The “source of envy and the quintessence of mischief”: - Siyyid Muhammad-i-Isfahán: “The black-hearted scoundrel who befooled and manipulated” Mirza Yahyá

The black-hearted scoundrel who befooled and manipulated this vain and flaccid man [Mirza Yahyá] with consummate skill and unyielding persistence was a certain Siyyid Muhammad, a native of Isfahán, notorious for his inordinate ambition, his blind obstinacy and uncontrollable jealousy. To him Bahá’u’lláh had later referred in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas as the one who had “led astray” Mírzá Yahyá, and stigmatized him, in one of His Tablets, as the “source of envy and the quintessence of mischief,” while ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá had described the relationship existing between these two as that of “the sucking child” to the “much-prized breast” of its mother. Forced to abandon his studies in the madrisiy-i-Sadr of Isfahán, this Siyyid had migrated, in shame and remorse, to Karbilá, had there joined the ranks of the Báb’s followers, and shown, after His martyrdom, signs of vacillation which exposed the shallowness of his faith and the fundamental weakness of his convictions. Bahá’u’lláh’s first visit to Karbilá and the marks of undisguised reverence, love and admiration shown Him by some of the most distinguished among the former disciples and companions of Siyyid Káẓim, had aroused in this calculating and unscrupulous schemer an envy, and bred in his soul an animosity, which the forbearance and patience shown him by Bahá’u’lláh had served only to inflame. His deluded helpers, willing tools of his diabolical designs, were the not inconsiderable number of Bábís who, baffled, disillusioned and leaderless, were already predisposed to be beguiled by him into pursuing a path diametrically opposed to the tenets and counsels of a departed Leader. 

- Shoghi Effendi (‘God Passes By’)

Winds of dissension: Mirzá Yahyá and Siyyid Muhammad-i-Isfahání

But winds of dissension were already blow ing, and rifts were making their mark. Whilst bound in chains in the Siyáh-Chál of Tihràn, at a time when Mirza Yahya [half-brother of Bahá’u’lláh] was constantly running for shelter, Bahá’u’lláh had vowed to arise and regenerate the shattered community of the Báb. Now, from the obscurity he had chosen, Mirzá Yahyá was secretly engaged in engineering opposition to Bahá’u’lláh, in company with Siyyid Muhammad-i-Isfahání, who had established himself in Karbilá. 

- Hasan Balyuzi (‘Bahá’u’lláh King of Glory’)

Bahá’u’lláh “exhorted all men, and particularly this people, [the Bábís]" and “forbade them to engage in sedition, quarrels, disputes and conflict”; “all unseemly and unholy deeds”

After Our arrival, We revealed, as a copious rain, by the aid of God and His Divine Grace and mercy, Our verses, and sent them to various parts of the world. We exhorted all men, and particularly this people, [the Bábís] through Our wise counsels and loving admonitions, and forbade them to engage in sedition, quarrels, disputes and conflict. 

- Baha'u'llah (‘Epistle to the Son of the Wolf’)

In that land We forbad all mischief, and all unseemly and unholy deeds. Day and night We sent forth Our Tablets in every direction. We had no other purpose except to edify the souls of men, and to exalt the blessed Word. 

- Baha'u'llah (‘Epistle to the Son of the Wolf’)

Distinguished Persian and Arab followers of the Báb in Iraq and Kázimayn began rallying around Bahá’u’llah

One of the very first to recognize in Bahá’u’lláh that true mentor, counsellor and guide which the community of the Báb sorely needed, was Hàji Háshim-i-‘Attár, a wealthy Persian merchant who lived in new Baghdad. Having once attained the presence of Bahá’u’lláh, he became devoted to Him, and in the end gave Him his allegiance…Aqá Muhammad-Hasan, a merchant of Isfahan; Siyyid Muhammad-Ridá and Siyyid Muhammad-Taqi, two brothers, sons of Siyyid-i-Buká'; Haji ’Abdu’l-Majid-i-Shírází - the father of that glorious martyr, Mirzá ’Abdu’l-Vahháb and his brother, Mirza Hasan, who was known as ’Gul-i-Guláb’ (Red Rose, literally, ‘the flower of the rose-water') - all Persians who lived in Kázimayn - rallied round Him. And so did the Arab Bábis of Baghdad, notably Shaykh Sultán and Áqá Muhammad-Mustafá. Another veteran of the Faith of the Báb, who very soon came to see that the hopes of the Bábis must be centred in the person of Bahá’u’lláh, was Haji Siyyid Javád-i-Karbilá'i.

