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Subh-i-Azal
Subh-i-Azal (1831–1912, born Mīrzā Yahyā Nūrī) was an Iranian religious leader and writer who was the second head of the Bābī movement after the execution of its founder, the Bāb, in 1850. He was named the leader of the movement after being the Bāb's chief deputy shortly before its execution, and became a generally-acknowledged head of the community after their expulsion to Baghdad in 1852.
The Bāb believed Subh-i-Azal had an ability to write divinely-inspired verses and saw him as a mirror, providing the ability to explain the unexplained, in the time before the appearance of the messiah, known in the Bābī religion as He whom God shall make manifest (Arabic: من يظهره الله, romanized: man yuẓhiruhu llāh). However, not all Bābīs followed his authority, and some of them also made claims of their own, including those to the position of the messiah. After his later conflict with his half-brother Baháʼu'lláh, who became Subh-i-Azal's leading intermediary and later claimed the messianic status, over leadership of the Bābī community, his followers became known as Azalis.
At the time of appointment in 1850, he was just 19 years old. Two years later, a pogrom began to exterminate the Bābīs in Iran, and Subh-i-Azal fled for Baghdad for 10 years before joining the group of Bābī exiles that were called to Istanbul. During the time in Baghdad tensions grew with Baháʼu'lláh, as Bābī pilgrims began to turn to the latter for leadership. The Ottoman government further exiled the group to Edirne, where Subh-i-Azal openly rejected Baháʼu'lláh's messianic claim and the community of Bābīs were divided by their allegiance to one or the other.
In 1868 the Ottoman government further exiled Subh-i-Azal and his followers to Cyprus, and Baháʼu'lláh and his followers to Acre in Palestine. When Cyprus was leased to Britain in 1878, he lived out the rest of his life in obscurity on a British pension.
By 1904, Azal's followers had dwindled to a small minority, and Baháʼu'lláh was almost universally recognized as the spiritual successor of the Bāb. After Azal's death in 1912, the Azali form of Bābism entered a stagnation and has not recovered as there is no acknowledged leader or central organization. Most Bābīs either accepted the claim of Baháʼu'lláh or the community gradually diminished as children and grandchildren turned back to Islam. A source in 2001 estimated no more than a few thousand, almost entirely in Iran. Another source in 2009 noted a very small number of followers remained in Uzbekistan.
His given name was Yahyā, which is the Arabic form of the English name "John". As the son of a nobleman in the county of Núr, he was known as Mīrzā Yahyā Nūrī (Persian: میرزا یحیی نوری). His most widely known title, "Subh-i-Azal" (or "Sobh-i-Ezel"; Persian: صبح ازل, "Morning of Eternity") is derived from an Islamic tradition called the Hadith-i-Kumayl, a tradition the Bāb quotes in his book Dalā'il-i-Sab'ih.
It was common practice for the Bāb to confer titles or new names for his followers. Mīrzā Yahyā Nūrī was granted such titles as al-Waḥīd, Ṭalʻat an-Nūr, and ath-Thamara, Everlasting Mirror (Mir'ātu'l-Azaliyya), Name of Eternity (Ismu'l-azal), and Fruit of the Bayan (Thamara-i-Bayan). The title of Subh-i-Azal appears in the 1853 work of Bahāʼu'llāh titled Tablet of All Food.
Subh-i-Azal was born in 1831 to Mīrzā Buzurg-i-Nūrī and his fourth wife Kuchak Khanum-i-Karmanshahi, in the province of Mazandaran. His father was a minister in the court of Fath-Ali Shah Qajar. His mother died while giving birth to him, and his father died in 1839 when he was eight years old, after which he was cared for by his stepmother Khadíjih Khánum, the mother of Baháʼu'lláh.
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Subh-i-Azal
Subh-i-Azal (1831–1912, born Mīrzā Yahyā Nūrī) was an Iranian religious leader and writer who was the second head of the Bābī movement after the execution of its founder, the Bāb, in 1850. He was named the leader of the movement after being the Bāb's chief deputy shortly before its execution, and became a generally-acknowledged head of the community after their expulsion to Baghdad in 1852.
The Bāb believed Subh-i-Azal had an ability to write divinely-inspired verses and saw him as a mirror, providing the ability to explain the unexplained, in the time before the appearance of the messiah, known in the Bābī religion as He whom God shall make manifest (Arabic: من يظهره الله, romanized: man yuẓhiruhu llāh). However, not all Bābīs followed his authority, and some of them also made claims of their own, including those to the position of the messiah. After his later conflict with his half-brother Baháʼu'lláh, who became Subh-i-Azal's leading intermediary and later claimed the messianic status, over leadership of the Bābī community, his followers became known as Azalis.
At the time of appointment in 1850, he was just 19 years old. Two years later, a pogrom began to exterminate the Bābīs in Iran, and Subh-i-Azal fled for Baghdad for 10 years before joining the group of Bābī exiles that were called to Istanbul. During the time in Baghdad tensions grew with Baháʼu'lláh, as Bābī pilgrims began to turn to the latter for leadership. The Ottoman government further exiled the group to Edirne, where Subh-i-Azal openly rejected Baháʼu'lláh's messianic claim and the community of Bābīs were divided by their allegiance to one or the other.
In 1868 the Ottoman government further exiled Subh-i-Azal and his followers to Cyprus, and Baháʼu'lláh and his followers to Acre in Palestine. When Cyprus was leased to Britain in 1878, he lived out the rest of his life in obscurity on a British pension.
By 1904, Azal's followers had dwindled to a small minority, and Baháʼu'lláh was almost universally recognized as the spiritual successor of the Bāb. After Azal's death in 1912, the Azali form of Bābism entered a stagnation and has not recovered as there is no acknowledged leader or central organization. Most Bābīs either accepted the claim of Baháʼu'lláh or the community gradually diminished as children and grandchildren turned back to Islam. A source in 2001 estimated no more than a few thousand, almost entirely in Iran. Another source in 2009 noted a very small number of followers remained in Uzbekistan.
His given name was Yahyā, which is the Arabic form of the English name "John". As the son of a nobleman in the county of Núr, he was known as Mīrzā Yahyā Nūrī (Persian: میرزا یحیی نوری). His most widely known title, "Subh-i-Azal" (or "Sobh-i-Ezel"; Persian: صبح ازل, "Morning of Eternity") is derived from an Islamic tradition called the Hadith-i-Kumayl, a tradition the Bāb quotes in his book Dalā'il-i-Sab'ih.
It was common practice for the Bāb to confer titles or new names for his followers. Mīrzā Yahyā Nūrī was granted such titles as al-Waḥīd, Ṭalʻat an-Nūr, and ath-Thamara, Everlasting Mirror (Mir'ātu'l-Azaliyya), Name of Eternity (Ismu'l-azal), and Fruit of the Bayan (Thamara-i-Bayan). The title of Subh-i-Azal appears in the 1853 work of Bahāʼu'llāh titled Tablet of All Food.
Subh-i-Azal was born in 1831 to Mīrzā Buzurg-i-Nūrī and his fourth wife Kuchak Khanum-i-Karmanshahi, in the province of Mazandaran. His father was a minister in the court of Fath-Ali Shah Qajar. His mother died while giving birth to him, and his father died in 1839 when he was eight years old, after which he was cared for by his stepmother Khadíjih Khánum, the mother of Baháʼu'lláh.
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