# The Mahdi in Persia and Syria

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Wilson D. Wallis, The Mahdi in Persia and Syria, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> The Mahdi in Persia and Syria
> 
> Wilson D. Wallis
> published in Messiahs: Christian and Pagan pp. 111-117
> 
> Boston: Richard G. Badger, 1918
> 
> 1. Text
> 
> . . . The Zikris, a Mohammedan sect of Baluchistan, believe
> that their founder. Dost Mohammad, was the twelfth Mahdi.
> His abode, Koh-i-Murad, near Turbat, takes the place of
> Mecca as the object of their pilgrimages. [Baluchistan,
> Hastings' E.R.E., H, 340.]
> 
> Some sects in India, to whom the name of "Ghair
> Mahdi'm" ("not expecting a Mahdi") is given, believe the
> promised Mahdi has already appeared. In the District of
> Kirman, Baluchistan, they still say that the Mahdi appeared
> about the end of the fifteenth century in the person of Muhammad of Jaunpur, who, expelled from India, died, after
> many wanderings, in 1505, in the valley of Plelmend. This
> sect is known as the "Dhikri." The Da'ire wale, a similar
> sect living in the province of Mysore, declared the Mahdi appeared more than four hundred years ago. [Ghair Mahdi,
> Hastings' E.R.E., VI, 189.]
> 
> The Mahdi in Persia and Syria
> 
> In 940 A. D. the Twelfth Imam disappeared into a well.
> He still lives in Jabulka, or Jabuka, whence he is expected
> to reappear as the Mahdi or Kaim. In communication with
> him were four persons, known as Bab or Gate, transmitters
> of messages from the Imam to his faithful followers. Mirza
> Ali Mohammed of Shiraz was one of these Bab who later
> advanced in station claiming to be the Kaim or Mahdi. He
> dared proclaim his manifestation in Mecca itself. After his
> death many of his followers claimed to be the promised one.
> There was a chaos of manifestations sorely puzzling the most
> faithful, not to mention the Turkish Government. It had
> been prophesied that the Kaim would behead seventy thousand mullahs like dogs, and it was not so easy to lay the
> ghost or allay the fears.
> 
> The Bab who appeared at Ispahan, Persia, about the middle of the nineteenth century, and of whom more will be
> said in the discussion of the political significance of messianic movements, was the embodiment of this long deferred
> hope for a redeemer and savior. Many followed him. [An
> extensive account of the Bab and of Babism will be found
> in S. G. Wilson, Bahaism and Its Claims. Boston, 1915. See
> the same author, Persian Life and Customs, 62, 146, 185,
> 221. E. C. Sykes, Persia and Its People, 36, 140-3. L.
> Oliphant, Haifa or Life in Modern Palestine, 103-7. V. De
> Bunsen, The Soul of a Turk, 505-7, 251-7. W. E. Curtis,
> To-day in Syria and Palestine, 219. Journal Asiatic, 6th
> series. Vol. VII, 329-84. C. M. Remey, The Bahai Movement. Washington, D. C, 1912. Isaac Adams, Persia hy a
> Persian, 453-90. H. C. Lukach, Fringe of the East, 264ff.
> London, 1913. A. G. Browne, A Literary History of Persia.
> London, 1902. Browne, The Babis of Persia, in Journal of
> the Royal Asiatic Society, 1889, Vol. 21, p. 485ff., 881ff.,
> and articles by Browne on Bab, Babis, in Hastings' Ency.
> of Religion and Ethics, and in the Ency. Britt., 11th edition.
> In 1915 the New York Public Library published a long list
> of works relating to Babism and Bahaism.]
> 
> Bahaism, which developed out of Babism, has a leader
> whose messiahship is abundantly proclaimed. Some represent Baha as Christ, while others declare Christ has returned
> in the person of Abdul Baba Abbas. Baha, indeed, is represented as embodying all the promises, much as Ghulam
> Ahmad Quadiani embodied them in India. He is "the Messiah for the Jews, God the Father, the Word, and the Spirit
> for the Christians, Aurora or Shah Bahran for the Zoroastrians, the fifth Buddha for the Buddhists, reincarnated
> Krishna for the Brahmans, the Mahdi or the twelfth Imam
> or Husain for the Moslems. All are realized in the coming
> of Baha Ullah."
> 
> Bahaism is said to adapt its claims and doctrines to those
> prevailing in the land where it seeks to gain a foothold, showing in America a different creed from that flaunted in Persia.
> American Bahais are said to regard Baha as God the Father,
> and Abdul Baha Abbas as the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
> "The promises and prophecies given in the Holy Scriptures
> have been fulfilled by the appearance of the Prince of the
> Universe, the great Baba Ullah and of Abdul Baha." [S. G.
