The Rise of Baha
7. Alleged Baha’s Inspection of the fortifications in the fort of Sheykh Tabarsi
Baha’s Inspection of the fortifications in the fort of Sheykh Tabarsi and his counsels and exhortations to its defenders devoid of historical foundation.
7.1 Shoghi Effendi’s Account
According to Shoghi Effendi’s god passes by, P. 40, “we are stirred moreover, by the scene of the arrival of Baha at the fort of [Sheykh Tabarsi], and the indefinable joy it imparted to Mirza Husayn, the reverent reception accorded to him by his fellow-disciples, his inspection of the fortification which they had hurriedly erected for their protection, and the advice he gave them, which resulted in the miraculous deliverance of Quddus in his subsequent and close association with the defenders of that Fort, and in his effective participation in the exploits connected with its siege and eventual destruction.”
(ibid, PP. 68-69) “It was to his [i.e. Baha’s] counsels and exhortations, addressed to the occupants of the Sheykh Tabarsi, who had welcomed him and such reverence and love during his visit to that Fort, that must be attributed, in no small measure, the spirit evinced by its heroic defenders, which it was to his explicit instructions that they owed miraculous release of Quddus … It was for the sake of those same defenders, whom he intended to join, that he suffered his second imprisonment, this time in the Masjid of Amul to which he would, amidst the tumult raised by no less than four thousand spectators, for their sake that he was bastinadoed in the Namaz-Khane of the Mutahid of that town until his feet bled, and later confined in the private residence of its governor; for their sake that he was bitterly denounced by the Mulla and insulted by the mob who, besieging the governor’s residence, pelted him with stones, and hurled in his place the fondest invectives. He alone was the one alluded to by Quddus who, upon his arrival at the Fort of Sheykh Tabarsi, uttered as soon as he had dismounted and leaned against the shrine, the prophetic verse “the Baqiyyatullah (The Remnant of god) will be best for you if you are of those who believes.’ “
7.1.1. ‘Baqiyyatullah’ (The God’s Remnants)
7.1.1.1. Introduction
The title of the Absent Twelfth Imam, i.e. Muhammad son of Imam Hasan Askari and Narjis Khatun, of the ‘Church of the Twelve, are Baqiyyatullah (The Remnant of God), Hujjataullah (the Proof of God). Imam Mahdi, Qaim-al-i-Muhammad (He Who shall arise of the family of Muhammad) and Sahibu-z-Zamman (the Lord of the Age). [See Chapter 1].
The Ahsan-ul-Qisas (the Best of Stories), also called Qayyum-al-Asma, a commentary on the Sura-i-Yusuf (see 4.5.1), was composed by the Point at the beginning of his mission. It referred to in the Persian Bayan, Unity iv, chapter 18 and Unity vii, chapter 1.
The Ahsan-ul-Qisas is also known as the Kitab-i-Awwal (the First Book), being the first book written by the Point. It is referred to as the Kitab-i-Awwal in Subh-i Azal’s Succinct Account of the BÁBi movement (Majmal-i Badi Dar Waqay-i Zuhur Mani’).
In the course of one of his conversations with Professor Browne in Cyprus in March 1890, Subh-i Azal incidentally mentioned “that at one time the Point, for some reason or other, issued a general order that such of his followers as had in their possession copies of his Commentary on the Sura-i Yusuf should “wash them out” or obliterate them. Between their love for their Master and their love for his book, the BÁBis found themselves in a dilemma, from which the majority of them sought escape by expunging a single page of the Commentary.”
Now in a passage in the Ahsan-ul-Qisas, the Point says: “O remnant of God! I am wholly sacrificed to thee; I am content to be reviled in thy way; I crave naught but to be slain in thy love; and sufficient witness Unto Me is God, the Exalted, the Protector, the Ancient of Days.”
یا
بقیة الله قد فدیّت بکّلی لک و رضیت السّب فی سبیلک و ما تمنیک الا القبل فی محبتک
و کفی بالله العلّی ؟ قدیماً
The title assumed by Sayyid Ali Muhammad such as Báb'ullah, the Primal Point, the Mahdi, the Qaim (see Background), , on the authority of the Persian Bayan Unity I, Chapter 15.
