The leader of the Shaykhis, Siyyid Kazim, passed away in early 1844 before Tahirih arrived back in Karbila. The time of the Promised One had come, but few of his followers went out searching.
One who did was Mulla Ali Qazvini, Tahirih’s brother-in-law. She gave him a letter written by her to to give to the Promised One should he find him:
“Say to Him, from me, the effulgence of Thy face flashed forth, and the rays of Thy visage rose high. Then speak the word, “Am I not your Lord?” and “Thou art, Thou art!” we will all reply.”
One night in the summer of 1844, Tahirih had a dream. She saw a young Siyyid dressed in black with a green turban. His hands raised up in prayer. After she woke, she remembered the words he had spoken stayed with her.
Around the same time, her brother-in-law found the Bab and gave him Tahirih’s letter. The Bab immediately declared her to be one of his Letters of the Living—his chief disciples who would carry his message out to the people and of whom there would be eighteen.
What confirmed Tahirih’s faith was reading the Bab’s Commentary on the Surih of Joseph revealed the night of His declaration to Mulla Husayn and brought to her by another of the Bab’s Letters of the Living. Tahirih recognized that those were the same words she had heard in her dream.