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Persian, producing ‘zaban i urdu’, or‘language of the camp’, an everydaytongue in common use across many of thelinguistic and cultural differences in India.(You will see from this the interdependenceof the three New Testaments whichoccupied Henry Martyn.) Used by millionseven then, Urdu was essentially a spokenrather than a written language, and onceagain, as had happened before in the fieldof Bible translation, it is the Bible whichbecomes the fountainhead of the literaturein the language. To translate the NewTestament and Psalms into Persian was alsohighly useful, because it was not only thelanguage of Persia (Iran), but also thelanguage of Muslim Courts in India andvery widely understood. This would be thefirst Persian translation since the 5thcentury. Martyn’s interest in Persian had, inthe providence of God, been stimulated bythe past experiences of his helper, Sabat.Ironically, although Sabat’s Arabic wasexcellent, his Persian was not, and Henry’sfrustration and dismay grew to the pointwhere he concluded that, thoroughly topurge their Persian New Testament andadequately to revise the Arabic, he neededto go, alone, to Persia and Arabia. Heneeded different advice, and needed tofeel for himself the context of thelanguages. Leaving Cawnpore he arrivedin Calcutta in November of 1810, andhad to wait until January 1811 until hecould take ship to Bombay on theopposite coast of India.

A Birthday in Bombay

TThe journey was via Colombo and Goa,and Martyn notes of a social gathering

in Colombo, “much is said that need not tobe remembered”. Goa, the hub ofPortuguese colonial administration in the

East, was happier, because he was able todispute with the Portuguese friars, as in SanSalvador seven years before. His shiparrived in Bombay after a six-week journey,on his birthday, February 18th. There heconfided to his diary, “This day I finish thethirtieth year of my unprofitable life, theyear that the Saviour began his ministry,and John the Baptist called a nation tohimself, an age in which Brainerd hadfinished his course. He gained about ahundred savages to the Gospel; I canscarcely number the twentieth part.”

To put this in context we shouldremember that in his years in India, he hadtranslated the New Testament into Hindustaniand begun to do so in Persian, revised anArabic translation of the New Testament,translated the Psalms into Persian and the Prayer Book3 into Hindustani. Who can tell,

by C. P. HallihanPart II

The Burden of Translation:Martyn must leave India

HHenry Martyn’s lament to David Brown,which closed the first part of this

article (see Quarterly Record 562), wasgrounded in Brown’s 1807 request thatMartyn translate the New Testament intoHindustani, Persian and Arabic. Martyn waswell suited for this demanding task,1 being

competent in at least six languages,joyously enthusiastic in Hebrew, and alwayslooking to God’s glory in the conversion ofsouls. His vision was extensive, as herecords, “We shall now begin to preach toArabia, Syria, Persia, India, Tartary, China,half of Africa, all the south coast of theMediterranean and Turkey”.2 By ‘preach’ inthis connection he refers to the distributionand use of the printed New Testament.

Hindustani, or Urdu, resulted from theIslamic penetration of North India, and is amingling of regional Hindi, Arabic and

1781 - 1812

“Scholar Missionary”, Bible Translator,Living Epistle of Grace and Truth

Typical scene, Goa, India

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mountains. Personal contact was inevitablefor this winsome saint, and after the shortfive-day stay in Arabia he was able to givean Arabic Gospel to an Arab soldier and his slave, who “carried it off as a greatprize”. Four turbulent weeks’ sailing up theGulf of Oman brought Henry Martyn toland at last in Persia, at the port of Bushire(Bushehr), May 21st 1811. Although he hadplans to return, he never set foot in Arabiaagain.

Persia – Shiraz. Revisingthe New Testament

OOne of Martyn’s first tasks in Bushirewas to order Persian clothing, with an

enormous sheepskin hat, his travellingoutfit for the next, and final, eighteenmonths. Awaiting completion of this, he wasengaged, as ever, in discussions with localscholars about their languages, theirreligion, the Gospel and his translations.They approved highly of the Arabic NewTestament, but were very unsure of thePersian. On May 30th he set out on a ninedays ride to Shiraz, travelling some 200miles into the Zagros Mountains by night toescape the heat. He was welcomed by SirGore Ousley, the British Ambassador, whotook care of him in many ways.

