The failure of the convocation, the infliction of bastinado on the Báb and His confinement back to Chihriq

The convocation thereupon dispersed, its members confused, divided among themselves, bitterly resentful and humiliated through their failure to achieve their purpose. Far from daunting the spirit of their Captive, far from inducing Him to recant or abandon His mission, that gathering was productive of no other result than the decision, arrived at after considerable argument and discussion, to inflict the bastinado on Him, at the hands, and in the prayer-house of the heartless and avaricious Mírzá ‘Alí-Asghar, the Shaykhu’l-Islám of that city. Confounded in his schemes Hájí Mírzá Áqásí was forced to order the Báb to be taken back to Chihríq. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 2, ‘God Passes By’)

The immediate effect of the Báb’s formal declaration on the religious dignitaries attending the convocation, their abusive verbal putdowns and attacks and the Báb’s affirmative responses

Awe-struck, those present momentarily dropped their heads in silent confusion. Then Mullá Muhammad-i-Mamáqání, that one-eyed white-bearded renegade, summoning sufficient courage, with characteristic insolence, reprimanded Him as a perverse and contemptible follower of Satan; to which the undaunted Youth retorted that He maintained what He had already asserted. To the query subsequently addressed to Him by the Nizámu’l-‘Ulamá the Báb affirmed that His words constituted the most incontrovertible evidence of His mission, adduced verses from the Qur’án to establish the truth of His assertion, and claimed to be able to reveal, within the space of two days and two nights, verses equal to the whole of that Book. In answer to a criticism calling His attention to an infraction by Him of the rules of grammar, He cited certain passages from the Qur’án as corroborative evidence, and, turning aside, with firmness and dignity, a frivolous and irrelevant remark thrown at Him by one of those who were present, summarily disbanded that gathering by Himself rising and quitting the room. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 2, ‘God Passes By’)

The Báb’s formal assertion of His full Mission during a convocation of ecclesiastical dignitaries in Tabriz

The circumstances attending the examination of the Báb, as a result of so precipitate an act, may well rank as one of the chief landmarks of His dramatic career. The avowed purpose of that convocation was to arraign the Prisoner, and deliberate on the steps to be taken for the extirpation of His so-called heresy. It instead afforded Him the supreme opportunity of His mission to assert in public, formally and without any reservation, the claims inherent in His Revelation. In the official residence, and in the presence, of the governor of Ádhirbáyján, Násiri’d-Dín Mírzá, the heir to the throne; under the presidency of Hájí Mullá Mahmúd, the Nizámu’l-‘Ulamá, the Prince’s tutor; before the assembled ecclesiastical dignitaries of Tabríz, the leaders of the Shaykhi community, the Shaykhu’l-Islám, and the Imám-Jum‘ih, the Báb, having seated Himself in the chief place which had been reserved for the Valí-‘Ahd (the heir to the throne), gave, in ringing tones, His celebrated answer to the question put to Him by the President of that assembly. “I am,” He exclaimed, “I am, I am the Promised One! I am the One Whose name you have for a thousand years invoked, at Whose mention you have risen, Whose advent you have longed to witness, and the hour of Whose Revelation you have prayed God to hasten. Verily, I say, it is incumbent upon the peoples of both the East and the West to obey My word, and to pledge allegiance to My person.” 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 2, ‘God Passes By’)

The reaction of the populous to the Báb’s arrival in Tabriz & the convocation of the ecclesiastical dignitaries

The remnants of a large citadel

Tabríz, in its turn in the throes of wild excitement, joyously hailed His arrival. Such was the fervor of popular feeling that the Báb was assigned a place outside the gates of the city. This, however, failed to allay the prevailing emotion. Precautions, warnings and restrictions served only to aggravate a situation that had already become critical. It was at this juncture that the Grand Vizir issued his historic order for the immediate convocation of the ecclesiastical dignitaries of Tabríz to consider the most effectual measures which would, once and for all, extinguish the flames of so devouring a conflagration. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 2, ‘God Passes By’)

The Báb’s received a ceremonial reception in the town of Urúmíyyih

Fearful of the enthusiasm of the people of Ádhirbáyján, those into whose custody He had been delivered decided to deflect their route, and avoid the town of Khuy, passing instead through Urúmíyyih. On His arrival in that town Prince Malik Qásim Mírzá ceremoniously received Him, and was even seen, on a certain Friday, when his Guest was riding on His way to the public bath, to accompany Him on foot, while the Prince’s footmen endeavored to restrain the people who, in their overflowing enthusiasm, were pressing to catch a glimpse of so marvelous a Prisoner. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 2, ‘God Passes By’)

