# Making the Crooked Straight

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-20 — 1 clipping.*

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Udo Schaefer, Making the Crooked Straight, bahai-library.com.
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> Lights of ‘Irfán Book Eight                                         393
> 
> Pa r t 3 : The Pr ophe cy concer ning t he a dv e nt of
> M a n YuΩhir uhu’ lláh 1
> The Báb evidently foresaw the imminent advent of the
> Promised One whom He described in such glowing terms. This is
> clear from many of the statements He made to contemporaries,
> whom He exhorted to recognize both Himself and — as soon as
> He appeared — the promised Man yuΩhiruhu’lláh. In a letter
> written to a Muslim clergyman named Sulaymán, for instance,
> He called upon the addressee to turn to Him (the Báb), since he
> would otherwise be accursed. If he failed to accept the Báb, God
> would forgive him only if he turned, by means of a letter, to ‘Him
> whom God shall make manifest ’ (SWB 1:9:7) — i.e. in the near
> future, during Sulaymán’s lifetime. From another letter, written
> by the Báb to the Sharif of Mecca and others, it is again evident
> that the Báb expected the Promised One to appear during the
> lifetime of the Sharif. The Báb admonished the Sharif of Mecca
> To embrace the Cause of God and to implore that the
> matter of thine allegiance be brought to the attention
> of Him Whom God shall make manifest, that He may
> graciously enable thee to prosper and cause thy fire to
> be transformed into light. (SWB 1:7:3, p. 30)
> Furthermore, it is implied in the Persian Bayán that Man
> yuΩhiruhu’lláh would appear during the 19 years following the
> Báb’s declaration of His mission (1844); i.e., in the period up
> to the year 1863, although God alone would know the hour of
> His coming. (Bayán VI:3) The early Bábís, too, clearly expected
> the Promised One to arrive soon. Only this can explain the fact
> that during the years immediately following the martyrdom of
> the Báb so many proclaimed themselves to be the Promised One.
> In contrast to this, the Azali doctrine that the Promised One
> was to appear only after 1511 or 2001 years was based on
> statements made by the Báb in the Persian Bayán concerning
> Ghiyáth (Help) and Mustagháth (He who is called upon for help)
> (Persian Bayán II:17, III:15), from which the numbers 1511 and 2001
> 
> From Making the Crooked Straight, by Udo Schaefer, Nicola Towfigh, Ulrich
> Gollmer, trans. by Geraldine Schuckelt (Oxford: George Ronald, 2000).
> 394                                       Elucidations: Mírzá Yahyá
> 
> are derived by means of the Abjad system. This is interpreted as
> an indication that the promised Man yuΩhiruhu’lláh will not
> appear until this length of time has elapsed. This argument was
> probably developed by the Azalis in order to dismiss
> Bahá’u’lláh’s claim. They certainly referred to this in their
> rejection of Bahá’u’lláh, as Browne confirms: “To these texts
> the Ezelis specially appeal in justification of their rejection of
> Behá’u’lláh’s [sic] claim to be the Promised Deliverer…” (JRAS
> April 1892, p. 299) It is clear from the words of the Báb in the
> Persian Bayán, however, that the Azali view does not conform
> to that of the Báb when the latter expresses the hope that the
> Promised One would come before the end of the Mustagháth:
> None knoweth save God as to when the Manifestation
> shall be. Whenever it occurs all have to follow the Point
> of Truth and thank God. However, it is hoped of God’s
> grace that it will arrive before the Mustagháth and the
> Word of God will be exalted by it. (Persian Bayán III:15)
> It is obvious from these words that the Báb regards the Mustagháth
> as a period of time during which the Manifestation will appear.
> Bahá’u’lláh evidently shares the Báb’s cyclical view and also sees
> Ghiyáth and Mustagháth as cycles within which the Promised One
> will appear. He speaks of the year 9 within the Mustagháth in which
> Man yuΩhiruhu’lláh has appeared. (Ra˙íq-Makhtúm, p. 514) In
> response to the Azali objection that He was already announcing
> the advent of the Promised One, Bahá’u’lláh argued:
> Shake off, O heedless ones, the slumber of negligence,
> that ye may behold the radiance which His glory hath
> spread through the world. How foolish are those who
> murmur against the premature birth of His light. O ye
> who are inly blind! Whether too soon or too late, the
> evidences of His effulgent glory are now actually
> manifest. It behoveth you to ascertain whether or not
> such a light hath appeared. It is neither within your
> power nor mine to set the time at which it should be
> made manifest. God’s inscrutable Wisdom hath fixed
> its hour beforehand. (GWB 50)
> The Báb, too, was convinced that the Promised One ‘might appear
> at any time,’ (TN, intro, p. xvii) as Browne correctly observed.
>
> — *Making the Crooked Straight (Used by permission of the curator)*