The Letters of the Living was a title provided by the Báb to the first eighteen disciples of the Bábí movement. In some understandings the Báb places himself at the head of this list (as the first letter). In Wikipedia the former notation will be used except when specifically said otherwise.
Mystical meaning of "Letters of the Living"
The phrase is deeply mystical and difficult to describe in English but is explained here by Iraj Ayman:
- The Báb was the "Primal Point". From that "Point" the "Letters" became manifested. The Báb named the first eighteen believers to His mission the "Letters of the Living (Hurúf-i-Hayy)." The numerical value of h and y without counting the vowel "a" and the mark doubling the sound of y is equal to 18. Therefore Letters of the Living refers to 18 not 19. The Báb has called the 18 Letters of the Living plus Himself (the Primal Point) as the first Vahid of Bayán Dispensation.
- The numerical value of VAHID is 19. Vahid means One and sometimes translated by Shoghi Effendi as "one and the same". The Báb has used this term as reference to God and His Manifestations. The Báb has revealed an Epistle for Dayyán which is called "The Tablet of the Letters". It is in this Epistle that He refers to Dayyán as the "Third Letter to believe in Him Whom God shall make manifest" (ref.: God Passes By, p. 124) [1]
The Letters
The letters here are ordered by who recognised the Báb first as set out in the Dawn-Breakers (chapter 3, p80), and supported by al-Karbalá'í al-Qatíl except where indicated:
(*) - 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 Mulla Husayn, Táhirih and Quddús. Táhirih 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.
Polemical claims about the Letters
The Letters of the Living were all appointed by the Bab 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 Mirza Yahya Azal, Bahá'u'lláh, Aqa Sayyid Ali Arab and Mulla Rajab Ali who all became Babis 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]) are clearly wrong and purely polemical in their intent.
Mirza Yahya amongst the Letters
It has been stated that Mirza Yahya 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 Husayn'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 against Bahá'í belief and is also denied by Miller in his book.
It is important to point out that Mirza Yahya would have been 12, or perhaps 13 at the declaration of the Báb.
It is unclear from where Browne attained this information, but most likely from Mirza Yahya himself since he was one of Browne's major sources.
References
- available online here
- Smith, Peter (2000). A Concise Encyclopedia of the Baha'i Faith. Oneworld Publications, (Sales and Editorial), 185 Banbury Road, Oxford, OX2 7AR. ISBN 1185168-184-1.
- Amanat, Abbas (1989). Resurrection and Renewal. Cornell University Press, 124 Roberts Place, Ithica, New York 14850. ISBN 0-8014-2098-9.
External links
Last updated: 08-18-2005 03:07:35
