{"id":183,"date":"2012-10-02T13:26:20","date_gmt":"2012-10-02T13:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/songofnightingale\/?p=183"},"modified":"2013-03-09T05:21:15","modified_gmt":"2013-03-09T05:21:15","slug":"why-suffer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/songofnightingale\/2012\/10\/why-suffer.html","title":{"rendered":"Why Suffer?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

“Why do we suffer?”<\/em>\u00a0is one of the most\u00a0human of queries. Without fail, we\u00a0tend to\u00a0ask the question in the 1st person: “Why\u00a0me?”\u00a0<\/em> But what about the 3rd? “Why they?” <\/em>Why is it always the greedy varlet that winds up blessed with superb health and abundant wealth, and the meek tiller of a barren field who dies bent by a life of toil and hardship? Let’s venture even further. Why have the most saintly and noble to have ever trodden this earth suffered far more than most of us puny mortals bewailing our plight? Where is the justice and fairness in that? Surely it can’t be because they deserved it. So what right do we have to think our\u00a0lot\u00a0is a punishment from God?<\/p>\n

Indeed,\u00a0the mark of a true prophet is suffering. And not just any kind of suffering, but the devastating kind that targets your loved ones,\u00a0destroys your body and gives you a rude reminder that you are really\u00a0nothing but a\u00a0spit bowl for\u00a0the\u00a0rich and\u00a0powerful. Perhaps none more than the great prophets have experienced first-hand and unabated the most brutal aspects of humanity and yet\u00a0remained utterly unwavering, till their hour of death, in their inspirational call upon man to do only that which is good, noble and enlightened. And doing it with\u00a0a passion too. Moses was an orphan\u00a0and an exile hunted by his oppressors. Jesus was an impoverished vagabond ridiculed as a fatherless child and ultimately executed. Muhammed was driven out of his home into the desert and a war was brought on him\u00a0and his loved ones for simply believing in God.<\/p>\n

Despite their ability to\u00a0attract masses, well-fed gurus basking in admiration within the safety of their extravagant ashrams,\u00a0honey-tongued opportunists inviting generous donations by abusing religious sentiment, privileged eccentrics\u00a0selling self-help books with a fluffy spiritual philosophy, and inspirational preachers flying their learjets betwixt jam-packed stadiums, simply won’t compare. True prophets, in the annals of world history, are a mere handful. But they do exist. And what’s little short of amazing: the moral message of their recorded teachings is near-identical. “You, my friend, are much more than meets the eye. Know that,\u00a0grow up and beat the odds!”<\/em><\/p>\n

The greatest inspiration has ever come from those that overcame all odds, remained\u00a0unbending in doing good and refused to shirk in their commitment to high-minded ideals even in the face of violent\u00a0persecution and torture. Perhaps that is why it is the greatest souls amongst us that have suffered the most. Nothing less would inspire the rest of us\u00a0to transcend ourselves.<\/p>\n

“Know ye that trials and tribulations have, from time immemorial, been the lot of the chosen Ones of God and His beloved, and such of His servants as are detached from all else but Him, they whom neither merchandise nor traffic beguile from the remembrance of the Almighty, they that speak not till He hath spoken, and act according to His commandment. Such is God\u2019s method carried into effect of old, and such will it remain in the future. Blessed are the steadfastly enduring, they that are patient under ills and hardships, who lament not over anything that befalleth them, and who tread the path of resignation.”<\/em> (Bah\u00e1\u2019u\u2019ll\u00e1h, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts<\/em>, p. 204)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It is, paradoxically,\u00a0easier to believe\u00a0in the goodness of man and the underlying oneness of all humanity when it is proclaimed by\u00a0someone who has undergone torture, banishment and 40 years of imprisonment without losing faith in these ideals. Since childhood Bah\u00e1’u’ll\u00e1h had earned a reputation as the\u00a0compassionate and prodigal son of M\u00edrz\u00e1 Buzurg, a well-respected minister serving at the Sh\u00e1h’s court. His was a silken life of luxury and privilege. At the age of 27 he did the unimaginable. He\u00a0ceased to be a Sh\u00ed’ah Muslim and became a\u00a0follower of the B\u00e1b<\/a>.\u00a0By declaring as a B\u00e1bi he forsook all chances of a comfortable life paved for him by the powers-that-be. Even before accepting the B\u00e1b he had, at 22 years of age, declined an offer from the Prime Minister\u00a0to advance a ministerial career at the Sh\u00e1h’s court. Instead he had chosen to consecrate his home to helping the poor of Tehran with his wife \u00c1siyyih Kh\u00e1n\u00fam. One of the rooms in his large\u00a0mansion was transformed into a ward for tending sick women and children. The couple had earned the twin-titles “the Father of the Poor” and “the Mother of Consolation.”\u00a0\u00c1siyyih Kh\u00e1n\u00fam, a woman of great beauty and grace, came from one of the richest families of Persia. Yet their life of comfort and security was not to last.\u00a0In Tehran, upon receiving a letter from Mull\u00e1 Husayn<\/a> containing some verses of the B\u00e1b, Bah\u00e1’u’ll\u00e1h\u00a0spontaneously embraced the B\u00e1b’s Message and became one of his most ardent and influential followers due to his high social standing. He went forthwith, on a horseback, to spread the B\u00e1b’s message in his native district in northern Persia, fully aware of the perils with which\u00a0such a mission\u00a0was fraught. He attracted many new fervent followers and roused the ire of the fanatical Sh\u00ed’ah clergy. He was arrested.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Bah\u00e1’\u00ed Prisoners<\/p>\n

