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Manuchihr-Khan,
the Governor of
Isfahan
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The tumultuous enthusiasm of the people of Isfáhán [towards
the Báb] was meanwhile visibly increasing. Crowds of people, some impelled by
curiosity, others eager to discover the truth, still others anxious to be
healed of their infirmities, flocked from every quarter of the city to the
house of the Imám-Jum’ih. [where the Báb was staying] The wise and judicious
Manúchihr Khán [the governor] could not resist the temptation of visiting so
strange, so intriguing a Personage. Before a brilliant assemblage of the most
accomplished divines he, a Georgian by origin and a Christian by birth, requested
the Báb to expound and demonstrate the truth of Muhammad’s specific mission. To
this request, which those present had felt compelled to decline, the Báb
readily responded. In less than two hours, and in the space of fifty pages, He
had not only revealed a minute, a vigorous and original dissertation on this
noble theme, but had also linked it with both the coming of the Qá’im and the
return of the Imám Husayn—an exposition that prompted Manúchihr Khán to declare
before that gathering his faith in the Prophet of Islám, as well as his
recognition of the supernatural gifts with which the Author of so convincing a
treatise was endowed.
- Shoghi Effendi (‘God Passes By’)