In his Dalail-i Sab’a (the Seven Proofs) the Point says : (quoted from the French translation the Bayan by A. L. M Nicholas, Tome Premier, pp. iv-v)
L'altesse attendue a condescendu à se présenter sous l’aspect de la Porte qui conduit à la connaissance du descendant caché de Mohammed. Dans son premier livre , il a parlé au nom des Lois du Qorân, afin que les hommes ne fussent pas troublés par le nouveau texte et la Loi nouvelle ; afin qu’ils pussent se convaincre que ce texte et cette Loi sont en relation avec leur propre Livre , afin qu’ils ne restassent pas dans l’obscurité.... »
In his book entitled the Kitab-i Iqan. (The Book of Assurance) composed by him at Baghdad in support of the Bayani religion, Baha quotes in full the passage from the Ahsan-ul-Qisas quoted above, with the following preface:
“Glory be to God! In the first of his books, which he [i.e. the Point] named Qayyum-al-Asma [i.e. the Ahsan-ul-Qisas], and which is the first, the greatest, and the chiefest of all books, he [i.e. the Point] foretells his own martyrdom, and in one passage, writes the following: ………… “
Without prejudice to the position of originality, i.e. the bearer of a New Revelation inherent in him as the ‘Nuqta’ or ‘Point’ from the outset, Unity I, Chapter 1, and Unity I, Chapter 15, the Persian Bayan, Sayyid Ali Muhammad in the early period of his mission as set out in his First Book, and elaborated in his later book entitled the Dalail-i Sab’a (The Seven Proofs, see section 4.7), claimed that he enjoys a special spiritual communication with the absent Twelfth Imam, called the Imam Mahdi or Baqiyyatullah (see section 9.7.3.1), and assumed the title of “BÁB” or “Gate,” speaking more freely as his followers became more receptive of divine Mysteries, he asserted his identity with the Imam Mahdi and Baqiyyatullah Qaim and declared himself to be the “Nuqta’ or ‘Point’ [i.e. the manifestation of the Primal Will].
Therefore the passage quoted in P. 153 bears reference to the Absent Twelfth Imam.
The Bahai hierarchy has never attempted to explain the true significance of the title ‘Nuqta’ assumed by the Primal Point. In his Will & Testament during the Baghdad period, Baha identified Subh-i Azal with Baqiyyatullah (see section 9.7.3.1). With Baha’s defection from the Point’s Cause, the relevant passage in the Ahsan-ul-Qisas or the First Book was misconstrued to further the private ends and personal ambition of Baha!
7.1.1.2. Traveller’s Narrative’s Account
Abdul Baha’s Traveller’s Narrative, Persian text; vol I, P. 3:
The relevant passage from Ahsan-ul-Qisas is prefaced as follows in the Traveller’s Narrative: “Now what he [i.e. Sayyid Ali Muhammad] intended by the term BÁB [Gate] was this, that he was the channel of grace from same great person [i.e. Baha] still behind the veil of glory, who was the possessor of countless and boundless perfections by whom will he moved, and to the bound of whose love he clung. And in the First Book which he wrote in explanation of Sura-i Yusuf, he addressed himself in all passages to that person unseen from whom he received help and grace, sought for aid in the arrangement of his preliminaries, and craved the sacrifice of life in the way of his love.”
In the Dawn-Breakers, P. 10, Nabil’s Narrative, page 10, Nabil prefaces the relevant passage as follows: “It was He, the BÁB, who in His first, His Most weighty and Exalted Book, revealed this passage concerning Bahaullah: …”
In the Glossary annexed to the Dawn-Breakers, Shoghi Effendi explains the term “Baqiyyatullah (the Remnant of God)” as a “title applied both to the BÁB and to Bahaullah”.
In his Will and Testament (see section 9.13.2), Muhammad Ali identifies Baqiyyatullah with Baha.
7.1.1.3. Awara’s Opinion
In his Kashf-al Hiyal (the Uncovering of Deceptions) Abdul Husayn Ayati nicknamed Avareh states:
The Kashf-al Hiyal, Vol II, 2nd impression, P. 32 or the Kashful-Hiyal, Vol II, 3rd impression, p.52:
“The Bahai allegation that the BÁB intended the term ‘O Remnant of God, I am wholly sacrificed to thee” for Baha is without foundation and contrary to the truth.”
7.1.1.4. Nabil’s Account
Nabil (ibid, P. 352) Quddus was released and came to Shaykh Tabarsi. “The first words,” Nabil states, “that fell from the lips of Quddus after he had dismounted and leaned against the shrine were the following:
‘The Baqiyyatullah will be best for you if you are of those who believe’ (Quran, 11:85).’ “
(P. 383), ibid) “By ‘Baqiyyatullah’ Quddus meant none other than Bahaullah. To this testified Mulla Mirza Muhammad-i-Furughi, who related to me the following: ‘I myself was present when Quddus alighted from his horse. I saw him lean against the shrine and heard him utter those words. No sooner he spoken them than he made mention of Baha, and turning to Mulla Husayn, enquired about him …. Many and night I saw Mulla Husayn circle round the shrine within the precincts of which lay asleep …..’ “
(ibid, P. 354) “ ‘Banish from your mind, O Mulla Mirza Muhammad [-i- Furughi], Mulla Husayn told him, these perplexing subtleties and, freed from their trammels, arise and seek with me to quaff the cup of martyrdom. Then will you be able to comprehend as the year 80 dawns upon the world, the secret of things which now lie hidden from you.’ “
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