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"It was whispered," writes an eyewitness of both the ceremony and the assassination, "that the day of the Shah's celebration was to be the greatest in the history of Persia... Prisoners were to be released without condition, and a general amnesty was to be proclaimed; peasants were promised exemption from taxes for at least two years... the poor were to be fed for months. Ministers and officials were already intriguing for honors and pension from the Shah. Shrines and sacred places were to open their gates to all wayfarers and pilgrims, and the siyyids and mullas were taking cough medicine to clear their throats to sing and chant the praise of the Shah in all the pulpits. The mosques were swept and prepared for general meetings and public prayers in behalf of the Sovereign... Sacred fountains were enlarged to hold more holy water, and the rightful authorities had foreseen that many miracles might take place on the day of the jubilee, with the aid of these fountains... The Shah had declared... that he would renounce his prerogatives as despot, and proclaim himself 'The Majestic Father of all the Persians.' The city authority was to relax its vigilant watch. No record was to be kept of the strangers who flocked to the caravanserais, and the population was to be left free to wander the streets during the whole night." Even the great mujtahids had, according to what had been reported to that same eyewitness, "decided, for the time being, to discontinue persecuting the Babis and other infidels." (69:1) Thus fell the one whose reign will remain forever associated with the most heinous crime in history - the martyrdom of that One Whom the Supreme Manifestation of God proclaimed to be the "Point round Whom the realities of the Prophets and Messengers revolve." In a Tablet in which the pen of Baha'u'llah condemns him, we read: "Among them (kings of the earth) is the King of Persia, who suspended Him Who is the Temple of the Cause (the Bab) in the air, and put Him to death with such cruelty that all created things, and the inmates of Paradise, and the concourse on high wept for Him. He slew, moreover, some of Our kindred, and plundered Our property, and made Our family captives in the hands of the oppressors. Once and again he imprisoned Me. By God, the True One! None can reckon the things which befell Me in prison, save God, the Reckoner, the Omniscient, the Almighty. Subsequently he banished Me and My family from My country, whereupon We arrived in Iraq in evident sorrow. We tarried there until the time when the King of Rum (Sultan of Turkey) arose against Us, and summoned Us unto the seat of his sovereignty. When We reached it there flowed over Us that whereat the King of Persia rejoiced. Later We entered this Prison, wherein the hands of Our loved ones were torn from the hem of Our robe. In such a manner hath he dealt with Us!"
(69:2)
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