خصائل سبعه
Risāla
Khaşā'il Sab`a
('The Treatise
of the Seven Directives")
In progress
2009-10 :
Last revised 10/11/09
Stephen Lambden (UC-Merced).
This very brief work of the Bab, the Risāla Khaşā'il-i sab`a ('The Treatise
of the Seven Directives") is, aside from certain surahs of the
Qayyūm al-asmā' and a few other pre-1845 CE writings, one his
earliest quasi-legal/ritualistic writings of the Bab. It must have been composed in or near Bushire towards the end of the Bab's
extended land and sea Hajj journey of 1844-5 CE (began from
Shiraz-Bushire in September 1844) before the time of his arrival back in
Shiraz, his
home city and birthplace around mid. -late June or early July 1845. The Khaşā'il-i sab`a was most probably written in Bushire
some time before
June 23rd 1845 CE. Only one or two extant mss. of the Risāla khaşā'il-i sab`a
are currently known. None are available in facsimile or in their
originals though Abu'l-Qasim Afnan reproduced a recension of this work as
contained in an 1845 letter of
the Babi scribe Mulla `Abd al-Karim Qazvīnī (d. 1852CE; see
below). MacEoin has
noted that the Khaşā'il-i sab`a had been paraphrased by
(at least) two Persian Baha'i
scholars; namely, by (1) Muhammad `Ali Fayḍī (d. ADD) in his Persian biography of the Bāb
entitled Hadrat-i Nuqṭa-yi ūlā (pp. 153-54) and (2) by `Abd al-Ḥamid Ishrāq Khāvarī
(d. 1972 CE) in the second volume of his compendium of Baha'i discussions
entitled Muḥāḍirat (vol. 2: 785-86). These two and
other secondary and tertiary sources relating to the Khaşā'il-i sab`a
will be reproduced and discussed below. Despite the brevity of the text
there is considerable diversity as to the exact contents of the seven
directives given by the Bab in the Khaşā'il-i sab`a.
The Baha'i Guardian Shoghi Effendi (d. 1957 CE) listed the
work under discussion (which he transliterated as "Khasa'il-i-Sab'ih")
and included it as item 22 (out of 23) in his 'List of the Bab's best-known Works'
(Dawn-Breakers, Appendix p.669). In the 21st century the Khaşā'il-i sab`a
has only recently
been published by Afnan in his book `And-i a`la (Oneworld,2000; see below).
It is thus hard to see the Khaşā'il-i sab`a as being among the `best-known Works' of the Bab', although it is
true that its contents have long been been (not always very accurately) summarized during
the second half of the 20th century and in a few Persian mss. and publications.
This will be clear from the following paragraphs.
In his Sources MacEoin
comments as follows on the Khaşā'il-i sab`a as follows, "Although I have never been able to trace a manuscript of this work, there
seems to be at least one in existence. Both Ishrāq Khāvarī and Faydī refer
to its contents in detail, implying that they had both had access to the
text." Less than a decade after the publication of his Sources the now late Abu'l-Qasim Afnan (d. 2000) wrote in his
`Ahd-i `A`la...
(Oxford, 2000) that it was the day after his arrival in Bushire [after
completing his pilgrimage] that the Bab wrote a few alwāḥ (scriptural tablets) including the Risāla-yi khaṣā'il-i sab`a in honor
of his relative Hajji Mirza Sayyid `Alī the Khāl-i A`zam (Greatest Uncle)"
(pp. 83-4). No further comments are made by this Baha'i writer on this
subject though he does publish his reading of the Arabic ms. along with a
slightly annotated and interpretive Persian translation (see ibid p.100). Most importantly,
however, he also offers an imaged facsimile version of the Khaṣā'il-i sab`a as
it was incorporated with other interpretive and miscellaneous materials within a letter
of the aforementioned Mulla `Abd al-Karīm Qazvīnī a
secretary of the Bab known as al-Kātib (d. 1268/1851-2) to the greatest uncle, the Khal-i A`zam, of the Bab (mentioned above) (see Ahd-i A`la, p. 99). It
appears that we now have two original versions of the Risāla-yi khaṣā'il-i sab`a.
