CHAPTER 8
THE CITY OF `ABBÁS THE GREAT
The garlands wither on your brow,
Then boast no more your mighty deeds;
Upon Death's purple altar now
See where the victor-victim bleeds:
Your heads must come
To the cold tomb;
Only the actions of the just
Smell sweet and blossom in the dust.
—James Shirley
Autumn was setting in when the Báb left the house of `Abdu'l-Ḥamíd Khán, turned His back on Shíráz and took the road to Iṣfahán. He was attended by Siyyid Káẓim-i-Zanjání.[1] No opportunity had there been for Him to see His mother and His wife, and they never met again. But He said farewell to His uncle, Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid `Alí.
His family was in great distress, and the confounded and frustrated Governor turned upon them to give vent to his fury. First he seized and chastised the venerable Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid `Alí, then had his men break into the house of Ḥájí Mírzá Abu'l-Qásim, the brother-in-law of the Báb, who was dangerously ill in bed. He was dragged out, carried to the Governor's residence, threatened, reviled and fined. Porters took him back to his house, slinging him over their shoulders since he was unable to walk. The people of Shíráz were warned that if a single sheet of the writings of the Báb was found in their possession, they would be severely punished. In their panic, scores dashed to the house of Ḥájí Mírzá Abu'l-Qásim with bundles of the writings of the Báb, all written in His own hand, threw them into the open portico of the house and dashed away, lest they might be seen with the incriminating material. Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid `Alí advised the members of that household to wash away the ink and bury the sodden paper.[CO]
A day or two before the house of Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid `Alí was raided, Ḥájí Mírzá Abu'l-Qásim wrote to Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid Muḥammad, who was still in Búshihr, in tones of great dismay: opposition was mounting, even a relative by marriage was vociferously denouncing the Báb (whom he names as Ḥájí Mírzá `Alí-Muḥammad throughout his letter) and Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid `Alí. As there were certain matters which Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid `Alí could not manage by himself, he desired Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid Muḥammad to come as soon as possible from Búshihr, to do all that was needed to settle their affairs. 'Some people may feel ashamed and keep within bounds when they see you,' he wrote. He wanted to be freed of their trading engagements so that he could take his family and leave Shíráz, to avoid any further injustices.
Iṣfahán, towards which the Báb set His face, was and is, par excellence, the city of `Abbás the Great, the most illustrious of the Ṣafavid monarchs (1501-1732), who is best known in the West because of his association with the Sherley brothers and the East India Company, with whose aid he drove the Portuguese out of the Persian Gulf. He is 'The Great Sophy' of Shakespeare. Iṣfahán had been the capital of the Saljúqs (Seljucids), centuries before, but it had suffered neglect in the intervening years. Shah `Abbás moved his capital from Qazvín to Iṣfahán, and began restoring the city which was to be styled, erelong, Niṣf-i-Jahán—Half-the-World. Magnificent mosques and colleges and pavilions, and the largest public square in the world, are prominent among that great ruler's works, and are there today to inspire wonder and admiration. But with the decline and eventual fall of the Ṣafavids, Iṣfahán, too, declined and met with repeated misfortunes in the days of the Qájárs, who pulled down or painted over Ṣafavid buildings.
In that autumn of 1846, the Governor-General of Iṣfahán was a Georgian eunuch: Manúchihr Khán, the Mu`tamidu'd-Dawlih. He had been, writes Layard,