Shiraz on this day - The Birth of a New Faith

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Shiraz on this day - The Birth of a New Faith
by alborz
23-May-2009
 

( خوشا شیراز و وضع بی مثالش )

( خداوندا نگه دار از زوالش )

Sweet is Shiraz and its comparable site!

O God, preserve it from decline!

In 1783, Shaykh Ahmad-i-Ahsá'í travelled through Persia with the expectation that the advent of the Qá'im, the Promised One of Islám is drawing near. Amongst his students was a gifted young man named Siyyid Kázim-i-Rashtí who shortly before his death in 1843, instructed Mulla Husayn, one of his students, to go out and search for the Qá'im.

It was this quest that led Mullá Husayn, his brother, and a nephew to the city of Shíráz on May 22, 1844. While walking outside the gates of the city a few hours before sunset, he was unexpectedly greeted by a young man. He is said to have related,

The Youth who met me outside the gate of Shíráz overwhelmed me with expressions of affection and loving-kindness. He extended to me a warm invitation to visit His home, and there refresh myself after the fatigues of my journey. I prayed to be excused, pleading that my two companions had already arranged for my stay in that city, and were now awaiting my return. "Commit them to the care of God," was His reply; "He will surely protect and watch over them." Having spoken these words, He bade me follow Him. I was profoundly impressed by the gentle yet compelling manner in which that strange Youth spoke to me.*

He accompanied the young man to his house, where tea was served and preparations begun for the evening prayer. Mullá Husayn then relates the astonishing thing that happened next:

Overwhelmed with His acts of extreme kindness, I arose to depart. "The time for evening prayer is approaching," I ventured to observe. "I have promised my friends to join them at that hour in the [mosque]." With extreme courtesy and calm He replied: "You must surely have made the hour of your return conditional upon the will and pleasure of God. It seems that His will has decreed otherwise. You need have no fear of having broken your pledge." His dignity and self-assurance silenced me. I renewed my ablutions and prepared for prayer. He, too,stood beside me and prayed.... It was about an hour after sunset when my youthful Host began to converse with me. "Whom, after Siyyid Kázim," He asked me, "do you regard as his successor and your leader?" "At the hour of his death," I replied, "our departed teacher insistently exhorted us to forsake our homes, to scatter far and wide, in quest of the promised Beloved. I have, accordingly, journeyed to Persia, have arisen to accomplish his will, and am still engaged in my quest." "Has your teacher," He further enquired, "given you any detailed indications as to the distinguishing features of the Qá'im?" "Yes," I replied, "He is of a pure lineage, is of illustrious descent, and of the seed of Fátimih. As to His age, He is more than twenty and less than thirty. He is endowed with innate knowledge. He is of medium height, abstains from smoking, and is free from bodily deficiency." He paused for a while and then with vibrant voice declared: "Behold, all these signs are manifest in Me!"*

The young man, whose name was Siyyid Alí Muhammád, proceeded to demonstrate that each of the signs given by Siyyid Kázim were indeed applicable to Him. Yet Mullá Husayn was unsure. He had prepared two tests for anyone claiming to be the Qá'im, and decided to place them before Siyyid Alí Muhammád in order to prove the matter one way or the other. Those tests, Mullá Huysan related, were as follows:

The first was a treatise which I had myself composed, bearing upon the abstruse and hidden teachings propounded by Shaykh Ahmad and Siyyid Kázim. Whoever seemed to me capable of unravelling the mysterious allusions made in that treatise, to him I would next submit my second request, and would ask him to reveal, without the least hesitation or reflection, a commentary on the Súrih of Joseph, in a style and language entirely different from the prevailing standards of the time. I had previously requested Siyyid Kázim, in private, to write a commentary on that same Súrih, which he refused, saying: "This is, verily, beyond me. He, that great One, who comes after me will, unasked, reveal it for you. That commentary will constitute one of the weightiest testimonies of His truth, and one of the clearest evidences of the loftiness of His position."*

So Mullá Husayn asked his Host to comment on the treatise he had written. The result of that request only further astonished him:

