CHAPTER 4
THE FIRST MARTYR
The world turns and the world changes,
But one thing does not change.
In all of my years, one thing does not change.
However you disguise it, this thing does not change:
The perpetual struggle of Good and Evil.
—T. S. Eliot
Lady Sheil, whose husband was the British envoy in Ṭihrán,[BC] states in her book, Glimpses of Life and Manners in Persia, that the Báb declared His mission in Káẓimayn, near Baghdád, and that 'Incensed at this blasphemy, the Turkish authorities issued orders for his execution, but he was claimed by the Persian consul as a subject of the Shah, and sent to his native place'.[1] Obviously Lady Sheil was confused. She had heard of the arrest of Mullá `Alíy-i-Basṭámí in `Iráq and of his imprisonment. She mistook him for the Báb.
Mullá `Alí, as we have seen, was directed to `Iráq by the Báb, and took with him a copy of the Qayyúmu'l-Asmá', the commentary on the Súrih of Yúsuf (Joseph). The news and the message that he gave aroused eager interest and ready response from his hearers. But hostile reaction was also swift. It was Mullá `Alí who, in Karbilá, informed Qurratu'l-`Ayn of the advent of the Báb. He was not at liberty to mention His Name. We do not know whether, in view of the fact that Qurratu'l-`Ayn had been elevated to the high and honoured position of a Letter of the Living, Mullá `Alí gave her any information other than the tidings of the appearance of the Báb. The disciples of Siyyid Káẓim were in a much stronger position there than in Najaf, in spite of the fact that in Karbilá they had a redoubtable opponent in the person of Siyyid Ibráhím-i-Qazvíní. There in Karbilá, Mullá `Alí remained safe. But the story was different in Najaf. Nabíl-i-A`ẓam writes:
In the presence of Shaykh Muḥammad-Ḥasan, one of the most celebrated ecclesiastics of shí`ah Islám, and in the face of a distinguished company of his disciples, Mullá `Alí announced fearlessly the manifestation of the Báb, the Gate whose advent they were eagerly awaiting. 'His proof,' he declared, 'is His Word; His testimony, none other than the testimony with which Islám seeks to vindicate its truth. From the pen of this unschooled Háshimite Youth of Persia there have streamed, within the space of forty-eight hours, as great a number of verses, of prayers, of homilies, and scientific treatises, as would equal in volume the whole of the Qur'án, which it took Muḥammad, the Prophet of God, twenty-three years to reveal!' That proud and fanatic leader, instead of welcoming, in an age of darkness and prejudice, these life-giving evidences of a new-born Revelation, forthwith pronounced Mullá `Alí a heretic and expelled him from the assembly. His disciples and followers, even the Shaykhís, who already testified to Mullá `Alí's piety, sincerity, and learning, endorsed, unhesitatingly, the judgment against him. The disciples of Shaykh Muḥammad-Ḥasan, joining hands with their adversaries, heaped upon him untold indignities. They eventually delivered him, his hands bound in chains, to an official of the Ottoman government, arraigning him as a wrecker of Islám, a calumniator of the Prophet, an instigator of mischief, a disgrace to the Faith, and worthy of the penalty of death. He was taken to Baghdád under the escort of government officials, and was cast into prison by the governor of that city.[2]
Áqá Muḥammad-Muṣṭafáy-i-Baghdádí,[3] in a short autobiography which he wrote at the instance of Mírzá Abu'l-Faḍí, describes Mullá `Alí's arrival in `Iráq and the events which followed:
The messenger, Mullá `Alí al-Basṭámí,[BD] reached Kúfih in the year A.H. 1260 [A.D. 1844] and distributed books, treatises and tablets amongst the divines. Due to this a body of the divines in Najaf and Karbilá were seized with consternation. They arose in opposition and stirred themselves to vociferous denunciation. The Government hearing of what had transpired, became concerned lest disorders might ensue, and deemed it politic to imprison the messenger, confiscate the books and tablets in his possession and send him to the seat of the province, that is Baghdád. The Válí, at that time, was Najíb Páshá, the same man who captured Karbilá....[BE]
When the messenger reached Baghdád the Válí kept him in prison and placed the books and the treatises in the council-chamber. My father, Shaykh Muḥammad, visited the messenger every day in the prison, and heard the Word of God from him for three months. Whatever he heard he imparted to those who were seekers, so that, during this short time, a large number of people came to believe. Shaykh Bashír an-Najafí was one of them, a mujtahid seventy-five years old. Then there were Shaykh Sulṭán al-Karbilá'í and a group with him in Karbilá; Siyyid Muḥammad-Ja`far, Siyyid Ḥasan Ja`far, and Siyyid `Alí Bishr and a group with him in the town of Káẓimíyyah; Shaykh Muḥammad Shibl [the author's father], Siyyid Muḥsin al-Káẓimí, Shaykh Ṣáliḥ al-Karímí and a group with them of villagers like Shaykh `Abbás, Mullá Maḥmúd, `Abdu'l-Hádí and Mihdí....
When the Government noticed that the Cause was gaining ground day by day, the afore-mentioned Válí, Najíb Páshá, ordered the divines of all the regions to come to Baghdád....[4] They summoned my father, Shaykh Muḥammad, to present himself. But my father left Baghdád in disguise, because he had learned that the Válí intended to make him give witness against the Cause of the Day of Judgment. They brought the messenger to this terrible assembly and asked him who the Lord of the Cause was. He answered: 'The awaited Spirit of Truth hath come. He is the One promised in the Books of God.' Then he read them some verses and prayers and called upon them to believe. It went hard with them to accept the Cause. They arose to deny and to reject it, full of haughtiness. They agreed to denounce the messenger as a heretic and passed the sentence of death upon him, and thus ended that assemblage of ill omen. The Válí sent the account of the proceedings to the Sublime Porte, whence came the orders that the messenger should be sent in fetters, together with his books, to the capital. The messenger languished for six months in the gaol of Baghdád and was then dispatched to the Sublime Porte, under escort, by way of Mosul. The fame of the Cause was noised abroad in Mosul, and when he passed Mosul nothing more was heard of him.[5]