Dayyán
Mírzá Asadu’lláh was a prominent Persian Bábí who was given the title Dayyán ("One Who Rewards" or "Judge") by the Báb.[1] Shoghi Effendi describes him as "the zealous, the famous Mírza Asadu'lláh, surnamed Dayyán, a prominent official of high literary repute, who was endowed by the Báb with the "hidden and preserved knowledge," and extolled as the "repository of the trust of the one true God..."[2] The Báb predicted Dayyán would be the third person to believe in Baháʼu'lláh and extolled him as the "Third Letter to believe in Him Whom God shall make manifest."[3][4]
Biography[edit]
Dayyán was a government official in the town Khúy as of the 1840's. He was a talented writer and fluent in Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Hebrew, and Syriac. The Bábí religion was proclaimed to him however he initially rejected the religion and was hostile towards the community.[5]
At some point after 1848 Dayyán had a dream which inspired him to write to the Báb, who was imprisoned in Chihríq, requesting an explanation of two verses of the Qur’án.[6] Upon receiving a Tablet from the Báb a few days later he became a Bábí and traveled from Khúy to Chihríq on foot where he met with the Báb who granted him the title Dayyán and revealed the Lawḥ-i-Hurúfat in his honour.[7] His father was a friend of Ḥájí Mírzá Áqásí, the Prime Minister of Iran, and wrote to Aqásí to report Dayyán's conversion when he learnt of it accusing Dayyán of failing to serve in his government position.[8]
After the Martyrdom of the Báb in 1851 the Bábí community was thrown into disarray and many Bábí's turned to Dayyán for guidance and his followers came to be known as Dayyániyyih. The followers of Subh-i-Azal believed that he had declared himself to be He whom God shall make manifest and that Baháʼu'lláh, after a protracted discussion with him, had instructed his servant Mirza Muhammad Ali of Mázandarán to slay him.[9][10]
Death[edit]
When Bahá’u’lláh went into seclusion in Sulaymániyyih in 1854 Mírzá Yaḥyá attempted to assert authority over the Bábí community and Dayyán opposed his efforts, with Yaḥyá harshly criticizing him in writing.[11] Dayyán corresponded with Yaḥyá and received responses which he considered inadequate and devoid of spiritual knowledge. Baháʼu'lláh wrote in the Kitáb-i-Badíʻ that after reading prayers by Dayyán which showed a loyalty to God's Messengers and emphasized humility and servitude, Mírza Yahyá became very jealous and "determined to harm him".[12]
Tensions increased when Dayyán wrote a letter refuting Mírza Yahyá's claim to be the Báb's successor, even quoting the Báb to make his point. Mírza Yahyá responded by writing a book Mustayqiz (Sleeper Awakened) which reprimanded Dayyán, called him the "Father of Calamities," and called on Bábís to kill him.[13] Mírza Yahyá gave this order in 1856.[14] He sent Mírza Muhammad-i-Mázindarání to Azerbaijan "with explicit orders to kill Dayyán."[15] In the meantime Dayyán left Azerbaijan before Mírza Muhammad arrived.[16]
Dayyán was on his way to Baghdad to attain the presence of Baháʼu'lláh Who happened to be returning to Baghdad from Sulaymaniyah in Kurdistan.[17] Dayyán did attain His presence and, on so doing, renounced all prior claims to leadership.[18] Around this time Mirza Muhammad-i-Mazindarani met with Dayyán while he was in Kazimayn and requested that he accompany him to Baghdad, however during the journey he murdered Dayyán on Yaḥyá's instructions.[19][20]
Notes[edit]
- ↑ The Revelation of Baháʼu'lláh, Volume 1: Baghdád 1853-63, Adib Taherzadeh, Oxford: George Ronald, 1974, p. 249
- ↑ God Passes By, Shoghi Effendi, U.S. Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1979 second printing, p. 20
- ↑ God Passes By, Shoghi Effendi, U.S. Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1979 second printing, p. 124
- ↑ Third Letter not to be confused with the Letters of the Living
- ↑ H. M. Balyuzi 1973, p.136, The Bab (Balyuzi).
- ↑ Nabil-i-Zarandi, The Dawn-Breakers, US Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1932, p 303
- ↑ Nabil-i-Zarandi, The Dawn-Breakers, US Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1932, p 304
- ↑ Nabil-i-Zarandi, The Dawn-Breakers, US Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1932, p 305
- ↑ E. G. Browne 1891, p. 357, From E.G. Brownes' translation an Azali polemical tract
- ↑ The Baha'i Faith: The History and Teachings, William M. Miller, William Carey Library, 1974, p. 85
- ↑ H. M. Balyuzi, Baha'u'llah: The King of Glory, George Ronald: Oxford, 1980, p 122
- ↑ The Revelation of Baháʼu'lláh, Volume 1: Baghdád 1853-63, Adib Taherzadeh, Oxford: George Ronald, 1974, p. 250
- ↑ The Revelation of Baháʼu'lláh, Volume 1: Baghdád 1853-63, Adib Taherzadeh, Oxford: George Ronald, 1974,
- ↑ A Concise Encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith, Peter Smith, Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2000, p. 53
- ↑ The Revelation of Baháʼu'lláh, Volume 1: Baghdád 1853-63, Adib Taherzadeh, Oxford: George Ronald, 1974,
- ↑ Baháʼu'lláh: The King of Glory, H.M. Balyuzi, Oxford: George Ronald, reprinted 2001, pp. 123-124
- ↑ Baháʼu'lláh: The King of Glory, H.M. Balyuzi, Oxford: George Ronald, reprinted 2001, pp. 123-124
- ↑ A Concise Encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith, Peter Smith, Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2000, p. 53
- ↑ H. M. Balyuzi, Baha'u'llah: The King of Glory, George Ronald: Oxford, 1980, p 124
- ↑ H. M. Balyuzi, Baha'u'llah: The King of Glory, George Ronald: Oxford, 1980, p 121
References[edit]
- Helen Bassett Hornby, ed. (1988) [1st pub. 1983]. Lights of Guidance: A Bahá’í Reference File by Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi, and Universal House of Justice New Delhi: Baháí Publishing Trust. No. 1568. ISBN 978-8185091464.
- Denis MacEoin (1989). "Divisions and Authority Claims in Babism (1850-1866)". Studia Iranica. L'avancement des Edudes Iraniennes. 18.1: 93–129.
- H. M. Balyuzi (1973). The Báb: The Herald of the Day of Days. George Ronald.
- H. M. Balyuzi (1980). Baha'u'llah: The King of Glory. George Ronald.
- E. G. Browne (1891), MÍRZÁ YAHYÁ "SUBH-I-EZEL.", Cambridge University Press, ISBN 90-6022-316-0