Shiraz was a medieval town ruled withabsolute authority by a Prince-Governor,and full of Muslim scholars and poets.Rumours of Martyn’s excellent Persian andhis teachings soon spread about, andleading Muslim clerics, as well as literarymen, came to debate with him, and to drinkcoffee with this young man whose door wasalways open to them. His wisdom andserenity engaged many in a sympathytowards Henry’s religion, but always thegreat divide was the Deity of the Lord JesusChrist. Not everyone looked kindly on thisfirst Christian ‘Scholar Missionary’ to reachthis ancient Persian centre, and a‘definitive’ rebuttal of his Christianteachings was prepared by the leadingorthodox Muslim theologian. Martynresponded to this with a series of masterfuland courteous tracts,6 news of which evenreached the Shah in Tehran. All this time,work on refining and polishing the Persian

Muscat with its 16th century fort 5

Shiraz, Persia

until That Day, what was the effect of hispreaching, teaching and pastoral labours inIndia? Who can begin to weigh the fruit ofthe Urdu Scriptures, not only in their firstpublished form, but also as providing thegiant’s shoulders on which all subsequenttranslation workers would stand – an Urduequivalent of Tyndale’s Testament? Henryhimself had recorded a slightly moremature summary of his labours, “Even if Ishould never see a native converted, Godmay design by my patience andcontinuance in the work to encouragefuture missionaries”. Amen and Amen!

Whistle stop Arabia!

AAnother wait, for passage across theArabian Sea, was used in Martyn’s

familiar way. He walked and talked with aParsee poet, with a noted Jewish sage andwith many Muslim scholars. We can be surethat he was commending the Gospel of theLord Jesus Christ to them, even as heexposed the follies of their wisdom. Aftersome difficulties,4 Henry was accommodatedin a ship of the East India Company, theBenares, on the understanding that hewould act as chaplain for the journey,beginning March 25th 1811. As on other seavoyages, he made every attempt to conductDivine Worship, and then to engage theFrench, Spanish and Portuguese crewmenin personal conversation and prayers, notneglecting to visit and read with the sick.The Benares arrived in Muscat (Masqat) onthe Arab shore of the Gulf of Oman, April21st. Being fluent in Arabic, Henry Martynwas used as interpreter whilst the ship wasre-provisioned, and so was able to wanderthe bazaar, and explore the nearer

Left: The Scriptures in Urdu,Persian and Arabic

URDU

PERSIAN

ARABIC

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1,200 miles. His state of health was suchthat twelve miles might have beenconsidered too taxing, but he records againhis solid trust – “I cast all my care upon Himwho hath already done wonders for me”.Travelling each day between midnight anddawn, they journeyed north, followedXenophon’s route across the River Aras,and passed under the shadow of Mt. Ararat.There he thought on Noah, and wrote in hisjournal, “Here the blessed saint landed in anew world; so may I, safe in Christ, outridethe storms of life and land at last on one ofthe everlasting hills”.

Ambassador Ousley had supplied himwith letters to the authorities in Yerevan,Kars and Constantinople, but although hemet with some kindnesses on the way,8 hewas generally not well treated, even hissupposedly trusty servants takingadvantage of his growing weakness. They

entered Turkey, passedthrough Kars, and heardrumours of plague inConstantinople. Thisseemed to excite hisservants to push on withthe journey at any cost, andbe done with their task.Poor Henry was brutallyhustled on and on, beyondhis strength, but writes “O Lord, Thy will be done!Living, dying, rememberme”. He was probablyaware of traversing thevery roads along which theexiled Chrysostom hadbeen hurried in similarhurtful, fatal fashion in 407 AD.

There came a day of unexpected rest, andthe dying man found time to make his lastrecord in the journals, October 6th 1812.

