Resurrection of the Righteous
“Ten starving brothers left their home to stand
In Joseph’s presence, in a foreign land,
And begged for some benevolent relief
To ease the torments of their wretched grief.
Now Joseph’s face was veiled; he took a bowl
And struck it hard – a sound as if a soul
Cried out in misery was heard. He said:” 1, 2
Oh, Fiḍḍih!
Oh, Ḥájí Mubárak!
Oh, Isfandiyár!
Oh, Masʿūd! 3,4
May my life be a sacrifice,
For the injustices endured,
In thy days.
Oh, wronged ones!
Like the four fallen birds,
Placed on four hills,
And called by Abraham,
To fly towards him,
May you rise again! 5, 6
And yet,
How few words of you remain,
When even an ocean of ink
Could not suffice your intricacies
To reanimate you.
And yet,
How, no matter what remains,
Thy stories deserve lauding,
Poems of the highest order,
Reverence of the purest degree.
And yet,
How my soul is in anguish,
That thy names, ordained by thy fathers,
Are not known to me,
And yet known to me:
For you are the Pupil of God’s Eye: 7, 8
A most pure portal,
Turning God’s light
Into divine thoughts.
Oh, birds of the Prophet! 9
No power on earth can stop thy rise!
For if even a seed of thee remains,
We shall plant it in the soil of love,
Shall water thy stories with the water of justice,
And ensure the light of gratitude
Always shines upon thee.
For thou art “the essence of Love,”
“radiant with sanctity and perfection,”
“luminous with light.” 10, 11
And yet,
How we have made the dynamic, static,
How we have made a driving force, a footnote,
How all the praise in the world cannot right this wrong,
And yet we must try, nonetheless.
For the Lord hath said:
“Truly I tell you, whatever you did
for one of the least of these
brothers and sisters of mine,
you did for me.” 12, 13
And the Perfect Servant said
That where there is love,
There is always time. 14, 15
Oh, my brothers and sisters!
Let not these sacred birds,
Remain on their hills:
Call unto them in unison,
And trust the Lord that:
“They will come swiftly to you.” 16, 17
“Once more Joseph tapped the bowl,”
Wherewith a softer tone rang out,
And continued its meaning 18, 19
Know how similarly,
Along the Tigris bank,
Gabriel blessed Fāṭimah’s ears,
With words hidden yet ever-present. 20, 21
Words that removed her veil 22, 23, 24
Words that made her chill in hellfire
Words that made her dry in the sea, 25
Churning ’neath a well 26, 27
That same well ten brothers gazed down upon 28, 29
The same well Afshin Vali looked up from 30, 31
The same well the Haft of Yazd call their abode 32, 33
Oh, Egypts of the world! 34, 35
Know this verily:
Just as the first son of Rachel,
The garments of these Josephs 36
Stained with wolf’s blood
Shall rise from the seas,
Bellowing from each of their wells,
No matter how many stones 37
Have been laid upon them:
For they are the Qurratu’l‑ʿAyn 38, 39
To every Jacob’s white eyes. 40, 41, 42
O People!
Rise like they do,
For in this day,
“the fetters of the past,
are burst asunder,” 43, 44
“Joseph touched the bowl again,”
And a soft tone echoed,
And he said its intention: 45, 46
Oh, village maiden! 47, 48'
She who saw her brother slain,
By those enslaved by the words of men,
And took up the shield.
She who cut off her hair,
Yet still combed raven locks, 49, 50
Of the One Lord of all people.
She who found her Laylí,
And became Majnún, 51, 52
Seeking Her in the dust. 53, 54
Know, mighty Zaynab! 55
Thy fight is not in vain—
For the steel of swords
Has been sold to the past, 56, 57, 58
And in the present and future,
Only the steel of pens remains:
For David’s heart bows to Ittai, 59, 60
Not from the slaying of a Goliath,
But from slaying the true enemy of ego
By loving his enemy, no matter their ego. 61, 62
Oh, Rustam‑ʿAlí! 63
Thy blood seeps to all corners,
Like the Flood of the Lord, 64, 65
Yet this water is not for the wicked, 66, 67
But for the wickedness in each soul,
Cleansing the hate seated in their hearts,
While leaving it to remain beating:
Leaving naught but the Ark of love in its stead, 68, 69
Sailing with the white flag of:
No “souls may be saddened.” 70, 71
Oh, self-immolating flames,
Diffuse outward easily,
For your flame shall never
Be far from us.
