TTNJ Bab

From the very beginning  of his messianic career in the 1840s, the  Bāb quite frequently cited and creatively refashioned  lines of the Khuṭba al-ṭutunjiyya,   sometimes exhibiting the influence of his one-time teacher Sayyid Kāẓim Rashtī with whom he associated for perhaps 6-9 months in the early 1840s.The dual term الطتنجين  (the two gulfs") occurs some three times in the Qayyūm al-asmā', most importantly at one point in QA 54 the Sūrat al-ghulām (Surah of the Youth) and twice in QA 109, the Sūrat al-`abd (see trans. below). This latter Surah 109 and the preceding Surah 108 of the QA, form a duality having preliminary disconnected letters which successively spell the Names (1) `Ali  (`+L-Y) and (2) Muhammad (M+H+M+D), yielding when read in in succession the parentally bestowed name of Sayyid `Ali Muhammad Shirazi, known as the Bab (the Gate). As we shall see, the Bāb associated himself as the transcendental locus of messianic walāya  ("guidance") to the "two gulfs" by virtue of the duality of his his twin parentally bestowed name `Ali Muhammad. Other passages and motifs  in the Qayyūm al-asmā' draw upon or allusively expound dimensions of lines within the  Khuṭba al-ṭutunjiyya. What follows is an attempt to sum them up.

The Tafsir Surat al-Baqara (early 1844)

 Even before his May 1844 quasi-messianic disclosure before Mullā Ḥusayn Bushrū'ī (d. 1849) the Bab showed familiarity with the Kh-T. In his early 1844 CE Tafsīr Sūrat al-baqara (Commentary on the Surah of the Cow) he wrote:

ADD TRANS.

The Qayyūm al-asmā' (mid. 1844)

 In expressing his own claims in sometimes cryptic though elevated terms in his lengthy Arabic Qayyūm al-asmā' ( [Deity] Self-Subsisting among the Divine Names", mid. 1844 CE) and elsewhere the  Bab often used “I am “ proclamations and dual formations echoing sayings ascribed to `Alī in the Kh-T. Thus, for example, in his claim, “I am one presiding over the ṭutunjayn ... al-khālijayn (“the two gulfs... the twin bays”) (QA. 93:374-5; 109:434-5).  In the following passage from QA  54 (on Qur'ān 12:53), the Sūrat al-Ghulām (The Surah of the Youth),  the Bāb appears to express his superiority to the first two Shaykhs of Shaykhism (al-Shaykhiyya) and underlines his authoritative exposition of the "mystery of the two Gulfs" (sirr al-ṭutunjayn) as the then locus of walāya  through the hidden Imam:

  و لقد نطقت بالحرفين و لا انطق حرفا من النّفسين الاوّليين

 و لا يوجد حرفا من سرّ الطتنجين  الّا بنفسی الحقّ حامل الاسمين

 We did speak forth  through two letters although  there was not divulged even a [single] letter through the two foremost souls  [= ? Shaykh Aḥmad Aḥsā'ī  and Sayyid Kāẓim Rashtī Not even a single letter shall be discovered of the mystery of the two Gulfs (al-ṭutunjayn), save through My Logos-Self (nafsi ) the True One which is the bearer of the Two Names (ḥāmil al-ismayn )" (=  [1] `Alī  + [2] Muhammad = the Bāb?).

Qayyūm al-asmā' 4

As early as the 4^th chapter of his weighty Qayyum al-asma’  (mid. 1844), the commentary on Qur’an 12:3 entitled Surat al-madinah (Surah of the City),  the Bab presupposed a detailed knowledge of the “Sermon of the Gulf” and of Sayyid Kazim’s Commentary thereon.  Addressed by God as Qurrat al-`ayn (The solace of the eyes), the Bab is told to “Strike for the people of the City the parable of the two persons (al-nafsayn)”. These two “souls” represent two contrasting religious “factions” (al-hizbayn). Individualized, the good one of the two “souls” appears (like the Bab) in the “Sacred Mosque” (al-masjid al-ḥaram; cf. Q. l7:1), a “vision of justice” (ru'yat al-`adl) while the other symbolizes a false messiah, another Gate (Bāb) in opposition to the Gate (al-Bāb) and destined for hell. That aspects of this symbolism relate  to the Shaykhi exegesis of the Khutba al-Tutunjiyya is especially clear from this verse of the Surat al-madinah, “ For the latter [of the two “souls”] were [provided] two rivers (nahrayn) in the land of the "two Wests" (fi arḍ al-maghribayn);  having two gardens (jannatayn) in one of  the two gulfs (khalījayn).  

