great luminary, the excellent and distinguished Siyyid
Kazim-i-Ra_sh_ti,(106) they left for Karbila, accompanied by Mirza Hadi's
brother, Mirza Muhammad-'Aliy-i-Nahri.(107) Here they used to attend the
Siyyid's classes, imbibing his knowledge, so that this handmaid became
thoroughly informed on subjects relating to Divinity, on the Scriptures
and on their inner meanings. The couple had two children, a girl and a
boy. They called their son Siyyid 'Ali and their daughter Fatimih Begum,
she being the one who, when she reached adolescence, was married to the
King of Martyrs.

_Sh_amsu'd-Duha was there in Karbila when the cry of the exalted Lord was
raised in _Sh_iraz, and she shouted back, "Yea, verily!" As for her
husband and his brother, they immediately set out for _Sh_iraz; for both
of them, when visiting the Shrine of Imam Husayn, had looked upon the
beauty of the Primal Point, the Bab; both had been astonished at what they
saw in that transplendent face, in those heavenly attributes and ways, and
had agreed that One such as this must indeed be some very great being.
Accordingly, the moment they learned of His Divine summons, they answered:
"Yea, verily!" and they burst into flame with yearning love for God.
Besides, they had been present every day in that holy place where the late
Siyyid taught, and had clearly heard him say: "The Advent is nigh, the
affair most subtle, most elusive. It behoves each one to search, to
inquire, for it may be that the Promised One is even now present among
men, even now visible, while all about Him are heedless, unmindful, with
bandaged eyes, even as the sacred traditions have foretold."

When the two brothers arrived in Persia they heard that the Bab had gone
to Mecca on a pilgrimage. Siyyid Muhammad-'Ali therefore left for Isfahan
and Mirza Hadi returned to Karbila. Meanwhile _Sh_amsu'd-Duha had become
friends with the "Leaf of Paradise," sister to Mulla Husayn, the
Babu'l-Bab.(108) Through that lady she had met Tahirih,
Qurratu'l-'Ayn,(109) and had begun to spend most of her time in close
companionship with them both, occupied in teaching the Faith. Since this
was in the early days of the Cause, the people were not yet afraid of it.
From being with Tahirih, _Sh_ams profited immeasurably, and was more on
fire with the Faith than ever. She spent three years in close association
with Tahirih in Karbila. Day and night, she was stirred like the sea by
the gales of the All-Merciful, and sh