# Baha'u'llah's Seclusion in Kurdistan

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-23 — 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: Bijan Ma'sumian, Baha'u'llah's Seclusion in Kurdistan, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> Baha'u'llah's Seclusion in Kurdistan
> 
> Bijan Ma'sumian
> 
> published in Deepen1:1, pp. 18-26
> 
> 1993 Fall
> 
> 1. PDF scan of original
> 
> Download: masumian_bahaullah_kurdistan.pdf.
> 
> 2. HTML
> 
> Historians have always experienced difficulty in reconstructing the precise nature
> of the events that led to Bahá'u'lláh's two-year retirement to Iraqi
> Kurdistan (1854-1856). Accounts of His daily life in that region also remain, for
> the most part, sketchy.
> 
> Much of this ambiguity may be due to two distinct factors. First, until recently
> few scholarly attempts were made to provide a clear and concise picture of the
> events surrounding Bahá'u'lláh's decision to withdraw from the
> Bábí community of Baghdád. Second, most of what is known
> today about Bahá'u'lláh's stay in Kurdistan relies either on His own
> personal accounts or on inferences made from His works penned during that period.
> None of Bahá'u'lláh's followers shared His self-imposed exile and,
> consequently, no comprehensive history of those days is left to posterity.
> However, recent publication of several scholarly works have paved the way toward
> shedding more light on this rather obscure period in Bahá'í history.
> The purpose of this paper is to draw upon these new sources and present a logical
> framework for a better understanding of this significant phase in the
> metamorphosis of the Bábí religion into the Bahá'í
> Faith.
> 
> Bahá'u'lláh's Exile to Iraq
> 
> Following the failed attempt on the life of Násirí'd-Din
> Sháh, the King of Persia, by a small band of radical Bábís,
> the entire Bábí community went under suspicion. The would-be
> assassins were immediately arrested and the more well-known figures were
> fervently sought.
> 
> At the time of the assassination attempt, Bahá'u'lláh, who had
> recently returned from pilgrimage to the holy cities of Najaf and Karbilá,
> was in Afcha, a summer resort near Tehrán. Although He condemned the
> actions of these radicals, He realized that He might be sought by the government
> officials as a Bábí leader and He chose to surrender Himself to the
> authorities. He was taken to a prison where He remained for four months (the
> Siyyah Chál, or "Black Pit"). During that time, according to His later
> testimony, He had several mystical experiences which convinced Him that He was
> the One whose appearance the Báb had foreseen and who was destined to
> become the next leader of the Bábí movement.1
> 
> In the meantime, at the insistence of Mírzá Májíd-í-Ahi, the Secretary to the Russian Legation in Tehrán and brother-in-law of Bahá'u'lláh, Prince Dolgorki, the Russian Ambassador,
> pressured the government of Násirí'd-Din Sháh to either
> produce evidence against Bahá'u'lláh or to release Him.2 In absence
> of any proof, Bahá'u'lláh, Who was initially condemned to life in
> prison, was forced by the King to choose a place of exile for Himself and His
> family.
> 
> Prince Dolgorki encouraged Bahá'u'lláh to emigrate to Russia but the
> latter chose Iraq, probably for a number of reasons. For instance, Najaf and
> Karbilá, two major centers of Shí'ah pilgrimage, were located in
> Iraq.* Also, Iraq's vicinity with Persia (Iran) made it possible for Him to keep a
> close eye on the events in Persia and stay in touch with other active
> Bábís. In addition, the presence of a multitude of Shí'ahs in
> Iraq provided Him with fertile ground for spreading the teachings of the
> Báb in those regions.
> 
> A group of Bábís chose to follow Bahá'u'lláh into
> exile in 1853. Among them was His half-brother Mírzá Yahya,
> otherwise known as Subh-i-Azal ("Morn of Eternity"), whom the Báb had
> appointed to head the Bábí movement after His death. (*
> Islám, like Christianity, is divided into two major denominations, the
> Shí'ah sect being centered in Iran and the Sunní sect in Iraq. The
> recent conflict between the two countries was due in part to this division, much
> as was the case in the wars between the Catholics and Protestants in Christian
> Europe several centuries ago.)
> 
> Bahá'í accounts claim that the Báb's appointment of Azal
> (who was thirteen years younger than Bahá'u'lláh) was only nominal,
> as he was only in his teens at that time. The purpose behind this was to divert the
> attention of the opposition from Bahá'u'lláh, the Promised One of
> the Bábí dispensation, Whose rising prominence was endangering
> His life.
