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Hearing this, Abdu’l-Hamíd Khán decided the only recourse he had was to take the Báb to his own house and keep him in custody there until the governor returned and gave him instructions as to what to do.
“Punish him not for the guilt which his father has committed”
Nabíl records what happened next as follows:
As he [‘Abdu’l-Hamíd Khán] was approaching his own house, he was struck by the sound of weeping and wailing of the members of his household. His son had been attacked by the plague and was hovering on the brink of death. In his despair, he threw himself at the feet of the Báb and tearfully implored Him to save the life of his son. He begged Him to forgive his past transgressions and misdeeds. “I adjure you,” he entreated the Báb as he clung to the hem of His garment, “by Him who has elevated you to this exalted position, to intercede in my behalf and to offer a prayer for the recovery of my son. Suffer not that he, in the prime of youth, be taken away from me. Punish him not for the guilt which his father has committed. I repent of what I have done, and at this moment resign my post. I solemnly pledge my word that never again will I accept such a position even though I perish of hunger.”
The Bab, who was in the act of performing His ablutions8ACT5 and was preparing to offer the prayer of dawn, directed him to take some of the water with which He was washing His face to his son and request him to drink it. This He said would save his life.9ACT5
Abdu’l-Hamid Khan did as he was told, and soon afterwards his son began to recover. Nabil then records:
No sooner had ‘Abdu’l-Hamíd Khán witnessed the signs of the recovery of his son than he wrote a letter to the governor in which he acquainted him with the whole situation and begged him to cease his attacks on the Báb. “Have pity on yourself,” he wrote him, “as well as on those whom Providence has committed to your care. Should the fury of this plague continue its fatal course, no one in this city, I fear, will by the end of this day have survived the horror of its attack.” 10ACT5
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