He graciously complied with my wish. He opened the book, glanced at certain passages, closed it, and began to address me. Within a few minutes He had, with characteristic vigour and charm, unravelled all its mysteries and resolved all its problems. Having to my entire satisfaction accomplished, within so short a time, the task I had expected Him to perform, He further expounded to me certain truths which could be found neither in the reported sayings of the Imáms of the Faith nor in the writings of Shaykh Ahmad and Siyyid Kázim. These truths, which I had never heard before, seemed to be endowed with refreshing vividness and power.... He then proceeded to say: "Now is the time to reveal the commentary on the Súrih of Joseph." He took up His pen and with incredible rapidity revealed the entire Súrih of Mulk, the first chapter of His commentary on the Súrih of Joseph. The overpowering effect of the manner in which He wrote was heightened by the gentle intonation of His voice which accompanied His writing. Not for one moment did He interrupt the flow of the verses which streamed from His pen. Not once did He pause till the Súrih of Mulk was finished. I sat enraptured by the magic of His voice and the sweeping force of His revelation. At last I reluctantly arose from my seat and begged leave to depart.... At that moment the clock registered two hours and eleven minutes after sunset.... "This night," He declared, "this very hour will, in the days to come, be celebrated as one of the greatest and most significant of all festivals. Render thanks to God for having graciously assisted you to attain your heart's desire, and for having quaffed from the sealed wine of His utterance."*

From that day forward, Siyyid Alí Muhammád refered to Himself as the Báb (the Gate) and Mullá Husayn became the first disciple amongst 18 disciples who became known as the Letters of Living (حروف الحي ). Amongst them was also the Persian poetess, Qurratu´l-’Ayn (Solace of the Eyes), also known as Tahirih (The Pure).

It was the beginning of six tumultuous years in Persia were thousands of the Báb's followers were put to death and the Báb Himself was executed by firing squad in Tabriz, on July 9th, 1850. Mullá Husayn would be killed when the army beseiged a group of Bábís at Fort Tabarsí in 1849.

*Dawn Breakers (تاریخ نبیل زرندی )

*******************

The following short presentation includes scenes of historic Shiraz, the House of the Báb and the room in which the Báb met with Mullá Husayn. This place of pilgrimage for the Bahá'ís, was razed to the ground by the revolutionary government of Iran. Despite these and many other attrocities committed against the descendents of those early believers, today the youth of Shiraz have spoken up in defense of the rights of their Bahá'í brothers and sisters.

//www.nybahai.org/declaration/

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more from alborz
 
alborz

Thank you all ...

by alborz on

.... for the corrections and additional information on this topic.

Greetings to all on this momentous occassion.

Alborz


Ahang Rabbani

A few comments on Darabi

by Ahang Rabbani on

I read the comment by "believer" and think a few comments on Siyyid Yahya Darabi, known to the Babis and Baha'is as Vahid, is in order.

First, he was not 75 when he met the Bab.  We don't know how old he was, but most likely he was in his 30s.

I'm not sure what you mean by the "greatest divine" in the royal court.  Darabi was the most influential.  The reason that he was extremely well-trusted was due partly to his father's remarkable contribution to the Qajar dynasty.  His father, Siyyid Ja'far Kashfi, is the one that wrote several books establishing the legitamacy of the Qajar (who unlike Safavid could not claim direct blook relation to the Imams and as such could not rule -- a king in Iran was understood to be the "shadow of God", meaning ruling on behalf of the Imams).  Kashfi established that Qajar were indeed, by proxy, could rule on behalf of the Imams, therefore were true rulers.  This gave his learnes son, Siyyid Yahya, enormous influence in the royal court.  It should also be noted that Kashfi recognized that the Bab would declare His mission during pilgrimage rites in Mecca and as such, at an advanced age, traveled to Mecca and heard the Bab advance His claim to Qa'imiyyat.  It is very likely that he had shared this remarkable experience with his son, Siyyid Yahya. 

