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... "Moreover, it is known to friend and stranger alike, and even to the people of the Bayán themselves, that after the martyrdom of the Báb, Mírzá Yaḥyá donned the headdress of a dervish and, with an alms-bowl in hand and a wayfarer’s sheepskin cloak upon his shoulders, fled from Mázindarán, leaving all the friends in grave danger, while he himself roamed incognito and in the utmost secrecy in the regions of Mázindarán and Rasht. When Bahá’u’lláh finally reached Baghdad in the plenitude of majesty and glory, Mírzá Yaḥyá also arrived, but in secret and in disguise. And when the Blessed Beauty left for Sulaymáníyyih, he worked and was known as a shoe merchant in Súqu’sh-Shuyúkh, Baghdad, Samávih, and Basra. Then, upon his return to Baghdad through Najaf, he assumed the name of Ḥájí-‘Alíy-i-Láṣ-Furúsh, that is, the silk merchant.
No mention whatsoever of the Faith was heard any longer. But when the Blessed Beauty returned and proclaimed the Word of God, when His journey to Constantinople took place, the call and the fame of the True One were noised abroad, and there was no longer occasion for fear or peril—then everyone emerged from behind the veils, found a new arena, and flaunted himself. No one said: O valiant horseman of the arena of Cyprus, who hast sought British protection! Where hast thou been till now? Into what hole hadst thou crept during those eleven years in Baghdad? After the martyrdom of the Báb—may my soul be offered up for Him—what assistance didst thou render, what constancy didst thou manifest, and what steadfastness didst thou evince before the enemies? What action didst thou take, save to address so-called epistles to the Seven Witnesses, such as Mullá Ja‘far in Káshán, Siyyid Muḥammad-i-Malíḥ in Ṭihrán, and others, at the end of each of which was written: “Send us a young maiden”? None of them, God be praised, ever sent any. In one letter was written: “God doth desire to behold thee amongst two thousand heavenly maidens”, and so the number of his wives grew as much as possible. There was Umm-i-Aḥmad from Shíráz, Badrí from Tafrísh, Ruqíyyih from Mázindarán, and several more from Baghdad. And yet, not content with these, he also wed the honoured wife of the Báb, the sister of Mullá Rajab-‘Alí, known as the Mother of the Faithful, marriage to whom, according to the explicit statement of the Báb, was forbidden. A few days later, he passed her on to Ḥájí Siyyid Muḥammad.
No more mention was heard—no call, no remembrance or praise. The Cause of the Most Exalted One, the Báb—may my soul be offered up for Him—was effaced and obliterated. Had it not been for the return of the Blessed Beauty—may my soul be offered up for His loved ones—from Kurdistan, I swear by God, besides Whom there is none other, that no trace or name would have remained of this Cause. Friend and stranger alike testify to this."...
(Light of the World: Selected Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, #73, part 6)
www.bahai.org/r/031174695
"Even the people of the Bayán have gained some credence in the eyes of others, through the pervading influence of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh, the spreading rays of the Abhá Kingdom, and the irresistible power of the Word of God. For the people regard us all as members of the same community.For instance, when Mullá Hádíy-i-Dawlat-Ábádí was in the presence of the Wolf of Najaf in Iṣfahán,145 he ascended the pulpit, and in order to save his own abject soul—I implore pardon from God!—he wholly recanted his faith in the Báb and cursed and reviled Him. His life was thus spared, and when he came to Ṭihrán he became the embodiment of the words “They are deaf, they are dumb, they are blind and shall return no more.”146 Once the pervading power of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh had penetrated the whole world, perfuming the East and illuminating the West; once the government had lost hope of exterminating it, and most people were secretly eager to become acquainted with the truth of the matter--then this individual and his kindred and relatives began to assert themselves before the notables and dignitaries in Ṭihrán and engaged in spreading their idle fancies. Since most people regarded us all as belonging to the same community, some from among the seekers accepted the claims of these individuals. The latter should have been grateful for this, but instead, they arose in denial and brought a myriad calumnies against the people of God, defaming them before friends and strangers. Soon shall they find themselves in manifest loss!"
