Having achieved his purpose in those cities, [Najaf and Karbilá] and inhaling
the fragrance which wafted upon him from Persia, he felt in his heart an
irrepressible yearning to hasten to that country. He concealed from his
friends, however, the real motive that impelled him to direct his steps towards
that land. By way of the Persian Gulf, he hastened unto the land of his heart’s
desire, ostensibly for the purpose of visiting the shrine of the Imám Riḍá in
Mashhad. [1] He was filled with
eagerness to unburden his soul, and searched zealously for those to whom he
could deliver the secret which to no one he had as yet divulged. Upon his
arrival at Shíráz, the city which enshrined that concealed Treasure of God, and
from which the voice of the Herald of a new Manifestation was destined to be
proclaimed, he repaired to the Masjid-i-Jum’ih, a mosque which in its style and
shape bore a striking resemblance to the holy shrine of Mecca. Many a time did
he, whilst gazing upon that edifice, observe: “Verily, this house of God
betokens such signs as only those who are endowed with understanding can
perceive. Methinks he who conceived and built it was inspired of God.” How often and how passionately he extolled
that city! Such was the praise he lavished upon it that his hearers, who were
only too familiar with its mediocrity, were astonished at the tone of his
language. “Wonder not,” he said to those who were surprised, “for ere long the
secret of my words will be made manifest to you. Among you there shall be a
number who will live to behold the glory of a Day which the prophets of old
have yearned to witness.” So great was his authority in the eyes of the ‘ulamás
who met and conversed with him, that they professed themselves incapable of
comprehending the meaning of his mysterious allusions and ascribed their
failure to their own deficient understanding.
(‘The Dawn-Breakers’, Chapter 1)
[1] In the ninth century the remains of the Imám Riḍá, son
of the Imám Músá and eighth of the twelve Imáms, were interred in Mashhad
