best information), it was he who was selected by 'Ali Muhammad to
accompany him to the Arabian Holy City, the 'Gate's Gate,' we may
suppose, being too important as a representative of the 'Gate' to be
removed from Persia. The Bab, however, who had a gift of insight,
was doubtless more than satisfied with his compensation. For Kuddus
had a noble soul.

The name Kuddus is somewhat difficult to account for, and yet it
must be understood, because it involves a claim. It must be observed,
then, first of all, that, as the early Babis believed, the last of
the twelve Imams (cp. the Zoroastrian Amshaspands) still lived on
invisibly (like the Jewish Messiah), and communicated with his
followers by means of personages called Babs (i.e. Gates), whom the
Imam had appointed as intermediaries. As the time for a new divine
manifestation approached, these personages 'returned,' i.e. were
virtually re-incarnated, in order to prepare mankind for the coming
great epiphany. Such a 'Gate' in the Christian cycle would be John
the Baptist; [Footnote: John the Baptist, to the Israelites, was the
last Imam before Jesus.] such 'Gates' in the Muhammadan cycle
would be Waraka ibn Nawfal and the other Hanifs, and in the
Babi cycle Sheikh Ahmad of Ahsa, Sayyid Kazim of Resht,
Muhammad 'Ali of Shiraz, and Mulla Huseyn of Bushraweyh, who was
followed by his brother Muhammad Hasan. 'Ali Muhammad, however,
whom we call the Bab, did not always put forward exactly the same
claim. Sometimes he assumed the title of Zikr [Footnote: And when God
wills He will explain by the mediation of His Zikr (the Bab) that
which has been decreed for him in the Book.--Early Letter to the
Bab's uncle (_AMB_, p. 223).] (i.e. Commemoration, or perhaps
Reminder); sometimes (p. 81) that of Nukta, i.e. Point (= Climax
of prophetic revelation). Humility may have prevented him from always