Memorials of the Faithful Part 19

65 For some of these Arabic phrases, see Qur'an 3:170; 4:12, 175; 5:16, 17; 11:100, 101; 28:79; 41:35.

66 The Ba_gh_dad period in Baha'i history was from April 8, 1853 to May 3, 1863. According to various estimates the tuman of the day ranged from $1.08 to $1.60.

67 This was in accord with the law of Islam. Cf. Qur'an 4:12.

68 Qur'an 7:171.

69 For the tribulations following Baha'u'llah's departure see G.o.d Pa.s.ses By, chapter XV.

70 Persia's Hercules.

71 Qur'an 89:27.

72 Qur'an 4:71.

73 Cf. G.o.d Pa.s.ses By, p. 180.

74 Qur'an 89:2730.

75 The Afnan are the Bab's kindred.

76 Qur'an 7:171.

77 Qur'an 39:69.

78 The Promised One of the Bab.

79 Islamic symbolism: Satan is the "stoned one"; with shooting stars for stones, the angels repel demons from Paradise. Qur'an 3:31, 15:17, 34; 37:7; 67:5.

80 Qur'an 2:17.

81 Qur'an 4:71.

82 The Prime Minister.

83 Qum is the shrine city of Fatimih, "the Immaculate." Sister of the eighth Imam, Imam Ri?a, she was buried here in 816 A.D.

84 The remainder of the verse is: "Let us split the roof of Heaven and draw a new design."

85 Qur'an 52:4.

86 Cf. Qur'an 13:28.

87 Qur'an 3:190.

88 Cf. Qur'an 39:68.

89 Qur'an 7:171.

90 Manqul va ma'qul: "desumed" versus "excogitated" knowledge.

91 Qur'an 3:190.

92 Baha'u'llah was accompanied by members of His family and twenty-six disciples. The convoy included a mounted guard of ten soldiers with their officer, a train of fifty mules, and seven pairs of howdahs, each pair surmounted by four parasols. The journey to Constantinople lasted from May 3, 1863 to August 16. Cf. G.o.d Pa.s.ses By, p. 156.

93 Qur'an 26:119; 36:41.

94 Cf. Qur'an 5:59.

95 Qur'an 39:6869: "And there shall be a blast on the trumpet, and all who are in the heavens and all who are in the earth shall swoon away, save those whom G.o.d shall vouchsafe to live. Then shall there be another blast on it, and lo! arising they shall gaze around them: and the earth shall s.h.i.+ne with the light of her Lord..."

96 In _Sh_ay_kh_i terminology, the Fourth Support or Fourth Pillar was the perfect man or channel of grace, always to be sought. ?aji Mu?ammad-Karim _Kh_an regarded himself as such. Cf. Baha'u'llah, Kitab-i-iqan (The Book of Cert.i.tude), p. 184, and 'Abdu'l-Baha, A Traveller's Narrative, p. 4.

97 The promised Twelfth Imam.

98 Allamiy-i-Hilli, "the Very Erudite Doctor," t.i.tle of the famed _Sh_i'ih theologian, Jamalu'd-Din ?asan ibn-i-Yusuf ibn-i-'Ali of Hilla (12501325 A.D.).

99 The Turkish _gh_uru_sh_ or piaster of the time was forty paras, the para one-ninth of a cent. These figures are approximate only.

100 Accent the first syllable: Fa-teh-meh

101 Gibbon writes of the Imam ?usayn's martyrdom and the fate of his Household, that "in a distant age and climate the tragic scene ...

will awaken the sympathy of the coldest reader."

102 The Sadratu'l-Muntaha, translated inter alia as the Sidrah Tree which marks the boundary, and the Lote-Tree of the extremity. Cf.

Qur'an 53:14. It is said to stand at the loftiest point in Paradise, and to mark the place beyond which neither men nor angels can pa.s.s.

In Baha'i terminology it refers to the Manifestation of G.o.d.

103 This prayer was revealed by 'Abdu'l-Baha for the Consort of the King of Martyrs.

104 Qur'an 76:5.

105 p.r.o.nounced _Sh_ams-oz-Zoha.

106 A forerunner of the Bab, and co-founder of the _Sh_ay_kh_i School.

See glossary.

107 His daughter, at a later date, became the consort of 'Abdu'l-Baha.

Cf. G.o.d Pa.s.ses By, p. 130, and The Dawn-Breakers, p. 461.

108 "Gate of the Gate", a t.i.tle of Mulla ?usayn, the first to believe in the Bab. For an account of his sister, cf. The Dawn-Breakers, p.

383, note.

109 "Solace of the Eyes."

110 Persian women of the day went heavily veiled in public.

111 Qur'an 7:7; 14:42; 21:48; 57:25, etc