A Babi Pamphlet
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1.
Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters.
Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: W. A. Rice, A Babi
Pamphlet, bahai-library.com.
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https://archive.org/details/1902TheChurchMissionaryIntelligencer

The Church Missionary Intelligencer
A Monthly Journal of Missionary Information

Vol. LIII.
Vol. XXVII. New Series

A BABI PAMPHLET.

W.A. Rice

“From hence they proceed to a higher point, which is persuading of men
credulous and overcapable of such
pleasing errors, that it is the special illumination of the Holy Ghost,
whereby they discern those things in the word,
which others reading yet discern them not.
“Most sure it is, that when men’s affections do frame their opinion, they
are in defence of error more earnest a
great deal, than (for the most part) sound believers in the maintenance of
truth apprehended according to the nature
of that evidence which Scripture yieldeth. … It is not therefore the fervent
earnestness of their persuasion, but the
soundness of those reasons whereupon the same is built, which must declare
their opinions in these things to have
been wrought by the Holy Ghost, and not by the fraud of that evil spirit,
which is even in his illusions strong.”
— Hooker, Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, Preface, chap. iii.

I.

THE Babi Pamphlet, of which an account is given below, is a little manuscript
book of 118 small pages, written in
the beautiful Persian character, but, like most native books, with very few
stops or spaces to show where paragraphs
and sentences begin and end. It came into my possession in the following way.
A Persian friend, a Babi, used often
to come and see me, and we occasionally discussed points of Babi doctrine. The
pamphlet was shown to me by him,
because it contained a passage bearing upon a question we had been
considering. He suggested that a copy should be
made for me in town, the price of which was five kraus (about 2s.); and the
manuscript when finished was corrected
by the author himself, who is a leading exponent of Babi teaching here.
The little book was written in the first instance for a European friend of the
author’s, as a duty of friendship, in
order to acquaint him, and through him other Christians, with the weighty
matters therein

mentioned, relating to the latest divine manifestation, viz. Behaullah, who is
declared to be Jesus returned again, and
in one remarkable passage “the everlasting father” himself. It was
originally composed before Behaullah’s death in
1892.
We here see a deliberate attempt made to convert Christians to Babiism by
means of arguments derived from
their own Bible, many passages of which are quoted, chiefly from the Prophets
and Gospels; and we are able to
study the manner in which a Babi champion sets about his task. We who have to
acknowledge and experience the
difficulty of successfully approaching the subtle, mystic Oriental mind,
cannot help noting with satisfaction his
ineffective handling of weapons borrowed from the Christian armoury.
Few probably go so far as a well-known Indian missionary, who reads all the
unorthodox books he can lay his
hand upon, in order to keep himself sound in the faith. The reading of such a
pamphlet as this, though in places it
may provoke a smile, challenges the reader to bring forth and test his reasons
for the hope that is in him, and re-
examine the grounds of his acceptance of those articles of his belief which
are here called in question (1 Cor. xi. 19).
It is always interesting, and sometimes amusing or even humiliating, to see
ourselves as others see us. This is a
point well worth a missionary’s consideration, not so much for his own sake,
as for the honour of the message with
which he is entrusted, in order that he may be prepared to satisfy legitimate
curiosity, remove prejudice and
misconception, and give a true and right idea of his motives and spirit. This
is only a part of the study of the native
mind and character, and the best way of dealing with them, so incumbent on
every worker among them — their
religious attitude and environment, their habits of thought and reasoning;
telling arguments and aspects of truth,
points of vantage and agreement; and, in addition to the needs of the human
heart in general, the particular state and
standpoint of the individuals who come to us, often shown by their questions
and gropings after truth. Thus may we
be able to apply the heavenly medicine of God’s Word with greater clearness,
definiteness, and precision.
The little pamphlet before us is specially worthy of notice in this connexion,
in that it shows us the working of a
native mind in an unusual field. Its aim is not to overthrow the foundations
of Christianity, but to approach the
Christian with a missionary purpose, to enlighten his understanding, to rouse
him from the sleep of careless
indifference in which he lies, to wean him from his errors and misconceptions
of Jesus’ life and work and teaching,
and to persuade him to forsake his obsolete creed and embrace the only true
and binding religion in existence in the
world to-day.
The votaries of this new sect of Mohammedanism are to be found everywhere
throughout Persia, and in all
walks of life. They have more in common with the Christian than the ordinary
Mohammedan has. They
acknowledge his Scriptures as genuine. They are taught to treat all men with
brotherly kindness and courtesy; and
they readily mix with Europeans where this can be done without fear of
attracting undue attention. For they still
outwardly conform to Mohammedanism, arguing that the duty of self-preservation
and providing for those

