ITH these noble words ringing in his ears, Mulla
Husayn embarked upon his perilous enterprise.
Wherever he went, to whatever class of people
he addressed himself, he delivered fearlessly and
without reserve the Message with which his beloved Master
had entrusted him. Arriving in Isfahan, he established himself
in the madrisih of Nim-Avard. Around him gathered
those who on his previous visit to that city had known him
as the favoured messenger of Siyyid Kazim to the eminent
mujtahid, Haji Siyyid Muhammad-Baqir.(1) He, being now dead, had been succeeded by his son, who had just returned
from Najaf and was now established upon the seat of his
father. Haji Muhammad-Ibrahim-i-Kalbasi had also fallen
seriously ill, and was on the verge of death. The disciples
of the late Haji Siyyid Muhammad-Baqir, now freed from
the restraining influence of their departed teacher, and
alarmed at the strange doctrines which Mulla Husayn was
propounding, vehemently denounced him to Haji Siyyid
Asadu'llah, the son of the late Haji Siyyid Muhammad-Baqir.
" Mulla Husayn," they complained, "was able, in the
course of his last visit, to win the support of your illustrious
father to the cause of Shaykh Ahmad. No one among the
Siyyid's helpless disciples dared to oppose him. He now
comes as the upholder of a still more formidable opponent
and is pleading His Cause with still greater vehemence and
vigour. He is persistently claiming that He whose Cause he
now champions is the Revealer of a Book which is divinely
inspired, and which bears a striking resemblance to the tone
Finding that their efforts had failed to influence Haji
Siyyid Asadu'llah, his disciples referred the matter to Haji
Muhammad-Ibrahim-i-Kalbasi. "Woe betide us," they loudly
protested, "for the enemy has risen to disrupt the holy Faith
of Islam. ln lurid and exaggerated language, they stressed
the challenging character of the ideas propounded by Mulla
Husayn. "Hold your peace," replied Haji Muhammad-Ibrahim.
" Mulla Husayn is not the person to be duped by
anyone, nor can he fall a victim to dangerous heresies. If
your contention be true, if Mulla Husayn has indeed espoused
a new Faith, it is unquestionably your first obligation
to enquire dispassionately into the character of his teachings,
and to refrain from denouncing him without previous and
careful scrutiny. If my health and strength be restored, it
is my intention, God willing, to investigate the matter myself,
and to ascertain the truth."
This severe rebuke, pronounced by Haji Kalbasi, greatly
disconcerted the disciples of Haji Siyyid Asadu'llah. In
their dismay they appealed to Manuchihr Khan, the Mu'tamidu'd-Dawlih,
the governor of the city. That wise and
judicious ruler refused to interfere in these matters, which
he said fell exclusively within the jurisdiction of the ulamas.
He warned them to abstain from mischief and to cease disturbing
the peace and tranquillity of the messenger. His
trenchant words shattered the hopes of the mischief-makers.
Mulla Husayn was thereby relieved from the machinations
The first to embrace the Cause of the Bab in that city
was a man, a sifter of wheat, who, as soon as the Call reached
his ears, unreservedly accepted the Message. With marvellous
devotion he served Mulla Husayn, and through his
close association with him became a zealous advocate of the
new Revelation. A few years later, when the soul-stirring
details of the siege of the fort of Shaykh Tabarsi were being
recounted to him, he felt an irresistible impulse to throw in
his lot with those heroic companions of the Bab who had
risen for the defence of their Faith. Carrying his sieve in
his hand, he immediately arose and set out to reach the scene
of that memorable encounter. "Why leave so hurriedly?"
his friends asked him, as they saw him running in a state of
intense excitement through the bazaars of Isfahan. "I have
risen," he replied, "to join the glorious company of the defenders
of the fort of Shaykh Tabarsi! With this sieve which
I carry with me, I intend to sift the people in every city
through which I pass. Whomsoever I find ready to espouse
the Cause I have embraced, I will ask to join me and hasten
forthwith to the field of martyrdom." Such was the devotion
of this youth, that the Bab, in the Persian Bayan, refers to
him in such terms: " Isfahan, that outstanding city, is distinguished
by the religious fervour of its shi'ah inhabitants,
by the learning of its divines, and by the keen expectation,
shared by high and low alike, of the imminent coming of the
Sahibu'z-Zaman. In every quarter of that city, religious
institutions have been established. And yet, when the Messenger
of God had been made manifest, they who claimed
to be the repositories of learning and the expounders of the
mysteries of the Faith of God rejected His Message. Of all
the inhabitants of that seat of learning, only one person, a
sifter of wheat, was found to recognise the Truth, and was
invested with the robe of Divine virtue!"(1)
Among the siyyids of Isfahan, a few, such as Mirza
Muhammad-'Aliy-i-Nahri, whose daughter was subsequently
joined in wedlock with the Most Great Branch,(1) Mirza Hadi,
the brother of Mirza Muhammad-'Ali, and Mirza Muhammad-Riday-i-Pa-Qal'iyi,
recognised the truth of the Cause.
