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QazvĂn: MullĂĄ âAbduâl-KarĂm-i-QazvinĂ
MullĂĄ âAbduâl-KarĂm-i-QazvinĂ was one of the three main amanuenses of the BĂĄb (the other two being Siyyid Husayn-i-YazdĂ and Shaykh Hasan-i-ZunĂșzĂ). An amanuensis is a secretary who writes and copies what is dictated. MullĂĄ âAbduâl-KarĂm was given the title of MĂrzĂĄ Ahmad by BahĂĄâuâllĂĄh (Dawn-Breakers Chapter 21, p439), and being a scribe, he was therefore also known as MĂrzĂĄ Ahmad-i-Katib [meaning Mr. Ahmad, the scribe].
What is a bit confusing in the Dawn-Breakers is that NabĂl sometimes refers to MullĂĄ âAbduâl-KarĂm as MĂrzĂĄ Ahmad â the two names are used interchangeably, and the reader is left to conclude that it is the same person based on the context.
Briefly, MullĂĄ âAbduâl-KarĂm was from QazvĂn and the story of his search for spirituality, his dream and how he came to recognize the BĂĄb is told by NabĂl in detail in Dawn-Breakers Chapter 8, p162-168. This happened in ShĂrĂĄz in the summer of 1846, after the BĂĄb had returned from his pilgrimage (hajj). After relating this story, NabĂl then relates how he met MullĂĄ âAbduâl-KarĂm in TihrĂĄn (shortly after the struggle at Fort Shaykh TabarsĂ had ended) and how they became friends, a close friendship that would last a long time [Dawn-Breakers Chapter 8, p168-169]. NabĂl returns to the theme of his trust and friendship with MullĂĄ âAbduâl-KarĂm again in Dawn-Breakers Chapter 21, p439-445. This is important because NabĂl greatly valued and trusted MullĂĄ âAbduâl-KarĂm and used his stories as a source of reliable information when writing the Dawn-Breakers.
Soon after his first meeting with the BĂĄb in ShĂrĂĄz in the summer of 1846, MullĂĄ âAbduâl-KarĂm begins to help transcribe the Writings of the BĂĄb. He becomes one of the three main amanuenses of the BĂĄb and accompanies the BĂĄb in this role at many points during the BĂĄbâs life as is mentioned at various points in the Dawn-Breakers including: Chapter 9, p176 (he helps VahĂd copy the BĂĄbâs commentary on the SĂșrih of Kawthar which had just been revealed for VahĂd) and p192 (he is asked by the BĂĄb to go to IsfĂĄhĂĄn and wait for Him over there); Chapter 10, p212 (he is transcribing the BĂĄbâs Writings in IsfĂĄhĂĄn with the other two amanuenses; and they are the only ones who know the whereabouts of the BĂĄb when He is being secretly housed by the Muâtamid); and Chapter 12, 227-228 (he joins the BĂĄb at Kulayn, just outside TihrĂĄn; and recounts incident of the BĂĄb