Shaykh-Ali Mirza of Shiraz, a distinguished figure related to the imám-jum’ih of Shiráz, as well as Siyyid ‘Abdu’r-Rahim of Isfahan (honoured in later years with the designation of Ismu'llahi'r-Rahim 1 the Name of God, the Merciful), and Mirza Muhammad-'Ali, the physician of Zanjan, who was to meet a martyr's death, were the most notable of the Babis in Iran who. from that early time, became convinced that only by turning to Jináb-i-Bahá could they find that sure anchor which could and would steady the storm-tossed ship of their Faith. 

- Hasan Balyuzi (‘Bahá’u’lláh King of Glory’)

Upon taking residence in Baghdád Bahá’u’lláh encouraged Mirza Yahyá, his half-brother, who had already come to Baghdad, to return to Persia to serve the Faith of the Báb, as His ‘nominee’

When Bahá’u’lláh took up residence in Baghdád, where He would live for the next ten years, what had remained of the disconsolate, bewildered and decimated community of the Báb learned to turn to Him for advice, for guidance, for protection, because Mirza Yahyá, who was known as the ‘nominee' of the Báb, was nowhere to be seen. Having managed, as we have seen, to escape from Tákur in the company of his uncle, Mirza Zaynu’l-Ábidin, he was now living in Baghdád under the assumed name of Haji ‘Aliy-i-Lás Furúsh, in the street of the charcoal-vendors (Dhughál-Furúshán). It was Bahá’u’lláh's wish that he should return to Persia, there to serve the Faith of the Báb, as His own words make clear:

“About two months after Our arrival in Iraq, following the command of His Majesty the Shah of Persia -- may God assist him -- Mirza Yahyá joined Us. We said unto him: "In accordance with the Royal command We have been sent unto this place. It is advisable for thee to remain in Persia. We will send Our brother, Mirza Musa, to some other place. As your names have not been mentioned in the Royal decree, you can arise and render some service." Subsequently, this Wronged One departed from Baghdad, and for two years withdrew from the world. Upon Our return, We found that he had not left, and had postponed his departure. This Wronged One was greatly saddened. God testifieth and beareth Us witness that We have, at all times, been busied with the propagation of this Cause. Neither chains nor bonds, stocks nor imprisonment, have succeeded in withholding Us from revealing Our Self.” (Baha'u'llah, ‘Epistle to the Son of the Wolf’) 

- Hasan Balyuzi (‘Bahá’u’lláh King of Glory’)

City of Baghdád and its pivotal role in Bahá’u’llah’s Revelation

In that city, described in Islamic traditions as “Ẓahru’l-Kúfih,” designated for centuries as the “Abode of Peace,” and immortalized by Bahá’u’lláh as the “City of God,” He, except for His two year retirement to the mountains of Kurdistán and His occasional visits to Najaf, Karbilá and Káẓimayn, continued to reside until His banishment to Constantinople.

• To that city the Qur’án had alluded as the “Abode of Peace” to which God Himself “calleth.”
• To it, in that same Book, further allusion had been made in the verse “For them is a Dwelling of Peace with their Lord … on the Day whereon God shall gather them all together.”
• From it radiated, wave after wave, a power, a radiance and a glory which insensibly reanimated a languishing Faith, sorely-stricken, sinking into obscurity, threatened with oblivion.
• From it were diffused, day and night, and with ever-increasing energy, the first emanations of a Revelation which, in its scope, its copiousness, its driving force and the volume and variety of its literature, was destined to excel that of the Báb Himself.
• Above its horizon burst forth the rays of the Sun of Truth, Whose rising glory had for ten long years been overshadowed by the inky clouds of a consuming hatred, an ineradicable jealousy, an unrelenting malice.
• In it the Tabernacle of the promised “Lord of Hosts” was first erected, and the foundations of the long-awaited Kingdom of the “Father” unassailably established.
• Out of it went forth the earliest tidings of the Message of Salvation which, as prophesied by Daniel, was to mark, after the lapse of “a thousand two hundred and ninety days” (1280 A.H.), the end of “the abomination that maketh desolate.”

