 Section 25 of A Year Amongst the Persians by Edward Granville-Brown. Chapter 11. She-Rose Continued. She-Rose Porco-Gaushavad, Shakkar-Laby-Pay-Daushavad, Tarsam-Kaz-Aushu-Belabash-Bar-Hamsanad, Bag-Daudrawe. She-Rose shall be full of tumult. One shall appear with lips sweet as sugar. I fear lest through the riot of his lips, he may cast Bag-Daud into confusion. O thou who askest a sign of the road, to the sanctuary of my presence. It is a road white from beginning to end, with the bones of the slain. In attempting to convey a correct impression of past events, it is often difficult to decide how far their true sequence may be disregarded for the sake of grouping together things naturally related. To set down all occurrences day by day as they actually took place is undoubtedly the easiest and in some ways the most natural plan. On the other hand, it often necessitates the separation of matters intimately connected with one another, while the mind is distracted rather than refreshed by the continual succession of topics presented to it. For this reason I have thought it best to include in a separate chapter all that I have to say concerning my intercourse with the Barbies in She-Rose. Had this intercourse been more closely interwoven with the social life which I have endeavoured to portray, such dissociation might have been inadvisable and even impossible. As it was, it was a thing apart, a separate life in a different sphere, a drama complete in itself with its own scenes and its own actors. Those who have followed me thus far on my journey will remember how, after long and fruitless search, a fortunate chance at length brought me into contact with the Barbies at Esfahan. They will remember also that the Barbie Apostle to whom I was introduced promised to notify my desire for further instruction to his fellow believers at She-Rose and that he further communicated to me the name of one whose house formed one of their principal resorts. I had no sooner reached She-Rose than I began to consider how I should without attracting attention or arousing comment put myself in communication with the person so designated who occupied a post of some importance in the public service which I will not more clearly specify. His name too I suppress for obvious reasons. Whenever I have occasion to allude to him I shall speak of him as Mirzo Mohammed. Whilst I was still undecided as to the course I should pursue, another unlooked for event suddenly removed all difficulties. I have already mentioned Mirzo Ali, a young Persian with whom I had previously been intimately acquainted in Europe. Three days after my arrival he came to pay me a visit. I had hardly recognised him at first in the tall lambskin hat and long cloak which he wore and was equally surprised and delighted at this unexpected meeting. He did not stay long, but before leaving invited me to come and see him on the following day. I had scarcely entered the room where he was waiting to receive me when the cursory glance which I cast round was riveted by an Arabic text which hung on the wall. Yet it was not so much the Arabic characters which attracted my attention though these two seemed in some way strangely familiar as a line of writing beneath them. There was no mistaking the parallel oblique strokes and the delicate curves and spirals which sprang out from them. Only once before had I seen that character in the hands of the barbie Dalal at Esfahan. I withdrew my eyes from the tablet and turned them on Mirzo Ali, who had been attentively watching my scrutiny. Our glances met and I knew at once that my conjecture was right. Do you know Mirzo Muhammad? I asked presently. I know him well, he replied. It was he who informed me that you were coming. You have not seen him yet? Then I will take you there one day soon and you shall meet other friends. I must find out when he will be disengaged and arrange a time. I did not know, said I, that you tell me what you really think. I confess I am puzzled, he answered. Such eloquence, such conviction, such lofty, soul-stirring words, such devotion and enthusiasm. If I could believe any religion it would be that. Before I left, he had shown me some of the books which he possessed. One of these was a small work called Modoni Yat. Civilization, lithographed in Bombay, one of the few secular writings of the barbees. Another was the Ketalbe At Das, Most Holy Book, which contains the codified prescriptions of the sect in a brief compass. The latter, my friend, particularly commended to my attention. You must study this carefully if you desire to understand the matter. He said, I will get a copy made for you by our scribe, whom you will also see at Mirzo Muhammad's. You should read it while you are here, so that any difficulties which arise may be explained. I am acquainted with a young Seyed, well-versed in philosophy, who would perhaps come regularly to you while you are here. This would excite no suspicion, for it is known that you have come here to study. Rejoiced as I was, at the unexpected facilities which appeared to be opening out to me, there was one thing which somewhat distressed me. It was the barbe, whom I had learned to regard as a hero, and whose works I desired to obtain and peruse. Yet of him, no account appeared to be taken. I questioned my friend about this, and learned what I had already begun to suspect at Esfahan, that much had taken place amongst the barbees, since those events of which Gobanow's vivid and sympathetic record had so strangely moved me. That record was written, while Mirzo Yahyao Sobhe Azal, the morning of eternity, was undisputed vice-regent of the barbe, and before the great schism occurred, which convulsed the barbee community. Now, I found, the barbe's writings were but little red, even amongst his followers, for Baha'u had arisen as he whom God shall manifest, the promised deliverer foretold by the barbe, and it was with his commands, his writings, and his precepts that the barbe messengers went forth from Akre to the faithful in Persia. Of Mirzo Yahyao, whom I had expected to find in the place of authority, I could learn little. He lived, he was in Cyprus, he wrote nothing, he had hardly any followers. That was all I was told, and I was forced to try to reconcile myself to the new and at present ill-comprehended position of affairs. At any rate, I had found the barbees, and I should be able to talk with those who bore the name and revered the memory of one whom I had hitherto admired in silence, one whose name had been, since I entered Persia, a word almost forbidden. For the rest, I should soon learn about Baha'u, and understand the reasons which had led to his recognition as the inaugurator of a new dispensation. A day or two after the events narrated above, I received another visit from Mirzo Ali, who was on this occasion accompanied by the young barbee Sayed, of whom he had spoken. They remained with me more than an hour, and the Sayed talked much, asking me numberless questions about anatomy, physiology, chemistry and other sciences, but speaking little about his own views. Before they left, it was arranged that on the following afternoon, I should accompany them of Mirzo Mohammed. On the following afternoon, I salied forth to the house of Mirzo Ali, accompanied by my servant, Haji Safar, whom I would rather have left behind had I been able to find the way by myself. I met Mirzo Ali at the door of his house, and we proceeded at once to the abode of Mirzo Mohammed. He was not in when we arrived, but appeared shortly, and welcomed me very cordially. After a brief interval, we were joined by another guest whose open countenance and frank greeting greatly predisposed me in his favour. This was the scribe and missionary, Haji Mirzo Hassan, to whose impotune meeting with Morshed in my room I have already alluded. He was shortly followed by the young Sayed, who had visited me on the previous day, and another much older Sayed, of very quiet, gentle appearance, who, as I afterwards learned, was related to the barb, and was therefore one of the affnone branches, a title given by the barbys, to all related, within certain degrees of affinity, to the founder of their faith. One or two of my host's colleagues completed the assembly. I was at first somewhat at a loss to know how to begin, especially as several servants were standing about outside, watching and listening. I inquired of Mirzo Ali if I might speak freely before these, whereupon he signified to Mirzo Mohammed