Subh-i-Azal
| Central figures |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Basics (outline) | ||
| Key scripture | ||
| Institutions | ||
| History | ||
| People | ||
| Places | ||
| Other topics | ||
Mírzá Yaḥyá Núrí (1831 - 29 April, 1912) or often called Ṣubḥ-i-Azal (Morning of Eternity) was a Persian religious leader of the Bayani people (sometimes referred to as Bábís or Azalis).
Life
Background
Mirza Yahya was the son of Kuchak Khanum of Karmanshah ((Atiyya Ruhi)) and Mírzá Buzurg of Nur, in the province of Mazandaran, and a younger-half-brother of Mírzá Husaynn `Ali, better known as Bahá'u'lláh. Their father was "accomplished, wealthy, and much respected, but was not a prince, as some have alleged." (Miller p 71). His mother died while giving birth to him, and his father died in 1834 when Mirza Yahya was three years old. His father is buried at Vadi-al-Islam in Najaf. Mirza Yahya was committed to the care of his step-mother Khadíjih Khánum, the mother of Bahá'u'lláh (Atiyya Ruhi)
Mirza Jani quotes the following statement (as found in Mirza Huseyn Hamadani who used him as source) which Mirza Husayn Ali had made regarding his younger brother:
- I busied myself with the instruction of Janab-i-Azal. The signs of his natural excellence and goodness of disposition were apparent in the mirror of his being. He ever loved gravity of demeanour, silence, courtesy, and modesty, avoiding the society of other children, and their behaviour. I did not, however, know that he would became the possessor of [so high] a station. (Tarikh-i-Jadid, p. 375.)
He was a follower of the Báb's, and before the Báb's martyrdom in 1850, Mirza Yahya was named as the Mirror of the Bayan and leader of the Babis. He was told by the Báb that he may complete the eight unfinished unities of the Arabic Bayan. His title of Subh-i-Azal or the "Morning of Eternity" was given to him by the Báb. Template:See Panj Sha'n Mirza Yahya was deemed the return of Quddús according to Mirza Jani (Tarikh-i-Jadid, p 380)
Titles
His most widely known title, "Subh-i-Azal" appears in an Islamic tradition called the Hadith-i-Kumayl (Kumayl was a student of the first Imam, Ali) which the Báb quotes in his book Dalá'il-i-Sab'ih.
It was common practice among the Bábís to receive titles. The Báb's Will and Testament addresses Mirza Yahya in the first verse:
- "Name of Azal, testify that there is no God but I, the dearest beloved."
Manuchehri (2004) notes that Subh-e Azal was the only Bábí with such a title as "Azal".
Baghdad
After the Takur uprising and the assassination attempt on the Shah, Azal exiled himself to Baghdad in the Ottoman Empire, being the recognized supreme spiritual leader of the Bábís.
During these ten years in Baghdad approximately 25 people claimed to be "He whom God shall make manifest". One of these claimants, Mirza Asadu'llah Khu'i Dayyan, was murdered by one Muhammad Mazandarani who was quite possibly Mirza Husayn 'Ali Nuri Baha'u'llah himself.
Bahá'u'lláh's claim
In 1863, Mirza Husayn 'Ali Nuri Bahá'u'lláh claimed to be the Return of Imam Husayn. Only later in Edirne did he outright claim to be the Babi messiah. Like the other claimants preceding him, Mirza Yahya disputed Baha'u'llah's claim whereupon Baha'u'llah had several of Azal's partisans murdered, evening attempting to poison Azal himself at one point. The remaining loyalists of Mirza Yahya became known to posterity as the Azali sect of Bábism.
Exile
In 1863 both half-brothers and their retinue were exiled to Adrianople.
In 1868 Mirza Yahya was exiled to Cyprus where he died in Famagusta, Cyprus on April 29, 1912.
Family
According to Browne, Mirza Yahya had several wives, and at least nine sons and five daughters. His sons included: Nurullah, Hadi, Ahmad, Abdul Ali, Rizwan Ali, and four others. Rizvan Ali reports that he had eleven or twelve wives. (Browne, JRAS, p. 767.)
Legacy
Many of the facts about Mirza Yahya are disputed by the respective Bahá'í and Bayani historical sources. Bahá'ís sources demonized him, attributing their own misdeeds upon Azal. Bayani sources prove the allegations made against Azal to be spurious and instead applying to Bahá'u'lláh and his partisans.
His legacy did continue. Browne reports that there was confusion over who was to be Mirza Yayha's successor at his death. Mirza Yayha's son, Rizwán `Ali, reported that he had appointed the son of Aqa Mirza Muhammad Hadi of Daulatabad as his successor; while another, H.C. Lukach's, states that Mirza Yahya had said that whichever of his sons "resembled him the most" would be the successor. None appear to have stepped forward. (Browne, Materials, pp. 312-314).
Miller states that Yahya did not name a successor (Miller, p. 107).
Works
A Succinct Account of the New Manifestation
References
- Browne, E.G. (Ed.) (1910). Kitab-i Nuqtat al-Kaf: Being the Earliest History of the Bábís. E.J. Brill, Leiden.
- Browne, E.G. (1918). Materials for the Study of the Bábí Religion. Cambridge University Press.
- Browne, E.G. (1897). "Personal Reminiscences of the Babi Insurrection at Zanjan in 1850, written by Aqa `Abdu'l-Ahad-i-Zanjan". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. v. 29: pp. 761–827.
{{cite journal}}:|pages=has extra text (help)
- Mirza Huseyn Hamadani. The Tarikh-i-Jadid, or New History of Mirza 'Ali Muhammad The Bab. Translated by Edward G. Browne. Cambridge: University Press, 1893. Includes Subh-i-Ezel's A Succinct Account of the Babi Movement. Reprinted. H-Bahai: Lansing, Michigan, 2005.
- Miller, William M (1974). The Bahá'í Faith: Its History and Teachings. William Carey Library. ISBN 0878081372.
- Ruhi, Attiya. A Brief Biography of His Holiness Subh-i-Azal.
External links
- The Primal Point's Will and Testiment - Commentry on the Báb's will
- The Religion of Bayan A website maintained by the People of the Bayan, including: