Quddús The First in Rank
BORIS HANDAL
Copyright©BorisHandal2024
Published: FirsteditionSeptember2024
Quddús: TheFirstinRank
ISBN:978-0-6458963-2-9(print)
Quddús: TheFirstinRank
ISBN: 978-0-6458963-3-6(e-book)
Quddús: TheFirstinRank
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Preface
ThestoryofQuddúsringsasfreshasthefirsttimeIheardofitforty-fiveyears agoatayouthdeepeningseminar,atwhichapresentertalkedaboutthatyoung man ’ sheroismandsanctity.
The “immortal Quddús”1 represents a stellar example of sacrifice and detachmentfortheBahá’í́youthasexemplifiedbytheoutstandingnatureofhis services His exploits are profound narratives to transform the individual and societybecausetheserepresentthetriumphofthehumanspiritoveradversity, opposition and prejudice. The following accounts are the celebration of the triumphofthehumanspiritoverbarbarismandbigotry. Innootherpersonage oftheBábí́FaithcouldwefindabetterreflectionoftheBáb’srefulgentlights. The best veneration of Quddús’ sacred memory therefore can be translated today throughcontinuingthespiritualedificehebegantobuildandforwhichhedied sogloriously.
Thestellarcareerofserviceanddevotion,lastingonlyfiveyears,wasenough todemonstratehispositionasthemostoutstandingdiscipleinthereligionofthe Báb. Inaletterwrittenonhisbehalf,ShoghiEffendiaffirmed:
Regarding the station of Quddús, he should by no means be considered havinghadthestationofaProphet…. Quddúsreflectedmorethananyof thedisciplesoftheBábthelightofHisteaching.2
Quddús, meaning Holy, became the First in Rank not only because of the extraordinarydesignationsgiventohimbytheBábandBahá’u’lláhbutalsofor whathemadeofhimselfbybeingworthyoftheseveryexaltedtitles. Thisbook isthereforeatestamentofhisinspiringlifeandservicetotheCauseofGodwhich isindeedastoryofpersonaltransformation
The central protagonist of this book is the youthful, saintly and courageous Quddús. AlongwithhimstandsthebraveandstaunchMulláHusaynashissworn companion coming in and out of the narrative in the most fascinating circumstances appearing like a mythological duo. These two extraordinary characters gravitate like celestial satellites around the majestic figures of the TwinManifestationsofGod,Bahá’u’lláhandtheBáb
Storiessuchastheseabout Quddúsaretobetreasured bythebelievers. As per ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s exhortation that Bahá’í́s “should recount the high deeds and sacrifices of the lovers of God in Persia, and tell of the martyrs’ detachment from the world, and their ecstasy, and of how the believers there stood by one another and gave up everything they had. ”3
1 ShoghiEffendi, Citadel of Faith,p.66.
2 LetterwrittenonbehalfofShoghiEffenditoanindividualbelieverdated11November 1936.InTheUniversalHouseofJustice,“LettersofLiving….”
3 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Compilation of Compilations, vol.1,p.428.
xvii
The book has been divided into five parts portraying Quddús as a seeker, promoter, leader, hero, saint as well as an erudite man, in brief, a man of many coloursTheinitialthreepartsrelatestothelifeofQuddús,signalisingdistinctive stagesofhisjourneyasa seeker Thefirstreferstothepreparatoryyearsofhis trajectory, culminating with his conversion to the Cause of the Báb and participation in the initial persecutions. If the first part concerns learning, the nextreferstoteachingtheBábí́FaiththroughoutIranwithzealandpassionwhile networkingthedispersedcommunityasmuchaspossible. HereweseeQuddús arising distinctively as the promoter of the Faith. The third part brings out a Quddús as a leader guiding the believers in various events. In turn, the fourth depictshimasa hero defendingtheintegrityoftheBábí́communityandshining forth uniquely in the tragic episode of Shaykh Tabarsí́. The fifth and sixth componentsofthebookfocusonhisstationasa martyr andasa saint,aswellas onhiswritingsandhisshrineinBábul.Thisshrinecanbeconsideredthemost sacred sepulchre in Iran for the Bahá’í́s. Chapters 21 and 28 establish Quddús’ positionasa celebrated erudite man,focusingonhis writings. Thebook closes withreflectionsonQuddús’legacy.
