An Introduction to Tablet of Mulla Baqir

year nine. But even this is in the context of the emphasis on the absolute sovereignty of the Promised One, and that no word of the Bab should turn into a condition for his revelation. Tablet to Mulla Baqir explicitly affirms the year of revelation of Him Whom God shall make manifest as the end of the year eight and the beginning of the year nine. The end of the year 1268 corresponds to October 14, 1852, namely the midpoint time of Baha’u’llah’s imprisonment in Tehran dungeon. This is the year nine in the Babi calendar. Tablet of Mulla Baqir points to this date in four different ways. First it asks Mulla Baqir to count the number of the letters of affirmation including the tashdid of the letter Lam (L). The letters of affirmation are “Illa Allah” which in Arabic consists of seven letters while one Lam is repeated twice in the word Illa. Therefore, one Lam has tashdid. Counting the number of letters including the tashdid gives eight letters. Secondly the Bab says that at the end of year eight and the beginning of the year nine Mulla Baqir will attain the presence of the Promised one. Thirdly, he emphasizes the difference of the two revelations as the difference between the Mighty and the Most Mighty, the Great and the Most Great. In both cases, the difference between the two are nine. Finally, the Bab ends this segment by repeating eight times our servitude to God. Here is the exact word of the Bab: Count the number of the letters of affirmation, including the tashdíd of the letter Lám, that haply thou mayest in eight years, in the day of His Revelation, attain unto His Presence. If thou dost not attain it at the beginning of the year, thou assuredly wouldst at the end of that year. Know thou, however, of a certainty that His Cause is the Most Mighty (a‘zam) in relation to any Mighty (‘azím) Cause, and His Remembrance is the Most Great (akbar) in relation to any Great (kabír) Remembrance… We all, verily, believe in God and in His signs. We all, verily, bow down before God. We all, verily, are devoted unto God. We all, verily, worship God. We all, verily, submit unto God. We all, verily, give praise unto God. We all, verily, yield thanks unto God. 35 There is another hint to the identity of Him Whom God shall make manifest in the above statement. The Bab asks Mulla Baqir to count the letters of affirmation. The word Illa Allah or the letters of affirmation consists of eight letters provided that the tashdid is also counted. But the numerical value of all these eight letters is exactly 128. This is equal to the name of Baha’u’llah namely Husayn. Conclusion Tablet to Mulla Baqir can be considered to constitute the essence of the writings of the Bab, his ultimate Book of Covenant, and his most explicit affirmation of the method of investigation of spiritual truth in accordance with the sanctuary of unity. The content of this tablet helps us to understand one of the main reasons for the overwhelming acceptance of Baha’u’llah’s revelation by the Babi community.

35 Ibid.