> 
> The arrangement was suggested by Bahá'u'lláh to the Báb,
> Who approved it. Beside Bahá'u'lláh and the Báb, only two
> other individuals, Mírzá Musá (Aqáy-i-Kalím),
> Bahá'u'lláh's full brother, and a certain Mullá Abdu'l-Karím-í-Qazvíní, who was later martyred in
> Tehrán, were aware of this arrangement.3 However, following the
> Báb's martyrdom, the question of succession came to cause much
> disturbance among the faithful. It ultimately came to result in a permanent rift
> between Bahá'u'lláh and Azal.
> 
> Azal's Leadership
> 
> While future historians may need to further clarify the exact nature of Azal's
> nomination, there is little doubt at this time that, following the Báb's
> execution in 1850, the generality of Bábís came to regard Azal as
> the Báb's successor. At the time of the Báb's execution, Azal had
> gone into hiding in the mountains of Mázíndarán and later
> managed to flee Persia and join Bahá'u'lláh's family in
> Baghdád a few months after the arrival of the latter in 1853. The events
> transpiring in Baghdád during the next few years indicate that Azal was
> not a particularly effective leader.
> 
> Bahá'u'lláh and Azal were of significantly different temperaments
> and abilities. As a consequence, they had sharply contrasting leadership styles
> which soon became evident. Whereas Azal was normally withdrawn and retiring,
> Bahá'u'lláh was energetic and active. Understandably, those who
> came to support them had opposing views of the other leader's attributes. What
> Bahá'ís regarded as Azal's cowardice was to Azalis his caution as
> the surviving head of the movement, and what the latter considered
> Bahá'u'lláh's ambition was to Bahá'ís His love and
> concern for a community that, because the martyrdom of the Báb, was
> demoralized and disintegrating. Nevertheless, it is clear that Azal's continuous
> insistence to remain in hiding or seclusion was the last thing a struggling
> community needed.4
> 
> The severity of persecutions of early 1850's had driven the Bábís in
> Persia underground. Only the small community in Iraq could hope to preserve and
> spread the message of the martyred Báb. However, at this crucial juncture,
> Azal chose to distance himself from others. According to contemporary accounts,
> he changed his identity and appearance on several occasions and even threatened to
> excommunicate anyone who might reveal his identity or whereabouts.5
> 
> His unforceful response did not sit well with many Bábís. Some saw
> no difference between the 'hidden Azal' and the Shíah's Hidden
> Imám.* Consequently, dissatisfaction with Azal's leadership began to
> mount. In the meantime, he continued to maintain the militant policy of the more
> radical elements of the Bábí movement and encouraged his
> supporters to, whenever appropriate, attack the "hated" Shíahs and even
> went so far as dispatching an assassin for a second attempt on the life of
> Násirí'd-Din Sháh.6 In contrast to Azal's seclusive but
> radical attitude, Bahá'u'lláh began to actively encourage a pacific
> policy which became an attractive alternative to the more moderate
> Bábís. (* Shí'ah tradition holds that twelve Imáms,
> or holy leaders have appeared since the time of Muhammad. According to tradition,
> the twelfth and last of these Imáms wandered into a cave and was never
> seen again. The Shí'ahs believe that, like Elijah, this "Hidden Imám"
> would one day reappear. The name 'hidden Azal' was used by some as a callous
> joke.)
> 
> In view of the disasters of early 1850's, Bahá'u'lláh supported a
> conciliatory attitude toward others and pushed for major reforms in the character
> and behavior of the Bábís. He even attempted what to radical
> Bábís was the unthinkable rapprochement with the Persian
> government and its representatives in the Ottoman Empire—the same
> government they held responsible for the execution of the Báb and fierce
> persecution of their fellow-believers. This policy shift was welcomed by some but
> incurred the wrath of Azal and those who were content with the status quo. It also
> contributed to the growing polarization within the ranks of Bábís
> over the next few years.
> 
> In the meantime, while Azal continued to be reclusive, Bahá'u'lláh
> began to write proliferately and remain publicly visible and easily accessible to
> those who turned to Him for guidance and leadership. He also showed marks of a
> competent leader by establishing an organized network of communication which
> linked the fragmented communities of Persia and Iraq. Under His supervision, the
> Bábís of Persia would travel to Iraq, if necessary in the guise of
> Shí'ah pilgrims, bring Him letters and questions from other believers, and
> depart with His replies. He also had couriers assigned specifically to undertake
> such travels and visit the local communities en route, thus bringing together
> various communities and groups. Ultimately, this network seems to have
> succeeded in reviving the cohesiveness of the Bábís as a religious
> group and significantly contributed to ascendancy of Bahá'u'lláh
> over Azal. It also generated a loyal band of followers for Bahá'u'lláh
> inside Persia who, by their partisanship, tended to devalue the overall status and
> leadership abilities of Azal.7
> 
> Concurrently, inside Persia some well-known Bábís began to show
> discontent with Azal's leadership. Others found his writings uninspiring and
> severely inadequate and began to challenge his authority. A few went so far as
> refuting his claims to successorship, advancing counter-claims, and disseminating
> their own writings.8
> 
> Still others began to turn to Bahá'u'lláh for spiritual guidance. One
> such individual was Hájí Mírzá Kamálu'd-
> Dín-i-Naráqi who initially asked Azal to enlighten him on the
> Qur'ánic verse "All food was allowed to the children of Israel except that
> which Israel made unlawful for itself." Azal wrote a commentary on this verse
> which Naraqi apparently found inadequate. The latter then presented the same
> question to Bahá'u'lláh. In response, Bahá'u'lláh
> wrote what is today known as the Tablet of All Food (or "Lawh-i-Kullu't-Tá'am").