They seem to have long been in possession of he Afnan family of the Bab; (1)
in a Letter of the Bab to the Hajji Mirza Sayyid `Ali and (2) as cited in a
Letter of the early Babi Mulla `Abd al-Karim Qazvīnī also to that same uncle
Hajji Mirza Sayyid `Ali (see Afnan, 2000: 99-100).
Translation
of the `Abd al-Karim Qazvīnī citation of the Khasā'il-i Sab`a:
Below
(to the left) is a graphic reproduction
of an extract from a manuscript letter containing a version of the Arabic
text of the Khaṣā'il-i sab`a in the hand of the early Babi Mulla
and later scribe of the Bab `Abd al-Karim
Qazvīnī. It is cited in his letter to Hajji Mirza Sayyid `Ali, the Khāl-i A`zam,
and reproduced in Afnan, 2000 page 100. Opposite this is my own slightly
annotated and transliterated provisional translation which will give a
clear, straightforward, unadulterated spelling out of the actual seven Khaşā'il, the "commands", "directives" or "hallmarks" (al-shi`ār)
as indicated by the Bab himself :
In the Name of God, the Exalted
(al-`ali), the Mighty (al-`azīm), exalted be His Noble (al-karīm) Remembrance
(Dhikr).
"[1] The First Command (al-amr al-awwal)
among the seven hallmarks (min al-shi`ār al-sab`a) [of the nascent Bābī
religion] is the carrying of the blessed, impenetrable, talismanic circle (ḥaml
al-dā’ira al-manī`
a al-mubāraka). [2] And the second of them is
the abandonment of the ghalyān (hubble-bubble; water-pipe) (tark al-ghalyān), a practice of the [ruling] Khān[s] (amal
al-khān) and the puffing [smoking] of
Satan (nafkh al-shayṭān). [3] And the third of them involves the
drinking of the beloved Chinse tea-leaves (waraq al-sīn[ī] al-maḥbūb) in the
company of the people of certitude (ahl al-yaqīn). [4] And the fourth
of them is the mentioning of the Secreted Pillar [the Bāb] (al-rukn al-mustasirr) in the [Shī`ī] adhān (“Call to prayer) after the shahāda (Islamic
testimony of faith) of the wilāya [the witnessing to the trusteeship of the
Imams] before the Caliphs [leaders] of the All-Merciful (khulafā’ al-raḥmān).
[5] And the fifth of them involves prostration through the Turbat al-Ḥusayniyya
["Token Shrine of Ḥusayn", a baked clay prayer muhr "seal" or
"tablet" of earth from the sacred ḥaram area of the shrine of third Imam Ḥusayn,
d. 61/80] before its Lord (sāḥib)
[Ḥusayn] offering a thousand laudations (al-thanā') and salutations (al-taḥiyat)
with [the devotional pressing of both] the nose and the forehead (bi'l-anf
wa'l-jabīn). [6] And the sixth of them involves the recitation of the Ziyārat al-jāmi`a
(the `Comprehensive Visitation
Prayer' [for Muhammad Fāṭima and all the twelve Imams]) which was originated
by him [probably Imam `Alī d. 40/661], upon him be peace, with his blessed voice (bi-lafẓihi
al-mubāraka), every Friday [at gatherings] (kull jum`a) and at
festivals (`īd), and on every blessed day (yawm mutabarak) and
felicitous night (layl sa`īd). [7] And the seventh of them
involves the wearing of the white carnelian signet-ring (al-takhtam
bi'l-khātam al-`aqīq al-abyāḍ) [with the
following words] engraved thereon, `There is no God,
but God. Muhammad is the Messenger of God (rasūl Allāh) --
ص
[Ṣ]-ع
[c] [may blessings be upon him] -- `Alī is the wālī-Allāh
("The Legatee of God")-- ص
[Ṣ]-ع
[c] [may blessings be upon him] -- 273. It is
now completed. And may peace be upon
whomsoever acts in accordance with these instructions (al-amūr)
and operates in the light (bi'l-nūr) throughout the night, save,
that is, the night of utter darkness [the moonless night of an
eclipse?] (layl al-dayjūr)" (trans. Lambden, October 20th, 2009).
