad Shah was anything thing but a
devout and believing Muslim), not destined to be realized. Her father
took the alarm and sent for her to come home, and, much to her credit,
she gave filial obedience to his summons. It will be observed that it
is the father who issues his orders; no husband is mentioned. Was it
not, then, most probably on _this_ return of Kurratu'l 'Ayn
that the maiden was married to Mulla Muhammad, the eldest son of
Haji Mulla Muhammad Taki. Mirza Jani does not mention this, but
unless our heroine made two journeys to Karbala, is it not the easiest
way of understanding the facts? The object of the 'sage of Kazwin'
was, of course, to prevent his daughter from traversing the country as
an itinerant teacher. That object was attained. I will quote from an
account which claims to be from Haji Muhammad Hamami, who had been
charged with this delicate mission by the family.

'I conducted Kurratu'l 'Ayn into the house of her father, to whom I
rendered an account of what I had seen. Haji Mulla Taki, who was
present at the interview, showed great irritation, and recommended all
the servants to prevent "this woman" from going out of the house under
any pretext whatsoever, and not to permit any one to visit her without
his authority. Thereupon he betook himself to the traveller's room,
and tried to convince her of the error in which she was entangled. He
entirely failed, however, and, furious before that settled calm and
earnestness, was led to curse the Bab and to load him with
insults. Then Kurratu'l 'Ayn looked into his face, and said to him,
"Woe unto thee, for I see thy mouth filling with blood."'

Such is the oral tradition which our informant reproduces. In
criticizing it, we may admit that the gift of second sight was
possessed by the Babi and Bahai leaders. But this particular
anecdote respecting our heroine is (may I not say?) very
improbable. To curse the Bab was not the way for an uncle to
convince his erring niece. One may, with more reason, suppose that
her father and uncle trusted to the effect of matrimony, and committed
the transformation of the lady to her cousin Mulla Muhammad. True,
this could not last long, and the murder of Taki in the mosque of
Kazwin must have precipitated Kurratu'l 'Ayn's resolution to divorce
her husband (as by Muhammadan law she was entitled to do) and leave
home for ever. It might, however, have gone hardly with her if she
had really uttered the prophecy related above. Evidently her husband,
who had accused her of complicity in the crime, had not heard of
it. So she was acquitted. The Bab, too, favoured the suggestion of
her leaving home, and taking her place among his missionaries.
[Footnote: Nicolas, _AMB_, p. 277.] At the dead of night, with
an escort of Babis, she set out ostensibly for Khurasan. The route
which she really adopted, however, took her by the forest-country of
Mazandaran, where she had the leisure necessary for pondering the
religious situation.

The sequel was dramatic. After some days and nights of quietude, she
suddenly made her appearance in the hamlet of Badasht, to which place
a representative conference of Babis had been summoned.

The object of the conference was to correct a widespread
misunderstanding. There were many who thought that the new leader
came, in the most literal sense, to fulfil the Islamic Law. They
realized, indeed, that the object of Muhammad was to bring about an
universal kingdom of righteousness and peace, but they thought this
was to be effected by wading through streams of blood, and with the
help of the divine judgments. The Bab, on the other hand, though not
always consistent, was moving, with some of his disciples, in the
direction of moral suasion; his only weapon was 'the sword of the
Spirit, which is the word of God.' When the Ka'im appeared all
things would be renewed. But the Ka'im was on the point of
appearing, and all that remained was to prepare for his Coming. No
more should there be any distinction between higher and lower races,
or between male and female. No more should the long, enveloping veil
be the badge of woman's inferiority.

The gifted woman before us had her own characteristic solution of the
problem. So, doubtless, had the other Babi leaders who were
present, such as Kuddus and Baha-'ullah, the one against, the other
in favour of social reforms.

It is said, in one form of tradition, that Kurratu'l 'Ayn herself
attended the conference with a veil on. If so, she lost no time in
discarding it, and broke out (we are told) into the fervid
exclamation, 'I am the blast of the trumpet, I am the call of the
bugle,' i.e. 'Like Gabriel, I would awaken sleeping souls.' It
is said, too, that this short speech of the brave woman was followed
by the recitation by Baha-'ullah of the Sura of the Resurrection
(lxxv.). Such recitations often have an overpowering effect.

