 |
| Muhammad Shah |
Those opposed to Baha’u’llah in Tihran,
including the persistently hostile Prime Minister, were reawakening the
suspicions of the gravely ailing Muhammad Shah by reporting Baha’u’llah to be
the prime mover of the suspicious and incendiary Bábí gathering near Shahrud,
and creator of the disturbance at Niyala. In the end they succeeded in stirring
the sovereign's latent antagonisms into evil decision:
'I have hitherto refused to countenance whatever has been
said against him. My indulgence has been actuated by my recognition of the
services rendered to my country by his father. This time, however, I am
determined to put him to death.
To carry out his deadly intention, through Prime Minister
Aqasi, he commanded an officer in Teheran to instruct his son in Mazindaran to
arrest Baha’u’llah and accompany Him to the capital for execution. The
officer's son received these orders in Bandar-Gaz on the day prior to his own
planned reception for Baha’u’llah, for Whom he had a strong attachment. Sorely
distressed, he was deeply reluctant either to tell the grim news or to carry
out the order, although he knew he must obey his king. Baha’u’llah, however,
observed the effect of the unknown message, and relieved the young man's acute
apprehensions by advising that he put his trust in God.
Bahá'u'lláh was at this time the guest of some of the
notables of the town, and these, together with the Russian agent at Bandar-Jaz,
who was a Persian, came to Bahá'u'lláh offering Him a passage in a Russian ship
which was at anchor there. But Bahá'u'lláh did not accept it and did not run
away.
The next day, as Baha’u’llah was being accompanied by His
friend to his home, they encountered a horseman who was coming from the
direction of Tihrán. “Muhammad Sháh is dead!” that friend exclaimed in the
Mázindarání dialect, as he hastened to rejoin Him after a brief conversation
with the messenger. He drew out the imperial summons and showed it to Him. The
document had lost its efficacy. Thus that night the planned reception was a
time of joy, relief and gratitude at God's intervention, striking down the
Shah's hand raised to carry out a baneful act in his last hours.
(Adapted from ‘The Dawn-Breakers’, by
Nabil; ‘Robe of Light’, by David Ruhe,
and ‘Baha’u’llah – The King of Glory’, by Balyuzi)
