, God had, from time immemorial, entered, through
the Prophets of all ages, with the whole of mankind, regarding the newborn
Revelation, had already been fulfilled. It had now to be supplemented by a
Lesser Covenant which He felt bound to make with the entire body of His
followers concerning the One Whose advent He characterized as the fruit
and ultimate purpose of His Dispensation. Such a Covenant had invariably
been the feature of every previous religion. It had existed, under various
forms, with varying degrees of emphasis, had always been couched in veiled
language, and had been alluded to in cryptic prophecies, in abstruse
allegories, in unauthenticated traditions, and in the fragmentary and
obscure passages of the sacred Scriptures. In the Babi Dispensation,
however, it was destined to be established in clear and unequivocal
language, though not embodied in a separate document. Unlike the Prophets
gone before Him, Whose Covenants were shrouded in mystery, unlike
Baha'u'llah, Whose clearly defined Covenant was incorporated in a
specially written Testament, and designated by Him as "the Book of My
Covenant," the Bab chose to intersperse His Book of Laws, the Persian
Bayan, with unnumbered passages, some designedly obscure, mostly
indubitably clear and conclusive, in which He fixes the date of the
promised Revelation, extols its virtues, asserts its pre-eminent
character, assigns to it unlimited powers and prerogatives, and tears down
every barrier that might be an obstacle to its recognition. "He, verily,"
Baha'u'llah, referring to the Bab in His Kitab-i-Badi', has stated, "hath
not fallen short of His duty to exhort the people of the Bayan and to
deliver unto them His Message. In no age or dispensation hath any
Manifestation made mention, in such detail and in such explicit language,
of the Manifestation destined to succeed Him."

Some of His disciples the Bab assiduously prepared to expect the imminent
Revelation. Others He orally assured would live to see its day. To Mulla
Baqir, one of the Letters of the Living, He actually prophesied, in a
Tablet addressed to him, that he would meet the Promised One face to face.
To Sayyah, another disciple, He gave verbally a similar assurance. Mulla
Husayn He directed to Tihran, assuring him that in that city was enshrined
a Mystery Whose light neither Hijaz nor _Sh_iraz could rival. Quddus, on
the eve of his final separation from Him, was promised that he would
attain the pre