He arrived at a time when all the leading `ulamás of the city had assembled in the presence of Ḥujjat. As soon as he appeared, Ḥujjat enquired whether he believed in, or rejected, the new Revelation. Mullá Iskandar submitted the writings of the Báb ... and asserted that whatever should be the verdict of his master, the same would he deem it his obligation to follow. 'What!' angrily exclaimed Ḥujjat. 'But for the presence of this distinguished company, I would have chastised you severely. How dare you consider matters of belief to be dependent upon the approbation or rejection of others?' Receiving from the hand of his messenger the copy of the Qayyúmu'l-Asmá', he, as soon as he had perused a page of that book, fell prostrate upon the ground and exclaimed: 'I bear witness that these words which I have read proceed from the same Source as that of the Qur'án. Whoso has recognised the truth of that sacred Book must needs testify to the Divine origin of these words, and must needs submit to the precepts inculcated by their Author. I take you, members of this assembly, as my witnesses: I pledge such allegiance to the Author of this Revelation that should He ever pronounce the night to be the day, and declare the sun to be a shadow, I would unreservedly submit to His judgment, and would regard His verdict as the voice of Truth.'[18] [Footnote CJ: He was called Ḥujjatu'l-Islám (The Proof of Islám), an appellation given to highly-placed and well-recognized divines. The Báb gave him the designation: Ḥujjat-i-Zanjání.] Mullá Muḥammad-`Alí of Zanján, who, like Siyyid Yaḥyá of Dáráb, was destined to become a brilliant star in the Bábí firmament, was a practitioner of the A[_kh_]bárí school,[19] and that had placed him oftentimes at odds with other divines of his rank and station. Beyond that variance Mullá Muḥammad-`Alí was always very forceful and emphatic in the expression of his views. That forthrightness, sustained by his vast knowledge and lucid speech, had led to serious disputations with his peers. Time and again the mediation of no less a person than the monarch himself had saved the situation from deterioration into violence. He had once before been summoned to Ṭihrán, where, in the presence of Muḥammad [_Sh_]áh, he had worsted his opponents. As the common parlance has it, he was not a man to mince his words. * * * * *