The chief divine of Núr [in northern Persia], Mullá Muhammad…
sent two of the most distinguished and profound of the doctors, who were
possessed of wondrous eloquence, effective oratorical talent, conclusiveness of
argument, and brilliant powers of demonstration, to quench this fire, and to
subdue and overcome this Young Man [Baha’u’llah] by force of argument, either
reducing Him to penitence, or causing Him to despair of the successful issue of
His projects. Glory be to God for His wondrous decrees! When those two doctors
entered the presence of that Young Man, saw the waves of His utterance, and
heard the force of His arguments, they unfolded like the rose and were stirred
like the multitude, and, abandoning altar and chair, pulpit and preferment,
wealth and luxury, and evening and morning congregations, they applied
themselves to the furtherance of the objects of this Person, even inviting the
chief divine to tender his allegiance.
(‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘A Traveler’s Narrative’)