Commotion in Chihríq due to the Cause of the Báb being espoused by many distinguished citizens - the Báb is summoned to Tabríz

Indeed the turmoil raised in Chihríq eclipsed the scenes which Máh-Kú had witnessed. Siyyids of distinguished merit, eminent ‘ulamás, and even government officials were boldly and rapidly espousing the Cause of the Prisoner. The conversion of the zealous, the famous Mírzá Asadu’lláh, surnamed Dayyán, a prominent official of high literary repute, who was endowed by the Báb with the “hidden and preserved knowledge,” and extolled as the “repository of the trust of the one true God,” and the arrival of a dervish, a former navváb, from India, whom the Báb in a vision had bidden renounce wealth and position, and hasten on foot to meet Him in Ádhirbáyján, brought the situation to a head. Accounts of these startling events reached Tabríz, were thence communicated to Tihrán, and forced Hájí Mírzá Áqásí again to intervene. Dayyán’s father, an intimate friend of that minister, had already expressed to him his grave apprehension at the manner in which the able functionaries of the state were being won over to the new Faith. To allay the rising excitement the Báb was summoned to Tabríz. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 2, ‘God Passes By’)

1848: The warden of the fortress of Chihríq and the kurds, who lived in the village of Chihríq soon became attracted to the Báb – testimony of a European eye-witness

Though at the outset he [the warden of the fortress of Chihríq] acted with the utmost severity, he was eventually compelled to yield to the fascination of his Prisoner. Nor were the kurds, who lived in the village of Chihríq, and whose hatred of the Shí‘ahs exceeded even that of the inhabitants of Máh-Kú, able to resist the pervasive power of the Prisoner’s influence. They too were to be seen every morning, ere they started for their daily work, to approach the fortress and prostrate themselves in adoration before its holy Inmate. “So great was the confluence of the people,” is the testimony of a European eye-witness, writing in his memoirs of the Báb, “that the courtyard, not being large enough to contain His hearers, the majority remained in the street and listened with rapt attention to the verses of the new Qur’án.” 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 2, ‘God Passes By’)

About April 10, 1848 the Báb was transferred to the fortress of Chihriq

Secret agents, however, charged to watch ‘Alí Khán, informed Hájí Mírzá Áqásí of the turn events were taking, whereupon he immediately decided to transfer the Báb to the fortress of Chihríq (about April 10, 1848), surnamed by Him the Jabal-i-Shadíd (the Grievous Mountain). There He was consigned to the keeping of Yahya Khán, a brother-in-law of Muhammad Sháh. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 2, ‘God Passes By’)

Among the eager and devout pilgrims who were allowed to be admitted at the gates of the fortress was Mullá Husayn

Among them was the dauntless and indefatigable Mullá Husayn, who had walked on foot the entire way from Mashad in the east of Persia to Máh-Kú, the westernmost outpost of the realm, and was able, after so arduous a journey, to celebrate the festival of Naw-Rúz (1848) in the company of his Beloved. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 2, ‘God Passes By’)

Despite severe restrictions the inhabitants of the village of Máh-Kú “were gradually subdued by the gentleness of the Báb, were chastened by His modesty, were edified by His counsels, and instructed by His wisdom” – including the warden of the fortress.

Secluded on the heights of a remote and dangerously situated mountain on the frontiers of the Ottoman and Russian empires; imprisoned within the solid walls of a four-towered fortress; cut off from His family, His kindred and His disciples; living in the vicinity of a bigoted and turbulent community who, by race, tradition, language and creed, differed from the vast majority of the inhabitants of Persia; guarded by the people of a district which, as the birthplace of the Grand Vizir, had been made the recipient of the special favors of his administration, the Prisoner of Máh-Kú seemed in the eyes of His adversary to be doomed to languish away the flower of His youth, and witness, at no distant date, the complete annihilation of His hopes. That adversary was soon to realize, however, how gravely he had misjudged both his Prisoner and those on whom he had lavished his favors. An unruly, a proud and unreasoning people were gradually subdued by the gentleness of the Báb, were chastened by His modesty, were edified by His counsels, and instructed by His wisdom. They were so carried away by their love for Him that their first act every morning, notwithstanding the remonstrations of the domineering ‘Alí Khán, and the repeated threats of disciplinary measures received from Tihrán, was to seek a place where they could catch a glimpse of His face, and beseech from afar His benediction upon their daily work. In cases of dispute it was their wont to hasten to the foot of the fortress, and, with their eyes fixed upon His abode, invoke His name, and adjure one another to speak the truth. ‘Alí Khán himself, under the influence of a strange vision, felt such mortification that he was impelled to relax the severity of his discipline, as an atonement for his past behavior. Such became his leniency that an increasing stream of eager and devout pilgrims began to be admitted at the gates of the fortress. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 2, ‘God Passes By’)

