Epistle of the Bab to Karim Khan Kirmani

Abstract: This brief yet potent Arabic Epistle of the Báb is addressed to Ḥájí Muḥammad Karím Khān Kirmānī (1810–1871), the prominent Shaykhí leader in Kirmān known by the honorific Sarakār Āqā. After the passing of Siyyid Kāẓim Rashtí in 1843 C.E.—who had explicitly stated that no successor would be appointed—Karím Khān nevertheless assumed leadership over a faction of Shaykhí disciples. Though he often signed his name as al-ʿabd al-athīm (“the sinful servant”) in gestures of false humility, he positioned himself as the sole authoritative voice of Shaykhism.

This Epistle, composed in 1845 C.E., was entrusted by the Báb to Muḥammad ʿAlī Barfurūshī—Quddús, the eighteenth Letter of the Living—for delivery to Karím Khān in Kirmān. Despite the sacred nature of this direct summons, Karím Khān vehemently rejected the Báb’s claim and subsequently composed numerous polemical tracts against His Revelation. The original Arabic text appears in Nasím-i Ṣaḥarī, pp. 182–183, edited by Dr. Vahíd Rafatí.