11. The Grievous Mountain 134 12. That Midsummer Noon 148 13. The Dawn-Breakers 161 Epilogue 189 APPENDICES 1. The Siege of Karbilá 193 2. The Martyrdom of the Báb 202 3. Prelude to the Episode of Nayríz 204 4. The Seven Martyrs of Ṭihrán 206 5. The Episode of Zanján 209 6. Lord Palmerston's Enquiry 214 7. Myth-Making 217 Bibliography 225 Notes 229 Index 243 TO THE SHINING MEMORY OF A LONE AND NOBLE WOMAN WHO SUFFERED IN SILENCE FOR FORTY YEARS THIS STORY OF HER BELOVED HUSBAND IS DEDICATED _Foreword_ The present book completes the trilogy on the lives of the Founders of the Bahá'í Faith. However, now that additional material is at my disposal, it is my hope to expand at a future date the volume on the life of Bahá'u'lláh, and also to write a supplement to the volume on the life of `Abdu'l-Bahá. This book is the first in the range of Bahá'í literature to make extensive use of official documents from governmental archives. I am greatly indebted to Moojan Momen who has generously shared with me the results of his able research in the Public Record Office of London and elsewhere. The two British Foreign Secretaries who received news and dispatches regarding the Báb and the Bábís were the Earl of Aberdeen, who held office from September 1841 to July 1846, under Sir Robert Peel; and Viscount Palmerston, whose tenure of office extended from July 1846 to January 1852, under Lord John Russell. The British envoy chiefly involved in forwarding such reports to London was Lt.-Col. (later Sir Justin) Sheil, the Minister in Ṭihrán. Lord Palmerston's letters to him (F.O. 248/134) state that his dispatches concerning the Báb and the Bábís were 'laid before the Queen'. My deep gratitude goes to Abul-Qasim Afnan, who has unstintingly made available to me the chronicle-history and the autobiography of his father, the late Ḥájí Mírzá Ḥabíbu'lláh, as well as letters written by and to the relatives of the Báb, together with many other documents of inestimable value.