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ABDUL BAHA, Baha'i faith
& E.G. Browne [Noted Historian]
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These are excerpts from the famous
historian Edward Browne's book. These are not tales from Arabian nights but
facts taken down from the reputed and noted historian's Book. It narrates
historical incidences about the "Most Holy Branch", Abbas Efendi. No
one can refute the noted historians contribution to the Baha'i Faith. Edward
Browne says about Abdul Baha:
"Seldom have I seen one whose appearance impressed me more.
A tall strongly-built man holding himself straight as an arrow, with white
turban and raiment, long black locks reaching almost to the shoulder, broad
powerful forehead indicating a strong intellect combined with an unswerving
will, eyes keen as a hawk's, and strongly-marked but pleasing features--such
was my first impression of 'Abbas Effendi, "the master" as he par
excellence is called...."
But alas, alas for what we see today! All these
spiritual virtues and humane practices have undergone a complete change.
Concord has been replaced by dissension, constancy by cruelty and affection by
enmity. Dissent and mutual avoidance have appeared in this community, and their
concatenation hath been dissolved and their assembly dispersed. All this that
hath been mentioned hath happened by reason of the love of self and seeking
after supremacy emanating from " the Most Mighty Branch "
(al-Ghusnu'l-A'zam) Abbas Efendi and his opposition to the last Testament of
His Holiness our Great Master Baha'u'llah. For he [Baha'u'llah] says in Persian
(may my life be sacrificed to his utterance!):
" Every soul from
which the scent of existence (i.e. love of self) is perceived to-day is the
cause of discord."
He hath also informed us
in most of His Tablets that His object in making manifest His Dispensation was
to cause religious hatred to disappear from the World, and to diffuse love and
concord and kindliness amongst the nations.
But after His Ascension
[i.e. His death] events took place and sayings became current which produced
great discord and mutual avoidance within the community, by reason of what
issued from Abbas Efendi, as has been stated, so that antagonism and separation
arose between father and son, brother and sister, *husband and wife, and so
forth; nay, God be our refuge! even enmity and hatred. In this connection I
will mention certain events and matters which gradually came to pass after the
death of His Holiness our Great Master Baha'u'llah, some of which I beheld with
my own eyes, while others I heard from trustworthy witnesses. These I will
briefly, lest the reader be wearied, so that the Guardians of the Divine House
of Justice and all just and fair-minded people may be the better informed and
admonished, and may set themselves to amend what Hath happened.
* Page 57
The first difference
which happened after the death of His Holiness our Great Master within this
community was that Abbas Efendi concealed some part of the book of
[Bahau'llah's] Testament entitled " the Book of my Testament," which
book was given to him by Baha'ullah in his own holy writing'1
The detail of this is
that on the ninth day after the Ascension [i.e. the death of Baha'ullah] Abbas
Efendi chose nine persons from amongst the Companions, one of whom was the
author [of this book] and disclosed to them this document, concealing, however,
a portion of it with a blue leaf [of paper] without any reason or
justification, and gave it to them that they might enjoy the blessing of its
perusal. One of them, named Aqa Riza of Shiraz, read it at a sign from him down
to the place concealed by the blue leaf, whereupon Abbas Efendi said to the
persons above mentioned, " Verily a portion of this book is concealed for
a good reason, because the time cloth not admit of its full disclosure."
On the afternoon of that day Majdu'd-Din Efendi read it again, by command of
Abbas Efendi, in the Holy Place, before a company of the Aghsan (sons of
Baha'ullah), Afnan (kinsmen of the Bab), Muhajirin (Exiles), Mujawirin
(settlers in 'Akka) and Musafirin (temporary visitors), down to the
afore-mentioned passage, as narrated above. [The Arabic text of this Testament
has been published in Russia. See section III infra]
Let it not be hidden from
persons of discernment that the injunctions set forth in the above mentioned
book all refer * to this community
generally; how then could it be right for Abbas Efendi to disclose what he
wished and conceal a portion thereof? For there is no doubt that if what was so
concealed had not been suitable (for general publication) His Holiness
Baha'u'llah would not have written it in His august writing.
The duty of sons is to
carry out the testamentary instructions of their father, not to reveal a
portion and conceal a portion thereof, according to their private ideas and
opinions or personal inclinations, for His Holiness Baha'ullah says: " O
(Divine) Beauty! Verily I have spent my soul and my spirit for the
glorification of the Word and the exalting of the Dispensation of thy Glorious
and Beneficent Lord. If we see one of the 'Branches' (Aghsan, that is sons)
otherwise than as God willeth, we will rightfully drive him away: verily I am
the Mighty, the All-Powerful."
1. The Arabic text of this
Testament has been published in Russia. See Section III Infra
* pg. 58.
* pg. 58.
The second difference was
that His Holiness our Great Master hath said in numerous places in his Holy
Scriptures, plainly and explicitly, that no fresh Manifestation shall take
place until a full thousand years shall have passed from this Theophany; and that
if anyone advances a claim to any such position before the completion of the
above mentioned period, whosoever he be, and from whatsoever place he be, he is
a vain pretender worthy of rejection; as when he says in the " Most Holy
Book " (Kitab-i-Aqdas):
" Whosoever layeth
claim to a [new] Dispensation before the completion of a full thousand years is
a liar and prevaricator... And whosoever construes this verse or interprets it
otherwise than as it hath been obviously revealed is deprived of the Spirit of
God, and of His Mercy which encompasseth all the worlds."
But Abbas Efendi after he
had attained to supremacy, clearly and explicitly adopted the position of
originality1, and claimed such lofty stations and high
degrees as belong exclusively to Divine Theophanies, and even proclaimed in
public in America that he was the Messiah and the Son of God, and in India that
he was the promised Bahram2 . Thus he says in one of his writings:
"The Dispensation in
its entirety hath reverted to this visible place3, *and it is not (permissible) for anyone to stir
after his permission."
And again:
" Whosoever calls on
men in my Name, verily he is from me."
[But] His Holiness our
Great Master says: "Whosoever lays claim to any station, rapture, ecstasy
or craving otherwise than in this [my] Name, verily he is of (the number of)
the most lost, though he speak with all utterance4 and cause rivers to burst forth from rocks, and control the winds,
and cause the clouds to rain."
Abbas Efendi says in Persian:
" Say, 'the Goal and
Sum of all are the products of this Pen, and the Proof is that which this
tongue utters."'
[But] His Holiness our
Great Master says in Persian:
" What this
Oppressed One desireth of all is Justice and Equity. Let them not be satisfied
with listening, but let them ponder on what bath been manifested by this
servant.
By the Sun of the Bayan
arising from the horizon of the heaven of the Kingdom of [God] the
All-merciful, had there been found anyone (else) to explain or to speak, we would
not have made ourselves the object of men's reviling and calumnies."
And again, in the "
Chapter of the Pen " (Suratul-Qalam):
" Say, 'Into the
heart of whomsoever it entereth to rival this Pen**, or to associate himself therewith, or to
approach it, or to know what is revealed by it, let it be surely known that the
Devil bath whispered into his soul: thus hath the matter been revealed, if ye
would know it."'
Abbas Efendi says in
Persian:
" This servant is
the expositor of the Perspicuous Book, and whatever of God's writings is not
confirmed by this servant is not worthy of credence."
His Holiness our Great
Master says:
" The Covenant was
taken at the time of the Dawn from those who believe that they should not
worship (aught) save God, nor work mischief in the earth."
Abbas Efendi ascribes all
the covenants and vows mentioned in the Sacred Books to himself, as his words
prove. Thus he says in Persian:
" In short, verily
from the beginning of Creation until now there hath not happened or appeared
any plain covenant or clear promise like unto this. Yea, there have been
promises, but they were not + beneath the shadow of the Tree of Prophecy and the Lote-tree of the
Limit, but were only suggested by allegories. But in this great Cycle and
luminous Epoch the Object of the Covenant is visible in the horizons and the
Centre of the Promise is known amongst the people of the world."
