im was beheaded by order of _Sh_ay_kh_ Muhammad-Baqir,
and a horse made to gallop over his corpse, which was then delivered to
the flames, while Siyyid Aqa Jan had his ears cut off, and was led by a
halter through the streets and bazaars. A month later occurred in that
same city the tragedy of the two famous brothers Mirza Muhammad-Hasan and
Mirza Muhammad-Husayn, the "twin shining lights," respectively surnamed
"Sultanu'_sh_-_Sh_uhuda" (King of Martyrs) and "Mahbubu'_sh_-_Sh_uhada"
(Beloved of Martyrs), who were celebrated for their generosity,
trustworthiness, kindliness and piety. Their martyrdom was instigated by
the wicked and dishonest Mir Muhammad-Husayn, the Imam-Jum'ih, stigmatized
by Baha'u'llah as the "she-serpent," who, in view of a large debt he had
incurred in his transactions with them, schemed to nullify his obligations
by denouncing them as Babis, and thereby encompassing their death. Their
richly-furnished houses were plundered, even to the trees and flowers in
their gardens, all their remaining possessions were confiscated;
_Sh_ay_kh_ Muhammad-Baqir, denounced by Baha'u'llah as the "wolf,"
pronounced their death-sentence; the Zillu's-Sultan ratified the decision,
after which they were put in chains, decapitated, dragged to the
Maydan-i-_Sh_ah, and there exposed to the indignities heaped upon them by
a degraded and rapacious populace. "In such wise," 'Abdu'l-Baha has
written, "was the blood of these two brothers shed that the Christian
priest of Julfa cried out, lamented and wept on that day." For several
years Baha'u'llah in His Tablets continued to make mention of them, to
voice His grief over their passing and to extol their virtues.

Mulla 'Ali Jan was conducted on foot from Mazindaran to Tihran, the
hardships of that journey being so severe that his neck was wounded and
his body swollen from the waist to the feet. On the day of his martyrdom
he asked for water, performed his ablutions, recited his prayers, bestowed
a considerable gift of money on his executioner, and was still in the act
of prayer when his throat was slit by a dagger, after which his corpse was
spat upon, covered with mud, left exposed for three days, and finally hewn
to pieces. In Namiq Mulla 'Ali, converted to the Faith in the days of the
Bab, was so severely attacked and his ribs so badly broken with a pick-axe
that he died immediately. Mirza A_sh_raf was slain in Isfahan, his corpse
trampled under foot by _Sh_ay_kh_ Muhammad Taq