Index term: Yahyá, Mírzá (Subh-i-Azal)
Say: O source of perversion! Abandon thy willful blindness, and speak forth the truth amidst the people. I swear by God that I have wept for thee to see thee following thy selfish passions and renouncing Him Who fashioned thee and brought thee into being. Call to mind the tender mercy of thy Lord, and remember how We nurtured thee by day and by night for service to the Cause. Fear God, and be thou of the truly repentant. Granted that the people were confused about thy station, is it conceivable that thou thyself art similarly confused? Tremble before thy Lord and recall the days when thou didst stand before Our throne, and didst write down the verses that We dictated unto thee -- verses sent down by God, the Omnipotent Protector, the Lord of might and power. Beware lest the fire of thy presumptuousness debar thee from attaining to God’s Holy Court. Turn unto Him, and fear not because of thy deeds. He, in truth, forgiveth whomsoever He desireth as a bounty on His part; no God is there but Him, the Ever-Forgiving, the All-Bounteous. We admonish thee solely for the sake of God. Shouldst thou accept this counsel, thou wilt have acted to thine own behoof; and shouldst thou reject it, thy Lord, verily, can well dispense with thee, and with all those who, in manifest delusion, have followed thee. Behold! God hath laid hold on him who led thee astray. Return unto God, humble, submissive and lowly; verily, He will put away from thee thy sins, for thy Lord, of a certainty, is the Forgiving, the Mighty, the All-Merciful.
Say: O source of perversion! Abandon thy willful blindness, and speak forth the truth amidst the people. I swear by God that I have wept for thee to see thee following thy selfish passions and renouncing Him Who fashioned thee and brought thee into being. Call to mind the tender mercy of thy Lord, and remember how We nurtured thee by day and by night for service to the Cause. Fear God, and be thou of the truly repentant. Granted that the people were confused about thy station, is it conceivable that thou thyself art similarly confused? Tremble before thy Lord and recall the days when thou didst stand before Our throne, and didst write down the verses that We dictated unto thee -- verses sent down by God, the Omnipotent Protector, the Lord of might and power. Beware lest the fire of thy presumptuousness debar thee from attaining to God’s Holy Court. Turn unto Him, and fear not because of thy deeds. He, in truth, forgiveth whomsoever He desireth as a bounty on His part; no God is there but Him, the Ever-Forgiving, the All-Bounteous. We admonish thee solely for the sake of God. Shouldst thou accept this counsel, thou wilt have acted to thine own behoof; and shouldst thou reject it, thy Lord, verily, can well dispense with thee, and with all those who, in manifest delusion, have followed thee. Behold! God hath laid hold on him who led thee astray. Return unto God, humble, submissive and lowly; verily, He will put away from thee thy sins, for thy Lord, of a certainty, is the Forgiving, the Mighty, the All-Merciful.
We perceive that which secretly and stealthily diffuseth from thee.
This passage is a reference to the intrigues of a group of Azalís, followers of Mírzá Yahyá (see note 190), associated with the city of Kirmán. They include Mullá Ja'far, his son Shaykh Ahmad-i-Rúhí and Mírzá íqá Khán-i-Kirmání (both sons-in-law of Mírzá Yahyá), as well as Mírzá Ahmad-i-Kirmání. They not only sought to undermine the Faith, but involved themselves in political intrigues which culminated in the assassination of Násiri'd-Dín Sháh.
This passage is a reference to the intrigues of a group of Azalís, followers of Mírzá Yahyá (see note 190), associated with the city of Kirmán. They include Mullá Ja'far, his son Shaykh Ahmad-i-Rúhí and Mírzá íqá Khán-i-Kirmání (both sons-in-law of Mírzá Yahyá), as well as Mírzá Ahmad-i-Kirmání. They not only sought to undermine the Faith, but involved themselves in political intrigues which culminated in the assassination of Násiri'd-Dín Sháh.
We perceive that which secretly and stealthily diffuseth from thee.
This passage is a reference to the intrigues of a group of Azalís, followers of Mírzá <span class="highlight">Yahyá (see note 190), associated with the city of Kirmán. They include Mullá Ja'far, his son Shaykh Ahmad-i-Rúhí and Mírzá íqá Khán-i-Kirmání (both sons-in-law of Mírzá <span class="highlight">Yahyá), as well as Mírzá Ahmad-i-Kirmání. They not only sought to undermine the Faith, but involved themselves in political intrigues which culminated in the assassination of Násiri'd-Dín Sháh.
This passage is a reference to the intrigues of a group of Azalís, followers of Mírzá <span class="highlight">Yahyá (see note 190), associated with the city of Kirmán. They include Mullá Ja'far, his son Shaykh Ahmad-i-Rúhí and Mírzá íqá Khán-i-Kirmání (both sons-in-law of Mírzá <span class="highlight">Yahyá), as well as Mírzá Ahmad-i-Kirmání. They not only sought to undermine the Faith, but involved themselves in political intrigues which culminated in the assassination of Násiri'd-Dín Sháh.
O source of perversion!
This is a reference to Mírzá Yahyá, known as Subh-i-Azal (Morning of Eternity), a younger half-brother of Bahá’u’lláh, who arose against Him and opposed His Cause. Mírzá Yahyá was nominated by the Báb to serve as a figure-head for the Bábí community pending the imminent manifestation of the Promised One. At the instigation of Siyyid Muhammad-i-Isfahání (see note 192), Mírzá Yahyá betrayed the trust of the Báb, claimed to be His successor, and intrigued against Bahá’u’lláh, even attempting to have Him murdered. When Bahá’u’lláh formally declared His Mission to him in Adrianople, Mírzá Yahyá responded by going to the length of putting forward his own claim to be the recipient of an independent Revelation. His pretensions were eventually rejected by all but a few, who became known as Azalís (see note 177). He is described by Shoghi Effendi as the "Arch-Breaker of the Covenant of the Báb" (see God Passes By, chapter X).
This is a reference to Mírzá Yahyá, known as Subh-i-Azal (Morning of Eternity), a younger half-brother of Bahá’u’lláh, who arose against Him and opposed His Cause. Mírzá Yahyá was nominated by the Báb to serve as a figure-head for the Bábí community pending the imminent manifestation of the Promised One. At the instigation of Siyyid Muhammad-i-Isfahání (see note 192), Mírzá Yahyá betrayed the trust of the Báb, claimed to be His successor, and intrigued against Bahá’u’lláh, even attempting to have Him murdered. When Bahá’u’lláh formally declared His Mission to him in Adrianople, Mírzá Yahyá responded by going to the length of putting forward his own claim to be the recipient of an independent Revelation. His pretensions were eventually rejected by all but a few, who became known as Azalís (see note 177). He is described by Shoghi Effendi as the "Arch-Breaker of the Covenant of the Báb" (see God Passes By, chapter X).
remember how We nurtured thee by day and by night for service to the Cause
In God Passes By, Shoghi Effendi refers to the fact that Bahá’u’lláh, Who was thirteen years older than Mírzá Yahyá, had counselled him and watched over his early youth and manhood.
In God Passes By, Shoghi Effendi refers to the fact that Bahá’u’lláh, Who was thirteen years older than Mírzá Yahyá, had counselled him and watched over his early youth and manhood.
God hath laid hold on him who led thee astray.
A reference to Siyyid Muhammad-i-Isfahání, who is described by Shoghi Effendi as the "Antichrist of the Bahá’í Revelation". He was a man of corrupt character and great personal ambition who induced Mírzá Yahyá to oppose Bahá’u’lláh and to claim prophethood for himself (see note 190). Although he was an adherent of Mírzá Yahyá, Siyyid Muhammad was exiled with Bahá’u’lláh to 'Akká. He continued to agitate and plot against Bahá’u’lláh. In describing the circumstances of his death, Shoghi Effendi has written in God Passes By:
A fresh danger now clearly threatened the life of Bahá’u’lláh. Though He Himself had stringently forbidden His followers, on several occasions, both verbally and in writing, any retaliatory acts against their tormentors, and had even sent back to Beirut an irresponsible Arab convert, who had meditated avenging the wrongs suffered by his beloved Leader, seven of the companions clandestinely sought out and slew three of their persecutors, among whom were Siyyid Muhammad and íqá Ján.
The consternation that seized an already oppressed community was indescribable. Bahá’u’lláh’s indignation knew no bounds. “Were We”, He thus voices His emotions, in a Tablet revealed shortly after this act had been committed, “to make mention of what befell Us, the heavens would be rent asunder and the mountains would crumble.” “My captivity”, He wrote on another occasion, “cannot harm Me. That which can harm Me is the conduct of those who love Me, who claim to be related to Me, and yet perpetrate what causeth My heart and My pen to groan.”
A reference to Siyyid Muhammad-i-Isfahání, who is described by Shoghi Effendi as the "Antichrist of the Bahá’í Revelation". He was a man of corrupt character and great personal ambition who induced Mírzá Yahyá to oppose Bahá’u’lláh and to claim prophethood for himself (see note 190). Although he was an adherent of Mírzá Yahyá, Siyyid Muhammad was exiled with Bahá’u’lláh to 'Akká. He continued to agitate and plot against Bahá’u’lláh. In describing the circumstances of his death, Shoghi Effendi has written in God Passes By:
A fresh danger now clearly threatened the life of Bahá’u’lláh. Though He Himself had stringently forbidden His followers, on several occasions, both verbally and in writing, any retaliatory acts against their tormentors, and had even sent back to Beirut an irresponsible Arab convert, who had meditated avenging the wrongs suffered by his beloved Leader, seven of the companions clandestinely sought out and slew three of their persecutors, among whom were Siyyid Muhammad and íqá Ján.
The consternation that seized an already oppressed community was indescribable. Bahá’u’lláh’s indignation knew no bounds. “Were We”, He thus voices His emotions, in a Tablet revealed shortly after this act had been committed, “to make mention of what befell Us, the heavens would be rent asunder and the mountains would crumble.” “My captivity”, He wrote on another occasion, “cannot harm Me. That which can harm Me is the conduct of those who love Me, who claim to be related to Me, and yet perpetrate what causeth My heart and My pen to groan.”