Thy handmaids, deferring to each, serving each one with her
heart and soul and her whole being, out of love for Thy beauty, and
seeking to win Thy good pleasure. Until her house became known by Thy
name, and the fame of her husband was noised abroad, as one belonging to
Thee, and the Land of Sad (Isfahan) shook and exulted for joy, because of
continual blessings from this mighty champion of Thine; and the scented
herbage of Thy knowledge and the roses of Thy bounty began to burgeon out,
and a great multitude was led to the waters of Thy mercy.

Then the ignoble and the ignorant amongst Thy creatures rose against him,
and with tyranny and malice they pronounced his death; and void of
justice, with harsh oppression, they shed his immaculate blood. Under the
glittering sword that noble personage cried out to Thee: "Praised be Thou,
O my God, that on the Promised Day, Thou hast helped me to attain this
manifest grace; that Thou hast reddened the dust with my blood, spilled
out upon Thy path, so that it puts forth crimson flowers. Favor and grace
are Thine, to grant me this gift which in all the world I longed for most.
Thanks be unto Thee that Thou didst succor me and confirm me and didst
give me to drink of this cup that was tempered at the camphor
fountain(104)--on the Day of Manifestation, at the hands of the cupbearer
of martyrdom, in the assemblage of delights. Thou art verily the One full
of grace, the Generous, the Bestower."

And after they had killed him they invaded his princely house. They
attacked like preying wolves, like lions at the hunt, and they sacked and
plundered and pillaged, seizing the rich furnishings, the ornaments and
the jewels. She was in dire peril then, left with the fragments of her
broken heart. This violent assault took place when the news of his
martyrdom was spread abroad, and the children cried out as panic struck at
their hearts; they wailed and shed tears, and sounds of mourning rose from
out of that splendid home, but there was none to weep over them, there was
none to pity them. Rather was the night of tyranny made to deepen about
them, and the fiery Hell of injustice blazed out hotter than before; nor
was there any torment but the evil doers brought it to bear, nor any agony
but they inflicted it. And this holy leaf remained, she and her brood, in
the grip of their oppressors, facing the malice of the unmindful, with
none to be their shield.

And the days passed by when tears were