A Prophet In Modern Times A.L.M. Nicolas Peter Terry, translator and editor Volume I of the Babi Studies Series First English translation of the first biography of Hají Siyyid ‘Alí-Muhammad Shírází, called “the Báb”. The original was published in French by A.L.M. Nicolas in 1905 as Seyyed Ali Mohammed dit le Bab. This edition features the detailed annotations compiled and verified by the translator. Passages from the Writings of the Báb are in some cases presented in the compiler’s rendering of their French translation by A.L.M. Nicolas, originally published circa 1900-1911. Second Edition prepared for electronic publication on bahai- library.com (2015) First edition published by Lulu Publications 2008 Copyright © 2008 by Peter Terry All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. ISBN: 978-1-4357-1495-3 Manufactured in the United States of America. A Prophet in Modern Times 2 Table of Contents Acknowledgements 3 Introduction 5 Chapter One From Birth to Declaration 12 Chapter Two The Declaration — The Pilgrimage — His Name 50 Chapter Three The Return to Shíráz — The Imprisonment — The Cholera — Flight to Isfáhán 81 Chapter Four Death of Manúchihr Khán — Exiled from Isfáhán — Tabríz — The Prison of Máh-Kú 114 Chapter Five Imprisonment at Chihríq — Trial and Execution at Tabríz — Concealment and Burial 149 Appendix I The Dispensation of The Báb 178 Appendix II Writings of the Báb 182 A Prophet in Modern Times 3 Acknowledgements It is common practice for authors to thank those who have assisted (and tolerated) them during their long labors, and to take credit for all the faults that may be found in their works. I wish to begin this preface by stating without prevarication or exaggeration that this annotated translation could not have been published without the generous encouragement of many individuals. First of all, I am deeply grateful to the Universal House of Justice, the Supreme Institution of the Bahá'í Administrative Order, which graciously permitted me to proceed with this publication, notwithstanding the many errors that are found in Nicolas' historical narrative and to which Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith alluded in several of his letters. I hope that my copious annotations have corrected all of these errors, and laid to rest other falsehoods that have hitherto lingered in the vicinity of the person of Hájí Siyyid 'Alí Muhammad Shírází, known as the Báb. Inasmuch as the sheer volume of these annotations have extended the length of this translation, only selected chapters have been featured from “Seyyed Ali Mohammed dit le Bab” by A.L.M. Nicolas. A second volume will be prepared, which will include all of the chapters missing here. While these chapters treat the life of the Báb, the second volume will feature those chapters that treat the lives of his followers. Second, Dr. Richard Hollinger lent me his copy of Nicolas' book, and since it is hard to find in libraries and even harder to locate in bookstores, he made it possible for me to select this particular book for translation. Third, Ms. Fariba Ghayebi spent many hours over the course of several months ferreting through two lengthy and detailed biographies of the Báb in Persian, one authored by Abu'l- Qasim Afnan and the other by Muhammad-'Alí Faizi, for details related to the events and personalities discussed by A.L. M. Nicolas. Her assistance to me was truly invaluable, and has considerably enriched the value of the annotations to Nicolas' text. Fourth, I asked specific questions of the members of various online lists, which were answered by a number of knowledgeable individuals, to whom I extend my heartfelt thanks, including (alphabetically) Dr. Necati Alkan, Dr. J.R.I. Cole, Mr. William Collins, Mr. Steven Cooney, Dr. Armin Eschraghi, Dr. Khazeh Fananapazir, Dr. Iskandar Ha'i, Mr. Sepehr Manuchehri, Dr. Ahang Rabbani and Mr. Ismael Velasco. If you are one of those who assisted me and whom I have forgotten to mention, I ask for your forgiveness, and promise to honor and thank you in future editions of this book. To all of those who answered my questions I am very grateful, and assure you that what you shared with me has found its way into my annotations, often, but perhaps not always, with appropriate attribution. Fifth, to Mr. Kurt Asplund I owe a great debt of gratitude for giving me open access to his private library with its rich collection of books related to this project, including many photographs which we hope to include in a later edition of this volume. Sixth, as my readers will no doubt notice, I have relied to a considerable extent upon the published works of Professor Abbas