At about a farsang’s [about 3 miles] distance from Shíráz he
[Mulla Ali – the second Letter of the Living] was overtaken by a youth who,
flushed with excitement, impatiently asked to speak to him. His name was
‘Abdu’l-Vahháb. “I beseech you,” he tearfully entreated Mullá ‘Alí, “to allow
me to accompany you on your journey. Perplexities oppress my heart; I pray you
to guide my steps in the way of Truth. Last night, in my dream, I heard the
crier announce in the market-street of Shíráz the appearance of the Imám ‘Alí,
the Commander of the Faithful. He called to the multitude: ‘Arise and seek him.
Behold, he plucks out of the burning fire charters of liberty and is distributing
them to the people. Hasten to him, for whoever receives them from his hands
will be secure from penal suffering, and whoever fails to obtain them from him,
will be bereft of the blessings of Paradise.’ Immediately I heard the voice of
the crier, I arose and, abandoning my shop, ran across the market-street of
Vakíl to a place where my eyes beheld you standing and distributing those same
charters to the people. To everyone who approached to receive them from your
hands, you would whisper in his ear a few words which instantly caused him to
flee in consternation and exclaim: ‘Woe betide me, for I am deprived of the
blessings of ‘Alí and his kindred! Ah, miserable me, that I am accounted among
the outcast and fallen !’ I awoke from my dream and, immersed in an ocean of
thought, regained my shop. Suddenly I saw you pass, accompanied by a man who
wore a turban, and who was conversing with you. I sprang from my seat and,
impelled by a power which I could not repress, ran to overtake you. To my utter
amazement, I found you standing upon the very site which I had witnessed in my
dream, engaged in the recital of traditions and verses. Standing aside, at a
distance, I kept watching you, wholly unobserved by you and your friend. I
heard the man whom you were addressing, impetuously protest: ‘Easier is it for
me to be devoured by the flames of hell than to acknowledge the truth of your
words, the weight of which mountains are unable to sustain!’ To his
contemptuous rejection you returned this answer: ‘Were all the universe to
repudiate His truth, it could never tarnish the unsullied purity of His robe of
grandeur.’ Departing from him, you directed your steps towards the gate of
Kazirán. I continued to follow you until I reached this place.”
(Chapter 3, ‘The Dawn-Breakers’)