Bah\u00e1’u’ll\u00e1h was paraded bare-footed through the\u00a0streets of Tehran to his prison-dungeon and pelted with stones by the angry crowds on the roadsides. He was thrown into the dungeon of Siy\u00e1h-Ch\u00e1l<\/a> with a 100-pound chain placed on his neck and stocks put on his feet. The Siy\u00e1h-Ch\u00e1l, “The Black Pit”,\u00a0was a former sewage reservoir turned into an underground prison. It was basically a deep underground tunnel, housing some 150 prisoners including 30 B\u00e1bis, which had only one outlet. It was so narrow and low that only sitting in a crouching position was possible. Many died in the prison. Much heavier chains were placed on Bah\u00e1’u’ll\u00e1h’s shoulders than on the other prisoners. His chains were known by the names Qar\u00e1-Guhar<\/em> and Sal\u00e1sil<\/em>. During his four-month stay in the pitch-black and filthy dungeon, the chains left a permanent imprint on his stature and cut into his flesh.<\/p>\n

The Sh\u00e1h and the ministers expected Bah\u00e1’u’ll\u00e1h to die in the Black Pit under the weight of his chains. The mother of the Sh\u00e1h in particular was insisting on Bah\u00e1’u’ll\u00e1h’s immediate execution. According to some reports the Sh\u00e1h was worried about more prominent martyrs inciting fresh support to B\u00e1bism. Prince Dolgorukov from the Russian Legation intervened on Bah\u00e1’u’ll\u00e1h’s behalf, owing to Bah\u00e1’u’ll\u00e1h’s excellent reputation as a man of virtue. Prince Dolgorukov is reported to have told the Persian authorities in no uncertain terms that Bah\u00e1’u’ll\u00e1h is not be harmed or Persia shall hear from Russia. As a consequence, the death sentence was not carried out and the Siy\u00e1h-Ch\u00e1l sentence was interrupted after four months of stay.<\/p>\n

Instead, Bah\u00e1’u’ll\u00e1h was banished from the country and ordered to live under house arrest and imprisonment\u00a0for the remainder of his life. He was to remain under incarceration\u00a0in some of the most forbidding places in\u00a0the Ottoman Empire, far away from “bewitching” any more Persians. Prince Dolgorukov offered refuge in Russia which Bah\u00e1’u’ll\u00e1h cordially refused. The British offered refuge when Bah\u00e1’u’ll\u00e1h was in Baghdad and later the French offered him assistance whilst he was in Adrianople, which were also politely turned down.<\/p>\n

Until the end of his earthly journey, Bah\u00e1’u’ll\u00e1h was adamantly reluctant to exchange his claim — that he had brought a\u00a0new message of unity and brotherhood from God — for personal freedom\u00a0or\u00a0temporal ascendancy. Neither did he allow persecution\u00a0or confinement\u00a0to shackle his inner freedom. No amount of torture could\u00a0corrode\u00a0his faith in the underlying goodness of man.<\/p>\n

Why should we then\u00a0let lesser\u00a0disappointments\u00a0shake ours?<\/p>\n

“O SON OF MAN! My calamity is My providence, outwardly it is fire and vengeance, but inwardly it is light and mercy. Hasten thereunto that thou mayest become an eternal light and an immortal spirit. This is My command unto thee, do thou observe it.”<\/em> (Bah\u00e1’u’ll\u00e1h, The Hidden Words<\/em>, Part I Arabic, #51)<\/p>\n

“O SON OF MAN! For everything there is a sign. The sign of love is fortitude under My decree and patience under My trials.”<\/em> (Bah\u00e1’u’ll\u00e1h, The Hidden Words<\/em>, Part I Arabic, #48)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Why do we suffer?”\u00a0is one of the most\u00a0human of queries. Without fail, we\u00a0tend to\u00a0ask the question in the 1st person: “Why\u00a0me?”\u00a0 But what about the 3rd? “Why they?” Why is it always the greedy varlet that winds up blessed with superb health and abundant wealth, and the meek tiller of a barren field who dies…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":546,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,39],"tags":[61,4,54,10,66,59,9,63,62,65,67,53,64,57,58,3,68,55,56],"class_list":["post-183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-central-figures","category-spiritual-and-mystical-reality","tag-asiyyih-khanum","tag-bahaullah","tag-hardship","tag-iran","tag-mirza-buzurg","tag-mulla-husayn","tag-persia","tag-prince-dolgorukov","tag-russia","tag-shah","tag-siyah-chal","tag-suffering","tag-tehran","tag-tests","tag-the-bab","tag-the-bahai-faith","tag-the-hidden-words","tag-trials","tag-tribulations"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Suffer? - Song of Nightingale<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/songofnightingale\/2012\/10\/why-suffer.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Suffer? - Song of Nightingale\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"“Why do we suffer?”\u00a0is one of the most\u00a0human of queries. 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