"OF all the peoples of the world, they that have suffered the greatest loss have been, and are still, the people of Persia."

"OF all the peoples of the world, they that have suffered the greatest loss have been, and are still, the people of Persia. I swear by the Day Star of Utterance which shineth upon the world in its meridian glory! The lamentations of the pulpits, in that country, are being raised continually. In the early days such lamentations were heard in the Land of Tá (Ṭihrán), for pulpits, erected for the purpose of remembering the True One—exalted be His glory—have now, in Persia, become places wherefrom blasphemies are uttered against Him Who is the Desire of the worlds."

-Bahá'u'lláh, Proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 104