The Kitáb-i-Aqdas
Notes
writings on
Shí‘ih jurisprudence, he is reported to have died around 1850.
Nabíl, in
The Dawn-Breakers, describes the encounter that took place in Najaf between
Mullá ‘Alíy-i-Basṭámí, one of the
Letters of the Living, and
Shay
kh Muḥammad-Ḥasan. During the meeting, Mullá ‘Alí announced the manifestation of
the Báb and extolled the potency of His
Revelation. At the instigation of the
Shay
kh, Mullá ‘Alí was forthwith pronounced a heretic and expelled from the assembly. He was put on trial, transported to
Istanbul, and condemned to hard labour.
179.a sifter of wheat and barley
¶166
This is an allusion to Mullá Muḥammad Ja’far Gandum-Pák-Kun, the first person in
Iṣfahán to accept the
Faith of the Báb.
He is mentioned in the Persian
Bayán and praised as one who “
donned the robe of discipleship”. In
The Dawn-Breakers, Nabíl describes the unreserved acceptance of the Message by the “sifter of wheat” and his zealous advocacy of the new Revelation. He joined the company of the defenders of the
Fort of Shaykh Tabarsí and perished during that siege.
180.Take heed lest the word “Prophet” withhold you from this Most Great Announcement
¶167
Bahá’u’lláh cautions people “
of insight” not to allow their interpretations of the Holy Scriptures to prevent them from recognizing the
Manifestation of God. Followers of each religion have tended to allow their devotion to its Founder to cause them to perceive His Revelation as the final Word of God and to deny the possibility of the appearance of any subsequent Prophet. This has been the case of Judaism, Christianity and
Islám. Bahá’u’lláh denies the validity of this concept of finality both in relation to past
Dispensations and to His own. With regard to
Muslims,
He wrote in the
Kitáb-i-Iqán that the “
people of the Qur’án ... have allowed the words ‘Seal of the Prophets’ to veil their eyes”, “
to obscure their
243