ThisbiographicalstudyonQuddúshasbeenenrichedfromvarioussourcesin Persian, Arabic, French and German, many of which are not yet translated into English. This biography about Quddús includes new translations from the WritingsoftheBábandBahá’u’lláhpayinghomagetohisexaltedrank,whichare locatedintheAppendix Thereisalsonewandexclusiveinformationaboutthe historyofQuddús’shrine. AshorttributeaboutMullá Husaynhasbeenaddedin AppendixIII.
How to read this book
This book has thirty-one self-contained chapters each involving a central conceptlikemodules Assuch, readersmaygothroughthebookcontentlinearly or in any order. Therefore, each chapter can be read individually and used for story-tellingpurposes. Iftherearerepetitions,theyareintendedtoensureeach chapterstandsaloneandtokeepthereaderawareofcrucialdetails.
Secondly, although history books are to be read chronologically, this biographypermitsany readingentry point. Readersmightlikefocusonanyof theseninedimensionsextractedfromQuddús’lifeinanyorder:
Mázindarán Province, Iran
Chapter content
MázindaránProvince,Iran
Bárfurúsh,thebirthplaceofQuddús
GrowingupinBárfurúsh
Afarmingfamily
Earlyeducation
Theruralsoul
FromthesandyCaspianSea beachesintothecountry, thegreenprovinceof Mázindarán, unfolds through dense forests to the imposing Alborz Mountain range. This luxuriant and bountiful region is the birthplace of Quddús, the protagonistofthisbook.
Situated between Asia and Europe, the magnificent Caspian Sea bestows generous showers of rain upon the coastlines of the old Russian and Persian empiresoneachsideofit
BeyondMázindarán,ontheothersideofthemajesticAlborzMountainrange, severalimportantcitiesemerge,includingthecapitalcityofTihrán. Andlikean immensecarpetofsand,theKabirdesert theGreatDesert withitsscattered saltflatsandoccasionallakes,shapesthemiddleofthevastIranianplateau.
Mázindarán is abundantly crossed by streams and colonised by extensive woodlands,creatinganexoticandlushenvironment,whichIraniansrefertoasa “jungle”. Onthesemerits,theBábcalleditHis“GreenIsland”1a termthatderived from ancient Islamic prophecies regarding the Last Days.2 Full of flowers and trees, and a unique fauna, Mázindarán Province provides travellers with an exuberantlybeautifulandcolourfullandscapewithwhichtorefreshtheirspirits. MázindaráninoldPersianmeans“thegateorthevalleyofthegiants”.3
Throughout Mázindarán’s diverse and rich topography, a number of cities, townsandvillageswerethescenariosofthegloriousfirstyearsoftheHeroicAge of the Bahá’í́ Faith. Within its borders is located the village Núr (“Light”), the ancestralhomeofBahá’u’lláh TheArabicword“Bahá’u’lláh”meansthe“Gloryof God”,butitcanalsobetranslatedasthe“LightofGod”. The Qur’án prophesises:
1 Nabí́l-i-A‘zam, The Dawn-Breakers,p.325.
2 AbbasAmanat, Resurrection and Renewal,p.187.
3 EhsanYarshater, Iranian National History, p.445.
“It is light upon Light ...”1 Bahá’u’lláhoncesaid, “My name is Bahá’u’lláh (Light of God), and My country is Núr (Light) Be ye apprized of it” 2
The Count of Gobineau wrote about the simple-mindedness nature of the locals:
Theyarethoughtlittleinclinedtoreligiousspeculation. Goodmarksmen, they do not like war, and if the circumstances in any way permit they dedicate themselves exclusively to agricultural tasks, which they love above all. The mainconcernsof theirlife are their enormous rice fields, their fruittrees,which bringthem considerableprofits from exportation toRussia,andwood-cutting. Thereisnothingchivalrousaboutthem,and they are so little concerned with the notion of honour that when the Turkmen tribes see fit to invade from the Northeast of their country to carry off prisoners, they generally offer no resistance, flee, hide or give themselvesup,butdonotdefendthemselves.3
Many mystics and sages found in this region an appropriate place to pray, meditateandthink. Severallegendsemergedaboutthisprovince. Forinstance, it has been said that there would grow a sacred tree whose branches were to reachheavenandthatthefruitofthattreewouldbenefitallhumanity.4 Perhaps thelegendwasreferringtotheappearanceofBahá’u’lláh,whofrequentlyvisited thehomeofHisancestors. TherearestillpeoplewhogotoMázindaránlooking forthistree.
