I am profoundly grateful to the Hands of the Cause Paul Haney and Abul-Qasim Faizi for reading the manuscript and for their review and advice. As in the past Marion Hofman's generous help has smoothed the path to publication. My indebtedness to her is immense. And without my wife's assistance and support I could not have completed my task.
I should also like to thank Miss Dorothy Wigington, Mr. Farhang Afnan and Mr. Rustom Sabit for their care in reading the proofs, and Mr. Horst W. Kolodziej for his excellent reproduction of a number of old documents and photographs.
Finally, a word as to the Prologue; this in my view provides a necessary background for the story of the Báb. But should the reader find in it too many unfamiliar facts, he may turn immediately to the first chapter.
H. M. BALYUZI
London
October 1972
A Note on the Construction of Persian Names
In times past the people of Persia had no surnames, but in many instances they were known by the name of the district, city, town, or even the village from which they came: for example, Khurásání, Mázindarání, Ṭihrání, Iṣfahání, and Shírází.
There were also various honorific prefixes and suffixes by which a person was distinguished. A descendant of the Prophet Muḥammad had (and has) the prefix of 'Siyyid'. At times, 'Mírzá' took the place of 'Siyyid', and at times the two were used together. 'Mírzá' by itself did not denote any particular ancestry, except when placed after a proper name to mark royal descent.