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reached all parts of Persia, learned divines and esteemed lawyers who were
possessed of power and influence girt up the loins of endeavor for the
eradication and suppression of this sect, exerting their utmost efforts
therefore. And they wrote notice of their decision, to wit "that this
person and his followers are in absolute error and are hurtful to Church
and State." And since the governors in Persia enjoyed the fullest
authority, in some provinces they followed this decision and united in
uprooting and dispersing the Babis. But the late King Muhammad _Sh_ah
acted with deliberation in this matter, reflecting, "This Youth is of the
Pure Lineage and of the family of him addressed with 'were it not for
thee.' So long as no offensive actions which are incompatible with the
public peace and well-being proceed from him, the government should not
interfere with him." And whenever the learned doctors appealed to him from
the surrounding districts, he either gave no answer, or else commanded
them to act with deliberation.

Notwithstanding this, between eminent doctors and illustrious scholars and
those learned persons who were followers of the Bab opposition,
discussion, and strife did so increase that in some provinces they desired
[to resort to] mutual imprecation; and for the governors of the provinces,
too, a means of acquiring gain was produced, so that great tumult and
disturbance arose. And since the malady of the gout had violently attacked
the king's foot and occupied his world-ordering thought, the good judgment
of the Chief Minister, the famous Haji Mirza Aqasi, became the pivot of
the conduct of affairs, and his incapacity and lack of resource became
apparent as the sun. For every hour he formed a new opinion and gave a new
order: at one moment he would seek to support the decision of the doctors,
accounting the eradication and suppression of the Babis as necessary: at
another time he would charge the doctors with aggressiveness, regarding
undue interference as contrary to justice: at another time he would become
a mystic and say, "All these voices are from the King,"(9) or repeat with
his tongue, "Moses is at war with Moses,"(10) or recite, "This is nought
but Thy trial."(11) In short this changeable minister, by reason of his
mismanagement of important matters and failure to control and order the
affairs of the community, so acted that disturbance and clamor arose from
all quarters and directions: the most nota