A word should now be said in explanation of the term
Bálá-Sarí. Shaykh Ahmad and Siyyid Kázim, as well as their followers, when
visiting the shrine of the Imám Husayn in Karbilá, invariably occupied, as a
mark of reverence, the lower end of the sepulchre. They never advanced beyond
it, whereas other worshippers, the Bálá-Sarí, recited their prayers in the
upper section of that shrine. The Shaykhís, believing, as they did, that “every
true believer lives both in this world and in the next,” felt it unseemly and
improper to step beyond the limits of the lower sections of the shrine of the
Imám Husayn, who in their eyes was the very incarnation of the most perfect
believer.
(Chapter 3, ‘The Dawn-Breakers’)
“‘This name comes to them,’ said Hájí Karím Khán in his
Hidayátu’t-Talibin, ‘from the fact that the late Shaykh Ahmad, being at Karbilá
during his pilgrimages to the holy tombs, and out of respect for the Imáms,
recited his prayers standing behind the Imám, that is to say, at his feet. In
fact, for him there was no difference between the respect to be tendered to a
dead Imám or a living Imám. The Persians, on the contrary, when entering into
the tomb, placed themselves at the head of the Imám and consequently turned
their backs to him when they prayed because the dead saints are buried with
their heads towards the Qiblih. This is a disgrace and a lie! The apostles of
Jesus pretending to have come to the assistance of God, were called ‘Nasara,’ a
name which was given to all those who followed in their footsteps. It is thus
that the name of Bálá-Sarí extended to all that follow the doctrine of those
who pray standing at the head of the Imám.’” (A. L. M. Nicolas’ “Essai sur le
Shaykhisme,” I, preface, pp. 5–6.)
(Footnotes to Chapter 3, provided by Shoghi
Effendi)
