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| Bagh-i-Takht, circa 1900 |
‘Abdu’l-Hamíd Khán retired to execute his task. He, together
with his assistants, broke into the house of Hájí Mírzá Siyyid ‘Alí and found
the Báb in the company of His maternal uncle and a certain Siyyid
Kázim-i-Zanjání, who was later martyred in Mázindarán, and whose brother,
Siyyid Murtadá, was one of the Seven Martyrs of Tihrán. He immediately arrested
them, collected whatever documents he could find, ordered Hájí Mírzá Siyyid
‘Alí to remain in his house, and conducted the rest to the seat of government.
The Báb, undaunted and self-possessed, was heard to repeat this verse of the
Qur’án: “That with which they are threatened is for the morning. Is not the
morning near?” No sooner had the chief constable reached the marketplace than
he discovered, to his amazement, that the people of the city were fleeing from
every side in consternation, as if overtaken by an appalling calamity. He was
struck with horror when he witnessed the long train of coffins being hurriedly
transported through the streets, each followed by a procession of men and women
loudly uttering shrieks of agony and pain. This sudden tumult, the
lamentations, the affrighted countenances, the imprecations of the multitude
distressed and bewildered him. He enquired as to the reason. “This very night,”
he was told, “a plague [outbreak of cholera] of exceptional virulence has
broken out. We are smitten by its devastating power. Already since the hour of
midnight it has extinguished the lives of over a hundred people. Alarm and
despair reign in every house. The people are abandoning their homes, and in
their plight are invoking the aid of the Almighty.”
‘Abdu’l-Hamíd Khán, terrified by this dreadful intelligence,
ran to the home of Husayn Khán. An old man who guarded his house and was acting
as door-keeper informed him that the house of his master was deserted, that the
ravages of the pestilence had devastated his home and afflicted the members of
his household. “Two of his Ethiopian maids,” he was told, “and a man-servant
have already fallen victims to this scourge, and members of his own family are
now dangerously ill. In his despair, my master has abandoned his home and,
leaving the dead unburied, has fled with the rest of his family to the
Bagh-i-Takht.” [a garden in the outskirts of Shíráz]
- Nabil (Chapter 9, ‘The
Dawn-Breakers’)
