The Reconciliation of Races and Religions by Thomas Kelly Cheyne
page 64 of 173 (36%)
page 64 of 173 (36%)
![]() | ![]() |
|
instructions were given by Baha-'ullah.' So far our authority.
Different names, however, are given by Nicolas, _AMB_, p. 381. The account here given from the _New History_ is in accordance with a letter purporting to be written by the Bab to Haji Suleyman Khan exactly six months before his martyrdom; and preserved in the _New History_, pp. 310, 311. 'Two nights after my martyrdom thou must go and, by some means or other, buy my body and the body of Mirza Muhammad 'Ali from the sentinels for 400 tumans, and keep them in thy house for six months. Afterwards lay Aka Muhammad 'Ali with his face upon my face the two (dead) bodies in a strong chest, and send it with a letter to Jenab-i-Baha (great is his majesty!). [Footnote: _TN_, p. 46, n. 1] Baha is, of course, the short for Baha-'ullah, and, as Prof. Browne remarks, the modest title Jenab-i-Baha was, even after the presumed date of this letter, the title commonly given to this personage. The instructions, however, given by the Bab elsewhere are widely different in tendency. He directs that his remains should be placed near the shrine of Shah 'Abdu'l-'Azim, which 'is a good land, by reason of the proximity of Wahid (i.e. Subh-i-Ezel).' [Footnote: The spot is said to be five miles south of Tihran.] One might naturally infer from this that Baha-'ullah's rival was the guardian of the relics of the Bab. This does not appear to have any warrant of testimony. But, according to Subh-i-Ezel himself, there was a time when he had in his hands the destiny of the bodies. He says that when the coffin (there was but one) came into his hands, he thought it unsafe to attempt a separation or discrimination of the bodies, so |
|