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The former had, after the execution of the Bab, sustained such a violent shock that his faith almost forsook him. Wandering for a time, in the guise of a dervish, in the mountains of Mazindaran, he, by his behavior, had so severely tested the loyalty of his fellow- believers in Nur, most of whom had been converted through the indefatigable zeal of Baha'u'llah, that they too wavered in their convictions, some of them going so far as to throw in their lot with the enemy. He subsequently proceeded to Rasht, and remained concealed in the province of Gilan until his departure for Kirmanshah, where in order the better to screen himself he entered the service of a certain Abdu'llah- i- Qasvini, a maker of shrouds, and became a vendor of his goods. He was still there when Baha'u'llah passed through that city on His way to Baghdad, and expressing a desire to live in close proximity to Baha'u'llah but in a house by himself where he could ply some trade incognito, he succeeded in obtaining from Him a sum of money with which he purchased several bales of cotton and then proceeded, in the garb of an Arab, by way of Mandalij to Baghdad. He established himself there in the street of the Charcoal Dealers, situated in a dilapidated quarter of the city, and placing a turban upon his head, and assuming the name of Haji Aliy- i- Las- Furush, embarked on his newly- chosen occupation. Siyyid Muhammad had meanwhile settled in Karbila, and was busily engaged, with Mirza Yahya as his lever, in kindling dissensions and in deranging the life of the exiles and of the community that had gathered about them.
(114:3)
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