Chapter 5: Pilgrimage to Mecca: the House of Ka`bah

Vaunt not thyself, O thou who leadeth the pilgrims on their way,
That which thou seest is the House, and that which I see is the
Lord of that House.
--Ḥáfiẓ

The Báb embarked for Jiddah, probably on an Arab sailing-boat named _Futúḥ-ar-Rasúl_--Victories of the Messenger. If so, He had as fellow-passenger a maternal uncle of Muḥammad [_Sh_]áh, Muḥammad-Báqir [_Kh_]án, the Biglarbagí[BL] of Ṭihrán, who was attended by [_Sh_]ukru'lláh [_Kh_]án-i-Núrí, a prominent official of the province of Fárs. We know for certain that two of His fellow-townsmen on the boat were Ḥájí Abu'l-Ḥasan, who pursued the same trade as the Báb's father, and [_Sh_]ay[_kh_] Abú-Há[_sh_]im, brother of [_Sh_]ay[_kh_] Abú-Turáb, the Imám-Jum`ih of [_Sh_]íráz. The former was captivated by the charm and the sublime bearing of his compatriot, the young Siyyid of whose claim he was unaware, and gave Him his allegiance without the slightest hesitation when he learned of His claim. [_Sh_]ay[_kh_] Abú-Há[_sh_]im, however, was already jealous of the respect commanded by the Báb and became His implacable enemy, even though his brother, the Imám-Jum`ih, served the interests of the Báb to the best of his ability.[1]

[Footnote BL: The principal official responsible for public
order in a town or city.]

Ḥájí Abu'l-Ḥasan has related[2] that during the voyage [_Sh_]ay[_kh_] Abú-Há[_sh_]im became daily more arrogant and quarrelsome, molesting the passengers and making the young Siyyid a particular target for his invective. When the Arab captain could no longer tolerate his insolent behaviour, he ordered him to be seized and thrown into the sea. According to Ḥájí Abu'l-Ḥasan, it was the Báb who stepped forward to intercede for him. However, the captain was determined to be rid of the troublesome [_Sh_]ay[_kh_]. And when the Báb noticed that the sailors were about to throw [_Sh_]ay[_kh_] Abú-Há[_sh_]im overboard, He hurled Himself upon him, caught hold of him and earnestly requested the captain to pardon the wrong-doer. The Arab captain was astonished, because it had been the young Siyyid who had suffered most from the [_Sh_]ay[_kh_]'s malice. But the Báb replied that, since people who behaved in that manner harmed only themselves, one should be tolerant and forgiving.

The rites of the Ḥajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) are to be performed on the ninth and tenth days of the month of [_Dh_]i'l-Ḥijjah, the last month of the Muslim lunar year. On the tenth day the `Íd-al-Aḍḥá (the Festival of Sacrifices) is celebrated throughout the Muslim world.[BM] It commemorates the sacrifice offered by Abraham of His son. Whenever the `Íd-al-Aḍḥá falls on a Friday, the Ḥajj of that year is termed the Ḥajj-i-Akbar (the Greatest Ḥajj). In the year 1260, the tenth of [_Dh_]i'l-Ḥijjah was a Friday (December 20th 1844), and therefore the number of pilgrims was commensurately greater. An Islamic tradition points to the appearance of the Qá'im in a year of the Ḥajj-i-Akbar.

[Footnote BM: In Persia this Feast is usually called
`Íd-i-Qurbán.]

Another particularly notable pilgrim in that year 1260 was a divine of high repute, Siyyid Ja`far-i-Ka[_sh_]fí, whose son Siyyid Yaḥyá (later known as Vaḥíd) was to become one of the most distinguished followers of the Báb.

