The next to embrace the Faith among the shaykhís of Khurásán
was Mullá Ahmad-i-Mu’allim, who, while in Karbilá, had been the instructor of
the children of Siyyid Kázim. Next to him came Mullá Shaykh ‘Alí, whom the Báb
surnamed Azím, and then Mullá Mírzá Muhammad-i-Furúghí, whose learning was
unsurpassed except by that of Mírzá Ahmad. No one apart from these outstanding
figures among the ecclesiastical leaders of Khurásán exercised sufficient
authority or possessed the necessary knowledge to challenge the arguments of
Mullá Husayn.
(Chapter 6, ‘The Dawn-Breakers’)
