_Sh_u_sh_tar came out of his shop. He embraced Salman and cried: "Where
have you been, _Kh_ajih Muhammad-'Ali? When did you arrive? Welcome!"

Salman replied, "I came here a few days ago and now the police have
arrested me."

"What do you want with him?" the merchant asked the farra_sh_. "What are
you after?"

"He is a Babi," was the answer. "God forbid!" cried the man from
_Sh_u_sh_tar. "I know him well. _Kh_ajih Muhammad-'Ali is a God-fearing
Muslim, a _Sh_i'ih, a devout follower of the Imam 'Ali." With this he gave
the farra_sh_ a sum of money and Salman was freed.

They went into the shop and the merchant began to ask Salman how he was
faring. Salman told him: "I am not _Kh_ajih Muhammad-'Ali."

The man from _Sh_u_sh_tar was dumbfounded. "You look exactly like him!" he
exclaimed. "You two are identical. However, since you are not he, give me
back the money I paid the farra_sh_."

Salman immediately handed him the money, left, went out through the city
gate and made for Hindiyan.

When Baha'u'llah arrived in 'Iraq, the first messenger to reach His holy
presence was Salman, who then returned with Tablets addressed to the
friends in Hindiyan. Once each year, this blessed individual would set out
on foot to see his Well-Beloved, after which he would retrace his steps,
carrying Tablets to many cities, Isfahan, _Sh_iraz, Ka_sh_an, Tihran, and
the rest.

From the year 69 until the ascension of Baha'u'llah in 1309 A.H.,(7)
Salman would arrive once a year, bringing letters, leaving with the
Tablets, faithfully delivering each one to him for whom it was intended.
Every single year throughout that long period, he came on foot from Persia
to 'Iraq, or to Adrianople, or to the Most Great Prison at Akka; came with
the greatest eagerness and love, and then went back again.

He had remarkable powers of endurance. He traveled on foot, as a rule
eating nothing but onions and bread; and in all that time, he moved about
in such a way that he was never once held up and never once lost a letter
or a Tablet. Every letter was safely delivered; every Tablet reached its
intended recipient. Over and over again, in Isfahan, he was subjected to
severe trials, but he remained patient and thankful under all conditions,
and earned from non-Baha'is the title of "the Babis' Angel Gabriel."

Throughout his entire life, Salman rendered this momentous service to the
Cause of God, becoming the means of its spread and contributing to the
hap