It is incorrect to say that Siyyid Yahya was sent to Shiraz with "an official escort".  He traveled only with another companion by way of Yazd, and then to Shiraz.

I have an entire monograph (over 400 pages) in English on the life and writings of Siyyid Yahya Darabi on my site, //ahang.rabbani.googlepages.com/ 


default

check date 1783

by AF (not verified) on

1783 appears too early for Shaykh's visit to Iran.
Balyuzi gives 1815-1816 - seems more reasonable.
He was invited by Fatah-Ali-Shah.


faryarm

Muhammad Shah Ghajar's Most trusted..

by faryarm on

Muhammad Shah's Most trusted religious counsel was Siyyid Yahya

Darabi.

As the Bab's declaration as the promised Qaim,  was spread throughout Iran, Muhammad Shah, who was deeply religious, and had heard so much about this young many and his rising popularity;  he was curious to meet the Bab for himself. He sent an invitation for the Bab to be escorted to Tehran. This greatly alarmed the clergy at the royal court who were afraid of losing their powerful influence over the king.

In summer of 1847, Haji Mirza Aghassi arranged for the Bab who was already on his way to Tehran to meet the Shah to be diverted away from tehran to Tabriz.

As it happened, the machinations of the ulama caused Muhammad Shah to miss this opportunity to meet the Bab.

see //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Báb 

 


default

Darabi was a 75 year old man and Bab was 25 year old young man

by believer (not verified) on

Seyed Yahya Darabi was the greatest Devine at the court of Muhammad shah Ghajar, He was assigned by Muhammad shah to investigate the Cause of Bab, and he was sent from Tehran to Shiraz by an officil escort of the Royal court. On his arriveal in Shiraz he interviewed with Bab three times and asked him all kinds of theological islamic questions that no one else had been able to answer properly before in his third interview , he recognised Bab as the promised One Mehdi and knelt down befor him as a sign of humility,then he wrote a letter to Muhammad shah and warned him to follow The Bab, and from there he traveled all over Fars province to proclaim the cause of The Bab, and finally after a short time he lost his life in a battle in a fortress near Nayriz. he is know as Vahid the Unique One!
Related from Dawn Breakers.


Alexx

Shiraz...

by Alexx on

شیراز پر غوغا شود شکر لبی پیدا شود
ترسم که اشوب لبش برهم زند بغداد را
حافظ

//www.bahaullah.org/baghdad/


Mona 19

شیراز پر غوغا شده شکر لبی پیدا شده ...

Mona 19


بخیالت‌ای نکورو به مدام باشد این دل
بجمالت‌ای نکو خو به کلام باشد این دل
به جمال حسن رویت به تتار مشک مویت
بحصار بزم کویت بمرام باشد این دل
چو بجذب روی مهوش شده‌ام غریق آتش
نشود دگر که سر خوش بمغام باشد این دل

طاهره قرة العين

فرخنده سالروز اظهار امر حضرت اعلی را به همه عزیزان تبریک می‌‌گویم,آقای البرز و همه دوستان در سایت عیدتان مبارک.مونا :)


 

 


faryarm

Dear Concerned friend.

by faryarm on

Dear Concerned friend.

Please note, that the above is not a related story from 1400 years ago.

Unfortunately those who are unaware of this part of our 19th century iranian history, unaware of its importance might refer to its as "mumbo jumbp"

The history of the Bab is well documented and is considered to have been a catalyst for major social upheaval as well as a spiritual revolution, meant to abrogate the social laws of Islam and prepare the way for a new revelation from God and new age for humanity.

Dr Bahram Choubineh,who is not a Bahai, has done extensive research in this period of history, and in a Radio interview has spoken and answered questions on the History of the Bab, from many non religious skeptics like yourself.

sincerely

faryarm

//www.newnegah.org/audio/Choubineh-30-07-2005-Babieh-1.mp3

 

//www.newnegah.org/audio/Choubineh-30-07-2005-Babieh-2.mp3 


default

For the love of god ...

by Anonymous Non-believer (not verified) on

don't place your life and livelihood in harms way, for mumboo jamboo like this.