BOOKS.
THE EPISODE OF THE BAB.*
A LEARNED Oriental once remarked to M. Renan that-no European can write intelligently of the origins of ancient religions, because Europeans, unlike Orientals, have not opportunities of observing the rise of modern religions. Mr. Browne, Lecturer in Persian at the University of Cambridge, has to some extent got rid of this European disability. He has studied a modern religion, Babfu3m, not only in the writings of its founder, but in the land of its birth, mingling • (1.) A 'raveller's Narrative written to Illustrate the Episode of the Bdb. Edited in the original Persian, and translated into English, with an Introduction and Notes, by Edward G. Browne, M.A. M.B.. Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge, and Lecturer in Persian to the University of Cambridge. 2 vols. Cambridge : At the University Press. 1591.—(2) The Belie of Persia. By Edward G. Browne, M.A., M.B.AJ3. Journal of the Asiatic Society, Vol. XXI. with its disciples, and interviewing its chief representatives.. All that a foreigner could do, he has done, to understand the spirit and to fathom the secrets of a modern Oriental faith. His articles in the Journal of the Asiatic Society, and the more recent volumes on the Episode of the Bib, contain an ani- mated description of his pilgrimages to the East in the cause of comparative religion. The encouragement which Mr. Browne received from the University authorities, and the publication of his volumes at the University Press, are welcome proofs that the scientific importance of modern faiths is now recognised at ancient seats of learning. The story which Mr. Browne has to tell, reads, in some of its aspects, like a chapter of ancient history; but looked at more narrowly, it discloses modern features under a venerable traditional garb. The Bib, or" Gate of Divine Knowledge," the "Morning of Eternity," and "He whom God shall Manifest," are, not- withstanding their venerable names, eager social reformers, possessed with the modern spirit, and anxious above all things to burst the trammels of a stationary civilisation.
Seyed Mohammed Ali, commonly known as the Bib, was a, young merchant of Shiraz, born about 1824. At the age of twenty-five, some say earlier. he began to declare his rank of Bab-hood. By this he meant that he was the gate or channel of grace to some great person still behind the veil of glory. As he had received little education, his ignorance was made matter of reproach to him by his orthodox opponents ; while his followers declared that it was a manifest proof of his divine mission, that one untrained in the schools could write verses after the manner of the Koran. The Bib, however, was. not entirely isolated from predecessors. Mr. Browne mentions that he attended the lectures of the successor of a famous but suspected teacher who taught that all modern knowledge is contained in the Koran, and that to understand the Koran, one must acquaint oneself with modern sciences. The Koran, by the application of the allegorical method, was made to yield up treasures of modern knowledge to this Persian Origen. The introduction of modern ideas under the pro- tection of the ancient and venerable forms, was the method pursued by the Bib; and it is probable he derived it from this teacher. The Bab gained a multitude of disciples, learned and unlearned. The fascination of his personality, and his unwavering confidence in the future triumph of his religion, exercised a magnetic attraction. Learned doctors abandoned their books to preach the faith of this illiterate youth, and among the company of those who published it was a beautiful woman—an almost unheard-of incident in the East—who paid for her devotion to the Bitb with her life. The doctrines of the new faith appealed most strongly to those, and they are- numerous in Persia, who were filled with longings for freedom. from iron dogma, and for a more humane social order. At first, there was little divergence from the precepts and doctrines of Islam ; but by degrees the shackles of Islam were broken, and the Bb taught a dreamy humanitarian liberalism which delighted his disciples and shocked the orthodox teachers. Thetriumph of his religion, so he taught, would introduce the brotherhood of mankind. Wars would cease, and all men would devote themselves to useful arts. Useless pursuits would be laid aside ; among these he reckoned logic, juris- prudence, and the study of dead languages. Greater freedom for women, kindness to children, and liberal provision for the poor, would mark the new age. The Bib directed the thoughts and hopes of his disciples to this world, not to an unseen future world. The Mahommedan concep- tions of the Questioning of the Tomb, the Resurrection, the Bridge of Sirat, and Hell and Heaven, were interpreted allegorically. The first is the summons to the spiritually dead to believe in the next Manifestation. The second is his appearing. The Bridge, which is "finer than a hair and sharper than a sword to unbelievers, but to believers more spacious than Paradise," is belief in the Prophet of the age, which is difficult to the self-willed and obstinate. The fire of Hell is ignorance and negation; Paradise, the joy of believing in the Manifestation of God. With respect to his- own mission, the Bab remained faithful to that idea of pro- gress which runs through his entire teaching. He regardel himself as one of the Manifestations of the primal intelligence, among whom he reckoned Moses, Jesus, Mahommed, and others. But no previous Manifestation had been final ; it had been the fault of men that they had attributed finality to them, although they all contained a promise of the next Manifestation. From
their failure to perceive that, the Jews rejected Jesus, and the Christians Mahomnaed. The Bib, therefore, warned his disciples against attributing finality to his own Manifestation.
He was the forerunner of "Him whom God shall Manifest." His disciples were exhorted to live in expectation of the Coming
-One, and a vacant seat was left for him in every assembly, so ,that if he came suddenly they should be prepared for him.
