From: hakim@bigq.enet.dec.com (Kamran Hakim)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.iranian
Subject: Re: Some more info on the Baha'is (11)
Date: 27 Jul 92 17:17:53 GMT
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation


Continuation from part 10:

farzin@apollo3d.apollo3.ntt.JP (Farzin Mokhtarian), you write:

>The story that Seyed Bab went to a toielt after the first bullet hit the rope
>is almost correct. He actually ran into a stable and the second time was
>shot dead. The stories that he had to go to his secretary to write the last
>words and then turning himself etc. is only good for "Aghnam" or sheeps,
>as the master Bahau'llah calls his followers, to believe. Indeed "bring your
>reasons, if you are right!)

The following is the historical account of this issue:

"The siege of Zanjan was still in progress when he, dispensing with
an explicit order from his sovereign, and acting independently of his
counsellors and fellow-ministers, dispatched his order to Prince
Hamzih Mirza, the Hishmatu'd-Dawlih, the governor of 'Adhirbayjan,
instructing him to execute the Bab. Fearing lest the infliction of 
such condign punishment in the capital of the realm would set in motion
forces he might be powerless to control, he ordered that his Captive
be taken to Tabriz, and there be done to death. Confronted with a flat 
refusal by the indignant Prince to perform what he regarded as a
flagitious crime, the Amir-Nizam commissioned his own brother, Mirza 
Hasan Khan, to execute his orders. The usual formalities designed to 
secure the necessary authorization from the leading mujtahids of 
Tabriz were hastily and easily completed. Neither Mulla Muhammad-i-
Mamaqani, however, who had penned the Bab's death-warrant on the very 
day of His examination in Tabriz, nor Haji Mirza Baqir, nor Mulla 
Murtada-Quli, to whose houses their Victim was ignominiously led by 
the farrash-bashi, by order of the Grand Vizir, condescended to meet 
face to face their dreaded Opponent.

Immediately before and soon after this humiliating treatment meted 
out to the Bab two highly significant incidents occurred, incidents
that cast an illuminating light on the mysterious circumstances
surrounding the opening phase of His martyrdom. The farrash-bashi
had abruptly interrupted the last conversation which the Bab was
confidentially having in one of the rooms of the barracks with His
[i.e. The Bab's] amanuensis Siyyid Husayn, and was drawing the latter 
aside, and severely rebuking him, when he was thus addressed by his 
Prisoner: `Not until I have said to him all those things that I wish 
to say can any earthly power silence Me. Though all the world be armed 
against Me, yet shall it be powerless to deter Me from fulfilling, to 
the last word, My intention.' To the Christian Sam Khan - the colonel 
of the Armenian regiment ordered to carry out the execution - who, 
seized with fear lest his act should provoke the wrath of God, had 
begged to be released from the duty imposed upon him, the Bab gave the
following assurance: `Follow your instructions, and if your intention
be sincere, the Almighty is surely able to relieve you of your
perplexity.'

Sam Khan accordingly set out to discharge his duty. A spike was driven 
into a pillar which separated two rooms of the barracks facing the 
square. Two ropes were fastened to it from which the Bab and one of 
his disciples, the youthful and devout Mirza Muhammad-'Ali-i-Zunuzi,
surnamed Anis, who had previously flung himself at the feet of his 
Master and implored that under no circumstances he be sent away from 
Him, were separately suspended. The firing squad ranged itself in 
three files, each of two hundred and fifty men. Each file in turn 
opened fire until the whole detachment had discharged its bullets. 
So dense was the smoke from the seven hundred and fifty rifles that 
the sky was darkened. As soon as the smoke had cleared away the 
astounded multitude of about ten thousand souls, who had crowded 
onto the roof of the barracks, as well as the tops of the adjoining 
houses, beheld a scene which their eyes could scarcely believe.

The Bab had vanished from their sight! Only his companion remained, 
alive and unscathed, standing beside the wall on which they had been 
suspended. The ropes by which they had been hung alone were severed. 
`The Siyyid-i-Bab has gone from our sight!' cried out the bewildered 
spectators. A frenzied search immediately ensued. He was found, unhurt 
and unruffled, in the very room He had occupied the night before, 
engaged in completing His interrupted conversation with His amanuensis. 
`I have finished My conversation with Siyyid Husayn' were the words 
with which the Prisoner, so providentially preserved, greeted the 
appearance of the farrash-bashi, `Now you may proceed to fulfill your 
intention.' Recalling the bold assertion his Prisoner had previously 
made, and shaken by so stunning a revelation, the farrash-bashi quitted 
instantly the scene, and resigned his post.

