The Stone

Of all the stories I have read about the early Babis, there is one that stands out beyond many others for me. I have long wondered about it, and what, exactly, it is that it teaches us.

The story is of Baha'u'llah, Who, at the time, was being led back to Tehran as a prisoner. There had just been an attempt on the life of the Shah by some misguided bozos... I mean, some foolish hot-headed Babis, who somehow thought that killing the Shah would be a good thing to do, even though Baha'u'llah Himself had counselled them against it. They were so foolish in their attempt that they used bird shot, which was totally incapable of killing the Shah, and merely wounded him. As I'm sure you know, dear Reader, the outcome of this ridiculous attempt was totally disastrous. It merely resulted in the unleashed fury of both the clergy and the government, which roused the public to a savage frenzy beyond what anyone thought possible.

When this storm broke, Baha'u'llah was a guest of the Grand Vizier, Mirza Aqa Khan, in the village of Afchih. He was staying in the home of one Ja'far Quli-Khan, when news of this attempted assassination reached Him. Both the Grand Vizier and Ja'far Quli-Khan wrote to Him encouraging Him to go into hiding until things blew over. "The Shah's mother", He was told, "is inflamed with anger. She is denouncing you openly before the court and people as the 'would-be murderer' of her son. She is also trying to involve Mirza Aqa Khan in this affair, and accuses him of being your accomplice."

Baha'u'llah, like the Bab before Him, courteously refused to go into hiding, and instead met His accusers straight on.

He rode into Niyavaran, and was invited to stay at His brother-in-law's home, near the Russian Legation, where he worked as a secretary. Being so close to an army camp, though, word got out that Baha'u'llah was there, and a warrant for His arrest was immediately ordered. The Russian minister refused to give Baha'u'llah over, and instead demanded that He be escorted to Mirza Aqa Khan's home, whose guest He still was. The minister insisted that a promise for Baha'u'llah's safety be guaranteed and said that he would hold Mirza Aqa Khan personally responsible. Nevertheless, with the clamor for His arrest, Mirza Aqa Khan meekly handed Baha'u'llah over to the Shah's officers.

He was bastinadoed, and stripped of His turban and outer garments, before being marched some fifteen kilometers to Tehran, and the infamous dungeon, the Black Pit.

It was at this time, as He entered the city, that an old woman, filled with rage, tried to catch up to them. She wanted to fling her stone at the Prisoner. Baha'u'llah, hearing her pleas with the guards to slow down, interceded on her behalf. "Suffer not this woman", He told the guards, "to be disappointed. Deny her not what she regards as a meritorious act in the sight of God."

And this is where I pause.

We never hear what happened after that.

Did she fling her stone? Was she filled with shame, that "faculty which deterreth (us) from, and guardeth (us) against, whatever is unworthy and unseemly", and put her stone down? We don't know.

And that, to me, is one of the beauties of this story, because, for us, it doesn't matter. She is not the main character. Baha'u'llah is. She is not the one who can teach us a lesson. He is.

The choice she made is her own, and Baha'u'llah does not tell us what her decision was. He really is the "concealer of sins".

But even that does not matter to me.

What captures my attention, and what I am left with, is how Baha'u'llah honoured her right to make that choice. He does not praise that act, nor does He condemn it. Instead, He reaches into her heart and recognizes that her intention is to do something pleasing to God, something that she believes is meritorious.

This story is, to me, the ultimate expression of God's granting us free will.

In fact, we actually see the importance of free-will throughout this story, and many others. Here, we see Him allowing the Russian minister to come to His defense, and Mirza Aqa Khan being allowed to turn Him over to the authorities. In fact, we even see it when Baha'u'llah decides to go back to Tehran, allowing those who call for His arrest to do with Him as they please. Whatever they wish to do, it will not affect His path. He will move as He wills, and not cower or hide from anything. Instead, He will allow them to pursue their heart's desire without impediment, and thus they arrest Him.

We see an identical example of this when the Bab is returning from His Pilgrimage, and the governor of Shiraz calls for His arrest.

We even see a similar example years later when the cowardly and jealous Mirza Yahya poisons Baha'u'llah. Do we really think that He didn't know the teacup was smeared with poison? Do we really believe that He didn't know what was consuming His half-brother's heart? Of course not. So why did He drink that poison? Because He always allowed others to do as they wished. He would counsel them, of course, and talk about the importance of good actions, but He never interfered.

That, to me, is an example that we can strive to live up to today. There are many times when friends of mine do things that I would not consider doing. Sometimes it's investing in a particular property, or taking a particular job. Oftentimes I feel like I'm watching a slow-motion train wreck, and I truly feel sorry for them. But I realize that it is their life. It is their choice. I offer counsel or guidance, point out certain things that I think are wrong, but, in the end, I know it is their choice, not mine.

Of course, this doesn't apply to children in the same way. There were many times in my life where I stopped a child from doing something harmful. After all, they are children and need to learn.

But when an adult makes a decision like taking a drink or marrying a particular person, it really is their choice, and I need to respect that.

There are even times when their decision will hurt me. And you know what? That's ok, too. They can make their decision. They will have to live with it, and the consequences. And I will make my decision, too. This is the bounty, and the curse, of free will.

No matter what they choose, I have to respect their God-given right to free will. I may not respect the decision they choose, but I have to honour their right to that choice.

And when I do so, I often remember that old woman with the stone and wonder what choice she made.