The Bab and Modernity

defined as the unity of all human beings. In the writings of the Báb, He argues that the human being is like a mirror. This mirror consists of two aspects. One aspect is the characteristics of the glass of the mirror. Some mirrors are circular. Some are triangular. Some are red, and some are white. In other words, our glasses are different from each other. The world so far has defined the identity of humans in terms of the different characteristics of our glasses. But the Báb says that the true identity of humans as a mirror is not in the characteristics of our glasses, but rather it is in the image of God that is reflected in the mirror of our hearts. From the point of view of the Báb, the truth of everyone is the revelation (tajallí) of God upon our being. Our truth is the divine attributes. Consequently, we are all one, all are sacred, all are beautiful, and all are equal. Here I give three examples: A. Kings and Farmers: Comparing the social rank of farmers with kings, in his work the Kitab al-Asma’ (the Book of Divine Names), the Báb argues that farmer / cultivator (ZARI’) is one of the supreme names of God. God is a farmer because he plants the seeds of his divine words in the hearts of human beings. Humans must purify the soil of their souls so that these seeds will yield fruit. He continues that since farmers, who are apparently the lowest rank in society, are a reflection of divine names, and since kings are also a reflection of divine names, therefore, people should treat farmers exactly in the same way that they treat their kings. Both are one reality and both are living by God’s bidding. We can see that here the very notion of God turns into a powerful justification for social equality. B. Men and Women: The nobility of human beings in the perspective of revelation requires a different approach to the station of women. Although the dispensation of the Báb is a transitional dispensation between Islam and the Bahá’í Faith, which means that the full announcement of the equality of men and women had to wait till the advent of Bahá’u’lláh, there is no doubt that the Báb brought about a new respect for the station of women which was absolutely unprecedented in the Iran of the 19 th century. Here I briefly refer to a few points: The first point relates to the fact that throughout his writings he uses the symbol of haykal (temple or pentagram) to refer to men, and the symbol of six concentric circles (davá’ir) to refer to women. But the Báb explains the real meaning of these forms in the Persian Bayán. A haykal consists of five lines which together create six chambers. In other words, in a temple, the outward is five and the inward is six. Together five and six are equal to the word Huva meaning He, which refers to God (H is five and V is six). But the symbol for women is six concentric circles. These six circles create between themselves five chambers. In other words, for women’s symbol, the outward is six and the inward is five. What this means is that both men and women are one and the same truth. Both are reflections of “He,” namely God. Their appearance is different but their truth is one and the same. Both are reflections of God and therefore both are equal and sacred. The second point refers to his equation of men and women with different ways of reference to God in the Qur’an. The Báb equates men and women with different modes of grammatical patterns by which God is mentioned, as raf’ or nasb, and then says: God attributes both men and women to Himself that haply neither men exalt themselves over women, nor women exalt themselves over men . In this statement of the Báb, we see that since God defines both men and women as His Own reflection, they both must be treated as equals.