Then it occurred to Ḥájí Siyyid Javád to invite Mullá `Alí to his own home and question him more closely. Seated on the roof of the house, in the neighbourhood of the Shrine of Imám Ḥusayn, the two of them conversed at length about the 'Great Event', but no matter how hard he tried, Ḥájí Siyyid Javád could not induce his guest to disclose the secret which he had been bidden to withhold. So frustrated did he feel that, on his own admission, Ḥájí Siyyid Javád gripped the arms of Mullá `Alí, pushed him hard against the wall and exclaimed: 'What am I to do with you, Mullá `Alí! Kill you? Won't you say who that wondrous Being is? Won't you relieve us of this misery?' Gasping for breath, Mullá `Alí replied: 'Siyyid Javád! It is forbidden. You yourself are a man of learning. You should know better. It is forbidden.' And then quite unexpectedly and without knowing why, Mullá `Alí added that the Báb had specially mentioned that all His letters extant in `Iráq, whoever the recipient might have been, ought to be sent to Shíráz. No sooner had Mullá `Alí spoken than Ḥájí Siyyid Javád had, in a flash, a mental picture of Siyyid `Alí-Muḥammad, whom he had known and admired since His childhood. He ran down the stairs to the room where he kept his papers, gathered up the letters he had received from Siyyid `Alí-Muḥammad and hurried back to the roof. The moment Mullá `Alí caught sight of the seal on those letters he burst into tears, and so did Ḥájí Siyyid Javád. They wept for joy, and between his sobs Mullá `Alí kept repeating: `Áqá Siyyid Javád! Áqá Siyyid Javád! I did not mention any name to you. It is forbidden to mention His blessed name. Don't mention His name to anyone.'[5]
Thus did Ḥájí Siyyid Javád-i-Karbilá'í find his new Faith, to which he remained steadfastly loyal throughout his long life. We shall hear later a good deal more of this remarkable man.
Siyyid `Alí-Muḥammad had some six to seven years of schooling with Shaykh `Ábid. In all probability He left the school at the Qahviy-i-Awlíyá' before He was thirteen. According to Ḥájí Mírzá Ḥabíbu'lláh's narrative, He joined Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid `Alí, His uncle-guardian, in business when He was fifteen years old,[AL] and shortly afterwards moved to Búshihr. Pages of commercial accounts which He kept put it beyond doubt that the Báb left Shíráz for Búshihr when He was nearly sixteen. There can be little doubt that at an early age the Báb took over the complete management of the trading-house in Búshihr. His scrupulous attention to detail and His undeviating fairness in transactions became widely known in the region. A man who had consigned to Him some goods to sell was astonished to find, when he received his money, that it was more than could be obtained at current prices. He wanted to return some of it. The Báb told him that it was only fair and just that he should be given that particular sum, because his goods would have fetched exactly that amount had they been offered for sale when the market was at its best.
A.-L.-M. Nicolas maintains that the Báb was also engaged in writing and composing, during this period of His sojourn in Búshihr. He mentions a treatise, the Risáliy-i-Fiqhíyyih, as having come from the pen of the Báb during those years.[6] His statement is corroborated by Ḥájí Mírzá Ḥabíbu'lláh's narrative:
One day in Egypt during the time when Mírzá Abu'l-Faḍl was occupied with writing his book, the Fará'id, we came to talk about the early years of the Báb, prior to His declaration, and the period when He was engaged in trading. Mírzá Abu'l-Faḍl related the following to me: 'I myself heard the late Ḥájí Siyyid Javád-i-Karbilá'í say that when the Báb was pursuing the career of a merchant in Búshihr, he ... because of his friendship with the uncles of the Báb used to stay with them whenever he visited either Shíráz or Búshihr. One day Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid Muḥammad came to him with a request. "Give some good counsel to my nephew ... tell Him not to write certain things which can only arouse the jealousy of some people: these people cannot bear to see a young merchant of little schooling show such erudition, they feel envious." Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid Muḥammad had been very insistent that Ḥájí Siyyid Javád should counsel the Báb to desist from writing. Ḥájí Siyyid Javád had however replied with these lines of verse: "The fair of face cannot put up with the veil; Shut him in, and out of the window will he show his visage," and had added: "We are earth-bound and He is celestial. Our counsel is of no use to Him."'
Mullá Muḥammad-i-Zarandí, Nabíl-i-A`ẓam, lays particular stress on the Báb's strict regard for His devotions on Fridays. Even the torrid conditions of Búshihr, he states, did not deter the Báb. Writers of such histories as the Násikhu't-Taváríkh,[7] hostile to the Báb, have alleged that long exposure to the severe heat of the sun in that seaport, while engaged in prayers, affected His mind. They have gone on to assert that it was this derangement of mind which led Him to make extravagant claims. But Ḥájí Mírzá Jání of Káshán refutes any suggestion that the Báb deliberately practised austerities, or that He found Himself a 'murshid' (spiritual guide) to direct Him along such lines.
Unfortunately records of the years that the Báb spent in Búshihr are scant. We cannot be certain as to the exact dates when He took over the complete management of the trading-house and when He retired. Ḥájí Mu`ínu's-Salṭanih of Tabríz states in his chronicle that the Báb assumed direct responsibility at the age of twenty. If that statement be correct, the period during which He acted on His own was quite brief. According to Mírzá Abu'l-Faḍl of Gulpáygán, He journeyed to the holy cities of `Iráq in the spring of 1841, stayed in `Iráq for nearly seven months and returned to His 'native province of Fárs' in the autumn of that year. Ḥájí Mírzá Ḥabíbu'lláh states that the Báb's sojourn in Búshihr lasted six years. According to him, when the Báb decided to go on pilgrimage to the holy cities of `Iráq, He wrote to His uncles in Shíráz asking them to come and take over the business from Him. His uncles, however, procrastinated, whereupon the Báb settled all the outstanding matters in Búshihr Himself, brought His books up to date, locked and sealed the door of the office and left the keys with the gatekeeper of the caravanserai, to be handed over to any one of His uncles. He informed His uncles of what He had done and explained that since they had not heeded His repeated pleas He had no other alternative, determined as He was to go on pilgrimage to the holy cities.[AM] Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid Muḥammad was greatly perturbed lest their credit be damaged and their clients suffer serious loss. But Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid `Alí assured him that their nephew would never do anything to compromise them and that all accounts would be found in perfect order. Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid Muḥammad hurried to Búshihr where a close inspection of the books satisfied him that nothing had been left to chance.