Baha'u'llah ... records that on one occasion, when visiting
his future mother-in-law, he listened to a cleric with a large turban
expounding on whether the arch-angel Gabriel was the greater or Qanbar, the
servant of the Imam ‘Ali. He writes that although he was still but a boy, he
was astonished at the ignorance of these elders and when an opportunity came,
he expressed his thoughts saying that since Gabriel is stated in Qur’an to be
the one through whom the Word of God is revealed to the prophet Muhammad, then
even Qanbar's master the Imam ‘Ali would not reach that station. Baha'u'llah
states that some time later, he visited Qum and was dismayed to find the same
cleric expounding the same sort of pointless and fruitless discourse.
- Moojan Momen ('Baha’u’llah, A Short Biography')
