“An anecdote shows the real motive of the prime minister in the suggestions he made to the Sháh concerning the Báb. The Prince Farhád Mírzá, still young, was the pupil of Hájí Mírzá Aqásí. The latter related the following story:
“When His Majesty, after consulting the prime minister, had written to the Báb to betake himself to Máh-Kú, we went with Hájí Mírzá Aqásí to spend a few days at Yáft-Ábád, in the neighborhood of Tihrán, in the park which he had created there. I was very desirous of questioning my master regarding the recent happenings but I feared to do so publicly. One day, while I was walking with him in the garden and he was in a good humor, I made bold to ask him: "Hájí, why have you sent the Báb to Máh-Kú?” He replied,—“You are still too young to understand certain things, but know that had he come to Ṭihrán. you and I would not be, at this moment, walking free from care in this cool shade.”’”
- A. L. M. Nicolas (“Siyyid ‘Alí-Muḥammad dit le Báb,” pp. 243–244; Footnotes to chapter 12 of The Dawn-Breakers provided by Shoghi Effendi)