Qayyūm al-asmā' 109

Several of the most important references and interpretations of the twin gulfs cosmology of the Kh-T in the Qayyūm al-asmā'  are found in Surah 109, the Sūrat al-`Abd (Surah of the Servant). As noted this Surah bears four isolated letters which spell the name Muhammad (M-Ḥ-M-D) and opens with an address to the "denizens of the Divine Throne" (ahl al-`arsh) followed by one addressed to the people of the earth:

يا اهل الارض

 اسمعوا نداء الطّيور علی شجرة المتورّقة من كافور الظّهور فی وصف هذا الغلام

العربیّ المحمّدیّ العلویّ الفاطمیّ المكّیّ المدنیّ الابطحیّ العراقیّ

 بما قد تجلّی الرّحمن علی ورقاتهنّ انّه هو العلیّ و هو اللّه كان عزيزاً حميداً

"O people of the earth!

Hearken unto the  Call of the birds upon the Tree leafed out in Camphor evocative of the depiction of this Youth who is at once Arabic, Muhammad related, `Alid, Fāṭimid, Meccan, Medinan, pre-   (al-abṭḥā) and Iraqi. This in that he hath indeed  divulged the glory of the All-Merciful (tajalli al-rahman) unto their  leaves [birds]  for He, verily, is Elevated. And He is God Who is One Mighty, Praiseworthy."

In the following key pericope within the Surat al-`Abd the Bāb spells out aspects of his spiritually transcendentalized appearance in a poetically and mystical suggestive fashion coming to make mention of the  سرّ الطّتنجين    or "mystery of the "twin Gulfs" ". Reminiscent of certain statements about the beautiful appearance of the occulted, hidden Imam contained in the Bihar al-anwār and elsewhere (see Majlisi, Bihar² 53:1ff) the Bāb begins,

هذا فتی ابيض فی اللّون و ازعج فی العين سوی فی الحاجبين مستوی الاطراف كاذهب المفرغ الطّریّ من العين مشاشة المنكبين كالفضّة المصفيّة المائلة فی الكأسين علوّ هيبته

"This Youth (al-fatā) is supremely snow-white of hue (abyaḍ fī al-lawn) and totally soul-strring of eye (az`ar fi'l-`ayn) though other than doubly screened off by [many] veils (?), lean of extremities [limbs] (al-aṭraf) even as hollowed guilding [gold-work] (ka-mushshad al-mufarraq), perfume-radiating of eye, of gait doubly high-flanked even as silver (al-fiḍḍa)..

 The succeeding paragraph or very long verse is an esoteric, imamological expression of the claims and eschatological function of the Bab as the one (like Imam `Ali) presiding over those now recreated spheres of existence which are the "twin gulfs" etc. It contains aspects of the Bab's  eschatologically charged development of Sayyid Kāẓim Rashti's exegesis of the twin-gulfs cosmology, linking, for example, the motif of  [Imam]`Ali presiding over (wāqif `ala) the "twin gulfs" with the Bāb operating -- with the permission of God -- as the eschatological Judge (ḥākim)  throughout all existence, encompassed by the twin "gulfs" of (loosely) "heaven" and "hell". The Bāb pictures several times pictures himself as the supreme Duality presiding over the realms of cosmic duality. He is in various ways symbolically of dual nature : (1) his name is  [1] `Ali + [2] Muhammad (2) (2) he is like the barzakh (ithmus) or "barrier" differentiating two "amr"s (lit. commands") or modes of possible  being (3) he is graphically the dual structured Bāb (باب   = bāb =ب  + ا + ب  ), the spelling of which consists of a duality of "B"s with an upright letter "A" in the centre  suggestive of his presiding as "A" over two "b"-generated "gulfs"  as the Lord of Being (4) His descent as one named `Ali Muhammad, from Muhammad through [1] `Ali and [2] Fatima also suggests his being transcendentally Dual, etc.