> Wilson, Bahaism, 92ff.] One writer declares the whole
> Bahai movement "a counterfeit of the Messiahship of
> Christ." [G. W. Holmes, in Speer, Missions and Modern
> History, I, 169. See also, W. A. Shedd in Missionary Review of the World, 1911.]
> 
> In 1866-7, Baha Ullah (or Bahá'u'lláh), who had been
> gradually displacing Subhi-Ezel as leader of the Babi sect,
> proclaimed his messiahship as "He whom God shall manifest," declaring the Bab had been but the herald of his
> coming.
> 
> Baha Ullah and his followers were sent to Acre, for his
> claims caused a division among the Babis and much ill-feeling.
> The strength of his opponents waned rapidly and that of
> Baha Ullah grew apace. Acre became the center of a living
> force that spread abroad and attracted to the little Syrian
> town pilgrims from all parts of the globe.
> 
> When Baha Ullah died, in 1892, his son Abbas, generally
> known now as Abbas Effendi, or as Abdul Baha, became his
> successor, and since then the sect has been known, after him,
> as the Bahai. In 1913 the number of Bahaists was computed as more than two million adherents — Persian and Indian Shiahs, Sunis from the Turkish Empire and North
> Africa, Brahmans, Buddhists, Taoists, Shintoists, Jews, and
> Christian converts in Europe and the United States.
> 
> One student of the sect has called it "a thing which may
> revivify Islam, and make great changes on the face of the
> Asiatic world." [Lukach, op. cit., 264-7.] So far it seems
> to have exerted little or no political power.
> 
> Many accounts have been written about Abbas Effendi,
> the God incarnate, for whom, say his followers, the Bab was
> only a forerunner. An American devotee writes, under date
> of Washington, D. C, November 19, 1899, "regarding the
> 'Holy City' and the Blessed Master, who dwells therein:
> 
> "Although my stay in Acca was very short, as I was there
> only three days, yet I assure you these three days were the
> most memorable days of my life, still I feel incapable of
> describing them in the slightest degree.
> 
> "From a material standpoint everything was very simple
> and plain, but the spiritual atmosphere which pervaded the
> place, and was manifested in the lives and actions among the
> Believers, was truly wonderful, and something I had never
> before experienced. One needs but to see them to know that
> they are a Holy people.
> 
> "The Master I will not attempt to describe; I will only
> state that I believe with all my heart that he is the Master,
> and my greatest blessing in this world is that I have been
> privileged to be in His presence and look upon His sanctified
> face. His life is truly the Christ life and His whole being
> radiates purity and Holiness!
> 
> "Without a doubt Abbas Effendi is the Messiah of this
> day and generation, and we need not look for another.
> 
> "Hoping you will find the joy that has come into my
> life, from accepting the truth as revealed in these great
> days, . . ."
> 
> A similar message comes from Washington under date of
> December 5, 1899. [Phoebe Hearst, quoted in Bab and Babism. -J.W., 2015]
> 
> "It seems to me," says this devotee, "a real Truth-seeker
> would know at a glance that He is the Master! Withal I
> must say He is the Most Wonderful Being I have ever met or
> expect to meet in this world. Though He does not seek to
> impress one at all, strength, power, purity, love, and holiness
> are radiated from His majestic, yet humble, personality, and
> the spiritual atmosphere which surrounds Him, and most
> powerfully affects all those who are blessed by being near
> Him, is indescribable. His ideas and sentiments are of the
> loftiest and most chaste character, while His great love and
> devotion for humanity surpasses everything I have ever
> before encountered. I believe in Him with all my heart and
> soul, and I hope all who call themselves Believers will concede
> to Him all the greatness, all the glory, and all the praise,
> for surely he is the Son of God — and 'the Spirit of the
> Father abideth in Him.'
> 
> "Regarding the Household, I found them all quiet, holy
> people, living only for the purpose of serving in the Cause
> of God. They dress very plainly, but with a grace that
> gives a sort of grandeur to their most humble abode. The
> purity of their morals is evident from the calm, benign and
> guileless faces, which characterize them as a people. To
> become spiritually more and more like them, and like the
> Blessed Master, is my daily supplication to God."
> 
> Another American writes that she was allowed to enter
> "the special garden of the Manifestation, the one (according to Dr. Kheiralla) described in the prophecies thus: 'The
> place of my throne is part on the water and part on the
> land, under a green tent that has neither ropes nor a center
> pole to sustain it.' . . . The spiritual atmosphere of this place
> was overwhelming; our tears fell like rain over our faces, and
> some of the Believers with us cried aloud. Indeed, to enter
> this room is a great blessing. I have felt nearer to God since
> that day! On the chair was a wreath of flowers, and some
> beautiful cut roses placed there by the Greatest Branch, who
> commanded that they should be given to us; also four large
> oranges, which were on the table opposite, as we left that
> most sacred place.