Baghdad was a provincial center of the Ottoman Empire with a population of about 1.5 million

1853: Passenger landing in circular boats
 (guffa) on the Tigris river in Baghdad

At this time, Baghdad was a provincial center of the Ottoman Empire, with a population of about 60,000. Little there was to bespeak its renowned history as the city built, between ad 762 and 766, by the ‘Abbásid Caliph al-Mansúr, and called by him Madinatu's-Salám - the City of Peace. Al-Mansùr had made his city the capital of a vast empire stretching from Egypt to the confines of China. Subsequent caliphs enlarged and beautified it, until by the tenth century it was some 82 kilometres in length and 74 kilometres in width, filled with the finest palaces, most magnificent mosques, and most extensive bazars of that age. Its population at that time is estimated to have been some 1.5 million. From this time on there was a general decline in Baghdád’s fortunes, until two successive sackings by the Mongols in 1258 and 1401 put a complete end to its former glory. In 1534, the Ottoman Sultán, Sulaymán the Magnificent, took Baghdad and, in the next century, it was ruled alternately by Ottomans and Safavids, until in 1638 it settled into its role as an Ottoman provincial centre until the First World War. 

- Hasan Balyuzi (‘Bahá’u’lláh King of Glory’)

After a month Bahá’u’lláh came back to Baghdad and settled in a rental house in the old quarter

Mirzá Ibráhim Khán of Tabriz, - the Consul-General of Persia from 1846 until his death in December 1858 - calling to pay his respects, suggested that because of the fanaticism of the populace and the pilgrims it might be more convenient for Bahá’u’lláh to return to Baghdad and live in the old quarter, which was close to Kázimayn. Bahá’u’lláh agreed and a search was made for a suitable house. About a month later, He and His family came back to Baghdád and settled in the house of Háji ‘Ali Madad, which had been rented for Him. 

- Hasan Balyuzi (‘Bahá’u’lláh King of Glory’)

Bahá’u’lláh then proceeded to Kázimayn about three miles north of Baghdád

From there He proceeded, a few days after, to Kázimayn, about three miles north of the city, a town inhabited chiefly by Persians, and where the two Kázims, the seventh and the ninth Imáms, are buried. 

- Shoghi Effendi (‘God Passes By’)

Views of Baghdad circa 1930s

 

8 April 1853: Bahá’u’lláh arrived in Baghdád

Finally, on the 28th of Jamádíyu’th-Thání 1269 A.H. (April 8, 1853), Bahá’u’lláh arrived in Baghdád, the capital city of what was then the Turkish province of ‘Iráq. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

Bahá’u’lláh and His companions received a “warm and enthusiastic reception” from a local governor in Karand about 100 kilometers from Tihran

…except for the warm and enthusiastic reception accorded the travelers during their brief stay in Karand by its governor Hayát-Qulí Khán, of the ‘Alíyu’lláhí sect. He was shown, in return, such kindness by Bahá’u’lláh that the people of the entire village were affected, and continued, long after, to extend such hospitality to His followers on their way to Baghdád that they gained the reputation of being known as Bábís. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

A prayer from Bahá’u’lláh “expatiating upon the woes and trials He had endured in the Síyáh-Chál…[and] hardships undergone in the course of that ‘terrible journey’

In a prayer revealed by Him at that time, Bahá’u’lláh, expatiating upon the woes and trials He had endured in the Síyáh-Chál, thus bears witness to the hardships undergone in the course of that “terrible journey”:

“My God, My Master, My Desire!… Thou hast created this atom of dust through the consummate power of Thy might, and nurtured Him with Thine hands which none can chain up.… Thou hast destined for Him trials and tribulations which no tongue can describe, nor any of Thy Tablets adequately recount. The throat Thou didst accustom to the touch of silk Thou hast, in the end, clasped with strong chains, and the body Thou didst ease with brocades and velvets Thou hast at last subjected to the abasement of a dungeon. Thy decree hath shackled Me with unnumbered fetters, and cast about My neck chains that none can sunder. A number of years have passed during which afflictions have, like showers of mercy, rained upon Me.… How many the nights during which the weight of chains and fetters allowed Me no rest, and how numerous the days during which peace and tranquillity were denied Me, by reason of that wherewith the hands and tongues of men have afflicted Me! Both bread and water which Thou hast, through Thy all-embracing mercy, allowed unto the beasts of the field, they have, for a time, forbidden unto this servant, and the things they refused to inflict upon such as have seceded from Thy Cause, the same have they suffered to be inflicted upon Me, until, finally, Thy decree was irrevocably fixed, and Thy behest summoned this servant to depart out of Persia, accompanied by a number of frail-bodied men and children of tender age, at this time when the cold is so intense that one cannot even speak, and ice and snow so abundant that it is impossible to move.” 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