(Light of the World: Selected Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá), #73, part 5)
www.bahai.org/r/142395333
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| Effie Baker |
"Consider, moreover, how God’s limitless power hath appeared and been made manifest in this divine Dispensation. In the past, those who were shut out as by a veil would impute folly and impotence to the divine Manifestations. One would say: “Ye follow none other but a man enchanted”;139 another would cry: “He deviseth a lie about God, or there is a jinn in him”;140 and yet others would speak the words “And when they see thee, they do but take thee as the subject of their railleries. ‘What! Is this he whom God hath sent as an Apostle?’”141
During the days of Christ, the people would protest, saying, “O Mary! Thy father was not a man of wickedness, nor unchaste thy mother.”142 Likewise, in the Mosaic Dispensation, the Pharaoh would say, “He, in sooth, is your Master who hath taught you magic.”143And the chiefs among the people would scorn and scoff at the Prophets, saying, “We see not any who have followed thee except our meanest ones of hasty judgement.”144
In this divinely appointed Day, however, in this heavenly age and spiritual century, none hath breathed such words as these. All the peoples and kindreds of the earth—whether Turks or Tajiks, Europeans, Africans, or Americans—have testified to the majesty and glory of the Manifestation of God. At most, they have denied the truth of His Cause and His station as a Manifestation; that is all. Today, in all the newspapers and publications of the world, civilized peoples bear witness to the greatness of the Blessed Beauty. Behold, then, how the might and power of the Word of God hath penetrated the very arteries and nerves of the body of the world."
(Light of the World: Selected Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, #73, part 4)
www.bahai.org/r/288719925
... "It should first be noted that the Báb Himself—may my life be a sacrifice for Him—addressing the greatest pillar of the Bayán, hath said: “Beware, beware, lest the Váḥid of the Bayán or that which hath been sent down in the Bayán shut thee out as by a veil from Him.”137 In other words, take heed during the advent of Him Whom God shall make manifest lest thou become veiled from recognizing Him by the Váḥid of the Bayán itself, “inasmuch as this Váḥid is but a creature in His sight”. That is to say, the Váḥid of the Bayán hath been created by Him Whom God shall make manifest, and this Váḥid consisteth of the eighteen Letters of the Living and the Báb Himself—may my soul be offered up for Him—Who is the nineteenth. He hath furthermore cautioned him to beware lest he be veiled from Him by the very words revealed in the Bayán. That is, he should take care not to say that such-and-such a statement in the Bayán indicateth that He Whom God shall make manifest would appear two thousand years hence. Could an absence of conditions and prerequisites be stated in more unmistakable terms than this? Thus it is evident that in this Most Great Dispensation there is no cause whatsoever for anyone to be veiled.
The Báb—may my life be offered up for Him—hath confirmed that the events of the Great Resurrection, which were to take place on the day that is reckoned as “fifty thousand years”, occurred in less than the twinkling of an eye. And yet the people of the Bayán still protest, saying, “Why did the school of Him Whom God shall make manifest not endure? Why did He not gather together with the children, or study the alphabet, or become trained in the abjad?”138 Consider how heedless they are and how foolish, how dull-witted and veiled." ...
(Light of the World: Selected Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, #73, part 3)
www.bahai.org/r/377558017
"In the Gospel, too, the conditions for the advent of the Promised One are explicitly stated. They include the darkening of the sun, the eclipse of the moon, the falling of the stars, the quaking of the earth, the heaving of the mountains, the wailing and lamentation of the tribes of the earth, the coming down of the Promised One upon thick clouds, the descent of the hosts of angels, the blast of the trumpet, the call of the bugle, and the like. Thus, to outward seeming, they who failed to recognize Him had an excuse.
Likewise, the advent of the Great Resurrection was conditioned upon the quaking of the earth, the rising from the grave, the coming forth of the dead out of their sepulchres, the darkening of the sun, the cleaving of the moon, the scattering of the stars, the reduction of the mountains to dust, the assembling of the beasts, the rending of the heavens, the stretching forth of the Straight Path, the setting up of the Balance, the ingathering of bodies, the blazing of the nethermost fire, the adornment of Paradise, and the appearance of the maids and youths of heaven, the choice fruits, and the Maids of Heaven “whom no man nor spirit hath touched before”.136
By all this is meant that the Resurrection was conditioned upon the appearance of all these signs. The Báb—may my life be offered up for Him—hath said that all these momentous events, and the Great Resurrection itself, came to pass in less than the twinkling of an eye and took place in the span of a single breath. And yet not one soul perceived them or grasped their significance. But, praise be to God, in this Most Great Revelation no conditions have been set, no prerequisites have been laid down, no veils exist, nor is there any excuse to remain deprived."