No one was allowed to see the Báb for the first two weeks at Máh-Kú – other than His amanuensis and his brother

Upon His arrival in Máh-Kú, surnamed by Him Jabal-i-Básiṭ (the Open Mountain) no one was allowed to see Him for the first two weeks except His amanuensis, Siyyid Ḥusayn, and his brother. So grievous was His plight while in that fortress that, in the Persian Bayán, He Himself has stated that at night-time He did not even have a lighted lamp, and that His solitary chamber, constructed of sun-baked bricks, lacked even a door, while, in His Tablet to Muhammad Sháh, He has complained that the inmates of the fortress were confined to two guards and four dogs. . 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 2, ‘God Passes By’)

The Bab’s first visit to Tabriz created “an intense excitement on the part of the populace”

His [the Prime Minister’s] orders to ‘Alí Khán, the warden of the fortress of Máh-Kú, were stringent and explicit. On His way to that fortress the Báb passed a number of days in Tabríz, days that were marked by such an intense excitement on the part of the populace that, except for a few persons, neither the public nor His followers were allowed to meet Him. As He was escorted through the streets of the city the shout of “Alláh-u-Akbar” resounded on every side. So great, indeed, became the clamor that the town crier was ordered to warn the inhabitants that any one who ventured to seek the Báb’s presence would forfeit all his possessions and be imprisoned. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 2, ‘God Passes By’)

The results of the Báb’s isolation and incarceration in Ádhirbáyján

And yet, the foolish and short-sighted Hájí Mírzá Áqásí [Persia’s Prime Minister] fondly imagined that by confounding the plan of the Báb to meet the Sháh face to face in the capital, and by relegating Him to the farthest corner of the realm, he had stifled the Movement at its birth, and would soon conclusively triumph over its Founder. Little did he imagine that the very isolation he was forcing upon his Prisoner would enable Him to evolve the System designed to incarnate the soul of His Faith, and would afford Him the opportunity of safeguarding it from disintegration and schism, and of proclaiming formally and unreservedly His mission. Little did he imagine that this very confinement would induce that Prisoner’s exasperated disciples and companions to cast off the shackles of an antiquated theology, and precipitate happenings that would call forth from them a prowess, a courage, a self-renunciation unexampled in their country’s history. Little did he imagine that by this very act he would be instrumental in fulfilling the authentic tradition ascribed to the Prophet of Islám regarding the inevitability of that which should come to pass in Ádhirbáyján. Untaught by the example of the governor of Shíráz, who, with fear and trembling, had, at the first taste of God’s avenging wrath, fled ignominiously and relaxed his hold on his Captive, the Grand Vizir of Muhammad Sháh was, in his turn, through the orders he had issued, storing up for himself severe and inevitable disappointment, and paving the way for his own ultimate downfall. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 2, ‘God Passes By’)

Features of the concluding years of the Báb’s Ministry

These concluding years of His [the Báb’s] earthly life will go down in history as the time when the new Dispensation attained its full stature, when the claim of its Founder was fully and publicly asserted, when its laws were formulated, when the Covenant of its Author was firmly established, when its independence was proclaimed, and when the heroism of its champions blazed forth in immortal glory. For it was during these intensely dramatic, fate-laden years that the full implications of the station of the Báb were disclosed to His disciples, and formally announced by Him in the capital of Ádhirbáyján, in the presence of the Heir to the Throne; that the Persian Bayán, the repository of the laws ordained by the Báb, was revealed; that the time and character of the Dispensation of “the One Whom God will make manifest” were unmistakably determined; that the Conference of Badasht proclaimed the annulment of the old order; and that the great conflagrations of Mázindarán, of Nayríz and of Zanján were kindled. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 2, ‘God Passes By’)

Three locations in Persia – the circumstances they provided

Shíráz had been the memorable scene of the Báb’s historic Declaration; Isfáhán had provided Him, however briefly, with a haven of relative peace and security; whilst Ádhirbáyján was destined to become the theatre of His agony and martyrdom. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 2, ‘God Passes By’)

Comparison of the ministry of the Báb to the most critical stages of Baha’u’llah’s and ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s