Bárfurúsh, the birthplace of Quddús
Quddús, the protagonist of our story, was born on the family property in a smallvillagetothenorthofBárfurúsh(nowthecityofBabol)duringthereignof Fath-‘Alí́ Sháh Qájár (1772–1834) 5 Bárfurúsh literally means “the place where loadsaresold”,“placeforselling”or“markettown”. Quddús’birthplacehasnow beenencompassedbytheoldsuburb,ChahárShanbihPí́shofBabolonthebanks of the Aqá-rúd river.6 The name Chahár Shanbih Pí́sh (“Last Wednesday”) was originallyusedtorepresentafarmers’marketthatwasheldeveryWednesday. Malgonov, a Russian traveller there, mentioned the existence of this market of 1860inhischronicles.7
1 Qur’án 24:35.
2 Bahá’u’lláhinShoghiEffendi, God Passes By,p.190 SeeQur’án24:35
3 GobineauinNashandO’Donoghue, Comte de Gobineau and Orientalism, pp.151-152.
4 FazelMazandarani, The Life of Bahá’u’lláh,p.291.
5 Fath-‘Alí́ Sháh Qájár (1772–1834), the second Qájár monarch, whose notable achievementishavingaharemof160wives. Hisreignsawtheirrevocablecedingof Persia’s northern territories in the Caucasus (present day Georgia, Dagestan, AzerbaijanandArmenia)totheRussianEmpirefollowingtheRusso-PersianWarsof 1804–1813and1826–1828.
6 Thereisashrineofthesamename(36.553683,52.685930)inthevillageofAq-Rúd.
7 MortezaNouraeiandElenaAndreeva, Russian Migrants and Their Settlements in Iran
BabolisthesecondlargestcityoftheprovinceofMázandarán. Itisknownas the“OrangeBlossomCity”duetoitsfamousorangeorchards. Itis20kmsouth ofthesouthern CaspianSea coast The word Babol means “city with abundant water supply” because it is located on a very wet and flat section of the Babol Riverbasin. Aplaceofabundantrain,1 Bárfurúshwasanimportantcommercial centreconnectedtooneofthemajorharboursatthetime(nowBabolsar)onthe southern shores of the Caspian Sea, withgoods being traded between Iran and RussianportsontheCaspianSea.2 ItspopulationwaspredominantlyMuslim,as was the rest of the country. There were some Armenian Christians and Jews livinginBárfurúsh,thelatterhavingtwosynagogues. TheMuslimswerehostile towardstheJewishpopulation.3
Themainagriculturalproductsoftheplainswerericeandcotton. Itisnotable that the peasants of Mázandarán usually owned the land they cultivated, and thereforetheywerebetteroffthantheircounterpartsintherestofthecountry.4 RussianshipswerethemaincarriersofgoodstoIranthattheyusedtopurchase precious metals,bolstering local businesses, and propelling Bárfurúshaheadof the rest of the region, at least economically. According to the eminent Iranian historian Abbas Amanat, there were about four hundred shops and four caravanserais (inns) in Bárfurúsh.5 Apart from farming, the second main occupationwasfishingasthetownwasclosetothesea. Thepreferredcatchwas sturgeon,whoseeggsarethefamouscaviar theblackoil whichwassoldasa delicacyinsideandoutsideofIran. Apartfromfarmersandfishermen,therewere tradersandmerchants. Ingeneral,theeconomywasbasedonbasicsubsistence farming.
