Mulla Husayn found the object of his quest: the Promised One of God, the Renewer of the world. Siyyid Ali Muhammad, the ‘Bab’, meaning the ‘gate’, proclaimed to him:
“O thou who art the first to believe in Me! Verily I say, I am the Báb, the Gate of God, and thou art the Bábu’l-Báb, the gate of that Gate. Eighteen souls must, in the beginning, spontaneously and of their own accord, accept Me, and recognize the truth of My Revelation….”
Over the summer of 1844, these seekers came to recognize the Bab and became His apostles, His ‘Letters of the Living’:
Mírzá Muhammad Hasan Bushrú’í: younger brother of Mullá Husayn; killed at Shaykh Tabarsí.
Mírzá Muhammad Báqir Bushrú’í: nephew of Mullá Husayn; killed at Shaykh Tabarsí.
Mullá ‘Alí Bastamí: the second to recognize the Báb; directed by Him to announce His advent in the Shiite shrine cities of Iraq; arrested, tried in Baghdad, died in an Istanbul prison, becoming the first Bábí martyr.
Mullá Khudá-Bakhsh Qúchání (Mullá ‘Alí Rází): did not actively participate in the Bábí community.
Mullá Hasan Bajistání: active at first, later retired considering himself unworthy of the station of the Letters of the Living.
Siyyid Husayn Yazdí: accompanied the Báb as His secretary during His imprisonment in Mákú and Chihríq; executed during the persecutions in 1852.
Mírzá Muhammad Rawdih-Khán Yazdí (or Dhákir-i-Masá’ib): chose not to reveal his beliefs but continued to teach the Bábí Faith covertly to the end of his life.
Sa’íd Hindí: went to India and taught.
Mullá Mahmúd Khú’í: killed at Shaykh Tabarsí.
Mullá Jalíl Urúmí: taught the Bábí Faith especially in Azerbaijan and Qazvin; killed at Shaykh Tabarsí.
Mullá Ahmad Abdál Marághi’í: killed at Shaykh Tabarsí.
Fort Tabarsi
Mullá Báqir Tabrízí: traveled with Táhirih to Iran; acted as intermediary for the Báb’s correspondence and other items that He wished delivered to Bahá’u’lláh; the last surviving Letter of the Living.
Mullá Yúsuf Ardibílí: killed at Shaykh Tabarsí.
Mírzá Muhammad-‘Alí Qazvíní: brother-in-law of Táhirih; entrusted by her with a sealed letter and a verbal message to be delivered to the Promised One; killed at Shaykh Tabarsí.
Mírzá Hádí Qazvíní: distanced himself from the Bábís; some lists replace him with Mullá Muhammad Miyámayí, who actively propagated the new religion in northeastern Iran.
Táhirih, also known by the titles Qurratu’l-‘Ayn (Solace of the Eyes): a prominent Shaykhí and an accomplished poet; the only woman among the Letters of the Living; executed during the persecutions of 1852.
The Bab’s Letter to Quddus
Quddús (the Most Holy), title given to Mullá Muhammad-‘Alí Bárfurúshí: the last Letter of the Living; accompanied the Báb on His pilgrimage to Mecca, joined the Bábí forces at Shaykh Tabarsí in late 1848; tortured, and then killed in 1849 in Barfurush (Babul), the town of his birth; ranked by Bahá’u’lláh as having been second only to the Báb, and described by Shoghi Effendi as the first in rank among the Letters of the Living.