Evidently this part of the narrative is imaginative, and possibly it
is the work of Mirza Jani. But there is no reason to doubt that what
follows is based more or less on facts derived from Mirza H??useyn
'Ali. 'I busied myself,' says the latter, 'with the instruction of
[Yah??ya]. The signs of his natural excellence and goodness of
disposition were apparent in the mirror of his being. He ever loved
gravity of demeanour, silence, courtesy, and modesty, avoiding the
society of other children and their behaviour. I did not, however,
know that he would become the possessor of [so high] a station. He
studied Persian, but made little progress in Arabic. He wrote a good
_nasta'lik_ hand, and was very fond of the poems of the mystics.'
The facts may be decked out.
Mirza Jani himself only met Mirza Yah??ya once. He describes him as
'an amiable child.' [Footnote: _NH_, p. 376.] Certainly, we can
easily suppose that he retained a childlike appearance longer than
most, for he early became a mystic, and a mystic is one whose
countenance is radiant with joy. This, indeed, may be the reason why
they conferred on him the name, 'Dawn of Eternity.' He never saw the
Ba?„b, but when his 'honoured brother' would read the Master's
writings in a circle of friends, Mirza Yah??ya used to listen, and
conceived a fervent love for the inspired author. At the time of the
Manifestation of the Ba?„b he was only fourteen, but very soon after,
he, like his brother, took the momentous step of becoming a Ba?„bi?„,
and resolved to obey the order of the Ba?„b for his followers to
proceed to Khurasan.
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