But to find the supreme example of Bahai tagiya we have to go to the fountainhead. Abdul Baha himself, oblivious to its moral obliquity, lays bare the fact in his "Traveller's Narrative."[474] We have seen that Subh-i-Azal, the half-brother of Baha Ullah, was appointed by the Bab as his successor. According to Abdul Baha, this appointment was a dishonest subterfuge on the part of Baha, arranged by him through secret correspondence with the Bab, in order that Baha might be relieved of danger and persecution and be protected from interference. So "out of regard for certain considerations and as a matter of expediency, Azal's name was made notorious on the tongues of friends and foes even to jeopardizing his life, while Baha remained safe and secure, and no one fathomed the matter." Abul Fazl[475] states the position of the "Traveller's Narrative" as follows, "The Bab and Baha Ullah, after consulting together, made Azal appear as the Bab's successor. In this manner they preserved Baha Ullah from interference." This account shows the low ideas of honour and truthfulness in the minds of Baha and Abdul Baha. And although their explanation is not true (but an invention of their tagiya—corrupted minds), it shows to what straits[476] they were put to explain away the succession of Azal, the legitimacy of which Azal still, in his ripe old age, maintains. Abdul Baha published to the world Baha's deceitfulness, but only made the matter worse for him.
Of a piece with this was the action of Baha's trusted agent, Maskin Kalam, in Cyprus. This Bahai was sent by the Turkish Government with Azal. "He set up a coffee-house at the port where travellers must arrive, and when he saw a Persian land he would invite him in, give him tea or coffee and a pipe, and gradually worm out of him the business that had brought him there. If his object were to see Subh-i-Azal, off went Maskin Kalam[477] to the authorities, and the pilgrim soon found himself packed out of the Island." This account is given by a faithful Bahai. Afterwards Maskin Kalam retired to Acca and spent his old age as an honoured guest of Baha.
FOOTNOTES:
[380] "Life of Abbas Effendi," p. xxxvii.
[381] "New Hist.," p. 236; "Trav.'s Narr.," p. 82.
[382] "Bahai Proofs," pp. 63, 77.
[383] "The Bahai Religion," p. 111.
[384] Quoted in "New Hist.," p. 373; comp. p. 61.
[385] Professor Browne's Introduction to Phelps, p. xxi.
[386] "New Hist.," p. 426.