that they should be dismissed. Now, he said, when this order had been given and obeyed, speak freely, for there is no ass's head, ross ol'hemar here. See pages 274-5, Supra. I then proceeded to set forth what I had heard of the barb, his gentleness and patience, the cruel fate which had overtaken him, and the unflinching courage wherewith he and his followers, from the greatest to the least, had endured the merciless torments inflicted on them by their enemies. It is this I concluded, which has made me so desirous to know what you believe, for a faith which can inspire a fortitude so admirable must surely contain some noble principle. Then began a discussion between myself on the one hand, and the young Seyyed and Haji Mirzo Hassan on the other, of which I can only attempt to give a general outline, disregarding those details of persons, past events, and literary history, about which I was so desirous to learn, they proceeded to set forth the fundamental assumptions on which their faith is based in a manner which subsequent experience rendered familiar to me. The object for which man exists, they said, is that he should know God. Now, this is impossible by means of his unassisted reason. It is therefore necessary that prophets should be sent to instruct him concerning spiritual truth, and to lay down ordinances for his guidance. From time to time therefore a prophet appears in the world with tokens of his divine mission, sufficient to convince all who are not blinded by prejudice and willful ignorance. When such a prophet appears, it is incumbent on all to submit themselves to him without question, even though he command what has formerly been forbidden, or prohibit what has formerly been ordained. Stay, I interposed. Surely one must be convinced that such prohibition or command is sanctioned by reason. If the doctrine or ordinance be true, it must be agreeable to the idea of absolute good which exists in our own minds. We must be convinced by evidence approved by reason, that he who claims to be a prophet actually is so, they replied. But when once we are assured of this, we must obey him in everything, for he knows better than we do what is right and wrong. If it were not so, there would be no necessity for revelation at all, as for the fact that what is sanctioned in one manifestation is forbidden in another and vice versa that presents no difficulty. A new prophet is not sent until the development of the human race renders this necessary. A revelation is not abrogated till it no longer suffices for the needs of mankind. There is no disagreement between the prophets, all teach the same truth, but in such measure as men can receive it. One spirit indeed speaks through all the prophets, consider it as the instructor morabi of mankind. As mankind advance and progress, they need further instruction. The child cannot be taught in the same way as the youth, nor the youth as the full grown man. So it is with the human race. The instruction given by Abraham was suitable and sufficient for the people of his day, but not for those to whom Moses was sent, while this in turn had ceased to meet the needs of those to whom Christ was sent. Yet we must not say that their religions were opposed to one another, but rather that each manifestation is more complete and more perfect than the last. What you say is agreeable to reason, I assented, but tell me, in what way is the prophet to be recognized when he comes, by miracles or otherwise? By miracles, if by miracles you mean prodigies contrary to nature, no, they answered. It is for such that the ignorant have always clamored. The prophet is sent to distinguish the good from the bad, the believer from the unbeliever. He is the touchstone whereby false and true metal are separated. But if he came with evident supernatural power, who could help believing? Who would dare oppose him? The most rebellious and unbelieving man, if he found himself face to face with one who could raise the dead, cleave the moon, or stay the course of the sun, would involuntarily submit. The persecutions to which all the prophets have been exposed, the mockery to which they have been compelled to submit, the obliquy they have borne, all testify to the fact that their enemies neither feared them nor believed that God would support them. For no one, however foolish, however throwward, would knowingly and voluntarily fight against the power of the omnipotent. No, the signs whereby the prophet is known are these. Though untaught in the learning esteemed of men, he is wise in true wisdom. He speaks a word which is creative and constructive. His word so deeply affects the hearts of men that for it they are willing to forgo wealth and comfort, fame and family, even life itself. What the prophet says comes to pass. Consider Muhammad. He was surrounded by enemies. He was scoffed at and opposed by the most powerful and wealthy of his people. He was derided as a madman, treated as an imposter. But his enemies have passed away, and his word remains. He said, you shall fast in the month of Ramazon, and behold, thousands and thousands obey that word to this day. He said, you shall make a pilgrimage to Mecca if you are able, and every year brings thither countless pilgrims from all quarters of the globe. This is the special character of the prophetic word. It fulfills itself. It creates. It triumphs. Kings and rulers strove to extinguish the word of Christ, but they could not, and now kings and rulers make it their pride that they are Christ's servants. Against all opposition, against all persecution, unsupported by human might, what the prophet says comes to pass. This is the true miracle, the greatest possible miracle, and indeed the only miracle which is a proof to future ages and distant peoples. Those who are privileged to meet the prophet may indeed be convinced in other ways, but for those who have not seen him, his word is the evidence on which conviction must rest. If Christ raised the dead, you were not a witness to it. If Muhammad cleft the moon asunder, I was not there to see. No one can really believe a religion merely because miracles are ascribed to its founder. For are they not ascribed to the founder of every religion by its votaries? But when a man arises amongst a people, untaught and unsupported, yet speaking a word which causes empires to change, hierarchies to fall, and thousands to die willingly in obedience to it, that is a proof, absolute and positive, that the word spoken is from God. This is the proof to which we point in support of our religion. What you have already learned concerning its origin will suffice to convince you that in no previous manifestation was it clearer and more complete. I understand your argument, I replied, and it seems to me a weighty one. But I wish to make two observations. Firstly, it appears to me that you must include amongst the number of the prophets many who are ordinarily excluded, as for example Zoroaster. For all the proofs which you have enumerated were, so far as we can learn, presented by him. Secondly, though I admit that your religion possesses these proofs in a remarkable degree, at least so far as regards the rapidity with which it spread in spite of all opposition, I cannot altogether agree that the triumph of Islam was an instance of the influence of the prophetic word only. The influence of the sword was certainly a factor in its wide diffusion. If the Arabs had not invaded Persia slaying, plundering and compelling, do you think that the religion of Muhammad would have displaced the religion of Zoroaster? To us the great proof of the truth of Christ's teaching is that it steadily advanced in spite of the sword, not by the sword. The great reproach on Islam that its diffusion was in so large a measure due to the force of arms rather than the force of argument. I sympathise with your religion and desire to know more of it, chiefly because the history of its origin, the cruel fate of its founder, the tortures joyfully endured with heroic fortitude by its votaries all remind me of the triumph of Christ rather than the triumph of Muhammad. As to your first observation, rejoined the barbie spokesman, it is true and we do recognize Zoroaster and others whom the Mosalmans reject as prophets, for though falsehood may appear to flourish for a while, it cannot do so for long. God will not permit an utterly false religion to be the sole guide of thousands. But with Zoroaster and other ancient prophets, you and I have