Following His arrest about nine miles away from Fort Tabarsi
by soldiers of the acting governor of Amul, Baha’u’llah encountered a group of
hostile clerics in the town of Amul. This is how Nabil recorded that incident:
The acting governor asked the ‘ulamás who were present to
put any question they desired. To their enquiries Bahá’u’lláh returned explicit
and convincing replies.
As they were interrogating Him, they discovered a manuscript
in the possession of one of His companions which they recognised as the
writings of the Báb and which they handed to the chief of the ‘ulamás present
at that gathering. As soon as he had perused a few lines of that manuscript, he
laid it aside and, turning to those around him, exclaimed: “These people, who
advance such extravagant claims, have, in this very sentence which I have read,
betrayed their ignorance of the most rudimentary rules of orthography.”
“Esteemed and learned divine,” Bahá’u’lláh replied, “these
words which you criticise are not the words of the Báb. They have been uttered by
no less a personage than the Imám ‘Alí, the Commander of the Faithful, in his
reply to Kumayl-ibn-i-Ziyad, whom he had chosen as his companion.”
The circumstances which Bahá’u’lláh proceeded to relate in
connection with the reply, no less than the manner of His delivery, convinced
the arrogant mujtahid of his stupidity and blunder. Unable to contradict so
weighty a statement, he preferred to keep silent.
A siyyid angrily interjected: “This very statement
conclusively demonstrates that its author is himself a Bábí and no less than a
leading expounder of the tenets of that sect.” He urged in vehement language
that its followers be put to death. “These obscure sectarians are the sworn
enemies,” he cried, “both of the State and of the Faith of Islám! We must, at
all costs, extirpate that heresy.” He was seconded in his denunciation by the
other siyyids who were present, and who, emboldened by the imprecations uttered
at that gathering, insisted that the governor comply unhesitatingly with their
wishes.
The acting governor was much embarrassed, and realised that
any evidence of indulgence on his part would be fraught with grave consequences
for the safety of his position. In his desire to hold in check the passions
which had been aroused, he ordered his attendants to prepare the rods and
promptly inflict a befitting punishment upon the captives. “We will
afterwards,” he added, “keep them in prison pending the return of the governor,
who will send them to Tihrán, where they will receive, at the hands of the sovereign,
the chastisement they deserve.”
- Nabil (‘The Dawn-Breakers’, translated and
edited by Shoghi Effendi)
