The formal assumption by the Báb of the authority of the
promised Qá’im, in such dramatic circumstances and in so challenging a tone,
before a distinguished gathering of eminent Shí’ah ecclesiastics, powerful,
jealous, alarmed and hostile, was the explosive force that loosed a veritable
avalanche of calamities which swept down upon the Faith and the people among
whom it was born. It raised to fervid heat the zeal that glowed in the souls of
the Báb’s scattered disciples, who were already incensed by the cruel captivity
of their Leader, and whose ardor was now further inflamed by the outpourings of
His pen which reached them unceasingly from the place of His confinement. It
provoked a heated and prolonged controversy throughout the length and breadth
of the land, in bazaars, masjids, madrisihs and other public places, deepening
thereby the cleavage that had already sundered its people.
- Shoghi Effendi (‘God Passes By)