nothing to do. The question for you is whether another prophet has come since Christ, for us whether another has come since Muhammad. Well, I interrupted, what about the propagation of Islam by the sword, for you cannot deny that in many countries it was so propagated. What right had Muhammad, what right has any prophet to slay where he cannot convince, can such a thing be acceptable to God who is absolute good? A prophet has the right to slay if he knows that it is necessary, answer the young say Yed, for he knows what is hidden from us. And if he sees that the slaughter of a few will prevent many from going astray, he is justified in commanding such slaughter. The prophet is the spiritual physician, and as no one would blame a physician for sacrificing a limb to save the body, so no one can question the right of a prophet to destroy the bodies of a few that the souls of many may live. As to what you say, that God is absolute good, it is undeniably true. Yet God has not only attributes of grace, but also attributes of wrath. He is Al-Kuhair, the compeler, as well as Al-Latif, the kind, Al-Muntaqim, the Avenger, as well as Al-Ghufur, the partner. And these attributes, as well as those, must be manifested in the prophet who is the God revealing mirror. I do not agree with you there, I answered. I know very well that men have often attributed and do attribute such qualities as these to God, and it appears to me that in so doing, they have been led into all manner of evil and cruelty, whereby they have brought shame on the name of their religion. I believe what one of your own poets has said. Not but good comes from absolute good. And we cannot falsify the meaning of words in such wise as to say that qualities which we universally condemn in man are good in God. To say that revenge in man is bad, while revenge in God is good, is to confound reason, stultify speech, and juggle with paradoxes. But passing by this question altogether, you can hardly imagine that a prophet in whom the attributes of Roth were manifested could attract to himself, such as have believed in a prophet in whom were reflected the attributes of grace. Admitting even that a prophet sent to a very rude, ignorant, or throwered people may be justified in using coercion to prepare the way for a better state of things, and admitting that Muhammad was so justified by the circumstances under which he was placed, still you cannot expect those who have learned the gentle teaching of Christ to revert to the harsher doctrines of Muhammad. For though the latter was subsequent as regards time, his religion was certainly not a higher development of the religion of Christ. I do not say that Muhammad was not a prophet. I do not even assert that he could or should have dealt otherwise with his people. But granting all this, it is still impossible for anyone who has understood the teaching of Christ to prefer the teaching of Muhammad. You have said that the God-given message is addressed to the people of each epoch of time in such language as they could comprehend in such measure as they can receive. Should we consider time only and not place? May it not be that since the stages of development at which different peoples living at the same time have arrived are diverse, they may require different prophets and different religions? The child, as you have said, must be taught differently as he grows older, and the teacher according the employees different methods of instruction as his pupil waxes in years and understanding. Though the knowledge he strives to impart remains always the same. But in the same school are to be found at one time pupils of many different ages and capacities. What is suitable to one class is not suitable to another. May it not be the same in the spiritual world? At this point there was some discussion in the assembly. The young Seyyed shook his head and relapsed into silence. Mirzoh Ali signified approval of what I had said. Haji Mirzoh Hassan strove to avoid the point at issue and proceeded thus. I have already said that what is incumbent on every man is that he should believe in the manifestation of his own age. It is not required of him that he should discuss and compare all previous manifestations. You have been brought up a follower of Christ. We have believed in this manifestation which has taken place in these days. Let us not waste time in disputing about intermediate manifestations. We do not desire to make you believe in Muhammad but in Bahar. If you should be convinced of the truth of Bahar's teaching you have passed over the stage of Islam altogether. The last manifestation includes and sums up all preceding ones. You say that you could not accept Islam because its laws and ordinances are harsher and in your eyes less perfect than those laid down by Christ. Very well we do not ask you to accept Islam. We ask you to consider whether you should not accept Bahar. To do so you need not go back from a gentle to a severe dispensation. Bahar has come for the perfecting of the law of Christ and his injunctions are in all respects similar. For instance we are commanded to prefer rather that we should be killed than that we should kill. It is the same throughout and indeed could not be otherwise. For Bahar is Christ returned again even as he promised to perfect that which he had begun. Your own books tell you that Christ shall come like a thief in the night at a time when you are not expecting him. True I replied but those same books tell us also that his coming shall be as the lightning that lighteth out of one part under heaven and shineth unto the other part under heaven. There can be no contradiction between these two similes answered the Bobby and since the phrase like a thief in the night evidently signifies that when Christ returns it will be in a place where you do not expect him and at a time when you do not expect him that is suddenly and secretly it is clear that the comparison in the other passage which you quoted is to the suddenness and swiftness of the lightning not to its universal vividness. If as the Christians for the most part expect Christ should come riding upon the clouds surrounded by angels how could he be said in any sense to come like a thief in the night. Everyone would see him and seeing would be compelled to believe. It has always been through such considerations as these that men have rejected the prophet whose advent they profess to be expecting because he did not come in some unnatural and impossible manner which they had vainly imagined. Christ was indeed the promised Messiah yet the Jews who had waited and prayed and longed for the coming of the Messiah rejected him when he did come for just such reasons. Ask a Jew now why he does not believe in Christ and he will tell you that the signs whereby the Messiah was to be known were not manifest at his coming yet had he understood what was intended by those signs instead of being led away by vain traditions he would know that the promised Messiah had come and gone and come again. So with the Christians on a mountain Mount Carmel close by Akra is a monastery peopled by Christian priests and monks assembled there to await the arrival of Christ on that spot as foretold and they continue to gaze upwards into heaven once they suppose that he will descend while only a few miles off in Akra he has returned and is dwelling amongst men as before. Oh be not blinded by those very misapprehensions which you condemn so strongly in the Jews. The Jews would not believe in Christ because he was not accompanied by a host of angels. You blame the Jews for their obstinacy and froadness and you do rightly but beware lest you condemn yourselves by alleging the very same reason as an excuse for rejecting this manifestation. Christ came to the Jews accompanied by angels, angels nonetheless because they were in the guise of fishermen. Christ returns to you as Baha with angels, with clouds, with the sound of trumpets. His angels are his messengers. The clouds are the doubts which prevent you from recognizing him. The sound of trumpets is the sound of the proclamation which you now hear announcing that he has come once more from heaven even as he came before not as a human form descending visibly from the sky but as the spirit of God entering into a man and abiding there. Well I replied your arguments are strong and certainly deserve consideration but even supposing that you are right in principle it does not follow that they hold good in this particular