sacred remains; burial of the Bab
Editorial introduction
Sixty years. That is how long the body of the Báb was moved from hiding place to hiding place, carried by palanquin and steamer, concealed from enemies, never allowed to rest, before it was laid on Naw-Rúz in a marble sarcophagus on the slope of Mount Carmel. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá called the undertaking at once the most difficult and the most triumphant work of the Cause, and his announcements of the interment repeat the word rest with an almost audible release of breath. The devotion involved was practical as well as tender: a martyr who carried the remains to Tehran, inspectors at customs, gold lettering ordered from Bombay, stone laid by many hands. Mark tells how Joseph of Arimathaea went to Pilate for the body of Jesus, provided linen, and laid Him in the tomb while others watched the place [1]; in both stories love after a violent death takes the form of concrete responsibility. From the Shrine the path opens onto the martyrdom that made it necessary, onto the station and claims of the Báb Himself, and onto the wider meaning of shrines and holy places as living centres of a community.
In reality to bring the remains of the BAB from Persia and inter it in the unique building was the most difficult and at the same time the most triumphal work of the Cause.
Then Mr. Latimer asked about the taking of the body of the Bab to Tihran.
'Abdu'l-Baha: "It is just as it is written in the 'Traveller's Narrative.' Read it in the 'Traveller's Narrative.' It is the same. All the other accounts are without foundation. Suleyman Khan, the martyr, brought His Blessed Body to Tihran."
With complete humility and reverence they brought the Most Great Throne - the pure body and sacred temple (may my spirit and being be sacrificed for His dust) - by palanquin to the land of Syria and by steamer to the Holy Land.
The marble sarcophagus with the Greatest Name inscribed in gold water arrived from Bombay. When it arrived I didn't want it opened at customs, but that wasn't possible. Then the inspectors came saying a new Ka'bih and Mecca has been built... Where is Nasiri'd-Din Shah to come and see?
In particular, now that I am busy with the construction of the Shrine of the Bab, I had intended for you to help me in every aspect of the raising of this Sacred Edifice.
O spiritual friends! The greatest glad-tidings is that the pure, luminous, and holy remains of His Holiness the Exalted One (may my spirit be sacrificed for Him), after being moved from place to place for sixty years due to the control of enemies and fear of the hostile ones, never finding rest or repose, through the grace of the Blessed Beauty was finally established, on the day of Naw-Ruz with utmost ceremony and perfect majesty and beauty, in the sacred casket at the most exalted spot on Mount Carmel.
Praise be to God that on the blessed day of Naw-Ruz, after sixty years of restlessness, the purified body of the Exalted One (may my spirit be a sacrifice for Him) was established with utmost ceremony at the best location on Mount Carmel, the Mountain of the Lord.
O you two firm ones in the Covenant! Praise be to God that on Naw-Ruz day, the pictured spirit, the luminous form of His Holiness the Exalted One found its resting place with the utmost joy and gladness in the purified sepulcher on God's mountain, Mount Carmel, the sacred spot.
The sacred remains of His Holiness the Exalted One, may my soul be a sacrifice for Him, after sixty years of wandering, have found repose in the holy spot of Mount Carmel, the divine garden of Carmel.
The sacred remains of the Bab, after sixty years of wandering and restlessness, found their resting place on Mount Carmel, on the Mountain of God, at the Most Holy Shrine.
For after sixty years of restlessness and wandering, the sacred remains of the Exalted One - may my spirit be sacrificed for His wrongs - found repose on Mount Carmel.
Now under His sheltering grace, even the soil that is associated with His Holiness the Exalted One, may my spirit be sacrificed for Him, has been elevated and becomes more prosperous day by day, and the dependencies of the magnificent Sanctuary expand.
Glorified is He Whom neither prison nor what He has endured from the people of hatred could frighten. He has delivered the messages of God, the Protector, the Self-Subsisting, while He was in the hands of His enemies and surrounded by hosts of unbelievers.
The good news that I had promised is this: the sacred remains of the Exalted Bab have safely left the soil of Iran and just arrived in the Ottoman land. They are now completely out of danger. After fifty years, what the Blessed Beauty promised has come to pass. In gratitude for this most great divine blessing, lives must be sacrificed! Soon will the effulgence of the Shrine of the Bab attract the attention of the denizens of the world and the blessed prophecies of Baha'u'llah will be clearly fulfilled.
O friends of 'Abdu'l-Baha! In these days, through divine decree, the confirmation of the Lord of the highest heavens, and the grace of the invisible Kingdom, the sacred remains of the Bab have been laid to rest in their designated place on Mount Carmel in Haifa.
… The blessed body of the Martyred One has been entirely laid to rest on Mount Carmel.
Finally the friends deemed it advisable to take them to the shrine of Salman-i-Farsi, five parasangs from Baghdad in Mada'in, to be buried there. They took them near the Arch of Ctesiphon to a very solid tomb. All the friends maintained vigil and with utmost reverence laid this divine trust to rest.
For thought and discussion