The Báb Himself set out to perform the circumambulation of
the House of God. [Undertake the pilgrimage to Mecca.] On His return, when the
news of His arrival at Búshihr reached Shíráz, there was much
discussion, and a strange excitement and agitation became apparent in that
city. The great majority of the doctors set themselves to repudiate Him,
decreeing slaughter and destruction, and they induced usayn Khán
Ajúdán-báshí, who was the governor of Fárs, to inflict a beating on the
Báb’s missionaries, that is on Mullá Sádiq Muqaddas; then, having burnt his
moustaches and beard together with those of Mírzá Muhammad-‘Alí of Barfurúsh
and Mullá ‘Alí-Akbar of Ardistán, they put halters on all the three and led
them round the streets and bazaars.
Now since the doctors of Persia have no administrative
capacity, they thought that violence and interference would cause extinction
and silence and lead to suppression and oblivion; whereas interference in
matters of conscience causes stability and firmness and attracts the attention
of men’s sight and souls; which fact has received experimental proof many times
and often. So this punishment caused notoriety, and most men fell to making
inquiry. (‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘A Traveler’s Narrative’)