 قد ظهرت علی هيبة الاوّلين و انبساط رحمته قد نشرت علی الملك كرحمة الحسنين لم ير قطب السّماء بمثله فی العدل كالعدلين و فی الفضل كالنّيّرين الجامع فی الاسمين من اعلی الجيبين و برزخ الامرين فی سرّ الطّتنجين الواقف كالالف القائم بين السّطرين علی مركز العالمين ً

 "He [the Bāb] was indeed made manifest in the form of the two Primal Ones (al-awwalayn) [= Muhammad and `Ali?] and hath outstretched His Divine Mercy (raḥmat) such that it was diffused within the earthly dominion (al-mulk) even as the Mercy of the two [Imam] Ḥasans [No.2 son of `Ali and no. 11 al-Askarī]. It was such that its like  is never seen [even] at the [very] Pivot of Heaven (qutb al-ama') such was the  [expression of Divine] Justice (al-`adl), being tantamount to a Double [outpouring of] Justice (`al-`adlayn).  And in [the outpouring of] Divine Bounty (faḍl) he is even as the twin shining Lights (al-nayyirayn) conjoined in the two Names pertinent to the supremely elevated twin Depths [Bosoms] (al-jaybayn) as well as the Barzakh (Isthmus) of the two Causes (al-amrayn) pertinent to the secret of the two Gulfs (sirr al-ṭutunjayn), [He is ] the One presiding upright like the standing letter "A" between the two [alphabetiical] lines (al-wāqif ka'l-alif al-qā'im bayn al-saṭrayn) (cf the shape of  باب   = bāb ) above the midmost-heart of the two worlds (`alā markiz al-`alamayn).

الحاكم باذن اللّه فی النّشاتين الاخرتين سرّ العلويين و بهجة الفاطمين و ثمرة قديمة من الشّجرة المباركة المحمّرة بالنّار العمائين و قدّة من قدوة الحجب المتلألين بالخفقين الواقف حول النّار فی البحرين شرف السّمإ الی علل الارضين و كفّ من طين الارض علی اهل الجنّتين هاتين مدهامتين علی نقطة المغربين و هذين سرّ الاسمين فی خلف المشرقين المولّد فی الحرمين و النّاظر بالقبلتين من ورإ الكعبتين المصلّی علی عرش الجليل مرّتين مالك الامرين و المإ الطّاهر فی الخليجين النّاطق فی المقامين و العالم بالامامين البإ السّائرة فی المإ الحروفين و النّقطة الواقفة علی باب الالفين المدوّر حول اللّه فی الدّورين و المنطّق عن اللّه فی الكورين عبد اللّه و ذكر حجّته علی العالمين

He is the One who, with the permission of God, is [presiding as] the Judge (al-ḥākim)  throughout the twin spheres of latter-day [eschatological] generated existence (al-nishātayn al-ākhiratayn), as the Mystery of the dual  `Alid nature (sirr al-`alawiyyayn) and the Delight which is doubly Fāṭimid (bihjat al-fāṭimiyyayn).  [This concerns the Bab as] a Pre-Existent Fruit (thamara qadīma) from the Blessed Tree  (al-shajarat al-mubāraka) [Fatima] rendered  crimson through the [Sinaitic] Fire of the doubly beclouded Sphere (al-`amā'ayn); He [the Bab] is One  visibly variagated  on account of the nature of that Veil (qiddat min qudūd al-ḥijāb) which is doubly brilliant with twofold flashes [wings] (al-mutalā'lā'ayn bi'l-khafqayn). He [the Bab] is One presiding about the [Sinaitic] Fire (wāqif ḥawl al-nār) in the two [cosmic] Oceans (al-baḥrayn), one Illustrious of Heaven (sharaf al-samā') [yet inclined] towards the  defectiveness  of the two Earths (`ilal al-arḍayn). He molded the Earth  from [a mere handful of] clay (ṭīn) [then] elevated it for the denizens of the two Paradises (ahl al-jannatayn), they two  ADD they both [for the sake] of the Throne of Glory (`arsh al-jalīl),  twice existent, thereon the King of the two Modes of the Divine Command (mālik al-amrayn) and the Purified Water

هذا الغلام يقال لجدّه ابرهيم و هو الرّوح فی الاوّلين و هو الباب بعد البابين الاخرين و الحمد للّه ربّ العاليمن و هو اللّه قد كان بالعالمين محيطا

"This is the Youth who addresses his forbear Abraham saying, `This is indeed is the Spirit of the  two Primal Ones (al-awwalayn) [= Muhammad and `Ali?] for  he [the Bab] is the Gate after the two latter Day [eschatological] Gates [Shaykh Ahmad + Sayyid Kazim?]. And praise be to God, the All-Encompassing Lord of all the worlds.   