It corresponds to the most critical stage of the mission of Bahá’u’lláh, during His exile to Adrianople, when confronted with the despotic Sultán ‘Abdu’l-‘Azíz and his ministers, ‘Álí Páshá and Fu‘ád Páshá, and is paralleled by the darkest days of ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá’s ministry in the Holy Land, under the oppressive rule of the tyrannical ‘Abdu’l-Hamíd and the equally tyrannical Jamál Páshá. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 2, ‘God Passes By’)

The Báb’s “six year ministry”

It comprises His nine months’ unbroken confinement in the fortress of Máh-Kú, and His subsequent incarceration in the fortress of Chihríq, which was interrupted only by a brief yet memorable visit to Tabríz. It was overshadowed throughout by the implacable and mounting hostility of the two most powerful adversaries of the Faith, the Grand Vizir of Muhammad Sháh, Hájí Mírzá Áqásí, and the Amír-Niẓám, the Grand Vizir of Násiri’d-Dín Sháh. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 2, ‘God Passes By’)

The “most dramatic, and in a sense the most pregnant phase” of the Báb’s ministry

The period of the Báb’s banishment to the mountains of Ádhirbáyján, lasting no less than three years, constitutes the saddest, the most dramatic, and in a sense the most pregnant phase of His six year ministry. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 2, ‘God Passes By’)

The pretext the Prime Minister used to not allow a planned meeting between the Báb and Muhammad Shah

All-powerful and crafty, that minister had, on the pretext of the necessity of his master’s concentrating his immediate attention on a recent rebellion in Khurásán and a revolt in Kirmán, succeeded in foiling a plan, which, had it materialized, would have had the most serious repercussions on his own fortunes, as well as on the immediate destinies of his government, its ruler and its people. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 1, ‘God Passes By’)

Muhammad Shah, under the influence of his Prime Minister, sent a courteous letter to the Báb and exiled Him to Máh-Kú

This was, shortly after, followed by a letter which the Sháh had himself addressed to the Báb, dated Rabí‘u’th-thání 1263 (March 19–April 17, 1847), and which, though couched in courteous terms, clearly indicated the extent of the baneful influence exercised by the Grand Vizir on his sovereign. The plans so fondly cherished by Manuchihr Khán were now utterly undone. The fortress of Máh-Kú, not far from the village of that same name, whose inhabitants had long enjoyed the patronage of the Grand Vizir, situated in the remotest northwestern corner of Ádhirbáyján, was the place of incarceration assigned by Muhammad Sháh, on the advice of his perfidious minister, for the Báb. No more than one companion and one attendant from among His followers were allowed to keep Him company in those bleak and inhospitable surroundings.  

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 1, ‘God Passes By’)

Persia’s Prime Minister altered plans for the Báb to meet Muhammad Shah

At the distance of less than thirty miles from the capital, however, in the fortress of Kinár-Gird, a messenger delivered to Muhammad Big, who headed the escort, a written order from Hájí Mírzá Áqásí instructing him to proceed to Kulayn, and there await further instructions. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 1, ‘God Passes By’)

The nephew of Isfahán's late Governor encouraged the Sháh to issue a second summon for the Báb to be sent to Tihrán

The ruthless and rapacious Gurgín Khán, the deputy governor, induced the Sháh to issue a second summons ordering that the captive Youth be sent in disguise to Tihrán, accompanied by a mounted escort. To this written mandate of the sovereign the vile Gurgín Khán, who had previously discovered and destroyed the will of his uncle, the Mu‘tamid, and seized his property, unhesitatingly responded. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 1, ‘God Passes By’)

The Governor of Isfahán expressed his desire to assist with the spread of the new religion

It was in those days that the host expressed the desire to consecrate all his possessions, evaluated by his contemporaries at no less than forty million francs, to the furtherance of the interests of the new Faith, declared his intention of converting Muhammad Sháh, of inducing him to rid himself of a shameful and profligate minister, and of obtaining his royal assent to the marriage of one of his sisters with the Báb. The sudden death of the Mu‘tamid, [the Governor] however, foretold by the Báb Himself, accelerated the course of the approaching crisis. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 1, ‘God Passes By’)

The Governor of Isfahán conceived a plan to protect the Báb

The Mu‘tamid, in his great embarrassment, and in order to appease the rising tumult, conceived a plan whereby an increasingly restive populace were made to believe that the Báb had left for Tihrán, while he succeeded in insuring for Him a brief respite of four months in the privacy of the ‘Imárat-i-Khurshíd, the governor’s private residence in Isfahán. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 1, ‘God Passes By’)

The ecclesiastical leaders of Isfahán issued a document “denouncing the Báb as a heretic and condemning Him to death”

