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Mu’tamidu’d-Dawlih
[we will just call him Mu’tamid going forward]. He was a very just and popular governor and, although he was a Christian, he was greatly liked and supported by the Sháh himself. The Mu’tamid already had some awareness of the Cause of the Báb due to Mullá Husayn’s visit to Isfáhán right after the Declaration of the Báb. At that time, it was the Mu’tamid who had prevented the clergy in Isfáhán from harassing Mullá Husayn [DB 4-7, Section 1]. Now, with the Báb waiting outside the city gates, Siyyid Kázim of Zanján delivered the Báb’s letter to the Mu’tamid. In this letter, the Báb very courteously informed the Mu’tamid about His wish to stay for a period in Isfáhán and if the Mu’tamid could allocate a place for the Báb to stay. This letter was so beautifully written, both in its prose and in its exquisite writing, that the Mu’tamid was moved to instruct the Imám-Jum’ih
of Isfáhán [the foremost mullá of the city of Isfáhán, and the one who leads the congregation in the Friday prayer] 26ACT5 to host the Báb at the Imám-Jum’ih’s own residence.
Courtyard of the house of the Imám-Jum’ih of Isfáhán, where the Báb stayed. Archival photo.
27ACT5
The Imám-Jum’ih asked several of his closest companions together with his own brother to go out and escort the Báb to the gate of the city, and he himself went to
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