“There was a bath in our house, but none in Subh-i Azal’s, and he was accustomed to use our bath. The same servant prepared the bath and acted as bath attendant for both my father and Subh-i Azal.
“Up to this time the declaration which the Blessed Perfection had made to five of his disciples in Baghdad had not been formally communicated to Subh-i Azal, or, indeed, to any one else, and we do not know that he was aware of it: though his conduct suggests that he suspected it, and that this suspicion furnished the incentive which prompted him in doing what I am about to relate. As you no doubt know, Subh-i Azal claimed to have been appointed by the Bab as his successor, and therefore to be, after the Bab’s death, the head of the Babi Church.
“The events which I am about to relate occurred about one year after he had moved into the city from the quarters which he had at first occupied in Adrianople. One day while in the bath Subh-i Azal remarked to the servant (who was a believer) that the Blessed Perfection had enemies and that in the bath he was much exposed, and asked whether it would not be easy for an attendant who was not faithful to the Blessed Perfection to make away with him while shaving him. The servant replied that this was certainly the case. Subh-i Azal then asked him whether, if God should lay upon him the command to do this, he would obey it. The servant understood this question, coming from Subh-i Azal, to be a suggestion of such a command, and was so terrified by it that he rushed screaming from the room. He first met ‘Abbas Effendi and repeated to him Subh-i Azal’s words. My brother endeavored to quiet him, and commanded his silence. This the servant refused unless he was taken at once to the Blessed Perfection. ‘Abbas Effendi accordingly accompanied him to my father, who listened to his story and then enjoined absolute silence upon him.
“This occurrence was ignored by my father and brother, and our relations with Subh-i Azal continued to be cordial. The Blessed Perfection was indeed several times warned to beware of Subh-i Azal, by persons who claimed to have overheard conversations between him and his intimates, but no attention was paid to these warnings.
“Some time afterwards, to celebrate a family festival day, Subh-i Azal invited us all to his house. At this time, also, my father was warned not to take food there, but replied that he must treat Subh-i Azal with kindness and could not refuse it.
“This entertainment was looked upon as cementing the family reconciliation, and it is usual on such occasions among Persians for the heads of the two family factions which have been alienated to eat from the same plate. So, now, rice for both my father and Subh-i Azal was served to them on one plate. This rice, as well as all the other food used for the meal, had been prepared in Subh-i Azal’s house, contrary to the usual custom. Now my father and Subh-i Azal had these well-known peculiarities of taste—that the former was very fond of onions, while the latter could not endure them. The portion of rice intended for my father was accordingly flavored with onions, while that intended for Subh-i Azal was differently prepared. The servant bringing in the plate placed it, at the direction of Subh-i Azal, with the side upon which was the rice flavored with onions toward the Blessed Perfection. While he did so Subh-i Azal smilingly remarked, ‘Here is rice cooked as you like it!’ My father ate some of the rice prepared for him, but fortunately not very much, as for some reason it did not please him. He preferred the rice prepared for Subh-i Azal, and ate of it, and also of the dishes which the others at the table were eating.”
“Soon after eating the rice my father became ill and went home. About midnight he was seized with severe vomiting and passing of blood from the bowels. A physician was summoned, and declared that he had been poisoned.
“My father was desperately ill for twenty-two days; during all this time he took no food. On the eighteenth day the physician said that he could not live. The death sentence terribly moved ‘Abbas Effendi. He placed his head on the pillow beside his father’s in the utmost agony of grief. He implored him to live for the sake of the world, for his family, and for him. My father was too feeble to speak, and could only place his hand on my brother’s head. The physician was deeply moved by the sight. He had learned to love ‘Abbas Effendi,—as did every one who came in contact with him,—and declared he would give his life to save the father for the boy. Thrice he repeated, ‘I will give my life—I will give my life—I will give my life,’ walking as he spoke several times around the bed. At length, utterly despairing of the case, he left. The next morning he sent word that he was ill, and advised that another physician be summoned. Nine days later he died. We then recalled his singular words.
“Meanwhile we did not summon another physician for my father, feeling that the case was hopeless; but to our surprise his condition soon showed marked improvement, and on the third day he asked for food, which gave us much hope. From this time he grew stronger continuously, but very slowly, and at length recovered.
“After the recovery of my father from this illness, ‘Abbas Effendi strongly urged him to declare himself to Subh-i Azal. My father, however, persisted in replying that so long as Subh-i Azal did not effect other harm than he was able to do to him personally, that is, so long as he did not injure the Cause, he would not assert himself against him.
“Subh-i Azal made no further attempts upon the life of the Blessed Perfection, but he began to endeavor to arouse dissensions among the believers, making various false accusations against the Blessed Perfection. At this time, of course, the Babis in general did not know that my father had said that he was the Divine Manifestation, but he was regarded by most of them as their leader, and very much beloved. Subh-i Azal was looked upon as a leader, however, by some of the Babis.
“Thus matters went, becoming worse and worse, until it was plainly evident that the Cause was suffering. Then the Blessed Perfection summoned ‘Abbas Effendi and said to him that the time had come for a public declaration. ‘Not for myself would I do it,’ he said, “but because the welfare of the Cause demands it.’ He then wrote a tablet, longer than any he had before written and of great power,—it has been said that men trembled as they read it, —addressed to the Babis generally, and setting forth his declaration.
“This tablet he directed to be read to every Babi, but first of all to Subh-i Azal. He assigned to one of his followers the duty of taking it to Subh-i Azal, reading it to him, and returning with Subh-i Azal’s reply. When Subh-i Azal had heard the tablet, he did not attempt to refute it; on the contrary he accepted it, and said that it was true. But he went on to maintain that he himself was co-equal with the Blessed Perfection, affirming that he had had a vision on the previous night in which he had received this assurance.
“When this statement of Subh-i Azal was reported to the Blessed Perfection, the latter directed that every Babi should be informed of it at the time when he heard his own tablet read. This was done, and much uncertainty resulted among the believers. They generally applied to the Blessed Perfection for advice, which, however, he declined to give. At length he told them that he would seclude himself from them for four months, and that during this time they must decide the question for themselves.
“This he did. None of the believers other than his own family had access to him, or communication with him, for four months. At the end of that period all the Babis in Adrianople, with the exception of Subh-i Azal and five or six others, came to the Blessed Perfection and declared that they accepted him as the Divine Manifestation, whose coming the Bab had foretold. The Babis of Persia, Syria, Egypt, and other countries, also, in due time accepted the Blessed Perfection with substantial unanimity.
(The Master in Akka by Myron H. Phelps)
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