Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era

The Báb has been compared to John the Baptist, but the station of the Báb is not merely that of the herald or forerunner. In Himself the Báb 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 Bahá’ís believe that the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh were Co-Founders of their Faith, the following words of Bahá’u’lláh 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 Bahá’u’lláh, however, the Báb 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 Beyán [i.e. the Revelation of the Báb] a thousand times.”—A Traveller’s Narrative (Episode of the Báb), 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.