dependent on them is a paramount one, and that there is no obligation to make
an open profession of their faith in
such a land of bigotry and intolerance. In certain places the Babis are said
to number the bulk of the population.
Wherever he may be, the missionary is not likely to be long before coming into
contact with them and becoming
acquainted with some of their special characteristics in the field of
religious discussion — their pertinacity, their
assumption of superior enlightenment, their unproven assertions of vast
numbers of adherents in Europe and
America (the only alleged fact to support such statements being the numbers of
letters said to have been received
from these followers by the leaders of the movement,) their special pleading,
and their method of handling the
Christian Scriptures. This last is very sad. Quotations are made solely to
support preconceived ideas, without
reference to history or context, and without regard to time or place, and with
a real and painful want of appreciation
of the scope of the Bible and of the divine plan of salvation therein
unfolded. The Bible is not regarded as containing
the sum total of revealed truth. It is a convenient field from which to glean
arguments to prove this latter-day
theophany, which has superseded all previous manifestations, and which it is
the duty of all to acknowledge.
The Babi use of the Scriptures is very disappointing. After hearing that, in
their acceptance of them as genuine,
this sect is favourably distinguished from other Mohammedans, it is not
unnatural to hope that they will be prepared
to assign them a position and authority and interpret them in a similar way to
the general practice of the Christian
Church. In place of this, the Babi ignores, denies, or explains away
everything which it does not suit him to believe,
and forces into the words of the sacred book, or rather into his own
interpretation of them, everything he desires to
find there; e.g. the fact of the Resurrection is impugned, and the word is
explained in a different sense; the
Ascension is denied; the miracles are not actual occurrences, but are to be
figuratively explained in a spiritual sense;
the writers of the New Testament are to be regarded as men liable to error in
their apprehension and transmission of
the teaching of Jesus; while the prophets are quoted in the most independent
manner, and forced to give testimony to
the so-called present manifestation, which is only one of a series each suited
to the moral and spiritual condition of
the particular age to which it was vouchsafed. Thus it may truly be said that
Christ is Moses come again, and
Behaullah is Christ. The difficulty of argument with men, often earnest and
eloquent, holding such views, and
making such use of the Bible to uphold them, may be easily imagined.

II.

It is now time to give some account of the pamphlet itself. At the head of it
are placed the numbers 152 and 9,
both of which, according to the abjad notation, are the numerical equivalent
of the word Beha, and the brief
invocation, “In the name of the incomparable Lord.”
The introduction is devoted to the praise of the one Divine Being, Who has
purposed that all men and all
nations should live together in love and harmony, in the enjoyment of the same
law and religion, and has sent the
Holy Spirit to rouse the careless and indifferent — of which

