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The Persian Dalā'il‑ i Sab`ah, apparently addressed to a Shaykhī
(and Bāb ī?) of uncertain identity, opens with a testimony to God's
uniqueness, eternality and unknowability. The essential identity, endless
continuity and successive appearance of prophets, dhikrs or human
manifestations of the Primal Will of God (mashiyya) is outlined. With
the termination of a 13,000 year cycle this Primal Will has, the Bāb then
asserts, become known through his own Self which is the nuqṭa‑yi bayān (Point of the Bayān), the focal center of divine revelation. After
noting that the Q. should be viewed as the unique and pre‑eminent proof of
the prophetic mission of Muammad the Bāb goes on to expound his "seven
proofs". They, for the most part, are based upon and revolve around aspects
of the nature and uniqueness of divine revelation as touched upon in the
Qur'ān. The performance of outward miracles (mu`jizāt) is deemed
unimportant. The revelation of the Bāb (= the Bayān) is the inimitable
miracle of an nafs‑yi ummi (unlettered person), the Bāb ( cf. Qur'ān
7:157; Dalā'il, 6ff). Proof seven relates to the Divine support of
the true prophet (Dalā'il, 15f).
Having detailed his closely related seven proofs the Bāb, among
other things, argues that his imprisonment does not contradict his claim to
prophethood. He dwells on the rejection of past prophets and asserts that,
as the promised Qā'im, he is capable of revealing the equivalent of the Qur'
ān in just five days. As one occupying the station of the foremost of
creatures (awwal‑i khalq) and the manifestation of anā Allāh
(I verily am God) he also explains how he, as an act of mercy extended
towards the people of Islām, gradually introduced his claims:
Consider the mercy of his holiness the expected one [the Bāb].. how he
[initially] revealed himself as the bāb (`gate’) of the Qā'im of the
family of Muhammad [expected 12th Imam] .. and in his first work [the
Qayyūm al‑asmā'] decreed observance of the laws of the Qur'ān so that
men might not be disturbed by [the revelation of] a new book and a new law. (Dalā'il, 29).
In the light of his claim to be the Qā 'im a shift in the Bāb's
eschatological views can be seen in the Dalā'il‑i sab`a. His earlier
futurist though imminent eschatological perspective begins to be transformed
into a partly realized or inaugurated eschatological stance. Traditional
apocalyptic and other expected latter day "signs" central to the Shī'ī
messianism are given, in the light of their alleged fulfilment, non‑literal
interpretations (see Lambden, 1998:581‑2).1 The
eschatological liqā' Allāh (encounter with God; see Qur'ān
13:2, etc) is not a literal coming into the presence of the dhāt‑i azal
(eternal divine Essence) but the meeting with the maẓhar‑i ḥaqīqat
(divine manifestation of Reality [God]); with, in fact, the Bāb on the
mount of Mākū (or wherever he resides, Dalā'il, 31f; cf. 57f).
Spiritually understood, the resurrection (qiyāmat) has come to pass
such that the peoples may be observed in the "paradise" of the "knowledge of
the True One" (`irfān bi‑ḥāqq) or in the "fire" of separation (ihtijāb)
from Him (ibid 44, 57f). Again, the sun which, according to (both Sunnī and
Shī`ī) prophetic traditions is to rise from the west (or its setting point)
is not the orb in the sky but the "sun of reality" (shams‑i ḥaqīqat
), the `Sun of prophethood which, with the Bāb's manifestation, rose from
its setting point ("west") in Mecca and subsequently in Shīrāz in the
Persian province of Fārs (land of Fā'; ibid 51‑2).
At the same time certain more concrete prophetic traditions are
interpreted literally. The ḥadīth of Ādhirbayjān for example,
predicts the Bāb's presence in that north Iranian province and a tradition
reported by al‑Mufaḍḍal ibn `Umār al‑Ju`fī (a contemporary and devotee of
Imām Ja`far ādiq) indicates the appearance of his "cause" (amr i.e.
Bābīsm) in the "year 60" understood as 1,260 AH = 1844 CE (ibid, 48‑9). The
futurist eschatological element in developed Bābī messianism is also present
in the Dalā'il‑i sab`a. In his later writings the Bāb appears to
have seen his own dispensation, theophany (ẓuhūr) as a kind of
latter day messianic interregnum to be followed by further eschatons or
"days of resurrection" inaugurated by successive manifestations of divinity
the first of whom (as well as other divine manifestations) he designated by
the originally Sufi term man yuẓhiru-hu Allāh (him whom God shall
make manifest cf. Goldziher, 1921). A few times mentioned in the Dala'il‑i
sab`ih, this Bābī messiah will, at a future date, put the Bābī s to the
test (mumtahan; ibid 45,73).
Despite his imprisonment in Mākū and his conviction that the
seven kings of the Islāmic dominions would ‑‑ if informed ‑‑ reject his
cause, the Bāb predicted its future victory and establishment (Dalā'il,
33). He viewed holy war (jiād) as a necessary and ultimately merciful
act waged in each religious dispensation against those who, unconvinced by
proofs and arguments, adopt a position of unbelief or faith "negation" (nafy)
‑‑ the Bāb divided peoples into those of "affirmation" (ithbāt) and
of "negation". Though there are pacifist elements within the Bāb's
teachings, Bābīsm, unlike the later Bahā'ī movement, is not a wholly
pacifist religion.
Many themes unmentioned or only touched upon in the Dalā'il‑i
sab`a are expounded in the Bāb's incomplete though much lengthier
Bayān‑i Fārsī (Persian Bayān).
1 This work, the
most systematic, important and best‑known book in the massive Bābī canon,
contains much that is representative of the Bāb's developed thought; his new
laws, rituals and regulations, his socio‑political and economic concerns and
ambitions, his qabbalistic, esoteric and other doctrinal speculations as
well as detailed non‑literal interpretations of Shī`ī apocalyptic
eschatology. No attempt can be made here to summarize the contents of this
allegedly inimitable book.
The Persian Bayān supersedes the Qur'ān with which it is
essentially identical (see II:1, 15‑16). Deliberately incomplete it is
subject to the future confirmation of man yuẓhiru-hu Allāh (see III:3,
etc). It may simply be noted that within it the Bāb reaffirms his "gatehood" (bābiyyā II:l) and claims to be identical with/ the "return" of Imām
usayn whose eschatological advent was predicted in numerous Shī`ī traditions
(IV:5). In addition he claimed to occupy the rank of (subordinate) Godhead
(II:11; IV:l0. cf.III:2). Yet he is a "servant" subject to physical death (lX.l).
As one devoid of formal learning and whose grammar should not be criticized,
he reckons that he had revealed 100‑500,000 verses.
2
