A Traveler's Narrative
by 'Abdu'l-Baha
Edition 1, (September 2006)
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CONTENTS
Baha'i Terms of Use A TRAVELER'S NARRATIVE WRITTEN TO ILLUSTRATE THE EPISODE OF THE BAB [Pages 1-20] [Pages 21-40] [Pages 41-60] [Pages 61-80] [Pages 81-94]
A TRAVELER'S NARRATIVE WRITTEN TO ILLUSTRATE THE EPISODE OF THE BAB
[Pages 1-20]
Touching the individual known as the Bab and the true nature of this sect diverse tales are on the tongues and in the mouths of men, and various accounts are contained in the pages of Persian history and the leaves of European chronicles. But because of the variety of their assertions and the diversity of their narratives not one is as worthy of confidence as it should be. Some have loosed their tongues in extreme censure and condemnation; some foreign chronicles have spoken in a commendatory strain; while a certain section have recorded what they themselves have heard without addressing themselves either to censure or approbation.
Now since these various accounts are recorded in other pages, and since the setting forth thereof would lead to prolixity, therefore what relates to the history of this matter (sought out with the utmost diligence during the time of my travels in all parts of Persia, whether far or near, from those without and those within, from friends and strangers), and that whereon the disputants are agreed, shall be briefly set forth in writing, so that a summary of the facts of the case may be at the disposal of those who are athirst after the fountain of knowledge and who seek to become acquainted with all events.
The Bab was a young merchant of the Pure Lineage. He was born in the year one thousand two hundred and thirty-five [A.H.] on the first day of Muharram,(1) and when after a few years His father Siyyid Muhammad-Rida died, He was brought up in _Sh_iraz in the arms of His maternal uncle Mirza Siyyid 'Ali the merchant. On attaining maturity He engaged in trade in Bu_sh_ihr, first in partnership with His maternal uncle and afterwards independently. On account of what was observed in Him He was noted for godliness, devoutness, virtue, and piety, and was regarded in the sight of men as so characterized.
Table of contents (by pages)
- 1: A Traveler’s Narrative by `Abdu'l-Bahá
- 2: Mulla Sadiq Muqaddas the Holy
- 3: Hastened to Burujird to his father Siyyid Ja'far
- 4: Mulla Muhammad 'Ali the divine
- 5: In order that it might be sent to Tihran
- 6: And to remove the Bab to the Castle of Ch ihriq
- 7: Mirza 'Ali As gh ar the Sh ay kh u'l Islam
- 8: What was the Minor Occultation
- 9: Adduced traditions apparently agreeing with their objects
- 10: When the late Prince Muhammad Sh ah died
- 11: At all events the minister with the utmost arbitrariness
- 12: In Zanjan the chief was Mulla Muhammad 'Ali the mujtahid
- 13: Summon the Christian regiment of Urumiyyih
- 14: They sent it away from A dh irbayjan
- 15: He rose up from Tabriz and came straight to Tihran
- 16: And this sect became of such ill repute that still
- 17: Although He combined lofty lineage with high connection
- 18: Who were possessed of wondrous eloquence
- 19: Together with Mulla 'Abdu'l Karim
- 20: Their sole guiding principle being love for the Bab
- 21: And complaints of the seditious
- 22: Make firm the girdle of endeavor
- 23: His allies are the hosts of good deeds and virtues
- 24: But laudable actions are seemly in man
- 25: And godliness of this sect in all transactions
- 26: And common folk which had come from Karbila dispersed
- 27: During this period Mirza Yahya remained concealed and hidden
- 28: And to demand justice is a measure demanded by custom
- 29: When one Siyyid Muhammad by name
- 30: Conveyed them from Adrianople to the seashore
- 31: Do I desire aught save what Thou desirest
- 32: Beguiled by certain of the doctors of Persia
- 33: The effulgence of His Names and Attributes
- 34: Who for God have foregone all save Him
- 35: Why do ye outwardly claim to be shepherds
- 36: The establishing thereof is incumbent on this Servant
- 37: For the wise man either seeketh the world or abandoneth it
- 38: And at no time hath the caviling of men
- 39: And verily Thou art the Protecting
- 40: Verily wealth will not divert him from regarding the end
- 41: How many calamities have descended
- 42: There shall come a day whereon they shall wail and weep
- 43: Whereunto beareth witness the heaven and its stars
- 44: Especially the exemplars of divine justice
- 45: Recommendations of upright conduct amongst mankind
- 46: An obstruction to multiplication of subjects
- 47: The extensive dominions of the empire of Persia diminished
- 48: If interrogation of conscience
- 49: Siyyid Hasan and Siyyid Husayn
- 50: Chained in the Black Pit of Tihran