case. If I grant that the return of Christ may be in such wise as you indicate nevertheless mere assertion will not prove that Baha is Christ. Indeed we are told by Christ himself that many will arise in his name saying see here or see there and are warned not to follow them. Many have arisen falsely claiming to be Christ he answered but the injunction laid on you to beware of these does not mean that you are to refuse to accept Christ when he does return. The very fact that there are pretenders is a proof that there is a reality. You demand proofs and are right to do so what proofs would suffice for you? The chief proofs which occurred to me at this moment I replied are as follows you admit so far as I understand that in each manifestation a promise has been given of a succeeding manifestation and that certain signs must have already been laid down whereby that manifestation may be recognized. It is therefore incumbent on you to show that the signs foretold by Christ as heralding his return have been accomplished in the coming of Baha. Furthermore since each manifestation must be fuller, completer and more perfect than the last you must prove that the doctrines taught by Baha are superior to the teaching of Christ a thing which I confess seems to me almost impossible for I cannot imagine a doctrine purer or more elevated than that of Christ. Lastly quite apart from miracles in the ordinary sense there is one sign which we regard as the special characteristic of a prophet he should have knowledge of events which have not yet come to pass. No sign can be more appropriate or more convincing than this for a prophet claims to be inspired by God and to speak of the mysteries of the unseen. If he has knowledge of the unseen he may well be expected to have knowledge of the future that we may know that what he tells us about other matters beyond our ken is true we must be convinced that he has knowledge surpassing ours in some matter which we can verify. This is afforded most readily by the foretelling of events which have not yet happened and which we cannot foresee. These three signs appear to me both sufficient and requisite to establish such a claim as that which you advance for Baha. As regards knowledge of the future replied Halji Mirzo Hassan I could tell you of many occasions on which Baha has given proof of such. Not only I myself but almost all who have been to Akra and stood in his presence have received warnings of impending dangers or information concerning forthcoming events. Some of these I will if it please God relate to you at some future time. As regards the superiority of Baha's doctrines to those of Christ you can judge for yourself if you read his words. As regards the news of this manifestation given to you by Christ is it not the case that he promised to return did he not declare that one should come to comfort his followers and perfect what he had begun did he not signify that after the sun should come the father do you mean I demanded in astonishment that you regard Baha as the father what do you intend by this expression you cannot surely mean that you consider Baha to be God himself what do you mean by the expression son of God returned the Bobby our learned men explain it in different ways I answered but let us take the explanation which Christ himself gave in answer to the same question as many as do the will of God are the sons of God Christ perfectly fulfilled the will of God he had as I understand it reached the stage which your Sufis call annihilation in God Fanao fellow he had become merged in God in thought in will in being and could truly say I am God higher than this can no one pass how then can you call Baha the father since the father is infinite invisible omnipresent omnipotent suppose that in this assembly replied the other there were one wiser than all the rest and containing in himself all and more than all the knowledge which the others possessed collectively that one would be in knowledge the father of all the others so may Baha be called the father of Christ and of all preceding prophets well I answered by no means satisfied with this explanation apart from this which I will pass by for the present it appears to me that you confuse and confound different things the coming of the comforter is not the same thing as we understand it as the return of Christ yet both of these you declare to be fulfilled in the coming of Baha and whereas you spoke of Baha a little while ago as Christ returned you now call him the father as regards the comforter we believe that he entered as the Holy Spirit into the hearts of the disciples soon after the Jews had put Christ to death I know that the Muhammadan's assert that the prophecies which we apply to this descent of the Holy Spirit were intended to refer to Muhammad that for the word Paracletos they would substitute pericletos which is in meaning nearly equivalent to Ahmad or Muhammad signifying one praised or illustrious but if you as I suppose follow the Muhammadan's in this you cannot apply the same prophecy to Baha if the promise concerning the advent of the comforter was fulfilled in the coming of Muhammad then it clearly cannot apply to the coming of Baha and indeed I still fail to understand in what light you regard Islam and must return once more to the question concerning its relation to Christianity and to your religion which I put some time ago and which I do not think you answered clearly if news of the succeeding manifestation is given by every messenger of God surely it is confined to the manifestation immediately succeeding that wherein it is given and does not extend to others which lie beyond it assuming that you are right in regarding Islam as the completion and fulfillment of Christianity your religion must be regarded as the completion and fulfillment of Islam and the prophecies concerning it must then be sought in the Quran and traditions rather than in the gospel it is therefore incumbent on you if you desire to convince me first of all to prove that Muhammad was the promised comforter and that his religion was the fulfillment of Christianity then to prove that the coming of the bob was foretold and signified by Muhammad and only after this has been done to prove that Baha is he whom the bob foretold for it is possible to believe in Muhammad and not to believe in the bob or to believe in the bob and not to believe in Baha while the converse is impossible if a Jew becomes a Muhammadan he must necessarily accept Christ so if a Muhammadan becomes a believer in Baha he must necessarily believe in the bob to explain the relations of Islam to Christianity on the one hand and to this manifestation on the other would require a larger time than we have at our disposal at present replied the barbie apologist but in brief know that the signs laid down by each prophet as characteristic of the next manifestation apply also to all future manifestations in the books of each prophet whose followers still exist are recorded signs sufficient to convince them of the truth of the manifestation of their own age there is no necessity for them to follow the chain link by link each prophet is complete in himself and his evidence is conclusive unto all men god does not suffer his proof to be incomplete or make it dependent on knowledge and erudition for it has been seen in all manifestations that those who have believed were men whom the world accounted ignorant while those who were held learned in religion were the most violent and bitter opponents and persecutors thus it was in the time of Christ when fishermen believed in him and became his disciples while the Jewish doctors mocked him persecuted him and slew him thus it was also in the time of Muhammad when the mighty and learned among the people did most furiously revile and reproach him and although in this manifestation the last and the most complete many learned men have believed because the proofs were such as no fair minded man could resist still as you know the Muhammad and doctors have ever shown themselves our most irreconcilable enemies and our most strenuous opposers and persecutors but those who are pure in heart and free from prejudice will not fail to recognize the manifestation of god whenever and wherever it appears even as Molanao Jalaluddin Rumi says in the Masnavi the day one needs an eye which is king recognizing to recognize the king under every disguise end of section 25 recording by Nicholas James Bridgewater recorded in London England