Five Baha'i Paraphrases and
interpretations of the Khasā'il-i Sab`a:
(1) The Khasā’l-i sab`a
as cited by Muhammad `Ali Fayḍī in his Hadrat-i Nuqṭa-yi ūlā,
53-54:
و
توقيعی شامل هفت دستور كه معروف به خصائل سَبْعه است از قلم مبارك نازل
و بجناب قدوس فرمودند آنرا بجناب خال تسليم نمايند و تمام اصحاب آن
دستور را بموقع اجرا گذارند هفت شعائر مزبور عبارت
است از :
۱ - تلاوت زيارت جامعه
كبيره در ايام جمعه و در اعياد
و ليالی متبركه با غسل و تطهير بدن و لباس با نهايت
توجه و روحانيت .
۲- بجا آوردن سجده
نماز بر تربت حضرت امام حسين
بنوعی كه بينی مُصَلّی نيز بر آن قرار گيرد :
۳- افزودن جمله
اَشْهَدُ
اَنَّ عَلِيّاً قَبْلَ مُحمَّد باب بَقِيَّة اللّه
بر اذان (۱)
۴ - هر يك از اصحاب
هيكلی بخط آنحضرت كه بنام جُنّة الأسماءِ
ناميده ميشد و محتوی بر اسماء اللّه و رمزهائی ديگر از اسماءِ
مقصود از عَلياً قبل محمد نام مبارك حضرت باب ( علي محمد )
و مقصود از بَقيةُ اللّه اشاره بحضرت بهاء اللّه ميباشد .
الهی است بر گردن محاذی سينه بياويزند .
۵ - هر يك از اصحاب
انگشتری از عقيق سفيد بر انگشت داشته
باشند كه اين جمله بر آن منقوش باشد :
"
لا اِلهَ اِلّا اللّهُ
مُحَمّدٌ رَسُولُ اللّه عَلِیٌّ وَلِیُّ اللّه ۲۷۳
"
و مقصود از اين عدد رمز از اسم مبارك ( علي محمد باب اللّه ) بوده است
.
۶ - شرب چای در منتها
درجه نظافت و لطافت .
۷ - احتراز از كشيدن
دخان مانند قليان و غيره .
(2) The Khasā’l-i sab`a
as cited by Ishrāq Khāvarī in his Muḥāḍirāt, vol. 2: 785-86.
-
۱_ تلاوت زيارت جامعه
بديعه با عطر و گلاب و روحانيت و توجه كامل
-
۲_ ادإ سجده در نماز
بر تربت مقدس حضرت سيد الشهداءِ
حسين بن علی (ع ) بطوريكه بينی نماز گذار بر روی
-
تربت قرار گيرد
۳
-
اضافه كردن جمله (
اشهد ان عليا قبل
نبيل باب بقية الله ) در اذان .
۴
-
آويختن هيكل جنة الاسمإ بر سينه
۵
-
انگشتری عقيق بانگشت كردن كه
جمله لا اله الا الله محمد رسول الله علی ولی الله و عدد (۲۷۳ ) بر آن
نقش باشد كه اشاره بجمله علی محمد باب الله ميباشد زيرا جمع اعداد
مزبوره ۱۱۰ ۹۲ ۵ ۶۶
عدد ۲۷۳ ميباشد .
-
۶نوشيدن چای در كمال
لطافت ونظافت
-
۷ پرهيز كردن از شرب
دخان ( سيگار چپق و قليان و سبيل و غيره
(3) Denis MacEoin's
English summary of
the Khaşā'il-i
sab`a (as detailed by Fayḍī and Ishrāq
Khāvarī)
"Since they are of very real
interest, I will list here the seven regulations that form the core of
the Khasā'il, as provided by these two authors [see above]:
(1). To read the Ziyāra jami'a
kabīra [presumably the version written by the Bāb] on Fridays,
festivals, and holy nights, after ablutions and the purification of
one's body and clothes with great care and in a spirit of sanctity.
(2). To perform the prostrations
of the ritual prayer (salāt) on the grave of the Imam Ḥusayn, so that
one's nose touches the grave.
