From the beginning the Báb must have divined the reception
which would be accorded by His countrymen to His teachings, and the fate which
awaited Him at the hands of the mullás. But He did not allow personal
misgivings to affect the frank enunciation of His claims nor the open
presentation of His Cause. The innovations which He proclaimed, though purely
religious, were drastic; the announcement of His own identity startling and
tremendous. He made Himself known as the Qá’im, the High Prophet or Messiah so
long promised, so eagerly expected by the Muhammadan world. He added to this
the declaration that he was also the Gate (that is, the Báb) through whom a
greater Manifestation than Himself was to enter the human realm.
Putting Himself thus in line with the traditions of Islám,
and appearing as the fulfilment of prophecy, He came into conflict with those
who had fixed and ineradicable ideas (different from His) as to what those
prophecies and traditions meant.
- Shoghi Effendi (‘Introduction to ‘The
Dawn-Breakers’)