section 26 of a year amongst the Persians by Edward Granville Brown this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Nicholas James Bridgewater a year amongst the Persians by Edward Granville Brown section 26 as it was growing late and I desired to make use of the present occasion to learn further particulars about the literature of the barbies I allowed the discussion to stand at this point and proceeded to make inquiries about the books which they prized most highly in reply to these inquiries they informed me that Mirzoh Ali Mohammed the Bob had composed in all about a hundred separate treatises of different sizes that the name Bayan was applied generally to all of them and that the book which I described as having been translated into French by Gobineau must be that specially designated as the Kitab al-Ahqaum book of precepts Bahar they added had composed about the same number of separate books and letters I asked if all these works existed in Shiraz to which they replied no they are scattered about the country in the hands of believers some at Yazd some at Esfahan some in other places in Shiraz the total number of separate works is all together about a dozen if that be so I remarked I suppose that some few works of greater value than the others are to be found in every community of believers and I should be glad to know which these are so that I may endeavor to obtain them all that emanates from the source Mastar is equal in importance they answered but some books are more systematic more easily understood and therefore more widely read than others of these the chief are one the Kitab al-Ahqaum most holy book which sums up all the commands and ordinances enjoined on us to the Egon assurance which sets forth the proofs of our religion three dissertations on science astronomy metaphysics and the like which we call Sovara el-Miyyeh four prayers monogiot and exhortations khotab besides these there is a history of the early events of this manifestation written by one who desired to keep his name secret can you get me these I inquired especially the Kitab al-Ahqaum and the history for I already possess the Egon and was the writer of the history one of yourselves I will get a transcript of the Kitab al-Ahqaum made for you if I can replied Mirza Ali and meanwhile I will borrow a copy for you to read I dare say some of us can lend you the history also it is not altogether good the author devotes too large a portion of his work to abuse of the Muhammadan doctors and reflections on the Persian government while on the other hand he omits many events of real importance besides that I do not like his pretense of being a French traveler for we all know and indeed anyone who reads his book can see that he was not a European I do not know his name but I expect Hodji Mirza Hassan does I know it answered the person appealed to but it is a secret which I am not entitled to divulge though as the writer is dead now it could make very little matter even were it generally known I may tell you this much that he was one of the secretaries of Monak Chisau Heb at Tehran Monakji the son of Lemji Hushang Hotaryauri was for many years maintained by the Parsees of Bombay at Tehran to watch over the interests of the Persian Zoroastrians he died within the last year or two full particulars of the circumstances under which the new history here alluded to was composed will be found in the introduction to my translation of that work when he began to write he was quite impartial but as he went on he became convinced by his investigations of the truth of the matter and this change in his opinions is manifest in the latter portion of the work the book was sent to the supreme horizon i.e. Akra the residence of Bahá'u'lláh the son of truth when it was finished but was not altogether approved there and I believe that another and more accurate history is to be written the traveller's narrative composed by Bahá'u'lláh's son Abbas Effendi about the year 1886 was the outcome of this intention it was published by me with a translation in 1891 however you will learn a great deal from this one have you got any of the poems of Goratul Ain I demanded I have heard that she wrote poems and should like very much to see some of them and obtain copies yes they answered she wrote poems and some of them are still extant but we have none of them here at Shiraz you would most likely find them if anywhere at Ghazbeen her native place at Hamadoun which she visited after her conversion or at Tehran where she suffered martyrdom in Khorasan and Mozandaron also they might be found but here in the south it is difficult it was now past sunset and dusk was drawing on so I was reluctantly compelled to depart homewards on the whole I was well satisfied with my first meeting with the Barbies of Shiraz and looked forward to many similar conferences during my stay in Persia they had talked freely and without restraint had received me with every kindness and appeared desirous of affording me every facility for comprehending their doctrines and although some of my inquiries had not met with answers as clear as I could have desired I was agreeably impressed with the fairness courtesy and freedom from prejudice of my new acquaintances especially it struck me that their knowledge of Christ's teaching and the Gospels was much greater than that commonly possessed by the Mosul Mauns and I observed with pleasure that they regarded the Christians with a friendliness very gratifying to behold concerning the books they were as good as their word I received on the following day manuscripts of the history and of the Kitabe Ak Das and was told that I might keep them as long as I liked but that a fresh copy of the latter would be made for me by Haji Mirzoh Hassan the scribe both books were finally here I left Persia made over to me as a free gift and are now in my possession four days after the conference described above I received a note from Mirzoh Ali informing me that Haji Mirzoh Hassan had come to see him and that I might join them if I wished of course I hastened thither at once taking with me the Kitabe Ak Das which I had meanwhile read through to ask the explanation of certain passages which I had been unable fully to understand most of these Haji Mirzoh Hassan explained to me but the very complicated law of inheritance he could not altogether elucidate in answer to my question whether polygamy was sanctioned by their religion he replied that two wives were allowed but believers are recommended to limit themselves to one I then inquired whether it was true as asserted by Gobinot that circumcision had been abolished he answered that it was ignored being a thing altogether indifferent sundry other points wherein the ordinances of the new religion differed from those of Islam such as the prohibition of shaving the head or wearing long locks Zolf like the Persians and the regulations for prayer were then discussed two days later Mirzoh Ali again paid me a visit and remained for about two hours from him I learned sundry particulars about the Barbies of which his European education had enabled him to appreciate the interest but which would probably never have been mentioned to me by Haji Mirzoh Hassan or my other friends who as is so often the case in the east could not understand a mere desire for information as such and who therefore would speak of little else but the essential doctrines of their religion amongst other things he told me that besides the new writing known only to a few many of the Barbies had Cornelian seals on which was cut a curious device these seals were all engraved by a certain dervish belonging to the sect who spent his life in traveling from town to town the device in question which I subsequently saw is shaped thus as to its significance Mirzoh Ali professed himself ignorant I have since learned that it is a monogram of Bahar's name compare page 477 infra I questioned him about the prophecies of Bahar alluded to at the house of Mirzoh Muhammad and he replied that I had better ask Haji Mirzoh Hassan who had been much at Akre and knew far more about them than he did one of the best known incidents he added was connected with the history of the martyrs of Esfahan soon after their death Sheikh Balger who had been chiefly instrumental in bringing it about received a terrible letter of denunciation from Akre wherein it was announced that he would shortly die in disgrace and ignominy which actually occurred a little while afterwards