(3). To add to the adhān the
formula:
ashhadu anna 'Alī an qabla
Muhammad `abdu baqiyyat Allah
('I bear witness that `AÏī
Muhammad [i.e., the Bāb] is the servant of the Remnant of God
[i.e., the Hidden Imam]').
(4). Each believer to hang round
his neck, reaching to his chest, a talisman (haykal) in the Bāb's hand,
containing various names of God and other mysterious devices based on
the divine names.
(5). Each believer to wear a ring
of white agate bearing the words:
لا
اله الا الله محمد رسول الله علی ولی الله -
۲۷۳
lā ilāha illā Allāh Muhammad
rasūl Allāh 'Alī Walī-Allāh : 273
("There is no god but God;
Muhammad is God's prophet; `Ali is God's agent; 273'
[a numerical equivalent of the words: 'Alī Muhammad, Bāb Allah, 'Alī
Muhammad, God's gate']).
(6). To drink tea with the
greatest cleanliness and delicacy.
(7). To refrain from smoking the
water-pipe (qalyan) and suchlike.
(4) `Abu'l-Qasim
Afnan's Persian synopsis of the Khaşā'il-i
sab`a ('The Seven Directives")
In his `Ahd-i A`la Abu'l-Qasim Afnan
offers both an Arabic text of the Khaşā'il-i sab`a and a Persian
synopsis or paraphrase of the substance of this writing. He
(5) Nadir Sa'idi on
the Khasa'il-i Sab`a.
In his heavily apologetic
Notes and
Commentary on the Khaşā'il-i
sab`a ('The Seven Directives").
Directive No.
1 The Talismanic Circle.
"[1] The First Command (al-amr al-awwal)
among the seven hallmarks (min al-shi`ār al-sab`a) [of the nascent Bābī
religion] is the carrying of the blessed, impenetrable, talismanic circle (ḥaml
al-dā’ira al-manī`a al-mubāraka).
Directive No. 2 No
Smoking!
"[2] And the second of them is
the abandonment of the ghalyān (hubble-bubble; water-pipe) (tark al-ghalyān), a practice of the [ruling] Khān[s] (amal
al-khān) and the puffing [smoking] of
Satan (nafkh al-shayṭān)."
Directive No.
3 Drinking Chinese Tea.
"[3] And the third of them involves the
drinking of the beloved Chinse tea-leaves (waraq al-sīn[ī] al-maḥbūb) in the
company of the people of certitude (ahl al-yaqīn)".
Directive No. 4
The messianic supplementing of the Shi`i Adhān (Call to Prayer).
"[4] And the fourth
of them is the mentioning of the Secreted Pillar [the Bāb] (al-rukn al-mustasirr) in the [Shī`ī] adhān (“Call to prayer) after the shahāda (Islamic
testimony of faith) of the wilāya [the witnessing to the trusteeship of the
Imams] before the Caliphs [leaders] of the All-Merciful (khulafā’ al-raḥmān)."
Directive No.
5 prostration through the Turbat al-Ḥusayniyya.
Shrine of Imam Husayn at
Karbala and examples of
the devotional, baked clay
prostration Muhr
("Impression").
[5] And the fifth of them involves prostration through the Turbat al-Ḥusayniyya before its Lord (sāḥib)
[Ḥusayn] offering a thousand laudations (al-thanā') and salutations (al-taḥiyat)
with [the devotional pressing of both] the nose and the forehead (bi'l-anf
wa'l-jabīn)."
This directive
involves the use of a devotional item called a
مُهْر or Turbat al-Ḥusayniyya
which is an Arabic technical term indicative of a roughly
thumb-sized piece of baked clay from Karbala where the shrine of Imam
Husayn son of Imam `Ali is located. It constitutes a "Token Shrine of Ḥusayn"
made from clay as a prayer muhr , an "impression",
"seal" or "tablet" of baked earth from the sacred Ḥaram area of the shrine of third Imam Ḥusayn,
d. 61/80. The Bab indicates that the depth of prostration upon this
Turbat al-Husayniyya token or "tablet" should with such deeply prostrate
humility that both the nose and the forehead are simultaneously in
contact with the clay token which is representative of the shrine and
its Master or Lord, the martyred Imam Husayn.