Mulla Sadiq-i-Khurasani, formerly known as Muqaddas, and
surnamed by Baha'u'llah, Ismu'llahu'l-Asdaq, who, according
to the instructions of Siyyid Kazim, had during the last five
years been residing in Isfahan and had been preparing the
way for the advent of the new Revelation, was also among
the first believers who identified themselves with the Message
proclaimed by the Bab.(2) As Soon as he learned of the arrival
of Mulla Husayn in Isfahan, he hastened to meet him. He
gives the following account of his first interview, which took
place at night in the home of Mirza Muhammad-'Aliy-i-Nahri:
"I asked Mulla Husayn to divulge the name of Him
who claimed to be the promised Manifestation. He replied:
`To enquire about that name and to divulge it are alike
forbidden.' `Would it, then, be possible,' I asked, `for me,
even as the Letters of the Living, to seek independently the
grace of the All-Merciful and, through prayer, to discover
His identity?' `The door of His grace,' he replied, `is never
closed before the face of him who seeks to find Him.' I immediately
retired from his presence, and requested his host
to allow me the privacy of a room in his house where, alone
and undisturbed, I could commune with God. In the midst
of my contemplation, I suddenly remembered the face of a
Youth whom I had often observed while in Karbila, standing
in an attitude of prayer, with His face bathed in tears at the
entrance of the shrine of the Imam Husayn. That same countenance
now reappeared before my eyes. In my vision I
seemed to behold that same face, those same features, expressive
of such joy as I could never describe. He smiled
as He gazed at me. I went towards Him, ready to throw
myself at His feet. I was bending towards the ground,
when, lo! that radiant figure vanished from before me. Overpowered
with joy and gladness, I ran out to meet Mulla
From Isfahan, Mulla Husayn proceeded to Kashan. The
first to be enrolled in that city among the company of the
faithful was a certain Haji Mirza Jani, surnamed Par-Pa,
who was a merchant of note.(2) Among the friends of Mulla
Husayn was a well-known divine, Siyyid Abdu'l-Baqi, a
resident of Kashan and a member of the shaykhi community.
Although intimately associated with Mulla Husayn during
his stay in Najaf and Karbila, the Siyyid felt unable to sacrifice
rank and leadership for the Message which his friend had
brought him.
Arriving in Qum, Mulla Husayn found its people utterly
unprepared to heed his call. The seeds he sowed among them
did not germinate until the time when Baha'u'llah was exiled
to Baghdad. In those days Haji Mirza Musa, a native of
Qum, embraced the Faith, journeyed to Baghdad, and there
met Baha'u'llah. He eventually quaffed the cup of martyrdom
in His path.
From Qum, Mulla Husayn proceeded directly to Tihran.
He lived, during his stay in the capital, in one of the rooms
During his stay in Tihran, Mulla Husayn each day would
leave his room early in the morning and would return to it
only an hour after sunset. Upon his return he would quietly
and alone re-enter his room, close the door behind him, and
"`As I approached the house of Baha'u'llah, I recognised
His brother Mirza Musa, who was standing at the gate, and
to whom I communicated the object of my visit. He went
into the house and soon reappeared bearing a message of
welcome. I was ushered into His presence, and presented the
scroll to Mirza Musa, who laid it before Baha'u'llah. He
bade us both be seated. Unfolding the scroll, He glanced at
its contents and began to read aloud to us certain of its passages.
I sat enraptured as I listened to the sound of His
"`I arose and, filled with joy, hastened back to Mulla
Husayn, and delivered to him the gift and message of Baha'u'llah.
With what joy and exultation he received them from
me! Words fail me to describe the intensity of his emotion.
He started to his feet, received with bowed head the gift
from my hand, and fervently kissed it. He then took me in
his arms, kissed my eyes, and said: "My dearly beloved
friend! I pray that even as you have rejoiced my heart,
God may grant you eternal felicity and fill your heart with
imperishable gladness." I was amazed at the behaviour of
Mulla Husayn. What could be, I thought to myself, the
nature of the bond that unites these two souls? What could
have kindled so fervid a fellowship in their hearts? Why
should Mulla Husayn, in whose sight the pomp and circumstance
of royalty were the merest trifle, have evinced such
gladness at the sight of so inconsiderable a gift from the
hands of Baha'u'llah? I was puzzled by this thought and
could not unravel its mystery.
"`A few days later, Mulla Husayn left for Khurasan.
As he bade me farewell, he said: "Breathe not to anyone what
you have heard and witnessed. Let this be a secret hidden
within your breast. Divulge not His name, for they who envy
His position will arise to harm Him. In your moments of
meditation, pray that the Almighty may protect Him, that,
through Him, He may exalt the downtrodden, enrich the poor,
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