Sheikh Balger's miserable end is a matter of notoriety in Persia concluded my friend but I will try and get Haji Mirzoh Hassan or one of the others to show you the epistle in which it is foretold and to relate to you all the details of the matter for I quite understand the importance which you attach to prophecy in the sense in which you commonly understand it in Europe about sunset Mirzoh Ali rose to depart but before leaving invited me to spend the next day in a garden near Masjid Bardi which belonged to him I shall ask Haji Mirzoh Hassan and some other friends he added and we can discuss matters undisturbed and uninterrupted for I shall take care not to have any preting inquisitive servants about only my faithful black and one or two others on whom I can rely I gladly accepted the invitation and we parted early next morning I met my friend and Haji Mirzoh Hassan at the gate of the city as soon as I perceived them I gave Haji Saffar permission to withdraw telling him that I should not need him again before evening when he was gone Mirzoh Ali informed me that the other guests would proceed independently to the garden as it was perhaps inadvisable for all of us to be seen together after a pleasant walk of about forty minutes for I had entreated my friend to dispense with horses we reached the garden and we took ourselves to an upper chamber in a little summer house standing in its midst though the day was cloudy no rain fell till 10 30 a.m by which time all the other guests had arrived these were three in number all men past middle age grave and venerable in appearance two of them both say yes and both of the number of the aff now I had met already see above pages 301 to 2 the third were a white turbine and brought with him concealed beneath his cloak two books after the usual interchange of greetings Mirzoh Ali suggested to the possessor of the books that he should read a portion aloud and the epistle addressed to Napoleon the third exhorting him to believe and warning him of his approaching humiliation was accordingly chosen as containing one of the most remarkable prophecies of Bahá'u'll the prophecy in question I have published elsewhere in an account given to the royal asiatic society of the literature and doctrines of the barbies but two verses of it may be repeated here journal of the royal asiatic society october 1889 page 968 they run as follows because of what thou hast done affairs shall be changed in thy kingdom and empire shall depart from thine hands as a punishment for thine action thy glory hath made thee proud by my life it shall not endure but shall pass away unless thou takest hold of this firm rope we have seen humiliation hastening after thee while thou art of those that sleep when the reader ceased I asked for permission to examine the books which was readily accorded the one from which the epistle of napoleon had been read contained besides this the whole of the kitab e act das and the other epistles addressed to the rulers of the principal countries in europe and asia these comprised letters to the queen of england the emperor of russia the shah of persia and the pope of rome as well as one addressed to a turkish minister who had oppressed the barbies I asked when these were written but no one present seemed to know the exact date though they thought that it was about 20 years ago when bahar was in adrian opal besides these epistles to the kings al vahe salautine were one or two other letters addressed to believers amongst which was one written to the barbie missionary whom I had met at esfahan while he was an exile at khartoum hauji mirza hasan these epistles were as I learned known collectively as the surya hay khal abstracts of these letters were published by me in english in the journal of the royal asiatic society for october 1889 and the full text of the surya hay khal has been edited by barron rosen in volume six of the collection scientifiques de l'institut des langues orientales saint petersberg 1891 of this edition I published a notice in the jr as for april 1892 the other book was a larger volume containing many suras without name or title some of considerable length some quite short this collection was termed by my companions the perspicuous book kitalbe mobine while I was engaged in examining it breakfast was announced and we repaired to an adjoining room where a sumptuous repast of savory pillows and cellos prawns melons and other delicacies was laid out I wish to take my place on the floor with the other guests but this mirza ali would not permit saying that he knew I should be more comfortable if I would sit at the table which he had provided expressly for me after the meal one or two of the guests lay down to sleep for a while and in the narrower circle conversations seemed to flow more freely I succeeded at length in inducing my barbie friends to give me some further account of the barb and of the history of their faith the sum of what they told me was as follows each of the prophets is the manifestation of one of the names or attributes of God the name manifested in the barb was the highest of all the head the one hence it is that nineteen is amongst the barbies the sacred number according to which all things are arranged the months of the year the days of the month the chapters in the bayon the finds imposed for certain offenses and many other things for nineteen is the numerical value of the word val head according to the abjad notation in which each letter has a numerical equivalent and each word a corresponding number formed by the addition of its component letters this sacred number was manifested even at the first appearance of the barb for eighteen of his fellow students at once believed in him these eighteen are called the letters of the living because they were the creative agents employed by the barb for bestowing new life upon the world and because the numerical value of the word hay is eighteen all of them were inspired and pervaded by the barb the one val head and in him constitute the manifested unity val head of nineteen thus the visible church on earth was a type of the one god one in essence but revealed through the names whereby the essence can alone be comprehended but this is not all each of the nineteen members of the unity gained nineteen converts so that the primitive church comprised three hundred and sixty one persons in all this is called the number of all things for three hundred and sixty one is the square of nineteen and the further expansion thereof and it is also the numerical equivalent of the word which means all things this is why the barbie year like the bayon is arranged according to this number in nineteen months of nineteen days each but the barbie year is a solar year containing three hundred and sixty six days these five additional days are added at the beginning of the last month which is the month of fasting and are commanded to be spent in entertaining one's friends and the poor as it is written in the kitabe act ass place the days which are in excess over the months before the month of fasting verily we have made them the manifestations of the letter howl equals five amongst the nights and days therefore are they not comprised within the limits of the months it is incumbent on such as are in bahar to feed their in themselves and their relatives then the poor and distressed and when the days of giving which are before the days of withholding are finished let them enter upon the fast immediately after the month of fasting comes the great festival of the no rules which inaugurates a new year that the old national festival which marks the period when the sun again resumes his sway after the dark cold winter is passed and the earth again clothes herself with verger should be thus consecrated again by the barbies is one sign amongst many of the persian genius by which the new faith was inspired sheikh ahmad assal e who taught at carbala about the beginning of the present century first began to hint darkly that the days wherein the promised imam should appear were at hand when he died a d 1826 his pupil howl ji say did cause him of rashed succeeded him and spoke more clearly on the same theme especially towards the end of his life amongst the number of those who attended his lectures were mirzo ali muhammad the bob and howji muhammad kareem khan of kermon now when the former arose and declared himself to be the promised imam foretold by the lately deceased teacher the latter strenuously opposed