The Book of the Epistle to the Son of the Wolf CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
Divisions 701-735
EPISTLE TO THE SON OF THE WOLF
701.
O Sheik!
My Pen, verily, lamenteth over Mine own Self, and My Tablet weepeth sore over what hath befallen Me at the hands of one (Mírzá Yahyá) over whom We watched for successive years,
702.
and who, day and night, served in My presence, until he was made to err by one of My servants, named Siyyid Muhammad.
703.
Unto this bear witness My believing servants who accompanied Me in My exile from Baghdád to this, the Most Great Prison.
704.
And there befell Me at the hands of both of them that which made every man of understanding to cry out, and he who is endued with insight to groan aloud, and the tears of the fair-minded to flow.
705.
We pray to God to graciously assist them that have been led astray to be just and fair-minded, and to make them aware of that whereof they have been heedless.
He, in truth, is the All-Bounteous, the Most Generous.
706.
Debar not Thy servants, O my Lord, from the door of Thy grace, and drive them not away from the court of Thy presence.
707.
Assist them to dispel the mists of idle fancy, and to tear away the veils of vain imaginings and hopes.
708.
Thou art, verily, the All-Possessing, the Most High.
No God is there but Thee, the Almighty, the Gracious.
709.
I swear by the Daystar of God’s Testimony that hath shone from the horizon of certitude!
710.
This Wronged One, in the daytime and in the night-season, occupied Himself with that which would edify the souls of men, until the light of knowledge prevailed over the darkness of ignorance.
711.
O Sheik!
Time and again have I declared, and now yet again I affirm, that for two score years We have, through the grace of God and by His irresistible and potent will,
extended such aid to His Majesty the Sháh—may God assist him—
as the exponents of justice and of equity would regard as incontestable and absolute.
712.
None can deny it, unless he be a transgressor and sinner,
or one who would hate Us or doubt Our truth.
713.
How very strange that until now the Ministers of State and the representatives of the people have alike remained unaware of such conspicuous and undeniable service,
and, if apprized of it, have, for reasons of their own, chosen to ignore it!
714.
Previous to these forty years controversies and conflicts continually prevailed and agitated the servants of God.
715.
But since then, aided by the hosts of wisdom, of utterance, of exhortations and understanding, they have all seized and taken fast hold of the firm cord of patience and of the shining hem of fortitude,
|
|
|
716.
in such wise that this wronged people endured steadfastly whatever befell them, and committed everything unto God, and this notwithstanding that in Mázindarán and at Rasht a great many have been most hideously tormented.
717.
Among them was his honor, Hájí Násir, who, unquestionably, was a brilliant light that shone forth above the horizon of resignation.
718.
After he had suffered martyrdom, they plucked out his eyes and cut off his nose, and inflicted on him such indignities that strangers wept and lamented, and secretly raised funds to support his wife and children.
719.
O Sheik!
My Pen is abashed to recount what actually took place.
720.
In the land of Sád (Isfahán) the fire of tyranny burned with such a hot flame that every fair-minded person groaned aloud.
721.
By thy life! The cities of knowledge and of understanding wept with such a weeping that the souls of the pious and of the God-fearing were melted.
722.
The twin shining lights, Hasan and Husayn (The King of Martyrs and the Beloved of Martyrs) offered up spontaneously their lives in that city.
723.
Neither fortune, nor wealth, nor glory, could deter them!
724.
God knoweth the things which befell them and yet the people are, for the most part, unaware!
725.
Before them one named Kázim and they who were with him, and after them, his honor Ashraf,
all quaffed the draught of martyrdom with the utmost fervor and longing,
and hastened unto the Supreme Companion.
726.
In like manner, at the time of Sardár Azíz Khán,
that godly man, Mírzá Mustafá, and his fellow martyrs, were arrested,
and despatched unto the Supreme Friend in the All-Glorious Horizon.
727.
Briefly, in every city the evidences of a tyranny, beyond like or equal,
were unmistakably clear and manifest, and yet none arose in self-defence!
728.
Call thou to mind his honor Badí,
|
|
|
who was the bearer of the Tablet to His Majesty the Sháh, and reflect how he laid down his life.
729.
That knight, who spurred on his charger in the arena of renunciation,
threw down the precious crown of life for the sake of Him Who is the Incomparable Friend.
730.
O Sheik!
If things such as these are to be denied, what shall, then, be deemed worthy of credence?
731.
Set forth the truth, for the sake of God, and be not of them that hold their peace.
732.
They arrested his honor Najaf-‘Alí, who hastened, with rapture and great longing,
unto the field of martyrdom, uttering these words:
“We have kept both Bahá and the khún-bahá (bloodmoney)!”
With these words he yielded up his spirit.
733.
Meditate on the splendor and glory which the light of renunciation, shining from the upper chamber of the heart of Mullá ‘Alí-Ján, hath shed.
734.
He was so carried away by the breezes of the Most Sublime Word and by the power of the Pen of Glory that to him the field of martyrdom equalled, nay outrivalled, the haunts of earthly delights.
735.
Ponder upon the conduct of ‘Abá-Básir and Siyyid Ashraf-i-Zanjání.
They sent for the mother of Ashraf to dissuade her son from his purpose.
Yet she spurred him on until he suffered a most glorious martyrdom.
Дата добавления: 2019-02-12; просмотров: 206; Мы поможем в написании вашей работы! |
Мы поможем в написании ваших работ!