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One day, I asked the Báb to recite the opening words of the Qur’án: Bismi’lláhi’r-Rahmáni’r-Rahím [means In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful]. He hesitated, pleading that unless He were told what these words signified, He would not wish to pronounce them. I pretended not to know their meaning, to which He responded: “ I know what these words signify, and by your leave, I will explain them.” He then spoke with such knowledge and fluency that I was awe struck. He expounded the meaning of Alláh [God], of Rahmán [Compassionate] and Rahím [Merciful] in terms such as I had neither read or heard. I felt impelled to take Him back to His uncle and deliver back the Trust he had committed to my care. I found His uncle alone in his office. “I brought Him back to you”, I said, “… He is not to be treated as a mere child, for in Him I can already discern evidences of that mysterious power which the revelation of the Sáhibu’z-Zamán . [the Lord of the Age; one of the titles of the Qá’im] alone can reveal … Keep Him in your house, for He, verily stands in no need of teachers such as I.” 72ACT1
His uncle sternly rebuked the Báb: “Have You forgotten my instructions? Have I not already admonished You to follow the example of Your fellow-pupils, to observe silence, and to listen attentively …?” Then the Báb promised His uncle that He would abide by his instructions and return to school.
Shaykh ’Abid continues:
The soul of that Child could not, however, be restrained by the stern admonitions of His uncle. No discipline could repress the flow of His intuitive knowledge. Day after day He continued to manifest such remarkable evidences of superhuman wisdom as I am powerless to recount. 73ACT2
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