His Holiness our Great
Master says in Persian:
"Though one should
adduce all the scriptures in the world, yet speak otherwise than as God
willeth, he is mentioned in God's Book as of the Fire, and is [so] inscribed by
the Supreme Pen."
Abbas Efendi says in Persian:
" The Dispensation
in its entirety reverts to the recognized and acknowledged place, and this
Station is distinguished, witnessed and explicitly differentiated, like the Sun
in all its phases, from all that is on the earth." And he has many other utterances
of this sort in his treatise, available to all in a text lithographed from a
copy made by one of his well-known disciples. Let him, therefore, who desires
[further] information peruse this treatise entitled " the Production of
the Proof [Ityanu'd-Dalil li-man yuridul-Iqbal ila siwais-Sabil, lithographed
(in Egypt?) on Safar I, 1318 (=May 31, 190o). See pp. 188-9 Infra.], " for
therein is what amply sufficeth.
The third difference is
that His Holiness our Great Master Baha'u'llah in many passages of his
writings, as also in the Book of his [last] Testament, commanded this community
to do away with discord, to extinguish the fire of sectarian hatred, and to
consort with all religions with kindness and friendliness, as he says in
Persian: [Compare pp. 64-5 supra, where the same passage is cited.]
" By the Sun of
Truth arising from the horizon of the heaven of this prison (i.e. Akka), never
did the Beauty of Eternity desire strife and discord, or aught whereby (men's)
hearts are troubled! Refer to the Tablets: He saith, 'Consort with [all]
religions with spirituality and fragrance.' The object of this Theophany is the
extinction ++of
the fire of [page 61.]hatred kindled in the hearts of the creeds, and the
abatement thereof by the Kawthar5 of the utterance of Divine Counsel and Celestial
Admonition. In this very year, A.H. 1306 [=1888-9], a Tablet was revealed in
the writing of this Oppressed one wherein this Sublime Word shone forth from
the horizon of the Supreme Pen: 'O people, speak well of [God's] servants, and
speak not of them evil, or that whereby their souls may be troubled.' The
mention of evil hath also been forbidden in this Law, because the tongue is for
the commemoration of the Truth, and it is pitiful that it should be defiled by
backbiting or uttering words which cause sadness and grief to [God's]
servants."
He says also in Persian
in " the Book of my Will ":
" The object of this
Oppressed One in bearing hardships and afflictions is the revealing of Verses
and the showing forth of Proofs, so that the fire of malice and hatred may be
quenched; then perhaps the horizons of men's hearts may be illuminated with the
light of concord and may attain to true Peace."
1. i.e. of being the bearer
of a new Revelation and not merely the interpreter and maintainer of that given
by Baha'ullah
2. The expected Saviour of the Zoroastrians or Parsees.
3. meaning himself
* page 59.
4. Or, "with all Bayan," i.e. with all utterance of the Bab
** i.e. Baha'ullah himself
+ pg. 60
++ page 61
5. The name of a fountain or river in Paradise
2. The expected Saviour of the Zoroastrians or Parsees.
3. meaning himself
* page 59.
4. Or, "with all Bayan," i.e. with all utterance of the Bab
** i.e. Baha'ullah himself
+ pg. 60
++ page 61
5. The name of a fountain or river in Paradise
And again in the same
Book:
''O people of the world !
God's religion exists for Love and Concord: do not make it a means to enmity
and discord ! " But Abbas Efendi hath nullified this most great gift and
most high and glorious aim, since he, for his Enmity and private ends and
personal aims, hath instituted hatred and discord amongst the people of Baha,
in such wise that he hath introduced division and separation between brother
and sister, fathers and sons, husband and wife, friend and old comrade; and
whosoever does not agree with him in his ideas and statements, and does not
speak evil concerning his brother Muhammad 'Ali Efendi " the Most Great
Branch " (al-Ghusnu'l-Akbar) and the Holy Family is accounted a "
violator" (Naqiz) of the Covenant and a " vacillator"
(Mutazalzil), nay, an infidel, wherefore they avoid him and hold it unlawful to
speak, or converse, or have any dealings with him.* Let it not be hidden from the
intelligent that the causes of discord are numerous, but the author has not
touched on them fully from a desire for brevity.