Meanwhile the mujtahids and ‘ulamás, dismayed at the signs of so pervasive an influence, summoned a gathering which issued an abusive document signed and sealed by the ecclesiastical leaders of the city, denouncing the Báb as a heretic and condemning Him to death. Even the Imám-Jum‘ih was constrained to add his written testimony that the Accused was devoid of reason and judgment. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 1, ‘God Passes By’)

The King of Persia summoned the Báb to Tihrán

The Sháh himself was induced to summon the Báb to his capital. Manuchihr Khán, bidden to arrange for His departure, decided to transfer His residence temporarily to his own home. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 1, ‘God Passes By’)

The Prime Minister became fearful of the Báb’s popularity in Isfahán

The overbearing and crafty Hájí Mírzá Áqásí, fearful lest the sway of the Báb encompass his sovereign and thus seal his own doom, was aroused as never before. Prompted by a suspicion that the Báb possessed the secret sympathies of the Mu‘tamid, [the governor of Isfahán]and well aware of the confidence reposed in him by the Sháh, he severely upbraided the Imám-Jum‘ih for the neglect of his sacred duty. He, at the same time, lavished, in several letters, his favors upon the ‘ulamás of Isfahán, whom he had hitherto ignored. From the pulpits of that city an incited clergy began to hurl vituperation and calumny upon the Author of what was to them a hateful and much to be feared heresy. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 1, ‘God Passes By’)

The ecclesiastical authorities in Isfahán were alarmed because of the “popularity enjoyed by the Báb, His personal prestige, and the honors accorded Him by His countrymen”

These evidences of the growing ascendancy exercised by an unlearned Youth on the governor and the people of a city rightly regarded as one of the strongholds of Shí‘ah Islám, alarmed the ecclesiastical authorities. Refraining from any act of open hostility which they knew full well would defeat their purpose, they sought, by encouraging the circulation of the wildest rumors, to induce the Grand Vizir of the Sháh to save a situation that was growing hourly more acute and menacing. The popularity enjoyed by the Báb, His personal prestige, and the honors accorded Him by His countrymen, had now reached their high watermark. The shadows of an impending doom began to fast gather about Him. A series of tragedies from then on followed in rapid sequence destined to culminate in His own death and the apparent extinction of the influence of His Faith. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 1, ‘God Passes By’)

The Christian governor of Isfahán embraced Islam as a result of a “dissertation” that the Báb revealed at his request before “a brilliant assemblage of the most accomplished divines”

The wise and judicious Manuchihr Khán could not resist the temptation of visiting so strange, so intriguing a Personage. Before a brilliant assemblage of the most accomplished divines he, a Georgian by origin and a Christian by birth, requested the Báb to expound and demonstrate the truth of Muhammad’s specific mission. To this request, which those present had felt compelled to decline, the Báb readily responded. In less than two hours, and in the space of fifty pages, He had not only revealed a minute, a vigorous and original dissertation on this noble theme, but had also linked it with both the coming of the Qá’im and the return of the Imám Husayn—an exposition that prompted Manuchihr Khán to declare before that gathering his faith in the Prophet of Islám, as well as his recognition of the supernatural gifts with which the Author of so convincing a treatise was endowed. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 1, ‘God Passes By’)

The enthusiastic people of Isfahán wanted to see the Báb

The tumultuous enthusiasm of the people of Isfahán was meanwhile visibly increasing. Crowds of people, some impelled by curiosity, others eager to discover the truth, still others anxious to be healed of their infirmities, flocked from every quarter of the city to the house of the Imám-Jum‘ih. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 1, ‘God Passes By’)

The Báb revealed a commentary on a surih of the Qur’an at the request of the Imám-Jum‘ih of Isfahán

It was at the request of this same prelate [the Imám-Jum‘ih of Isfahán] that the Báb, one night, after supper, revealed His well-known commentary on the súrih of Va’l-‘Asr. Writing with astonishing rapidity, He, in a few hours, had devoted to the exposition of the significance of only the first letter of that súrih—a letter which Shaykh Ahmad-i-Ahsá’í had stressed, and which Bahá’u’lláh refers to in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas—verses that equalled in number a third of the Qur’án, a feat that called forth such an outburst of reverent astonishment from those who witnessed it that they arose and kissed the hem of His robe. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 1, ‘God Passes By’)

The Báb’s effect on His host, the Imám-Jum‘ih of Isfahán

So magic was His charm that His host, forgetful of the dignity of his high rank, was wont to wait personally upon Him. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 1, ‘God Passes By’)

The Báb’s effect on the people of Isfahán

…such was the spell He [the Báb] cast over the people of that city that, on one occasion, after His return from the public bath, an eager multitude clamored for the water that had been used for His ablutions. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 1, ‘God Passes By’)

