Just before the aniversary of the Birth of the Bab, 152 BE. Ahang Rabbani sent a note to the Baha'is of Texas electronic mailing list, offering a preview of a book he has been translating. The following is an excerpt from that note.
... So, as a gift to the friends on this Texas list, I like every couple of days to share a portion of a recently translated historical narrative of the Faith and the first portion of it will post on October 20th with the final portion on November 12th.
I think a couple of words to motivate this undertaking are warranted. Recently, I've grown concern that I'd become lax in respect to memory of the Faith's martyrs and that I didn't read and think about them as much as I should. After all Baha'u'llah thought the subject was so important that in the final portion of the medium Obligatory Prayer, He has us utter "blessing and peace, salutation and glory" upon His loved ones (ie. martyrs of the Cause) -- words which we are to repeat 3 times a day lest we become forgetful of these sacrificial souls.
To regain my own focus on this important matter, I've been making an extensive study of the pogrom of 1903 in the Baha'i community of Yazd and its environs and have decided to translate an eyewitness report of the persecution of the Baha'i community of Manshad (pronounced Man-shAd). The report in question is "Sharh Shahadat-i Shuhaday-i Manshad" (Account of Martyrdom of Manshad's Martyrs), by Siyyid Muhammad Tabib-i Manshadi.
My interest is translating this primary historical document is chiefly to introduce, in a language admittedly inadequate, a brief account of the heroic deeds of our brothers and sisters in the Cradle of the Faith to the Baha'i communities of the West so that they may draw fresh inspirations from these deeds of sacrifice.
It is particularly surprising that the story of the massive 1903 holocaust of the Baha'i community of Yazd and its neighboring region has not previously been narrated in the English literature of the Cause. After the translation of this document, I intend to share an abridge translation of Haj Muhammad-Tahir Malmiri's "Tarikh-i Shuhaday-i Yazd" (History of Yazd's Martyrs).
The events surrounding the martyrdom of so many of the friends in the small town of Manshad is told both by Tabib-i Manshadi and Malmiri. It is particularly noteworthy that both books use almost the same language, and in many places verbatim, to narrate the events. I strongly suspect that since Tabib-i Manshadi was an eyewitness and participant in the Manshad's events, Malmiri used his account in his own book, starting page 432. As such, in absence of other evidence, I consider Manshadi's account to be the primary source with Malmiri utilizing it in his own book (without identifying it as such). However, it should be pointed out that in a few places, Malmiri does add some additional pieces of information which are interesting. I intend to use these additional pieces of information as footnotes.
I'll be most grateful for any comments which the readers of Texas list wish to share as this translation will shortly be sent in for formal publication. I've already shared an earlier draft of it with Tarjuman (an Internet network of some 15 of us involved with translation of the Sacred Texts), but now would much appreciate your comments and upgrades.
Please note that each posting will be titled "Martyrs of Manshad, part X".
With appreciations, ahang.
Next part of Martyrs of Manshad
Table of Contents for Martyrs of Manshad
Note The full text of the Martyrs of Manshad was published in
The Bahá'í World
This page formatted to HTML and maintained by Al Prosser
now from West Des Moines, Iowa USA.
Drop Al a line at
alprosser19@yahoo.com with any comments.
Back to Al's Home Page