Amanat, Professor Edward Granville Browne, Dr. Denis MacEoin, and Dr. Ahang Rabbani. In subsequent volumes related to the subject, the published A Prophet in Modern Times 4 works of Dr. Armin Eschraghi, Dr. Stephen Lambden, Professor Todd Lawson, Dr. Vahid Ra’fati, Professor Nader Saiedi and other leading experts on the Báb will be consulted and referenced. Seventh, it would be remiss of me not to thank Professor Anthony Lee, editor of Kalimat Press, for his encouragement of my translation of Nicolas' seminal work, and for his offer to publish it in the United States. Eighth, I am grateful to Dr. Wendi Momen, editor at George Ronald Press, for believing in this book, and for her many months of patient collaboration with this often preoccupied author in an attempt to publish it in the United Kingdom. Ninth, I want to thank all of those who participated in educating me about the Bahá'í Faith, for without its discovery I could not have engaged in this project. Mr. Steve Schultz, who first introduced me to the Bahá'ís, in Cincinnati, Ohio; Mr. Wayne Hoover, my first Bahá'í mentor, in Gorham, Maine; Miss Helen LaVey, my second Bahá'í mentor, in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Professor Daniel C. Jordan and Mrs. Nancy Jordan; Professor Dwight Allen, Mr. Nathan Rutstein and many other Bahá'í teachers whom I learned much from during my studies at the University of Massachusetts; Mrs. Marian C. Lippitt, my first teacher in Bahá'í metaphysics and spiritual psychology, in York, Maine; Dr. Adelbert Muhlschlegel, an amateur historian and mystic; Bahá'í scholars whom I interviewed in Europe and the United States in 1980-1981, too numerous to mention by name; Mr. Hooper Dunbar and other members of the Universal House of Justice, who have encouraged my scholarly endeavors; and hundreds of Bahá'ís whom I have encountered on three continents, in twelve countries, and over the Internet. To each and every one I thank you for your gifts of insight and knowledge, of friendship and trust. Finally, I could not have dedicated the innumerable hours to research and writing that have resulted in this volume without the hospitality, the forbearance and the steadfast support of my parents and friends. It is to those loved ones that I dedicate the book. As for the errors in this book, there are no doubt many. Please inform me of any such errors and I will do our best to correct them in time for the next edition. While books about the Báb aren't usually best sellers, I have hopes that this particular volume will reach a wide readership. So, if you like the book, please help me out, and tell people about it. The most trustworthy advertising is what you hear about from your friends. It is my hope that many will read this book, and that it will inspire all of its readers with a profound and incurable desire to immerse themselves in the writings of the Báb. For as extraordinary as is the story of his life, his writings are the remnant of that life, a remnant that is as fresh today as it was over a century ago. The Báb claimed to be a Prophet for our Times. Let us see what Modern Times think of him. A Prophet in Modern Times 5 Introduction Alphonse Louis Marie (A.L.M.) Nicolas, the author of "Seyyed Ali Mohammed dit le Bab", was born in the city of Rasht, the province of Gílán, in the land of Írán on the 27th of March 1864(1). Born in Persia and living most of his life there, it is only appropriate that we also give the hijri date for his birth, 18 Shawwal 1280. His father, Louis Jean Baptiste (J.B.) Nicolas (1814-1875) had been born in Hyeres, France, and served as French consular official from 1846 to the time of his death. J.B. Nicolas served in Tihrán from 1854 until 1863, when he was assigned to Rasht. Ten years later he was recalled to Tihrán, where he died in 1875.(2) J.B. Nicolas was the compiler of a French-Persian dictionary, the author of some articles on Persian literary subjects, and the translator of a Persian article on the 1852 failed assassination attempt on Násiri'd-Dín Sháh.(3 Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson (1810–95), the English Orientalist and diplomat who served for some time in the Persian Army, described J.B. in 1855 as "quite illiterate" but nevertheless affirmed that "his natural shrewdness and knowledge of Persians, render of some value his report of facts and the inferences he draws from them."(4) Another notable, the author, diplomat and infamous racialist Count Joseph Arthur de Gobineau (1816- 1882) described J.B. as "un drole" in a letter to his sister.(5) His son consequently spent his first nine years in Rasht, and the balance of his childhood in Tihrán.