The coming of the Báb
The coming of the Báb
The Shrine of the Báb, Haifa ©
Mulla Husayn and his brother and nephew, in search of the Promised One of Shi'a Muslim tradition, travelled to Shiraz, a city in the south of Iran. Mulla Husayn sent his companions on ahead and waited outside the gates of the city.
He was approached by a stranger wearing a green turban, which indicated that the wearer was descended from the Prophet Muhammad. The stranger welcomed Mulla to Shiraz and offered him hospitality in his house.
Discovering the Báb
The young man wearing the green turban was called Siyyid Ali Muhammad and he was descended from the Prophet Muhammad through both of his parents.
Mulla Husayn told the young man about his search for the Promised One. When Ali Muhammad asked how Siyyid Kázim's followers would recognise the Promised One, Mulla Husayn repeated Siyyid Kázim's description -
He is of a pure lineage, is of illustrious descent, is endowed with innate knowledge and is free from bodily deficiency.Siyyid Kázim
Ali Muhammad then said, "Behold, all these signs are manifest in me."
Because Ali Muhammad was able to explain some of the difficult teachings of Shaykh Ahmad to him, Mulla Husayn believed that Ali Muhammad was the Promised One.
And when he wrote a commentary on the Surih of Joseph (a chapter in the Qu'ran), Mulla Husayn became certain. Mulla Husayn had been told by Siyyid Kázim that the Promised One would be able to write such a commentary without being asked.
This is one of the fundamentally significant moments in Bahá'í history. Mulla Husayn wanted to escape the implication of the Báb's declaration but in the end the facts forced him to acknowledge it.
Ali Muhammad declared:
O Thou who art the first to believe in Me! Verily, I say, I am the Báb, the Gate of God.The Báb
He did this some 2 hours 11 minutes after sunset on 22 May 1844 and this time is celebrated by Bahá'ís as the Declaration of the Báb and the beginning of a new era in human history.