In the year one thousand two hundred and sixty [A.H.], when
He [the Báb] was in His twenty-fifth year, certain signs became apparent in His
conduct, behavior, manners, and demeanor whereby it became evident in Shíráz
that He had some conflict in His mind and some other flight beneath His wing.
He began to speak and to declare the rank of Báb-hood. [1] Now what He intended
by the term Báb [Gate] was this, that He was the channel of grace from some
great Person still behind the veil of glory, Who was the possessor of countless
and boundless perfections, by Whose will He moved, and to the bond of Whose
love He clung. And in the first book which He wrote in explanation of the Súrih
of Joseph, [2] He addressed Himself in all passages to that Person unseen from
Whom He received help and grace, sought for aid in the arrangement of His
preliminaries, and craved the sacrifice of life in the way of His love.
Amongst others is this sentence: “O Remnant of God, I am
wholly sacrificed to Thee; I am content with curses in Thy way; I crave naught
but to be slain in Thy love; and God the Supreme sufficeth as an Eternal
Protection.”
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (‘A Traveler’s Narrative’)
[1] 23 May 1844
[2] Qur’án 12