The journey to Jiddah was long, tedious and exhausting. Seas were rough and storms frequent. An Arab sailing-boat did not afford much comfort. 'For days we suffered from the scarcity of water. I had to content myself with the juice of sweet lemon,' the Báb writes in the Persian _Bayán_.[3] Ḥájí Abu'l-Ḥasan recounts:

During the entire period of approximately two months, from
the day we embarked at Bú[_sh_]ihr to the day when we landed
at Jaddih, the port of Ḥijáz, whenever by day or night I
chanced to meet either the Báb or Quddús, I invariably found
them together, both absorbed in their work. The Báb seemed
to be dictating, and Quddús was busily engaged in taking
down whatever fell from His lips. Even at a time when panic
seemed to have seized the passengers of that storm-tossed
vessel, they would be seen pursuing their labours with
unperturbed confidence and calm. Neither the violence of the
elements nor the tumult of the people around them could
either ruffle the serenity of their countenance or turn them
from their purpose.[4]

At Jiddah the Báb and His companions put on the iḥrám,[BN] the garb of the pilgrim. He travelled to Mecca on a camel, but Quddús would not mount and walked all the way, keeping pace with it. On the tenth day of [_Dh_]i'l-Ḥijjah the Báb offered the prescribed sacrifice. The meat of the nineteen lambs which He bought was all given to the poor and the needy; nine of the animals were sacrificed on His own behalf, seven on behalf of Quddús and three for Mubárak.[5]

[Footnote BN: sheet of cloth, unstitched.]

Ḥájí Mírzá Ḥabíbu'lláh-i-Afnán, quoting Ḥájí Abu'l-Ḥasan, relates in his chronicle that after the completion of the rites of the Ḥajj, at a time when the court of the House of Ka`bah and the roofs of adjoining houses teemed with pilgrims, the Báb stood against the structure of the Ka`bah, laid hold of the ring on its door and thrice repeated, in a clear voice:

I am that Qá'im whose advent you have been awaiting.

Ḥájí Abu'l-Ḥasan recalled, many years later, that a sudden hush fell upon the audience. The full implication of those momentous words must, at the time, have eluded that vast concourse of people. But the news of the claim of the young Siyyid soon spread in an ever-widening circle.

One day in Mecca, the Báb came face to face with Mírzá Muḥammad-Ḥusayn-i-Kirmání, known as Muḥíṭ.[BO] They happened to meet close by the sacred Black Stone (Ḥajar al-Aswad). The Báb took Muḥíṭ's hand, saying:

O Muḥíṭ! You regard yourself as one of the most
outstanding figures of the [_sh_]ay[_kh_]í community and a
distinguished exponent of its teachings. In your heart you
even claim to be one of the direct successors and rightful
inheritors of those twin great Lights, those Stars that have
heralded the morn of Divine guidance. Behold, we are both
now standing within this most sacred shrine. Within its
hallowed precincts, He whose Spirit dwells in this place can
cause Truth immediately to be known and distinguished from
falsehood, and righteousness from error. Verily I declare,
none besides Me in this day, whether in the East or in the
West, can claim to be the Gate that leads men to the
knowledge of God. My proof is none other than that proof
whereby the truth of the Prophet Muḥammad was
established. Ask Me whatsoever you please; now, at this very
moment, I pledge Myself to reveal such verses as can
demonstrate the truth of My mission. You must choose either
to submit yourself unreservedly to My Cause or to repudiate
it entirely. You have no other alternative. If you choose to
reject My message, I will not let go your hand until you
pledge your word to declare publicly your repudiation of the
Truth which I have proclaimed. Thus shall He who speaks the
Truth be made known, and he that speaks falsely shall be
condemned to eternal misery and shame. Then shall the way of
Truth be revealed and made manifest to all men.

[Footnote BO: He had pretensions to leadership of the
[_Sh_]ay[_kh_]í sect after the death of Siyyid Káẓim.]

Muḥíṭ was taken by surprise and was overwhelmed. He replied to the Báb:

My Lord, my Master! Ever since the day on which my eyes
beheld You in Karbilá, I seemed at last to have found and
recognised Him who had been the object of my quest. I
renounce whosoever has failed to recognise You, and despise
him in whose heart may yet linger the faintest misgivings as
to Your purity and holiness. I pray You to overlook my
weakness, and entreat You to answer me in my perplexity.
Please God I may, at this very place, within the precincts
of this hallowed shrine, swear my fealty to You, and arise
for the triumph of Your Cause. If I be insincere in what I
declare, if in my heart I should disbelieve what my lips
proclaim, I would deem myself utterly unworthy of the grace
of the Prophet of God, and regard my action as an act of
manifest disloyalty to `Alí, His chosen successor.