> 
> The Tablet of All Food
> 
> The presence of "hierarchies" or "degrees" of existence in the universe may be
> foreign to some readers. Bahá'ís believe the existence of such
> hierarchies are an essential prerequisite for the appearance of order and
> perfection in all the worlds of God, including this world. "For existing beings could
> not be embodied in only one degree, one station, one kind, one species, and one
> class...." 9
> 
> 'Abdu'l-Bahá expounds that, in this world, the essential hierarchy of
> existence is manifested through the appearance of the mineral, vegetable, animal,
> and human kingdoms (vertical degrees of difference). By the same token, one can
> observe the existence of such differences in the degrees of perfections among the
> members of the same kingdom (horizontal differences). Similar hierarchies are
> imperative for the appearance of order and perfections in the afterlife. 10
> 
> In the Tablet of All Food, which is penned in a highly mystical language,*
> Bahá'u'lláh states that there are many spiritual worlds in the next
> life, and the above-mentioned Qur'anic verse has infinite meanings in each of these
> worlds most of which man could not comprehend in this earthly life. He then
> proceeds to identify four such worlds and describe some of the meanings of
> certain words in the verse.
> 
> An example of this is found in His examination of the mystical significance of the
> word "food". He notes that, at the highest spiritual level, it signifies the throne of
> "Hahut" (Divine Oneness) where God's unapproachable Essence exists. This is a
> world which is completely beyond human understanding and even the prophets have
> no access to it. (* The style of Bahá'u'lláh's writing was
> incomparable in its range and was specifically tailored to the capacity of the
> reader. Works such as the Tablet of All Food and The Seven Valleys were written in
> a style familiar to readers from a mystically oriented Sufi background.)
> 
> The word Hahut is constructed according to the same pattern as similar Arabic
> words with spiritual connotations such as Lahut (divinity). Its meaning is probably
> based on the first letter Ha, which stands for "Huwiyyah" (God's self-identity).11
> The following description of God from one of Bahá'u'lláh's writings
> perhaps best fits the world of Hahut.
> 
> "From time immemorial, He, the Divine Being, hath been veiled in the
> ineffable sanctity of His exalted Self, and will everlastingly continue to be wrapt
> in the impenetrable mystery of His unknowable Essence..." 12
> 
> Next in the hierarchy of spiritual worlds is the world of Lahut (Divinity) which He
> describes as the "Heavenly Court." This realm is "perhaps the world of God in
> relation to His Manifestations and Chosen Ones"13 where His omnipotence drives
> the prophets to pronounce their utter nothingness in relation to Him. The well-known Qur'anic verse "He is God, there is no God but Him" may well apply here.
> 
> The world of Lahut emphasizes God's unity and uniqueness. Only the
> most purified souls could understand this world.
> 
> The next lower world is Jabarut (Divine Dominion), where prophets and chosen
> ones are allowed to use theophanic language and identify themselves with God "on
> the level of His attributes."14 They can identify themselves closely with God,
> claim unity with Him, and speak with His voice and authority.15 The realm of
> Jabarut seems to be the plane of prophets and chosen ones in relation to the world
> of creation:
> 
> "When I contemplate, O my God, the relationship that bindeth me to
> Thee, I am moved to proclaim to all created things verily I am God!"16
> 
> The realm of Malakut (Divine Power or Kingdom) is next, described by
> Bahá'u'lláh as the "Heaven of Divine Justice" inhabited by souls who
> have detached themselves from the riches of the material world. In addition to
> these worlds, Bahá'u'lláh identifies another world as Nasut
> (physical beings) which is the lowest in the hierarchy and is defined as the
> "Heaven of Bounty." Compared to the other worlds, the world of Nasut is in a state
> of subsistence because it has come to existence and continues to exist only
> through God's "bounty." Bahá'u'lláh states that should this bounty be
> replaced, even for a moment, with God's "justice" the world of Nasut would
> completely cease to exist.17
> 
> The exquisite beauty and insight of this Tablet left no doubt in the mind of Naraqi
> as to Whom he should follow.
