Two Letters of Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid Muḥammad on the Revelation of the Báb

Abstract: This study examines two letters composed in Persian by Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid Muḥammad, the maternal uncle of the Báb — honored by the Báb with the title of the Greater Uncle — and addressed, respectively, to his brother, Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid ʿAlí, the Greatest Uncle, and to his brother-in-law, Ḥájí ʿAbdu’l-Ḥusayn. The letters, provisionally dated to June 1845, were composed in Búshihr while the Báb contemplated His imminent departure for Shíráz, amidst a period of heightened unrest in His native city. During His pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, the Báb had proclaimed His Mission within the precincts of the Ka‘bah before pilgrims and divines; yet some among those who witnessed this revelation returned with distorted accounts, spreading slander and agitation that inflamed both populace and officials. Alarmed by these disturbances and the potential peril to His person, Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid Muḥammad endeavored, through correspondence, to restrain the Báb and to shield Him from the storm gathering in Shíráz. The letters themselves illuminate the delicate interplay between familial concern, social turbulence, and the unwavering resolve of the Báb in the face of calumny and danger. The first letter is dated 21 June 1845; however, internal evidence suggests that the second was composed either contemporaneously or shortly before.

This paper offers a provisional English rendering of these letters, situating them within their historical and social milieu, drawing upon ʿAhd-i-Aʿlá (pp. 118–123) and other corroborating sources to reveal the circumstances, anxieties, and spiritual discernment that shaped their composition.