The “long and perilous” journey: “undertaken in the depth of an exceptionally severe winter”

The journey, undertaken in the depth of an exceptionally severe winter, carrying the little band of exiles, so inadequately equipped, across the snow-bound mountains of Western Persia, though long and perilous, was uneventful… 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

The two faithful brothers of Bahá’u’lláh “who accompanied Him on that journey”

Of the two brothers who accompanied Him on that journey the first was Mírzá Músá, commonly called Áqáy-i-Kalím, His staunch and valued supporter, the ablest and most distinguished among His brothers and sisters, and one of the “only two persons who,” according to Bahá’u’lláh’s testimony, “were adequately informed of the origins” of His Faith. The other was Mírzá Muhammad-Qulí, a half-brother, who, in spite of the defection of some of his relatives, remained to the end loyal to the Cause he had espoused. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

Bahá’u’lláh describes the severity of the journey to Baghdád

…until, finally, Thy [God's] decree was irrevocably fixed, and Thy behest summoned this servant to depart out of Persia, accompanied by a number of frail-bodied men and children of tender age, at this time when the cold is so intense that one cannot even speak, and ice and snow so abundant that it is impossible to move. 

- Baha’u’llah  (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi in ‘God Passes By’)

Comparison of this “enforced and hurried departure of Bahá’u’lláh from His native land” and “the banishment of Abraham from Ur of the Chaldees to the Promised Land”

This enforced and hurried departure of Bahá’u’lláh from His native land, accompanied by some of His relatives, recalls in some of its aspects, the precipitate flight of the Holy Family into Egypt; the sudden migration of Muhammad, soon after His assumption of the prophetic office, from Mecca to Medina; the exodus of Moses, His brother and His followers from the land of their birth, in response to the Divine summons, and above all the banishment of Abraham from Ur of the Chaldees to the Promised Land—a banishment which, in the multitudinous benefits it conferred upon so many divers peoples, faiths and nations, constitutes the nearest historical approach to the incalculable blessings destined to be vouchsafed, in this day, and in future ages, to the whole human race, in direct consequence of the exile suffered by Him Whose Cause is the flower and fruit of all previous Revelations.

‘Abdu’l Bahá, after enumerating in His “Some Answered Questions” the far-reaching consequences of Abraham’s banishment, significantly affirms that “since the exile of Abraham from Ur to Aleppo in Syria produced this result, we must consider what will be the effect of the exile of Bahá’u’lláh in His several removes from Tihrán to Baghdád, from thence to Constantinople, to Rumelia and to the Holy Land.”

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

“the four stages” of Bahá’u’lláh’s life

With it, may be said to have begun the last and most fruitful of the four stages of a life,

• the first twenty-seven years of which were characterized by the care-free enjoyment of all the advantages conferred by high birth and riches, and by an unfailing solicitude for the interests of the poor, the sick and the down-trodden;
• followed by nine years of active and exemplary discipleship in the service of the Báb;
• and finally by an imprisonment of four months’ duration, overshadowed throughout by mortal peril, embittered by agonizing sorrows, and immortalized, as it drew to a close,
• by the sudden eruption of the forces released by an overpowering, soul-revolutionizing Revelation.