By the early 1840’s, Russia was the most potent of Persia’s military foes controlling most of the Caspian Sea coastline with its strong navy. They introduced steam ship navigation and effectively displaced Persian sailing vessels. “Hardly20 shipssailontheCaspianSeaunder thePersianflag”,Godel wrotein1849,“andthesearecommandedbyforeign[mostlyRussian]captains”.6 Russia was the only Christian country adjacent to Iran, against whom they had recentlyfinishedabloodywarwithsignificantterritoriallossesincurredbyIran.
There were many clergymen based at the mosques (masjids) living in Bárfurúsh. Their fame for corrupting and commercializing religious practices in the Early 20th Century: A New Stage of Colonization,p.24.
1 Averagerainfallislessthan700mm,butthisishighcomparedwiththearidclimate ofIransouthoftheAlburzmountains.ThecoastalplainofMazandaranProvinceis hotandhumid,veryflat,lowlying(elevationsarelessthan2m),andthegroundis oftenwaterlogged.
2 AbbasAmanat, Resurrection and Renewal,p.181.
3 DanielTsadik, Between Foreigners and Shi‘is,pp.61–62.
4 MohammadAliKazembeyki, Society, Politics and Economics in Mazandaran,p.131.
5 AbbasAmanat, Resurrection and Renewal,p.183.
6 RudolfGodel, Ueber den pontischen Handelsweg, p.68.
wasnotorious. Madrasahs(religiousschoolsorseminaries),whichmostlytaught Quranic related subjects, were located in most neighbourhoods. By 1843, there were6,000families,25mosquesand500shops.1
The daily life of a Bárfurúsh boy can be reconstructed from these elements. Depending on varying socio-economic backgrounds, the children from poor families wouldbehelpingtheirparentsintheirtrades orfarmsthroughoutthe day Those from more affluent households would have private tutors at home where mostly literacy, numeracy and Islamic instruction were provided. Boys from the lower socio-economic spectrum would probably obtain some basic reading instruction at the local masjids, mainly focused on reading the Qur’án. Only the brightest boys would break out of the prevailing cycle of poverty and illiteracy. Anyboywhowasabletocompletehistheologicalstudiesatthelocal levelwouldbeconsecratedasamullá2 servingasapreacher,andamarriageor funeralcelebrant,amongotherparochialduties. Fromthatordainedgroup,some wouldmanagetoundertakemoreadvancedstudiesatmoreprestigiouscentres suchasinthecitiesofMashhadinPersiaorKarbilá inIraq. Theseplaceswere associated with Islamic pilgrimage to the family of the Prophet Muhammad. Quddúswasoneoftheluckyyouthswhofollowedthispath.
Youthswhodidnotfollowtheclericalpathremainedintownsasapprentices of various mainstream trades such as butchers, candy makers, book repairers, carpenters,cooks,bakers,builders,quacks,blacksmiths,carpetweavers,potters, tailors,etc. Thosefrommoreaffluent families becamemerchantswhowerean influential social class inIranianpolitics andgovernance. Ingeneral,thesocial status a person was born into a peasant or an aristocrat, for example determinedthatperson’slifeandhisfuture.
Ruralyoungstersweremorelikelytoworkonfarmswithfewconnectionsto citylifeandtobeatthebottomofaserfdom-styleeconomy. Itisnotsurprising therefore that the illiteracy rate was about 90%,3 and even higher for girls for whomeducationwasforbidden. Suchadepressingpatternwasalmostthesame across 19th century Persia the product of centuries of obscurantism perpetuatingintergenerationalprejudice,corruptionandignorance Itisagainst this backdrop of religious divisions and immorality, burgeoning trade, and Russiandominance inBárfurúsh,situated between sea andforest, thatQuddús grewup. Thisistheexplanationgivenby‘Abdu’l-Baháregardingthestatusofthe country:
In Persia previous to the middle of the nineteenth century, among the various tribes and peoples, sects and denominations there existed the greatest animosity, strife and hatred. At that time too all the other nations of the East were in the same condition. Religionists were hostile and bigoted, sects were
1 MohammadAliKazembeyki, Society, Politics and Economics in Mazandaran, p.120.
2 Mullá meansareligioustutor,someonewhoknows,normallyalow-levelMuslim localpriest.
3 WillemFloor, The Economic Role of the Ulama in Qajar Persia, p.54.
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