The Letters of the Living () was a title provided by the Báb to the first eighteen disciples of the Bábí Religion. In some understandings the Báb places himself at the head of this list (as the first letter). In this article, the former notation will be used except when specifically said otherwise.
Mystical meaning
The Báb named the first eighteen believers in his mission as the Letters of the Living (Ḥurúfu'l-ḥayy in Arabic). One of the Báb's titles was the "Primal Point" (nuqti-yi-úlá). As Baháʼí scholar Moojan Momen explains:
The Eighteen 'Letters of the Living' manifested themselves in the last, i.e. the Muhammadan Manifestation in the persons of the Fourteen Holy Souls (i.e. the Prophet himself, his daughter Fatima, and the Twelve Imams of whom the first, 'Ali, was her husband, and the remainder of her descendants) and the Four Gates (or Bábs) who successively acted as channels of communication between the Twelfth Imam, or Imam Mahdi, and the faithful, during the period of his 'Lesser Occultation' .... The terms 'Point' and 'Letter; were originally suggested by the formula Bi'smi'llahi'r-Rahmani'r-Rahim (In the Name of the Merciful, Compassionate God), which contains 19 letters, the first (B) distinguished by a point or dot beneath it; and by 'Ali's alleged saying, 'All that is in the Qurʼan is ... in the Bi'smi'llah ... and I am the Point beneath the B.'
The 19 letters of the Basmala are (note Arabic is "read" right to left): ب س م ا ل ل ه ا ل ر ح م ن ا ل ر ح ي م. ((in English) m y h r l a n m h r l a h l l a m s b.)
Additionally, the Báb says:...the Five Letters of Hell-Fire when separated become 19, as God says: 'Over it (Hell) are Nineteen'; and so also the Letters in the Five Letters of Affirmation are nineteen.
[- And Momen comments:] "i.e. Muhammad, 'Ali, Fatima, Hasan, Husayn, which together contain 19 letters in Arabic."
The title "Point" may also refer to the divine and worldly aspects of the Manifestation of God, similar to the geometric point, which is without specific dimension and connects the physical with the nonphysical world.
The term "Hayy" means The Living and is used as one of the names of God in Islamic and Bábí scriptures.
In addition to the 19 letters themselves, in the Abjad numerals system the letters of the Arabic alphabet are assigned numerical values. The Arabic letters h ح and y ي, which compose the Arabic singular adjective meaning "living" in the phrase Letters of the Living, add up to 18, and therefore the phrase Letters of the Living refers to the number 18. There is a similar symbolism about the numerical value of the corresponding Hebrew word in Judaism.
The Báb referred to the 18 Letters of the Living, along with himself, as the first Váḥid of the Bayán Dispensation. In the Abjad numerical value of the word Wáḥid (واحد) is 19. The word Wáḥid means "One". The Báb used this term as a reference to God and his Manifestations.
The Letters
The Letters are listed here in the order given by Nabíl in The Dawn-Breakers, and supported by Qatíl al-Karbalá'í except where indicated:
Mullá Hụsayn
First Letter of the Living, present at the night of the Declaration of the Báb celebrated as a holy day by Baháʼís, and who died at Battle of Fort Tabarsi.
Muḥammad-Ḥasan Bus͟hrú'í
Muḥammad-Ḥasan Bus͟hrú'í was the second Letter of the Living, and the brother of Mullá Husayn. He, his sons, Muḥammad-Báqir Bus͟hrú'í, and Mullá Ḥusayn travelled to Shiraz in search of the Qá'im; where the Báb revealed his message.
He was killed during the Battle of Fort Tabarsi. Bábís consider him a martyr.
Muḥammad-Báqir Bus͟hrú'í
Muḥammad-Báqir Bus͟hrú'í was the third Letter of the Living, and the nephew of Mullá Husayn. He and Muḥammad-Ḥasan Bus͟hrú'í (his father) travelled with his uncle Mullá Ḥusayn to Shiraz in search of the Qá'im where the Báb revealed his message.
He was killed in the fighting at the Battle of Fort Tabarsi. Bábís consider him a martyr.
Mullá ʻAlí Basṭámí
This first Bábí martyr.
Mullá K͟hudá-Bak͟hs͟h Qúc͟hání
Later named Mullá ʻAlí(*) "He died a natural death, but his son Mashiyyatu'llah later met with martyrdom in his youth." (H.M. Balyuzi, The Bab - The Herald of the Day of Days, p. 27)
Mullá Ḥasan Bajistání
Mullá Ḥasan Bajistání was the sixth Letter of the Living.
Siyyid Ḥusayn Yazdí
Siyyid Ḥusayn Yazdí was the seventh Letter of the Living. He is known as the Báb's amanuensis who shared his imprisonment in Maku and then Chihriq. In the story of the Báb's execution, he is the secretary that the Báb spoke to before being taken away to be shot.