glorious day of unity and harmony the prophets have spoken beforehand. (Joel
ii 28, 29.)
While in Yezd, the author of the pamphlet met a European, with whom he was
greatly charmed, and who
continued to refer to him in his letters even after his return to London.1
After a time the writer of the pamphlet went
to Shiraz, and enjoyed the society of his friends there, gathering an ear from
every harvest-stole of love, and some
treasure from every retreat. Among these was the delightful news that his
European acquaintance of Yezd was in
correspondence with a dear and honoured friend in Shiraz, the very pearl of
integrity and sincerity, and had laid firm
hold of the rope of inquiry and was clinging fast to the skirt of
truth-seeking. To help him in this admirable
endeavour, to acquaint him with the proofs, from reason and Scripture, of this
most holy, latest, and supreme affair,
which has created so great a stir in all quarters of the world, is a very
congenial task to the writer, as well as
incumbent on him as a friend. His desire and aim is, that the followers of the
religion of Jesus may arrive at the
knowledge of this merciful manifestation, viz. His Excellency, Behaullah
(exalted be his name!), and by means of
the new Holy Spirit obtain life, and enter the new kingdom of the Lord of
hosts, and drink of the heavenly water
which giveth life eternal.
Those who would obtain these blessings must first of all purify their ears and
hearts from all that they have
previously heard from their fellows, and all that has come down to them by
tradition from their predecessors, and
use their God-given powers of mind and intelligence to discern truth from
falsehood.
Christ’s rejection by the Jews is full of solemn instruction and warning for
to-day. How came it to pass that the
Jews persecuted and finally crucified their expected Messiah? What was it that
intervened between the Seeker and
the Sought, and drew a veil between the Lover and his Beloved, on the very
morn of His arrival, and of the rising of
the Sun of Beauty from the horizon of glory? — It has ever been thus. The
manifestations of the Deity have always
been repugnant to the understanding and ideas of mankind. The Jews only
imperfectly understood their Scriptures,
and clung tenaciously to preconceived notions, and to this day curse and
revile His Excellency Jesus. God intended
the manifestation of Christ (which is the same as that of Moses in a different
guise) to be a test of the religious
professors of that day: and those who discerned Him were only a few poor and
despised fishermen and tax-
gatherers.
The Christians of the present age have been similarly proved, and most of them
have failed to stand the test.
They are adhering to the letter of Scripture, and looking for a literal
descent of Jesus from the skies above them,
with the sound of the angels’ trump. And all the while He has come again,
and His followers have failed to
recognize Him as His Excellency Behaullah (exalted be his name and his
praise!) who is the manifestation of the
eternal Beauty, the

sublime Luminary, who descended a few years ago from the “heaven” of power
with glory and the sound of the
trumpet; whose message (typified by the angels’ trump) has reached the ears
of all mankind, and multitudes from
different nations and religions have joyfully accepted it and placed his yoke
upon their necks, while professing
Christians have not yet raised their heads from the sleep of indifference.
No one, asserts the writer, will ever descend from the visible heaven. The
Christians, who cherish this
expectation, are committing a precisely similar error to that of the Jews, who
interpreted the lying down of the wolf
with the lamb, &c. (Isa. xi.) as a sign of the Messiah’s coming, in a
literal sense. The signs of Christ’s Second
Coming are figurative. And when Behaullah claims to be Christ returned again,
on the evidence of these signs thus
understood, the Christians are only asked to explain them in the same way as
they interpret the words of Christ in
which He says He is the living Bread which came down from heaven (John vi.).
This leads on naturally to the important question of the recognition of
God’s messengers to man. If, according
to the Gospel narrative, incredible though it seem, Jesus after His
resurrection with the same material body was not

The friend here alluded to is Dr. Browne, author of A Year Among the Persians,
who in that work speaks in high terms of the
Babi leader’s eloquence, and describes him as “one of the most
distinguished poets who have consecrated their talents to the
glory of the New Theophany.”
recognized by one of the Apostles, how are the people of the present age, who
have never seen Him, to recognize
Him when He returns?
“I would possess clear penetrating eyes,
To recognize the King in every guise.” (1)

The manifestations of Truth, though differing outwardly, are in reality one,
and are absolutely identical in spirit and
purport: all are waves of one sea, and lights from one horizon.
“The souls of wolves and dogs do not in harmony accord:
United are the glorious souls of Lions of the Lord.” (2)

