[Footnote E: `Abdu'l-Bahá has related this story of Siyyid Káẓim's works of charity: '`Alí-[_Sh_]áh [the Ẓillu's-Sulṭán, see Prologue II, p. 10] claimed the throne of Írán. He showed great benevolence towards the divines of Karbilá and Najaf, sent them money and stood up for them. However, he was unsuccessful and betook himself to Karbilá. There he fell on hard times and suffered poverty. He expected the divines to come to his help and applied to them, one by one. But none heeded him. One night he and his family had to go to bed hungry. At midnight he heard a knock on his door. When he opened it he found someone, who had pulled his `abá over his head so as to hide his face. This man put a purse with money in it into his hands and went away. 'Time passed. Indigence and want recurred. Again the same person, head covered with `abá, came at midnight, handed a sum of money and went away without a word. To the repeated question "who are you?" he gave no answer. Then, that man came a third time with a purse containing money. This time `Alí-[_Sh_]áh followed him and saw him enter the house of Ḥájí Siyyid Káẓim and shut the door. `Alí-[_Sh_]áh related this event in many gatherings. He used to say: "O people! I am not a [_Sh_]ay[_kh_]í, but this deed is the work of righteousness. None but a man of truth would act in this way."'[3] [Footnote F: Probably 'yárámáz', meaning 'good-for-nothing'.] Unhappily, his counsel was ignored by both rebels and Turks. In January 1843, after a siege of twenty-four days, the holy city was taken by assault, causing great suffering to the innocent inhabitants. The files of the Public Record Office in London contain several documents that throw light on this episode, as well as on the central part played by Siyyid Káẓim. (See Appendix I.) During the siege Ḥájí Siyyid Káẓim had spent himself in an effort to forestall violence and protect all parties to the conflict. Although only fifty years of age, he became aware that his life was nearing its close. He was warned of this, we are told, by the dream of an Arab shepherd who recounted it to him. When his disciples expressed their distress, Siyyid Káẓim replied: Is not your love for me for the sake of that true One whose advent we all await? Would you not wish me to die, that the promised One may be revealed?[5] The year 1844 was about to dawn when Siyyid Káẓim breathed his last and was laid to rest near the tomb of Imám Ḥusayn. His death was reported by Farrant, who wrote on January 24th 1844 to Sir Stratford Canning, sending a copy in February to Lt.-Col. (later Sir) Justin Sheil,[6] the British chargé d'affaires in Ṭihrán: