Thinking about Bahá’u’lláh and the suffering that He would go through, the Báb “would invariably, after the termination of each prayer” summon His assistant to read aloud to Him some passage from a work composed by a Muslim which “extols the virtues, laments the death, and narrates the circumstances of the martyrdom of the Imám Husayn”

He would invariably, after the termination of each prayer, summon Siyyid Husayn to His presence and would request him to read aloud to Him a passage from the Muhriqu’l-Qulub, a work composed by the late Hájí Mullá Mihdí, the great-grandfather of Hájí Mírzá Kamálu’d-Dín-i-Naráqí, in which the author extols the virtues, laments the death, and narrates the circumstances of the martyrdom of the Imám Husayn. The recital of those sufferings would provoke intense emotion in the heart of the Báb. His tears would keep flowing as He listened to the tale of the unutterable indignities heaped upon him, and of the agonising pain which he was made to suffer at the hands of a perfidious enemy. As the circumstances of that tragic life were unfolded before Him, the Báb was continually reminded of that still greater tragedy which was destined to signalise the advent of the promised Husayn. To Him those past atrocities were but a symbol which foreshadowed the bitter afflictions which His own beloved Husayn was soon to suffer at the hands of His countrymen. He wept as He pictured in His mind those calamities which He who was to be made manifest was predestined to suffer, calamities such as the Imám Husayn, even in the midst of his agonies, was never made to endure. 

- Nabil  (‘The Dawn-Breakers’, chapter 13)

1847-1848: An exceptionally sever winter at Máh-Kú

In this manner the Báb spent the summer and autumn within the walls of that castle. A winter followed of such exceptional severity that even the copper implements were affected by the intensity of the cold. The beginning of that season coincided with the month of Muharram of the year 1264 A.H. [December 9, 1847-January 8, 1848 A.D] The water which the Báb used for His ablutions was of such icy coldness that its drops glistened as they froze upon His face. 

- Nabil  (‘The Dawn-Breakers’, chapter 13)

The warden of the castle, ‘Alí Khán, continued showing affection and respect towards the Báb

‘Alí Khán himself never failed to pay his respects to the Báb each Friday, and to assure Him of his unswerving loyalty and devotion. He often presented Him with the rarest and choicest fruit available in the neighbourhood of Máh-Kú, and would continually offer Him such delicacies as he thought would prove agreeable to His taste and liking. 

- Nabil  (‘The Dawn-Breakers’, chapter 13)

An increasing number of the Báb’s disciples from the different provinces of Persia went to visit Him in the castle of Máh-Kú

The gradual relaxation of the stern discipline imposed upon the Báb encouraged an increasing number of His disciples from the different provinces of Persia to visit Him in the castle of Máh-Kú. An unceasing stream of eager and devout pilgrims was directed to its gates through the gentleness and leniency of ‘Alí Khán.  After a stay of three days, they would invariably be dismissed by the Báb, with instructions to return to their respective fields of service and to resume their labours for the consolidation of His Faith. 

- Nabil  (‘The Dawn-Breakers’, chapter 13)

A prayer by the Báb during His captivity in the castle of Máh-Kú

This is the prayer which the Báb Himself quotes in the “Dalá’il-i-Sab‘ih” as His supplication during the months of His captivity in the castle of Máh-Kú:

“O my God! Grant to him, to his descendants, to his family, to his friends, to his subjects, to his relatives and all the inhabitants of the earth the light which will clarify their vision and facilitate their task; grant that they may partake of the noblest works here and hereafter!

“In truth, nothing is impossible to Thee.

“O my God! give him the power to bring about a revival of Thy religion and give life by him to what Thou hast changed in Thy Book. Manifest through him Thy new commandments so that through him Thy religion may blossom again! Put into his hands a new Book, pure and holy, that this Book may be free from all doubt and uncertainty and that no one may be able to alter or destroy it.

