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’)