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Birthplace of the New Revelation
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Pages 11-14
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Birthplace of the New Revelation
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Persia, the birthplace of the Bahá'í Revelation, has occupied
a unique place in the history of the world. In the days of her
early greatness she was a veritable queen among nations, unrivaled
in civilization, in power and in splendor. She gave to
the world great kings and statesmen, prophets and poets, philosophers
and artists. Zoroaster, Cyrus and Darius, Háfiz and
Firdawsi, Sa'dí and `Umar Khayyam are but a few of her many
famous sons. Her craftsmen were unsurpassed in skill; her
carpets were matchless, her steel blades unequaled, her pottery
world famous. In all parts of the Near and Middle East she has
left traces of her former greatness.
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Yet, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries she had sunk
to a condition of deplorable degradation. Her ancient glory
seemed irretrievably lost. Her government was corrupt and in
desperate financial straits; some of her rulers were feeble, and
other monsters of cruelty. Her priests were bigoted and intolerant,
her people ignorant and superstitious. Most of them
belonged to the Shí'ih sect,
[1]
of Muhammadans, but there were
also considerable numbers of Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians,
of diverse and antagonistic sects. All professed to follow
sublime teachers who exhorted them to worship the one God
and to live in love and unity, yet they shunned, detested and
despised each other, each sect regarding the others as unclean,
as dogs or heathens. Cursing and execration were indulged in
to a fearful extent. It was dangerous for a Jew or a Zoroastrian
to walk in the street on a rainy day, for if his wet garment
should touch a Muhammadan, the Muslim was defiled, and the
other might have to atone for the offense with his life. If a
Muhammadan took money from a Jew, Zoroastrian or Christian
he had to wash it before he could put it in his pocket. If a
Jew found his child giving a glass of water to a poor Muhammadan
beggar he would dash the glass from the child's hand,
for curses rather than kindness should be the portion of infidels!
The Muslims themselves were divided into numerous
sects, among whom strife was often bitter and fierce. The Zoroastrians
did not join much in these mutual recriminations, but
lived in communities apart, refusing to associate with their
fellow countrymen of other faiths.
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Social as well as religious affairs were in a state of hopeless
decadence. Education was neglected. Western science and art
were looked upon as unclean and contrary to religion. Justice
was travestied. Pillage and robbery were of common occurrence.
Roads were bad and unsafe for travel. Sanitary arrangements
were shockingly defective.
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Yet, notwithstanding all this, the light of spiritual life was
not extinct in Persia. Here and there, amid the prevailing
worldliness and superstition, could still be found some saintly
souls, and in many a heart the longing for God was cherished,
as in the hearts of Anna and Simeon before the appearance of
Jesus. Many were eagerly awaiting the coming of a promised
Messenger of God, and confident that the time of His advent
was at hand. Such was the state of affairs in Persia when the
Báb, the Herald of a new era, set all the country in commotion
with His message.
Early Life
Mírzá `Alí Muhammad, Who afterwards assumed the title
of Báb (i.e. Gate), was born at Shíráz, in the south of Persia,
on the 20th of October 1819 A.D.
[2]
He was a Siyyid, that is, a
descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. His father, a well-known
merchant, died soon after His birth, and He was then
placed under the care of a maternal uncle, a merchant of
Shíráz, who brought Him up. In childhood He learned to read,
and received the elementary education customary for children.
[3]
At the age of fifteen He went into business, at first with His
guardian, and afterward with another uncle who lived at
Búshihr, on the shore of the Gulf of Persia.
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As a youth He was noted for great personal beauty and
charm of manner, and also for exceptional piety, and nobility
of character. He was unfailing in His observance of the prayers,
fasts and other ordinances of the Muhammadan religion, and
not only obeyed the letter, but lived in the spirit of the Prophet's
teachings. He married when about twenty-two years of age.
Of this marriage one son was born, who died while still an
infant, in the first year of the Báb's public ministry.
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Notes
1. [One of the two great factions -- Shí'ih and Sunní -- into which Islám fell soon after the death of Muhammad, was the first legitimate successor of the Prophet, and that only his descendants are the rightful caliphs.]
2. [First day of Muharram, 1235 A.H.]
3. [On this point a historian remarks: "The belief of many people in the East, especially the believers in the Báb (now Bahá'ís) was this: that the Báb received no education, but that the Mullás, in order to lower him in the eyes of the people, declared that such knowledge and wisdom as he possessed were accounted for by the education he had received. After deep search into the truth of this matter we have found evidence to show that in childhood for a short time he used to go to the house of Shaykh Muhammad (also known as Abid) where he was taught to read and write in Persian. It was this to which the Báb referred when he wrote in the book of Bayán: `O Muhammad, O my teacher! ...' "The remarkable thing is this, however, that this Shaykh, who was his teacher, became a devoted disciple of his own pupil, and the uncle of the Báb who was like a father to him, whose name was Hájí Siyyid `Alí, also became a devout believer and was martyred as a Bábí. "The understanding of these mysteries is given to seekers after truth, but we know this, that such education as the Báb received was but elementary, and that whatever signs of unusual greatness and knowledge appeared in him were innate and from God." 1. A Traveller's Narrative Written to Illustrate the Episode of the Báb with an introduction by E. G. Browne, referred to subsequently as A Traveller's Narrative (Episode of the Báb). ]
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