Siyyid Káẓim's Last Charge

After Shaykh Aḥmad’s death, Siyyid Káẓim-i-Rashtí carried on his work in Karbilá, preparing his students for the appearance of the Promised One. Among those students was Mullá Ḥusayn-i-Bushrú’í.

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Opposition to Siyyid Káẓim was growing, and he wanted the support of Ḥájí Siyyid Muḥammad-Báqir of Iṣfahán, one of the most powerful religious leaders of Persia, who had once favoured Shaykh Aḥmad but had since fallen silent. Again and again Siyyid Káẓim asked who would carry a message to him. Only one disciple offered to go, and Siyyid Káẓim did not send him. He turned instead to the young Mullá Ḥusayn:

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> Arise and perform this mission, for I declare you equal to > this task. The Almighty will graciously assist you, and will > crown your endeavours with success.

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Mullá Ḥusayn went to Iṣfahán and defended the teachings of Shaykh Aḥmad and Siyyid Káẓim before the Siyyid and his disciples. The Siyyid wrote with his own hand a testimony to the standing of both teachers. When it reached Karbilá, Siyyid Káẓim was so pleased that he broke off his lecture and read it out to his students.

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In those days, Nabíl writes, Siyyid Káẓim sought to remove, "gradually, with caution and wisdom," whatever might keep his students from recognising the One to come. He even hinted that the Promised One was among them. "You behold Him with your own eyes," he often said, "and yet recognise Him not!" To those who asked about the signs of the Manifestation, he said:

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> He is of noble lineage. He is a descendant of the Prophet of God, > of the family of Háshim. He is young in age.

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As his days drew to a close, whenever he met his disciples, in private or in public, he urged them to leave everything and search for Him:

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> Scatter far and wide, detach yourselves from all earthly > things, and humbly and prayerfully beseech your Lord to sustain > and guide you.

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He also told them:

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> Well is it with every one of you who will quaff the cup of > martyrdom in His path.

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Siyyid Káẓim died at Karbilá on the day of ‘Arafih, 1259 A.H. (31 December 1843). Months later, when the Báb asked Mullá Ḥusayn whom he regarded as Siyyid Káẓim's successor, Mullá Ḥusayn answered that at the hour of his death their teacher had "insistently exhorted us to forsake our homes, to scatter far and wide, in quest of the promised Beloved."

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*A retelling based on **The Dawn-Breakers** (Chapters II–III, "The Mission of Siyyid Káẓim-i-Rashtí" and "The Declaration of the Báb's Mission"). For the fuller account, see the original.*

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