The Most Great Separation
First presented at the Irfan Colloquia Session #32
Bosch Bahá'í School: California, USA
November 23–26, 2000
(see list of papers from #32)
Amongst the climatic events that stand out in Bahá'í history stands one that took place during Bahá'u'lláh's exile in Adrianople known as the Most Great Separation. It was during this period when Bahá'u'lláh's seditious half-brother, Mirza Yahyá attempted to kill Him by poison in his deceiving acts and schemes to usurp power away from Bahá'u'lláh. This treacherous act was the consummation of other numerous crimes and mischievous plots to plant doubt in the believers and the wrest away attention from Bahá'u'lláh.
After the cruel and vicious attempt to assassinate Him with poison, Bahá'u'lláh decided to announce directly the full claim of His station to Mirza Yahyá-calling upon him to pay allegiance to the Cause. Upon receiving this announcement through a written tablet known as the Súriy-i-Amr (Súrih of Command), not only did Mirza Yahyá reject His claim, but also arose to assert himself as the true recipient of divine Revelation.
Following these two drastic actions of dissent and malice, Bahá'u'lláh decided to withdraw with His family away from the house of Amru'lláh, to the nearby house of Rida Big. This withdrawal was a clear and distinct break from Mirza Yahyá, and was the cause of severe tests and trials for the faithful and disloyal alike. It left an open field for the unfaithful to engage in their full folly, since Bahá'u'lláh had permitted no access to the other believers in exile. Tension amongst the believers reached a climax. Mirza Yahyá and his followers launched a full attack on Bahá'u'lláh through spreading false papers amongst the believers in Persia misrepresenting Bahá'u'lláh and appealing to the government to take action against what he falsely claimed Bahá'u'lláh had committed. In another tablet revealed by Bahá'u'lláh, called the Lawh-i-Salmán (Tablet of Salmán), He brings to light the pain and suffering that He was afflicted with at the hands of Mirza Yahyá. He relates the tragic and tormenting string of events that his younger half-brother, whom He had nurtured from childhood, was shamefully and maliciously heaping upon His agonized heart. This majestic and powerful tablet struck Mirza Yahyá down.
This break, however, was not arbitrary in any sense. Between His move from the house of Amru'lláh to the house of Rida Big, Bahá'u'lláh revealed another tablet known as the Lawh-i-Bahá (Tablet of Baha), in which He covers various topics. It is in this Tablet where Bahá'u'lláh makes a clear distinction of the Bahá'í identity by calling upon the "people of Baha" (differing from "the people of the Bayan"). He mentions how those who had followed the Báb should turn towards Him. It also depicts and addresses how some of the Báb's followers had arisen to take His life and afflict Him with pain and suffering. He condemns their actions and those who had broken the Covenant of God-likening them to the Muslims who persecuted the Báb. Consequently, those who followed Bahá'u'lláh identified themselves as Bahá'ís and those who broke His Covenant or followed Mirza Yahyá were called Bábís or sometimes Azalis.
This series of dramatic waves reached a crashing culmination, whereupon an inevitable confrontation between Bahá'u'lláh and Mirza Yahyá took place. A challenge was made by Mirza Yahyá and his co-conspirator, Siyyid Muhammad-i-Isfáhání, to Bahá'u'lláh for a public confrontation (mubahilih) — assuming that He would not respond. Nevertheless, it aroused the "wrath of God" and indeed Bahá'u'lláh did arise to face the challenge intended to strengthen their campaign of deceit. It resulted in a monumental and historical hallmark that stands as a testimony of Bahá'u'lláh's might and majesty and of Mirza Yahyá's fears and wretched falsities. The rejection of Mirza Yahyá from the faithful, the open self-humiliation of the Covenant breakers, and the consolidation of the followers of Bahá are a pinnacle of the growth and development of the Bahá'í Faith — all of which culminated in the "Adrianople Years" of Bahá'u'lláh.
An overview of the themes revealed in the three tablets — Súriy-i-Amr, Lawh-i-Salmán, and Lawh-i-Bahá — tied together with the narrative of this historical drama will be presented to illustrate in more detail the particulars of the events that came to pass, which have set a point of origin for a collective Bahá'í identity and the emergence of a undividable world religion.
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