‘Praise be to God that you have remained in Karbila, and have beheld with your own eyes the countenance of the promised Husayn.”

Shaykh Hasan had lived quietly in Karbila for two years when, in early October of 1851, as he later recounted to Nabil-i-A‘zam,

... while I was passing by the gate of the inner courtyard of the shrine of the Imam Husayn, my eyes, for the first time, fell upon Baha’u’llah. What shall I recount regarding the countenance which I beheld! The beauty of that face, those exquisite features which no pen or brush dare describe, His penetrating glance, His kindly face, the majesty of His bearing, the sweetness of His smile, the luxuriance of His jet-black flowing locks, left an indelible impression upon my soul. I was then an old man, bowed with age. How lovingly He advanced towards me! He took me by the hand and, in a tone which at once betrayed power and beauty, addressed me in these words: ‘This very day I have purposed to make you known as a Babi throughout Karbila.’ Still holding my hand in His, He continued to converse with me. He walked with me all along the market-street, and in the end He said: ‘Praise be to God that you have remained in Karbila, and have beheld with your own eyes the countenance of the promised Husayn.”

(Day of Glory, The Life of Baha’u’llah, by Mary Perkins, George Ronald, p 35)