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PART
FOUR
June
14, 2019
THE
PILGRIMAGE OF LIGHT
As his fellow Shaykhís gathered round to hear him speak near the
entrance to the mosque, they noticed that although Mullá Husayn looked
the same, he was somehow different. When he spoke, a new fire burned in
his eyes. They still had not discovered the Promised One, but they
sensed that Mullá Husayn knew, though he refused to say. However, he
did recommend that they all fast and pray to God and that in time, the
answer would come.
Gradually, as predicted
by the Báb, almost all those who became the
Letters of the Living were led by prayers and dreams to the house of
the Báb, including Mullá Husayn’s nephew and brother. The Báb then told
Mullá Husayn that one Letter of the Living remained to present himself
and that he would arrive the next evening.
The following evening, as the Báb and Mullá Husayn were returning to
His home, they were met by a young man in a state of agitation whose
clothes were travel-stained with dust. He approached Mullá Husayn,
hugged him and asked him if he had reached his goal, all the while
staring at the Báb. Surprised, Mullá Husayn asked him to calm down and
that he would soon let him know, but the young man never removed his
gaze from the Báb.
“Why do you seek to hide Him from me? I can recognize Him from His
gait. I confidently testify that none besides Him, whether in the east
or the west, can claim to be the Truth. None other can manifest the
power and majesty that radiates from His Holy Person.”
"Marvel not at his behaviour, replied the Báb while conferring with
Mullá Husayn. We have been communing with that youth in the world of
the spirit. We know him already and we indeed awaited his coming. Go to
him and summon him forthwith to Our presence.” That youth, whose given
name was Muhammad-‘Alí-Bárfurúsh but who was known as Quddús, which
means ‘’the most holy”, became the eighteenth Letter of the Living.
In October 1844, five months after His declaration and the departure of
the Letters of the Living on their mission to spread the Bábí Faith,
the Báb, His servant Mubárak and Quddús prepared to leave Búshihr to
embark on their pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina – as every Muslim should
do at least once in their lives – in Arabia, the country of the Prophet
Muhammad’s birth.
They boarded a ship bound for the Arabian port city of Jeddah, but sea
travel was then very difficult: accommodations were uncomfortable, food
was unpleasant and water scarce. The Persian Gulf was particularly
stormy during this trip, and it tossed the flimsy ship and its
occupants like a child’s toy upon its waves. Although many of its
passengers, the majority of whom were pilgrims, cowered in fear at the
angry elements and argued among themselves, this was not the case for
the Báb and His companions. They were seen huddling undisturbed on the
main deck, where the Báb engaged in prayer and dictated His tablets to
Quddús, who recorded his words.
When they arrived at Jeddah, a camel was found for the Báb, but Quddús
refused the offer of one, preferring to walk alongside the Báb as an
act of humility and love. One morning, as the the Báb stopped by a well
to recite His prayers, a Bedouin suddenly appeared, and rushing at
them, snatched the Báb’s saddlebag containing His writings and ran off
into the desert. Mubárak was about to run after him, but the Báb
signaled that he should stay.
“Had I allowed you, you would surely have overtaken the man and
punished him, but this is not to be. The papers and writings which that
bag contains are destined to reach, through the instrumentality of this
Arab, such places as we would never have succeeded in attaining. Grieve
not, therefore, at this action, for this was decreed by God, the
Ordainer, the Almighty.”
The Báb and His companions finally reached Mecca, and according to
ancient custom, on the Day of Sacrifice (Eid-al-Adha)
the Báb bought 19
lambs for slaughter: nine in His own name, seven for Quddús and three
for Mubárak. The meat was then distributed to the needy and the poor.
Although the beginning of the pilgrimage (known as the hajj)
fell on
the first day of winter, the heat was so intense that many pilgrims
removed their turbans and outer coats to circle round the Ka’aba.
However, the Báb, out of reverence, refused to follow their example. He
circumambulated the Ka’aba fully dressed and never seemed the least bit
bothered by the merciless sun.
On the last day of the hajj, the Báb met Mírzá
Muhít-í-Kirmání, a
cowardly and ambitious Shaykhí disciple who had not embraced the Báb’s
claim. The Báb grabbed Mírzá Muhít’s hand and, placing His other hand
on the Sacred Black Stone of the Ka’aba, challenged him: “O Muhít! You
regard yourself as one of the most outstanding figures in the Shaykhí
community and a distinguished teacher. In your heart you even consider
yourself one of the direct successors of its founders. Behold, we are
now standing within this most sacred shrine. Verily, I declare, none
besides Me in this day, whether in the East or the West, can claim to
be the Gate that leads men to the knowledge of God.”
He then invited Mírzá Muhít to ask Him whatever he wished and promised
to reveal verses that would demonstrate the truth of His claim,
refusing to let go of his hand until he made clear whether he would
accept or refuse His offer. Eager only to escape, Mírzá Muhít attempted
to flatter the Báb and submitted his questions, then said he would meet
Him in Medina, where the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad was located, to
receive the answers. However, Mírzá Muhít avoided Him in Medina, and
although the Báb had written him a tablet called The Epistle
Between
the two Shrines, he refused to accept Him, and remained a
source a
opposition.
Before leaving for Medina, the Báb revealed a tablet that He sent to
the Sherif of Mecca, the highest religious authority there. This man
was so busy with his work that he never bothered to read the tablet
until the Báb had left and knew nothing about its Author until after
His martyrdom in Tabríz. When at last he read the Báb’s tablet, the
rebuke
was clear:
O Sherif! All thy life thou hast accorded worship unto
Us, but when We
manifested Ourself onto thee, thou didst desist from bearing witness
unto Our Remembrance, and from affirming that He is indeed the Most
Exalted, the Sovereign of Truth, the All-Glorious. Thus hath thy Lord
put thee to proof in the Day of Resurrection. Verily, he is the
All-Knowing, the All-Wise. For hadst thou uttered “Here am I” at the
time we sent thee the Book, We should have admitted thee to the company
of such of Our servants as truly believe, and would have graciously
praised thee in Our Book, until the Day when all men shall appear
before Us for judgement … However, that which was preordained has come
to pass.
After visiting Medina and ardently praying at the tombs of the Prophet
Muhammad and the founder of the Shaykhí Faith, Shaykh Ahmad-i-Ahsa’i,
the three men left for Jeddah and boarded a ship bound for Búshihr.
They arrived back on Persian soil where both triumph and persecution
awaited the Báb and His followers.
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