The Báb was a guest of the Imám-Jum‘ih of Isfahán for 40 days

The first forty days of His sojourn in Isfahán were spent as the guest of Mírzá Siyyid Muhammad, the Sulṭanu’l-‘Ulamá, the Imám-Jum‘ih, one of the principal ecclesiastical dignitaries of the realm, in accordance with the instructions of the governor of the city, Manuchihr Khán, the Mu ‘Tamidu’d-Dawlih, who had received from the Báb a letter requesting him to appoint the place where He should dwell. He was ceremoniously received… 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 1, ‘God Passes By’)

September 1846: The Báb left Shiraz and proceeded to Isfahán

Miraculously preserved by an almighty and watchful Providence, the Báb proceeded to Isfahán (September, 1846), accompanied by Siyyid Kázim-i-Zanjání. Another lull ensued, a brief period of comparative tranquillity during which the Divine processes which had been set in motion gathered further momentum, precipitating a series of events leading to the imprisonment of the Báb in the fortresses of Máh-Kú and Chihríq, and culminating in His martyrdom in the barrack-square of Tabríz. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 1, ‘God Passes By’)

The Báb’s farewell to His wife and mother

Well aware of the impending trials that were to afflict Him, the Báb had, ere His final separation from His family, bequeathed to His mother and His wife all His possessions, had confided to the latter the secret of what was to befall Him, and revealed for her a special prayer the reading of which, He assured her, would resolve her perplexities and allay her sorrows. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 1, ‘God Passes By’)

1846: Divine intervention at exactly the same time as the Báb was arrested – an outbreak of a devastating cholera in Shiraz

That very night, however, took place an event which, in its dramatic suddenness, was no doubt providentially designed to confound the schemes of the plotters, and enable the Object of their hatred to prolong His ministry and consummate His Revelation. An outbreak of cholera, devastating in its virulence, had, since midnight, already smitten above a hundred people. The dread of the plague had entered every heart, and the inhabitants of the stricken city were, amid shrieks of pain and grief, fleeing in confusion. Three of the governor’s domestics had already died. Members of his family were lying dangerously ill. In his despair he, leaving the dead unburied, had fled to a garden in the outskirts of the city. ‘Abdu’l-Hamíd Khán, [the chief constable in Shiraz] confronted by this unexpected development, decided to conduct the Báb to His own home. He was appalled, upon his arrival, to learn that his son lay in the death-throes of the plague. In his despair he threw himself at the feet of the Báb, begged to be forgiven, adjured Him not to visit upon the son the sins of the father, and pledged his word to resign his post, and never again to accept such a position. Finding that his prayer had been answered, he addressed a plea to the governor begging him to release his Captive, and thereby deflect the fatal course of this dire visitation. Husayn Khán acceded to his request, and released his Prisoner on condition of His quitting the city. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 1, ‘God Passes By’)

The Báb is arrested in Shiraz – The Persian Prime Minister had secretly made plans to poison Him

While the situation was steadily deteriorating in the provinces, the bitter hostility of the people of Shíráz was rapidly moving towards a climax. Ḥusayn Khán, vindictive, relentless, exasperated by the reports of his sleepless agents that his Captive’s power and fame were hourly growing, decided to take immediate action. It is even reported that his accomplice, Hájí Mírzá Áqásí, had ordered him to kill secretly the would-be disrupter of the state and the wrecker of its established religion. By order of the governor the chief constable, ‘Abdu’l-Ḥamíd Khán, scaled, in the dead of night, the wall and entered the house of Hájí Mírzá Siyyid ‘Alí, where the Báb was confined, arrested Him, and confiscated all His books and documents. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 1, ‘God Passes By’)

The “most learned, the wisest and the most outstanding among the ‘ulamás of Khurásán” becomes a follower of the Báb

Yet another recruit to the ever-swelling army of the new Faith was the eminent scholar, Mírzá Ahmad-i-Azghandí, the most learned, the wisest and the most outstanding among the ‘ulamás of Khurásán, who, in anticipation of the advent of the promised Qá’im, had compiled above twelve thousand traditions and prophecies concerning the time and character of the expected Revelation, had circulated them among His fellow-disciples, and had encouraged them to quote them extensively to all congregations and in all meetings. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 1, ‘God Passes By’)

