The Babi and Baha'i Religion — Page 22
THE B Ā B Ī AND BAH Ā ’ Ī RELIGION 22 after some time, but his restlessness of mind did not leave him. Then only a few months afterwards K az im Rasht i died in 1259 Hijra, and this event had a profound effect on ‘Al i Mu h ammad. He closed his shop and returned to his native town, Shiraz. His Initial Claim It has been stated already that, to begin with, Sayyid ‘Al i Muhammad only claimed that he was the B a b, which claim was no more than that of Ahmad al- A h s a ’i and K az im Rasht i before him, or that of the earlier B a bs. The Badasht Conference was held in 1264 Hijra, and we have it on the authority of Tadhkiratul Waf a 20 that till that time ‘Al i Muhammad had not put forth his claim that he was the expected Imam Mahdi. It appears that he made this claim for the first time on his return from the castle of Chihr i q. This was 1264 Hijra, shortly after the Badasht Conference. In Tadhkiratul Waf a 20 we have the following passage: "Mirz a H usain ‘Al i. mullah Muhammad ‘Al i B a rfarush i , and Ummi Salma Qurratul ‘Ain used to meet at night. The declaration had not yet been made in regard to the Q a imiyyat of Sayyid ‘Al i Mu h ammad, Bah a ’ull a h and mullah B a rfarush i passed a resolution 20 ibid page 307.