The Báb, Himself, refers to this passage and confirms it in
the “Dalá’il-i-Sab‘ih”: “The words of the revered Shaykh Ahmad-i-Ahsá’í are
well known. They contain numerous allusions to the subject of the
Manifestation. For example, he has written with his own hand to Siyyid
Kázim-i-Rashtí: ‘Just as it is necessary in order to build a house to have
suitable ground, so also for this Manifestation must the moment be propitious.
But here one cannot give an answer clearly foretelling the moment. Soon we
shall know it with certainty.’ That which you have heard so often yourself from
Siyyid Kázim, is not that an explanation? Did he not reiterate every
minute—‘You do not wish then that I should go away so that God may appear?’”
(“The Book of the Seven Proofs,” translated by A. L. M. Nicolas, p. 58.) “There
is also the anecdote referring to Shaykh Ahmad-i-Ahsá’í on his way to Mecca. It
has been proven that this anecdote is authentic and hence there is something
which is certain. The disciples of the deceased have related the sayings which
they have heard and also certain personages were mentioned such as Mullá
‘Abdu’l-Khaliq and Murtadá-Qulí. Mullá ‘Abdu’l-Khaliq relates that the Shaykh
said to them one day: ‘Pray that you may not be present at the beginning of the
Manifestation and of the Return, as there will be many civil wars.’ He added:
‘If any one of you should still be living at that time, he shall see strange
things between the years sixty and sixty-seven. And what strange thing can be
more strange than the very Being of the Manifestation? You will be there and
you will witness another extraordinary event; that is to say, God, in order to
bring about the victory of the Manifestation, will raise up a Being who will
speak his own thoughts without ever having been instructed by anyone.’” (Ibid.,
pp. 59–60.)
(Footnotes to Chapter 1, ‘The Dawn-Breakers’; provided by Shoghi
Effendi)
