of his ancestral religion, Mánik
chí Ṣáḥib was appointed, in 1854, as an emissary on behalf of the Parsees of India to assist their coreligionists in
Írán, who were suffering under the repressive policies of the Qájár monarchs. Some time after this he attained the presence of
Bahá’u’lláh in
Baghdad. Although maintaining to the end of his life allegiance to his Zoroastrian faith, he was attracted to the teachings of the new religion and, moved by the sacrifice of its early martyrs, became a lifelong admirer. From 1876 to 1882 he employed the eminent Bahá’í scholar
Mírzá Abu’l-Faḍl as his personal secretary, and the latter acted as his intermediary with Bahá’u’lláh in relaying the questions that led to the revelation of two
Tablets of far-reaching significance
The first Tablet, known as the Lawḥ-i-Mánik
chí Ṣáḥib, is celebrated for its striking and well-known passages epitomizing the universality of Bahá’u’lláh’s prophetic claim. Revealed, at Mánik
chí Ṣáḥib’s bold request, in pure Persian, the Tablet responds to the questions he had raised and proclaims some of the central tenets of the
Faith of Bahá’u’lláh: “Be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye live in, and centre your deliberations on its