An Epistle of the Báb to Mullá ʿAbdu’l-Karím Qazvíní on Mirzá Yahyá

Abstract: Nine luminous Epistles of the Báb, revealed during the closing years of His ministry (1849–1850), were published — together with facsimiles of the original manuscripts — in an Azalí collection entitled Qismat-i az alwāḥ-i khaṭṭ-i Nuqṭa-yi Ūlā wa Āqá Siyyid Ḥusayn Kātib (see Denis MacEoin, The Sources for Early Bábí Doctrine and History, p. 96). The Epistle under this study is addressed to Mullá ʿAbdu’l-Karím Qazvíní, situating it within the historical and spiritual framework of the Báb’s communications with His devoted disciples and the wider Bábí community.

The Báb rejoices in the tidings conveyed by Mullá ʿAbdu’l-Karím concerning “the Mirror of Eternity” (al-Mirʾāt al-Azalīyah) — Mírzá Yaḥyá — who hath spoken of God, his Lord, and hath guided souls unto God, the Source of his existence. He entrusts Mullá ʿAbdu’l-Karím with two sacred duties: first, perfect vigilance over the preservation of all the Writings of God — whether from eternity past or newly revealed — and the enshrinement, within the Tablets of Remembrance, of the prerogatives of the Beauteous Fruit; second, the safeguarding of Yaḥyá’s heart, so pure and unsullied that no passing thought may shadow it.

In this Epistle, the Báb unfolds a tripartite imagery: the Fruit, His revealed Words; the Mirror, Mírzá Yaḥyá, appointed to reflect the light; and the Countenance, the Manifestation of God, the primal source of illumination.