The Title ‘Bahaullah’
The Station ‘Bahaullah’
1. The Title ‘Bahaullah’
1.2 The Station ‘Bahaullah’
The divine manifestation in every age and dispensation, which is the manifestation of the Primal Volition (Mashiyyat-i-Awaliyya) is designated “Bahaullah” (the glory of god). The Persian Bayan Wáhid (Unity) III, Chapter (BÂB) 15.
The Primal Point is Bahaullah in the Bayanic dispensation. The term Bahaullah conveys the same sense amongst the Sunnis.
Following his banishment to Acre and forestall any objection on the part of the Sunni inhabitants. Mirza Husayn Ali was made known as “Baha” or Baha-al-Din”. In the latter days, thanks to [Sir Abbas Effendi’s] Abdul Baha’s “shrewdness”, Mirza Husayn Ali was made known as “Bahaullah on the tongue and in the mouths [of men].” After the lapse of fifteen years, Shoghi Effendi, in his communication addressed to his followers in Egypt and Palestine refers to Mirza Husayn Ali as “Baha”, dictated by considerations of expediency. Abd al-Husayn Ayati surnamed Awara’s Kashf al-Hiyal, Vol. I, 6th impression, P. 21.
In the course of his interrogation in the governorate in Acre, following the murders of Subh-i-Azal’s three followers in Acre, Baha was asked by the commandant of the city “to state his name and that of the country from which he came.”
Baha is stated to have replied : “I deem it not proper to mention it. Refer to the Farman of the government.”
When pressed for a reply, Baha is stated to have answered: “My name is Bahaullah (light of god), and my country is Nur (light). Shoghi Effendi’s god passes by, P. 190.
In his Historical Epitome, Materials for the Study of the BÂBi Religion by Prof. Browne, PP. 56-57, Mirza Jawad states: “Now His Holiness Our Great Master, when he was at the government House, was questioned, as is customary, concerning his name and country. To this he replied, “My name is Bahaullah and my home is Nur (or the ‘light’), alluding to his native country in Mazandaran which is called Nur.”
According to lady Blomfield, The Chosen Highway, PP. 253-254, with “Aqa Husayn Ashchi [i.e. Aqa Husayn of Kashan the cook, See Materials by Prod. Browne, P. 55] as her authority “Baha was again taken to the court House to be interrogated. When he came into the assembly, he said: “You obey your own law, and disregard the law of god. Why have you not understood,” the governor said: “What is your name, and from what country do you come from?” Baha replied: ‘You will find my description in your records, read them and you will know who I am.’
Pressed for a reply Baha said: “My name is Bahaullah and my country is Nur.”
Baha continued: “Why are you gathered together? If it be your wish to find occasion against me whereby to take my life, my desire is as you desire. When I pass a tree, I say ‘Would that thou wert a cross, O tree! And that I were nailed upon thee. If only you could understand, I would have made you hear the melody of the nightingale, who is chanting on a branch of the tree of the lord, then would it be come manifest to you that Servitude is the Essence of Worship.”
If these conflicting and contradictory accounts are to be credited, this would appear to be one and only occasion when Baha used the title of “Bahaullah” in his public appearance. However, Baha had acquired the Ottoman Nationality in Baghdad. God passes by, P. 146, “Strict orders had been issued by the Sultan and his ministers to subject the exiles who were accused of having grievously erred and led others far astray, to the strictest confinement. The text of the Farman itself was read publicly, soon after the arrival of the exiles, in the principal mosque of the city as a warning to the populations.” Ibid, P.186.
To propitiate the Sunni population and thereby to escape their wrath, Mirza Husayn Ali had made himself known to them as “Baha” or Baha al-Din” Effendi. To these unfavourable conditions were compounded the aggravating circumstances of the murders. It does not, therefore stand to reason that Baha would have offended against the religious susceptibilities of the authorities by the use of the title of Bahaullah as alleged.