The sum of the matter is
that this schism took place on account of what hath been mentioned, and for
[other reasons] which have not been mentioned, so that this cleavage resulted,
and this community became two communities. On the one hand are the followers of
Abbas Efendi, who constitute the majority. Most of these believe him to be
possessed of the Supreme Immaculacy and to be the Mirror of " He doeth
what He will," as is witnessed by their published treatises in handwritings
well-known [to all]. They ascribe to him the high degrees and lofty stations
peculiar to the Divine Manifestations, and name themselves "the
steadfast" (ath-Thabitun).
* pg.62.
On the other hand are the
minority, who find Abbas Efendi and his claim, his sayings, and his ideas at
variance with the commands of His Holiness our great Master; who regard
Muhammad 'Ali Efendi as submissive to God and obedient to the commands of His Holiness
Baha'u'llah; and who conceive of him as of a finger who points to his Master,
so that they agree and unite with him, and are called " Unitarians".
(ahlu't-Tawhid).
When it became certain
that a schism had taken place, Muhammad 'Ali Efendi and those who were with
him, in conformity with the commands of His Holiness our Great Master, where he
says in the Kitab-I-Aqdas:
"If ye differ in any
matter, refer it to God, so long as the Sun continues to shine front the
horizon of this heaven;1 and when it hath set, then refer to what hath been revealed by
Him: verily that sufficeth the worlds ; and in another place in Persian:
" O divers peoples,
turn towards unity, and become illuminated with the Light of Concord: meet in
some place in godly fashion, and put away from amongst you what ever is the
cause of difference*
(- in accordance with
these precepts, I say) they repeatedly communicated with Abbas Efendi asking
him to appoint a sitting in godly fashion and to choose a few representatives
from both sides to discuss the matter with the utmost loving-kindness as
regards the disagreement and its causes; to make the efforts necessary to
remove it; to weigh words and thoughts in the balance of God's Scripture; and
to distinguish the Truth from all else by the criterion of His [Baha'u'llah's]
words. Moreover they besought the acceptance of this proposal with the extreme
of supplication and sincerity, and repeated their request many times, but
obtained no answer from him [i.e. Abbas Efendi], nor would he in any wise
consent to this, perceiving that reference to the verses explanatory [of this
question] could be contrary to his private ideas and personal advantage, and
knowing that the truth would be revealed by reference to them, and that all men
would recognize the vanity of the ideas and expressions current in the
assemblies of Abbas Efendi and the Family of the House of Greatness2 statements and allegations at which reasonable people were
horrified, paying no heed to the injunctions of His Holiness our Great Master
where he enjoins in His honourable writings respect for the " Branches
" (Aghsan), [i.e. as already explained, the sons of Baha'ullah], wives and
family, even as he says in the Book of His Testament, "Respect and heed
for the 'Branches' (Agsan, i.e. sons) is incumbent upon all for the glorifying
of the Dispensation and the uplifting of the Word."
1. "so long as Baha'ullah is alive."
2. i.e. other members of Baha'ullah's family who rejected the claim of Abbas Efendi.
* pg.63
2. i.e. other members of Baha'ullah's family who rejected the claim of Abbas Efendi.
