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His orders to Ali Khan, the warden of the fortress of Mah- Ku, were stringent and explicit. On His way to that fortress the Bab passed a number of days in Tabriz, days that were marked by such an intense excitement on the part of the populace that, except for a few persons, neither the public nor His followers were allowed to meet Him. As He was escorted through the streets of the city the shout of "Allah- u- Akbar" resounded on every side. So great, indeed, became the clamor that the town crier was ordered to warn the inhabitants that any one who ventured to seek the Bab's presence would forfeit all his possessions and be imprisoned. Upon His arrival in Mah- Ku, surnamed by Him Jabal- i- Basit (the Open Mountain) no one was allowed to see Him for the first two weeks except His amanuensis, Siyyid Husayn, and his brother. So grievous was His plight while in that fortress that, in the Persian Bayan, He Himself has stated that at night- time He did not even have a lighted lamp, and that His solitary chamber, constructed of sun- baked bricks, lacked even a door, while, in His Tablet to Muhammad Shah, He has complained that the inmates of the fortress were confined to two guards and four dogs.
(18:2)
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