“They pierced his nose, passed a cord through the incision, and with this halter led and paraded him through the streets.”81ACT6
The companion Bábís were upset at this outrageous assault upon so innocent a fellow-believer and urged Mullá Husayn to avenge this. Mullá Husayn on the contrary tried to appease their anger and not think of revenge. He did not even initially report it to Quddús, lest this sadden Quddús’ heart. However, in spite of Mullá Husayn’s counsel, some of the companion Bábís could not hold themselves back. They decided to band together and stop the injustice. They marched to where Hasan was being tortured, and as they marched they raised the cry of “Yá Sáhibu’z-Zamán!” [“O Lord of the Age”, one of the titles of the Qá’im]. The city re-echoed with the sound of this call and its reverberations could be felt throughout the area. This was the first time this cry was raised publicly by the Bábís. It will be raised many more times in the future throughout the land.
Nabíl then recounts:
In the midst of the confusion that ensued, those who were holding the halter with which they dragged Hasan through the streets, perished by the sword. The companions of Mullá Husayn conducted the released captive into the presence of their leader and informed him of the fate that had befallen the oppressor. “You have refused,” Mullá Husayn is reported to have remarked, “to tolerate the trials to which Hasan has been subjected; how can you reconcile yourselves to the martyrdom of Husayn?”82ACT6
Change in Plans: “We shall meet at whatever place the Almighty will have decreed”
Mashhad was now in a great state of unrest. The city had only just recovered from an earlier rebellion. It was to avoid being embroiled in this rebellion that Mullá Husayn had left Mashhad hastily and gone to Máh-Kú [DB 13-16, Section 1]. Also because of that rebellion, the Sháh had sent a whole regiment of soldiers headed by Prince Hamzih Mírzá. That regiment was still stationed not far from Mashhad, so as soon as news of this new unrest surfaced, the Prince ordered his artillery captain83ACT6 to bring Mullá Husayn to him. When the artillery captain, who not only
Table of Contents