* pg.63
The fourth difference was
that the more the followers of Abbas Efendi increased in exaggeration of his
praise, and described him by names and attributes proper only to the Divine
Majesty, the more he magnified his gifts to them and the more graciously he
treated them. So they exaggerated the more,* and carried matters to the point of polytheism1, exceeding all limits in respect to him. Thus they took certain
verses of the Surat-ul-Amr and made them a separate Tablet, which, they
asserted, was Abbas Efendi's, so that they might establish for him a glory
proper only to Divine Theophanies. And Abbas Efendi himself made alterations in
one of the Servant's2
letters to Muhammad Mustafa of Baghdad in Beyrout, that is to say added to it
and diminished from it, saying that it was a Tablet which the Lord had revealed
to him. Moreover he claimed that the Holy Tablet specially addressed to his
brother Muhammad 'Ali Efendi was shared by himself. Again the Servant [Mirza
Aqa Jan of Kashan], during the days when His Holiness, our Great Master
sojourned at Adrianople, had written a tract wherein he made a mention of the
Mischief of the days of the Manifestation. This tract Abbas Efendi named "
the Tablet of the Mischief," saying that it was a Holy Tablet revealed
from the Supreme Pen, and ordered it to be read in the assemblies, his object
therein being to cast doubts into men's hearts, so that they might imagine that
the utmost importance belonged to his days. Again our Great Master, before he
made known his Mission, warned us of the advent of " the grievous
days," meaning thereby the days of His Manifestation. But after the
Manifestation He declared in one of the Holy tablets that they
had come to an end. But
Abbas Efendi said in answer to a question concerning " the grievous days
" that they were the year of the Ascension3, in order to establish the importance of his own days, as hath
been mentioned. And not withstanding all that we have mentioned, he asserted
that his brother Muhammad Ali Efendi had tampered with the published Divine
Verses, I mean the [edition of the] Kitabul Haykal lithographed in the days of
His Holiness our Great Master, whereof many copies exist in the writing of Zayn
(al-Muqarrabin)4 (who is well known amongst this community and
who collated this lithographed edition), and said that the verses which were
not confirmed by him were not to be relied on, intending thereby to prevent his
followers from referring to these Divine Verses, lest they should become aware
of his [Abbas Efendi's] opposition to the Holy Writings** in word, deed, declaration and writing.
In the fourth year after
the death of His Holiness our Great Master [i.e. about 1896], the partisans of
Abbas Efendi held a meeting in his audience-chamber at his suggestion, took
counsel with one another, and agreed that what was given of the necessaries of
life to the
Holy Family and to his
brothers was on no account permissible; wherefore Abbas Efendi cut it off
completely, so that he compelled them to borrow for household expenses, because
they were deprived of means. This was a wrongful act on his part, because what
[revenue] reached him from the different countries was not his private
property, but belonged to the entire Holy Family, as will not be hidden from
the discerning Yet he cut it off from them, and spent it on whom he would of
the officials and men of influence, in order to effect his personal aims, not
acting conformably to truth, justice and equity.
* pg. 64
** pg. 65
1. shirk, i.e. associating partners with God.
2. i.e. Mirza Aqa Jan of Kashan, the special attendant and amanuensis of Baha'ullah commonly called Janab-I-Khadimullah.
3. i.e. of the death of Baha'llah.
4. see my translation of the Traveller's Narrative, ii, pp. 412-418.
** pg. 65
1. shirk, i.e. associating partners with God.
2. i.e. Mirza Aqa Jan of Kashan, the special attendant and amanuensis of Baha'ullah commonly called Janab-I-Khadimullah.
3. i.e. of the death of Baha'llah.
4. see my translation of the Traveller's Narrative, ii, pp. 412-418.
In the sixth year after
[the death of] His Holiness our great Master [i.e. about 1898], a grievous
sickness overcame Ziya'ullah Efendi, by reason of the vehement emotion caused
in him by the existing events and differences. After some days he went for change
of air to Hayfa, where the malady increased in gravity. And during the days of
his illness neither Abbas Efendi nor any of his family or followers came to
visit his sick brother or to enquire after him; until the signs of dissolution
appeared, on the afternoon of the 14th of Jumada II, A.H. 1316 (October 30,
1898), when Abbas Efendi came, stayed a few minutes, and then returned to his
lodging. Next morning he came, accompanied the corpse to the gate of the town
[`Akka], and after a short while went to the Palace (of Bahja) tarried a while
there, and returned to 'Akka, but was not present at the funeral, nor anyone of
his family and followers.
