Forty days after the Declaration of the Báb, the second Letter of the Living, Mullá `Alíy-i-Bastámí, had a vision that led him to Mullá Husayn and he accepted the Báb. During this period of waiting for the second person to recognize the Báb, He called Mulla Husayn to His house several times. He always came at night and stayed until dawn. [HotD41; Bahá'í Encyclopedia].
• Sixteen others recognized Siyyid `Alí-Muhammad as the Promised One. The 18 were later designated `Letters of the Living'. [BBD138, B21–7; DB63–71, 80–2; MH73–81, MH121, SBBH1:16–17, GPB7-8]
• See RB2:145–6 for the fate of the Letters of the Living.
• See Bab26–7, BBD138, DB80–1, MH81 ; Letters of the Living (Hurúf-i-Hayy) for a list of the Letters of the Living.
• See BBRSM24–5 for more on the Letters of the Living.
• See BBRSM24–5 for a discussion of the special places occupied by Quddús, Mullá Husayn and Táhirih. See DB81-82 for the story of how Tahirih was recognized as a Letter of the Living by the Báb.
• The Báb was the 19th Letter of the Living. [LW5.2]

Pigrimage of the Báb

The Báb, Quddús (Hájí Mullá Muhammad-`Alíy-i-Barfurúshí) and the Báb's Ethiopian servant, Mubarak, left Shíráz for Búshihr en route to Mecca. The journey took ten days. [Bab57; DB129; MH119]
• DB129 says He left Shíráz during the month of Shavvál, 1260 (14 October to 11 November, 1844).
• SBBH1 xxviii shows the departure date as 12 November, 1844.
• Balyuzi, Bab57 says "in the month of September.
• The Genesis of the Bábi-Bahá'í Faiths in Shíráz and Fárs p35 by A. Rabbani says He left port on the 2nd of October.

The Báb and His companions arrived in Jiddah after a rough sea voyage of two months. There they put on the garb of the pilgrim and proceed to Mecca by camel. [Bab71; DB129, 132]
• See Bab69–71 and DB130–1 for a description of the voyage.
• Quddús walked from Jiddah to Mecca. [Bab71, DB132, GPB9]
• See DB132 for the story of the theft of his saddlebag by a Bedouin.

The Báb returned to Búshihr. He sent Quddús to Shíráz with a letter addressed to His uncle Hájí Mírzá Siyyid `Alí who, upon receiving it, embraced his Nephew's Cause, the first, after the Letters of the Living, to do so in Shíráz. The Báb also entrusted Quddús with a treatise for him entitled Khasá'il-i-Sab`ih (`the Seven Qualifications') and promised him his impending martyrdom. Later he gave his life as one of the Seven Martyrs of Tehran, see 1850 19 or 20 Feb. [Bab77–8; DB142–3; MS2, GPB9-10; provisional translation.]
• To the departing Quddus He promised intense suffering in Shíráz and eventual martyrdom. [DB142-143]
• Bab77 and GPB10 say the Báb arrived in Búshihr in February - March.
• SSBH1p23 and BBRSM216 say 15 May, 1845.
• Before leaving on pilgrimage the Báb had stated that He would return to Karbalá and asked His followers to congregate there. An explanation in part for the large following that had gathered there is the messianic expectation associated with the year 1261, a thousand years after the Twelfth Imám's disappearance in 260 A.H.. This gathering was perceived as a threat by the authorities. [BBRSM15, 45, 216; DB157–8; SBBH1p23, 32]
• The Báb changed His plan to meet His followers in Karbalá and instructed them to go to Isfahán instead. A number abandon Him, regarding this as badá', `alteration of divine will'. [BBRSM16; DB158; MH125; SBBH23]
• Some speculate that He did not go to Karbalá to avoid conflict and sedition. Many Bábís had gone to Karbalá armed in preparation for holy war, `jihád'. [BBRSM21–2; SBBH1:23]

The Times of London carried an item on the arrest and torture of Quddús, Mullá Sádiq-i-Khurásání, Mullá `Alí-Akbar-i-Ardistání and Mullá Abú-Tálib in Shíráz in June. This was the first known printed reference to the Revelation in the Western press. A similar article was reprinted on 19 November. [First newspaper story of the events of the Bábí Faith compiled by Steven Kolins; B76–7; BBR4, 69]
• See It was in the news.... In this blog by SMK, he has provided an extensive list of English newspaper articles on the persecution of the Báb and the Bábís in 1845 and 1846.

