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In Sirjan, in Dugh- Abad, in Tabriz, in Avih, in Qum, in Najaf- Abad, in Sangsar, in Shahmirzad, in Isfahan, and in Jahrum redoubtable and remorseless enemies, both religious and political, continued, under various pretexts, and even after the signing of the Constitution by the Shah in 1906, and during the reign of his successors, Muhammad- 'Ali Shah and Ahmad Shah, to slay, torture, plunder and abuse the members of a community who resolutely refused to either recant or deviate a hair's breadth from the path laid down for them by their Leaders. Even during Abdu'l- Baha's journeys to the West, and after His return to the Holy Land, and indeed till the end of His life, He continued to receive distressing news of the martyrdom of His followers, and of the outrages perpetrated against them by an insatiable enemy. In Dawlat- Abad, a prince of the royal blood, Habibu'llah Mirza by name, a convert to the Faith who had consecrated his life to its service, was slain with a hatchet and his corpse set on fire. In Mashhad the learned and pious Shaykh Ali- Akbar- i- Quchani was shot to death. In Sultan- Abad, Mirza Ali- Akbar and seven members of his family including a forty day old infant were barbarously massacred. Persecutions of varying degrees of severity broke out in Na'in, in Shahmirzad, in Bandar- i- Jaz and in Qamsar. In Kirmanshah, the martyr Mirza Ya'qub- i- Muttahidih, the ardent twenty- five year old Jewish convert to the Faith, was the last to lay down his life during Abdu'l- Baha's ministry; and his mother, according to his own instructions, celebrated his martyrdom in Hamadan with exemplary fortitude. In every instance the conduct of the believers testified to the indomitable spirit and unyielding tenacity that continued to distinguish the lives and services of the Persian followers of the Faith of Baha'u'llah.
(298:3)
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