They did not even close
their shops and offices on that *day, as is customary, but on the contrary manifested joy and
gladness and quaffed the drinks commonly used on festivals. This behaviour [on
their part] astonished all, whether present or absent, kinsmen or strangers.
Ziya'ullah Efendi had a
wife whose parents and brothers were followers of Abbas Efendi, who summoned
them to his presence, desiring by their means to draw her to himself. But since
after her husband's death she chose faithfulness [to his memory] and the
service of Her Holiness his mother, with whom she dwelt in the Palace of Bahja,
Abbas Efendi sent her parents and her brother to the Holy Place. They sent a
certain woman of the partisans of Abbas Efendi to her mother-in-law, demanding
an interview with the girl, that is, the wife of Ziya'ullah Efendi, in the Holy
Place; which request being granted, she came in company with the above
mentioned woman to the Holy Place and met her parents and her brother, who held
her in conversation with inquiries as to her condition and declarations of
affection, walking meanwhile towards the gate, on emerging from which her
parents and brother seized her by force, and carried her off, holding her hands
and feet to drag her to the place where a carriage was in readiness to carry
her away. Abbas Efendi's wife was present in person to superintend the
arrangements above mentioned, while some of her relations and followers were
helping the parents in her abduction, she being bare-headed and bare-footed,
crying out and asking for help, and saying " O Baha, help me ! They have
taken me by force! " This event happened at a time when Muhammad Ali
Efendi and Badi'u'llah Efendi were absent, and no one was present except the
Servant of the Presence1 and
a few of the Unitarians2 The author of this history and some others of the
Companions were proceeding towards the Holy Place to visit it**, and we happened to be there when they brought
her out crying for help. We and the Servant [Janab-i-Khadimullah] hastened to
the spot and delivered her out of their hands. But Abbas
Efendi, when he perceived
that he was foiled in his scheme and saw that it had not succeeded, ordered
some of his followers to write a pamphlet in which the matter was entirely
misrepresented, and sent it with the signature of the ill-used lady's father (I
mean the widow of Ziya'ullah Efendi) to Egypt to Hajji Mirza Hasan of Khurasan,
who printed and published it in the lands by his command.
* pg. 66
1. i.e. Mirza Aqa Jan of Kashan, called Janab-i-Khadimullah,
2. This was the name adopted by the followers of Muhammad Ali. See p. 81 supra.
** page 67
1. i.e. Mirza Aqa Jan of Kashan, called Janab-i-Khadimullah,
2. This was the name adopted by the followers of Muhammad Ali. See p. 81 supra.
** page 67
In the fifth year [after
Baha'u'llah's death], on the 26th of Dhul-Hijja, A.H. 1314 (May
28th, 1897) [This was the fifth anniversary of Baha'ullah's death], the Servant
of God invited all the Companions to the neighbourhood of the Holy Place in
Bahja, where, after they had partaken of food and drunk tea, he stood up about
the time of the afternoon [prayer] and addressed the people, saying:
"This servant hath
been silent all this time and hath not uttered a word, for fear of giving rise
to dissension. Now, however, I perceive that my silence causeth increase of
discord in God's Religion; therefore I say unto you that the deeds and words
which have issued from Abbas Efendi and his company are all contrary to God's
commands, and at variance with His injunctions revealed in the Holy Scriptures.
The Covenant and Promise mentioned aforetime in the Immaculate Writings refer
exclusively to previous and subsequent Theopanies, but Abbas Efendi hath
appropriated them to himself, and ye have so accepted them, wherein ye have
greatly erred."
