Letters of the Living
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The Letters of the Living (Arabic: حروف الحي) was a title provided by the Báb to the first eighteen disciples of the Bábí Religion. In some understandings the Báb places himself at the head of this list (as the first letter). In this article, the former notation will be used except when specifically said otherwise.
[edit] Mystical meaning of "Letters of the Living"
One of the Báb's titles was the "Primal Point" (nuqti-yi-úlá). From that Point the Letters became manifested. The Báb named the first eighteen believers in his mission as the Letters of the Living (Ḥurúfu'l-ḥayy in Arabic). In the Abjad numerals system the letters of the Arabic alphabet are assigned numerical values. The Arabic letters h ح and y ي, which compose the Arabic singular adjective meaning "living" in the phrase Letters of the Living, add up to 18, and therefore the phrase Letters of the Living refers to the number 18. Interestingly, there is a similar symbolism about the numerical value of the corresponding Hebrew word in Judaism.
The Báb referred to the 18 Letters of the Living, along with himself, as the first Váḥid of the Bayán Dispensation. The Abjad numerical value of the word Váḥid (واحد) is 19. The word Váḥid means "One" and is sometimes translated by Shoghi Effendi as "one and the same". The Báb used this term as a reference to God and his Manifestations. The Báb revealed an Epistle for Dayyán, "The Tablet of the Letters". In this Epistle, he refers to Dayyán as the "Third Letter to believe in Him Whom God shall make manifest" (ref.: God Passes By, p. 124) [1]
[edit] The Letters
The Letters are listed here in the order given by Nabíl in The Dawn-Breakers (chapter 3, p80), and supported by Qatíl al-Karbalá'í except where indicated:
[edit] Mullá Hụsayn
[edit] Muḥammad-Ḥasan Bushrú'í
Muḥammad-Ḥasan Bushrú'í was the second Letter of the Living, and the brother of Mullá Husayn. He, his sons, Muḥammad-Báqir Bushrú'í, and Mullá Ḥusayn travelled to Shiraz in search of the Qá'im; where the Báb revealed his message.
He was killed during the Battle of Fort Shaykh Ṭabarsí. Bábís consider him a martyr.
[edit] Muḥammad-Báqir Bushrú'í
Muḥammad-Báqir Bushrú'í was the third Letter of the Living, and the nephew of Mullá Ḥusayn. He and Muḥammad-Ḥasan Bushrú'í (his father) travelled with his uncle Mullá Ḥusayn to Shiraz in search of the Qá'im where the Báb revealed his message.
He was killed in the fighting at the Ṭabarsí. Bábís consider him a martyr.
[edit] Mullá `Alí Basṭámí
This first Bábí martyr. See this biography by Moojan Momen.
[edit] Mullá Khudá-Bakhsh Qúchání
Later named Mullá `Alí(*)
[edit] Mullá Ḥasan Bajistání
Mullá Ḥasan Bajistání was the sixth Letter of the Living. He did not play a significant role as a Bábí and seemed to have expressed his doubts of the Bábs message during a meeting with Bahá'u'lláh.
It is unlikely he played a significant role in the Azali-Bahá'í debate that followed.
[edit] Siyyid Ḥusayn Yazdí
Siyyid Ḥusayn Yazdí was the seventh Letter of the Living. He is known as the Báb's amanuensis who shared his imprisonment in Maku and then Chihriq. In the story of the Báb's execution, he is the secretary that the Báb spoke to before being taken away to be shot.
Siyyid Ḥusayn Yazdí was executed in Tehran in 1852 in the aftermath on the attempt on the Shah's life.
[edit] Mullá Muḥammad Rawḍih-Khán Yazdí
[edit] Sa`íd Hindí(*)
[edit] Mullá Maḥmud Khu'í
He was killed at Ṭabarsí.
[edit] Mullá (`Abdu'l-)Jalíl Urúmí (Urdúbádí)
He was killed at Ṭabarsí.
[edit] Mullá Aḥmad-i-Ibdál Marághi'í
He was killed at Ṭabarsí.
