le instant, but used to signify to
all his followers that they should expect His arising: in such
wise that he declares in his writings, "I am a letter out of that
most might book and a dew-drop from that limitless ocean, and,
when He shall appear, my true nature, my mysteries, riddles, and
intimations will become evident, and the embryo of this religion
shall develop through the grades of its being and ascent, attain
to the station of 'the most comely of forms,' and become adorned
with the robe of 'blessed be God, the Best of Creators.' ... and
so inflamed was he with His flame that commemoration of Him was
the bright candle of his dark nights in the fortress of Maku, and
remembrance of Him was the best of companions in the straits of
the prison of _Ch_ihrik. Thereby he obtained spiritual
enlargements; with His wine was he inebriated; and at remembrance
of Him did he rejoice.--A Traveller's Narrative (Episode of the
Bab), pp. 54-56.

He Whom God Shall Make Manifest

The Bab has been compared to John the Baptist, but the station of the Bab
is not merely that of the herald or forerunner. In Himself the Bab was a
Manifestation of God, the Founder of an independent religion, even though
that religion was limited in time to a brief period of years. The Baha'is
believe that the Bab and Baha'u'llah were Co-Founders of their Faith, the
following words of Baha'u'llah testifying to this truth: "That so brief a
span should have separated this most mighty and wondrous Revelation from
Mine own previous Manifestation, is a secret that no man can unravel and a
mystery such as no mind can fathom. Its duration had been foreordained,
and no man shall ever discover its reason unless and until he be informed
of the contents of My Hidden Book." In His references to Baha'u'llah,
however, the Bab revealed an utter selflessness, declaring that, in the
day of "Him whom God shall manifest":--"If one should hear a single verse
from Him and recite it, it is better that he should recite the Beyan [i.e.
the Revelation of the Bab] a thousand times."--A Traveller's Narrative
(Episode of the Bab), p. 349.

He counted Himself happy in enduring any affliction, if by so doing He
could smooth the path, be ever so little, for "Him Whom God shall make
manifest," Who was, He declared, the sole source of His inspiration as
well as the sole object of His love.

Resurrection, Paradise