him and claimed the supremacy for himself and some followed kareem khan whilst others and these were the majority recognize the claim of mirzo ali muhammad the bob these latter were henceforth called barbies while the former retained the title of sheikh ease thereby implying that they were the true exponents of the doctrine of sheikh ahmad and that the barbies had departed therefrom for before that time all alike who accepted the sheikh's teaching were called by this name thus it is that although the bob and the majority of his disciples had previously to the manifestation being called sheikh ease the sheikh ease of today i.e. the followers of kareem khan of kermon are the bitterest and fiercest enemies of the barbies baha whose proper name is mirzo hossain ali of noor in mausanderan was one of those who believed in the bob he was arrested at all mall on his way to join the barbies who under the leadership of mullah hossain of bosh roe were entrenched at sheikh tabar see in 1852 he narrowly escaped death in the great persecution wherein the intrepid solemn khan the brilliant and beautiful go ratolein and a host of others suffered martyrdom it was proved however that he had but just arrived at tehron and could not have had any share in the plot against the shore wherein the others were accused of being involved so his life was spared and after an imprisonment of about four months he was allowed to leave persia and take up his residence at bagdad mirzo yahya subhe azal the morning of eternity baha's half-brother then only about 22 years of age was at that time recognized as the bob's successor having been designated as such by the bob himself shortly before he suffered martyrdom at tabriz his supremacy was recognized at least nominally by all the barbies during the 11 years sojourn of their chiefs at bagdad but even then baha took the most prominent part in the organization of affairs the carrying on of correspondence and the interviewing of visitors in 1863 the ottoman government acceding to the urgent requests of the persian authorities removed all the barbies including baha and mirzo yahya subhe azal from bagdad to constantanople and thence to adrianople where they arrived about the end of the year here at length baha cast aside the veil proclaimed himself as he whom god shall manifest whose coming the bob had foretold and called on all the barbies including mirzo yahya subhe azal to acknowledge his claim and submit to his authority many of the barbies did so at once and their number increased as time went on so that now the great majority of them are followers of baha though a few still adhere to mirzo yahya and these are called azalis but at first the disproportion between the bahaiz and the azalis was but slight and the rivalry between them was great resulting indeed in some bloodshed so the turkish government decided to separate them and accordingly sent baha and his followers to akre in syria and mirzo yahya and his family to famagusta in cyprus now the reason why baha was sent to akre was as his followers assert that its climate is exceedingly unhealthy and that it was hoped that he might die there for the persian ambassador the french minister and ali pao char the turk had consulted together as to the means whereby the new faith might be crushed the persian suggested that baha should be killed but the turk refused to do this openly saying that it would be a much better plan to send him and his followers to a place where they would soon die but baha devined their wicked intention and rebuked it in the epistles to the kings declaring that ali pao char should die in exile and the power of france fail before the foe while he remained unharmed in the place whether they had sent him and these things were fulfilled for two years later france began to recoil before the german arms while ali pao char died far from his native land but baha continued to live and prosper and even dreary akre smiled with fresh gardens and seemed to gain a purer air i give this account as it was given to me by the barbies at shiro's but i do not think that it is altogether correct for instance i think that not ali pao but foe odd pao char who actually died at nis in 1869 was the turkish statesman concerned and now the afternoon being far advanced it was time to retrace our steps to the city the rain had ceased and the evening was soft and barmy but the roads were terribly muddy in spite of this we had a pleasant walk back to the town where we arrived a little before dusk after a most delightful day on the morrow as i was sitting in my room after breakfast wondering what to do a note came from mirzo ali asking me to be ready at three p.m to accompany him to the house of one of the i.e a member of the bobs family and meanwhile to prepare any questions which i might desire to ask as i should meet there one of the most learned barbies in shiro's whose manifold and undisputed talents had caused his co-religionists to bestow on him the title of carmel perfect his actual title was similar to but not identical with this considerations of expediency have led me to alter it as above joyfully signifying my acceptance of the invitation i sat down to glance hastily through the ketabe act ass and make notes of such passages as presented any difficulty at the appointed time mirzo ali's black servant came to conduct me to the place of meeting where besides some of those whom i had met in the garden on the previous day the illustrious carmel himself was present after the customary greetings were over i was invited to lay my difficulties before them an invitation with which i hastened to comply my first question related to the laws of inheritance and the partition of property but here i was not more fortunate than on a previous occasion even carmel being compelled to admit that he could not altogether comprehend them i therefore passed on to the passage in the ketabe act ass whereby the pilgrimage to the house had jolly bait is enjoined on all male believers who are able to perform it and inquired what was meant by the house in question to this carmel replied that the house in shiro's wherein the bob formerly dwelt was intended i asked eagerly if i might not be permitted to visit it while in shiro's where at they looked doubtfully at one another and said that they would try to manage it but that it was difficult firstly because the present inmates of the house were all women secondly because the house was well known to the mo salmans who would not fail to remark so unusual an event as the visit of a feranghi to a barbie shrine my third question related to the following verse it is not meat for anyone to demand pardon from another repent unto god in presence of yourselves verily he is forgiving bounteous mighty and swift to repent what does this prohibition refer to i demanded of carmel to the power which your priest's claim of absolving men of sin he replied but surely i urged since this claim is in the first place confined to christen them and in the second place is limited to the priests of one sect amongst the christians it seems hardly necessary to prohibit it here it is not confined to the christians he replied for the molas here claim very similar powers though perhaps they formulate them in a less definite manner when a man has embezzled or extorted money and his conscience pricks him he goes before one of our clergy and states the case to him where upon the latter takes a small sum from him in the name of religion and declares the remainder purified thereby all such tricks of priests and molas are forbidden in this verse the fourth question which i put forward provoked a more fruitful discussion it related to the verse wherein the sufis and others who lay claimed to inward knowledge are condemned in the following terms and there are amongst them such as lay claim to the inner and the inmost mystery say oh liar by god what thou hast is but husks which we have abandoned to you as bones are abandoned to the dogs surely i demanded not only is the doctrine of the sufis in many ways near akin to your own but it is also purer and more spiritual by far than the theology of the molas do you condemn man sure hal lodge for saying i am the truth and al hag when bahar makes use of the same expression do you regard gelolo din through me as a liar when you continually make use of the mass navi to illustrate your ideas no answered carmel assuredly man sur and gelolo din spoke with a true inspiration this verse in no wise applies