Directive No.
6 and the Ziyāra jami'a kabīra.
The Ziyāra jami'a
kabīra is mentioned in the sixth direction as follows:
"And the sixth of them involves the recitation of the Ziyārat al-jāmi`a
(the `Comprehensive Visitation
Prayer' [for Muhammad Fāṭima and all the twelve Imams]) which was originated
by him [probably Imam `Alī ibn Abi Talib d. 40/661], upon him be peace, with his blessed voice (bi-lafẓihi
al-mubāraka), every Friday [at gatherings] (kull jum`a) and at
festivals (`īd), and on every blessed day (yawm mutabarak) and
felicitous night (layl sa`īd)."
MacEoin is uncertain whether the Ziyāra jami'a
kabīra mentioned here is a visitation supplication by the Bab
himself or by one of the Imams. The phrase "which was originated by him
[= Imam `Alī ?], upon him be peace, with his blessed voice (bi-lafẓihi
al-mubāraka)" seems to make it likely that it is one other
than the Bab such as Imam `Ali
(d. 40/661) who originated the Ziyārat al-jāmi`a prayer and
not the Bab himself. The `upon him be peace' would seem to imply this
although it might not be impossible to argue that it is the Dhikr or
Hidden Imam (= the Bab) who is intended.
There exists an extended Arabic
Shi`i devotional text entitled Ziyāra jami'a
kabīra as well as a work of this name by the Bab himself. The Shi`i
text ADD HERE.
Ziyārat
Visitation texts of the Bab
The following are among the
Ziyarat texts of the Bab (see MacEoin, Sources,
202-3) :
- Ziyārat al-Zahrā (1) Tehran,
MBA 6003C : 148-59
- Ziyāra jāmi'a şaghīra =
Chapter 1 of Risāla furū` al-'adliyya : (1) Tehran, INBA 5006C, p. 2,
line 20 to top left corner 203
- Ziyãrat jāmi`a kabīra : Mss.
= (1) 1. Cambridge, Browne F.22 (item 1) (2) Tehran, MBA 6003C, pp.
132-45 (incomplete) (3) Tehran, MBA 6009C, pp. 173-219
(incomplete; dated 1267/1851) (4) Iran, INBMC 50, pp. 1-72 (5).
Russia (?), Kažem Beg copy
Directive No.
7 and the Inscribed ringstone.
"[7] And the seventh of them
involves the wearing of the white carnelian signet-ring (al-takhtam
bi'l-khātam al-`aqīq al-abyāḍ) [with the
following words] engraved thereon, `There is no God,
but God. Muhammad is the Messenger of God (rasūl Allāh) --
ص
[Ṣ]-ع
[c] [may blessings be upon him] -- `Alī is the wālī-Allāh
("The Legatee of God")-- ص
[Ṣ]-ع
[c] [may blessings be upon him] -- 273."
The 1845 CE Shiraz
changing of the Adhān ("Call to Prayer") and the Khaşā'il-i
sab`a.
Husayn Khān
Īravānī the governor of
Fars (Oct.
1844- Nov. 1848)
who had several
Bābīs arrested
and punished
for altering the standard
Shi`i adhān
An early Letter of the Bāb
to his disciple Mulla Ṣādiq Khurasānī (d. Hamadan, 1882
CE).
The early Shaykhi and Babi Mulla Ṣādiq came to have the epithet
Muqaddas (Sanctified, Holy, Saintly) associated with his name and was
entitled Ism-Allāh al-Aṣdaq
("The Name of God, the Supremely Virtuous")
by Baha'u'llah whose ardent devotee he eventually became.
The issue of the changing of the Shi`i Islamic Adhān (Call to prayer) is commented upon by
the Bāb himself in the beginning of an early Arabic letter to Mulla Ṣādiq-i Muqaddas-i Khurāsānī
who was himself involved in the Shiraz episode as described in the
Dawn-Breakers or Tarkh-i Zarandi (se below) as well, among other
sources, as the British Times newspaper article of 19/11/1843 (p.3; see
below).
