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By u/dragfyre
Posted on May 23, 2014
"My last night in Shiraz was one of the most memorable times of my life. We were given the great privilege of visiting the House of the Bab and saying goodbye to this beautiful and most holy place. Although we had come here many times before, it had always been in the daytime. The house was normally closed after dark, and so we had to ask special permission from Mr. Abu'l-Qasim Afnan, the custodian of the House of the Bab, to be allowed in. It was like a pilgrimage for us.
Mrs. Fatimih Haqiqiqatju (who everyone called Naniyyih Aqa Riza), the caretaker, took us up the stairs by candlelight to the room where the Bab had declared His mission for the first time. There could not be too much light or too many visitors at the house for fear of attracting attention in the tense atmosphere that prevailed in Shiraz at that time. But despite this fear, there was the most wonderful spiritual atmosphere in the room as we stood in the light of a single candle and gazed out at the horizon, where the last traces of the sun's orange glow were fading in the west. We each said our prayers quietly in the half-light and remained immersed in our own thoughts. For my part, I was thinking, 'When will I be privileged enough to come here again?'
We came down the stairs with heavy hearts, and after thanking Naniyyih Aqa Riza we left. On our way out my brother and I stopped to pick up two oranges that had fallen from a tree in the outer courtyard of the house. We took them with us on our long journey to England as small reminders of our beloved and holy home town of Shiraz. . .
. . . They had known as soon as the trusteeship was claimed by the government, it would only be a matter of time before the Revolutionary Guards turned their attention to the House of the Bab. It had been attacked twice before.
The first time was in 1942 when it was raided and damaged by fire, after which the Baha'is raised funds to restore it to its original condition. The second was in 1955 when 'uncontrollable mobs' stormed the building, looting anything of value and reducing part of it to rubble.
That day my grandfather had taken me to visit the house, and as we were walking back down the alley towards the main street, we heard a great commotion behind us. A large crowd was swarming towards the house armed with guns, pickaxes and shovels, bursting into the Baha'i shops and houses in the alley. I was very frightened and we hurried away, but not before we had seen the first pickaxe fall on that beautiful house.
The mullahs were well aware of the historical and religious significance of this building to the Baha'is in Iran. Indeed, it was a place of pilgrimage to Baha'is from all over the world, though all too often it was not safe for them to visit."
(quoted in Olya's Story by Olya Roohizadegan, pp. 21-23.)
Read more here: http://bahaistories-papijoon.blogspot.ca/2010/08/pilgrimage-house-of-bab.html