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Will & Testament of the Bab Appointing Azal Vicegerent
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Messages: 1 - 4 (58 total)
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freethoughtism110
8/29/2002 10:07 PM
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1 out of 58 |
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I am grateful to members of the Bayani community for providing me with facsimile copy of a hand written, calligraphed manuscript of this document (undated, nor is there a collophon identifying the scribe either at the beginning, the end or the margins of the document or the documents which follow the text). A version of this Will and Testament is reproduced together with a translation appearing in the appendix to E.G. Browne's
translation of Mirza Muhammad Hamadani's NEW HISTORY OF MIRZA `ALI MUHAMMAD, THE BAB (Amsterdam: 1975). However this version does not contain the final seal and the language of its translation is somewhat archaic and Victorian. I have re-done the translation from scratch. In the transliteration I have intentionally omitted all final vowels.
Although a very short, succinct work, this Will and Testament by Siyyid `Ali Muhammad Shirazi unequivocally and very matter of factly designates Mirza Yahya Nuri, Subh-e Azal, as his titular successor and leader to the nascent Babi community. Ostensibly it was written a few short days before his execution in Tabriz in the Spring of 1850 and forwarded to his amanuensis, Azim Turshizi, who sent it to Azal.
Nima Hazini
--
Transliteration of original:
Allahu Akbar Takbir'an Kabir'an
hadha kitab min `ind Allah al-muhayyamin al-qayyum ila Allah muhayyamin al-qayyum. qul: kullu min Allah mabda'un, qul, kullu ila Allah ya`udun.
hadha kitab min `Ali qabla Nabil dhikr Allah al-`alamin ila man ba`d li-ismih ism al-waheed dhikr Allah al-`alamin.
qul: kullu min nuqtatu'l-Bayan la-yubda'un, inna ya ism al-waheed fa-ahfaza ma nazala fi al-Bayan wa amr bihi fa-innaka li-sirat haqq al-`azeem.
Translation:
God is the Greatest, [Great with the] Uttermost Greatness
This is the Book in the possession of God, the Preserver, the Self-Subsistent, to God the Preserver, the Self-Subsistent. Say: All come from God. Say: All return to God.
This is the Book from `Ali before Nabil* who is the Remembrance to the Worlds to him whose name is the Unity/the One #, the Remembrance to the Worlds. Say: All [things] have been generated by the Point(s) of [the] Exposition/the Bayan. Verily, O name of Unity/the One, keep [and protect] that which has descended [or, been revealed] in the Exposition/the Bayan and
that commanded by it, and verily you are the True and Most Mighty Straight Path.
Seal (Inni ana hujjat Allah wa nurihi/Verily, I am God's proof and his light)
*'Nabil' in the abjad/numerology system of Islamic gnosis is numerically equivalent to Muhammad which both hold the value of '92'. This is another way for the Bab to state his name, `Ali Muhammad.
# Waheed, the unity or the one, is Azal's symbolic designation here which is also equivalent to 'Yahya' (i.e. 28), Azal's first name.
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justplainkaren
8/29/2002 11:38 PM
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2 out of 58 |
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Oh, yeah -- God forbid we should post the translation of an important, one might even say essential, historical document from Babi/Bahai history, on a Baha'i forum. I mean, whatever could Nima have been thinking?
Somebody might even (gasp!)question the official story of the transition between Babism and the Baha'i Faith. We cannot, after all, allow it to be a complex and challenging story -- it must be safely contained within the most simplistic of platitudes.
Surely, the hosts must swoop in and save us from the dangers of grappling with the real events of history, and relegate all such dangerous questions to the nethermost basement, lest the eyes of the unwary be contaminated by a document the Bab wrote, but does not support the Baha'i version of things.
Dusty, I wish to hell you'd stop trying to get posts and threads moved. A liberal can hardly post anything without you calling for host intervention, and it's almost unbearably annoying. Would it be too much to ask that you just let people talk, for crying out loud?
Karen
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dust95
8/29/2002 11:54 PM
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3 out of 58 |
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Karen, it simply seems to me that what is being said is that Baha'u'llah upsurped Mirza Yahya's entitlement. That would be a conversation better suited to the Twin Pillars section due to its very nature. Baha'u'llah named the Mirza Yahya & the Azali's as breakers of the Bab's Covenant, and the reasons for the move would seem to be obvious if that is where the poster was coming from. If not then let him explain what he meant. Perhaps I am confused, if so then let's straighten out the ambiguity in what he said.
Sorry to have annoyed you.
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justplainkaren
8/30/2002 12:12 AM
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4 out of 58 |
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Dear Nima,
What I'm really curious about is the origin of the Baha'i tradition that the Bab appointed Azal as a sort of ruse or cover to protect Baha'u'llah. Where did this first come from, and who first articulated it? Is there any historical evidence at all that would support that or is it entirely a faith-based Baha'i tradition?
Why did the Bab appoint Azal anyway? From what I understand, he wasn't all that well known in the Babi community, and he was quite young -- not even out of his teens yet, I don't think. Completely aside from Baha'i traditions about it, Azal just seems like a strange person to pick as the leader of a religious community. Did he have some good qualities we Baha'is have never heard about?
Love, Karen
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