to them nor to any of the sufis of past days these were illumined with a true light in such wise that many of them clearly hinted at this manifestation as for example ha fez does where he says isabal gar begzari bar so helle rude aras busezan bar khalki on thou thee the moshkin conafas o zephyr if thou passest by the banks of the river a raxies implant a kiss on the earth of that valley and make fragrant thy breath for it was in the fortress of marcu by the a raxies that his highness the point of revelation i.e the bob spent the last three years of his life those intended by the verse in question are such as would oppose a pretended inward illumination to the full light of the present manifestation so far as i understand you then i replied you admit the sufi doctrine that a man may by self renunciation and intense abstraction attain to the degree of annihilation in god and that in this condition he may truly say i am god in as much as he has foregone self escaped from the illusions of plurality and realized the unity of true being if this be so i do not clearly understand in what way you regard the prophet as his superior for surely no degree can be higher than this as your proverb says there is no color beyond black bolotar as sio rangini still less do i see how you can speak of one prophet as superior to another unless you place all but the highest in a lower rank than the sufi who has attained the absorption into the divine essence when we speak of one prophet as superior to another answered carmel we speak in a manner purely relative for the universal spirit rue coley speaks through all of them alike but in as much as they speak in diverse manners according to the capacity of their heroes and according to the requirements of time and place to us they appear in different degrees of perfection the sun for example is the same today as it was yesterday yet we say today it is hotter than it was yesterday because we enjoy a fuller measure of the heat but we do not by this expression mean to imply that there is any alteration in the sun itself in the world of ideas regard the universal spirit as the sun which rises in each manifestation from a different horizon or regard it as the instructor of mankind speaking always to those whom it addresses in a manner suitable to their comprehension just as a teacher instructs children in the alphabet boys in grammar youths of riper age in logic rhetoric and other sciences and full grown men in philosophy the teacher is always one and the same but he manifests himself more or less perfectly according to the aptitude of those whom he addresses so it is with the universal spirit which speaks through all the prophets only its outward vestment changes and the phraseology of which it makes use its essence and the message which it utters are ever the same and since this universal spirit is absolute good we must believe that it always has a manifestation in the world for it is better that a tree should continually bear fruit than that it should only bear fruit at long intervals and we are bound to attribute all that is best to the spirit hence it follows that during the long intervals which separate one prophetic dispensation from the next there must be in the world silent manifestations of the spirit intrinsically not less perfect than the speaking manifestations whom we call prophets the only difference is that a claim is advanced in the one case and not in the other and it is only to this claim that the verse about which you inquire refers as likewise does the verse who so ever claim at the dispensation before the completion of a full thousand years is indeed a lying imposter I now put to Carmel the following question which I had already propounded in my first meeting with the Barbies of Shiraz if the references to Christ's coming which occur in the gospel refer to this manifestation then they cannot be applied as they are by the Muslims to Muhammad in which case Muhammad's coming was not foretold by Christ and Islam loses a proof which as I understand you regard as essential to every dispensation namely that it shall have been foreshadowed by the bearer of the last dispensation to this he replied that in each dispensation announcement was made of future manifestations in general and that what Christ said concerning his return applied equally to the advent of Muhammad and of the bob and of Muhammad's title seal of the prophets did not he explained signify as the Muhammadans generally suppose the last of the prophets as is proved by a passage occurring in one of the prayers used by pilgrims to Karbala and Najaf wherein Muhammad is called the seal of the prophets who have gone before and the key of those who are to come do you I asked regard Zoroaster as a true prophet assuredly he replied in as much as every religion which has become current in the world and has endured the test of time must have contained at least some measure of truth however much it may have been subsequently corrupted only a divine word can strongly affect and continuously control men's hearts spurious coin will not pass and the uninterrupted currency of a coin is the proof of its genuineness the architect is proved to be an architect by his ability to construct a house the physician is shown to be a physician by healing sickness and the prophet vindicates his claim to the prophetic office by establishing a religion these two things are his sufficient proof and these only that he has a wisdom immediate and God given not acquired from men and that his word so penetrates and controls men that for its sake they are willing to give up all that they most prize and even to lay down their lives so completely was carmel dominated by this conception of the nature of the proof required to establish a claim to prophethood that i could not make him see the importance of any other evidence had the bob i inquired explicitly or by implication signified the attributes qualities or personal peculiarities of his successor no they answered he merely spoke of him as men you'll hear a whole law he whom god shall manifest without further describing him could not dates of publication be proved for some of the prophecies wherein as i have heard bahar had foretold the downfall of napoleon the third the assassination of the late emperor of russia and other events of general notoriety carmel thought that very possibly they could but he evidently attached no importance to the question and did not consider that the power of foretelling future events was any proof of a divine mission as to the right of a prophet to inflict death openly or secretly on those who stubbornly opposed him he took exactly the same view as the young bobby say yet whom i had previously questioned on this matter a prophet was no more to be blamed for removing an obdurate opponent than a surgeon for amputating a gangrenous limb before i left i was shown several books and epistles which i had not previously seen amongst the latter was one addressed to a christian and another containing consolations addressed to one of mirza ali's uncles on the occasion of his father's death and his own bankruptcy for he had failed to the extent of 60 000 tomans he was then in sanctuary at the masjid in all i was also shown a specimen of the or revelation writing i.e the almost illegible draft of bahar's utterances made by his immanuensis auga mirza auga jaun called khaldemo law the servant of god who as i was informed writes with such speed that he can take down 1500 verses in an hour this being as it appears the maximum of rapidity attained by bahar's revelations very few however save the immanuensis himself can read this revelation writing a seal on which was inscribed the name hossain both in the arabic character and in the khattabadi or new writing invented by the barbiz was also shown to me by one of those present this new writing bears some superficial resemblance to the armenian character each letter consists of a thick oblique stroke descending from right to left to which are appended various fine curves and flourishes all the thick lines being parallel and equidistant i finally left at about eight o'clock one of my bobby friends remarking on the quick flight of the time which he added was due in their belief to the fact that in spiritual converse such as we had held the soul sores above the limitations of time and space and ceases to take cognizance of them end of section 26 recording by nicholas james bridgewater recorded in london england