One of Abbas Efendi's
followers1 informed him of the Servant's words, whereupon
he at once appeared on the scene, seized him by the hand , and expelled him
from the house bare-headed and bare-footed, while his followers beat him on the
head and face, he crying out meanwhile in a loud voice, addressing them,
"Verily ye *are now in
the neighbourhood of the Holy Place, while I am speaking to you with
discriminating signs (verses), that thereby the true may be distinguished from
the false and the polytheist from the Unitarian." Yet not one of them
listened to him, but they continued to beat him and to drag him to the Holy
Place where Abbas Efendi struck him with his hand a painful blow. From the Holy
Place they took him by command of Abbas Efendi and imprisoned him in a stable,
after they had taken from him such writings and letters as he had on him After
that they denounced him as reprobate, apostate; croaker, hypocrite and devil,
notwithstanding the recommendations of His Holiness our Great Master concerning
him and His command to them in the Book of the [last]Testament, and in other
Tablets also, to honour the Servant even as He says in a Tablet in His own holy
writing " And after the 'Branches' (Aghsan, i.e. the sons of Baha'u'llah)
show honour to the Servant who stands before the Throne in a laudable station2."
In short, after this
event the Servant attached himself to the Place of our Great Master, and used
to spend his time with Muhammad Ali Efendi and the Holy Family in commemorating
the Lord (glorious in His State) and in the service of the Catholic Word, as is
proved by his writings in his own well-known hand. And after a time he went one
morning to the house of Abbas Efendi at 'Akka to discuss and confer about the
actual conditions and existing differences; but they shut the door in his face
and prevented him from entering, and he sat before them on the ground for the
space of two hours, begging Abbas Efendi and his partisans to produce the holy verses
and Tablets in their possession, so that he might discuss with them and they
with him according to their purport, in order that it might appear what actions
and words were conformable or contrary to them, and which thereof were
acceptable in God's sight and which displeasing. But none would give ear; and
finally Abbas Efendi sent his son-in-law named Mirza Muhsin to the Government
to say to the [Turkish] officials that the Servant had come to make mischief.
Thereupon an officer came and took ** the Servant to the Government House,
where they detained him for a while, after which they drove him out from the
Palace. So he continued worshipping and commemorating God and elucidating the
Supreme Unity until he fell sick.
1. Sayyid Hadi was the informer.
* page 68
2 The events here narrated form the subject of a separate tract of 16 pages, lithographed, entitled Waqi'a-i-haila-I-Khadim-i-Abha dar Rawza i-Mubaraka-i-Ulya ("The Dreadful Calamity of the Servant Of Baha in the Blessed and Supreme Garden"). The persecutors were twelve in number, of whom eight are named.
** page 69.
* page 68
2 The events here narrated form the subject of a separate tract of 16 pages, lithographed, entitled Waqi'a-i-haila-I-Khadim-i-Abha dar Rawza i-Mubaraka-i-Ulya ("The Dreadful Calamity of the Servant Of Baha in the Blessed and Supreme Garden"). The persecutors were twelve in number, of whom eight are named.
** page 69.
His sickness lasted
fifteen days, and on the 29th of Muharram, A.H. I3I9 (May '7th, I901) he
responded to the call of his Master in the Palace of Bahja, and was buried with
the utmost reverence at Abi 'Ataba, Muhammad Ali Efendi and the Unitarians
seeing to what was necessary for him in the way of washing, shrouding and
burial.
The Servant during his
days [of life] had repeatedly expressed his wish to the Friends that all of the
Holy Writings which belonged to him should return to God, and that after his death
they should all be deposited in the Holy Place. So after his death Muhammad
'Ali Efendi, Badi'u'llah Efendi, and some of the Unitarians, including the
author, went one day to a house in the neighbourhood of the Holy Place and
examined the Sacred Mementos which the Servant had left. These included twelve
Holy portraits, two hundred and seventeen Holy Tablets produced by the Supreme
Pen, and a number of the Holy head-dresses,1 garments and hairs, besides many Sacred Books and a mass of
correspondence, bound and unbound, and private possessions, and a number of
tracts composed by the Servant concerning the Divine Unity and the Supreme
Immaculateness. All these they wrote down [in a list], and placed in three
boxes, which they sealed with two seals and deposited as a trust in the house
of Sayyid Ali Efendi, the son-in-law of His Holiness our Great Master, because
he was a Russian subject2, so
that they might be protected from interference at the hands of tyrants.