Quddús met Mullá Sádiq-i-Muqaddas in Shíráz to whom he entrusted a copy of Khasá'il-i-Sab`ih (`the Seven Qualifications'). Following instructions received in a Tablet from the Báb, Mullá Sádiq sounded the call to prayer using the additional words provided by the Báb. This, along with their teaching of the Cause, provoked a public commotion. [Bab78; DB144-145; BBRSM16]
• The governor of Fárs, Husayn Khán Nizámu'd-Dawlih, had Quddús, Mullá Sádiq-i-Khurásání, Mullá `Alí-Akbar-i-Ardistání and Mullá Abú-Tálib arrested, tortured and expelled from Shíráz. [Bab78; BBR69; BW18:380; DB145–148; GPB11, BBR1pxxviii]
• The governor's punishment was particularly cruel. He commanded that the beards of both Quddús and Mullá Sádiq be burned, their noses pierced and that a cord should be passed which and used to led them through the city. The men were then beaten. Mullá Sádiq was a frail man of about 50 years but in spite of this took some 900 strokes and still remained calm and serene. When questioned later he said the first seven lashes were severely painful but then he became indifferent to the rest. It was as though the strokes were not being applied to his own body. [DB146-148]
• The London Times of November 1st and November 19, 1845 reported that this took place on the 23rd of June. As far as can be determined, this is the first reporting of the Bábi Faith in the West. The story would have been picked up by other Western newspapers and publications and given extensive coverage. [Bab76, BBR1p69, 82]
• Note: Bab78 says that Mullá Abú-Tálib was not among the group. DB145 says that only Mulla Husayn and Mulla Sádiq were arrested.
• Note: DB146 note2 says "According to A. L. M. Nicolas' "Siyyid 'Alí-Muhammad dit le Báb" (footnote 175, p. 225), this meeting took place on August 6, 1845 A.D."
• Upon departing Shíráz Quddús made his way to Kirmán to interview Hájí Mírzá Karím Khán. The ambitious and seditious Karím Khán remained unconvinced buy Quddús had earned an ally in his host during his stay in Kirmán, Hájí Siyyid Javád, someone he had known from his day in Karbilá. From Kirmán Quddús travelled to Yazd and then to Ardikán, Náyin, Ardistán, Isfáhán, Káshán, Qum and to Tihrán. There he met with Bahá'u'lláh and after which proceeded to Mázindarán and to his native town of Bárfurúsh where he lived in the home of his father for two years. [DB180-183]
• Mullá Sádiq travelled to Yazd with the intention of spreading news of the Cause among the 'ulamás of that province. There they encountered opposition from Hájí Mírzá Karím Khán. [DB180, 183-187]
• Mullá Sádiq and Mullá Yúsuf-i-Ardibílí moved on to Kirmán where they received the same treatment then they travelled to Khurásán {DB187-188]

Mullá Husayn went to the house of Quddús in Bárfurúsh (now called Babol), Mázindarán, and realized that the `hidden treasure' was his recognition of the station of Quddús. [DB261–5; MH148–54]

Mullá Husayn proceeded to Mashhad and built a `Bábíyyih', a centre for the Bábís, as instructed by Quddús. He and Quddús took up residence in it and began to teach the Bábí religion.

• See DB288–90 and MH158–68 for the result of this effort.
• Among those who come to the Bábíyyih was Sám Khán, the chief of police. [MH158]
• See MH156 for a picture of the Bábíyyih.

Quddús left Mashhad for Badasht. Mullá Husayn was prevented from attending. He was invited to stay in the camp of the soldiers garrisoned in the area to control a local revolt. The invitation amounted to a confinement but he was able to teach the soldiers while so confined. [BKG50; DB290; MH165–6]
• MH160 says that it was at this time that the Báb wrote to all the believers in Persia and Iraq instructing them to go to the aid of Mullá Husayn and Quddús in the `Land of Khá (Khurásán). DB269ff implies this letter was written in 1845.

The Conference of Badasht

Bahá'u'lláh, who hosted and directed the event, rented three gardens, one for Quddús, another for Táhirih and the third for Himself. [Bab168; GPB31, 68; MF200]

The conference coincided with the removal of the Báb to Tabríz for interrogation in July. It was held near the village of Sháhrúd in Semnan province. [BBRSM23; DB292]

