At the time when the Báb declared His Mission, the
government of the country was, in Lord Curzon’s phrase, “a Church-State.”
Venal, cruel, and immoral as it was, it was formally religious. Muslim
orthodoxy was its basis and permeated to the core both it and the social lives
of the people. But otherwise there were no laws, statutes, or charters to guide
the direction of public affairs. There was no House of Lords nor Privy Council,
no synod, no Parliament. The Sháh was despot, and his arbitrary rule was
reflected all down the official scale through every minister and governor to
the lowliest clerk or remotest headman. No civil tribunal existed to check or
modify the power of the monarch or the authority which he might choose to
delegate to his subordinates. If there was a law, it was his word. He could do
as he pleased. It was his to appoint or to dismiss all ministers, officials,
officers, and judges. He had power of life and death without appeal over all
members of his household and of his court, whether civil or military. The right
to take life was vested in him alone; and so were all the functions of
government, legislative, executive, and judicial. His royal prerogative was
limited by no written restraint whatever.
- Shoghi Effendi (‘Introduction to
‘The Dawn-Breakers’)
