The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1905-03-14

This man WIZ biNNo ~ -.
be rich. you think? once MS FANNY
was the wealthiest in all Persia pu'
this friend of the lowly, like the Can
lean. has been oppressed. For nity
wears he and his family have been eA'
lies and prisoners. Their properly
has been confiscated and wasted ms
own garments are usually OF cot1on'
and the cheapest that can be bought
Often his friends in Persia-tor inns
man is rich in friends, thousands ana
tens of thousands who would eagerly
lay down their lives at his word-senu
him costly garments. These he wears
once, out of respect for the sender
then he gives them away.
His room is small and bare, with
only a mating on the stone noor'
Yet, while he is a prisoner, his 1allers
have become his friends. The GOV
ernor of the city, the commander OIL
the army corps, respect and honor
him as though he were their own
brother. And how could it be other
wise? For to this man 1t is the law,
as it was to Jesus of Nazareth, to do
good to those who injure him. Have
we yet heard of any one in lands
which boast the name OF Christ VINO
lived that life? Such is Abbas Effen'
di, the Master at Aka.
AS for the history of the movement
and Babist tenets; Bahaism properly
began with one Ali Mohammed, a
youth of twenty-five years, who in
1874 announced himself to be the Bah
or Gate, as the name means in Islam
His father was a cloth seller named
Mira Ria, and the Bah was born at
Shiraz, in Southern Persia, on Oct. 9
1920. On leaving school Ali Moham'
med for a while assisted his father in
business, removing subsequently to
Bushire, on the Persian Gulf. So far
there was nothing particularly notice
able in him save gravity beyond his
years, a remarkable purity of life, a
somewhat dreamy temperament-such
as characterizes most Oriental zealots
and a grace of manner which at
LIdCtGu " Hill DlduJ lllChuos
On visit to the town of Kerbela
Ali Mohammed met and heard Ger.
tain Hail Seyyid KAHN of Resht, the
disciple and successor of Sheykh All,
mad of Ahsa, who had founded sect
called Sheykhis.
KAHN dying some months after Ali
returned to Bushire, and the news OF
his death reaching the latter city, Ali
Mohammed suddenly amazed his
friends by announcing himself as the
spiritual successor of the departed
KAHN. He gathered disciples as
honey attracts insects in Hybla. His
fame spread. He went to Mecca as g
Sheykhis leader and came back the
Bah. Prosecutions followed. He was
arrested in 1845, taken to Shiraz, ar
raigned and bastinadoed as hereto
His career for many years was freck
led with trials and tribulations. Sc
far from being discouraged the Bal
continued writing down and codifyins
his principles and doctrines with un
wearying energy. They underwent
considerable development and grew
as he aged. His son is Abbas Eff
fendi.
Babism or Bahaism may be roughly
condensed as making for perfect com
radeship. He Who Lives at Acre has
personally informed Mesdames Phoe
be Hearst of California and E. L. Get
singer of New York, as well as Miss
Birmingham, Attorney Phelps, Chair
man Hoar, and Prof. Edward Granville
Brown of Cambridge University il
England that his teachings arc
evolved from many other and Older
religions, from which, be it ventured
they differ little except in layine
stress upon certain passages of botf
the Bible and Koran with regard tc
brotherly love.
Briefly, Bahaism teaches that the
universe exists for the purpose of in
dividualizing the Eternal Essence.
that is, for the purpose of creating il
that essence centers of consciousness,
and intelligence which shall know
themselves and 1t. Behai is 1t.