Recently, however, it
appears that Abbas Efendi in the month of Safar, A.H. 1326 (March, 1908)
obtained the consent of the Blessed Leaf and the Holy Spouse, and of Sayyid
'Ali Efendi Afnan3 and sent* his son-in-law Mirza Muhsin and Aqa Riza of Shiraz by night in his
private carriage to Bahja to bring him the three boxes deposited in trust as
above mentioned without the knowledge of anyone. And there is no doubt that the
carrying out of this transaction secretly by night is a clear proof that it was
contrary alike to the Holy Law and its ordinances, and to the Common Law and
its provisions, for it was effected by theft and larceny. For Muhammad 'All and
those who were with him had left the boxes there under seal as a trust, for the
carrying out of the Servant's last testament and in order to give effect to it.
How then could it be right for Abbas Efendi to appropriate them in the fashion
above mentioned, or that this treachery should be committed by him ?
1. Tijan, literally "Crowns," i.e. the tall felt caps
which Baha'ullah used to wear.
2. And therefore not liable to be molested by the Persian or Turkish Government
3. So called because he was related to the Bab, whose kinsmen are called Afnan ("Branches")
* page 70
2. And therefore not liable to be molested by the Persian or Turkish Government
3. So called because he was related to the Bab, whose kinsmen are called Afnan ("Branches")
* page 70
After Abbas Efendi had
attained to supremacy, he made a great display, by reason of the moral and
material prestige which he now possessed. So likewise his followers did not
observe prudence, wisdom or moderation in affairs, whence arose many troubles
and difficulties, so that orders were issued by the Ottoman Government to
confine him and his brothers in the fortress of 'Akka. After a while there
appeared four inspectors to investigate and enquire into the circumstances of
certain of the officials and exiles, and they examined his [Abbas Efendi's]
affairs also. After a while Khalil Pasha the Governor of Beyrout appointed an
inspector to watch him and ascertain who associated with him of the people of
the country and others; and when he chanced on such an one, he used to bring
him to the Government House, where he was examined to ascertain the cause of
his frequenting the society of Abbas Efendi. He, however, ascribed all that had
happened to his brother Muhammad 'All Efendi, spreading this report abroad in
the country, and thereby filling the hearts of his followers with hatred,
enmity and aversion, so that they used to display the
extreme of dislike and
detestation in regard to Muhammad Ali Efendi and the Holy Family, and used to
speak unseemly words concerning them. But when Muhammad 'Ali Efendi discovered
that his brother ascribed these occurrences to him, he communicated with him
repeatedly by means of some of the officials and inhabitants of the city and
some of his followers, * and begged him to agree
to appoint a time and men to enquire into the truth of these matters,
investigate these events, and ascertain their reasons and causes. This happened
during the presence of the inspectors, and he requested him to appoint two
persons on his behalf that they might go together to the local government and
to the Board of Inspectors and formally demand [the production of] a note of
complaint, if such were in their possession, on the part of Muhmmad 'Ali
against his brother Abbas Efendi, or an assertion that they were cognizant of
some direct complaint on his part. For all official papers and legal complaints
are preserved in the originals as well as in copies by the Government in its
records. But Abbas Efendi would not accept this or agree to it, because he
sought by these falsehoods and slanders to give effect to his plans, and if he
had appointed such persons and they had gone to the above-mentioned official
quarters and made investigations, it would have become plain to all that these accusations
were false, and these reports devoid of truth and reality. For it is not hidden
that the False loves the darkness and hates the light, lest its evil
circumstances and deeds should become apparent.
In short this schism and its results were manifold, but space does
not allow more [to be said] than what I have mentioned, so I have contented
myself with this summary, having already set forth most of (the facts connected
with) it in another treatise.
* page 71
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