One of them [a number of the believers of Qazvín] was Mullá Iskandar, who had been delegated by Hujjat to visit the Báb in Shíráz, and to investigate His Cause. The Báb commissioned him to deliver the following message to Sulaymán Khán-i-Afshar, who was a great admirer of the late Siyyid Kázim: “He whose virtues the late siyyid unceasingly extolled, and to the approach of whose Revelation he continually alluded, is now revealed. I am that promised One. Arise and deliver Me from the hand of the oppressor.” When the Báb entrusted this message to Mullá Iskandar, Sulaymán Khán was in Zanján and was preparing to leave for Tihrán. Within the space of three days, that message reached him. He failed, however, to respond to that appeal.
Two days later, a friend of Mullá Iskandar had acquainted Hujjat, who, at the instigation of the ‘ulamás of Zanján, had been incarcerated in the capital, with the appeal of the Báb. Hujjat immediately instructed the believers of his native city to undertake whatever preparations were required and to collect the necessary forces to achieve the deliverance of their Master. He urged them to proceed with caution and to attempt, at an appropriate moment, to seize and carry Him away to whatever place He might desire. These were shortly joined by a number of believers from Qazvín and Tihrán, who set out, according to the directions of Hujjat, to execute the plan. They overtook the guards at the hour of midnight and, finding them fast asleep, approached the Báb and begged Him to flee. “The mountains of Ádhirbayján too have their claims,” was His confident reply as He lovingly advised them to abandon their project and return to their homes.
- Nabil (‘The Dawn-Breakers, chapter 12)
