Letters of the Living

1. Mulla Husayn

2. Muhammad-Hasan Bushru'i was the brother of Mulla Husayn. He, his sons, Muhammad-Baqir Bushru'i, and Mulla HÌ£usayn travelled to Shiraz in search of the Qaiim; where the Báb revealed his message. He was killed during the Battle of Fort Shaykh Tabarsi. Bábis consider him a martyr.

3. Muhammad-Baqir Bushru'i was nephew of Mulla Husayn. He and Muhammad-HÌ£asan Bushru'i (his father) travelled with his uncle Mulla HÌ£usayn to Shiraz in search of the Qa'im where the Báb revealed his message. He was killed in the fighting at the Tabarsi. Bábis consider him a martyr.

4. Mulla 'Ali Bastami - The first Bábi martyr.

5. Mulla Khuda-Bakhsh Quchani Later named Mulla Ali.

6. Mulla Hasan Bajistani did not play a significant role as a Bábi and seemed to have expressed his doubts of the Báb's message during a meeting with Bahá’u’lláh. It is unlikely he played a significant role in the Azali-Bahá’í debate that followed.

7. Siyyid Husayn Yazdi was known as the Báb's amanuensis who shared his imprisonment in Maku and then Chiriq. In the story of the Báb's execution, he is the secretary that the Báb spoke to before being taken away to be shot.

8. Siyyid Husayn Yazdi was executed in Tehran in 1852 in the aftermath on the attempt on the Shah's life.

9. Mulla Muhammad Rawdih-Khan Yazdi remained apart from other Bábis and was generally known as a Shaykhi. But he never renounced his faith and taught it whenever he could.

10. Sa'id Hindi was a native of Multan, in present day Pakistan. He was one of the students of Siyyid Kazim Rashti in Iraq. He met the Báb after He declared His mission in 1844. The Báb sent him to India to announce the news of His advent.

11. Mulla Mahmud Khu'i was killed at Tabarsi.

12. Mulla (‘Abdu’l-) Jalil Urumi (Urdubadi) was killed at Tabarsi.

13. Mulla Ahmad-i-Ibdal Maraghi'i was killed at Tabarsi.

14. Mulla Baqir Tabrizi lived beyond the Bábi uprisings and later became a Bahá’í, the only Letter to do so. He outlived the other Letters and died in Istanbul around 1881.

15. Mulla Yusuf Ardibili was killed in the fighting at Tabarsi. Bábis consider him a martyr.

16. Mulla Hadi Qazvini (Qatil has Mulla Muhammad-i-Mayama'i in his place among the Letters of the Living.

17. Mulla Muhammad-`Ali Qazvini was Tahirih's brother-in-law. Killed at Tabarsi.

18. Tahirih

19. Quddus

Of these the most distinguished are Mulla Husayn, Tahirih and Quddus. Tahirih is singled out because she is the only woman and recognised the Báb without even meeting him. She sent a letter of belief through her brother-in-law and was sure he would find the Báb.

The Letters of the Living were all appointed by the Báb in the period between May 1844, when he first declared his mission and October 1844 when he set out for his pilgrimage to Mecca. Individuals such as Mirza Yahya, Bahá’u’lláh, Aqa Sayyid 'Ali Arab and Mulla Rajab 'Ali who all became Bábis after this period were not and could not have been part of the Letters of the Living as has been claimed in some accounts.

Most of the Letters died in Bábi uprisings before Bahá’u’lláh started the Bahá’í Faith