A Traveller’s Narrative

Abstract

In the classification of Baha’i texts, the book “A Traveler’s Narrative” is considered a historical source among the Baha’is. This book was written by Abbas ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the second leader of the Baha’i Faith.

The author of this book claims that he came to Iran as a tourist and encountered the Babi movement. He believes that various individuals have written about this movement with love and hate, which does not quite align with reality! Therefore, he has decided to write about the historical events of the Babi period without bias or partisanship.

Currently, all Baha’i writers believe that this book was written by Abbas Effendi. An interesting point to note here is that he was exiled from Iran to Iraq with his father at the age of nine and never returned to Iran. Therefore, his impartiality in writing the history of the Babi period, just like his claim of traveling to Iran, is a clear contradiction.

The traveler narrative and its publication

The exact date of the composition of this book is not known, but based on the text of the book, the approximate date of its issuance can be understood to be in the late 1880s of the 19th century.

The first print was made in 1890 AD (equivalent to 1307 AH) through the efforts of Professor Edward Browne from a manuscript donated by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá written by Zain al-Muqarribin and was published in 1891 at the University of Cambridge.

At the same time, a lithographic print of the manuscript was undertaken in Bombay (India). The third Bombay edition was printed in the year 1313 AH and the fourth edition in Tehran in the year 1311 SH. Thirty years later, in 1962 AD, it reached the fifth print in Tehran by the National Institute of Baha’i Publications of Iran.

On September 28, 1999, the Baha’i Publishing Trust announced in a letter that despite this version being authentic, but ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had made changes that were not considered in this printed edition. Among them was the addition of “the Tablet to the Sultan of Iran” in the year 1308 AH. Therefore, after that, the mentioned version was printed and published by the Publishing Committee of Baha’i Works.

The personal treatise of the traveler was translated into English by Professor Edward Browne in the years 1890-1891 under the title “A Traveler’s Narrative”.

In 2023 AD, with an official announcement from the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia, the digital English version of the book “A Traveler’s Narrative” became available to the public through the Baha’i Library of Light.

The historical contradictions of a Traveler’s Narrative

The important point of this seemingly historical narrative, is that the author has designed the story of Ali Muhammad Bab of Shiraz and the Babi group to enhance the significance of Mirza Husayn-Ali Bahá’u’lláh, the leader of the Baha’is.

1-The Herald of “Him Whom God Shall Make Manifest”

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, by creating a position for the Bab, named him the herald of the appearance of Bahá’u’lláh. In this way, he elevated the status of his own father above that of the Bab. This is while the announcement of the next prophet has never been considered a position or rank among the prophets. Considering that the divinity and prophethood of the Bab and Baha’u’llah are still debated.

Moreover, on pages 3 and 4 of the book “A Traveler’s Narrative”, the position of Babism is documented based on the first book of Sayyid Bab. This evidence is mentioned in the book “the Qayyūm al-asmā” of Bab. Continuing on the same subject, it admits that Bab considered himself a sacrifice for an absent person named “Remnant of God.” Therefore, since he was the intermediary of blessings from this person, he claimed Babism.

“He began to speak and to declare the rank of Báb-hood. Now what He intended by the term Báb [Gate] was this, that He was the channel of grace from some great Person still behind the veil of glory, Who was the possessor of countless and boundless perfections, by Whose will He moved, and to the bond of Whose love He clung. And in the first book which He wrote in explanation of the Súrih of Joseph,[1] He addressed Himself in all passages to that Person unseen from Whom He received help and grace, sought for aid in the arrangement of His preliminaries, and craved the sacrifice of life in the way of His love. Amongst others is this sentence: “O Remnant of God, I am wholly sacrificed to Thee; I am content with curses in Thy way; I crave naught but to be slain in Thy love; and God the Supreme sufficeth as an Eternal Protection.”

Abbas Effendi with a tricky nature, introduces the meaning of the word “Remnant of God” as his own father, Bahá’u’lláh. However, texts and Baha’i sources have proven the contrary. Fazel Mazandarani (a credible Baha’i writer) in the book ‘Asrar al-Athar,’ Vol. 2, p. 67, under the letter ‘B’ and in the word “Remnant of God,” says: “The intended meaning of ‘Remnant of God’ is His Holiness Hujjat bin al-Hassan al-Askari, the twelfth Imam of the Shiites.’”

2-The Lesson of Bahá’u’lláh’s Illiteracy

In a section of the book “A Traveler’s Narrative,” a tablet from Bahá’u’lláh known as the Tablet to the Sultan is mentioned. This tablet is a letter from Mirza Husayn-Ali to Naser al-Din Shah. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá quotes his father as saying:

“O Sultan, I was like one of the servants, and lying on the bed, when the breezes of the Exalted blew over and taught me knowledge of what was not from me but from the presence of the Mighty, the Knowing. And He commanded me to call out between the earth and heaven, with that, what made the eyes of the Gnostics weep came to me.

I did not read what people have of sciences, nor have I entered schools. So, ask the city where I was, so you may be certain that I am not of the liars.”

Therefore, according to the claim of Mirza Husayn-Ali and confirmed by his son, he asserts that he did not acquire his knowledge through studying in human schools but that all of it came to him at birth through divine inspirations. This account contradicts other confirmations by Abbas Effendi. He admits in endorsing the historical book ‘Kawakeb al-Durriyyeh’ written by his own scribe Abdul-Husayn Ayati (known as Avarih) where it is mentioned that his father learned to read and write in childhood and introduced himself as such in the assemblies and councils of ministers and notables (Kawakeb al-Durriyyeh, Vol. 1, p.256-257)

Conclusion

Confronting such facts in the writings of Baha’i leaders resonates not only with every Baha’i but also with every truth-seeking individual: “When the author of a book quotes Ali Muhammad Bab as saying, “I am the Bab and the intermediary of the twelfth Imam, not the person himself…” how can Baha’ism claim that the twelfth Imam of the Shiites was Mirza Ali Muhammad Bab?! In fact, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has quoted something in his historical book and interpreted it according to his own desires! Can such a historical narrative be considered credible and become a source for the Baha’is to investigate the truth in other subjects of Baha’i history?”