To inquiries from Nuri notables about affairs of the court,
Bahá’u’lláh turned disinterested answers, instead converting the questions into
opportunities to present the Bábi Message in terms befitting each inquirer,
while persuasively pointing to the immeasurable benefits which the new Faith
would bestow upon them and upon Iran. That a young nobleman should be deeply concerned
with religious matters was startling enough, but how surprising that no mulla
was able successfully to challenge His theses, so ably did He expound the ideas
of the new Cause. The Nuris were also compelled to reluctant admiration at his
zeal but also at his self-effacement despite the depth of the thoughts
presented with such verve.
Among the first converts of His salutary expositions of the
Cause of the Báb were Mirza Muhammad Hasan, His half-brother, and also Muhammad-Taqi
Khan, a close relative. But His uncle Mirza 'Azizu’llah fiercely opposed these
heretical new views; traveling to the village of Sa'adat-Abad, he personally
appealed for immediate intervention against his Nephew by Mulla Muhammad, the
chief divine of the Nur district, saying:
'O vicegerent of the Prophet of God! Behold what has befallen
the Faith. A youth, a layman, attired in the garb of nobility, has come to Nur,
has invaded the strongholds of orthodoxy, and disrupted the holy Faith of Islam
... Whoever attains his presence falls immediately under his spell, and is
enthralled by the power of his utterance. I know not whether he is a sorcerer,
or whether he mixes with his tea some mysterious substance that makes every man
who drinks the tea fall a victim to its charm.' (The Dawn-Breakers)
The Shaykh perceived how foolish were these assertions by the alarmist Mirza 'Azizu’llah and put him off, but at the same time felt himself unable to confront the phenomenal young man whose 'speech was like a rushing torrent and whose clearness in exposition brought the most learned divines to his feet' (The Dawn-Breakers , footnote by Dr. T.K. Cheyne) He was not confident that he could muster the community's support to confound the young teacher, nor had he the moral integrity to travel over the mountains to fathom the truth of the reports. Instead, he sent two trusted envoys, his sons-in-law, Mulla 'Abbas and Mirza Abu'l-Qasim, to challenge the man and the Message; and he pledged his unreserved endorsement of whatever conclusions they might reach.
(Adapted from ‘Robe of Light, vol. 1’, by David Ruhe)
