“He was already predisposed to meditation and inclined to be
silent, while his fine face, the radiance of his glance as well as his modest
and contemplative mien drew, even at that early date, the attention of his
fellow-citizens. Though very young, he felt an invincible attraction to matters
of religion, for he was barely nineteen when he wrote his first work, the
‘risaliy-i-Fiqhiyyih’ in which he reveals a true piety and an Islamic effusion,
which seemed to predict a brilliant future within the law of Shí’ite orthodoxy.
It is probable that this work was written at Búshihr, for he was sent there by
his uncle at the age of eighteen or nineteen to look after his business
interests.” (A. L. M. Nicolas’ “Siyyid ‘Alí-Muḥammad dit le Báb,” pp. 188–189.)
(Footnotes to Chapter 3, provided by Shoghi Effendi)
