HE WHOM GOD SHALL MAKE MANIFEST.

A group of Baha'is of the village of 'Avashig, near Baghdad, Iraq, 1929

    The Bab has been compared to John the Baptist (was a Jewish itinerant preacher: person who travel from place to place by conveying the message of God to the whole world), but the station of the Bab is not merely that of the Herald (messenger) or Forerunner. In Himself the Bab was a Manifestation of God, the Founder of an independent religion, even though that religion was limited in time to a brief period of years. The Baha'is believe that the Bab and Baha'u'llah were Co-Founders of their Faith, the following words of Baha'u'llah testifying to this truth:-

    " That so brief a span should have separated this most mighty and wondrous Revelation from Mine own previous Manifestation, is a secret that no man can unravel (undo) and a mystery such as no mind can fathom (understand deeply). Its duration had been fore-ordained (prearranged unalterably), and no man shall ever discover its reason unless and until he be informed of the contents of My Hidden Book."

     In His references to Baha'u'llah, however, the Bab revealed an utter selflessness, declaring that, in the day of "Him whom God shall manifest":-

    " If one should hear a single verse from Him and recite it, it is better than that he should recite the Bayan (i.e the revelation of the Bab) a thousand times." - A Traveller's Narrative (Episode of the Bab)

    He counted Himself happy in enduring any affliction (harm or pain), if by so doing He could smooth the path, by ever so little, for "Him whom God shall make manifest," who was, He declared, the sole source of His inspiration as well as the sole object of His love.