Some thirty years ago when 'Abdu'l-Baha was surrounded by
His bitter enemies; when they were instigating the Turkish Government to
illtreat Him; when in His confined place of 'Akka He had a very small group of
true and faithful Baha'is, 'Abdu'l-Baha always expressed great joy and
happiness at the thought of being martyred like unto Jesus Christ and His
disciples, and like unto thousands of faithful followers of the blessed Báb and
Baha'u'llah.
In those days the doors were opened wide for the Oriental
friends to enter heaven.[1] All the true believers prayed to God and yearned to
be accepted for martyrdom. One day one of the pilgrims and I were discussing
the best way of being admitted to sacrifice. My friend, M. Fazlullah, said that
he preferred to be killed by Shamajeen like Suleiman Khan, who danced with joy
during that terrible torture. (Shamajeen means decorated, grafted with
candles.)
This is the way that Suleiman Khan was martyred. His body
was cut through in several places and burning candles were planted in the
wounds. In such a horrible state he was driven for several hours throughout the
city to show the people the fate of a distinguished and honorable man converted
to the new Faith. This was the way that the government, instigated by the
clergy, punished the believers, in order to terrify those who desired to know
about the new religion.
Now my friend, M. Fazlullah, preferred this way of being
sacrificed in the Path of Baha'u'llah. But I did not choose this way. I
preferred to be put to death by cannon shot, for that was the best way of
propagating throughout the world the call to steadfastness. Several prominent
people have been martyred in that way. This was the way that I had chosen, and
I implored God to help me to attain to it. But I could not convince my friend
that mine was the best way. He stuck obstinately to his own way. The discussion
lasted a long time without being able to convince each other.
