EXCEPTS FROM
The Herald of the Day of Days

by H.M. Balyuzi

FORCES OF OPPOSITION ARRAYED

But man, proud man,Drest in a little brief authority,Most ignorant of what he's most assured,His glassy essence, like an angry ape,Plays such fantastic tricks before high heavenAs makes the angels weep . . . -- Shakespeare

The London Times of Wednesday, November 19th 1845, carried this item of news on its third page, taken from the Literary Gazette of the preceding Saturday:

MAHOMETAN SCHISM. -- A new sect has lately set itself
up in Persia, at the head of which is a merchant who had returned from a pilgrimage to Mecca, and proclaimedhimself a successor of the Prophet. The way they treatsuch matters at Shiraz appears in the following account(June 23): -- Four persons being heard repeating theirprofession of faith according to the form prescribed bythe impostor, were apprehended, tried, and found guiltyof unpardonable blasphemy. They were sentenced to losetheir beards by fire being set to them. The sentence was put into execution with all the zeal and fanaticism becoming a true believer in Mahomet. Not deeming the loss of beards a sufficient punishment, they were further sentenced the next day, to have their faces blacked and exposed through the city. Each of them was led by amirgazah[1] (executioner), who had made a hole in his nose and passed through it a string, which he sometimes 77 pulled with such violence that the unfortunate fellows cried out alternately for mercy from the executioner and for vengeance from Heaven. It is the custom in Persia on such occasions for the executioners to collect money from the spectators, and particularly from the shopkeepers in the bazaar. In the evening when the pockets of the executioners were well filled with money, they led the unfortunate fellows to the city gate, and there turned them adrift. After which the mollahs at Shiraz sent men to Bushire, with power to seize the impostor, and take him to Shiraz, where, on being tried, he very wisely denied the charge of apostacy laid against him, and thus escaped from punishment.[1 Mir-Ghadab.]
An American quarterly, the Eclectic Magazine of Foreign Literature, Science, and Art,(1) in its issue of January-April 1846, reproduced the same item of news which was again in full from the Literary Gazette of London. As far is known, these were the earliest references to the Faith the Báb in any Western publication. British merchants, of who then happened to be in Shiraz, were responsible for that report, which, as we shall see, although correct in its essentials, was not devoid of error.
The Báb, returning from His pilgrimage to Mecca, arrived at Bushihr sometime in the month of Safar 1261 A.H. (February-March 1845). There He parted from Quddus, saying:
The days of your companionship with Me are drawing to a close. The hour of separation has struck, a separation which no reunion will follow except in the Kingdom ofGod, in the presence of the King of Glory.(2)
Quddus left for Shiraz and took with him a letter from the Báb addressed to His uncle, Haji Mirza Siyyid 'Ali. Meeting Quddus and hearing all he had to impart convinced Haji 78 Mirza Siyyid 'Ali of the truth of the Cause of his Nephew, and he immediately pledged Him his unqualified allegiance.
Mulla Sadiq-i-Muqaddas now reached Shiraz, accompanied by Mulla 'Ali-Akbar-i-Ardistani, who had once been his pupil in Isfahan. Mulla Sadiq established himself in a mosque known as Baqir-Abad, where he led the congregation in prayer. But as soon as he received a Tablet from the Báb, sent from Bushihr, he moved to the mosque adjoining His house. There he carried out the specific instruction of the Báb to include in the traditional Islamic Call to Prayer-the Adhan -- these additional words: 'I bear witness that He whose name is 'Ali Qabl-i-Muhammad ['Ali preceding Muhammad, the Bab] is the servant of Baqiyyatu'llah [the Remnant of God, Bahá'u'lláh].'(3)
