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flames reached the level of the wounds into which they had been thrust. Those who were following a few steps behind him could hear distinctly the sizzling of his flesh. The sight of gore and fire which covered his body, instead of silencing his voice, appeared to heighten his unquenchable enthusiasm. He could still be heard, this time addressing the flames, as they ate into his wounds: “You have long lost your sting, O flames, and have been robbed of your power to pain me. Make haste, for from your very tongues of fire I can hear the voice that calls me to my Beloved!”60_ACT15
Finally, enveloped by flames, he arrived like a conqueror at the gate of Naw. After speaking his last words to the massive crowd, he prostrated himself, prayed and then murmured to the executioner: “My work is now finished. Come and do yours!”. He was still alive when his body was hewn into two with a hatchet. Each half was hung up on the either side of the gate of Naw. 61_ACT15
When the report of Hájí Sulaymán Khán’s martyrdom was given a short while later at a gathering of the authorities, even the Nizámu’l-‘Ulamá [minister of the ‘ulamá] who was present, was shocked and exclaimed: “How strange, how very strange is this Cause!” 62_ACT15
Gate of Naw, Tihrán. Archival photo. 63_ACT15 . 64_ACT15
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