6/1/17

The Báb revealed nine Commentaries on the whole of the Qur’an while incarcerated in Mah-Ku for nine months

Shaykh Hasan-i-Zunuzi who, as one of the secretaries of the Báb, was engaged in transcribing the verses which He dictated to His amanuensis while imprisoned in Mah-ku for nine months, related the following fascinating account to Nabil, the author of the Dawn-Breakers:

"When subsequently He was incarcerated in the fortress of Mah-Ku, in the province of Adhirbayjan, I was engaged in transcribing the verses which He dictated to His amanuensis. Every night, for a period of nine months, during which He was a prisoner in that fort, He revealed, after He had offered His evening prayer, a commentary on a juz' [a juz' is one-thirtieth of the Qur'án] of the Qur'án. At the end of each month a commentary on the whole of that sacred Book was thus completed. During His incarceration in Mah-Ku, nine commentaries on the whole of the Qur'án had been revealed by Him. The texts of these commentaries were entrusted, in Tabriz, to the keeping of a certain Siyyid Ibrahim-i-Khalil, who was instructed to conceal them until the time for their publication might arrive. Their fate is unknown until now.”

"In connection with one of these commentaries, the Báb one day asked me: 'Which do you prefer, this commentary which I have revealed, or the Ahsanu'l-Qisas, My previous commentary on the Surih of Joseph? Which of the two is superior, in your estimation?' 'To me,' I replied, 'the Ahsanu'l-Qisas seems to be endowed with greater power and charm.' He smiled at my observation and said: 'You are as yet unfamiliar with the tone and tenor of this later commentary. The truths enshrined in this will more speedily and effectively enable the seeker to attain the object of his quest.'” 
(Adapted from 'The Dawn-Breakers’, by Nabil, Translated and Edited by Shoghi Effendi)