• `The primary purpose of that gathering was to implement the revelation of the Bayán by a sudden, a complete and dramatic break with the past — with its order, its ecclesiasticism, its traditions, and ceremonials. The subsidiary purpose of the conference was to consider the means of emancipating the Báb from His cruel confinement in Chihríq.' [BBRSM23; BKG43; DB297–8; GPB31, 157]
• From the beginning of His ministry the Báb had implicitly claimed some higher spiritual station than merely that of being the "bábu'l-imám" and in the early months of 1848 while still in prison in Máh-Kú He put forward these claims to his companions. He proclaimed HImself to be the Imam Mahdi, the promised Q´'im (He who will arise), the inaugurator of the Resurrection and the abrogator of the Islamic holy law. [BBRSM23]
• Bab167 says that the Bábís did not come to Badasht to make plans to rescue the Báb.
• It was attended by 81 believers and lasted 22 days. [BKG43–4, 46; DB292–3; GPB312]
• Each day Bahá'u'lláh revealed a Tablet, and on each believer He conferred a new name. Each day an Islamic law was abrogated. Henceforth, when the Báb was addressing the believers, He used the new name that Bahá'u'lláh had bestowed upon them. [DB293; GPB32]
• See BKG44–5; DB293 and MF201 for the story of the central event, Táhirih's confrontation with Quddús and removal of her veil.
  Ṭáhirih, seizing upon the opportunity, arose and, unveiled, came forth from the garden. She proceeded towards the tent of Bahá'u'lláh crying out and proclaiming: "I am the Trumpet-blast; I am the Bugle-call!"—which are two of the signs of the Day of Resurrection mentioned in the Qur'án. Calling out in this fashion, she entered the tent of Bahá'u'lláh. No sooner had she entered than Bahá'u'lláh instructed the believers to recite the Súrih of the Event from the Qur'án, a Súrih that describes the upheaval of the Day of Resurrection.
  [Twelve Table Talks given by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in 'Akká, no. 9, "Ṭáhirih and the Conference of Badasht"]
• Also see Bab167–9; BBD31–2; BBRSM46; BKG43–7; DB292–8; RB2:353.
• See The World-Wide Influence of Qurratul-'Ayn by Standwood Cobb.

Táhirih was arrested and was later taken to Tihrán where she was held in the home of Mahmúd Khán, the Kalántar of Tihrán, until her martyrdom in August 1852.

Mullá Husayn left the army camp near Mashhad where he had been a guest of a brother of the Sháh. He planned to make a pilgrimage to Karbalá. While making preparations for the journey he received a Tablet from the Báb instructing him to go to Mázindarán to help Quddús, carrying a Black Standard before him. He was also instructed to wear the Báb's own green turban and to take the new name Siyyid `Alí. [Bab171; BKG50; DB324; MH174]

The siege of the Shrine of Shaykh Tabarsí
• See BBD217, BW18:381, DB345–413 and MH221–85 for chronicle of events.
• The episode lasted seven months. [BBRSM26; BW18:381]
• See BBRSM26 for the Bábís' intentions.
• See DB343–5 for pictures and DB348, MH217–18 for sketches.
• See MH212 for a diagram of the fortifications.
• Bahá'u'lláh visited the fortress and approved the fortifications. [BKG51, DB347–9; MH227] See note below.
• He advised Mullá Husayn to seek the release of Quddús. Mullá Husayn set out immediately and secured the release of Quddús, who had been in detention for 95 days. [Bab173; BKG51; DB349–50; MH227]
• Quddús arrived towards the end of the year. Some sources say October 20. [Bab173]
• See DB352–4 for the entry of Quddús into Shaykh Tabarsí. His arrival brought the number of Bábís in the shrine to 313. [DB354]
  • During the siege Quddús composed an extensive commentary on the word "samad" (lit. eternal), which appears in Qur'an 112:2: 'In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Say: He is God alone; God the eternal! He begetteth not, and He is not begotten; And there is none like unto Him.' ['Abdu'l-Baha's First Thousand-Verse Tablet: History and Provisional Translation by Ahang Rabbani and Khazeh Fananapazir p120]
• Note: BBRSM26 and MH233–4 say that the number of defendants rose to 500–600 individuals.
  • 37 per cent of the identified participants were of the `ulamá class. [BBRSM50]
• The siege began with the arrival of `Abdu'lláh Khán's forces on 19 December.
• it is said that 2,000 soldiers were involved in the siege.
• See PG116-117 where 'Abdu'l-Bahá recounts the story of the heroism of the defenders of Shaykh Tabarsí.

  Note: Moojan Momen in Two Episodes from the Life of Bahá'u'lláh in Iran (first published in Lights of Irfan, 20, pages 139-160) suggests that Bahá'u'lláh's itinerary was: "Badasht, Núr, Tehran (where He met with Hujjat); He then set out for Jaz (with Mírzá Masíh Núrí and Mirza Majíd Áhí); in Jaz, Mírzá Masíh Núrí died and Muhammad Sháh's decree arrived, then Bahá'u'lláh' set out for Núr, visiting the Bábís at Shaykh Tabarsí on the way. There would just about have been enough time for this sequence of events to occur but it seems contrary to Bahá'u'lláh's statement that He came to Jaz from Shahrúd (i.e. Badasht), unless we assume two visits to Jaz (one on the way from Badasht and then one coming from Tehran with Mírzá Masíh)."