> 
> Bahá'u'lláh read this commentary to Naraqi, but did not give it to
> him.18 While it is not precisely known why He did so, His purpose may have been to
> avoid further hostilities between Himself and Azal and greater divisions among
> the faithful. Nevertheless, Naraqi evidently was so impressed with
> Bahá'u'lláh's explanation that he immediately pledged allegiance to
> Him. The news of this event further damaged Azal's credibility and increased
> Bahá'u'lláh's popularity.
> 
> Azal's Reaction
> 
> Azal was alarmed by the rising prestige of his half-brother. He was also becoming
> disheartened by the growing number of defections and opposition from well-known
> figures in the movement. Therefore, aided by a close companion, Siyyid Muhammad-i-Isfahani (referred to by the Guardian as, "the Antichrist of the
> Bahá'í dispensation"), he initiated an organized campaign to regain
> his credibility. This involved, among other things, efforts to discredit
> Bahá'u'lláh and represent Him as someone who was attempting to
> "usurp" his position.
> 
> Bahá'u'lláh, in His turn, was becoming increasingly saddened by
> those in the community who were spreading rumors against Him and who failed to
> see the clear indications of His superior knowledge and ability as well as His
> sincere concern for a disunified community. Soon His close associates began to
> observe in Him signs of pending withdrawal. His attendant, Mirza Aqa Jan, heard
> Bahá'u'lláh refer to those who considered themselves to be His
> enemies shortly before His retirement, likening them to the unfaithful of the past
> who, "...for three thousand years have worshiped idols, and bowed down before the
> Golden Calf." Now, too, they are fit for nothing better.
> 
> "What relation can there be between this people and Him Who is the
> Countenance of Glory?
> 
> "What ties can bind them to the One Who is the supreme embodiment of all that is
> lovable?"19
> 
> Retirement to Kurdistan
> 
> On the morning of April 10th, 1854, to their utmost surprise,
> Bahá'u'lláh's household awoke to find Him gone. He had left Baghdad
> for the mountains of Sulaymáníyyih in the heart of Kurdish
> Iraq.
> 
> In one of His later writings, He thus explained His reason for leaving Baghdad:
> 
> "The one object of Our retirement was to avoid becoming a subject of
> discord among the faithful, a source of disturbance unto Our companions, the
> means of injury to any soul, or the cause of sorrow to any heart."20
> 
> Abu'l-Q'asim-i-Hamadani, a Muslim, was the only person who accompanied
> Bahá'u'lláh from Baghdad and remained aware of His whereabouts in
> Kurdistan. Evidently, Bahá'u'lláh gave this individual a sum of money
> and instructed him to act as a merchant in that region. Hamadani occasionally
> visited Bahá'u'lláh and brought Him money and certain goods.
> Bahá'u'lláh who was intent upon living a life of complete solitude
> decided to conceal His true identity by dressing in the garb of a poor dervish and
> assuming the fictitious name of Darvish Muhammad-i-Irani. He only took with
> Himself one change of clothes and an alms-bowl or kashkul which is typically
> carried by dervishes. (Bahá'u'lláh's kashkul is preserved in the
> Bahá'í International Archives at Haifa, Israel.)
> 
> In the first phase of His retirement, He lived on a mountain named Sar-Galu, about
> 3 days of walking distance from Sulaymáníyyíh in the Iraqi
> Kurdistan.21 Milk and rice were His main sources of sustenance there, which He
> evidently obtained by occasionally traveling to nearby towns. 22 His dwelling
> place was sometimes a cave and at other times a rude structure of stones that
> was also used as shelter by peasants who, twice a year (during planting and
> harvest), traveled to that area. 23
> 
> It is not entirely known how Bahá'u'lláh's days were spent in Sar-Galu. Some Bahá'í accounts suggest that He was going through the
> same purification process which all prophets must go through before revealing
> their mission.24 Thus, He is believed to have been mostly engaged in writing and
> chanting prayers in the wilderness and reflecting upon the events that had
> transpired and possibly what the future had in store.
