Bicentenary Poems and Prose

Who Were The Letters of the Living

Who Were The Letters of the Living

..."O My beloved friends! You are the bearers of the name of God in this Day. You have been chosen as the repositories of His mystery. It behoves each one of you to manifest the attributes of God, and to exemplify by your deeds and words the signs of His righteousness, His power and glory. The very members of your body must bear witness to the loftiness of your purpose, the integrity of your life, the reality of your faith, and the exalted character of your devotion...."

The Bab's farewell address to the letters of the living1

One: Mullá Husayn Bushrú’í2
Bábu’l-Báb--
The Gate of the Gate--
he was the first to find and to believe.

Two: Muhammad Hasan Bushrú’í3
was Mullá Husayn's younger brother
and one of his companions
on his journey to Shiraz.

Three: Mírzá Muhammad Báqir Bushrú’í4
Mullá Husayn's nephew
and one of his companions
on the road to Shiraz.

Four: Mullá ‘Alíy-i-Bastamí5
was led to the Bab in a vision,
and given the title Thání Man Ámana--
"the Second Who Believed"--
before being sent on a special mission.

Five: Mullá Khudá-Bakhsh Qúchání6,
also known as Mullá ‘Alí Rází,
returned to Karbala.

Six: Mullá Hasan Bajistání7
taught the Babi faith
before returning to Karabala;
later met Baha'u'llah.

Seven: Siyyid Husayn Yazdí8,
also known as Kátib--
the Amanuensis--
was the Bab's secretary
in the fortress prisons of Mákú and Chihríq.

Eight: Mírzá Muhammad Rawdih-Khán Yazdí9
returned to Yazd
where he taught the Babi Faith
quietly until the day he died

Nine: Sa’íd Hindí10
taught the Babi Faith
in India.

Ten: Mullá Mahmúd-i-Khú’í11
one of the martyrs
of Shaykh Tabarsí
in 1849.

Eleven: Mullá Jalíl-i-Urúmí12
he spread the Babi Faith
in Azerbaijan and Qazvin.

Twelve: Mullá Ahmad-i-Ibdál-i-Marághi’í13
he attended
the Conference of Badasht
in 1848.

Thirteen: Mullá Báqir-i-Tabrízí14
the last surviving member
of the Letters of the Living
attained the presence
of Baha'u'llah.

Fourteen: Mullá Yúsuf-i-Ardibílí15
eloquent,
active,
and prominent Babi.

Fifteen: Mírzá Hádí-i-Qazvíní16
brother of Mírzá Muhammad-‘Alíy-i-Qazvíní,
and received a letter
from Baha'u'llah.

Sixteen: Mírzá Muhammad-‘Alíy-i-Qazvíní17
Táhirih's brother-in-law,
he delivered a letter fro Táhirih
to The Promised One
(the Bab).

Seventeen: Táhirih18
at the Conference of Badasht,
she removed her veil
emphasizing the independence
of the Bab's revelation
from Islam.

Eighteen: Quddús19--
the Most Holy--
accompanied the Bab
on His pilgrimage to Mecca.

Poet's Note:e ▼

This is poem 41 of the 200 I'm writing to celebrate the Bicentenary of the Birth of the Bab.

Footnotes
1  The Dawn-Breakers: Nabil's Narrative of the Early Days of the Baha'i Revelation, page 92
2  http://bahaichronicles.org/mulla-husayn-bushrui/
3  http://bahaichronicles.org/mirza-muhammad-hasan-bushrui/
4  http://bahaichronicles.org/mirza-muhammad-baqir-bushrui/
5  http://bahaichronicles.org/mulla-ali-bastami/
6  http://bahaichronicles.org/mulla-khuda-bakhsh-quchani/
7  http://bahaichronicles.org/mulla-hasan-bajistani/
8  http://bahaichronicles.org/siyyid-husayn-yazdi/
9  http://bahaichronicles.org/mirza-muhammad-rawdih-khan-yazdi/
10  http://bahaichronicles.org/said-hindi/
11  http://bahaichronicles.org/mulla-mahmud-khui/
12  http://bahaichronicles.org/mulla-jalil-urumi/
13  http://bahaichronicles.org/mulla-ahmad-abdal-maraghii/
14  http://bahaichronicles.org/mulla-baqir-tabrizi/
15  http://bahaichronicles.org/mulla-yusuf-ardibili/
16  http://bahaichronicles.org/mirza-hadi-qazvini/
17  http://bahaichronicles.org/mirza-muhammad-ali-qazvini/
18  http://bahaichronicles.org/tahirih/
19  http://bahaichronicles.org/quddus/