This Siyyid Kázim had already, from his early boyhood, shown
signs of remarkable intellectual power and spiritual insight. He was unique
among those of his own rank and age. At the age of eleven, he had committed to
memory the whole of the Qur’án. At the age of fourteen, he had learned by heart
a prodigious number of prayers and recognised traditions of Muhammad. At the
age of eighteen, he had composed a commentary on a verse of the Qur’án known as
the Ayatu’l-Kursí, which had excited the wonder and the admiration of the most
learned of his day. His piety, the gentleness of his character, and his
humility were such that all who knew him, whether young or old, were profoundly
impressed.
(Chapter 1, ‘The Dawn-Breakers)