 In another pericope or lengthy verse of the Sūrat al-`abd reference is made to the people or denizens of the sphere of the two Gulfs and to the related "two Easts" and the "two Wests":

يا قرّه العين

 فانطق باذن اللّه علی لحن الحبيبين و قل انّی انا الحقّ بالنّورين فی الحولين و انّی انا المكلّم عن اللّه فی الطّورين

و انّی انا المنزل باللّه هذين فرقانين علی الحبيبين فی الاسمين هذا علی الحبيب محمّد كبير السّنّ فی السّنّتين

هذان فرقانان من ربّ العالمين علی اهل الطّتنجين من اهل المشرقين و المغربين و انّ اللّه قد كان بالعالمين شهيداً

O Qurrat al-`Ayn (Solace of the Eye)!

Cry out with the permission of God according to the melody of the twin Beloveds (al-ḥabibayn) and say: `I am indeed the Truth (innani anā al-ḥaqq) in the two Lights (al-nūrayn) about the two [Sinaitic] Locales (ḥawlayn). And I am indeed the One Who Conversed (mukallim) with God in the twin [Sinaitic] Mounts (al-ṭūrayn). And I am indeed the revealer through God of these two Furqāns [= Qur'āns] unto the twin Beloveds (al-ḥabībayn) with the two Names (al-ismayn). The same unto the Beloved Muhammad, Mighty of Practise in the two customary formulations (sunna fi'l-sunnatayn), these two Furqāns [=Qur'āns] from the Lord of the two worlds [revealed] unto the people of the twin Gulfs (ahl al-ṭutunjayn), the denizens of the "two Easts" and of the "Two Wests". And God is indeed witness throughout all the worlds."

The Tafsīr of the Bāb on a passage in the Sharḥ Khuṭbat al-Ṭutunjiyya of Sayyid Kāẓim Rashtī

        This probably early, roughly 5-6 page Arabic work of the Bāb, opens with the basmala  and straightway refers to the Kh-ṭutunjiyya of  “Our mawlānā (“Lord”)  [Imam] `Alī who, the Bab declares, opens this sermon with a “statement  expressive of  a thousand degrees of praise and salutation” (ālāf al-thanā’ wa’l-taḥiyya), namely,  “Praised be to God, who hath cleft the firmaments asunder, etc”.  He then refers to what the al-mu`allim (“the teacher) apparently his one time teacher Sayyid Kāẓim Rashtī had said ADD

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

 Our Master [Imam] `Alī  said (upon him be peace) in the Khuṭbat al-Ṭutunjiyya (“Sermon of the Gulf”)  according to his statement  expressive of  a thousand degrees of praise and salutation (ālāf al-thanā’ wa’l-taḥiyya),  “Praised be to God, who hath cleft the firmaments asunder, etc”.  And the teacher (al-mu`allim) [Sayyid Kāẓim Rashtī] said -- may my spirit be a sacrifice for him -- `I indeed do say, `In the Name of God’ and `Praised be to God’, for I seek commencement in God”  in commenting upon the mystery of the Word (fī sharḥ sirr min al-kalimat) which hath been commented upon by the Word of Truth (kalimat al-ḥaqq) (= Sayyid Kāẓim himself ) – may my spirit be a sacrifice unto him – respecting the Khuṭbat al-Ṭutunjiyya  (“Sermon of the Gulf”) that he might instruct the people [about] a portion of the fullness  of the gravitas of the Book (ḥazz al-kull min ḥukm al-kitāb) as befits the portion so merited (kalimat al-thawāb)  and in accordance with what God had willed respecting that snow-white Leaf (al-waraqat al-bayḍā’).

CONTINUE

Comments of the Bāb on Khuṭbat al-ṭutunjiyya IV:4 in his Tasfīr al-hā' (I&II) and other writings.

