Upon his arrival in Kirmansháh, Shaykh Ahmad decided to
select a number of the most receptive from among his shí’ah disciples, and, by
devoting his special attention to their enlightenment, to enable them to become
the active supporters of the Cause of the promised Revelation. In the series of
books and epistles which he undertook to write, among which figures his
well-known work Sharhu’z-Zíyárih, he extolled in clear and vivid language the
virtues of the imáms of the Faith, and laid special stress upon the allusions
which they had made to the coming of the promised One. By his repeated
references to Husayn, he meant, however, none other than the Husayn who was yet
to be revealed; [Baha’u’llah] and by his allusions to the ever-recurrent name
‘Alí, he intended not the ‘Alí who had been slain, but the ‘Alí recently born.
[The Báb] To those who questioned him regarding the signs that must needs herald
the advent of the Qá’im, he emphatically asserted the inevitableness of the
promised Dispensation. In the very year the Báb was born, Shaykh Ahmad suffered
the loss of his son, whose name was Shaykh ‘Alí. To his disciples who mourned
his loss he spoke these words of comfort: “Grieve not, O my friends, for I have
offered up my son, my own ‘Alí, as a sacrifice for the ‘Alí whose advent we all
await. To this end have I reared and prepared him.”
(Chapter 1, ‘The
Dawn-Breakers’)