New Testament was going on, but as a one-time classical scholar, Henry Martyn couldnot pass up the opportunity to visit the siteof Perseopolis, destroyed and looted byAlexander in 331 BC. His grander planswere to travel to Baghdad, Damascus, thenback through Arabia seeking ancientmanuscripts, but local travel difficulties,and in the end his own ill health, preventedthis.

Persia – Tabriz. Taking theNew Testament to the Shah

AAt last, on February 24th 1812, thePersian New Testament was considered

finished. During the long months of finalrevision, Martyn had not only extended hisgrasp of the language and the Muslim mind,but had also seen salvation amongst hislocal contacts. For the New Testament to beacceptable in Persia it must be presented to

the Shah, so two very special copies hadbeen prepared, of the finest penmanshipand presentation. Henry Martyn joined aconvoy travelling north across the Plateauof Iran, hoping to arrive in Tabriz where theBritish Ambassador lived. The plan was thatSir Gore Ousley would arrange for him apersonal audience with the Shah, but theplans went all awry. Henry never did meetthe Shah. He met, instead, the Shah’s Vizier,in an unpleasant and hostile gathering,where he was challenged to speak theMuslim creed – “Say ‘God is God andMohammed is the Prophet of God’”. Therewas a silence, then our man of God replied,“God is God, and Jesus is the Son of God”.In the ensuing uproar Henry Martyn wasglad to come away without injury, and hisprecious Testament safe. Not surprisingly,the Vizier utterly refused to present him tothe Shah.

In yet a further kindness, theAmbassador, Gore Ousley, subsequently didpresent the Persian New Testament to theShah of Persia, who received it withsatisfaction, and commended it to hispeople.7 More immediate kindness wasneeded for Martyn, as the Ambassador andhis wife nursed him almost from the brinkof death in Tabriz. All other plans were nowlaid aside, and his heart became set on areturn to England. He sought leave from his‘masters’, the East India Company, to go toEngland, and began to make arrangementsto join a small party headed forConstantinople. From there he would takeship for Malta, and so on to London.

The Last Journey

HHenry Martyn’s small group set out inSeptember 1812 along the ancient

Royal Road of Persia, on a journey of over

Map representing Henry Martyn’s travels in the East

Goa

Colombo

BombayMuscat

BushireShiraz

TabrizTokat

Mt. Ararat

Calcutta

Perseopolis

Mount Ararat

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disputes about the faith…but talks on allsubjects, sacred and profane, and makesothers laugh…”, was the report ofMountstuart Elphinstone, British resident inPoona, who shared passage on the ship toBombay.

How wounding is the surprise of theArmenian Bishop Serrafino, who found inMartyn not only all the accomplishments of

a good education, but also theinescapable character of an eminent

Christian – “all the English I havehitherto met with, not only make

no profession of religion, butlive seemingly in contempt of

it”. The fire of Martyn’s owncommunion with God issharply brought into viewin his rueful diagnosis ofthe root of his fellowlabourer’s lack of‘moderation in all things’:“Sabat lives almostwithout prayer, and this is

sufficient to account for allevils that appear in saint or

sinner.”

Christian workers in allthe lands from Constantinople to

Calcutta have entered intoMartyn’s Bible labours, reaping what

he sowed at the willing cost of his ownlife. Many of them will bewail that this greatwork was not adequately pursued. There issuch great need now for those of Martyn’sspirit to hold forth the Word of Life, to liftup the Lord Jesus Christ, to proclaim theacceptable year of the Lord in these samelands. There is such need for those ofstrong Christian convictions to catch thevision of Bible Translation as somethingother than a poor or even inconsequential

part of fulfilling the Great Commission. LetMartyn’s motto be the last word: ‘to believe,to suffer, and to hope’.

Postscript

IIn Turkey, near Tokat, Henry Martyn died,October 16th 1812. In Turkey, in the town

of Izmir (Smyrna), John William Burgonwas born, August 21, 1813. But that isanother story.

Endnotes:1 Martyn was not without assistance, but the saga ofhis helpers, their relationship with him, and theirhindrance of the work (some readers may know ofSabat!), is its own rich story, not covered here.