[edit] Mullá Báqir Tabrízí
Mullá Báqir Tabrízí was the Thirteenth Letter of the Living. He lived beyond the Bábí uprisings and later became a Bahá'í, the only Letter to do so.
He outlived the other Letters and died in Istanbul in around 1881.
- A tablet written to Mullá Baqir-i-Tabrizi - Translator has included a short biographical stub
[edit] Mullá Yúsuf Ardibílí(*)
Mullá Yúsuf Ardibílí was the fourteenth Letter of the Living.
He was killed in the fighting at the Ṭabarsí. Bábís consider him a martyr.
- Glossary of the Kitáb-i-Íqán - includes a small biography of Mullá Yusif-i-Ardibili
[edit] Mullá Hádí Qazvíní
Qatíl has Mullá Muhammad-i-Mayáma'í in his place among the Letters of the Living.
[edit] Mullá Muḥammad-`Alí Qazvíní
Ṭáhirih's brother-in-law. Killed at Ṭabarsí.
[edit] Ṭáhirih(*)
[edit] Quddús
(*) - Not included in the list provided by Qatíl which was created far earlier. He does not however provide alternatives and leaves the count at fourteen.
Although the Báb seems to have written a tablet to each of the letters, the names are not on any of them so the identities cannot be confirmed.
Of these the most distinguished are Mullá Ḥusayn, Ṭáhirih and Quddús. Ṭáhirih is singled out because she is the only woman and recognised the Báb without even meeting him. She sent a letter of belief through her brother-in-law and was sure he would find the Báb.
[edit] Polemical claims about the Letters
The Letters of the Living were all appointed by the Báb in the period between May 1844, when he first declared his mission and October 1844 when he set out for his pilgrimage to Mecca. Individuals such as Mírzá Yaḥyá, Bahá'u'lláh, Áqá Sayyid `Ali Arab and Mullá Rajab `Ali who all became Bábís after this period were not and could not have been part of the Letters of the Living as has been claimed in some accounts.
Most of the Letters died in Bábí uprisings before Bahá'u'lláh started the Bahá'í Faith. Therefore those sources that claim that two of the Letters were murdered by followers of Bahá'u'lláh such as the Ahmadi author; Maulana ("Among these are Aqa Syed Ali Arab, one of the 'letters of Hayy' [the Living], was killed at Tabriz; Mulla Rajab Ali of the 'letters of Hayy', was killed in Baghdad" [Maulana, 1933]) would seem to be wrong. Maulana's original source is unknown.
[edit] Mírzá Yaḥyá amongst the Letters
It has been stated that Mírzá Yaḥyá was the fourth of the Letters of the Living (where the Báb would be the first) by E.G. Browne in A Traveller's Narrative (page xvi). The book does not include any other details of the Letters and is against the Bahá'ís' commonly accepted view that Mulla Ḥusayn's brother and nephew recognised the Báb shortly after him (since they'd take the third and fourth place).
Also the paragraph claims that Bahá'u'lláh was also in the group. The assertion that either were Letters is contrary to Bahá'í accounts, and is also denied by Miller in his book.
It is important to point out that Mírzá Yaḥyá would have been 12, or perhaps 13 at the declaration of the Báb.
[edit] References
- Amanat, Abbas (1989). Resurrection and Renewal. Cornell University Press, New York, USA. ISBN 0-8014-2098-9.
- Nabíl-i-Zarandí (1932). in Shoghi Effendi (Translator): The Dawn-Breakers: Nabíl’s Narrative, Hardcover, Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá'í Publishing Trust. ISBN 0-900125-22-5.
- Smith, Peter (1999). A Concise Encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith. Oxford, UK: Oneworld Publications. ISBN 1-85168-184-1.
- Taherzadeh, Adib (2001). The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh. George Ronald Publisher. ISBN 0-85398-057-8.
[edit] External links
- The Báb's address to the Letters of the Living, published in The Dawn-Breakers
- E.G. Browne, A Traveller's Narrative - Written to Illustrate the Episode of the Báb
- "The Bahá'í Faith: Its History and Teachings", William McElwee Miller; William Carey Library. (1974)
- Illustrations of The Bab's Tablets to the Letters of the Living
