Over the banks of Aras shouldst thou, O Zephyr, pass,
Kiss the earth of that vale and refreshen thy breath thereby.
—Ḥáfiẓ
Máh-Kú,[CY] a town of the province of Ádharbáyján, is in the extreme north-west of Írán, close to the point where the Russo-Turkish frontiers meet. Within a short distance of the town of Máh-Kú and its bleak fortress perched on a mountain peak above, the Aras flows, the Araxes of the Greeks. Ḥájí Mírzá Áqásí contrived to have the Báb banished to this remote corner of the land, well away from the capital, and well away from the areas where His Faith was born and nurtured. But the road to Máh-Kú was through Tabríz, the second city of the realm and the seat of the Crown Prince.
The same horsemen, still under the command of Muḥammad Big, were given the task of escorting the Báb to Tabríz. They had, by then, become greatly devoted to Him. His utter kindness coupled with His majesty of bearing had totally captivated them. Two of the followers of the Báb were allowed to remain with Him: Siyyid Ḥusayn-i-Yazdí and his brother, Siyyid Ḥasan.
On the road north, one of the halting-places was the village of Síyáh-Dihán, close by Qazvín. There the Báb addressed a letter to the Grand Vizier, and also wrote to some of the leading divines of Qazvín, including the father and the uncle of Qurratu'l-`Ayn. A number of the Bábís attained His presence in the village of Síyáh-Dihán during His one night there, and among these was Mullá Iskandar of Zanján, the same man who had visited Shíráz as Ḥujjat's emissary to learn what he could about the Báb. Now the Báb entrusted to him a letter for Ḥájí Sulaymán Khán-i-Afshár, who happened to be in Zanján; he had been a fervent supporter of Siyyid Káẓim-i-Rashtí. To him the Báb wrote:
He whose virtues the late siyyid unceasingly extolled, and to the approach of whose Revelation he continually alluded, is now revealed. I am that promised One. Arise and deliver Me from the hand of the oppressor.[1]
Ḥájí Sulaymán Khán received the letter within three days, but did not heed it and left for the capital.
At that time Hujjat[CZ] was in Ṭihrán, kept there under surveillance. But the moment he heard of the Báb's letter to Sulaymán Khán, he sent a message to the Bábís of Zanján to march out and rescue the Báb. A sizable number of Bábís from Ḥujjat's native town and from Qazvín and Ṭihrán came together and made a concerted effort to carry out their daring scheme. At midnight they reached the spot where the Báb and His escort were bivouacked. The guards were asleep and there was every opportunity to escape. But the Báb told His would-be rescuers that He would not run away. 'The mountains of Adhirbáyján too have their claims.'[2]
Before His mission reached its end Muḥammad Big came to believe in the Báb.[DA] Grief-stricken he went to the Báb and asked to be forgiven: 'The journey from Iṣfahán has been long and arduous. I have failed to do my duty and to serve You as I ought. I crave Your forgiveness, and pray You to vouchsafe me Your blessings.' To this the Báb replied: 'Be assured. I account you a member of My fold. They who embrace My Cause will eternally bless and glorify you, will extol your conduct and exalt your name.'[3] Later, Muḥammad Big met Ḥájí Mírzá Jání once again, and recounted for him the story of that journey to Tabríz. The Káshání merchant included Muḥammad Big's story in his chronicle, and Mírzá Ḥusayn-i-Hamadání, the author of the Táríkh-i-Jadíd (The New History) in turn made use of it in his own work:
... we proceeded to Mílán,[DB] where many of the inhabitants came to see His Holiness, and were filled with wonder at the majesty and dignity of that Lord of mankind. In the morning, as we were setting out from Mílán, an old woman brought a scald-headed child, whose head was so covered with scabs that it was white down to the neck, and entreated His Holiness to heal him. The guards would have forbidden her, but His Holiness prevented them, and called the child to him. Then he drew a handkerchief over its head and repeated certain words; which he had no sooner done than the child was healed. And in that place about two hundred persons believed and underwent a true and sincere conversion ... on leaving Mílán, while we were on the road His Holiness suddenly urged his horse into so swift a gallop that all the horsemen composing the escort were filled with amazement, seeing that his steed was the leanest of all. We galloped after him as hard as we could, but were unable to come up with him, though the horsemen were filled with apprehension lest he should effect his escape. Presently he reined in his horse of his own accord, and, so soon as we came up to him, said with a smile, 'Were I desirous of escaping, you could not prevent me.' And indeed it was even as he said; had he desired in the least degree to escape, none could have prevented him, and under all circumstances he shewed himself endowed with more than human strength. For example, we were all practised horsemen inured to travel, yet, by reason of the cold and our weariness, we were at times hardly able to keep our saddles, while he, on the other hand, during all this period shewed no sign of faintness or weariness, but, from the time when he mounted till he alighted at the end of the stage, would not so much as change his posture or shift his seat.[4]
The stage beyond the village of Mílán was the city of Tabríz itself. As the news spread that the Báb was approaching the city, the Bábís there tried to go out to meet him, but they were stopped and sent back. Only a youth managed to break through the cordon of guards and soldiers. Barefooted, he ran more than a mile till he reached the Báb and His escort. Such was the state of his ecstasy that he flung himself forward in the path of one of the horsemen, caught the hem of his cloak and eagerly and fervently kissed his stirrup. Addressing them all, he cried out: 'Ye are the companions of my Well-Beloved. I cherish you as the apple of my eye.'[5] And when he came into the presence of the Báb, he fell prostrate on the ground and unrestrainedly wept. The Báb dismounted, raised him up, embraced him and wiped his tears.