The Báb knew how vacillating Muḥíṭ was, and answered:

Verily I say, the Truth is even now known and distinguished
from falsehood. O shrine of the Prophet of God, and you, O
Quddús, who have believed in Me! I take you both, in this
hour, as My witnesses. You have seen and heard that which
has come to pass between Me and him. I call upon you to
testify thereunto, and God, verily, is, beyond and above
you, My sure and ultimate Witness. He is the All-Seeing, the
All-Knowing, the All-Wise. O Muḥíṭ! Set forth
whatsoever perplexes your mind, and I will, by the aid of
God, unloose My tongue and undertake to resolve your
problems, so that you may testify to the excellence of My
utterance and realise that no one besides Me is able to
manifest My wisdom.[6]

Muḥíṭ presented his questions and then departed hurriedly for Medina. The Báb, in answer to them, revealed the _Ṣaḥífiy-i-Baynu'l-Ḥaramayn_, which, as its name 'The Epistle Between the Two Shrines' indicates, was composed on the road to the city of the Prophet (Medina). Muḥíṭ, contrary to his promise, did not remain long in Medina, but received the Báb's treatise in Karbilá. To the end of his days, Muḥíṭ was shifty and irresolute, and the headship of the [_Sh_]ay[_kh_]í community did not go to him, but to Ḥájí Muḥammad-Karím [_Kh_]án-i-Kirmání.

The last act of the Báb in Mecca was to address a Tablet to the [_Sh_]aríf (Sherif) of Mecca, in which He proclaimed His advent and His Divine mandate. Quddús delivered it together with a volume of the Writings of the Báb. But the [_Sh_]aríf was preoccupied and ignored the communication put in his hands. Ḥájí Níyáz-i-Ba[_gh_]dádí recounts:

In the year 1267 A.H. [A.D. 1850-51], I undertook a
pilgrimage to that holy city, where I was privileged to meet
the Sherif. In the course of his conversation with me, he
said: 'I recollect that in the year '60, during the season
of pilgrimage, a youth came to visit me. He presented to me
a sealed book which I readily accepted but was too much
occupied at that time to read. A few days later I met again
that same youth, who asked me whether I had any reply to
make to his offer. Pressure of work had again detained me
from considering the contents of that book. I was therefore
unable to give him a satisfactory reply. When the season of
pilgrimage was over, one day, as I was sorting out my
letters, my eyes fell accidentally upon that book. I opened
it and found, in its introductory pages, a moving and
exquisitely written homily which was followed by verses the
tone and language of which bore a striking resemblance to
the Qur'án. All that I gathered from the perusal of the book
was that among the people of Persia a man of the seed of
Fáṭimih and descendant of the family of Há[_sh_]im, had
raised a new call, and was announcing to all people the
appearance of the promised Qá'im. I remained, however,
ignorant of the name of the author of that book, nor was I
informed of the circumstances attending that call.' 'A
great commotion,' I remarked, 'has indeed seized that land
during the last few years. A Youth, a descendant of the
Prophet and a merchant by profession, has claimed that His
utterance was the Voice of Divine inspiration. He has
publicly asserted that, within the space of a few days,
there could stream from His tongue verses of such number and
excellence as would surpass in volume and beauty the Qur'án
itself--a work which it took Muḥammad no less than
twenty-three years to reveal. A multitude of people, both
high and low, civil and ecclesiastical, among the
inhabitants of Persia, have rallied round His standard and
have willingly sacrificed themselves in His path. That Youth
has, during the past year, in the last days of the month of
[_Sh_]a`bán [July 1850], suffered martyrdom in Tabríz, in
the province of Á[_dh_]irbáyján. They who persecuted Him
sought by this means to extinguish the light which He
kindled in that land. Since His martyrdom, however, His
influence has pervaded all classes of people.' The Sherif,
who was listening attentively, expressed his indignation at
the behaviour of those who had persecuted the Báb. 'The
malediction of God be upon these evil people,' he exclaimed,
'a people who, in days past, treated in the same manner our
holy and illustrious ancestors!' With these words the Sherif
concluded his conversation with me.[7]

The Báb reached Medina on the first day of the year A.H. 1261: Friday, January 10th 1845.[8] It was the first of Muḥarram and the day of His birth. From Medina He proceeded to Jiddah, where He took a boat bound for the port of Bú[_sh_]ihr.