LESSON THIRTEEN  -  THE BAB'S PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA AND MEDINA  (2)

 Preparation:            Diagram for each child (the Black Stone).  Crayons.

 Summary of the previous lesson:            The Báb and Quddus had set out for their pilgrimage on a terrible journey lasting two months, in a sailing ship.  Having arrived in Jaddih, precious Writings of the Báb were stolen by a Bedoum.  The Báb told His companions not to grieve as it was all part of God's plan to spread the Message.

 Story for today:    The month of the pilgrimage was the first month of the winter, but it was extremely hot that year.  The pilgrims could not wear their usual garments and wore light loose clothes.  The Báb refused and continued to wear His turban and cloak to show His respect.

 On the last day of the pilgrimage, the Bab met Mirza Muhit-i-Kirmani.  He stood facing the Black Stone as the Báb spoke to him,  "0 Muhit!  You regard yourself as one of the most outstanding figures of the Shaykhi community and a distinguished exponent of its teachings.  In your heart you even claim to be one of the direct successors and rightful inheritors of those twin great Lights  those Stars that have heralded the morn of Divine Guidance.  Behold, we are both now standing within this most sacred shrine.  Within its hallowed precincts, He whose Spirit dwells in this place can cause Truth immediately to be known and distinguished from falsehood, and righteousness from error. Verily, I declare, none beside Me in this day, whether in the East or in the West, can claim to be the Gate that leads men to the knowledge of God.  My proof is none other than that proof whereby the truth of the Prophet Muhammad was established.  Ask Me whatsoever you please; now, at this very moment, I pledge Myself to reveal such verses as can demonstrate the truth of my Mission.  You must choose either to submit yourself unreservedly to My Cause or to repudiate it entirely.  You have no other alternative.  If you choose to, declare publicly your repudiation of the Truth which I have proclaimed. Thus shall He who speaks the Truth be made known, and he that speaks falsely shall be condemned to eternal misery and shame.  Then shall the way of Truth be revealed and made manifest to all men

 Mirza Muhit did not know what to say.  He felt like a helpless bird imprisoned in the grasp of a mighty eagle.  Full of fear he replied,  "my Lord  my Master! Ever since the day on which my eyes beheld You in Karbila, I seemed at last to have found and recognised Him who had been the object of my quest.  I renounce whosoever has failed to recognise you, and despise him in whose heart may yet linger the faintest misgivings as to Your purity and holiness.  I pray You to overlook my weakness, and entreat You to answer me in my perplexity.  Please God I may, at this very place, within the precincts of this hallowed shrine, swear my fealty to You, and arise for the triumph of Your Cause.  If I be insincere in what I declare, if in my heart I should disbelieve the Prophet of God, regard my action as an act of manifest disloyalty to Ah, His chosen successor".

 The Báb had listened carefully to Mirza Muhit and knew how helpless he was. "Verily I say, the Truth is even now known and distinguished from falsehood.  0 Shrine of the Prophet of God, and you, 0 Quddus, who have believed in Me!  I take you both, in this hour, as My witnesses.  You have seen and heard that which has come to pass between Me and him.  I call upon you to testify thereunto, and God, verily, is, beyond and above you, My sure and ultimate witness.  He is the All-Seeing, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.  0 Muhit!  Set forth whatsoever perplexes your mind, and I will, by the aid of God, unloose My tongue and undertake to resolve your problems, so that you may testify to the excellence of My utterance and realise that no-one besides Me is able to manifest My wisdom".

 Mirza Muhit put many questions to the Báb and then said he had to leave immediately for Medina.  He hoped the Báb would send the answers to him there.  The Báb said he would send the answers, and Mirza Muhit promised that he would not move from Medina until he heard from Him.  However, Mirza Muhit was not faithful to his promise, he stayed awhile in Medina and then hastily moved on to Karbila.

 The Báb was faithful and wrote a reply to the questions, which He called "The Epistle between the Two Shrines".  He sent the letter to Mirza Muhit who, after reading it, remained unmoved and cold.  He opposed the Bábi Faith all the days of his life.

 Homework questions:

 1.  On what day of the pilgrimage did the Báb meet Mirza Muhit?

2.  What promise to the Báb did Mirza Muhit break?

 Creative work:

Study the Writing of the Báb.  Carefully colour the picture.

 “Behold, we are both standing within this most sacred shrine.  Within its hallowed precincts, He whose Spirit dwells in this place can cause Truth immediately to be known and distinguished from falsehood, and righteousness from error”

  (The Báb to Mirza Muhit at the Black Stone in Mecca).