prophet (and 'more than a prophet') naturally gave birth had the only
possible result. All barriers were completely broken down, and
Huseyn recognized in his heaven-sent teacher the Gate (_Bab_)
which opened on to the secret abode of the vanished Imam, and one
charged with a commission to bring into existence the world-wide
Kingdom of Righteousness. To seal his approval of this thorough
conversion, which was hitherto without a parallel, the Bab conferred
on his new adherent the title of 'The First to Believe.'

This honourable title, however, is not the only one used by this Hero
of God. Still more frequently he was called 'The Gate of the Gate,'
i.e. the Introducer to Him through Whom all true wisdom comes;
or, we may venture to say, the Bab's Deputy. Two other titles maybe
mentioned. One is 'The Gate.' Those who regarded 'Ali Muhammad of
Shiraz as the 'Point' of prophecy and the returned Imam (the Ka'im)
would naturally ascribe to his representative the vacant dignity of
'The Gate.' Indeed, it is one indication of this that the
Subh-i-Ezel designates Mulla Huseyn not as the Gate's Gate,
but simply as the Gate.

And now the 'good fight of faith' begins in earnest. First of all, the
Bab's Deputy (or perhaps 'the Bab' [Footnote: Some Babi
writers (including Subh-i-Ezel) certainly call MullaHuseyn
'the Bab.']--but this might confuse the reader) is sent to Khurasan,
[Footnote: _NH_, p. 44.] taking Isfahan and Tihran in his way. I need
not catalogue the names of his chief converts and their places of
residence. [Footnote: See Nicolas, _AMB_.] Suffice it to mention
here that among the converts were Baha-'ullah, Muhammad 'Ali of
Zanjan, and Haji Mirza Jani, the same who has left us a much
'overworked' history of Babism (down to the time of his