Gate of the Heart

by Nader Saiedi

In 1844 a charismatic young Persian merchant from Shiraz, known as the Báb, electrified the Shí'ih world by claiming to be the return of the Hidden Twelfth Imam of Islamic prophecy. But contrary to traditional expectations of apocalyptic holy war, the Báb maintained that the spiritual path was not one of force and coercion but love and compassion. The movement he founded was the precursor of the Bahá'í Faith, but the Báb's own voluminous writings have been seldom studied and often misunderstood. Gate of the Heart offers the first in-depth introduction to the writings of the Báb.