In Kh-T Imam `Alī at one point apparently declares his having a direct vision of God and Paradise when he states at  IV:4,

رأيت (رحمة) الله والفردوس  رأي العين

With the vision of [mine own] the eyes did I see [the Mercy of ] God  ([raḥmat] Allāh ) and Paradise (al-firdaws).

        The recent printing of the Mashariq al-anwar of Rajab al-Bursi referred to above does not read "I saw God" but has "I saw the Mercy of God" for direct vision of God is generally regarded as impossible in the Abrahamic religions -- Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It appears that this is a pious toning down of a controversial line in the Kh-T for the text cited by the Bab in several of his writings including his early Tafsir Surat al-Baqara ( ADD) does not have vision of the رحمة الله  ("Mercy of God")  but has `Alī declaring his direct vision of God. This is obviously designed to express Imam `Ali's superiority to Moses and others in the Jewish and Christian traditions who failed to directly vision the Godhead.

        When Moses requests vision of God in Exodus 33:18-23 he asks to see God's (Heb.)  kabod ("glory") but is is only offered indirect vision not of His "face" (panim) but of His "backside" (`ahorayim) while sheltering in the "cleft of a rock". Only God's "goodness" (tobah), the providential aspect of His Being, may be experienced when protected by the divine "hand" not any aspect of his Essence, Self identity or transcendent Being. Direct vision of God is impossible in the Hebrew Bible and Jewish tradition. The Qur'an has a very similar teaching. It illustrating this matter graphically when the divine tajalli  (theophanic self-disclosure) causes a mountain near Sinai to be reduced to dust and Moses to fall down in a swoon (Q. 7:143).

        The direct vision of the absolute divine Essence of the Godhead (dhat Allah) is also regarded as impossible in both the Babi or Baha'i sacred scriptures. The Bab underlined this very strongly throughout his writings. While he cited Kh-T IV:4 at least six times he never interpreted it literally.

Tafsīr Sūrat al-baqara (Commentary on the Surah of the Cow), Q. 2:ADD. 

Tafsīr al-hā' I  (Commentary on the Letter "H" ) 

Tafsīr al-hā' II  (Commentary on the Letter "H" ) 

Tafsīr Sūrat al-ḥamd (Commentary on the Surah of the Praise", Q. )

al-Lawāmi' al-badī`  ("The Wondrous Brilliances") c. 1846/7,

         In his epistle known as al-Lawāmi' al-badī`  ("The Wondrous Brilliances", c. 1846/7), the Bab interpreted this line to refer to Imam 'All's inner "vision of the [Primal] Will of God" (ru'yat al-mashiyya),  not in any way a direct vision of the transcendent Deity. This is also the case in his Commentary on the Du'a al-sabah (Dawn Prayer), where the same line from the Kh-T  is quoted and interpreted in terms of the 'Vision of the Divine Theophany" (ru'yat al-tajallī), understood as a divine Manifestation not a disclosure of the divine Essence.

The Letter in reply to Questions of  Nasir al-Din Karbala'i

The detailed and fascinating Arabic letter of the Bab

The Khuṭbat al-Jidda  (Homily from Jeddah)

The  Commentary of the Bab upon Lawḥ maḥfūẓ  ("The Preserved Tablet"), Q. 85:22

        While the opening lines of the Bāb’s early Khuṭbat al-Jidda  (Homily from Jeddah) appear to be  influenced  by the opening words of the al-Khuṭba al-ṭutunjiyya  (INBMC 91:60-61; cf. Ibid 50 [untitled]), the definite and deep influence of the Kh-ṭutunjiyya  upon the following two translated paragraphs  (VII-VIII) of the Bāb’s  commentary upon the qur’ānic phrase lawḥ maḥfūẓ  ("The Preserved Tablet", Q. 85:22) -- which has to so with the Divine Decree and human destinies -- is  obvious :

[VII]