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

Among those who accompanied Bahá’u’lláh to Baghdád

Among those who shared His exile was 

• His wife, the saintly Navváb, entitled by Him the “Most Exalted Leaf,” who, during almost forty years, continued to evince a fortitude, a piety, a devotion and a nobility of soul which earned her from the pen of her Lord the posthumous and unrivalled tribute of having been made His “perpetual consort in all the worlds of God.” 
• His nine-year-old son, later surnamed the “Most Great Branch,” destined to become the Center of His Covenant and authorized Interpreter of His teachings, together with His seven-year-old sister, known in later years by the same title as that of her illustrious mother, and whose services until the ripe old age of four score years and six, no less than her exalted parentage, entitle her to the distinction of ranking as the outstanding heroine of the Bahá’í Dispensation, were also included among the exiles who were now bidding their last farewell to their native country. 
• Of the two brothers who accompanied Him on that journey the first was Mírzá Músá, commonly called Áqáy-i-Kalím, His staunch and valued supporter, the ablest and most distinguished among His brothers and sisters, and one of the “only two persons who,” according to Bahá’u’lláh’s testimony, “were adequately informed of the origins” of His Faith. 
• The other was Mírzá Muhammad-Qulí, a half-brother, who, in spite of the defection of some of his relatives, remained to the end loyal to the Cause he had espoused. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

“The process” that Bahá’u’lláh’s banishment from Persia “set in motion”

The process which it set in motion, gradually progressing and unfolding, began by establishing His Cause for a time in the very midst of the jealously-guarded stronghold of Shí‘ah Islám, and brought Him in personal contact with its highest and most illustrious exponents; then, at a later stage, it confronted Him, at the seat of the Caliphate, with the civil and ecclesiastical dignitaries of the realm and the representatives of the Sultán of Turkey, the most powerful potentate in the Islamic world; and finally carried Him as far as the shores of the Holy Land, thereby fulfilling the prophecies recorded in both the Old and the New Testaments, redeeming the pledge enshrined in various traditions attributed to the Apostle of God and the Imáms who succeeded Him, and ushering in the long-awaited restoration of Israel to the ancient cradle of its Faith. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

The opening of “a new and glorious chapter in the history of the first Bahá’í century”, “unparalleled in the religious annals of the entire human race”

The Sháh’s edict, equivalent to an order for the immediate expulsion of Bahá’u’lláh from Persian territory, opens a new and glorious chapter in the history of the first Bahá’í century. Viewed in its proper perspective it will be even recognized to have ushered in one of the most eventful and momentous epochs in the world’s religious history. It coincides with the inauguration of a ministry extending over a period of almost forty years—a ministry which, by virtue of its creative power, its cleansing force, its healing influences, and the irresistible operation of the world-directing, world-shaping forces it released, stands unparalleled in the religious annals of the entire human race. It marks the opening phase in a series of banishments, ranging over a period of four decades, and terminating only with the death of Him Who was the Object of that cruel edict. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

Bahá’u’lláh was "escorted" by Persian and Russian “officers”

And when this Wronged One went forth out of His prison, We journeyed, in pursuance of the order of His Majesty the Shah -- may God, exalted be He, protect him -- to Iraq, escorted by officers in the service of the esteemed and honored governments of Persia and Russia. 

- Baha'u'llah (‘Epistle to the Son of the Wolf’)

12 January 1853: The start of journey to Baghdád

On the first day of the month of Rabí’u’th-Thání, of the year 1269 A.H., (January 12, 1853), nine months after His return from Karbilá, Bahá’u’lláh, together with some of the members of His family, and escorted by an officer of the Imperial body-guard and an official representing the Russian Legation, set out on His three months’ journey to Baghdád. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

Bahá’u’lláh confirms the assistance and protection He received from Russia while in Síyáh-Chál

In the days when this Wronged One was sore-afflicted in prison, the minister of the highly esteemed government (of Russia)—may God, glorified and exalted be He, assist him!— exerted his utmost endeavor to compass My deliverance. Several times permission for My release was granted. Some of the ‘ulamás of the city, however, would prevent it. Finally, My freedom was gained through the solicitude and the endeavor of His Excellency the Minister .... His Imperial Majesty, the Most Great Emperor [Czar Alexander II of Russia]—may God, exalted and glorified be He, assist him!—extended to Me for the sake of God his protection—a protection which has excited the envy and enmity of the foolish ones of the earth. 

- Baha’u’llah  (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi in ‘God Passes By’)

“The Russian Minister… offered to extend every facility for His [Bahá’u’lláh’s] removal to Russia”

The Russian Minister, as soon as he was informed of the Imperial decision, expressed the desire to take Bahá’u’lláh under the protection of his government, and offered to extend every facility for His removal to Russia. This invitation, so spontaneously extended, Bahá’u’lláh declined, preferring, in pursuance of an unerring instinct, to establish His abode in Turkish territory, in the city of Baghdád. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)