The prefix 'Ḥájí' or 'Ḥáj' indicated then, as now, one who had made the pilgrimage to Mecca. Ma[_sh_]hadí and Karbilá'í, as prefixes, marked pilgrimage to Ma[_sh_]had or Karbilá, but as suffixes pointed out nativity. There were also innumerable titles conferred by the sovereign in Írán, consisting of diverse combinations, sometimes ludicrous, sometimes grammatically impossible. Occasionally they indicated a definite rank and profession. As time passed, these titles multiplied absurdly, until they were swept away by legislation in the 1920's. Finally, a person was often distinguished from others by a combination of prefixes and suffixes attached to his name which, if omitted, might cause him to be taken for another person. Today the situation is much changed, but for the period described in this book, the author can identify people only by the names they then used, however difficult they may be. * * * * * Quotations are reproduced in their original form, even though differing from the spelling and transliteration of Persian words adopted in this book. Translations from Persian sources are by the author unless otherwise attributed. The text of the Authorised Version of the Bible is Crown copyright and the extracts used herein are reproduced by permission. * * * * * The Báb, the Exalted One, is the Morn of Truth, Whose Light shineth throughout all regions. `ABDU'L-BAHÁ O people of the Báb! sorely persecuted, compelled to silence, but steadfast now as at Sheykh Ṭabarsí and Zanján, what destiny is concealed for you behind the veil of the Future? EDWARD GRANVILLE BROWNE PROLOGUE I About the time that the thirteen colonies of North America were gaining their independence to form the nucleus of the mighty Republic of the West, France was inching her way towards a revolution such as the world had never seen, and Britain was striding along the road to a revolution of a different kind, industrial, agrarian and economic in nature, a cleric of the Islamic [_Sh_]í`ah persuasion left his island-home in the Persian Gulf for the great centres of [_Sh_]í`ah learning and [_Sh_]í`ah devotion in `Iráq. His purpose was to find a much larger audience in order to give voice to thoughts and presentiments that had developed with his years.