Sam Khan, likewise, remembering, with feelings of awe and wonder, the 
reassuring words addressed to him by the Bab, ordered his men to leave 
the barracks immediately, and swore, as he left the courtyard, never 
again, even at the cost of his life, to repeat that act. Aqa Jan-i-
Khamsih, colonel of the body-guard, volunteered to replace him. On the 
same wall and in the same manner the Bab and His companion were again 
suspended, while the new regiment formed in line and opened fire upon 
them. This time, however, their breasts were riddled with bullets, and 
their bodies completely dissected, with the exception of their faces 
which were but little marred. `O wayward generation!' were the last 
words of the Bab to the gazing multitude, as the regiment prepared to 
fire its volley, `Had you believed in Me every one of you would have 
followed the example of this youth, who stood in rank above most of you, 
and would have willingly sacrificed himself in My path. The day will 
come when you will have recognized Me; that day I shall have ceased to 
be with you.' Now was this all. The very moment the shots were fired a 
gale of exceptional violence arose and swept over the city. From noon 
till night a whirlwind of dust obscured the light of the sun, and blinded
the eyes of the people. In Shiraz an "earthquake," foreshadowed in no
less weighty a Book than the Revelation of Saint John, occurred in 1268 
A.H. which threw the whole city into turmoil and wrought havoc amongst 
its people, a havoc that was greatly aggravated by the outbreak of 
cholera, by famine and other afflictions. In that same year no less than 
two hundred and fifty of the firing squad, that had replace Sam Khan's 
regiment, met their death, together with their officers, in a terrible 
earthquake, while the remaining five hundred suffered, three years later, 
as a punishment for their mutiny, the same fate as that which their hands 
had inflicted upon the Bab. To insure that none of them had survived, 
they were riddled with a second volley, after which their bodies, pierced 
with swears and lances, were exposed to the gaze of the people of Tabriz. 
The prime instigator of the Bab's death, the implacable Amir-Nizam, 
together with his brother, his chief accomplice, met their death within 
two years of that savage act."
					God Passes By, p. 51-54

Now that we have discussed the Baha'i account of this event, please allow
me to share with you one from among many references from non-Baha'i sources:

"An intense clamor arose from the crowd at this moment as the onlookers saw
the Bab freed from his bonds advancing towards them. Amazing to believe, 
the bullets had not struck the condemned but, on the contrary, had broken
his bonds and he was delivered. It was a real miracle and God alone knows
what would have happened without the fidelity and calm of the Christian 
regiment [i.e. The regiment of Sam Khan-i Maseehi, who was to execute The 
Bab.] on this occurrence. The soldiers in order to quiet the excitement of 
the crowd which, being extremely agitated, was ready to believe the claims
of a religion which thus demonstrated its truth, showed the cords broken
by the bullets, implying that no miracle had really taken place. At the 
same time, they seized the Bab and tied him again to the fatal post. This
time the execution was effective. Muhammadan justice and ecclesiastical law
had asserted themselves. But the crowed, vividly impressed by the spectacle
they had witnessed, dispersed slowly, hardly convinced that the Bab was a
criminal. After all his crime was only a crime for the legalists and the
world is indulgent toward crimes which it does not understand."

                        M.C. Huart's `La Religion du Bab,' pp. 3-4

In regards to the greatness of the Bab and His teachings, the western
scholars appear to say something very different from what you and your
likes suggest based on your prejudice:

"The Cause of the Bab is on the road to great achievements. We have now
shown how there has taken place  a religious movement which absorbs the
deepest attention of central Asia, that is to say Persia, several regions
of India and a section of Asiatic Turkey; a religious movement, therefore,
truly remarkable and worthy of being studied. Through it we witness events, 
manifestations, catastrophes such that one could only imagine possible in 
remote ages when the great religions were born. I even confess that if I 
were to see appear in Europe a religion like unto Babism, with advantages
such as Babism possesses, with complete faith,, and undaunted enthusiasm,
tried courage and proven devotion, winning the respect of the indifferent,
frightening its adversaries and, moreover, a tireless proselytism constantly
gaining adherents in every social class, -if I were to see such a phenomenon
in Europe, I would not hesitate to predict that, within a given time, power
and sovereignty would of necessity belong to a group so richly endowed."

                Comte de Gobineau's `Les Religions et les Philosophies
                dans l'Asie Centrale,' pp.116, 293-294

Also, 

"It seems certain that from the religious stand point and specially from 
the moral one, Babism marks an advance over the teachings of Islam; one
may hold with M. Vambery (French Academy, March 12, 1892) that it leader
[i.e. The Bab] has expressed doctrines worthy of the greatest thinkers...
In any case the growth of Babism is an interesting chapter in the history 
of modern religions and civilization. And thus, after all is said, those
who praise it are perhaps right; it may be that from Babism will come the
generation of the Persian peoples, even of the whole Islam which is in
real need of it. Unfortunately there is seldom a national regeneration
without much shedding of blood."

                                M.J. Bateau's `Le Babisme,' p. 28

There is wonderful poem which comes to my mind which I feel is very
relevant to this discussion. The poet says:

Mah feshAnad noor-o sag oa-oa konad
					har kasi bar tinat-e khod mitanad

Moon shines and dog barks	
		each is expressing itself according to its nature and ability

						Part 11 of 12
Newsgroups: soc.culture.iranian