> 
> One thing is, however, clear. He was extremely distressed during this period. In a
> letter to His cousin Maryam, written after His return to Baghdad,
> Bahá'u'lláh stressed His utter loneliness in Sar-Galu by stating that
> His only companions in those days were the 'birds of the air' and the 'beasts of the
> field.' 25 Additionally, in the Kitab-i-Iqan which He wrote later, He described His
> state of mind in that region as follows:
> 
> "From Our eyes there rained tears of anguish, and in Our bleeding heart
> there surged an ocean of agonizing pain. Many a night We had no food for
> sustenance, and many a day Our body found no rest. Alone, We communed with Our
> spirit, oblivious of the world and all that is therein...." 26
> 
> For some time, Bahá'u'lláh was successful in completely severing
> ties with the outside world, but this did not last long. Either the travelers who
> passed through or the migrant farm workers who visited the Sar-Galu mountains
> must have come into contact with Him or observed Him living a life of asceticism
> which was favored by the mystics (Sufis) who resided in those regions and related
> their observations to others. Consequently, through word of mouth, His fame as a
> detached Soul who had chosen to live in wilderness and eschewed human society
> began to spread to neighboring towns.
> 
> Shortly thereafter, Shaykh Isma'il, the leader of the mystic Naqshbandi Sufi group,
> came into contact with Bahá'u'lláh. It is not known how the two
> first met. What is clear, however, is that soon the Shaykh developed an attachment
> to Bahá'u'lláh and, over time, persuaded Him to leave Sar-Galu and
> take residence in his seminary (or takyah) in the city of
> Sulaymáníyyih. Bahá'u'lláh's stay in Sar-Galu lasted
> less than a year, from April of 1854 to sometime in 1855, although the exact date
> and circumstances of His departure from Sar-Galu remain unknown.
> 
> Around the same period new developments took place in Baghdad and Persia which
> were indicative of further radicalization of Azal and his supporters. Some of the
> more learned Bábís who had found Azal's leadership wanting began
> to challenge him by advancing counterclaims to leadership and disseminating their
> own writings. It is believed that at one time, as many as twenty-five individuals
> had advanced some type of claim to spiritual authority.27 Among them were Mirza
> Assad'u'llah-i-Khuy surnamed Dayyán (Judge) by the Báb and Nabil-
> i-Zarandi (the author of The Dawn-Breakers).
> 
> Probably the most serious challenge came from Dayyán. His threat became
> even more serious when a cousin of the Báb, Mirza Ali-Akbar, began to
> openly support him and to defy Azal. The latter felt so threatened by this new
> development that he first condemned Dayyán in one of his books "The
> Sleeper Awakened" (or "Mustayqiz") and then sentenced both him and the
> Báb's cousin to death.
> 
> Mirza Muhammad-i-Mazandarani, a devoted follower of Azal, set out for Persia to
> carry out the sentence, but Dayyán could not be found in his native
> Adhirbayjan. Shortly after Bahá'u'lláh's return from
> Sulaymáníyyíh, however, the assassin succeeded in
> completing his mission by murdering both Dayyán and the Báb's
> cousin in Baghdád.28 Before Bahá'u'lláh's return, and to the
> dismay of many, Azal also forcibly married the Báb's widow in Iraq. When
> Bahá'u'lláh later learned of this union, He severely censured it.
> Azal's main motive in entering this marriage may have been to enhance his
> credibility as the Báb's rightful successor. Later, he even allowed his chief
> accomplice, Siyyid Muhammad-i-Isfahani, to marry the same widow. 29
> 
> For the time being, however, Bahá'u'lláh remained unaware of these
> developments. He had recently started the second phase of His self-imposed exile
> in Sulaymáníyyíh.
> 
> Sulaymáníyyih
> 
> At the time of Bahá'u'lláh's seclusion Sulay-
> máníyyih was a town of about 6,000 inhabitants, the majority being
> Sunní Kurds. This group was hostile toward Muslims of Shí'ah
> background (such as Persians) whom they regarded as seceders from Islám.
> Nevertheless, Bahá'u'lláh seems to have been quickly accepted and
> respected by the local people. This may have been due to His attire and lifestyle as
> a dervish and the reverence that the venerable Shaykh Isma'il displayed toward
> Him by personally inviting Him to the town.
> 
> For a short while, no one suspected Bahá'u'lláh to be possessed of
> any wisdom or learning. However, this did not last. One day, a student of Shaykh
> Isma'il who attended to Bahá'u'lláh's needs, accidentally came upon
> a specimen of His calligraphy — an art which Bahá'u'lláh, like
> most children of nobility in Persia, had learned in childhood. His penmanship was
> of such high quality that it took the student by complete surprise. He decided to
> show it to his instructors and fellow students. The seminary was also bewildered.
> They had not expected such penmanship from an uneducated hermit. Examples of
> Bahá'u'lláh's writing style soon became available in town through
> His correspondence with certain Sufi leaders in the area.30 Thus, His true identity
> and aristocratic past soon became known to the Naqshbandi mystics as well as the
> general populace.
