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Mishkín-Qalam |
Among the exiles, neighbors,
and prisoners there
was also a second Mír Imád,
1
the eminent calligrapher,
98
Mishkín-Qalam.
2
He wielded a musk-black pen, and his
brows shone with faith. He was among the most noted of
mystics, and had a witty and subtle mind. The fame of this
spiritual wayfarer reached out to every land. He was the
leading calligrapher of Persia and well known to all the
great; he enjoyed a special position among the court ministers
of Ṭihrán, and with them he was solidly established.
3
He was famed throughout Asia Minor; his pen was the
wonder of all calligraphers, for he was adept at every calligraphic
style. He was besides, for human virtues, a bright star.
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This highly accomplished man first heard of the Cause
of God in Iṣfahán, and the result was that he set out to
find Bahá’u’lláh. He crossed the great distances, measured
out the miles, climbing mountains, passing over deserts
and over the sea, until at last he came to Adrianople. Here
he reached the heights of faith and assurance; here he
drank the wine of certitude. He responded to the summons
of God, he attained the presence of Bahá’u’lláh, he ascended
to that apogee where he was received and accepted.
By now he was reeling to and fro like a drunkard
in his love for God, and because of his violent desire and
yearning, his mind seemed to wander. He would be
raised up, and then cast down again; he was as one distracted.
He spent some time under the sheltering grace
of Bahá’u’lláh, and every day new blessings were showered
upon him. Meanwhile he produced his splendid calligraphs;
he would write out the Most Great Name, Yá
Bahá’u’l-Abhá, O Thou Glory of the All-Glorious, with
marvelous skill, in many different forms, and would send
them everywhere.
4
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He was then directed to go on a journey to Constantinople,
and set out with Jináb-i-Sáyyah. When he
reached that Great City, the leading Persians and Turks
received him with every honor at first, and they were
captivated by his jet black, calligraphic art. He, however,
began boldly and eloquently to teach the Faith. The Persian
ambassador lurked in ambush; betaking himself to
the Sulṭán’s vazírs he slandered Mishkín-Qalam. “This
man is an agitator,” the ambassador told them, “sent here
by Bahá’u’lláh to stir up trouble and make mischief in this
Great City. He has already won over a large company, and
he intends to subdue still more. These Bahá’ís turned
Persia upside down; now they have started in on the capital
of Turkey. The Persian Government put 20,000 of
them to the sword, hoping by this tactic to quench the fires
of sedition. You should awaken to the danger; soon this
perverse thing will blaze up here as well. It will consume
the harvest of your life; it will burn up the whole world.
Then you can do nothing, for it will be too late.”
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Actually that mild and submissive man, in that throne
city of Asia Minor, was occupied solely with his calligraphy
and his worship of God. He was striving to bring about
not sedition but fellowship and peace. He was seeking to
reconcile the followers of different faiths, not to drive them
100
still further apart. He was of service to strangers and was
helping to educate the native people. He was a refuge to
the hapless and a horn of plenty to the poor. He invited all
comers to the oneness of humankind; he shunned hostility
and malice.
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The Persian ambassador, however, wielded enormous
power, and he had maintained close ties with the ministers
for a very long time. He prevailed on a number of persons
to insinuate themselves into various gatherings and there
to make every kind of false charge against the believers.
Urged on by the oppressors, spies began to surround Mishkín-Qalam.
Then, as instructed by the ambassador, they
carried reports to the Prime Minister, stating that the individual
in question was stirring up mischief day and night,
that he was a trouble maker, a rebel and a criminal. The
result was, they jailed him and they sent him away to
Gallipoli, where he joined our own company of victims.
They despatched him to Cyprus and ourselves to the ‘Akká
prison. On the island of Cyprus, Jináb-i-Mishkín was held
prisoner in the citadel at Famagusta, and in this city he
remained, a captive, from the year 85 till 94.
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When Cyprus passed out of Turkish hands, Mishkín-Qalam
was freed and betook himself to his Well-Beloved
in the city of ‘Akká, and here he lived encompassed by the
grace of Bahá’u’lláh, producing his marvelous calligraphs
and sending them about. He was at all times joyous of
spirit, ashine with the love of God, like a candle burning
its life away, and he was a consolation to all the believers.
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Following the ascension he made a journey to India,
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where he associated with the lovers of truth. He spent some
time there, making fresh efforts every day. When I learned
that he was getting helpless, I sent for him at once and he
came back to this Most Great Prison, to the joy of the believers,
who felt blessed to have him here again. He was
at all times my close companion. He had amazing verve,
intense love. He was a compendium of perfections: believing,
confident, serene, detached from the world, a peerless
companion, a wit—and his character like a garden in full
bloom. For the love of God, he left all good things behind;
he closed his eyes to success, he wanted neither comfort
nor rest, he sought no wealth, he wished only to be free
from the defilement of the world. He had no ties to this
life, but spent his days and nights supplicating and communing
with God. He was always smiling, effervescing;
he was spirit personified, love embodied. For sincerity and
loyalty he had no match, nor for patience and inner calm.
He was selflessness itself, living on the breaths of the
spirit.
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If he had not been in love with the Blessed Beauty, if
he had not set his heart on the Realm of Glory, every
worldly pleasure could have been his. Wherever he went,
his many calligraphic styles were a substantial capital, and
his great accomplishment brought him attention and respect
from rich and poor alike. But he was hopelessly
enamored of man’s one true Love, and thus he was free of
all those other bonds, and could float and soar in the spirit’s
endless sky.
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1. | A famed calligrapher who lived and wrote at the court of Sháh-‘Abbás, the Safaví (1557–1628). [ Back To Reference] |
2. | Mishk is musk. Mishkín-Qalam means either musk-scented pen, or jet black pen. [ Back To Reference] |
3. | Qur’án 61:4. [ Back To Reference] |
4. |
In some of this artist’s productions, the writing was so arranged as to take the forms of birds. When E. G. Browne was in Persia, he was told that “these would be eagerly sought after by Persians of all classes, were it not that they all bore, as the signature of the penman, the following verse: Dar díyár-i-khaṭṭ sháh-i-ṣáḥib-‘álamCf. A Year Amongst the Persians, p. 227. The verse might be translated: Lord of calligraphy, my banner goes before;Note the wordplay on door, which makes possible the inclusion of the Báb’s name as well as Bahá’u’lláh’s. [ Back To Reference] |