These pure essences appear in some appointed city in every age, issuing forth
from the invisible world into the
world of sense, with a law and precepts suitable for the guidance of God’s
servants in that age, and with an
invitation to all men to enter the everlasting kingdom. The manifestation can
only be apprehended with unprejudiced
eyes, on the strength of the proofs shown forth by itself. Men may not demand
their own proofs, nor will miracles be
granted on request. (Cp. Jesus’ refusal, Matt. xii. 38, 39.)
The miracles of Jesus are declared not to have been, as Christians believe,
actual occurrences, but parables of
spiritual truth. This theory is maintained both (a) on general grounds, and
(b) from the words of Christ Himself.
(а) Had the miracles of Jesus, it is said, been visible facts, the Jews could
not have been so incredulous as to ask
for a yet further sign (Matt. xii. 38); no one could have refused to believe
Him, but, on the contrary, large numbers
would have accepted His teaching, especially from among those who had been
benefited by His miracles, and the
fame thereof would have drawn vast numbers from all parts to participate in
them.
(b) Again, had the miracles actually happened, as reported, Jesus would not
have said, “There shall no sign be
given” (Matt. xii. 39). As

for “the sign of the prophet Jonas,” the Jews did not see it, and the
story rests on the authority of Mary Magdalene.
The figurative and parabolic character of the miracles of Jesus is still
further illustrated by His words in such
passages as Matt. viii. 21, 22, and 13-15, where the “dull ears” and
“closed eyes” and “the dead” are clearly to be
understood in a spiritual sense; John vi., in spite of which all the Apostles
died, showing that the life spoken of is
that of the soul, not of the body; and Matt. xvii. 20 (quoted as such, but in
reality an inaccurate quotation and
combination of parts of that verse and John xiv. 12), “Whosoever hath faith
as a mustard-seed, these works that I do,
he can do also,” in virtue of which the Christians are challenged to show a
single miracle of bodily healing, and told
that their failure will show one of two things, either that Christ's miracles
were spiritual, or that there is not one true
follower of Christ among them able to do his Master's works.
Who, then, are the true followers of Christ to-day? Those who, as in
Christ’s own time, are true to their
convictions in spite of opposition and danger. This description obviously
cannot apply to the Christians of this age,
who are wealthy, powerful, and honoured everywhere. Their missionaries,
drawing their salaries and secure from
insult, and claiming to be the host of salvation wherever they go, invite
inquirers to prove their sincerity by abusing
the head of their own religion, and then bestow large stipends upon them:
whereas the sincerity of converts ought
rather to be proved by giving money than by receiving it. The lady
missionaries, attractive in face and dress, try to
draw people to the churches by playing and singing. This is not Apostolic
practice. This is not taking up the cross, or
preaching the strait gate and the narrow way. Let this one text judge and
decide between Christians and Babis!
These Christian missionaries are the very false prophets foretold by Christ as
one of the signs of His second coming
(Matt. xxiv. 24). They were scarcely heard of 300, 200, or even 100 years ago;
but now that this new and glorious
manifestation (Behaullah) has come, which his followers regard as Christ's
return, the rising of the sun of truth is
necessarily accompanied by the appearance of the false teachers foretold by
Christ. We may further see the
fulfilment of 2 Pet. ii. 1-3 in the large sums expended by the State and the
Christian body on the comfortable living
of the preachers and the subsidizing of the converts. We hear Christ’s
terrible denunciation pronounced against them
(Matt. vii. 22). He has descended under the name of “the Lord” from the
heaven of power, and is dwelling at Sion
(!), as foretold by Zechariah (ii. 10), and the Christian preachers and
professors are alike in error and blind to his
presence.
“ ’Twere good to bring, to test the thing, the precious touchstone rare,
And put to shame all in His name who false deceivers are.” (3)
All people cherish the belief that their religion will remain unchanged until
the Resurrection, and resent any
proposed alteration. But the Resurrection (qiyamat) is not what they think,
but “the arising (qiyam) of the promised
manifestation from the invisible world into the sphere of visible
existence.” (See John xi., especially verse 25.)
Christ's second coming (Matt, xxiii. 29; xxv. 13; Mark xiii., especially
verses 31-fin.; Luke xii. 35) is Behaullah's
descent from the “heaven

