I was a child, nine years old. In the thick of those
calamities, [Baha'u'llah was confined in the Siyah-Chal] when the enemy attacked, they stoned our house and it had filled up
with stones. We had nobody to help us. There was only my mother, [1] my sister,
[2] and Aqa Mirza Muhammad-Quli. [3] To protect us, my mother took us away from
the Shimiran Gate to the Sangilaj quarter, where in the back lanes she found a
house. In that house she watched over us and forbade us ever to set foot on the
street. But one day the problem of how to get food became so urgent that my
mother said to me: ‘Can you go to your aunt’s house? [4] Tell her to find a few
krans [5] for us, no matter how.’
Our aunt lived in the Takyih [6] of Haji Rajab-’Ali, near
the house of Mirza Hasan Kajdamagh. I went there. She tried everywhere and
finally managed to collect five krans, which she tied up in the corner of a
handkerchief and gave me.
On my way back through the Takyih, the son of Mirza Hasan
recognized me. Immediately he called out, ‘This one is a Bábí!’ and the boys
ran after me. The house of Mulla Ja’far of Astarabad was not far away, and I
reached it and went into the entry. The son of Mulla Ja’far saw me but he did
not put me out. Neither did he rout the boys.
