# Baha'i Holy Places in Turkey

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-19 — 1 clipping.*

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Anonymous, Baha'i Holy Places in Turkey, bahai-library.com.
> ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
> 
> Bahá'í Holy Places in Turkey
> 
> Anonymous
> 
> n.d.
> 
> 1. PDF scan (see uncorrected text below)
> 
> Download: anonymous_bahai_holy-places_turkey.pdf.
> 
> 2. OCR text
> 
> Istanbul (Constantinople)
> 
> 16th of August, 1863, marks the arrival of
> Baha'u'llah and His companions to Istanbul, then
> the capital city of the Ottoman Empire. He and
> his family had stayed here for a period of four
> months. It was during His residence here that,
> because of the false accusations made by the
> Iranian Ambassador, the agreeable attitude of the
> authorities changed to that of animosity and bitterness.
> 
> The house of Veysi Pasha (not original)
> During this same eventful period, however,
> marks a "significant milestone in the enfoldment
> of His Mission" in a sense that the "initial phase
> of the proclamation of the Message of
> Baha'u'llah to the kings and rulers of the world
> was ushered in by the revelation of a Tablet addressed
> to Sultan 'Abdu'l-Aziz and his ministers
> sternly rebuking them for their actions against the
> new-born Faith of God and its Leader."
> 
> Baha'u'llah arrived in Istanbul in a perceptible
> majesty and was received by the authorities with
> great honor as He disembarked from the ship. He
> was driven with all the members of His family to
> the residences of Semsi Bey (Shamsi Big), an
> official who was present at the port and who was
> appointed by the Government to entertain its
> guests.
> 
> The residence of Semsi Bey was a two storey
> building located in the area of Hirka-yi Serif
> mosque. This house, because of the size of
> Baha'u'llah and His fifty-four companions,
> proved to be small. As a result, He was soon
> moved to a more spacious house - the three-storey
> residence of Veysi Pasha near the Fatih
> (Sultan Mehmed II) mosque. Neither of these
> houses, unfortunately, is today in its original
> form.
> 
> Many of the high-ranking authorities that visited
> Baha'u'llah during this time had expected Him
> to supplicate their help in obtaining support of
> the Government for Himself and His Cause.
> They soon, however, noticed that not only was
> He not remotely interested, but was "far removed
> from the expedient practices current
> among men, and that His standards were exalted
> above human statesmanship."
> 
> One of the well-known works which Baha'u'llah
> revealed in Constantinople is the Mathnaviy-i-Mubarak.
> It has been stated that this work is "a
> masterpiece of Persian poetry, noted for the
> beauty and power of its composition, and acclaimed
> as one of the most soul-stirring among
> His Poems" and that in it Baha'u'llah has "unveiled
> the mysteries of a vast and limitless Revelation,
> disclosed some of the realities of the
> world of man, and indicated how he can achieve
> the summit of glory."
> 
> Edirne (Adrianople)
> 
> Now that Baha'u'llah was in Istanbul, the Persian
> Ambassador was making every attempt
> misrepresent and falsely accuse Him to the authorities
> to gain their support to banish Him even further. The
> situation of Baha'u'llah's exile was tragic as well as
> humiliating. The officials did not even give sufficient
> time to Baha'u'llah and His companions for this long
> and extremely dangerous journey. The Guardian
> Shoghi Effendi, in regards to this journey, writes:
> "Travelling through rain and storm, at times even
> taking night marches, the weary travellers, after brief
> halts ... arrived at their destination, on the first of Rajab
> 1280 A.H. (December 12, 1863), and were lodged
> in the Khan-i-'Arab, a two-storey caravanserai, near
> the house of 'Izzat Aqa."
> 
> The inhabitants, shortly after Baha'u'llah's arrival in
> Adrianople, noticed His greatness and were deeply
> impressed by His genuine love and exalted character.
> Even the high-ranking city officials and men of culture
> and learning were attracted to Him and discovered
> for themselves that Baha'u'llah was "the source
> of all knowledge and embodiment of all virtues," and
> that "such was were the marks of honour and esteem
> shown to Baha'u'llah that on occasions when He
> walked in the streets and bazaars the people spontaneously
> stood and bowed before Him."
> 
> Despite the extreme difficulties faced from another
> exile, the outpourings of Baha'u'llah's
> Revelation continued in Adrianople. "From the
> tone of these Tablets it became clear that the
> Revelation of Baha'u'llah had entered a new
> phase and that He was now openly summoning
> the believers to Himself as the supreme Manifestation
> of God."
> 
> Suriy-i-Ashab (Surih of Companions) was one of
> the early Tablets revealed in Adrianople. This
> lengthy Tablet in Arabic "played a significant
> role in the unveiling of the station of Baha'u'llah
> to the Babis of Persia." Another of the wellknown
> Tablets that was revealed during this time
> is the Tablet of Ahmad, both the Arabic and Persian.
> The Tablet" of Ahmad (Arabic) was revealed
> around 1282 A.H. (1865) in honour of Ahmad,
> native of Yazd.
> 
> The activities of Baha'u'llah's enemies, who intended
> to impose upon Him the strictest of confinements,
> gathered momentum in early 1868.
> The most glorious, yet the most turbulent period
> in Baha'u'llah's ministry, from 1863 to· 1868,
> was drawing to a close, and those mainly responsible
> for Baha'u'llah's final banishment, the
> Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, succeeded
> in their efforts to banish Baha'u'llah to 'Akka,
> and impose on Him life imprisonment within the
> walls of that prison city.
> 
> METADATA
> 
> Views1177 views since posted 2025-10-02; last edit 2025-10-03 18:59 UTC;
> 
> previous at archive.org.../anonymous_bahai_holy-places_turkey
> Language
> English
> Permission
> fair use
> History
> Scanned by Sharaf Funk, 2025-09.
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> Shortlink: bahai-library.com/7063
> Citation: ris/7063
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> — *Baha'i Holy Places in Turkey (Used by permission of the curator)*