In this early letter the Khasā’l-i sab`a seems to be referred to
as part of (?) a currently unknown Kitab al-mulūk ("Book of the Kings").
Therein Mulla Ṣādiq Khurasānī is advised to make a fearless proclamation of the position of
the Bab :
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
الم
ذكر ذكرالله للورقة الصفراء
عن يمين الطور لااله الاهو قل ايای فاخرجون ولقد نزلنا اليك كتاباْ من قبل
فيه آيات بينات من لدنا لقوم يسمعون ولقد سمعنا اليوم انك بعد مقرك فی تلك
الارض قداتبعت اهواء
الذين لا
يعلمون حكم بقية الله من لدن عبده علی حكيم وما بلغت حكم الله جهرة من خوف
ما كان الناس فی آيات الله ينصتون ان اقرء آياتنا فی كل يوم بين الناس من
دون قدرخردل من خوف فان امرالله لحق مثل ما كان الناس ينطقون ولقد كتبنا
للمومنين ان اذكروا ذكرالله فی الاذان بحكم ما نزلنا فی كتاب الملوك ان
ارفعوا حكم الله جهرة لعلكم تفلحون
In the Name of God, the
Merciful, the Compassionate.
"A-L-M. The Remembrance of God (Dhikr Allah) hath mentioned the
yellow leaf (l'l-waraqat al-sufrā') nigh the right-hand side of the
Mount [Sinai] (al-ṭūr), [saying] `No God is there except Him'. Say: `Go ye out
[from Shiraz] after Me!'.
We indeed previously send down unto thee a letter (kitāb
an) wherein were expository verses (āyāt bayyinat) from
Us [addressed to] the people to the end that they might hearken.
We have indeed heard that today, after thy dwelling in that region
[presumably Shiraz], thou did follow the base passions of such as
were unaware of the decree of the Baqiyyat Allāh (Remnant of God)
through his servant (`abd = the Bab) `Alī [`the Elevated One],
the Wise One (al-ḥakīm) and did not publicly (jahrat) carry out [communicate] the decree
of God (ḥukm Allāh) out of fear that the people would
hear the verses of God (āyāt Allāh). So recite Our verses every day
amongst the people, not merely to the extent of a mustard seed out of
fear. Even if God commanded the like of that [public disclosure] such is
indeed the Truth [despite the fact that] the people would cry out [in protest!
We
indeed wrote unto the believers that they should make mention of the Dhikr-Allāh (Remembrance of God) in the adhān ("Call to Prayer")
according to a decree (ḥukm) that We sent down in the Kitāb al-Mulūk ("Book of the Kings").
So lift ye up [your voice] publicly (jahrat an)! [in
obedience to] the decree of God (ḥukm Allāh), perchance thou
will achieve success." (text cited above from Afnan, `Ahd-i A`la, 101;
trans. Lambden).
This passage evidently relates to an early episode surrounding the
incorporation of reference to the Bab as servant of the Dhikr-Allāh (Remembrance of God) into
the Shi`i Islamic adhān ("Call to Prayer") in Shiraz. The Bab states
that this directive was contained in the Kitāb al-Mulūk ("Book of the Kings")
which may be indicative of a work incorporating or another name for the Khasā’il-i sab`a.
Whatever the case, Mulla Ṣādiq is clearly rebuked for not (at
first) reciting
publicly the words or new adhān of the Bab. He should be
fearless and ignore the possible clamor of the people. The Zarandi-Dawn-Breakers
account of Mulla Ṣādiq's role in the Shiraz episode of the new
Adhān
does not exactly reflect the contents of the above letter but presents him as an
eager devotee ready to immediately incorporate the new addition to the
Adhān. Perhaps, in reality, Mulla Ṣādiq gradually summoned up the
courage to adopt the call to prayer to reference the Bab as servant of
the Dhikr-Allah. Whatever the case all the sources aside from this
letter of the Bab seem to celebrate the selfless courage and
unhesitating obedience of Mulla Ṣādiq Muqaddas-i Khurasānī. For a
detailed though incomplete biography see Balyuzi, Eminent Baha'is in the
Time of Baha'u'llah (Oxford: George Ronald, 1985), Ch.1 (pp. 7-23.