Hujjat: - Another eminent in rank clergy becomes a follower of the Báb

Another famous advocate of the Cause of the Báb, even fiercer in zeal than Vaḥíd, and almost as eminent in rank, was Mullá Muhammad-‘Alíy-i-Zánjání, surnamed Hujjat. An Akhbárí, a vehement controversialist, of a bold and independent temper of mind, impatient of restraint, a man who had dared condemn the whole ecclesiastical hierarchy from the Abváb-i-Arba‘ih down to the humblest mullá, he had more than once, through his superior talents and fervid eloquence, publicly confounded his orthodox Shí‘ah adversaries. Such a person could not remain indifferent to a Cause that was producing so grave a cleavage among his countrymen. The disciple he sent to Shíráz to investigate the matter fell immediately under the spell of the Báb. The perusal of but a page of the Qayyúmu’l-Asmá’, brought by that messenger to Hujjat, sufficed to effect such a transformation within him that he declared, before the assembled ‘ulamás of his native city, that should the Author of that work pronounce day to be night and the sun to be a shadow he would unhesitatingly uphold his verdict. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 1, ‘God Passes By’)

Vahíd becomes a follower of the Báb during his third interview

During the third interview the circumstances attending the revelation of the Báb’s commentary on the súrih of Kawthar, comprising no less than two thousand verses, so overpowered the delegate of the Sháh that he, contenting himself with a mere written report to the Court Chamberlain, arose forthwith to dedicate his entire life and resources to the service of a Faith that was to requite him with the crown of martyrdom during the Nayríz upheaval. He who had firmly resolved to confute the arguments of an obscure siyyid of Shíráz, to induce Him to abandon His ideas, and to conduct Him to Tihrán as an evidence of the ascendancy he had achieved over Him, was made to feel, as he himself later acknowledged, as “lowly as the dust beneath His feet.” Even Husayn Khán, who had been Vahíd’s host during his stay in Shíráz, was compelled to write to the Sháh and express the conviction that his Majesty’s illustrious delegate had become a Bábí. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 1, ‘God Passes By’)

The Shah’s illustrious delegate, Vahíd, has three interviews with the Báb – circumstances of the first two

Broad-minded, highly imaginative, zealous by nature, intimately associated with the court, he, in the course of three interviews, was completely won over by the arguments and personality of the Báb. Their first interview centered around the metaphysical teachings of Islám, the most obscure passages of the Qur’án, and the traditions and prophecies of the Imáms. In the course of the second interview Vaḥíd was astounded to find that the questions which he had intended to submit for elucidation had been effaced from his retentive memory, and yet, to his utter amazement, he discovered that the Báb was answering the very questions he had forgotten. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 1, ‘God Passes By’)

The Shah of Persia appointed “one of the most erudite, eloquent and influential of his subjects” to investigate the claims of the Báb

The commotion had assumed such proportions that the Sháh, unable any longer to ignore the situation, delegated the trusted Siyyid Yaḥyáy-i-Dárábí, surnamed Vahíd, one of the most erudite, eloquent and influential of his subjects—a man who had committed to memory no less than thirty thousand traditions—to investigate and report to him the true situation. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 1, ‘God Passes By’)

The Báb’s “itinerant messengers” created a “wave of passionate inquiry“ in Persia

Meanwhile the fever that had seized His followers was communicating itself to the members of the clergy and to the merchant classes, and was invading the higher circles of society. Indeed, a wave of passionate inquiry had swept the whole country, and unnumbered congregations were listening with wonder to the testimonies eloquently and fearlessly related by the Báb’s itinerant messengers. 
- Shoghi Effendi (Chapter 1, God Passes By)

The Báb is arrested and subsequently “released on parole, and entrusted to the custody of His maternal uncle”

The governor, greatly alarmed, ordered the Báb to be arrested. He was brought to Shíráz under escort, and, in the presence of Husayn Khán, was severely rebuked, and so violently struck in the face that His turban fell to the ground. Upon the intervention of the Imám-Jum‘ih He was released on parole, and entrusted to the custody of His maternal uncle Hájí Mírzá Siyyid ‘Alí. A brief lull ensued, enabling the captive Youth to celebrate the Naw-Rúz of that and the succeeding year in an atmosphere of relative tranquillity in the company of His mother, His wife, and His uncle. 
- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 1, 'God Passes By')

The “initial collision of irreconcilable forces”: - the immediate disgraceful and inhumane punishment of Quddús and Mullá Sádiq