> 
> Life Among the Sufis
> 
> The Naqshbandi order was originally founded in Central Asia by Bahá'u'd-Din Muhammad-i-Naqshbandi (1317-1389 A.D.). Later, the order broke into two
> main factions. One was the Mujaddidiyyah order which was established by an
> Indian thinker, Ahmad-i-Sirhindi (1564-1624 A.D.), and which flourished in India.
> The other was the Khaledíyyíh order which was founded by 'Abdu'l-Bahá Diya'u'd-Din Khalid-i-Shahrizuri (d. 1827) and which spread in Iraq
> and Syria.31
> 
> Sirhindi, a Muslim elite, vehemently opposed the religious laxness he observed in
> the thinking of most converts from Hinduism to Islám in India. He
> advocated strict observance of Islámic laws. He also wrote extensively
> against both Shí'ism and Hinduism and rejected the doctrine of "existential
> monism" (Wahdat al-wujud) which was promulgated by the renowned Muslim
> mystic Ibn-i-Arabi.32
> 
> He attacked attempts by some Indian Muslims to reconcile Ibn-i-Arabi's idea of
> existential monism with the Vedantic school of Hinduism, which held that the
> ultimate goal of one's spiritual destiny was complete "physical" reunion with the
> essence of Brahma (God). Ultimately, his ideology came to have great impact on the
> rest of the Muslim world. Sirhindi also advanced certain claims. For instance, he
> claimed to be the Qayyum33 (the Herald of the Qa'im or Promised One); the Perfect
> Man who acted as God's intermediary among the faithful.34
> 
> Shaykh Khaled-i-Shahrizuri, a native of Iraqi Kurdistan, was among the thinkers
> whose line of thought were influenced by Sirhindi. Around 1811 to 1812, he
> traveled to Sulaymáníyyih and spread His teachings in that region.
> Like Sirhindi, Khaled also claimed to possess supernatural or mystical powers. His
> influence lives on to this day in Sulaymáníyyih and Baghdád
> as well as in Damascus, Syria, where he spent the last seven years of his life.
> Following Khaled's death, the Naqshbandis in Kurdistan began to refer to
> themselves as the Khaledíyyih (followers of Khaled) and call Shaykh Khaled
> by the surname Mawlana ("our lord").
> 
> The Bábís and Naqshbandis represented two distinct reformist
> trends in the nineteenth-century Middle East. They both favored elimination of
> non-revelatory accretions to the pure Faith of Muhammad. For instance, the
> tradition of blind imitation (Taqlid) practiced by Shi'ahs was attacked by both
> groups as was the doctrine of existential monism. Therefore, the Khaledis should
> have readily accepted many of Bahá'u'lláh's theological
> interpretations. However, the Bábís and Naqshbandis disagreed as to
> the extent of reforms needed in Islam. While the Naqshbandis were content with
> certain theological and ritual reforms within a strictly Sunní school of
> Islam, the Bábís were convinced that nothing short of the messianic
> advent of the Promised Mahdi in the person of the Báb could remedy the ills
> of Islám and of mankind in general.35
> 
> Shortly after the true identity of Bahá'u'lláh was revealed, the
> Khaledi seminary became engaged in the study of Meccan Victories (Al-Futuhat al-Makkíyyah), the well-known work of the renowned mystic thinker Ibn-i-
> Arabi. In response to a request, in the course of several interviews,
> Bahá'u'lláh answered the seminary's questions regarding certain
> abstruse passages in this book and even made corrective remarks concerning some
> of Abn-i-Arabi's beliefs. For example, He may well have objected to Arabi's
> advocacy of the doctrine of existential monism. The Khaledis perhaps readily
> accepted His assertions as they themselves believed in the eventual spiritual (as
> opposed to physical) reunion of man with his Creator.
> 
> Shaykh Isma'il, the Khaledi leader, evidently was impressed enough by
> Bahá'u'lláh's comments to request that He compose an ode (or
> qasidah) in the same style as a famous mystic work, Ibn-i-Farid's Poem of the Way
> (or Nazmu's-Suluk). Bahá'u'lláh complied with this request and
> wrote a very long poem of some 2,000 verses, but He chose to preserve only 127 of
> those verses and destroyed the rest of the poem, presumably because they
> expressed His messianic feelings too forcefully.36 Today this work is known
> among Bahá'u'lláh's faithful as the Poem of the Dove (or Al-
> Qasidah-al-Warqa'iyyah).
> 
> In this poem, Bahá'u'lláh displays the ability to express
> Bábí theological beliefs in Sufi terminology. This is not surprising,
> however, in view of the fact that Sufi works were popular in Persia and, over the
> centuries, had left a lasting impact on the culture and literature of that country.
