Refuting the Bahāʾī “scarecrow theory” of the Bābī succession
From a note of our forthcoming translation of Tanbīh al-nāʾimīn . — In Asad’ullāh Fāḍil Māzandarānī’s Asrār al-āthār-i-khuṣūṣi , vol. 5, 347, Bahāʾuʾllāh is quoted as saying, “Glory be to God! Haven’t the critics and detractors ( muʿariḍīn va munkirīn ) realized by now that what was sent over to the forerunner ( mubashshir ), meaning the Point [i.e. the Bāb], was by whom? The knowledge is with God, the Lord of the worlds!” Glossing upon this statement, Asad’ullāh Fāḍil Māzandarānī writes: “The intention here is that the letters of correspondence between Mīrzā Yaḥyā [i.e. Ṣubḥ-i-Azal] and the Point [i.e. the Bāb] in the prison of Mākū (sic) [it was actually Chihrīq – WA], which became the reason for issuing the specified written decree [of succession], was at the dictation of that holiness [i.e. Bahāʾuʾllāh].” However, such statements by the Bahā’ī founder (as well as its gloss by Māzandarānī) are re-imagined as well as conflated positions from the later period of...