Tribute to the Báb

Today is a Holy Day (2001), when Bahá'ís the world over celebrate the anniversary of Declaration of the Báb in 1844. Our ears are still ringing with the celestial compositions premiered yesterday at the inaugural ceremony of the Terrace Gardens on Mount Carmel, and our hearts are still aglow with the 2000 lights that illumined the Shrine of the Bab, in retribution for so many years of undeserved banishment and imprisonment, where He had not even a candle at night!

That youthful Renovator of al humanity was subjected to a life-time of cruel persecution and indignities, until finally the Bab was publicly executed by 750 rifles before a multitude. The first volley only cut the ropes by which He was suspended, but the norm to pardon the life of a condemned man when the first attempt at execution fails was ignored. And second regiment of 750 was brought in to deal the final blow.

To heap insult upon injury, the Báb's mangled body was ignominiously dumped by a moat outside the city, in the belief that His influence would end there. But those sacred remains were spirited away by night, and then protected from further persecution by being moved from place to place for decades, until they finally came to rest in that magnificent Shrine on God's Holy Mountain, which has now been befittingly adorned with the "Path of the Kings" stretching almost one kilometer from top to bottom.

The auspicious inaugural ceremony, attended by 3000 persons, including dignitaries and Bahá'ís from every corner of the globe, was a noble attempt to offer a befitting vindication of the true station of the Báb, which I will reproduce here in His own words, translated eloquently from the original Persian and Arabic into King James English:

"I am, I am, I am the promised One! I am the One whose name you have for a thousand years invoked, at whose mention you have risen, whose advent you have longed to witness, and the hour of whose Revelation you have prayed God to hasten. Verily I say, it is incumbent upon the peoples of both the East and the West to obey My word and to pledge allegiance to My person."

"I am one of the sustaining pillars of the Primal Word of God. Whosoever hath recognized Me, hath known all that is true and right, and hath attained all that is good and seemly... I am the Primal Point from which have been generated all created things. I am the Countenance of God Whose splendor can never be obscured, the Light of God Whose radiance can never fade. Whoso recognizeth Me, assurance and all good are in store for him... Were I to remove the veil, all would recognize Me as their Best Beloved, and no one would deny Me..."

"Verily I am the 'Gate of God' and I give you to drink, by the leave of God, the sovereign Truth, of the crystal-pure waters of His Revelation which are gushing out from the incorruptible Fountain situated upon the Holy Mount. And those who earnestly strive after the One True God, let them then strive to attain this Gate... Verily I am the One Who is hailed in the Mother Book as the 'Great Announcement'.... I am the Mystic Fane which the Hand of Omnipotence hath reared. I am the Lamp which the Finger of God hath lit within its niche and caused to shine with deathless splendour. I am the Flame of that supernal Light that floweth upon Sinai in the gladsome Spot, and lay concealed in the midst of the Burning Bush."

The Báb states that His station is the same as that of all the Messengers or Manifestations of God that have come to humankind: "Verily, the sun is but a token from My presence so that the true believers among My servants may discern in its rising the dawning of every Dispensation [the Day of a given Manifestation of God]."

"In the time of the First Manifestation the Primal Will appeared in Adam; in the day of Noah It became known in Noah; in the day of Abraham in Him; and so in the day of Moses; the day of Jesus; the day of Muhammad, the Apostle of God; the day of the 'Point of the Bayan' [the Bab]; the day of Him Whom God shall make manifest [Baha'u'llah]; and the day of the One Who will appear after Him Whom God shall make manifest. Hence the inner meaning of the words uttered by the Apostle of God, 'I am all the Prophets', inasmuch as what shineth resplendent in each one of Them hath been and will ever remain the one and the same sun."

Now, before you ask how the Báb could equate Himself to Jesus, take a look at the fascinating parallels between their lives, and ask yourselves whether the reasons for believing in one of them might not be the same reasons for believing in the other:

- Both were young (in their early twenties) when they declared their missions as Messengers of God. The length of their ministries was very short and came to a climax with dramatic swiftness.
- Both inflamed, inspired and transformed the people with their Teachings, on which basis a new World Religion was established.
- Both were well-known for their humility and loving kindness. The purity of their lives was enough to awaken the sense of shame in those they taught.
- Both performed miraculous healings.
- Both bravely challenged the traditional conventions, laws and rituals of the religions into which they were born, and openly condemned the unrestrained ambition and corruption they saw around them, both religious and secular.
- Their main enemies were among the religious leaders of their own lands, who were the instigators of the attacks they suffered, and both were made victims to indignities.
- Both were carried by force before the governmental authorities and subjected to public interrogation, and both were flogged after the interrogations.
- Both replied with the same words to the question "Are you the promised One?"
- Both walked, first in triumph and then with suffering, through the streets of the cities where they would later be executed, and both had to parade publicly, under great humiliation, down the road that led to their place of martyrdom.
- Both spoke words of hope and promises to one that would die with them. Actually, almost the same words: "You will be with Me in Paradise."
- Both were publicly martyred before the hostile gaze of a multitude of onlookers, both being ignominiously suspended before the gaze of a multitudinous enemy.
- Darkness covered the region after their martyrdom, beginning in both cases at midday.
- Their bodies were lacerated by the soldiers at the time of their sacrifice, but ended up, finally, in the hands of their loving followers.
- When their bodies, in both cases, disappeared from the places where they were placed, the religious leaders tried to explain away the fact.
- Only a handful of their followers were with them at the time of their death, and in each case, one of their main disciples denied knowing them. That same disciple, in both cases, later became a hero.
- Confusion, surprise and despair came upon their disciples, in both cases, after their deaths, and each of them had an outstanding woman follower who played a dramatic role in getting the disciples to stop looking only to the past and turn their faces to the future.
- Each of them spoke to their disciples, charging them to carry their Messages to the ends of the Earth. Through them (the Peters and Pauls of each age), their Faiths were carried to every corner of the world.

But besides having the station of an independent Revealer of God's Word in His Day, the Báb was also the Precursor of Bahá'u'lláh. Just as John the Baptist said of Jesus, "He who cometh after me is much greater than I, whose sandals I have no right to bear", the Báb said of Bahá'u'lláh: "...all that hath been exalted in the Bayán [the Báb's Holy Book] is but a ring upon My hand, and I Myself am, verily but a ring upon the hand of Him Whom God shall make manifest [Bahá'u'lláh] - glorified be His mention!"

So, this is how I have spent a good chunk of my Holy Day ... sharing a bit of what is dearest to me with some of the people who are dearest to me.... We just finished watching, at last, the video of the Wednesday morning inaugural event where our dear Akin read with such dignity those inspiring, electrifying, galvanizing words that the Báb spoke to his 18 apostles before sending them out into the world to carry God's renewed Word to a thirsting Humanity.

We felt as one with the multi-colored river of thousands of souls representing the diverse races and peoples of every corner of the globe, mingling into a single symphony of joy, ascending with such devotion that "Jacob's Ladder" up God's Holy Mountain, and circling reverently around the Primal Point.

Now it is time once again to gird up the loins of endeavor in order to carry forward that daunting task, inherited from our spiritual forebears, the Breakers of the Dawn. Exciting things are happening in the world, and it is an undeserved blessing to be a part of it all!