The siege of the Shrine of Shaykh Tabarsí As compiled by Moojan Momen the main events were:
• 12 October: Mullá Husayn and his companions entered the Shrine of Shaykh Tabarsf and were attacked that night by a body of horsemen from Qádi—Kulá.
• 19 December: Arrival of 'Abdu'lláh Khan's forces and the start of the siege.
• 21 December: Major sortié led by Quddús dispersed besiegers.
• early January, 1849: Arrival of Mihdi-Quli Mirzá and 3,000 royal troops.
• 11 January: Night sortie led by Quddús upon the headquarters of Mihdi-Qulf Mirzá at Vaskés dispersed the camp.
• 27 January: Arrival of reinforcements for the besiegers under 'Abbás-Quhi Khan-i-Larijani.
• 2 February: Major sortie led by Mullá Husayn dispersed the camp of their enemy but resulted in martyrdom of Mulla Husayn himself and some forty of his companions.
• 27 March: Mihdi-Quli Mirzá built fortifications and started bombardment of the Shrine.
• early April: Arrival of Sulayman Khan-i-Afshar with more troops.
• 26 April: Sortie led by Mirzá Muhammad-Béqir-i-Bushru'i routed forces of Sulayman Khan.
• 9 May: Quddús, receiving promises of safety written on the Qur'án, left the Shrine and entered the Prince's camp.
• 10 May: Quddús' companions tricked into leaving the Shrine; they were then set upon and killed. End of Shaykh Tabarsi upheaval.
• 16 May in Bárfurush, the martyrdom of Quddús. [BW19p381]

The Bábís, led by Quddús, made a mounted attack on the army. All of the officers were killed including `Abdu'lláh Khán. A number of soldiers were drowned as they retreated into the Tálár River. About 430 soldiers were killed but no Bábís; one Bábí was wounded. [BW18:381; DB361–3; MH243–6]
• For the next 19 days the defenders dug a moat. [DB363]

Quddús and Mullá Husayn led a night attack on the encamped army. Two hundred and two Bábís dispersed the camp. [BW18:381; BD365; MH254]
• DB 368 says this occurred on 21 December 1848.
• Mihdí-Qulí Mírzá fled barefoot. [DB366]
• Mullá Husayn's sword was broken in the attack and he used that of Quddús. His companions brought him the abandoned sword of Mihdí-Qulí Mírzá. [DB367; MH257]
• At daybreak the soldiers mounted a counter-attack. [DB367; MH258–9]
• In this encounter Quddús was wounded in the mouth and was rescued by Mullá Husayn who dispersed the enemy using the sword of Mihdí-Qulí Mírzá in one hand and that of Quddús in the other. [B174; DB367; MH258–9]

The end of the siege of the fort at Shaykh Tabarsí. Two hundred and two Bábís were tricked into leaving the shrine. [BW18:381]
• DB400 says they accompanied Quddús.
• They were not conducted to their homes as promised but were set upon by the Prince's soldiers. Some are killed, others sold into slavery. The fortifications around the shrine were razed to the ground. [DB403–4; MH283]
• See DB414–29 for a list of the martyrs of Tabarsí.
• Among those who gave their lives at Fort Tabarsi was Mullá Ja'far, the sifter of wheat and the first to embrace the Faith in Isfahan. [AY58]

Quddús was tortured and, in the public square, he was struck down with an axe, dismembered and burnt. [Bab176; BBD191; BW18:381; DB409–13; MH283–4] When the
"When the procession reached the public square, where the execution was to take place, Quddús, this youth of only twenty-seven years, cried out, "Would that my mother were with me, and could see with her own eyes the splendour of my nuptials!" As these words were being spoken the wild multitude fell upon him, tearing him limb from limb and throwing the scattered pieces into a fire which they had kindled for that purpose. Another account states that the Sa'ídu'l-'Ulamá had himself cut of Quddús' ears and struck him on the head with an axe." [TtP92]
• As he died he begged God's forgiveness for his foes. [DB411; MH284]
• His remains were gathered and buried by a friend. [Bab176; DB413]
• See GPB49–50 for the rank and titles of Quddús.
• See Quddus, Companion of the Bab by Harriet Pettibone.

The Báb, in prison in the castle of Chihríq, learned of the massacre at Shaykh Tabarsí and the martyrdom of Quddús. He was so overcome with grief that He was unable to write or dictate for a period of five or six months. [DB411, 430]
• See the Tablet of Visitation for Mulla Muhammad 'Ali-i-Barfurushi (Quddús) revealed by the Báb.

In Babul, Iran, the destruction of the gravesite of Quddús, a house-like structure that marked the resting place of Mullá Muhammad-'Ali Barfurushi, was began and halted temporarily after local Bahá'ís demanded to see a legal permit for the demolition work. Later it was discovered that the dismantling of the gravesite had continued surreptitiously over a period of days until the structure was entirely demolished despite protests from Bahá'ís at the local, national, and international levels.
• This measure came soon after the international community failed to offer a resolution on the human rights situation in Iran at the United Nations. [One Country Vol.15 Issue 4; BWNS323]