Chapter Four

One night while the Báb was talking to Mullá Husayn, He said: "Seventeen Letters have thus far enlisted under the standard of the Faith of God. There remains one more to complete the number. These Letters of the Living shall arise to proclaim My cause and to establish My Faith. Tomorow night the remaining Letter will arrive and will complete the number of My chosen disciples."

The next day, in the evening, Muhammad-'Alí, later named Quddús, became the last Letter of the Living by recognizing the Báb as He walked with Mullá Husayn outside the gate of the city of Shíráz *

One of the chosen Eighteen Letters of the Living was a woman named Táhirih. She never met the Báb, but she recognized Him in a dream and sent Him a letter which proved to Him that she was worthy to be considered a Letter of the Living.**

After the Eighteen Letters of the Living had found the Báb, he Himself became the Nineteenth. He then called them into His presence, and gave each of them a special command and a special duty. He spoke some inspiring words to them before parting. Mullá Husayn had thought that he would be the one chosen by the Báb to go with Him on His pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, but the Báb chose Quddús instead. Mullá Husayn was disappointed, but the Báb had saved Mullá Husayn for another purpose.

The Báb told Mullá Husayn not to be unhappy because he wasn't chosen to go on pilgrimage with Him. Instead, he was to go to the city which held a Mystery more holy than anything in Hijáz or Shíráz. His task would be to open the eyes of non-believers and, with the help of God, to make their minds clean. The Báb promised that he would be given great power and that God's angels would protect him. God's almighty arms would surround him and His unfailing spirit would guide him. Finally, the Báb said: "He that loves you, loves God; and whoever opposes you, has opposed God. Who befriends you, him will God befriend; and whoso rejects you, him will God reject."

With those wonderfull words in his ears Mullá Husayn started on his special task. Wherever he went, to whatever group of people he talked, he told the great Message of the Promised One without fear. When he spoke to the people he told them that a great new religious teacher had appeared, and that He had written a book which was very nuch like the Holy Qur'án. When the people said that that was not such a wonderful thing, he said, "Show me another man who can do the same, if you are men who speak the truth. The day is soon coming when this whole city will accept His Cause."

When the Muslim clergy in the city of Isfahán heard these sayings of Mullá Husayn, they immediately became angry and afraid. They did not believe that anyone could ever be as great as Muhammad, nor that any book could ever be as great as the Holy Qur'án. They were angry because Mullá Husayn had said this, and they were afraid because many people might believe Mullá Husayn and leave the Muslim Faith. Therefore, the clergy went to the government officials and told them lies, and tried to have Mullá Husayn stopped from teaching.

At first, the officials of the city paid no attention to the clergy. Instead, they told them to be wise and listen to Mullá Husayn; perhaps what he said was true. Mullá Husayn, therefore, was able to teach his new Faith for a long time without being stopped. However, in the whole city of Isfahán, only one man was found who recognized the Truth at once. He was a simple sifter of wheat. (A few years later, when he heard the news about the battle of Shaykh Tabarsí, he ran to join the men in the Fort. As he ran through the city of Isfahán, he carried his sieve. People tried to stop him, and asked, "Why are yo in such a hurry?" An he said, "I hurry to help the Bábís defend themselves at the Fort Shaykh Tabarsí. I carry this sieve with me to sift the people in each city through which I pass. Whosever I find ready to join me in this Faith, I will invite them to hurry with me to the field of martyrdom.") So glorious was the action of this young man, a sifter, that the Báb wrote about him in His Holy Book, the Bayán.

* The story of Quddús is told in another booklet of the "Golden Crowns" series.
** The story of Táhirih is another story told in the "Golden Crown" series.