ADD HERE
The British
Times Newspaper article(s) of 1st (and 19th) November 1845.
It was about four and a half months after the allegedly heretical event of
the Babi alteration of the Shi`i Adhān (Call to prayer) in Shiraz that the British
London based newspaper The Times, on the 1st November 1845 as
well as on Wednesday, November 19th 1845 (page 3), published a brief
unattributed article entitled `Mahometan Schism' [sic.]:
ADD Times 1st Nov. 1845 cited
Momen, 1981: 69,
Persia:
"ADD HERE
From The Times,
19th November 1845
"MAHOMETAN SCHISM. -- A new sect
has lately set itself up in Persia, at the head of which is a merchant
who had returned from a pilgrimage to Mecca, and proclaimed himself a
successor of the Prophet. The way they treat such matters at Shiraz
appears in the following account (June 23): -- Four persons being heard
repeating their profession of faith according to the form prescribed by
the impostor, were apprehended, tried, and found guilty of unpardonable
blasphemy. They were sentenced to lose their beards by fire being set to
them. The sentence was put into execution with all the zeal and
fanaticism becoming a true believer in Mahomet. Not deeming the loss of
beards a sufficient punishment, they were further sentenced the next
day, to have their faces blacked and exposed through the city. Each of
them was led by a mirgazah (executioner), who had made a hole in his
nose and passed through it a string, which he sometimes pulled with such
violence that the unfortunate fellows cried out alternately for mercy
from the executioner and for vengeance from Heaven. It is the custom in
Persia on such occasions for the executioners to collect money from the
spectators, and particularly from the shopkeepers in the bazaar. In the
evening when the pockets of the executioners were well filled with
money, they led the unfortunate fellows to the city gate, and there
turned them adrift. After which the mollahs at Shiraz sent men to
Bushire, with power to seize the impostor, and take him to Shiraz,
where, on being tried, he very wisely denied the charge of apostacy laid
against him, and thus escaped from punishment, [-- Literary Gazette
] ."
This above texts of the unattributed London Times article are stated (see
above) to have been written on June 23 (1845). This obviously implies that
four Babis had in Shiraz carried out the fourth directive of the
Khaşā'il-i sab`a about the changing of the Shī`ī adhān (“Call to
prayer) to include reference to "the Secreted Pillar" (al-rukn al-mustasirr)
or to the person Bāb as representative of the Hidden Imam. This on or
before June 23d 1845 when the Bab himself was either still in Bushire or had
been returned for trial to Shiraz after his extended pilgrimage. The
Khaşā'il-i sab`a must this have been written before June 23rd 1845 though
this work is not mentioned in the Kitāb al-Fihrist which was written on 15th
Jumada II 1261 AH or June 21st 1845 CE.
Muhammad Nabil-i Zarandi
(d. 1892 CE) on the
Khasā’l-i sab`a
In Shoghi Effendi's redaction of the Tarikh or History of Nabil-i
Zarandi entitled the Dawn-Breakers (ch. VII see URL above) it is recorded :
"The Bab then delivered into his
[Quddus'] hands a letter He had written to Haji Mirza Siyyid Ali, His
maternal uncle, in which He had informed him of His safe return to
Bushihr. He also entrusted him with a copy of the Khasa'il-i-Sab'ih, (1)
a treatise in which He had set forth the essential requirements from
those who had attained to the knowledge of the new Revelation and had
recognized its claim. As He bade Quddus His last farewell, He asked him
to convey His greetings to each of His loved ones in Shiraz...