Then the storm broke. Shaykh Abu-Hashim, notorious for his behaviour on the pilgrim boat, had already written to his compatriots in Shiraz to arouse their fury. Now the divines of that city, led by Shaykh Husayn-i-'Arab,[1] Haji Shaykh Mihdiy-i-Kujuri and Mulla Muhammad-'Aliy-i-Mahallati, were demanding blood. Quddus, Muqaddas and Mulla 'Ali-Akbar were arrested, hauled before the Governor-General, and mercilessly beaten, after which they suffered the punishments and indignities described in the London report already quoted (see p. 76). But there were three of them, not four.[2][1 The Nazimu'sh-Shari'ih, who universally earned the epithet of 'Zalim', the Tyrant.][2 Tarikh-i-Jadid (p. 202) names a fourth person, a certain Mulla Abu-Talib, a friend of Mulla Sadiq-i-Muqaddas. His identity is unknown. A letter exists, written by Mulla 'Ali-Akbar Ardistani to the Báb, when he was seeking permission to visit Him. Since their chastisement, he says, he had been living in ruins outside Shiraz. The letter makes it absolutely certain that he was the only one who had remained and that both Quddus and Muqaddas had gone.]
The Governor-General of the province of Fars was 79 Husayn Khan, who was called Ajudan-Bashi (the adjutant major), and had also the titles of Sahib-Ikhtiyar and Nizamu'd-Dawlih. Husayn Khan was a native of Maraghih in Adharbayjan, and had served as Persian envoy both to London and Paris. In London, in June 1839, Lord Palmerston was at first inclined not to meet him, but then decided to receive him unofficially. At that time relations between Britain and Iran had reached a low point. Captain Hennell, the British Political Agent, had been forced to withdraw from Bushihr, and at the same time a British naval force had occupied the island of Kharg (Karrack). Palmerston thundered at Husayn Khan: 'Had the Admiral on arriving on board turned his guns upon the town [Bushihr] and knocked it about their ears, in my opinion he would have been justified in so doing'.(4) When the envoy returned home, Muhammad Shah was so displeased that he had him severely bastinadoed. Nor had Husayn Khan's mission to France, it would seem, been any more successful, although some obscurity surrounds his dealings with the French. In Paris he engaged a number of officers to train the Persian army, and there were irregularities in the matter of their travelling expenses. But more serious issues were involved, which are described by Sir Henry Layard[1] in the following passage:[1 See note 9, Prologue.]
M. Bore,[1] with all his learning and enlightenment,was a religious fanatic and profoundly intolerant ofheretics. After residing with him for a fortnight, andhaving been treated by him with great kindness and hospitality,I found myself compelled, to my great sorrow, to 80 leave his house [in 1840] under the following circumstances.The Embassy which the King of the French[2] hadsent to the Shah had not succeeded in obtaining the objectof its mission, and had left Persia much irritated at itsfailure, which was mainly attributed by it and the FrenchGovernment to English intrigues. The truth was, Ibelieve, that they had been duped by Hussein Khan, whohad been sent as ambassador to Paris. The subject was anunpleasant one for me to discuss, and I avoided it inconversation with my host. One day, however, at dinner,it was raised by M. Flandin,(5) the French artist, whodenounced my country and countrymen in very offensiveterms, M. Bore himself joining in the abuse. Theyaccused the English Government and English agents ofhaving had recourse to poison to prevent Frenchmen fromestablishing themselves and gaining influence in Persia,and of having actually engaged assassins to murderM. Outray, when on his way on a diplomatic mission toTehran. I denied, with indignation, these ridiculous andcalumnious charges, and high words having ensued, Imoved from M. Bore's house to a ruined building occupiedby Mr. Burgess.[3](6)[1 M. Bore resided in Julfa, Isfahan. He was a layman sent by the French Government to obtain a foothold for the French in Iran. Later he became a Jesuit priest, and was the head of a Jesuit establishment in Galata when Layard met him in Constantinople. It is likely he sent copious notes to his superiors about the Báb and the Bábís.][2 Louis-Philippe.][3 An English merchant in Tabriz.]