In the days of Bahá’u’lláh, during the worst times in the
Most Great Prison, they would not permit any of the friends either to leave the
Fortress or to come in from the outside. … [two Azalís] lived by the second
gate of the city, and watched there at all times, day and night. Whenever they
spied a Bahá’í traveler they would hurry away to the Governor and tell him that
the traveler was bringing in letters and would carry the answers back. The
Governor would then arrest the traveler, seize his papers, jail him, and drive
him out. This became an established custom with the authorities and went on for
a long time—indeed, for nine years until, little by little, the practice was abandoned.
It was at such a period that the Afnán, Hájí Mírzá Muhammad-‘Alí—that
great bough of the Holy Tree [1] — journeyed to Akká, coming from India to Egypt,
and from Egypt to Marseilles. One day I was up on the roof of the caravanserai.
Some of the friends were with me and I was walking up and down. It was sunset.
At that moment, glancing at the distant seashore, I observed that a carriage
was approaching. “Gentlemen,” I said, “I feel that a holy being is in that
carriage.” It was still far away, hardly within sight.
“Let us go to the gate,” I told them. “Although they will
not allow us to pass through, we can stand there till he comes.” I took one or
two people with me and we left.
At the city gate, I called to the guard, privately gave him
something and said: “A carriage is coming in and I think it is bringing one of
our friends. When it reaches here, do not hold it up, and do not refer the
matter to the Governor.” He put out a chair for me and I sat down.
