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Aba- Basir and Siyyid Ashraf, whose fathers had been slain in the struggle of Zanjan, were decapitated on the same day in that city, the former going so far as to instruct, while kneeling in prayer, his executioner as to how best to deal his blow, while the latter, after having been so brutally beaten that blood flowed from under his nails, was beheaded, as he held in his arms the body of his martyred companion. It was the mother of this same Ashraf who, when sent to the prison in the hope that she would persuade her only son to recant, had warned him that she would disown him were he to denounce his faith, had bidden him follow the example of Aba- Basir, and had even watched him expire with eyes undimmed with tears. The wealthy and prominent Muhammad- Hasan Khan- i- Kashi was so mercilessly bastinadoed in Burujird that he succumbed to his ordeal. In Shiraz Mirza Aqay- i- Rikab- Saz, together with Mirza Rafi'- i- Khayyat and Mashhadi Nabi, were by order of the local mujtahid simultaneously strangled in the dead of night, their graves being later desecrated by a mob who heaped refuse upon them. Shaykh Abu'l- Qasim- i- Mazkani in Kashan, who had declined a drink of water that was offered him before his death, affirming that he thirsted for the cup of martyrdom, was dealt a fatal blow on the nape of his neck, whilst he was prostrating himself in prayer.
(199:2)
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