> 
> "From here we were taken to the tomb of the Manifestation, and you must excuse me if I do not enter into details
> about this; I cannot find words to express myself; suffice it
> to say, that the Greatest Branch let me walk in His footsteps
> and led me by the hand into this sacred place, where I knelt
> down and begged of God to cleanse my heart of all impurity
> and kindle within it the fire of His love. I also remembered
> there the Assembly in Chicago and begged God's blessing to
> be showered upon you. After this visit we walked in the
> garden and our Lord, with His own blessed hands, picked
> flowers and leaves, which he gave us to take to the faithful
> Believers in America.
> 
> "That night He sat us all by the table, and dismissed the
> servants, saying He would serve us Himself, and He did so.
> He did not sit at the table with us, but waited upon us! At
> the conclusion of the meal He said: 'I have served you
> to-night that you may learn the lesson of ever serving your
> fellow-creatures with love and kindness.' He bade us goodnight and advised us all to rest early, so we went to bed
> and this night I had a long delicious sleep and rest.
> 
> "The next morning he brought me a most beautiful bunch
> of white narcissus and allowed me to kiss His blessed hand
> as He gave them to me. He sat down and drank tea with
> us, then rose and bade us 'adieu,' as we were going back
> to Haifa that day and He had been called away. As we
> were quitting the city we saw Him standing by the gate, and
> He smiled at us as we passed. Then we returned 'by the
> road in the sea' to Haifa, our hearts both happy and sorrowful, happy because we had seen Him and sorrowful because
> we were leaving Him.
> 
> "Oh, dear people, make firm your faith and belief, for
> truly He is our Lord. It seems to me that no one could
> doubt should He smile upon them, and no one could turn
> from Him should he seek to confirm them! But this He will
> not do, as God had declared that each must seek to confirm
> himself and gave to each of us the power or will for that
> purpose. I feel these words are very weak and inadequate,
> but I assure you no one could describe this place and 'tis
> foolish to try — to know each must see for himself — therefore pray God earnestly that the blessing of coming here
> may soon be bestowed. There is no other place in the world
> worth seeing, and surely no other King worthy of homage."
> 
> "This is He who quenches the thirst from the spring of
> life," declares a "Declaration Addressed to Americans."
> "This is He who heals the sick with the antidote of safety
> and confirms with a flood of grace from His Kingdom. He
> is of the greatest heirs to the apostles and saints, the Lord is
> His God and He is His dearest Son (Abdul-Beha)." [For
> these and similar accounts see Isaac Adams, Persia; By a
> Persian, 468-90. Grand Rapids, Mich., no date.]
> 
> Such has been the influence upon Western minds of the
> Syrian Messiah, Abbas Effendi, whose doctrines are mystical
> and symbolical, but kindly, sincere, and charged with pious
> zeal. [The best account of his teachings is that given by
> Myron H. Phelps, Life and Teachings of Abbas Effendi: A
> Study of the Religion of the Babis, or Beha'is Founded by
> the Persian Bab and His Successors, Beha Ullah and Abbas
> Effendi. Putnam, 1912. Second edition. See also art., Babism in New Inter. Ency., and article on Bahaism in America,
> published in The American Journal of Theology, Jan., 1902,
> p. 57-8.]
> 
> Though Bahaism best flourishes on Syrian and other foreign soil whence it has been transported, messianic hope has
> not departed from Persia. In the royal stables of Persia,
> it is said, two horses are kept saddled in readiness for the
> Mahdi and for his lieutenant, Jesus the son of Mary. [E.
> W. Latimer, op. cit., 76.]
> 
> One who travelled through Syria some thirty years ago
> gives the following description:
> 
> "In my time there were two Christs in Syria; one of them
> a second-sighted admirable person of the Persian religion,
> had been laid by the Ottoman government in 'little-ease' at
> Gaza. The other was between ignorant block and mystical
> hypocrite, a religious dreamer at large. Born in the Christian religion, this man was by turns Jew and Mohammedan;
> 'he had God's name,' he told me in a terrific voice,
> 'sculptured between his two eyebrows.' This divine handwriting, be it understood, was in Arabic; that is he had
> dimples, as a triglyph, or somewhat resembling the trace
> (in Arabic) Allah. Herein he would covertly convey,
> among us Christians, was his mystical name, divine! and he
> was himself Messias of the second appearing. He was born
> in Latakia, and in this also, through barbarous ignorance
> of the Greek letters, he found a witness of the Scriptures
> unto himself. He prophesied to them with a lofty confidence,
> that the day was toward, when he should ride forth from
> Damascus' horsemarket unto his eternal glory, and, all things
> being fulfilled in himself, the children of Adam should return
> unto their Lord God, to be manifested in the whole world.