(Light of the World: Selected Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, #73, Part 2)
www.bahai.org/r/318756504
"He is God.
O servant of the one true God! In cycles gone by, although the signs of God’s power and the truth of His Cause were clear and manifest, yet to outward seeming the divine tests were severe, and the ignorant found grounds for hesitation; for the Sun of Truth shone from behind subtle clouds, inasmuch as the advent of the Promised One was, according to the explicit and decisive terms of the Holy Text, subject to certain conditions. And as the common people, interpreting those Texts according to their literal meanings, found them contrary to their own understanding, they remained veiled and deprived.
For example, the advent of the Promised Qá’im was conditioned upon the appearance of the Dajjál,133 of Sufyání,134 of the invincible standard and the unsheathed sword, and of manifest sovereignty; upon the preceding of the Seven Goats and the flight of the dignitaries and leaders of religion from all corners of the world to the Kaaba;135 upon the appearance of astonishing signs, the victory over the East and the West, the submission of all peoples, the slaughter of the divines, and the turning of the seven mills by the flowing blood of those ignorant ones."
(Light of the World: Selected Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, #73, Part 1)
www.bahai.org/r/119465248
... "Gracious God! After the martyrdom of the Báb—may my soul be offered up for the dust ennobled by His footsteps—in what way did that individual arise, and what actions did he undertake?128 What eloquence did he evince and what wonders did he utter? All the loved ones of the Lord bear witness that, after the martyrdom of the Báb, this person vanished and went into hiding. He fled to the region of Núr, whence he scurried away—in the coarse guise of a dervish—to the regions of Mázindarán and Gílán until he finally reached Kirmánsháh.
When the Blessed Beauty was being exiled from Iran, despite the power of the king and the hatred and animosity of all its inhabitants, He arrived in Kirmánsháh in the utmost dignity. That individual did not have the courage to meet Him at that time. And when the Blessed Beauty reached Iraq, that person entered Baghdad secretly and in disguise, and took up residence in the Arab quarter, never daring to meet anyone. His sole accomplishment, his greatest feat, was to seek out a number of girls from here and there and marry them…
From the earliest dawn of the Cause until the day of His ascension, the Blessed Beauty, openly and visibly, without any veil or concealment, withstood all the peoples, nations, and rulers of the world and exalted the Word of God. The Tablets to the kings were revealed, and the mystery of adoration was made manifest. In clear and unmistakable language, subject to no interpretation whatsoever, He directed His stern and explicit summons to most of the sovereigns. All the things that flowed from His Most Exalted Pen were fulfilled, one after the other. All that He foretold came to pass, His predictions were confirmed, and His warnings were proven true.
“Shall the darkness and the light be held equal?”129 Nay, by thy Lord, the Ever-Forgiving! But the people “entertain themselves with their vain cavillings”.130 They see not, they hear not, neither do they understand.131 “They call upon that beside God which can neither hurt them nor profit them. This same is the far-gone error! He calleth on him who would sooner hurt than profit him. Surely, bad the lord, and, surely, bad the vassal!”132The Glory of Glories rest upon thee."
(Light of the World: Selected Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, #72, part 6)
www.bahai.org/r/528479249
... "Moreover, it is known to friend and stranger alike, and even to the people of the Bayán themselves, that after the martyrdom of the Báb, Mírzá Yaḥyá donned the headdress of a dervish and, with an alms-bowl in hand and a wayfarer’s sheepskin cloak upon his shoulders, fled from Mázindarán, leaving all the friends in grave danger, while he himself roamed incognito and in the utmost secrecy in the regions of Mázindarán and Rasht. When Bahá’u’lláh finally reached Baghdad in the plenitude of majesty and glory, Mírzá Yaḥyá also arrived, but in secret and in disguise. And when the Blessed Beauty left for Sulaymáníyyih, he worked and was known as a shoe merchant in Súqu’sh-Shuyúkh, Baghdad, Samávih, and Basra. Then, upon his return to Baghdad through Najaf, he assumed the name of Ḥájí-‘Alíy-i-Láṣ-Furúsh, that is, the silk merchant.
