he commanded that the blood of both brothers, the King of
Martyrs and the Beloved of Martyrs, be spilled out. Without warning, those
ruthless men: the She-Serpent, the Wolf, and their brutal farra_sh_es and
constabulary--attacked; they chained the two brothers and led them off to
prison, looted their richly furnished houses, wrested away all their
possessions, and spared no one, not even infants at the breast. They
tortured, cursed, reviled, mocked, beat the kin and others of the victims'
household, and would not stay their hands.

In Paris, Zillu's-Sultan(114) related the following, swearing to the truth
of it upon his oath: "Many and many a time I warned those two great scions
of the Prophet's House, but all to no avail. At the last I summoned them
one night, and with extreme urgency I told them in so many words:
'Gentlemen, the _Sh_ah has three times condemned you to death. His farmans
keep on coming. The decree is absolute and there is only one course open
to you now: you must, in the presence of the 'ulamas, clear yourselves and
curse your Faith.' Their answer was: 'Ya Baha'u'l-Abha! O Thou Glory of
the All-Glorious! May our lives be offered up!' Finally I agreed to their
not cursing their Faith. I told them all they had to say was, 'We are not
Baha'is.' 'Just those few words,' I said, 'will be enough; then I can
write out my report for the _Sh_ah, and you will be saved.' 'That is
impossible,' they answered, 'because we are Baha'is. O Thou Glory of the
All-Glorious, our hearts hunger for martyrdom! Ya Baha'u'l-Abha!' I was
enraged, then, and I tried, by being harsh with them, to force them to
renounce their Faith, but it was hopeless. The decree of the rapacious
She-Serpent and Wolf, and the _Sh_ah's commands, were carried out."

After those two were martyred, _Sh_amsu'd-Duha was hunted down, and had to
seek a refuge in her brother's house. Although he was not a believer, he
was known in Isfahan as an upright, pious and godly man, a man of
learning, an ascetic who, hermit-like, kept to himself, and for these
reasons he was highly regarded and trusted by all. She stayed there with
him, but the Government did not abandon its search, finally discovered her
whereabouts and summoned her to appear; the evil 'ulamas had a hand in
this, joining forces with the civil authorities. Her brother was therefore
obliged to accompany _Sh_amsu'd-Duha to the Governor's house. He remained
without, while they sent his sister into the wo