. The teaching of the Bab excited the opposition of the Mollahs, or regular clergy, who stirred up the authorities against him. After suffering imprisonment, he was put to death at Tabriz in 1850. While he was in captivity, his followers, contrary to his principles and wishes, rose in armed revolt, and after the suppression of the revolt, they were so cruelly persecuted that the head-quarters of the sect had to be removed from Persia to Baghdad. Persecution, however, only increased the popularity of the sectaries. After the lapse . of ten years, the Turkish Government sent the chief Bahia to Constantinople, and afterwards to Adrianople. In the year 1867, they suffered the usual fate of a sect. They were rent by a schism. Since the death of the Bib, the acknowledged chief had been Mirza Yahya. Beside him, however, was another and more gifted leader, named Beha, who now usurped the chief place, claiming to be" He whom God shall Manifest," foretold by the Bib. The claim was acknowledged by most, but a few remained faithful to Mirza. In consequence of the dissen- sions which broke out, the Government sent Mirza to Cyprus and Beha to Acre. Since that time, Bekaa has lived in profound retirement, governing and guiding his numerous followers by letters which are despatched to all parts of Persia by secret messengers. In the spring of the year 1890, Mr. Browne visited the two BMA leaders. He found Mirza Yabya at Famagusta. "The Morning of Eternity" was kind, and com- municative about the Mb and the early history of the sect, but reticent regarding the schism. After a difficult and exciting chase, Mr. Browne discovered Beha at Acre, and had an interview with him. We give the account of it in his own words :—
"The face of him on whom I gazed I can never forget, though I cannot describe it. Those piercing eyes seemed to read one's very soul ; power and authority sat on that ample brow ; while the deep lines on the forehead and face implied an age which the jet-black hair and beard flowing down in indistinguishable luxuriance almost to the waist seemed to belie. No need to ask in whose presence I stood, as I bowed myself before one who is the object of a devotion and love which Kings might envy and Emperors sigh for in vain. A mild, dignified voice bade me be seated, and then continued : • Praise be to God that thou hast attained Thou haat come to see a prisoner and an exile. We desire but the good of the world and the happiness of the nations ; yet they deem us a stirrer-up of strife and sedition. That all nations should become one in faith and all men brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men should be strengthened; that diversity of religion should cease, and differences of race be annulled—what harm is there in this Yet so it shall be ; these fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the "Most Great Peace" shall conic. Do not you in Europe need this also? Is not this that which Christ foretold?
Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his country; let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind."
Notwithstanding his striking appearance and his large language, Beha appears to us a much less attractive personage than the simple, enthusiastic Bib. He is an astute ecclesiastical leader, who weighs his words and snits them to his hearers. He is in the habit of addressing allocutions to high persons in Europe, as well as to his own followers. A letter to the Pope, translated by Mr. Browne, is quite Papal in its calcu- lated accent of infallibility :—
" 0 Pope !" he writes, "rend asunder the veils ! the breath of God is diffused throughout the world because the Desired One hath come. Lo! every stone and clod crieth, the Promised One hath appeared. Arise in the name of thy Lord the Merciful amidst the assembly of beings, and take the cup of Life ; drink therefrom or not; then give to drink to those who advance of the 'people of different religions. Remember when the Christ came; he who was most learned of the doctors of the age gave sentence against him in his city, while those who caught fish believed in Him."
Another letter is addressed to the "Queen in London," who is commended for having forbidden the selling of slaves, and for having entrusted the reins of deliberation into the hands of the Commonwealth.
It is an error to charge the Bib, or even Beha, with impos- ture; such charges are made in ignorance of the conditions of Eastern life. The Western reformer, when possessed by earnest convictions, delivers them as his own sentiments on the platform or in the Press. The Eastern reformer announces
his reforn lag programme as a new revelation ; nor does he himself doubt that the thoughts and longings which press upon his spirit with imperious force, come to him from above. The long education of centuries has prepared the Oriental to look for wisdom through revelation alone. He may, it is true, like the political enthusiast of the West, make use of craft, or even of imposture, to compass some of his pur- poses; but he is usually possessed by a genuine faith in the revelation of which he professes to be the prophet. Mr. Browne, with the partiality of a specialist, suggests that Blibiism may yet become one of the great religions of the world. It seems to us an essentially transitional and transitory phase of belief,—a variety of Sufism with a strong practical bias. The accusations made against the Bilbis of immoral conduct are rightly rejected by Mr. Browne. Although no ascetics, they are a virtuous people, with pro- bably fewer exceptions than their neighbours ; and the charges made against them are those to which every new and proselytising sect is exposed.
The Traveller's Narrative which Mr. Browne has edited and translated, is anonymous. No Persian, as Mr. Browne re- marks, could with ordinary prudence acknowledge a work written in defence of a faith whereof the name is scarce mentioned in Persia without fear and trembling. It will be found good reading; at times it is amusing ; for its high- flown liberalism, clothed in the grand language of the East, produces not anfrequently a comical effect. The notes of the learned editor give all the help needed for the understanding of the text.
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