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Stephen Lambden ABSTRACT The Bab made the Islamic concept of the (Per.) ma ẓhar-i ilāhī ("Divine theophany", "Manifestation of God") central to his distinctly apophatic (negative) theology. God the incomprehensible Divinity cannot be known but through the pre-existent and emanated mashiyyat-Allāh (Will of God) who is in effect the subordinate, revealed and knowable divinity, the "God" who communicates the divine purpose to humankind. In this paper the roots and centrality of the Bab's concept of the maẓhar-i ilāhī will be traced relative to Shi`ism, Shaykhism and the writings of various members of the school of the Great Shaykh, Ibn al-`Arabi (d. 638/1240). Additionally, some notes will be communicated about the Bab's various statements pertaining to pre-existent prophets and Manifestations of God including Adam, two Ishmaels and two Davids. |