(I) From Subh-i-Ezel. The Báb had three seals, bearing the
following inscriptions:-
(1) Innani ana hujjatu'llah wa nuruhu
(2) Shahida'llahu annahu la ilaha illa huwa'l-`Aziz al-Mahjub
(3) Ya `Ali ya Muhammad
Impressions of these seals were shown to me by Subh-i-Ezel, as well as the
original document in the Báb's handwriting nominating him successor and
vicegerent, of which the text and translation are given at p. 426 of my
translation of the New History. This document had, as I understood, been
photographed some time previously by M. Nicolas. Subh-i-Ezel also gave me one
of the charms or talismans distributed by the Báb amongst his followers.
This is a sheet of greenish paper, measuring 27.0 x 21.2 centimetres, on which
is imprinted in gold the talismanic figure, consisting of a central square of
forty-nine compartments surrounded by eight concentric circles (enclosing seven
zones), which are further divided by nineteen radial lines. All these
compartments contain writing (verses from the Qur'án, Names of God,
isolated letters, and cabbalistic characters). The writing contained in the
central ones is in black ink, and, according to Subh-i-Ezel's assertion, is
in the Báb's own hand. Another talisman (heykal), written in the
shape of a pentacle entirely in the Báb's hand, was given to me by
Sheykh 'Alí Bakhsh b. Hájí Muhammad Huseyn of
Zanján.
(II) From Rizván 'Alí, the son of Subh-i-Ezel
I obtained first a verbal, and later a written, list of Subh-i-Ezel's
writings. I here print the latter in the original, adding a few comments in
English from the former.
[page 764]
[Fihrist-i asma'-i kutub-i muqaddasih-'i Azaliyyih, Ruh al-`Alamin fidahu[Bibliography of the Titles of the holy books of Azal, may the spirit of the worlds be his sacrifice)]
1) Kitab-i Divan al-Azal bar Nahj-i Ruh-i Ayat (Comprising 28 rúh./[Spirits].)
2) Kitab-i Nur (Arabic áyát arranged in súras like the
Qur'án, but four times as large. Revealed at Baghdad.)
3)Kitab-i `Aliyyin, Qavanin(Laws, in Arabic. Each súra is called [sifr]
4) Kitab-i Lam`at al-Azal (Ayat) (28 súras on the prophets from Adam.)
5) Kitab-i Hayat (Yak Surih, Ayat).
6) Kitab-i Jam` (Yak Surih, Ayat).
7) Kitab-i Quds-i Azal (Yak Surih, Ayat). (One súra of áyát, equal in size to the Qur'án.)
8) Kitab-i Avval, va Thani (Lawh, Ayat)
9) Kitab-i Mir'at al-Bayan 131 Bab va har babi mushtamil ast bar chahar sha'n (ya`ni ayat, munajat, khutbih, khitab).
10) Kitab-i Ihtiraz al-Quds (Tafsir-i Ash`ar-i `Arabi) (Commentary on his own Arabic poems.)
11) Kitab-i Tadli` al-Uns (Tafsir-i Ash`ar-i `Arabi). (Do.)
12) Kitab-i Naghmat ar-Ruh (Tafsir-i Ash`ar-i `Arabi). (Do.)
13) Kitab-i Bahhaj (Yak surih, ayat). (A small volume.)
14) Kitab-i Hayakil (1001 heykals, or talismanic figures, of áyát.)
15) Kitab fi Tadrib `add huwa bi 'smi `Ali (110 Munajat)
[page 765]
16) Kitab-i Mustayqiz (Tafsir Ba`adi-yi ayat az Qayyum al-Asma') (Commentary on some verses of the Báb's earliest work, theQayyúmu'l-Asmá, or Commentary on the
Súra-i-Yúsuf.)
17) Kitab-i La'ali va Mujali (Written in imitation of the Duraru'l-Ghurar of 'Alí, the First
Imám.)
18) Kitab-i Athar-i Azaliyyih (Farsi)
19) Sahifih-'i Qadariyyah (Munajat-i `Adidih)
20) Sahifih-'i Abhajiyyih (Munajat-i `Adidih)
21) Sahifih-'i Ha'iyyih (Munajat-i `Adidih)
22) Sahifih-'i Vaviyyih (Munajat-i `Adidih)
23) Sahifih-'i Azaliyyih (Munajat-i `Adidih)
24) Sahifih-'i Hu'iyyih (Munajat-i `Adidih)
25) Sahifih-'i Anza`iyyih (Munajat-i `Adidih)
26) Sahifih-'i Huviyyih (Munajat-i `Adidih)
27) Sahifih-'i Marathi (Du Munajat va du ziyarat-i jami`ih-'i kabirih, va jami`ih-'i saghirih). (Of the two Ziyárát, the first, called Kabíra, is for the visitation of the Báb; the
second, called saghíra, for the visitation of
Janáb-i-Quddús, i.e. Hájí Mullá
Muhammad 'Alí of Bárfurúsh.)
28) Alvah-i Nazilih la tu`add va la tuhsa (Epistles addressed to believers, etc.)
29) Su'alat va Javabat-i bi Hisab
30)
[page 766]
31) Kitab-i Ziyarat (Forms of "visitation" of sacred places.)
