SUBSEQUENT DISCOVERIES
The historical work of the Ezelite party, called _The Eight
Paradises_, makes Ezel nineteen years of age when he came forward
as an expounder of religious mysteries and wrote letters to the Ba?„b.
On receiving the first letter, we are told that the Ba?„b (or, as we
should rather now call him, the Point) instantly prostrated himself in
thankfulness, testifying that he was a mighty Luminary, and spoke by
the Self-shining Light, by revelation. Imprisoned as he was at Maku,
the Point of Knowledge could not take counsel with all his
fellow-workers or disciples, but he sent the writings of this
brilliant novice (if he really was so brilliant) to each of the
'Letters of the Living,' and to the chief believers, at the same time
conferring on him a number of titles, including S??ubh??-i-Ezel ('Dawn
of Eternity') and Baha-'ullah ('Splendour of God ').
If this statement be correct, we may plausibly hold with Professor
E. G. Browne that S??ubh??-i-Ezel (Mirza Yah??ya) was advanced to the
rank of a 'Letter of the Living,' and even that he was nominated by
the Point as his successor. It has also become much more credible that
the thoughts of the Point were so much centred on S??ubh??-i-Ezel
that, as Ezelites say, twenty thousand of the words of the Bayan refer
to Ezel, and that a number of precious relics of the Point were
entrusted to his would-be successor.
But how can we venture to say that it is correct? Since Professor
Browne wrote, much work has been done on the (real or supposed)
written remains of S??ubh??-i-Ezel, and the result has been (I think)
that the literary reputation of S??ubh??-i-Ezel is a mere bubble.
Pages:
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149