Субх-и Азаль: Бабилік қозғалысындағы тартыс және тарихы

Ṣubḥ i Azal (1831–1912, born Mírzá Yaḥyá) was an Iranian religious leader of Azali Bábism, known for his conflict with his half brother Baháʼu'lláh over leadership of the Bábí community after 1853. In 1850, when he was just 19 years old, he was appointed by the Báb to lead the Bábí community. When a pogrom began against the Bábís in 1852, Subh i Azal fled for Baghdad and spent 10 years there before joining the group of Bábí exiles that were called to Istanbul. During the time in Baghdad tensions grew with Baháʼu'lláh, as Bábí pilgrims began to turn to him for leadership. The Ottoman government further exiled the group to Edirne, where Baháʼu'lláh's announcement of divine revelation turned the tension into an open conflict, which culminated in a public debate that Subh i Azal failed to show up to, and an attempt by Subh i Azal to poison Baháʼu'lláh. In 1868 the Ottoman government further exiled Subh i Azal and his followers to Cyprus, and Baháʼu'lláh and his followers to Akko. When Cyprus was leased to Britain in 1878, he lived out the rest of his life in obscurity on a British pension, while interacting with many of the island's Sufis. After Azal's death in 1912, the Azali form of Babism entered a stagnation and has not recovered as there is no acknowledged leader or central organization. Most Bábís either accepted the claim of Baháʼu'lláh or the community gradually diminished as children and grandchildren turned back to Islam, By 1904, Azal's followers had dwindled to a small minority, and Baháʼu'lláh was almost universally recognized as the spiritual successor of the Báb. A source in 2001 estimated no more than a few thousand, almost entirely in Iran. Another source in 2009 noted a very small number of followers remained in Uzbekistan.

His most widely known title, "Subh i Azal" (یحیی صبح ازل)(Morning of Eternity) appears in an Islamic tradition called the Hadith i Kumayl (Kumayl was a student of the first Imam, Ali) which the Báb quotes in his book Dalá'il i Sab'ih. It was common practice among the Bábís to receive titles. The Báb's Will and Testament addresses Mirza Yahya in the first verse:
"Name of Azal, testify that there is no God but I, the dearest beloved." Manuchehri (2004) notes that Mirza Yahya was the only Bábí with such a title as "Azal". He was titled by the Báb as Subh i Azal, that is "Morning of the Eternal" or Hazrat, that is "Highness of the Eternal" or Ismu l Azal, that is "Name of the Eternal". There are also references to the titles al Waḥīd, Ṭalʻat an Nūr, and at Tamara.

Subh i Azal was born in 1831 to Kuchak Khanum i Karmanshahi and Mírzá Buzurg i Núrí, in the province of Mazandaran, and a younger half brother of Baháʼu'lláh. His father was a minister in the court of Fath Ali Shah Qajar. His mother died while giving birth to him, and his father died in 1834 when he was three years old. His father is buried at Vadi al Islam in Najaf. He was orphaned at a very young age and taken into the care of his stepmother, Khadíjih Khánum, the mother of Baháʼu'lláh.

In 1845, at about the age of 14, Subh i Azal became a follower of the Báb.

Subh i Azal met Tahirih, the 17th Letter of the Living who had, upon leaving the Conference of Badasht, traveled to Nur to propagate the faith. Shortly thereafter, she arrived at Barfurush and met Subh i Azal and became acquainted once again with Quddús who instructed her to take Subh i Azal with her to Nur. Subh i Azal remained in Nur for three days, during which he propagated the new faith. During the Battle of Fort Tabarsi, Subh i Azal, along with Baháʼu'lláh and Mirza Zayn al Abedin endeavoured to travel there to assist the soldiers. However, they were arrested several kilometers from Amul. Their imprisonment was ordered by the governor, but Subh i Azal escaped the officials for a short while, after which he was discovered by a villager and then brought to Amul on foot with his hands tied. On the path to Amul he was subject to harassment, and people are reported to have spat at him. Upon arriving he was reunited with the other prisoners. The prisoners were ordered to be beaten, but when it came time that Subh i Azal should suffer the punishment, Baha'u'llah objected and offered to take the beating in his place. After some time, the governor wrote to Abbas Quli Khan who was commander of the government forces stationed near Fort Tabarsi. Khan replied back to the governor's correspondence, saying that the prisoners were of distinguished families and should not be harassed. Thus, the prisoners were released and sent to Nur upon orders of the commander.

According to Baháʼí sources, shortly before the Báb's execution, one of the Báb's scribes, Mullā Abdu'l Karīm Qazvīnī, brought to the Báb's attention the necessity to appoint a successor; thus the Báb wrote a certain number of tablets which he gave to Mullā Abdu'l Karīm to deliver to Subh i Azal and Baháʼu'lláh. These tablets were later interpreted by both Azalis and Baháʼís as proof of the Báb's delegation of leadership. ʻAbdu'l Bahá states that the Báb did this at the suggestion of Baháʼu'lláh. In an Azali history, Nuqtat'ul Kāf, Hājjī Mirzā Jāni Kāshānī (d. 1852) states that after the death of Quddus, the Bab received letters from Subh i Azal and was inspired to write a testament nominating him as his successor. The French diplomat and scholar A. L. M. Nicolas maintains that Subh i Azal's claim to successorship is obvious;. The Baháʼís hold that the Báb, for the purposes of secrecy, when corresponding with Baháʼu'lláh would address the letters to Subh i Azal. After the Báb's death Subh i Azal came to be regarded as the central authority in the movement to whom the majority of Bábís turned as a source of guidance and revelation. During the time that both Baháʼu'lláh and Subh i Azal were in Baghdad, Baháʼu'lláh publicly and in his letters pointed to Subh i Azal as the leader of the community.

There are conflicting reports as to whom Subh i Azal appointed as his successor. Browne reports that there was confusion over who was to be Subh i Azal's successor at his death. Subh i Azal's son, Rizwán ʻAli, reported that he had appointed the son of Aqa Mirza Muhammad Hadi Daulatabadi as his successor; while another, H. C. Lukach's, states that Mirza Yahya had said that whichever of his sons "resembled him the most" would be the successor. None appear to have stepped forward. MacEoin reports that Subh i Azal appointed his son, Yahya Dawlatabadi, as his successor, but notes that there is little evidence that Yahya Dawlatabadi was involved in the affairs of the religion, and that instead he spent his time as that of secular reformer. Shoghi Effendi reports that Mirza Yahya appointed a distinguished Bábí, Aqa Mirza Muhammad Hadi of Daulatabad (Mirza Hadiy i Dawlat Abadi) successor, but he later publicly recanted his faith in the Báb and in Mirza Yahya. Mirza Yahya's eldest son apparently became a Baháʼí himself. Miller quoting a later source states that Yahya did not name a successor. Miller relied heavily on Jalal Azal who disputed the appointment of Muhammad Hadi Daulatabadi. MacEoin notes that after the deaths of those Azali Babis who were active in the Constitutional Revolution in Iran, the Azali form of Babism entered a stagnation which it has not recovered as there is no acknowledged leader or central organization. Current estimates are that there are no more than a few thousand.