> Persians of nobility, such as Bahá'u'lláh, were raised on such Sufi
> classics as Rumi's Mathnawi and Attar's The Speech of the Bird (or Mantiqu't-Tayr). Moreover, Sufism had experienced a revival in 19th century Persia and was
> highly favored in the court circles which included the family of
> Bahá'u'lláh.37
> 
> Also, Sufi expressions which emphasized personal transformation of character
> enabled Bahá'u'lláh to richly describe His doctrine of spreading
> Bábísm through the force of example rather than militancy, as had
> been the case with the supporters of earlier religions. He continued to use this
> mixture of Bábí and Sufi terminology until the period preceding the
> year of the public declaration of His Station in 1863, during which time He
> gradually began to adopt a distinctly different style. In addition to the Poem of the
> Dove, Bahá'u'lláh wrote several works of note with highly mystical
> flavor before 1863. Among these were the Hidden Words, the Seven Valleys, the
> Four Valleys, and the Book of Certitude (or Kitáb-i-Iqán).
> 
> Even though there are similarities in both style and content between
> Bahá'u'lláh's Poem of the Dove and Ibn-i-Farid's Poem of the Way,
> there are also significant metaphysical and theological differences between the
> two. For instance, in the course of his poem, Ibn-i-Farid, who adhered to
> existential monism, claimed to have physically seen the "Essence" of the Beloved
> (God) and ultimately, through a chain of events, experienced moments of reunion
> with Him. Bahá'u'lláh does not make such a claim anywhere in His
> poem, as God's essential nature is beyond human comprehension. Instead, He
> employs messianic themes and refers, in veiled language, to an exalted station of
> Prophethood for Himself, which Ibn-i-Farid does not.
> 
> Bahá'u'lláh's Return to Baghdád
> 
> The exact circumstances surrounding Bahá'u'lláh's return from
> Sulaymáníyyíh are not entirely clear. It is known that late
> in 1855, Hamadani, Bahá'u'lláh's Muslim companion, was returning
> from Persia and heading to Sar-Galu with some goods for
> Bahá'u'lláh, but was attacked by thieves and fatally wounded. Before
> his death, he bequeathed all his possessions to the mysterious Darvish Muhammad-i-Irani. About the same time, reports of a mysterious darvish from Iran had begun
> to reach Baghdád. Hamadani's death left little doubt for
> Bahá'u'lláh's family as to the true identity and whereabouts of
> Darvish Muhammad, since the former had also disappeared in Baghdád at
> about the same time as Bahá'u'lláh two years previously. They
> rightly concluded that the mysterious dervish must be none other than
> Bahá'u'lláh Himself.
> 
> At this time, in the absence of effective leadership, the morale of the
> Bábí community had deteriorated considerably, much as was the
> case with their ancient counterparts during the absence of Moses. This decay
> caused such stress for the family of Bahá'u'lláh that they finally
> convinced His brother Mírzá Musá to try to find
> Bahá'u'lláh and ask for His return. Thus, Mírzá
> Musá requested his Arab father-in-law, Shaykh Sultan, to locate
> Bahá'u'lláh and bring Him back to Baghdád. Even Azal now
> wanted his half-brother to come back, though it is not clear why. Perhaps, in light
> of the growing number of defections and rival claimants, he felt
> Bahá'u'lláh might be willing to lend some of His prestige to his
> sagging leadership.38
> 
> Azal's supporters, true to form, offered a different interpretation of the events
> that led to Bahá'u'lláh's return, trying to convince others that
> Bahá'u'lláh left Sulaymáníyyíh in 1856 at the
> command of Azal. They also maintained that Bahá'u'lláh considered
> Himself to be under Azal's authority. This, however, is clearly false, as is
> demonstrated by such works of Bahá'u'lláh as the poems Rash-i-Ama (Sprinkling of Essence) and Al-Qasidah-al-Warqa'iyyah (Poem of the Dove),
> which were produced around the time He received His Revelation.
> 
> The first of these two poems is perhaps the earliest of Bahá'u'lláh's
> known works; penned in 1853 in the dungeon in Tihrán known as the "Black
> Pit". Together with the second poem, the two provide irrefutable evidence that
> Bahá'u'lláh had messianic expectations and had received
> supernatural intimations long before He returned to Baghdád.
> 
> It is assumed that His return from Sulaymáníyyíh was due
> to such factors as the plight of the leaderless Bábí community of
> Baghdád. He Himself seems to have taken Shaykh Sultan's mission as a sign
> that God wanted Him to return.39
> 
> It took Shaykh Sultan and a companion approximately two months before they
> located Bahá'u'lláh in the vicinity of Sulaymáníyyih.