of grace, clemency and munificence,” and His warnings in the Gospel directed
against carelessness and negligence
are explained away by the Christians conformably with their prejudices as
referring to sudden death or the day of
Resurrection and Judgment (e.g. Luke xvii. 30) — the very words of Scripture
being thus used to hide the truth, as
was done by the Jews also.
“Tis sleep unseasonable keeps thee from thy way,
Else would not seem ill-timed the morning call to pray.” (4)

God’s own test of the truth or falsity of a new manifestation ought to be
applied, instead of asking for signs and
miracles, and making the non-appearance of certain expected signs a reason for
unbelief:
“The sight of prophet’s face appears a miracle in sooth
To him whose heart a relish hath for blessed light of truth.”(5)

This Divine test is found in Deut. xviii. 18, Isa. xliv. 24-26, and Acts v.
(Gamaliel’s counsel), viz. that false
pretenders will be brought to nought, and the word of God’s true messengers
established. No false prophet, declares
the writer, has ever succeeded in establishing a new religion, with a new law
and holy book; otherwise the religion
of Jesus Himself might fall under suspicion.
This test is next elaborately applied in the pamphlet to the Babi religion,
and the conclusion drawn, that a faith
like this, which started with no external aids or advantages, which is
contrary to men’s cherished opinions, invites to
risk of impoverishment and hazard of life, and has been so bitterly opposed
and persecuted, and in spite of all has
achieved such remarkable success, must be from God. The founder of a new
religion must be prepared to suffer
distress and persecution, as was the case with Christ, the First Point (the
Bab), and Behaullah, whose sufferings are
mentioned.
First of all, there were his constant persecutions and imprisonments in
Persia; then twelve years spent in
Baghdad, while his enemies and the ‘ulama were constantly day and night
seeking to kill that “tree of the Paradise of
God”; next his sojourn in Constantinople and six years’ imprisonment in
Adrianople, and finally his deportation to
Akka by the Porte in conjunction with the Powers, in the hope that the
unhealthiness of the place and the absence of
the society of friends would put an end to his life. But, notwithstanding all,
his religion grew and flourished all the
time, for neither can the sun be hidden with mud plaster, nor the religion of
God exterminated by hatred. Honour,
instead of despite, became the portion of Behaullah’s friends at Akka. The
place itself was transformed under the
benign influence of the august stranger. The climate improved, the ruined
places were repaired, and fine gardens and
buildings sprang into existence, while from all parts crowds thronged to see
the manifestation of God residing there.
We now come to the longest section of the pamphlet — the Scriptural proofs
brought forward to attest the
Divine mission of Behaullah, many of which are highly ingenious and curious.
(a) Behaullah’s Sojourn at Akka. — Akka is the “Valley of Achor,” the
“door of hope” of Hos. ii. 15, “the
strong city” of Ps. lx. 9; cviii. 10. Behaullah’s residence there fulfils
Isa. xxv. 6-9, which foretells the spiritual and
temporal bounties he bestowed on those who thronged to see him. The expression
“wines on the lees well refined”
points to

the tea with which his guests were regaled, which is the only beverage
answering this description.2 Of Christ, on the
other hand, nothing of the kind is recorded, and He fulfilled none of the
particulars mentioned in the prophecy. (One
of the most singular features in the application of Scripture in this pamphlet
is the way in which prophecies referring
to Zion or Jerusalem by name are quietly transferred to Behaullah and his
residence at Akka.)

See Smith’s Bible Dictionary, art. “Wine,” “if it [the wine] were
designed to be kept for some time, a certain amount of lees was
added to give it body (Isa. xxv. 6). The wine consequently required to be
‘refined’ or strained previously to being brought to
table (Isa. xxv. 6).”
(b) The Jews and Behaullah. — A few passages (Jer. ii. 26; ix. 16; xxiv. 9,
10), which speak of Judah’s
punishment, are adduced, and their fulfilment seen in the abasement of the
Jews after Christ’s death. Many other
passages are also brought forward which speak of the salvation and glory of
the Jews “in the last days” — the
fulfilment of which has been reserved, as is here alleged, for the present
dispensation of Behaullah, in which the
Jews in all countries enjoy a peace and freedom from oppression and
ill-treatment, and legal protection, unknown
before. Every particular given in these prophecies with reference to this
glorious time has been fulfilled, down to the
giving of the “new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name” (Isa.
lxii. 2), viz. the name of the “desired land”
given by Behaullah to Akka. (It is not shown in what way his mission has
wrought such happy results for the Jews
everywhere.) The “new heart” and the “new spirit” of Ezek. xxxvi.
24-27 are referred to the conversion of Jews to
Babiism.
(c) Other prophecies are mentioned, the fulfilment of which is claimed for
Behaullah instead of Christ. Thus,
Joel iii. 16 (“The Lord shall roar out of Zion,” &c.), cannot, it is said,
have been fulfilled in Christ, Who was always
wandering in retirement in deserts and on mountains, and not able to remain as
much as four days in a single place
because of the enmity of the Jews. Isa. xl. 3, 9, 10 (“Prepare ye the way of
the Lord,” &c.) similarly does not allude
to Christ, for Whom no such thing was done, but to the railway made before
Behaullah’s going to Akka. In
connexion with Ps. cii. 16 (“When the Lord shall build up Zion,” &c.),
mention is made of the large colony of
monks and merchants near Akka,3 who rightly expected the Lord’s return at
that very spot, but, through their gross
carelessness, failed to discern Him in Behaullah, who fulfilled the prophecy
(!) by staying there for a while and
having intercourse with them on his way to Akka. With reference to Isa. ii.
2-4, the jealous ambitions of the
Christian Powers and their ceaseless invention of deadly explosives
effectually prevent us from seeing the fulfilment
of the prophet’s words under the Christian dispensation. But Ps. xlvi. 9