With the Báb’s return to Shíráz the initial collision of irreconcilable forces may be said to have commenced…Mullá Sádiq-i-Khurásání, impelled by the injunction of the Báb in the Khasá’il-i-Sab‘ih to alter the sacrosanct formula of the adhán, sounded it in its amended form before a scandalized congregation in Shíráz, and was instantly arrested, reviled, stripped of his garments, and scourged with a thousand lashes. The villainous Ḥusayn Khán, the Nizámu’d-Dawlih, the governor of Fárs, who had read the challenge thrown out in the Qayyúmu’l-Asmá’, having ordered that Mullá Sádiq together with Quddús and another believer be summarily and publicly punished, caused their beards to be burned, their noses pierced, and threaded with halters; then, having been led through the streets in this disgraceful condition, they were expelled from the city. 
- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 1, ‘God Passes By’)

The “initial collision of irreconcilable forces”: the fate of Mullá ‘Alíy-i-Basṭámí, one of the Letters of the Living

With the Báb’s return to Shíráz the initial collision of irreconcilable forces may be said to have commenced. Already the energetic and audacious Mullá ‘Alíy-i-Basṭámí, one of the Letters of the Living, “the first to leave the House of God (Shíráz) and the first to suffer for His sake,” who, in the presence of one of the leading exponents of Shí‘ah Islám, the far-famed Shaykh Muhammad Hasan, had audaciously asserted that from the pen of his new-found Master within the space of forty-eight hours, verses had streamed that equalled in number those of the Qur’án, which it took its Author twenty-three years to reveal, had been excommunicated, chained, disgraced, imprisoned, and, in all probability, done to death. 

- Shoghi Effendi (Chapter 1, ‘God Passes By’)

Circumstances resulting in the immediate fierce opposition against the Báb

Already within the space of less than two years it had kindled the passions of friend and foe alike. The outbreak of the conflagration did not even await the return to His native city of the One Who had generated it. The implications of a Revelation, thrust so dramatically upon a race so degenerate, so inflammable in temper, could indeed have had no other consequence than to excite within men’s bosoms the fiercest passions of fear, of hate, of rage and envy. A Faith Whose Founder did not content Himself with the claim to be the Gate of the Hidden Imám, Who assumed a rank that excelled even that of the Sáhibu’z-Zamán, Who regarded Himself as the precursor of one incomparably greater than Himself, Who peremptorily commanded not only the subjects of the Sháh, but the monarch himself, and even the kings and princes of the earth, to forsake their all and follow Him, Who claimed to be the inheritor of the earth and all that is therein—a Faith Whose religious doctrines, Whose ethical standards, social principles and religious laws challenged the whole structure of the society in which it was born, soon ranged, with startling unanimity, the mass of the people behind their priests, and behind their chief magistrate, with his ministers and his government, and welded them into an opposition sworn to destroy, root and branch, the movement initiated by One Whom they regarded as an impious and presumptuous pretender. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 1, ‘God Passes By)

February–March, 1845: The Báb returned to Persia – The “signal for a commotion that rocked the entire country”

The Báb’s return to His native land (Safar 1261) (February–March, 1845) was the signal for a commotion that rocked the entire country. The fire which the declaration of His mission had lit was being fanned into flame through the dispersal and activities of His appointed disciples. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 1, ‘God Passes By)

The Báb’s farewell to Quddús

The Báb’s visit to Medina marked the conclusion of His pilgrimage. Regaining Jaddih, He returned to Búshihr, where one of His first acts was to bid His last farewell to His fellow-traveler and disciple, and to assure him that he would meet the Beloved of their hearts. He, moreover, announced to him that he would be crowned with a martyr’s death, and that He Himself would subsequently suffer a similar fate at the hands of their common foe. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 1, ‘God Passes By)

The Báb’s Epistle to the Sherif of Mecca, conveyed by Quddús

The second was the invitation, in the form of an Epistle, conveyed by Quddús, to the Sherif of Mecca, in which the custodian of the House of God was called upon to embrace the truth of the new Revelation. Absorbed in his own pursuits the Sherif however failed to respond. Seven years later, when in the course of a conversation with a certain Hájí Níyáz-i-Baghdádí, this same Sherif was informed of the circumstances attending the mission and martyrdom of the Prophet of Shíráz, he listened attentively to the description of those events and expressed his indignation at the tragic fate that had overtaken Him. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 1, ‘God Passes By)

The Báb declared His Mission to a most outstanding exponent of the Shyakhi School in Hijáz, Saudi Arabia

His [the Báb's] visit to Hijáz was marked by two episodes of particular importance. The first was the declaration of His mission and His open challenge to the haughty Mírzá Muhít-i-Kirmání, one of the most outstanding exponents of the Shaykhí school, who at times went so far as to assert his independence of the leadership of that school assumed after the death of Siyyid Kaẓím by Ḥájí Muhammad Karím Khán, a redoubtable enemy of the Bábí Faith. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Chapter 1, ‘God Passes By)