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the fort, and beyond them a considerable number of the inhabitants of Zanján, fled in panic to the neighboring villages. Many believed that stupendous uproar to be a sign heralding the Day of Judgement. Nabíl records:
The memory of that night still lingers in the minds of those who experienced its awe and terror. I have heard several eye-witnesses express in glowing terms the contrast between the tumult and disorder that reigned in the camp of the enemy and the atmosphere of reverent devotion that filled the fort. … That night in particular, no sooner had the invocation pealed out than the dissolute officers, who were holding their wineglasses in their hands, dropped them instantly to the ground and rushed out headlong, in bare feet, as if stunned by that stentorian outcry. Gambling tables were overturned in the midst of the disorder that ensued. Half-dressed and bareheaded, a number ran out into the wilderness, while others betook themselves in haste to the homes of the ‘ulamá and roused them from their sleep. Alarmed and overawed, these began to direct their fiercest invectives against one another for having kindled the fire of such great mischief. 50_ACT14
When informed of the terror that that invocation had inspired, Hujjat was heard to comment:
What if I had been permitted by my Master to wage holy war against these cowardly miscreants! I am bidden by Him to instill into men’s hearts the ennobling principles of charity and love, and to refrain from all unnecessary violence. 51_ACT14
This Call of God was raised from the fort many a night. Nabíl records:
As soon as the enemy had discovered the purpose of that loud clamour, they returned to their posts, reassured, though greatly humiliated, by their experience. The officers directed a certain number of their men to lie in ambush and to fire in any direction from which those voices might again proceed. Every night they succeeded in this way in slaying a number of the companions. Undeterred by the losses they were repeatedly sustaining, Hujjat’s supporters continued to raise, with undiminished fervour, their invocation … Even the imminence of death was powerless to induce the intrepid defenders of the fort to give up what they deemed the noblest and most powerful reminder of their Beloved.
52_ACT14
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