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’)