on the gate on the Bรกb
I am, I am,
the promised One!
“
“
This is a special issue for the Bicentenary of the Birth of the Báb, the herald of the Baha’i Faith. The Báb’s dispensation lasted only nine years but His radical teachings of unity, sovereignty, and spiritual revolution captured the attention of the Persian and Ottoman empires, resulting in the unfathomable persecution of His followers. Although a distinct Manifestation of God, Baha’is revere His short-lived Faith, the significance of the Báb’s role as the forerunner to Baha’u’llah, and celebrate the 200th anniversary of His birth on October 29th, 2019. Thank you.
One Report is edited by Anisa Tavangar with Maya Mansour. Cover art by Josefina Hernandez. Photographs contributed by Yamina Ahderom, Karmel Faithi, Alexandra Findlay, Nisa Lambrecht, Farzam Sabetian, Felicia Sobhani, and Stephanie Spencer.
"I am, I am, the promised One! I am the One whose name you have for a thousand years invoked, at whose mention you have risen, whose advent you have longed to witness, and the hour of whose Revelation you have prayed God to hasten. Verily I say, it is incumbent upon the peoples of both the East and the West to obey My word and to pledge allegiance to My person." ,
The Bab
The Báb named his first 18 disciples the Letters of the Living. To them, He wrote—
“O My beloved friends! You are the bearers of the name of God in this Day. You have been chosen as the repositories of His mystery. It behoves each one of you to manifest the attributes of God, and to exemplify by your deeds and words the signs of His righteousness, His power and glory… You are the witnesses of the Dawn of the promised Day of God. You are the partakers of the mystic chalice of His Revelation… You are the first Letters that have been generated from the Primal Point, the first Springs that have welled out from the Source of this Revelation…”
"The most acceptable prayer is the one offered with the utmost spirituality and radiance; its prolongation hath not been and is not beloved by God. The more detached and purer the prayer, the more acceptable is it in the presence of God." , The Bab
The first Letter of the Living, Mulla Husayn, was the first to recognize the Báb’s station. He is the Báb’ul-Báb— the Gate of the Gate. To him, the Báb said—
“O thou who art the first to believe in Me! Verily I say, I am the Báb, the Gate of God, and thou art the Bábu’l-Báb, the gate of that Gate. Eighteen souls must, in the beginning, spontaneously and of their own accord, accept Me and recognise the truth of My Revelation. Unwarned and uninvited, each of these must seek independently to find Me.”
After their meeting, Mulla Husayn recalled—
“Had my youthful Host no other claim to greatness, this were sufficient—that He received me with that quality of hospitality and loving-kindness which I was convinced no other human being could possibly reveal.”
“This Revelation, so suddenly and impetuously thrust upon me, came as a thunderbolt which, for a time, seemed to have benumbed my faculties. I was blinded by its dazzling splendour and overwhelmed by its crushing force. Excitement, joy, awe, and wonder stirred the depths of my soul. Predominant among these emotions was a sense of gladness and strength which seemed to have transfigured me. How feeble and impotent, how dejected and timid, I had felt previously! Then I could neither write nor walk, so tremulous were my hands and feet. Now, however, the knowledge of His Revelation had galvanised my being. I felt possessed of such courage and power that were the world, all its peoples and its potentates, to rise against me, I would, alone and undaunted, withstand their onslaught. The universe seemed but a handful of dust in my grasp. I seemed to be the Voice of Gabriel personified, calling unto all mankind: “Awake, for lo! the morning Light has broken. Arise, for His Cause is made manifest. The portal of His grace is open wide; enter therein, O peoples of the world! For He who is your promised One is come!� Quoted from The Dawn-Breakers
Tahirih was a poetess from Qazvin, known throughout the region for her radical prose and her lectures on theology presented to rooms full of men from behind a veil. Her infamous outspokenness about women’s rights made her one of the first Persian feminists. Her devotion to the Bab’s message and dedication to women’s rights were so threatening to the status quo at the time that it led to her incarceration and eventually her execution. She was the only woman Letter of the Living.
Her last words were—
"You can kill me but you can never stop the e m a n c i pat i o n of women."
Lovers! Creation veils his face no more! Lovers, look! He himself is visible! See! The face of God glows with glory: Look, lovers! Bright, pure, blinding, beautiful! Who made the cosmos turns earth green once more. Rise! Rise from that dark so miserable! The day of truth is here! Lies have turned to dust!
Order, justice, law are now possible. Smashed, the despot’s fist! God’s hand opens: Grace pours down - not sorrow, pain, and trouble Minds in darkness now burn light with knowledge Tell the priest: Shut your book! Lock the temple! Hatred and doubt once poisoned all the world. The bloodied cup holds milk now - pure, ample! Let nations hear who’s come to set them free: Broken the chain, and smashed the manacle!
Tahirih
“The Lord of the universe hath never raised up a prophet nor hath He sent down a Book unless He hath established His covenant with all men, calling for their acceptance of the next Revelation and of the next Book; inasmuch as the outpourings of His bounty are ceaseless and without limit.”
The Báb
“Is there any Remover of difficulties save God? Say: Praised be God! He is God! All are His servants and all abide by His bidding!” The Báb
The Bab was martyred by a firing squad of 750 with His follower Anis, which means “companion.� In the first attempt, the shots only severed the ropes tying the Bab and Anis to a post. In the second, the two bodies were fused together by the bullets.
The Bab’s final words were— “Had you believed in Me, O Wayward generation, every one of you would have followed the example of this youth, who stood in rank above most of you, and willingly would have sacrificed himself in My path. The day will come when you will have recognized Me; that day I shall have ceased to be with you.”
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