…since Bahá’u’lláh was wont to hold intercourse with the
doctors, scholars, magnates, and nobles [of Adrianople] [thereby] obtaining
fame and celebrity throughout Roumelia, the materials of comfort were gathered
together, neither fear nor dread remained, they reposed on the couch of ease,
and passed their time in quietude, when one Siyyid Muhammad by name, of Isfáhán,
one of the followers [of the Báb], laid the foundations of intimacy and
familiarity with Mírzá Yahyá, and [thereby] became the cause of vexation and
trouble. In other words, he commenced a secret intrigue and fell to tempting
Mírzá Yahyá, saying, “The fame of this sect hath risen high in the world, and
their name hath become noble: neither dread nor danger remaineth, nor is there
any fear or [need for] caution before you. Cease, then, to follow, that thou
mayest be followed by the world; and come out from amongst adherents, that thou
mayest become celebrated throughout the horizons.” Mírzá Yahyá, too, through
lack of reflection and thought as to consequences, and want of experience,
became enamored of his words and befooled by his conduct.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (‘A
Traveler’s Narrative’)