“These brothers who had come to beg for bread
Stood speechless, faint with apprehensive dread.” 72, 73
Footnotes
1. This story refers to Joseph as told (in poetic form) in The Conference of the Birds—a story of a flock of birds journeying to find a glimpse of the Bird-God, Simorgh. Along the way, the birds travel through different “valleys” or “obstacles,” usually overcome by their guide, a hoopoe (Hudhud) bird, who tells the flock parables. In this story, Joseph—after being sold into slavery and ascending through a number of trials to become a high-ranking Egyptian official—receives his brothers, who come to Egypt because famine has struck their land and Egypt has large reserves of food. Joseph realizes his brothers do not recognize him in his kingly state. Knowing this, Joseph strikes a bowl, which makes a noise. Joseph claims he can interpret the sound, and that it reveals his brothers’ secrets. After striking the bowl three times, Joseph tells them that they threw their brother (Joseph) into a well, took his cloak and stained it with a wolf’s blood, presented it to their father Jacob as proof Joseph was dead, and sold Joseph into slavery. After the first strike, Joseph says: “It speaks to you; it says you had a brother once, in former days, more precious than this bowl—he bore the name of Joseph; and it says that, to your shame, his goodness overshadowed all of you.”
2. ʿAṭṭár 93.
3. Fiḍḍih and Ḥájí Mubárak were servants of African origin in the household of the Báb who were purchased. Isfandiyár was an emancipated Black servant of Bahá’u’lláh. Masʿúd was a Black servant purchased by the uncle of the Báb, Khálí Akbar.
4. Afnan 3–35.
5. Abraham slays four birds that he had trained to come to him when he called to them, and places them on four mountains, in order for God to reassure him that the Lord controls life and death. The Prophet then calls for the birds, and they fly to him from the four hills.
6. Qur’an 2:260.
7. ʿAbdu’l-Bahá, when speaking of racial relationships in the United States of America, referred to Americans categorized as “black” as the “Pupil of the Eye.”
8. ʿAbdu’l-Bahá, Selections, sec. 78.
9. This reference continues the metaphor of the stories and memories of the previously mentioned Black servants of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh (Fiḍḍih, Ḥájí Mubárak, Isfandiyár, and Masʿúd) as the four birds God resurrects for the Prophet Muhammad.
10. This is ʿAbdu’l-Bahá’s description of Isfandiyár, the emancipated Black servant of Bahá’u’lláh. ʿAbdu’l-Bahá begins by saying: “If a perfect man could be found in the world, that man was Isfandiyár.” (see n. 11)
11. ʿAbdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation, sec. 126.
12. In this parable, Jesus Christ describes a future judgment in which his followers are separated like a shepherd separates sheep from goats, according to whether they fed him when he was hungry (and likewise gave drink, welcomed the stranger, clothed the naked, cared for the sick, and visited the imprisoned). Jesus clarifies that “him” refers to “the least of these”—the most vulnerable among us—so that mercy shown to them is counted as mercy shown to Christ. This is commonly called the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats.
13. Matt. 25:40.
14. While this was not explicitly said by ʿAbdu’l-Bahá, the quote is attributed to him on the basis of the following: “Whatever is done in love is never any trouble, and—there is always time.” Daily Lessons Received at Akka.
15. Goodall and Cooper 42.
16. In the same recounting of the four birds returning to life when the Prophet Muhammad calls them, the Lord reassures him that when they are called, “They will come swiftly to you.”
17. Qur’an 2:260.
18. Referring again to the story of Joseph tapping the bowl a second time and afterward saying: “It says you threw this Joseph in a well, then stained his cloak / With wolf’s blood; and it says the smeared rags broke / Poor Jacob’s heart.” It is important to note that at first Joseph “struck [the bowl] hard,” and then he merely “struck it.” When Joseph strikes the bowl for the third and last time, it says he “touched it.” These details are of note as they imply the vigor with which Joseph hits the bowl decreases each time.
19. See n. 1.
20. The Hidden Words is a series of 153 aphorisms revealed by Bahá’u’lláh as he paced a portion of the Tigris River that runs through what is today Baghdad, Iraq. The content of The Hidden Words is said to be Gabriel’s words to Fáṭimih, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad, to comfort her after her father died—an association built on earlier Shíʿah Islam traditions. (See n. 21)
21. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By 83.
