After the death of Prince Muhammad-‘Alí Mírzá, [1237 A.H.]
[the governor of Kirmansháh and his host] Shaykh Ahmad, freed from the urgent
solicitations of the Prince to extend his sojourn in Kirmansháh, transferred
his residence to Karbilá. Though to outward seeming he was circling round the
shrine of the Siyyidu’sh-Shuhada’, [The Prince of Martyrs] the Imám Husayn, his
heart, whilst he performed those rites, was set upon that true Husayn, the only
object of his devotions. A host of the most distinguished ‘ulamás and mujtahids
thronged to see him. Many began to envy his reputation, and a number sought to
undermine his authority. However much they strove, they failed to shake his
position of undoubted preeminence amongst the learned men of that city.
Eventually that shining light was summoned to shed its radiance upon the holy
cities of Mecca and Medina. Thither he journeyed, there he pursued with
unstinted devotion his labours, and there he was laid to rest beneath the shadow
of the Prophet’s sepulchre, for the understanding of whose Cause he had so
faithfully laboured.
(Chapter 1, ‘The Dawn-Breakers’)
