A Trilogy Of Consecration The Courier The Historian And The Missionary

This Trilogy presents the lives of Shaykh Salmán, Nabíl-i-A'zam and Mullá Sádiq, three personages closely related to the early years of the Bahá'í Faith in Persia. Shaykh Salmán was Bahá'u'lláh's on-foot courier travelling annually between Persia and the Holy Land. Nabíl-i-A'zam was the chronicler who carefully documented events of the Heroic Age of the Bahá'í Faith and a talented poet. Mullá Sádiq stood out as the one who travelled broadly disseminating the new Faith with wisdom, dignity and grace. The first was illiterate, while the second was a self-made scholar who started out in life as a shepherd, whereas Mullá Sádiq came from an educated family of means. Empowered by faith, certitude, and love to Bahá'u'lláh, these three men became a new creation, the like of whom we rarely see in human existence. To their wonder, amazing capacities and invincible powers became theirs, which made it possible for them to endure the most formidable vicissitudes with an ever-increasing spirit of faith and certitude. After glimpsing the greatness of such a Message, nothing had the power to deter them in their path of service—not age, nor lack of means, nor family circumstances, nor the constant danger of being beaten and killed.

This is the extraordinary story of a father and a son that arose in the 19th century to spread the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh throughout Iran with indomitable strength and resilience. Varqá the father, a physician and a talented poet, and his gifted adolescent son Rúḥu’lláh, both of penetrating spiritual insight, took the New Gospel with zeal and courage to a generation blind in the most dire fanaticism. Operating in the midst of a country sunk into corruption and bigotry, Varqá and Rúḥu’lláh were able to teach both the rich and the poor, the prince and the commoner, the scholar and the illiterate, the believer and the laic, in freedom or in prison. Their saga ended with their tragic martyrdom in the royal prison of Tehran in 1896 but has continued to live like a legend inspiring Bahá’ís around the world to serve. Varqá’s legacy of service and consecration was continued by Valíyu’lláh Varqá and Dr ‘Alí-Muḥammad Varqá, his son and grandson, respectively, all three of whom were designated as Hands of the Cause of God.

In 1881 five brothers, known as the Báqirof-Khamsi clan, whom Bahá’u’lláh designated as Sádát-i-Khams (The Five Siyyids, in Arabic) accepted the Bahá'í Faith in the northern part of Iran. For such an intrepid decision they were automatically disinherited from the family fortune although, interestingly, became affluent later by their own toil. This book describes this wealthy family and their struggles to survive in the midst of a fanatical establishment. It is the narrative of a kinfolk using their high social position, to defend, overtly and covertly, their newly espoused religion and the vulnerable community gathered around those teachings. Bigotry, persecution and harassment could not abate their inner spiritual forces but rather strengthened their resolution for getting their religion known, recognised and protected. Going through various tumultuous Iranian social scenarios, three main waves in such a courageous family are easily recognisable namely, Siyyid Naṣru’lláh Báqirof, Siyyid Ahmad Khamsi-Báqirof, and Mas’ud Khamsi, the latter whom ultimately brought the Bahá'í Faith to ten of thousands of indigenous people of South America. An exemplary trilogy taking the reader to Iran, Russia, the Holy Land, France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Africa and even to awe-inspiring areas such as the Amazon rainforest and the Andes mountains, exemplifying that love for humanity also travels and it never tires in giving if inspired by higher principles.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

First published in 1976, Paul Johnson’s exceptional study of Christianity has been loved and widely hailed for its intensive research, writing, and magnitude—“a tour de force, one of the most ambitious surveys of the history of Christianity ever attempted and perhaps the most radical” (New York Review of Books). In a highly readable companion to books on faith and history, the scholar and author Johnson has illuminated the Christian world and its fascinating history in a way that no other has. Johnson takes off in the year AD 49 with his namesake the apostle Paul. Thus beginning an ambitious quest to paint the centuries since the founding of a little-known ‘Jesus Sect’, A History of Christianity explores to a great degree the evolution of the Western world. With an unbiased and overall optimistic tone, Johnson traces the fantastic scope of the consequent sects of Christianity and the people who followed them. Information drawn from extensive and varied sources from around the world makes this history as credible as it is reliable. Invaluable understanding of the framework of modern Christianity—and its trials and tribulations throughout history—has never before been contained in such a captivating work.