(“He maketh wars to cease,” &c.), has been fulfilled (though it must be
confessed it requires a large amount of
oblivion to perceive it!) by Behaullah, who (in his “Epistles to the
Kings”) forbade war and the greed of conquest
and the use of murderous weapons, and enjoined peace, good-will, and
brotherliness, which, however, it is
judiciously added, must not be expected to come to pass all at once.
Four interesting applications of Scripture are still to be noticed: —
(i.) “The everlasting Father” of Isa. ix. 6 cannot, we are told, be
Christ, but does refer to Behaullah, who is in
truth “the mighty God, the everlasting father.” foretold in the Parable of
the Vineyard (Matt, xxi.), in which, after the
murder of the son, comes “the lord of the vineyard” himself! (This, it
need hardly be said, is quite in harmony with
the theory of Divine manifestations so often referred to; but at first sight
it sounds very strange to hear Behaullah at
one time spoken of as Christ, and at another as God the Father.)
(ii.) Dan. viii. 13, 14. The “two thousand and three hundred days” point,
so it is asserted, to this manifestation.
No explanation is given in the pamphlet, nor could the author himself give any
satisfactory one when asked on two
occasions to do so.
(iii.) Mal. iv. is quoted in full, and the Hebrew “Elijah” declared to be
the same as the Arabic “Ali,” which
accordingly denotes Mir-ya Ali Muhammad, the Bab and forerunner of Behaullah.
(iv.) 2 Thess. ii. 1-8. Subh-i-Ezel, “the Morning of Eternity” (a portrait
of whom is given as the frontispiece to
Browne’s New History of the Bab), who was the original successor of the Bab,
and for a time after his death
commanded the allegiance of his followers, is so unfortunate as to show forth
in himself, according to our writer, the
signs which mark the man of sin, who is destroyed by the breath of the
Lord’s mouth — i.e. the signs of Behaullah.
He is treated in consequence to a very emphatic condemnation, and a crowning
instance is here seen of Christian
blindness to the truth in their failure to understand the supposed allusion of
the prophecy. The writer expresses a
wish that four fair-minded men of understanding would visit both Akka and
Cyprus and judge between the rival
claims of Behaullah and Subh-i-Ezel. But, he sadly laments, there is no desire
to search for truth, otherwise it could
be easily ascertained.
“Ever ready is the FRIEND for distraught lover’s heart to feel:
The Rev. Wm. Jones, who has travelled much, and visited Persia last year
[1900] on his way to India, gave me the following
information about the colony at Haifa, near Akka, alluded to above: — “I
am afraid 1 know very little of the German colonies
except that they are looking for the visible appearance of Christ in Palestine
to rule over the whole world, I suppose. There are
two colonies, one at Haifa and one at Jerusalem. They live in families, have a
church building where they meet every Sunday,
and a school-house where the children are educated. Their houses are neat and
clean. They have gardens and fruit trees, and a
number of them have become well off in this world. I presume they look for
Christ to reign a thousand years, but I saw little of
themselves — my information is mostly second hand.”
Were you sick, sir, there’s PHYSICIAN close at hand your grief to feel.”
(6)

The writer concludes with an appeal for earnest, serious inquiry, without
delay or hindrance from worldly
concerns and business, points a warning from the results of prejudiced
unbelief in the case of the Jews, not one of
whom, he says, has ever yet repented of his errors; requests his friend to
read the pamphlet often, and finally
expresses the hope that its arguments and Scriptural proofs will lead him, and
through him those who are still
careless and indifferent, to the present light of truth.
Christian and Jew are both conciliated by Babiism through the acceptance of
their Scriptures, and invited to lay
aside their prejudices and slavish adherence to the letter of Scripture, and
embrace the present fulfilment of what the
prophets long ago foretold.
The Mohammedan, often dissatisfied with Islam as he finds it, is

appealed to by a religion which teaches justice and brotherhood, which does
not bid him break with the past, but
pass above and beyond it into fuller light, under the guidance of the divine
guide sent for the present age. It is a
religion adorned with a glorious roll of martyrs and heroes, while at the same
time it comfortably allows its
adherents to conform outwardly to the prevailing faith, and save themselves
the inconvenience of presenting to the
wrath or cupidity of powers secular or spiritual so inviting a bait as that of
a renegade from the faith.
Babiism is just as truly as Mohammedanism a “religion without faith.” It
has added more prophets to the
already long list of 124,000 accepted by Mohammedans, but it has not
recognized the uniqueness of the personality
and redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in this case, as always, the
Truth vindicates itself in no more
striking way than in the capacity for error of those who are unacquainted
with, or refuse to accept, the truth as it is in
Jesus.
Our duty is a plain one. It is no new one, but simply the privilege of letting
in the light (with God’s help)
through every opportunity accorded to us. Very much remains to be done. But we
know that the power of Truth is
not broken, but that it will prevail — yea, and DOES prevail!
W. A.
RICE.

Shiraz, Persia.

****

Sources of Verses quoted in Pamphlet.

A Persian friend tells me that (1), (2), and (5) are from the Masnavi, (3) and
(6) from Hafiz, and (4) from Sadi. In the
latter, the original reference was to the Jews.
    — A Babi Pamphlet (Used by permission of the curator)