ha'u'llah to proceed to the home of the Grand Vizir, to whom he formally
communicated his wish that the safety of the Trust the Russian government
was delivering into his keeping should be insured. This purpose, however,
was not achieved because of the Grand Vizir's apprehension that he might
forfeit his position if he extended to the Accused the protection demanded
for Him.

Delivered into the hands of His enemies, this much-feared, bitterly
arraigned and illustrious Exponent of a perpetually hounded Faith was now
made to taste of the cup which He Who had been its recognized Leader had
drained to the dregs. From Niyavaran He was conducted "on foot and in
chains, with bared head and bare feet," exposed to the fierce rays of the
midsummer sun, to the Siyah-_Ch_al of Tihran. On the way He several times
was stripped of His outer garments, was overwhelmed with ridicule, and
pelted with stones. As to the subterranean dungeon into which He was
thrown, and which originally had served as a reservoir of water for one of
the public baths of the capital, let His own words, recorded in His
"Epistle to the Son of the Wolf," bear testimony to the ordeal which He
endured in that pestilential hole. "We were consigned for four months to a
place foul beyond comparison.... Upon Our arrival We were first conducted
along a pitch-black corridor, from whence We descended three steep flights
of stairs to the place of confinement assigned to Us. The dungeon was
wrapped in thick darkness, and Our fellow-prisoners numbered nearly one
hundred and fifty souls: thieves, assassins and highwaymen. Though
crowded, it had no other outlet than the passage by which We entered. No
pen can depict that place, nor any tongue describe its loathsome smell.
Most of those men had neither clothes nor bedding to lie on. God alone
knoweth what befell Us in that most foul-smelling and gloomy place!"
Baha'u'llah's feet were placed in stocks, and around His neck were
fastened the Qara-Guhar chains of such galling weight that their mark
remained imprinted upon His body all the days of His life. "A heavy
chain," 'Abdu'l-Baha Himself has testified, "was placed about His neck by
which He was chained to five other Babis; these fetters were locked
together by strong, very heavy, bolts and screws. His clothes were torn to
pieces, also His headdress. In this terrible condition He was kept for
four months." For three days and three nights, He was denied all manner of
food and dr