The man who took the decision to have the Báb executed was Mírzá Taqí [_Kh_]án, the Grand Vizier of Náṣiri'd-Dín [_Sh_]áh. His obdurate nature brooked no opposition. Mírzá Áqá [_Kh_]án-i-Núrí, who had a ministerial post, made a faint protest, but his voice went unheeded. Orders were sent to Ḥamzih Mírzá, the Ḥi[_sh_]matu'd-Dawlih, Governor-General of Á[_dh_]arbáyján, to bring the Báb to Tabríz. When these were carried out further orders came from the Grand Vizier, brought by no less a person than his brother, Mírzá Ḥasan [_Kh_]án, the Vazír Nizám. They were to the effect that the Báb should be executed by a firing squad, in full public view. Ḥi[_sh_]matu'd-Dawlih refused absolutely to be associated in any way with such a dastardly action. His response was: 'I am neither Ibn-i-Zíyád nor Ibn-i-Sa`d[ED] that he should call upon me to slay an innocent descendant of the Prophet of God.'[5] [Footnote ED: Men responsible for the tragedy of Karbilá, and the martyrdom of Imám Ḥusayn.] The Grand Vizier, on being informed by Mírzá Ḥasan [_Kh_]án of this refusal, instructed his brother to carry out the orders under his own authority. Divested of His turban and sash which indicated His lineage, the Báb and His attendants were taken on foot to the barracks, from the house which the Governor had put at their disposal. On the way to the citadel, a youth, barefoot and dishevelled, threw himself at the feet of the Báb, beseeching Him: 'Send me not from Thee, O Master. Wherever Thou goest, suffer me to follow Thee.' To this the Báb replied: 'Muḥammad-`Alí, arise, and rest assured that you will be with Me. Tomorrow you shall witness what God has decreed.'[6] This youth, Mírzá Muḥammad-`Alíy-i-Zunúzí, had long been devoted to the Báb, but his stepfather[EE] had used every subterfuge to prevent him from meeting the Báb and voicing his allegiance, even going to the length of locking him up in his own house. [_Sh_]ay[_kh_] Ḥasan-i-Zunúzí was related to the family, and thus had access to Mírzá Muḥammad-`Alí. Visiting him one day, [_Sh_]ay[_kh_] Ḥasan found the youth transformed, no longer wretched and bemoaning his fate, but happy and at peace. 'The eyes of my Beloved,' he told [_Sh_]ay[_kh_] Ḥasan, 'have beheld this face, and these eyes have gazed upon His countenance.' He then recounted an experience he had had: