Chapter 4: The First Martyr
Opening quotation: T. S. Eliot, 'Choruses from The Rock', I. 'The Eagle soars in the summit of Heaven'. Collected Poems 1909-1962, Faber & Faber Ltd., London, 1963.
[1] London 1856, p. 177.
[ [2] The Dawn-Breakers, pp. 61-2 (Brit.), pp. 90-1 (U.S.).
[ [3] Throughout his life Áqá Muḥammad-Muṣṭafá served the Faith which he had embraced, with zeal and distinction. He spent many years in Beirut where he attended to the needs and requirements of pilgrims. His son, Áqá Ḥusayn Iqbál, did the same in subsequent years, with great devotion. Another son, Dr. Zia Bagdadi (Dr. Ḍíyá Baghdádí) resided in the United States, where his services were inestimable.
[ [4] 'There gathered Shaykh Najaf, the son of Shaykh Ja`far, and Shaykh Músá from Najaf; Siyyid Ibráhím al-Qazvíní from Karbilá; Shaykh Muḥammad-Ḥasan Yásín and Shaykh Ḥasan Asadu'lláh from Káẓimíyyah; Siyyid Muḥammad al-Álúsí and Siyyid `Alí, the Naqíb-al-Ashráf, and Muḥammad-Amín al-Wá`iz and Shaykh Muḥammad-Sa`íd, the Sháfi`í Muftí from Baghdád. There were others also besides these.' (Áqá Muḥammad-Muṣṭafáy-i-Baghdádí.)
[ [5] Translated by H. M. Balyuzi. Áqá Muḥammad-Muṣṭafáy-i-Baghdádí's autobiography is no more than 24 pages long. It is the second of two booklets printed together in Cairo. There is no publication date.
[ [6] Major-General Sir Henry Rawlinson (1810-95) was one of the outstanding European figures in the nineteenth century. It was he who transcribed the cuneiform inscriptions on the rocks of Bísitún in Western Írán, which record the achievements of the great Darius. He discovered the key to decipher them. Like Sir John Malcolm, he entered the service of the East India Company at the age of seventeen. Six years later, he went with two other British officers to train the Persian army, but after two years he was dismissed because Muḥammad Sháh had begun to quarrel with the British. Next he served in Qandahár. By his own wish he was transferred to `Iráq, because he wanted to be close to Western Írán and continue his research. He also continued the unfinished work of Layard at Nineveh. The British Museum has a wealth of archaeological finds donated by him. From 1859-60, he briefly occupied the post of British Minister in Ṭihrán. Then to the end of his life he served on the India Council in London and devoted his time to writing and to scientific pursuits. From 1870-84, the Trustees of the British Museum issued four volumes of cuneiform inscriptions under his close supervision.
[ [7] F.O. 248/114 of January 8th 1845, enclosed in Rawlinson's letter to Sheil of January 16th 1845.
[ [8] ibid.
[ [9] ibid.
[ [10] F.O. 248/114 of January 16th 1845.
[ [11] F.O. 248/114 (undated). Translation by Rawlinson, enclosed in his letter to Sheil of January 16th 1845.
[ [12] F.O. 195/237 of April 15th 1845.
[ [13] F.O. 195/237 of April 30th 1845.
[ [14] F.O. 195/237 of February 18th 1845.
[ [15] F.O. 248/114 of February 28th 1845.