reign of one who styled himself "Footpath of
Heaven," and "Asylum of the Universe." A triple darkness of chaos,
bankruptcy and oppression enveloped the country. His own assassination was
the first portent of the revolution which was to restrict the prerogatives
of his son and successor, depose the last two monarchs of the House of
Qajar, and extinguish their dynasty. On the eve of his jubilee, which was
to inaugurate a new era, and the celebration of which had been elaborately
prepared, he fell, in the shrine of _Sh_ah 'Abdu'l-'Azim, a victim to an
assassin's pistol, his dead body driven back to his capitol, propped up in
the royal carriage in front of his Grand Vizir, in order to defer the news
of his murder.

"It was whispered," writes an eyewitness of both the ceremony and the
assassination, "that the day of the _Sh_ah's celebration was to be the
greatest in the history of Persia.... Prisoners were to be released
without condition, and a general amnesty was to be proclaimed; peasants
were promised exemption from taxes for at least two years. ...the poor
were to be fed for months. Ministers and officials were already intriguing
for honors and pension from the _Sh_ah. Shrines and sacred places were to
open their gates to all wayfarers and pilgrims, and the siyyids and mullas
were taking cough medicine to clear their throats to sing and chant the
praises of the _Sh_ah in all the pulpits. The mosques were swept and
prepared for general meetings and public prayers in behalf of the
Sovereign.... Sacred fountains were enlarged to hold more holy water, and
the rightful authorities had foreseen that many miracles might take place
on the day of the jubilee, with the aid of these fountains.... The _Sh_ah
had declared ... that he would renounce his prerogatives as despot, and
proclaim himself 'The Majestic Father of all the Persians.' The city
authority was to relax its vigilant watch. No record was to be kept of the
strangers who flocked to the caravanserais, and the population was to be
left free to wander the streets during the whole night." Even the great
mujtahids had, according to what had been reported to that same
eyewitness, "decided, for the time being, to discontinue persecuting the
Babis and other infidels."

Thus fell the one whose reign will remain forever associated with the most
heinous crime in history--the martyrdom of that One Whom the Supreme
Manifestation of God proclaimed to be the "Point round Whom the re