Although Bahá’u’lláh had had the experience in the Black Pit of Tihrán…and felt a flood of spiritual power within him, He refrained at this time, and indeed for the whole of His ten-year stay in Baghdád, from openly announcing any claim. He decided instead to put his energies into reviving the fortunes of the Bábí community both in Baghdád and in Iran. He describes the situation of the Bábís at the time of his arrival thus: “Upon Our arrival in Iraq We found the Cause of God sunk in deep apathy and the breeze of divine revelation stilled. Most of the believers were faint and dispirited, nay utterly lost and dead.” Bahá’u’lláh began both to urge them to put away thoughts of revenge against the Shah and the clerics who had brought them so much suffering and to guide them towards manifesting in their lives the high ethical teachings to be found in the writings of the Báb.
- Moojan Momen (‘Bahá’u’lláh, A Short Biography’)
