When the two brothers arrived in Persia they heard that the Báb had gone to Mecca on a pilgrimage. Siyyid Muḥammad-‘Alí therefore left for Iṣfáhán and Mírzá Hádí returned to Karbilá. Meanwhile _Sh_amsu’d-Ḍuḥá had become friends with the “Leaf of Paradise,” sister to Mullá Husayn, the Bábu’l-Báb.(108) Through that lady she had met Táhirih, Qurratu’l-‘Ayn,(109) and had begun to spend most of her time in close companionship with them both, occupied in teaching the Faith. Since this was in the early days of the Cause, the people were not yet afraid of it. From being with Táhirih, _Sh_ams profited immeasurably, and was more on fire with the Faith than ever. She spent three years in close association with Táhirih in Karbilá. Day and night, she was stirred like the sea by the gales of the All-Merciful, and she taught with an eloquent tongue. As Táhirih became celebrated throughout Karbilá, and the Cause of His Supreme Holiness, the Báb, spread all over Persia, the latter-day ‘ulamás arose to deny, to heap scorn upon, and to destroy it. They issued a fatvá or judgment that called for a general massacre. Táhirih was one of those designated by the evil ‘ulamás of the city as an unbeliever, and they mistakenly thought her to be in the home of _Sh_amsu’d-Ḍuḥá. They broke into _Sh_ams’s house, hemmed her in, abused and vilified her, and inflicted grievous bodily harm. They dragged her out of the house and through the streets to the bázár; they beat her with clubs; they stoned her, they denounced her in foul language, repeatedly assaulting her. While this was going on, Ḥájí Siyyid Mihdí, the father of her distinguished husband, reached the scene. “This woman is not Táhirih!” he shouted at them. But he had no witness to prove it,(110) and the farrá_sh_es, the police and the mob would not let up. Then, through the uproar, a voice screamed out: “They have arrested Qurratu’l-‘Ayn!” At this, the people abandoned _Sh_amsu’d-Ḍuḥá. Guards were placed at the door of Táhirih’s house and no one was allowed to enter or leave, while the authorities waited for instructions from Ba_gh_dád and Constantinople. As the interval of waiting lengthened out, Táhirih asked for permission to leave for Ba_gh_dád. “Let us go there ourselves,” she told them. “We are resigned to everything. Whatever happens to us is the best that can happen, and the most pleasing.” With government permission, Táhirih, the Leaf of Paradise, her mother and _Sh_amsu’d-Ḍuḥá all left Karbilá and traveled to Ba_gh_dád, but the snake-like mass of the populace followed them for some distance, stoning them from a little way off.