22. While Fáṭimih is the name of Muhammad’s daughter, Fáṭimih Baraghani is Táhirih, the “18th Letter of the Living”—that is, the eighteenth believer of the Báb among the first nineteen figures accorded special reverence. The “taking of her veil” refers to Táhirih publicly removing her veil at an important Bábi gathering—an action widely considered scandalous at the time. After this conference called the Conference of Badasht, the Báb affirmed Fáṭimih the title “Táhirih” (“the Pure”). To this day, Táhirih is considered a seminal feminist figure in Iran, known both inside and outside Bahá’í circles. (see n. 23 and 24)
23. Nabíl 185–86.
24. Root 1.
25. Bahá’u’lláh, The Seven Valleys, par. 20.
26. This refers to the manner in which Táhirih was martyred: “They lifted up her unsullied body and flung it in a well, there in the garden, and over it threw down earth and stones.” (see n. 27)
27. ʿAbdu’l-Bahá, Memorials of the Faithful, sec. 69, par. 31.
28. In the Old Testament account, Joseph is thrown into a well by his ten brothers. They take his cloak, stain it with a wolf’s blood, and present it to their father Jacob, convincing him Joseph was slain by a wolf. Joseph is then sold into slavery and ends up in Egypt, where—through a series of tests—he rises to become a highly regarded Egyptian official for his ability to interpret dreams.
29. Gen. 37:23–24.
30. In 1990, Afshin Vali, a 12-year-old Bahá’í boy, was martyred in the village of Nazarabad, Iran, and thrown into a well by two men who had been radicalized by local clerics.
31. Seyfikaran.
32. In 1890, seven Bahá’ís in Yazd were martyred, and some of their remains were thrown into a well. Their names are: Mahmoud Hasanzadeh; Fereidoun Faridani; Ali Motahhari; Azizollah Zabihian; Jalal Mostaghim; Abdol-Vahhab Kazemi (-Manshadi); and Nourollah Akhtar-Khavari.
33. Braun et al., issue 418.
34. “Egypt” refers to the land where Joseph began as a slave and rose to become a freed and distinguished individual.
35. Gen. 37:31–33.
36. This refers to both the veil Táhirih removed and the cloak of Joseph that his brothers stained with a wolf’s blood.
37. See n. 26.
38. Qurratu’l-ʿAyn is another title of Táhirih, meaning the “Solace (or Consolation) of the Eye.”
39. See n. 31.
40. In the Qur’anic story of Joseph, Jacob (Joseph’s father)—upon seeing Joseph’s garment stained with a wolf’s blood—goes blind from grief; his eyes are described as turning white. Later, when Joseph is a high-ranking Egyptian official and meets his brothers, he gives them a piece of his garment to bring to their father as proof he is alive. Jacob inhales its scent and—knowing Joseph lives—regains his sight, the whiteness disappearing. In some Sufi poetry, this becomes a metaphor for the mystic searching for the Beloved (the Lord): once union or recognition occurs, true “vision” is restored (see n. 41 for an example).
41. Maybudī 259–60.
42. Qur’an 12:84.
43. This quote is a part of Táhirih’s announcements when she unveiled herself at the Conference of Badasht (1848).
44. See n. 23.
45. After the third ring of the bowl, Joseph says: “It says you brought your father needless pain / And sold the lovely Joseph. Is this true? / May God bestow remorse to chasten you!”
46. See n. 1.
47. This refers to Zaynab of Zanjan, also known as Rustam-ʿAlí. Zaynab was a village woman who, upon seeing her Bábi community attacked for their faith, cut off her hair, masqueraded as a man, and fought to protect a fortress where Bábís took refuge (the Fort of Shaykh Ṭabarsí). When Hujjat-i-Zanjaní (a key organizer of the defense) learned Zaynab was a woman, he said: “‘This is the Day of Resurrection,’ he told her, the day when all secrets shall be searched out (Qur’an 86:9). Not by their outward appearance, but by the character of their beliefs and the manner of their lives, does God judge His creatures, be they men or women. Though a maiden of tender age and immature experience, you have displayed such vitality and resource as few men could hope to surpass.” He granted her request, warning her not to exceed the bounds their faith imposed: “‘We are called upon to defend our lives,’ he reminded her, ‘against a treacherous assailant, and not to wage holy war against him.’”
