Letters of the Living

Membership of the Letters of the Living[edit]

"As to those whose supreme privilege it was to be enrolled by the Bab in the Book of His Revelation as His chosen Letters of the Living, their names are as follows:

Mulla Husayn-i-Bushru'i,

Muhammad-Hasan, his brother,

Muhammad-Baqir, his nephew,

Mulla Aliy-i-Bastami,

Mulla Khuda-Bakhsh-i-Quchani, later named Mulla Ali

Mulla Hasan-i-Bajistani,

Siyyid Husayn-i-Yazdi,

Mirza Muhammad Rawdih-Khan-i-Yazdi,

Sa'id-i-Hindi,

Mulla Mahmud-i-Khu'i,

Mulla Jalil-i-Urumi,

Mulla Ahmad-i-Ibdal-i-Maraghi'i,

Mulla Baqir-i-Tabrizi,

Mulla Yusif-i-Ardibili,

Mirza Hadi, son of Mulla Abdu'l-Vahhab-i-Qazvini,

Mirza Muhammad-'Aliy-i-Qazvini.(1)

Tahirih,(2)

Quddus

(Dawn-Breakers, pp. 80-81)

Letters of the Living enrolled[edit]

"Each of the twelve companions of Mulla Ali, in his turn and by his own unaided efforts, sought and found his Beloved. Some in sleep, others in waking, a few whilst in prayer, and still others in their moments of contemplation, experienced the light of this Divine Revelation and were led to recognise the power of its glory. After the manner of Mulla Ali, these, and a few others, accompanied by Mulla Husayn, attained the presence of the Bab and were declared "Letters of the Living." Seventeen Letters were gradually enrolled in the preserved Tablet of God, and were appointed as the chosen Apostles of the Bab, the ministers of His Faith, and the diffusers of His light."

(Dawn-Breakers, p. 69)

No Letters of the Living for Bahá'u'lláh (though there were Apostles of Bahá'u'lláh and Hands of the Cause)[edit]

"There were no 'Letters of the living' for Bahá'u'lláh, as there had been for the Bab's Dispensation. Dayyan was evidently the 3rd to believe in Bahá'u'lláh; who the second and the others were we don't know. The Bab, being the Manifestation, cannot be considered the first in this sense."

(From a letter written on behalf of the Guardian to an individual believer, April 19, 1947, in Lights of Guidance, no. 1568)