> He was a Moslem among the Moslemin. I heard their
> ribalds deride this self-godded man upon a time as I walked
> with him in their cathedral mosque, and he went on saying
> (especially where we met with any simple hareem, near the
> gates) in an immense murmured voice, 'How great is Mohammed! yea, O ye people! he is the Apostle of Allah!'
> They mocked him with 'Hail, Neby!' Of the Christians
> no man trusted him. Yet I have heard simple women, half
> in awe of a man of so high pretense, beg of him to foresay
> to them the event of these dangerous times, — 'whether the
> Nasara would be massacred?' And he in mighty tones
> prophesied to them comfortable things; he said they should
> have no hurt, these troubles should assuage shortly and
> Christ's kingdom be established. Also he could show, unto
> any faithful which resorted to him in certain hours, the
> testimony of miracles; for with solemn gesture, the divine
> man waved his hands over a little water, then he breathed
> in mystic wise, and spread his hands, and behold it was made
> wine: and such had been seen by a simple Christian person
> of my familiar acquaintance. Upon a time finding him in
> the street I bade him wend with me of his charity, to the
> house of fools, el-Moristan; by his holy power with God,
> we might heal a mad body: he granted. There entering,
> when we had passed bars and gates he received from the porter a cup of water in his hand, and led me confidently to
> the poor men in durance. He had promised if we found
> any raging one, with only the name of Allah to appease him:
> but as all was still, he approached a poor man who sat in a
> cage, and enquired his name and country and condition.
> The sad prisoner answered to all things well and civilly; and
> the blatant man of God, when he cried Allah! and breathed
> with an awesomeness upon the water, gave him through the
> bars his bowl, bidding him drink measurably thereof, and if
> the Lord would he should come to his health: the unhappy
> man received it very thankfully. 'Thou hast seen!' (said
> this doer of miracles), 'now we may return.' After a week
> he sent me his divine word that the dangerous madcap had
> mended, and was 'about to be sent home as a man in his
> right mind'; — and I did not believe him!
> This wonder-worker, after walking through all Christian sects and Judaism, had gone over to the Mohammedan profession, in that
> hoping, said his Christian neighbors, to come again to his
> own: and this was, after he had put out his little patrimony
> at an iniquitous usury, to insolvent Moslems: — they having
> devoured the Nasrany's good, derided him; and a Christian
> has little or no hope in the Mohammedan judgment seats.
> The forlorn had fallen between the stools of his natural and
> his adopted religions, and his slender living was passed from
> his own into other shrews' hands; and there was all his grief:
> the apostate found no charity in either. The Christian people's whisper even imputed to him an atrocious guilt. In
> better days a boy had served him, and he was known to beat
> him more and more. Some while after, when the boy was
> not found, the neighbors said between their teeth, 'he has
> murdered the lad and buried him!' When I last saw him
> the religion-monger was become a sadder and a silent man;
> the great sot had now a cross coaled upon his cottage door,
> in the Christian quarter. He said then with a hollow throat,
> 'he was but a sinner,' and denied to me, shaking out his
> raiment with an affected horror, that ever such as I alleged
> had been his former pretension. 'Nay ah! and Ah nay!'
> The soothsayer would persuade me that 'all was but the
> foolish people's saying.' I found him poring and half weeping over a written book, which he told me was 'marvellous
> wise and healthful to the soul, and the copying it had cost
> him much silver.' The argument was of God's creatures, the
> beasts, and showing how every beast (after that of the psalm,
> 'Praise the Lord from the earth, all beasts, creeping things,
> and feathered fowl') yieldeth life-worship unto God, He
> read me aloud his last lesson 'Of the voices of the living creatures,' and coming down to the camel, I said, 'Hold there"
> every camel-voice is like a blasphemy: it is very blasphemous.'
> Said he: 'Thou art mistaken, that brutish bellowing in his
> throat is the camel's making moan unto Allah. — See further
> it is written here I — his prayer for patience under oppression, inasmuch as he is made a partner in man's affliction.'
> Neighbors now told me the most sustenance of this sorrowful man, past the lining of his purse, to be of herbs, which
> cooling diet he had large leave to gather for himself in the
> wild fields." [C. M. Doughty, Arabia Deserta, p. 171-3.
> Cambridge, 1888.]
> 
> 2. Page scans
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> previous at archive.org.../wallis_messiahs_christian_pagan
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> — *The Mahdi in Persia and Syria (Used by permission of the curator)*