, an appellation [see the preceding art.] made specially famous by Sayyid ʿAlī Muḥammad of S̲h̲īrāz, the founder of the new religion of the Bābīs [q.v.] and, according to the Bahāʾīs [q.v.] the precursor of the new prophet Bahāʾ Allāh [q.v.]. He is also called by his disciples Nuḳṭa-i ūlā (‘the first point’) or Ḥaḍrat-i aʿlā (‘the supreme presence’).

Sayyid ʿAlī Muḥammad was born at S̲h̲īrāz, of a merchant family, on 1 Muḥarram 1235/20 October 1819 (but according to other sources, exactly a year later, 9 October 1820); becomi…