November 18

In the days of Bahá’u’lláh, during the worst times in the Most Great Prison, they would not permit any of the friends either to leave the Fortress or to come in from the outside. “Skew-Cap” [Áqá Ján. Cf. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 189] and the Siyyid [Siyyid Muhammad, the Antichrist of the Bahá’í Revelation. Cf. God Passes By, pp. 164 and 189] lived by the second gate of the city, and watched there at all times, day and night. Whenever they spied a Bahá’í traveler they would hurry away to the Governor and tell him that the traveler was bringing in letters and would carry the answers back. The Governor would then arrest the traveler, seize his papers, jail him, and drive him out. This became an established custom with the authorities and went on for a long time—indeed, for nine years until, little by little, the practice was abandoned. (‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘Memorials of the Faithful’)