Many of Bábs words are lost, but He will live!

Today we cry for the Báb (the Gate to the New Revelation of God) again. We don't know the exact day and year for the crusifixation of Jesus Christ, but we know exactly what happened to the 30 years old Báb in Tabríz in Persia at noon 1850.

The Bab attracted 30.000 – 40.000 followers, of whom 20.000 were killed between 1845 adn 1855, and the unease and commotion created by His message led the Shī‘a Islam authorities to put him to death on a charge of heresy. He and a disciple who begged to share His martyrdom were executed by a firing squad of 750 soldiers in a public square in Tabriz.

The remains of the Bab are now entombed in Haifa, Israel, in an extremly beautiful shrine on Mount Carmel.

The Baha'i Faith always request people do their own research, that's the way to religious conviction about the Baha'i Faith and that Bahá'u'lláh is the Manifestation of God and the Messenger of God in this time. But researching can be difficult because of the lack of primary information. Beside the writings of Bahá'u'lláh (Glory of God) and his son 'Abdu'l-Bahá (Servant of the Glory), 99% of the body of information comes from the Guardian Shoghi Effendi, the grandson of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.

When I read about the Báb in books about the Baha'i Faith, it's always a lot of Bábs importance and about his beautiful Holy writings and about the constantly recurring statement from Báb that Bahá'u'lláh is the next great Manifestation of God. But I rarerly see any of Bábs own words published and printed. In fact, there is only a few statements and lesser than ten prayers revealed by Báb to find in one tonne of translated Baha'i books and new books about the Baha'i Faith. And that is in English; in Swedish, German or Japanese it's much much lesser. Why? Why didn't Shoghi Effendis' office translate more of Bábs words? Does anyone have an explanation?

Robert Stockman tries to explain the problem of the sources this in his book "Some Notes on The Báb:

The availability of historical sources for the study of Babism is far greater than those for examining the rise of any other major religion, but there are still major gaps, and these limit our understanding. Some of them are the following:

A. Qájár Iran is still imperfectly studied; there is a vast amount of work to do on establishing the cultural and social context of Babism.

B. The sources on the life of the Báb are still little studied. Many remain unexamined in Bahá'í archives. Many have been lost because of neglect or persecution. Some are only partially available; The Dawn-Breakers is perhaps the best example of this. When Shoghi Effendi translated the work into English he appears to have extensively edited it and partially abridged it. The Persian version of The Dawn-Breakers is a Persian translation from the English text. Scholars are anxious to examine the original manuscript. A few non-Bahá'í scholars have even questioned the reliability of Shoghi Effendi's text in the absence of the original.

Furthermore, sometimes original sources contradict each other. For example: all sources say Mullá Husayn accepted the Báb on the night of 23 May 1844. But several sources, which are second-hand accounts of Mullá Husayn's own account of the night of the Báb's declaration, say that Mullá Husayn did not accept the Bab until three nights' study; in other words, that he started his investigation of the Báb's claim not on 23 May, but two or three nights earlier. But The Dawn-Breakers and God Passes By, say Mullá Husayn first met the Báb on the night of his declaration.

Much work needs to be done to understand Shoghi Effendi's interpretations of historical events. Apparently Shoghi Effendi did not claim infallibility in matters of historical fact, only in matters pertaining to theological interpretation and matters of protection of the Faith. Thus the Guardian's writings present important challenges for historians.

C. The writings of the Báb have been imperfectly preserved; hence we have not yet been able to establish an authoritative text in Persian/Arabic for many of His works. Future scholars will have to study the various manuscripts and reconcile their variant readings.

D. Further, there is the issue of the accuracy of several extremely early histories. It is known that Mírzá Jání, a Bábí who perished in the persecutions that followed the attempt on the life of the Shah in 1852, wrote a history or part of a history of the Bábí movement. Such a history would be of great significance to Bábí Studies because it was written a mere eight years after the Báb's declaration and only two years after the Báb's death; furthermore, it would have been written before the split between the Azalís and Bahá'ís, * a split that imposed two rival theological interpretations on the events of early Babism and raised many historical issues that have not been settled to this day.

The truth is that we don't know what Báb said about many things. The Báb was the Herald of Bahá'u'lláh, at least in Shoghi Effendis books about the Bábi movement. However, here is a prayer the Báb wrote that God shall watch over Him Whom God shall send:

SEND down Thy blessings, O my God, upon the Tree of the Bayán, upon its root and its branch, its boughs, its leaves, its fruits and upon whatsoever it beareth or sheltereth. Cause this Tree then to be made into a magnificent Scroll to be offered to the presence of Him Whom Thou wilt make manifest on the Day of Judgement, that He may graciously allow the entire company of the followers of the Bayán to be restored to life and that He may, through His bounty, inaugurate a new creation.

Indeed all are but paupers in the face of Thy tender mercy, and lowly servants before the tokens of Thy loving-kindness. I beg of Thee, by Thy bounty, O my God, and by the outpourings of Thy mercy and bestowals, O my Lord, and by the evidences of Thy heavenly favours and grace, O my Best Beloved, to watch over Him Whom God shall make manifest that no trace of despondency may ever touch Him.

And here is a a link for a Meditation on the Martyrdom of the Bab

Mi Randa, 16 Mercy, 164 B,E.

* Mírzá Yahyá was a 13 years yuounger half-brother of Bahá'u'lláh, who appeared as Subh-i-Azal around 1852, claiming to be the real successor of the Báb.