Chapter 2: He Whom They Sought

Opening quotation: T. K. Cheyne, _The Reconciliation of Races and Religions_, p. 74.

[1] Mír Muḥammad-Riḍá's father was named Mír Naṣru'lláh, his grandfather Mír Fatḥu'lláh, and his great-grandfather Mír Ibráhím.

[2] For details of this unedifying transaction, see Kazemzadeh, _Russia and Britain in Persia, 1864-1914_, ch. 4. The contract was signed on March 8th 1890.

[3] Translated by H. M. Balyuzi.

[4] [_Sh_]ay[_kh_] Muḥammad was known as [_Sh_]ay[_kh_] `Ábid, and also as [_Sh_]ay[_kh_]uná and [_Sh_]ay[_kh_]-i-Anám. That his real name was Muḥammad is attested by this verse in the Arabic _Bayán_, one of the last works of the Báb: 'Say O Muḥammad, My teacher, do not beat me ere my years have gone beyond five.'

His school was in the quarter called Bázár-i-Mur[_gh_] (Poultry Market), housed in a mosque-like structure which went by the name of Qahviy-i-Awlíyá'. It was close to the house of Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid `Alí, the uncle-guardian of the Báb. In its courtyard were a number of graves: three were particularly revered as those of saintly personages, one of whom was called Awlíyá'--though no one really knew whose were the graves.

It is known that [_Sh_]ay[_kh_] `Ábid wrote a monograph on the childhood of the Báb, but the manuscript has always been in the possession of people not well-disposed to the Faith of the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh, and they have persistently refused to give it up or to divulge its contents. [_Sh_]ay[_kh_] `Ábid was also destined in later years to accept the Faith proclaimed by his former Pupil.

[5] Account taken from Mírzá Abu'l Faḍl's unpublished writings.

[6] Nicolas, _Seyyèd Ali Mohammed Dit le Bâb_, pp. 189-90.

[7] Written in several volumes during the reign of Náṣiri'd-Dín [_Sh_]áh by Lisánu'l-Mulk of Ká[_sh_]án, whose soubriquet was Sipihr.

[8] _The Dawn-Breakers_, pp. 20-2 (Brit.), pp. 25-9 (U.S.).

[9] _ibid._, pp. 22-3 (Brit.), p. 30 (U.S.).

[10] Ḥájí Mírzá `Alí's father was named Mírzá `Ábid.

[11] By [_Dh_]ikr, he means Himself. Repeatedly in the _Qayyúmu'l-Asmá'_, the Báb refers to Himself as [_Dh_]ikr, and was known to His followers as [_Dh_]ikru'lláh-al-A`ẓam (Mention of God, the Most Great), or [_Dh_]ikru'lláh-al-Akbar (Mention of God, the Greatest), and sometimes as Ḥaḍrat-i-[_Dh_]ikr. 'Ḥaḍrat' prefixed to the name of a Manifestation of God has been translated as 'His Holiness'. But this English rendering is totally inadequate, for 'Ḥaḍrat' has no English equivalent when placed prior to the name of a Manifestation of God. It conveys also the sense of His Honour, His Eminence, His Excellency, and the like.

[12] From the _Qayyúmu'l-Asmá'_, translated by H. M. Balyuzi.