2 This chimes harmoniously with the Aims of the TBS:To be instrumental in bringing light and life, throughthe Gospel of Christ, to those who are lost in sin andin the darkness of false religion and unbelief.

3 After their want of the Gospel, and a vernacularBible, Martyn rated the next great misfortune in theraces and cultures about him was to be without theSabbath and without the Book of Common Prayer.

4 His reputation was such that some sea captainswere afraid that his religion would cause trouble ontheir ships. The actual testimony of each of hisvoyages was that his religion bore very good fruit!

5 Christine Osborne / Lonely Planet Images

6 A Professor of Arabic at Cambridge published someof Martyn’s tracts in 1824. A plaque in Holy TrinityChurch, Cambridge, refers to Martyn’s “defending theChristian faith in the heart of Persia against theunited talents of the most learned Mahomedans”.

7 Gore Ousley also took a copy of this New Testamentto St. Petersburg in Russia, and the Russian BibleSociety published an edition of it in 1815, a yearsooner than the copies Martyn had sent to Seramporeappeared in print.

8 In all his journeying, in India, Arabia and Persia,Henry Martyn had come into contact with Armenianchurchmen, and the last occasion to ‘come apart andrest’ was for five days at the Armenian Patriarchatein Echmiadzin.

No horses being to be had, I had anunexpected repose. I sat in theorchard and thought with sweetcomfort and peace of my God; insolitude my Company, my Friend,and Comforter. Oh! When shall timegive place to eternity! When shallappear that new heaven and newearth wherein dwellethrighteousness! There, there shall inno wise enter in anything thatdefileth: none of that wickednesswhich has made men worse thanwild beasts, none of thosecorruptions which add still more tothe miseries of mortality, shall beseen or heard of any more.

After ten more days, of which we have noaccount at all, on October 16th 1812, HenryMartyn died, in Christ, to rest from hislabours, his works following (see Revelation14.13). He was buried by his friends of theArmenian Church there in Tokat, andseveral years later a tomb was constructed.This inscription stands there in English,Armenian, Persian and Turkish:

REV HENRY MARTYN, M.A.CHAPLAIN OF THE HON. EAST INDIA COMPANY,

BORN AT TRURO, ENGLAND, FEBRUARY 18, 1781,DIED AT TOKAT, OCTOBER 16, 1812.

HE LABOURED FOR MANY YEARS IN THE EAST, STRIVING TO BENEFIT MANKIND BOTH IN THIS

WORLD AND THAT TO COME.

HE TRANSLATED THE HOLY SCRIPTURES INTO

HINDOSTANEE AND PERSIAN, AND PREACHED

THE GOD AND SAVIOUR OF WHOM THEY TESTIFY.

HE WILL LONG BE REMEMBERED IN THE EAST, WHERE HE WAS KNOWN AS A MAN OF GOD

A Good Report (I Timothy 3.7)

OOne of Martyn’s dearest friends said thathis favourite hymn was Isaac Watts’

paraphrase of Psalm 72: “Jesus shall reignwhere’er the sun doth his successivejourneys run…”. Certainly his life was livedas if wholly motivated by just such a Christ-centred vision. His own ‘rule’ formissionary life was quite simple,“knowledge of men andacquaintance with Scriptures…communion with God andstudy of my own heart”.Simple as they are, thesewords were rigorouslyreduced to practice byHenry Martyn, so that hewas loved and admired byall who had fellowshipwith him in the Gospel ofthe Lord Jesus Christ. “Heshines in all the dignity oflove, and seems to carryabout him such a Heavenlymajesty, as impresses themind beyond description”, wasthe report of an old Christianfriend in Calcutta.

Equally striking is the affectionand esteem with which he wasregarded by so many others with whom hewas in contact, who had no real sympathywith his religion. It was not only the poorand needy who loved him for his selflessministrations where he found them, butmen of power and influence and standingin the society of those times. “We have inMartyn an excellent scholar, and one of themildest, cheerfullest and pleasantest men Iever saw. He is extremely religious, and

Tomb of Henry Martyn at Tokat