        [1] And God assuredly made this to be that Book (al-kitāb) , the Supremely Great Tablet (lawh al-akbar). [2] And He foreordained therein whatsoever was called into being  at the beginning and the end [of things]  (abda` fi al-bad` wa'l-khatm). [3] God destined for that Book (al-kitab)  two Gates (bābayn) unto the depth [mystery] of the two Gulfs (li-sirr al-ṭutunjayn), through the Water of the two Bays (mā’ al-khalījayn).  [4] One of these two [streams of water] is the Water of the Euphrates of the Realities of  the Elevated Beings (mā’ al-firāt ḥaqā’iq al-`aliyyīn) [who are] of the inmates of the two Easts (min ahl al-mashriqayn) from the two [regions] most proximate [unto God] (min al-aqrabayn). [5] The second of the two [streams] is [that of] the Water of the fiery Hellish Expanse of the saline bitterness [streaming] from the inmates of the two Wests (min ahl al-maghribayn), from the two [regions] most remote [from God] (min al-ab`adayn [sic.]). And God fashioned above every entrance (`alā kull bāb)  the tripartite [trinitarian] form (ṣūrat al-tathlīth). And within the threefold form is the trinitarian Personage [= Jesus?] (haykal al-tathlīth) [leading] unto the depth of the gates of Gehenna (li-tamām abwāb al-jaḥīm)..

[VIII]

[1] And God fashioned above every entrance (`alā kull bāb) the triadic form (ṣūrat al-tathlīth). [2] And within the triadic  form is the trinitarian Personage [temple = Jesus as one wrongly worshipped] (haykal al-tathlīth) [leading] unto the totality of the gates of Genenna  (li-tamām abwāb al-jaḥīm),  the nineteen waystations of the pre-existent Judge (min al-ḥākim al-qadīm) (cf. Q. 74:26-31). [3] And God assuredly made in the interior dimension (bāṭin)  of that [aforementioned Guarded] Tablet [of Destiny] (al-lawḥ [al-maḥfūẓ])  [naught but]  a Mercy and a sweet repose  (raḥmat wa rāḥat)  [4] though in its exterior dimension (ẓāhir)  did he of old ordain punishment (al-`udhāb). [5] And praised be unto God, their Unifier (mawaḥḥid) transcendent above whatsoever they resolve

(The Bāb, Q. L-Maḥfūẓ,  80). See further the Haykal page on this website.

 The Persian  Dalā'il-i Sab`a  (Seven Proofs).

About half way through his Persian  Dalā'il-i Sab`a  (Seven Proofs) (c. 1848)  the Bāb explicitly cites the passage from Kh-T  (XI:13 see trans. below) about the outward latter day realization of the divine theophany before Moses. He introduces his partly paraphrased  citation in the following interesting way:

    The Bāb implies that apart from his own uttering of the Sinaitic claim to Divinity "I, verily, am God" which parallels what God said to Moses on the Sinaitic Mount,  the promise of the Kh-T would not have been realized. He then continues to cite further eschatologicaly suggestive passages from the Kh-T (see below XIII:3 and ADD       ):

و در همين خطبه در موضع ديگر فرموده . و ان لكم بعد حين . طرفة تعلمون بها بعض البيان و ينكشف لكم صنايع البرهان.

الی ان قال . فعند ذلك ترتج الاقطار بالدعات الی كل باطل . هيهات هيهات توقعوا حلول الفرج الاعظم . و اقباله فوجاً فوجا۰

"And in another place within the very same Sermon (khuṭba) he says, "For you [there shall be a disclosure] "after a moment" (ba`ad ḥīn, abjad = 68), a twinkling novelty (al-ṭurfa) [star?] on account of which you shall  know something of the Bayan ("clear exposition") and there shall be disclosed for you wondrous evidences of demonstrative Proof (sanā'i` al-burhān)" [= XIII:2b-3a] until he [Imam `Alī further] says, " ADD REST + COMMENTS

Cf. "In due course there shall appear  a [twinkling] novelty (al-ṭurfa) [star?]  through which you shall come to realize aspects of this [matter] clearly (al-bayān).

Concluding Note

        It is thus evident that many Babi-Baha'i sources have reference in Arabic (or Persian trans.) خطبة الطتنجيه  / خطبة ' طتنجيه   almost always with  the    طتنج   spelling which is most likely due to Shaykhi influence or more precisely the influence of the Sharh Khutbat al-Ṭutunjiyya of Sayyid Kazim Rashti where this spelling is dominant. Whatever the earliest or "correct" spelling of the most probably Arabic loanword (Ṭ[T]-N-J)  the spelling preferred by (Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i and) Sayyid Kazim Rashti became dominant in Babi-Baha'i literatures in which the writings of the revered second Shaykhi leader and one time "teacher" of the Bāb were very highly regarded.