“O my God! Dispel through Thy splendor all darkness and through his evident power do away with the antiquated laws. By his preeminence ruin those who have not followed the ways of God. Through him destroy all tyrants, put an end, through his sword, to all discord; annihilate, through his justice, all forms of oppression; render the rulers obedient to his commandments; subordinate all the empires of the world to his empire!

“O my God! Humble everyone who desires to humble him; destroy all his enemies; deny anyone who denies him and confuse anyone who spurns the truth, resists his orders, endeavors to darken his light and blot his name!”

Hearing the “melody of His chanting” at the foot of Máh-Kú mountain

I have heard Shaykh Hasan-i-Zunúzí bear witness to the following:

“The voice of the Báb, as He dictated the teachings and principles of His Faith, could be clearly heard by those who were dwelling at the foot of the mountain. The melody of His chanting, the rhythmic flow of the verses which streamed from His lips caught our ears and penetrated into our very souls. Mountain and valley re-echoed the majesty of His voice. Our hearts vibrated in their depths to the appeal of His utterance.”  

- Shaykh Hasan-i-Zunúzí  (Quoted by Nabil; ‘The Dawn-Breakers’, chapter 13)

The Báb addressed a long Tablet to Muhammad Sháh – some excerpts translated and commented by A. L. M. Nicolas

“It is always in the same line of thought that when imprisoned in Máh-Kú he addressed a long letter to the Sháh (Muhammad Sháh) which we are about to analyze here. The document begins like nearly all the literary documents of the Báb with exalted praise of Divine Unity. The Báb continues in praising, as is fitting, Muḥammad, the twelve Imáms, who, as we shall see in the second volume of this work, are cornerstones of the Bayán edifice. ‘I affirm,’ he exclaims, ‘that everything which is in this world of possibilities other than they, is, in comparison, as absolute nothingness, and if one could express it at all, all that is but a shadow of a shadow. I ask God to pardon me for assigning to them such limits. In truth, the highest degree of praise which one can confer upon them is to confess in their very presence that it is impossible to praise them....

“‘This is why God has created me out of a clay from which no one else has been created. And God has given me what the learned, with all their science, are unable to understand, what no one can know unless he be completely humbled before my revelation.... Know then in truth, I am a pillar of the first word; whosoever knows that first word has known God wholly, and has entered into the universal good. Whosoever has refused to know it has remained in ignorance of God and has entered into the universal evil.

“‘I take God as witness, the Master of the two worlds, he who here below lives as long as nature permits and remains all his life the servant of God in all the works prescribed by true religion, if he entertains in his heart any enmity towards me, even so little that God alone might be aware of it, he is useless and God will prepare for him a punishment; he will be among those destined to die. God has determined the good which is implied in obedience to me, and all the evil which follows disobedience to my commands. In truth, today I see all that I have just said; I see the children of my love, the obedient ones in the highest heaven, while my enemies are thrust into the depths of eternal fire!

The Báb revealed “more than a hundred thousand verses” while at Máh-Kú

So great multitudes continued to come from all quarters to visit the Báb, and the writings which emanated from His inspired pen during this period were so numerous that they amounted in all to more than a hundred thousand verses.” (The “Taríkh-i-Jadíd,” p. 238)

“Behold, that about one hundred thousand lines similar to these verses have been scattered among men not to mention the prayers and questions of science and philosophy.” (“Le Bayán Persan,” vol. 1, p. 43.) “Consider also the Point of the Bayán. Those who are familiar with it know how great its importance was before the manifestation; but thereafter, and although it has revealed more than five hundred thousand verses upon diverse subjects, attacks are made upon it which are so violent that no writer would wish to relate them.” (“Le Bayán Persan,” vol. 3, p. 113.)

“The verses which have rained from this Cloud of Divine mercy [the Báb] have been so abundant that none hath yet been able to estimate their number. A score of volumes are now available. How many still remain beyond our reach! How many have been plundered and have fallen into the hands of the enemy, the fate of which none knoweth!” (The “Kitáb-i-Íqán,” pp. 182–3.)

(Footnotes to chapter 13 provided by Shoghi Effendi)