Bab: Persian Bayan

Glossary

• A.H.: an abbreviation of Latin Anno Hegirae, or “the year of the Hijri,” referring to the flight of Muhammad and his followers to Medina, which marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar
• Commentary on the Súrih of Joseph: the Bab’s commentary on the Sura of Joseph in the Qur’an
• Declaration of the Mission of Muhammad: Muhammad’s public declaration of his mission as prophet in 611
• Imám ’Alí: the man whom Shia Muslims believe to have been the legitimate successor to Muhammad as the leader of Islam
• Ka’bah: a small, cube-shaped shrine in Mecca, Saudi Arabia
• Mákú: the site of a prison fortress in Iran where the Bab was imprisoned
• Mecca: a city in modern-day Saudi Arabia, Islam’s holiest city and the birthplace of Muhammad
• Moses: the Old Testament Hebrew patriarch and lawgiver
• Muhammad: the prophet who founded Islam in the seventh century
• Qur’án: the Islamic sacred scripture
• Shí’ih Islám: or Shia Islam, the minority sect of Islam that claims Ali as the legitimate heir to Muhammad as the leader of the faith
• Váhids: cycles of time; one váhid is nineteen years.