"The next person whom Quddus met in Shiraz [in 1845 CE] was
Ismu'llahu'l-Asdaq, Mulla Sadiq-i-Khurasani, to whom he entrusted the
copy of the Khasa'il-i-Sab'ih, and stressed the necessity of putting
into effect immediately all its provisions. Among its precepts was the
emphatic injunction of the Bab to every loyal believer to add the
following words to the traditional formula of the Adhān: (1) "I bear
witness that He whose name is Ali-Qabl-i-Muhammad (2) is the servant of
the Baqiyyatu'-llah."(3) Mulla Sadiq, who in those days had been
extolling from the pulpit-top to large audiences the virtues of the
imams of the Faith, was so enraptured by the theme and language of that
treatise that he unhesitatingly resolved to carry out all the
observances it ordained. Driven by the impelling force inherent in that
Tablet, he, one day as he was leading his congregation in prayer in the
Masjid-i-Naw, suddenly proclaimed, as he was sounding the Adhān, the
additional words prescribed by the Bab. The multitude that [145] heard
him was astounded by his cry. Dismay and consternation seized the entire
congregation. The distinguished divines, who occupied the front seats
and who were greatly revered for their pious orthodoxy, raised a clamour,
loudly protesting: "Woe betide us, the guardians and protectors of the
Faith of God! Behold, this man has hoisted the standard of heresy. Down
with this infamous traitor! He has spoken blasphemy. Arrest him, for he
is a disgrace to our Faith." "Who," they angrily exclaimed, "dared
authorise such grave departure from the established precepts of Islam?
Who has presumed to arrogate to himself this supreme prerogative?"...
Shoghi Effendi's
reference to the Khaşā'il-i
sab`a in the centennial God Passes By.
In 1944 Shoghi Effendi made reference
to the Khaşā'il-i
sab`a in his important centennial historical volume entitled `God Passes
By' (1st ed. )
"Mullá Sádiq-i-Khurásání,
impelled by the injunction of the Báb in the Khasá’il-i-Sab‘ih
to alter the sacrosanct formula of the adhán, sounded it in
its amended form before a scandalized congregation in Shíráz,
and was instantly arrested, reviled, stripped of his garments, and
scourged with a thousand lashes. The villainous Husayn Khán,
the Nizámu’d-Dawlih, the governor of Fárs, who had read the
challenge thrown out in the Qayyúmu’l-Asmá, having ordered that
Mullá Sádiq together with Quddús and another believer be summarily
and publicly punished, caused their beards to be burned, their noses
pierced, and threaded with halters; then, having been led through
the streets in this disgraceful condition, they were expelled from
the city." (God Passes By, rev. ed. 1974, p.10-11)
Hasan Balyuzi
on Mulla Sadiq and the Khaşā'il-i
sab`a.
See Eminent Baha'is Ch. 1
MacEoin's annotated Summary of the Dawn-Breakers account.
"A third work of substance was
according to Zarandī, when the Bāb returned to Shlraz in 1845, he sent Mullā
Muhammad `AĪī Bārfurūsni Quddus (who had accompanied him to Mecca) ahead to
Shīrāz. [84 = Dawn-Breakers, p. 142. ] Bārfurūshī was entrusted with a
letter for the Bāb's uncle, Hājj Mirza Sayyid `Alī [fn. 85 This letter is
translated by Nicolas, Séyyèd Ali Mohammed, pp. 214-18.] and a copy of
a book entitled the Khasa'il-i sab`a, 'a treatise in which He [i.e., the Bāb]
had set forth the essential requirements from those who had attained to the
knowledge of the new Revelation and had recognized its claims.' [86 =
Zarandī, Dawn-Breakers, p. 143.).
"On reaching Shlrāz, Bārfurūshi
[Quddus] gave
his copy of this work to another convert, Mullā Sadiq Khurasanī. In
accordance with instructions contained in the text, Khurasanī proceeded to
make use of a modified form of the call to prayer in either the Masjid-i Naw
or the Shamshīrgarān mosque. [87 = Ibid, p. 144. According to Faydī,
the book was given, not to Mullā Sadiq, but to the Bāb's uncle, Hājj Mirza
Sayyid `Ali (see Hadrat-i Nuqṭa-yi Ulu, p. 153] The result was a riot, after
which Bārfurūshi [Quddus], [Mulla Sadiq] Khurasanī, and a third convert, `Ali Akbar Ardistani, were
expelled from the city. This took place shortly before the Bāb's arrival
[later in 1845 CE]." (MacEoin
Sources, ADD).