48. Nabíl 550–52.
49. In The Hidden Words, a metaphor for pursuing God’s hidden mysteries is “combing dark locks of hair” (or “raven locks,” presumably referring to black hair).
50. Bahá’u’lláh, Hidden Words, Persian no. 79.
51. Laylí and Majnún is often considered a Middle Eastern “Romeo and Juliet,” and is frequently cited by Persian Sufi mystics to describe the attitude needed to find God’s light in the world. Majnún discards what others would call “logic” in order to find Laylí; that is, he wanders the desert disheveled and uncaring of status or social constraints that might deter his search. In this light, one interpretation of Zaynab cutting off her locks is that she, like Majnún, forgoes a social construct that would have been a barrier between herself and her Beloved. In this case, one might argue Zaynab’s beloved was the Báb and the survival of those who sought to follow him.
52. Ganjavi 20.
53. This quotation appears in Bahá’u’lláh’s Seven Valleys. After describing Majnún searching for Laylí even in the dust, Bahá’u’lláh writes: “Yea, though to the wise it be shameful to seek the Lord of Lords in the dust, yet this betokeneth intense ardour in searching.” One might read “seeking … in the dust” as a negative act; however, within the broader mystical context, “wisdom” can be understood as social-rational caution that must be abandoned to find Laylí (and, by extension, the Beloved).
54. Bahá’u’lláh, Seven Valleys, par. 9.
55. See nn. 47–48.
56. While the Bábís at the Fort of Shaykh Ṭabarsí did not describe their defense as jihad in Nabíl’s account, Bahá’u’lláh later categorically eliminates “holy war” (jihad) (see n. 57). Furthermore, while Bahá’ís may defend themselves, a culture formed summarized by the statement: “Know ye that to be killed in the path of His good pleasure is better for you than to kill” (see n. 58). In this sense, the Bahá’í community because of the the struggles of the Bábi period were able to have the privilege of developing a strong rejection of killing in most, if not all, circumstances.
57. Bahá’u’lláh, Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb‑i‑Aqdas. Glad-Tidings, no. 1.
58. Bahá’u’lláh, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts 109–10.
59. David slew Goliath (a Philistine) and eventually became a king. Later, David leaves his kingdom because a rebellion is brewing and he wants to avoid bloodshed. As he leaves the city, he meets Ittai the Gittite, a Philistine with an army behind him. To David’s surprise, Ittai swears loyalty and protection (see n. 60 for the verse). In this sense, a Philistine appears at both some of David’s highest and lowest moments.
60. 2 Sam. 15:21.
61. The concept alluded to as “ego” or “self” is nafs—an intricate term broadly referring to whatever in the human soul draws one away from the Lord. One influential framework for understanding nafs is proposed by Imam al-Ghazālī (1058–1111 CE) (see n. 62). This includes, for example, hoarding riches one cannot take in death, allowing anger to justify harming enemies, rationalizing sin as moral action, or craving worldly legacy (like trying to leave a handprint on the shore).
62. Al-Ghazālī, chap. 5.
63. This again refers to Zaynab of Zanjan, also known as Rustam-ʿAlí (a title given by Hujjat, a key figure in the defense at Shaykh Ṭabarsí). “Rustam-ʿAlí” evokes Rustam, the legendary warrior-hero of ancient Iran immortalized in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh(Book of Kings), and is synonymous with immense strength, bravery, and patriotism. “Rustam” is often used to mean “strongman” or “champion.”
64. This refers to the Lord’s flood in the time of Noah.
65. Gen. 7:23.
66. The Old Testament explains that, due to the sinfulness of humankind, the Lord wished to begin humanity again, with Noah as, in a sense, a new Adam. See n. 67.
67. Gen. 6:5–7.
68. This refers to Noah’s ark, which preserved those chosen by the Lord to continue humankind as a new beginning.
69. Gen. 7:23.
70. Bahá’u’lláh not only annulled the law of the sword (jahid or holy war) but he also categorically rejected for his followers to “engage in contention and conflict, to strike another, or to commit similar acts whereby hearts and souls may be saddened.” (see n. 71)
71. Bahá’u’lláh, The Kitáb-i-Aqdas, 155
72. The ten brothers of Joseph, after seeing him reveal their hidden deeds through the bowl, are understandably shocked: they came for food, but instead received a retelling of their crimes.
73. See n. 1.
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