'The new Bābi religion in Persia, of which the institution may be dated from 1844, the year in which Mīrza `Ali Muhammad, commonly known as the Bāb, declared his mission, does not appear to have obtained as yet much hold on the coast of the Persian Gulf, notwithstanding that the Bāb visited Būshehr at an early stage in his public career. It was reported that at Būshehr there were in 1905 only about 50 Bābis, chiefly employed in the Customs Department or in the Artillery; a very few others were found at the ports of Bandar `Abbas and Lingeh, and possibly at Shehr-i-Vīrān in the Līrāvi district; but at Baghdād, which was the headquarters of the Bābi religion from 1853 to 1864, it did not appear that there are any. It is probable, however, that Bābis are to be found in places where their existence has not been ascertained.'[5]
FOOTNOTES:
[A] The Rukni'd-Dawlih.
[B] Mashhad (Meshed) contains the Shrine of Imám Riḍá, the eighth Imám.
[C] Ḥájí Muḥammad-Ismá`íl-i-Gulpáygání.
[D] The following verse in the Qur'án (xvii, 4) refers to the Mi`ráj:
Glory be to Him, who carried His servant by night
from the Holy Mosque to the Further Mosque
the precincts of which We have blessed,
that We might show him some of Our signs.
He is the All-hearing, the All-seeing.
—Arberry, The Koran Interpreted
The Holy Mosque (Masjid-al-Ḥarám) is the Ka`bah in Mecca; the Further Mosque (Masjid-al-Aqṣá) is in Jerusalem.
[E] `Abdu'l-Bahá has related this story of Siyyid Káẓim's works of charity: '`Alí-Sháh [the Ẓillu's-Sulṭán, see Prologue II, p. [10]]