32) Sharh-i Qasidih (`Arabi)
33) Kitab al-Akbar fi Tafsir adh-Dhikr
34) Baqiyyih-'i Ahkam-i Bayan (47 Bab)
35) Davavin-i Ash`ar-i `Arabi va Farsi
36) Divan-i Ash`ar-i `Arabi
37) Kitab-i Tuba (Farsi)
38) Kitab-i Bismi'llah (Farsi bi shahr-i dilkhusha va sih jild bi Ism
Rizván 'Alí also gave me the following list of Subh-i-Ezel's
children, with their approximate ages at the time (i.e. in April, 1896):-
Sons.
|
1.
|
Núru'lláh,
aet. 48, now in Resht. His son, Hájí Seyyid Ahmad, called
Rúhu'lláh, happened to be at Famagusta when I was there
last, with his little boy, 'Ináyatu'lláh, aet. 7, and an
Isfahání lad named Muhammad 'Alí. He was a man of
remarkable ability and of very agreeable manners, and a physician by profession.
|
|
2.
|
Muhammad
Hádí, who died two years ago in the plague at Tihrán,
aet. 46.
|
|
3.
|
Ahmad
Bahháj, aet. 43. Resident in Constantinople for the last thirteen or
fourteen years.
|
|
4.
|
'Abdu'l-'Alí,
aet. 38. Resident at Famagusta.
|
|
5.
|
Rizván
'Alí, aet. 33. At present resident at Larnaca.
|
|
6.
|
Fu'ádu'lláh,
who died at Famagusta eight or nine years ago, aet. 20.
|
|
7.
|
Muhammad,
entitled Beyánu'lláh, Bahá'u'lláh,
and Jamálu'lláh, aet. 29.
|
[page 767]
| Daughters. |
8.
|
'Abdu'l-Wahíd
(also called 'Abdu'l-Jalíl, Muhammad Jamíl), aet.
24.
|
|
9.
|
Taqí'u'd-Dín
(Muhammad Taqí), aet. 18.
|
|
1.
|
Hibatu'lláh
(Jazbatu'lláh), aet. 36. At Constantinople.
|
|
2.
|
tal'atu'lláh,
aet. 32. At Constantinople.
|
|
3.
|
Mushiyyatu'lláh,
who died twenty-one years ago, aet. 8.
|
|
4.
|
Bahjatu'l-Quds
(Raf'atu'lláh), aet. 35.
|
|
5.
|
Maryam
Sultán, aet. 20, who was married last year at Constantinople.
|
The following grandchildren of Subh-i-Ezel were also resident at
Famagusta:-
1.
|
Áyatu'lláh,
or 'Ádila Sultán, the only daughter of Ahmad
Bahháj.
|
2.
|
Wáhida
Sultán, daughter of 'Abdu'l-'Alí.
|
3.
|
'Ázima
Sultán, daughter of 'Abdu'l-'Alí.
|
4.
|
Sat.watu'lláh,
daughter of 'Abdu'l-'Alí.
|
5.
|
Another
daughter who died when 14 days old, daughter of 'Abdu'l-'Alí.
|
6.
|
Muhammad
Ziyá'u'lláh (Núru'd-Dín,
Kalimu'd-Dín, 'Izamu'd-Dín), dead.
|
7.
|
Fázila
Sultán.
|
8.
|
Ebediyya
Sultán, a little girl whom I saw repeatedly with Subh-i-Ezel. She
talks Turkish and a little French, but hardly any Persian. (The three
last-mentioned are children of Subh-i-Ezel's daughter
tal'atu'lláh.)
|
Rizván 'Alí promised to send me a fuller and more complete list
of Subh-i-Ezel's wives and family, but this I have not yet received. The
total number of his wives from first to last is about eleven or twelve.
I may add that Rizván 'Alí's curiosity to see his father's
rivals prompted him recently to pay a visit to Acre. He was received with some
outward show of deference,
[page 768]
but complained of the disrespect to his father implied in several remarks made
to him by 'Abbás Efendí. He also believed (but, as it appears to
me, without any grounds) that an attempt had been made to poison him; and he
congratulated himself on his safe return to Cyprus.
(III) From Sheykh 'Alí Bakhsh b. Hájí Muhammad
Huseyn Zanjání I obtained the following additional
particulars about the Zanján rising. The town of Zanján has its
greatest length from east to west, and is comparatively narrow in the
transverse direction from north to south. It has six gates, that of
Tihrán at the east and that of Tabríz at the west end; the Resht
Gate and the citadel gate (Darvázé-i-Arg) on the north
side; the Hamadán Gate and the Darvázé-i-Qultúkh on
the south side. The east half of the town, with the Tihrán, Resht, and
Hamadán gates, were in the hands of the Bábí insurgents;
the other half of the town and the other three gates were in the hands of the
Musulmáns. Sheykh 'Alí Bakhsh was ten years old at the time of
the war. At the beginning of it there were about 3,000 Bábís, but
their numbers were gradually so reduced by deaths and desertions that only 500
were left at the end. On the surrender of the Bábís, 74 were
bayonetted to death on the same day in cold blood, and four
(Hájí Kázim, who made two cannons for the
Bábís; Sheykh Ramazán, whose wife was killed
fighting; Áqá Suleymán; and another) were blown
from the mouths of guns. Some 150 or 200 persons (some of them children only
seven or eight years of age) were imprisoned. Most of the women and children
(some 500 in number) took refuge in the stables of Mullá
Abú'l-Qásim. 'Alí Bakhsh himself was amongst these, and
remained there for about a month. The royalist forces finally reached a
strength of about 30,000. Mullá Muhammad 'Alí, the
Bábí leader (called "Hujjat," and, throughout the
following narrative, "Janáb-i-Shahíd," 'His Holiness the
Martyr'), died three days
[page 769]
after he received his wound in the arm. The Bábís surrendered
four days after his death. The Bábí women displayed the utmost
courage during the war, and would often pick up live shells and plunge them in
water to extinguish the fuses.