> After a while, Bahá'u'lláh consented to depart for Baghdád,
> where He arrived in March 19, 1856. His stay in Kurdistan took exactly two lunar
> years.40
> 
> Following His return, Bahá'u'lláh maintained correspondence with
> some Sufis in Kurdistan. Two of His well-known works were written in response
> to questions posed by such individuals. The Seven Valleys was penned in reply to a
> query of Shaykh Muhyí'd-Dín, the judge of the town of Khaniqayn in
> Kurdistan, and the Four Valleys was written in response to questions by Shaykh
> Abdu'r-Rahmán, the leader of the Qadiriyyih Sufis. He continued to be
> respected by many Sufis in Kurdistan long after His return and, even today, some
> of the inhabitants of Sulaymáníyyih still possess samples of
> Bahá'u'lláh's works with which they refuse to part at any price.41
> 
> Bahá'u'lláh's return to Baghdád signaled the beginning of a
> new era in the Bábí movement. It initiated a period marked by His
> growing prominence as the head of the Bábí community and
> simultaneous decline in the fortunes of Azal.
> 
> After a seven year span that witnessed a gradual but notable transformation in the
> character and attitudes of the community, in 1863, Bahá'u'lláh
> publicly declared Himself the Promised One. In a relatively short period of time,
> the faithful who resided in Persia and the neighboring regions gave allegiance to
> Him and became designated as Bahá'ís, or followers of Bahá.
> 
> Notes
> 
> 1) Taherzadeh, Adib, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, Vol. I. Oxford: George
> Ronald, Publisher, 1974 p. 10.
> 
> 2) Balyuzi, M. H., Bahá'u'lláh: The King of Glory. Oxford: George
> Ronald, Publisher, 1980, p. 99.
> 
> 3) Taherzadeh, pp. 53-54.
> 
> 4) Smith, Peter. The Bábí & Bahá'í Religions: From
> Messianic Shí'ism to a World Religion, Cambridge: The University Press,
> 1987, p. 59.
> 
> 5) Ibid, p. 60.
> 
> 6) Ibid.
> 
> 7) Ibid, p. 62.
> 
> 8) Taherzadeh, p. 202.
> 
> 9) 'Abdu'l—Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 129.
> 
> 10) For more information, refer to 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions,
> pp. 129-131 and pp. 235-236.
> 
> 11) Cole, Juan R. "Bahá'u'lláh and the Naqshbandi Sufis in Iraq." In
> Cole, Juan R. & Moojan Momen, From Iran East & West: Studies in
> Bábí and Bahá'í history. Los Angeles: Kalimat Press,
> 1984, pp. 12-13
> 
> 12) Taherzadeh, p. 58
> 
> 13) Ibid, p. 59
> 
> 14) Cole, p. 13
> 
> 15) Taherzadeh, p. 59
> 
> 16) Ibid.
> 
> 17) Ibid.
> 
> 18) Balyuzi, . 113.
> 
> 19) Effendi, Shoghi. God Passes By. Wilmette, Illinois: Bahá'í
> Publishing Trust, 1979, p. 119.
> 
> 20) Ibid.
> 
> 21) Balyuzi, 116.
> 
> 22) Taherzadeh, 61.
> 
> 23) Effendi, 120.
> 
> 24) Ibid., 121.
> 
> 25) Ibid., 120.
> 
> 26) Taherzadeh, 61.
> 
> 27) Ibid., 68.
> 
> 28) Ibid., 251.
> 
> 29) As the vast majority of Bábís came from Muslim backgrounds,
> many of them tended to retain the traditional Muslim attitudes towards women as
> property. In Azal's case, he had obviously ignored the impropriety of these
> marriages. Fortunately, the widow of the Báb was to eventually be placed
> under the protection of Bahá'u'lláh and to be rid of the machinations
> of Azal and his followers.
> 
> 30) Taherzadeh, p. 62.
> 
> 31) Cole, p. 5.
> 
> 32) This is a belief that God is part of man and that recognizes no distinction
> between the divine, human and material realms.
> 
> 33) Bahá'ís believe Bahá'u'lláh was the true Qayyum
> who was heralded by the Qa'im (the Báb).
> 
> 34) Cole, pp. 5-6.
> 
> 35) Ibid., pp. 5-7.
> 
> 36) Ibid., p. 92.
> 
> 37) Ibid., p. 21.
> 
> 38) Ibid., p. 20.
> 
> 39) Effendi, p. 126.
> 
> 40) The calendar used in Muslim countries is based on a number of orbits of the
> moon around the earth, as opposed the western calendar, which is based upon the
> earth's orbit around the sun. This makes the Muslim calendar shorter than that
> used in the West.
> 
> 41) Balyuzi, p.118.
> 
> METADATA
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> — *Baha'u'llah's Seclusion in Kurdistan (Used by permission of the curator)*