issed some of her traveling
companions, so that they could return to Ba_gh_dad; others, however,
accompanied her to Qazvin.

As they journeyed, some horsemen, kinsfolk of Tahirih's, that is, her
brothers, approached. "We have come," they said, "at our father's command,
to lead her away, alone." But Tahirih refused, and accordingly the whole
party remained together until they arrived in Qazvin. Here, Tahirih went
to her father's house and the friends, those who had ridden and those who
had traveled on foot, put up at a caravanserai. Mirza Hadi, the husband of
_Sh_amsu'd-Duha, had gone to Mah-Ku, seeking out the Bab. On his return,
he awaited the arrival of _Sh_ams in Qazvin, after which the couple left
for Isfahan, and when they reached there, Mirza Hadi journeyed on to
Bada_sh_t. In that hamlet and its vicinity he was attacked, tormented,
even stoned, and was subjected to such ordeals that finally, in a ruined
caravanserai, he died. His brother, Mirza Muhammad-'Ali, buried him there,
along the roadside.

_Sh_ams-i-Duha remained in Isfahan. She spent her days and nights in the
remembrance of God and in teaching His Cause to the women of that city.
She was gifted with an eloquent tongue; her utterance was wonderful to
hear. She was highly honored by the leading women of Isfahan, celebrated
for piety, for godliness, and the purity of her life. She was chastity
embodied; all her hours were spent in reciting Holy Writ, or expounding
the Texts, or unraveling the most complex of spiritual themes, or
spreading abroad the sweet savors of God.

It was for these reasons that the King of Martyrs married her respected
daughter and became her son-in-law. And when _Sh_ams went to live in his
princely house, day and night the people thronged its doors, for the
leading women of the city, whether friends or strangers, whether close to
her or not, would come and go. For she was a fire lit by the love of God,
and she proclaimed the Word of God with great ardor and verve, so that she
became known among the non-believers as Fatimih, the Baha'is' Lady of
Light.(113)

And so time passed, until the day when the "She-Serpent" and the "Wolf"
conspired together and issued a decree, a fatva, that sentenced the King
of Martyrs to death. They plotted as well with the Governor of the city so
that among them they could sack and plunder and carry off all that vast
treasure he possessed. Then the _Sh_ah joined forces with those two wild
animals; and