CHAPTER 2
HE WHOM THEY SOUGHT
The gentle spirit of the Bāb is surely high up in the cycles of eternity. Who can fail, as Prof. Browne says, to be attracted by him?
—T. K. Cheyne, D.Litt., D.D.
Siyyid (or Mírzá) `Alí-Muḥammad, known to history as the Báb, was the son of Siyyid (or Mír) Muḥammad-Riḍá, a mercer of Shíráz.[1]He was born on October 20th 1819 (Muḥarram 1st, 1235 A.H.). Through both His father and His mother He was descended from Imám Ḥusayn,[AF] the third Imám. Thus He stood in direct line of descent from the Prophet Muḥammad. According to Mírzá Abu'l-Faḍl-i-Gulpáygání, Siyyid Muḥammad-Riḍá, the Báb's father, died when his only child was an infant, unweaned. Then the care of the child devolved upon a maternal uncle, Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid `Alí. He was the only relative of the Báb to espouse His Cause openly during His lifetime and, as will be seen, to accept martyrdom for His sake. But according to a manuscript history of the Bábí-Bahá'í Faith in Shíráz by Ḥájí Mírzá Ḥabíbu'lláh-i-Afnán,[AG] Siyyid Muḥammad-Riḍá passed away when his son was nine years old, and `Abdu'l-Bahá appears to confirm this account.[AH]
Two of Siyyid Muḥammad-Riḍa's paternal cousins rose to eminence in the ranks of the Shí`ah divines, and both bore allegiance, in strict secrecy, to their kinsman when His claim to be 'the Qá'im of the House of Muḥammad' became publicly known. Of the two, the more famed and distinguished was Ḥájí Mírzá Muḥammad-Ḥasan (1815-95), known as Mírzáy-i-Shírází, who, like all the leading Shí`ah divines, resided in `Iráq. He was the most influential ecclesiastic of his time, powerful enough to wreck the Tobacco Régie, the monopoly concession which Náṣiri'd-Dín Sháh (reigned 1848-96) gave to Major Gerald F. Talbot, a British citizen, in the summer of 1889.[2] Mírzáy-i-Shírází put the use of tobacco under an interdict and the people of Írán, even the women in the Sháh's harem, ceased to use it. Náṣiri'd-Dín Sháh was forced early in 1892 to cancel the concession and pay the Tobacco Corporation an indemnity of £500,000. The father of Mírzáy-i-Shírází, named Mírzá Maḥmúd, was a noted calligraphist, and was uncle to the father of the Báb.
The other celebrated ecclesiastic, cousin to Siyyid Muḥammad-Riḍá, was Ḥájí Siyyid Javád, the Imám-Jum`ih[AI] of Kirmán. It was Quddús who gave this dignitary the news of the advent of the Báb. Ḥájí Siyyid Javád extended his protection to Quddús, despite the clamour of his adversaries.
The mother of the Báb was Fáṭimih-Bagum. She was the daughter of Mírzá Muḥammad-Ḥusayn, a merchant of Shíráz, and had three brothers. Of these, Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid `Alí became the guardian of the Báb, while Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid Muḥammad and Ḥájí Mírzá Ḥasan-`Alí, although not enlisted in the ranks of the followers of their illustrious Nephew, feature in His story.
Every account that we have of Siyyid `Alí-Muḥammad's childhood indicates that He was not an ordinary child. When He was sent to school, He so surprised the schoolmaster, Shaykh `Ábid, with His wisdom and intelligence that the bewildered man took the child back to His uncle, and said that he had nothing to teach this gifted pupil: 'He, verily, stands in no need of teachers such as I.' The uncle had already noticed the remarkable qualities of his ward, and it is recorded that on this occasion he was very stern with Him: 'Have You forgotten my instructions? Have I not already admonished You to follow the example of Your fellow-pupils, to observe silence, and to listen attentively to every word spoken by Your teacher?' It was totally alien to the nature of that gentle child to disregard the wishes of His guardian. He returned to school and conducted Himself on the pattern of other children. Nothing, however, could restrain the superior mind and intelligence possessed by that exceptional boy. As time went on, the schoolmaster became convinced that he could not help his student; in the role of instructor he felt as the instructed.
It should also be said that schools such as that attended by Siyyid `Alí-Muḥammad, which were common in those days, were one-man affairs and matters taught were elementary, although pupils were trained to read the Qur'án, even if they could not possibly understand the meaning of the sacred text which is of course in Arabic. The Báb did not go beyond this school nor the tuition of Shaykh `Ábid. Thus His schooling was meagre.