The inner meaning of this was that mankind was about to pass into a
new cosmic cycle, for which a new set of laws and customs would be
indispensable.

There is also a somewhat fuller tradition. Kurratu'l 'Ayn was in
Mazandaran, and so was also Baha'ullah. The latter was taken ill, and
Kurratu'l 'Ayn, who was an intimate friend of his, was greatly
concerned at this. For two days she saw nothing of him, and on the
third sent a message to him to the effect that she could keep away no
longer, but must come to see him, not, however, as hitherto, but with
her head uncovered. If her friend disapproved of this, let him
censure her conduct. He did not disapprove, and on the way to see him,
she proclaimed herself the trumpet blast.

At any rate, it was this bold act of Kurratu'l 'Ayn which shook the
foundations of a literal belief in Islamic doctrines among the
Persians. It may be added that the first-fruits of Kurratu'l 'Ayn's
teaching was no one less than the heroic Kuddus, and that the
eloquent teacher herself owed her insight probably to Baha-'ullah. Of
course, the supposition that her greatest friend might censure her is
merely a delightful piece of irony. [Footnote: _NH_, pp. 357-358.]

I have not yet mentioned the long address assigned to our heroine by
Mirza Jani. It seems to me, in its present form, improbable, and yet
the leading ideas may have been among those expressed by the
prophetess. If so, she stated that the laws of the previous
dispensation were abrogated, and that laws in general were only
necessary till men had learnt to comprehend the Perfection of the
Doctrine of the Unity. 'And should men not be able to receive the
Doctrine of the Unity at the beginning of the Manifestation,
ordinances and restrictions will again be prescribed for them.' It is
not wonderful that the declaration of an impending abrogation of Law
was misinterpreted, and converted into a licence for Antinomianism.
Mirza Jani mentions, but with some reticence, the unseemly conduct of
some of the Babis.

There must, however, have been some who felt the spell of the great
orator, and such an one is portrayed by Mme. H. Dreyfus, in her
dramatic poem _God's Heroes_, under the name of 'Ali. I will
quote here a little speech of 'Ali's, and also a speech of Kurratu'l
'Ayn, because they seem to me to give a more vivid idea of the scene
than is possible for a mere narrator. [Footnote: _God's Heroes_,
by Laura Clifford Barney [Paris, 1909], p. 64, Act III.]

'ALI

'Soon we shall leave Badasht: let us leave it filled with the Gospel
of life! Let our lives show what we, sincere Muhammadans, have
become through our acceptance of the Bab, the Mahdi, who has
awakened us to the esoteric meaning of the Resurrection Day. Let us
fill the souls of men with the glory of the revealed word. Let us
advance with arms extended to the stranger. Let us emancipate our
women, reform our society. Let us arise out of our graves of
superstition and of self, and pronounce that the Day of Judgment is at
hand; then shall the whole earth respond to the quickening power of
regeneration!'

QURRATU'L-'AIN

(_Deeply moved and half to herself._)

'I feel impelled to help unveil the Truth to these men assembled. If
my act be good the result will be good; if bad, may it affect me
alone!

'(_Advances majestically with face unveiled, and as she walks
towards Baha-'ullah's tent, addresses the men._) That sound of the
trumpet which ushers in the Day of Judgment is my call to you now!
Rise, brothers! The Quran is completed, the new era has begun. Know me
as your sister, and let all barriers of the past fall down before our
advancing steps. We teach freedom, action, and love. That sound of the
trumpet, it is I! That blast of the trumpet, it is I!

(_Exit_ Qurratu'l 'Ain.)'

On the breaking up of the Council our heroine joined a large party of
Babis led by her great friend Kuddus. On their arrival in Nur,
however, they separated, she herself staying in that district. There
she met Subh-i-Ezel, who is said to have rendered her many
services. But before long the people of Mazandaran surrendered the
gifted servant of truth to the Government.

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