Biographies
Acknowledgments
A Note on Transliteration
Map
Preface
1 The Bab: A Sun in a Night Not Followed by Dawn | Fereydun Vahman
* The Bab Discontinues his Formal Education and Begins his Mercantile Work
* Epiphany, Piety, and Intuition
* The Bab's Journey to the Sacred Shrine Cities of 'Iraq
* The Bab's Return to Shiraz and Marriage
* The Declaration of the Bab's Cause: The Birth of a New Religion
* After the Declaration of the Bab's Cause
* Mulla 'Ali Bastami
* The Bab's Eventful Journey to Mecca
* The Bab's Return from Pilgrimage and the Events of Shiraz
* The Bab in Isfahan
* From Isfahan to Azarbaijan
* The Trial of Tabriz
* The Return to Chihriq Prison
* The Execution of the Bab in Tabriz
* Bibliography
2 The Worldview of the Bab: The Reconstruction of Religion and Society | Nader Saiedi
* Reconstruction of the Idea of Religion: Dialectical Logic and Historical Consciousness
* Reconstruction of the Idea of the Human Being and Human Identity
* Rationalism and Humanism
** Equality of the Believers and Canceling of the Authority of the Clerics
** Centrality of the Word and the Rejection of Miracles
** Reconstruction of Heaven, Hell, and the Day of Resurrection
** Reconstruction of the Concept of the Occultation and Return of the Imam
* Equal Rights, Social Justice, and Ethics
** Station of Women, Rejection of Patriarchy
** The Ethical Maxim: For the Sake of God
** Culture of Affirmation
** Development and Modernization: Perfection and Refinement
* Conclusion
* Bibliography
3 The Shaping of the Babi Community: Merchants, Artisans, and Others | Abbas Amanat
* The Changing Economy
* The Babi Merchants
* The Babi Artisans
* Converts from the Government Ranks
* The Babi Community: An Assessment
* Selected Bibliography
4 From a Primal Point to an Archetypal Book: Literary Trajectories through Select Writings of the Bab (1819-50) | Stephen N. Lambden
* The Writings of the Bab, Some Preliminary Observations
* Bayan/Mubin (Crystal Clear) yet Abstruse, Bewilderingly Abstruse (sa'b mustasa'b): Exegetical Clarity and Esoteric Depth in the Writings of the Bab
* The Shahada (Testimony of Faith) and its Alphabetical Mysteries
* Esoterica, the Abstruse, Sciences of the Unseen ('ulum alghayb)
* The Style, Grammar, and Syntax of the Bab
* Personal Letters, Scriptural Tablets (Lawh, pl. Alwah)
** Letters or Scriptural Tablets
* The Genesis of the New Shari'a (Laws), the Khasa'il-i Sab'a (mid. 1845)
* The All-Comprehensive Bayan (Exposition) of the Bab
* The Five Modes of Revelation
* Devotional Writings of the Bab
* Tafsir Surat al-Hamd (Praise) or al-Fatiha (The Opening, Q. 1)
* We indeed proffered thee al-Kawthar (The Abundance).
* Hadith Commentary
* Commentaries on Hadith Texts by the Bab
* Surat al-Ridwan
* Khutbas, Literary Orations
* The Khutba al-Jidda (Literary Oration Nigh Jeddah)
* The Khutba on 'ilm al-huruf (On the Science of the Letters)
* Select Treatises (Risala, pl. Rasa'il), Epistles (Sahifa, pl. Suhuf ) and Other Scriptural Communications
* The Risala fi'l-nubuwwa al-khassa (A Treatise on the Specific Prophethood of Muhammad)
* Epistles, Treatises, Booklets (Sahifa, pl. Suhuf )
* The Persian Dala'il-i sab'a (Seven Proofs)
* The Arabic al-dala'il al-sab'a (Seven Proofs)
* Kitab al-asma'/Kull shay' (The Book of the Divine Names, the All Things)
* Kitab-i panj sha'n (The Book expressive of Five Modes of Revelation)
* The (Lawh-i) Haykal al-din (Temple of Religion) (1266/early-mid-1850)
* The Late Messianism of the Bab
* The Wasiyyat-nama (Will and Testament) Attributed to the Bab
* Concluding Summary Note
* Bibliography
5 Interpretation as Revelation: The Qur'an Commentary of the Bab, Sayyid 'Ali Muhammad Shirazi (1819-50) | Todd Lawson
* Life of the Bab
* The Shaykhi School
* Shaykhi Teachings
* Tafsir Works
** Tafsir surat al-baqara
** Tafsir surat Yusuf
* Conclusions
* Bibliography
6 The Social Basis of the Babi Upheavals in Iran (1848-53): A Preliminary Analysis | Moojan Momen
* Introduction
* The Shaykh Tabarsi Upheaval: 1848-49
** Total Number of Babis at Shaykh Tabarsi
** Rural/Urban Origin of Babi Participants at Shaykh Tabarsi
* The Nayriz Upheavals of 1850 and 1853
** Occupations of Babi Participants in the Two Nayriz Upheavals
** Origins of Participants at the Two Nayriz Upheavals
** Total Numbers of Babi Participants at the Two Nayriz Upheavals
* The Zanjan Upheaval: 1850-51
** Occupations of Babi Participants at Zanjan
** Origins of Babi Participants at Zanjan
** Total Numbers of Babi Participants at Zanjan
* The Tehran Episodes of 1850 and 1852
** The Seven Martyrs of Tehran, 1850
** The Tehran Executions of 1852
** Occupations of the Babis Executed in Tehran in 1852
* Conclusions
** A Comparative Analysis
** The Role of Women
** Other Social Groups
** The Social Basis of Babism
7 The Babi-State Conflicts of 1848-50 | Siyamak Zabihi-Moghaddam
* Babi Clashes with the State: Neither Social Protest nor Offensive Holy War
* Review of the Primary Sources of the Babi Upheavals
* An Outline of the Conflict at Shaykh Tabarsi, September 1848-May 1849
* The Objectives of the Babis at Shaykh Tabarsi
* The Calm between Storms: May 1849-May 1850
* The Nayriz Conflict of May-June 1850
* An Analysis of the Objectives of Vahid and the Babis in Nayriz
* Hujjat and the 'Ulama' of Zanjan
* The Zanjan Episode of May 1850-January 1851
* An Analysis of the Objectives of Hujjat and the Zanjani Babis
* Conclusion
* Bibliography
8 From Babi Movement to the Baha'i Faith: Some Observations About the Evolution of a New Religion | Armin Eschraghi
* Some General Observations on the Bab's Sacred Law
* Messianism in the Bab's Writings
* The Later Development of the Babi Movement
* Baha'u'llah After the Bab's Martyrdom
* Babi Messianism and the Question of Leadership
* Some General Observations on Baha'u'llah's Sacred Law
* Some Further Observations on the Baha'i Faith's Evolution from the Babi Movement
** Messianism
** Ritual Impurity (najasah)
** Holy War and Religious Legitimization of Violence
* Conclusion
* Bibliography
9 The hand of God is not chained up: Notes on Two Salient Themes in the Prose Writings of Tahirih Qurratu'l-'Ayn | Omid Ghaemmaghami
* Introduction
* Progressive Revelation
* Love, Friendship, and Forbearance
* Bibliography
10 Babi-Baha'i Books and Believers in E. G. Browne's A Year amongst the Persians | Sholeh A. Quinn
* Introduction
* Terminology and Identifications
* Isfahan
* Shiraz
** Books in Shiraz
** Reading in Shiraz
* Yazd
* Kirman
* Conclusion
* The Texts Browne Encountered in Iran
* Bibliography
Index
