Friends and strangers alike know that, during the days of peril, the leader [1] of these people roamed throughout the land in the guise of a dervish and went about, bowl in hand, asking for “alms for the sake of God”. After the episode of Sádiq and Násiri’d-Dín Sháh, [2] he abandoned the believers in the district of Núr to the threat of the sword and chains, and fled at once into hiding in Mázindarán and Gílán. He tied a cord round his head, put on the cloak of a dervish, and, adopting the name “Darvísh-‘Alí”, roamed the plains and mountains until such time as the Blessed Beauty was banished to Iraq. He then followed Bahá’u’lláh to Baghdad, taking shelter under His protection but still in hiding and in abject fear of everyone.
Subsequently, the Blessed Beauty left for Kurdistan. The early believers of Iraq and Persia are all well aware that, during the absence of the Most Great Name, Mírzá Yahyá travelled in disguise in the regions of Súqu’sh-Shuyúkh and Basra, under the name of Hájí ‘Alí. He carried some Arab slippers and thus became known as Hájí ‘Alí the shoe-seller. Later he proceeded to Najaf, bought some silk, and was referred to as the silk merchant. He even dressed in Arab garb and abandoned his Persian name. During the two-year absence of the Blessed Beauty, the Cause of God was left with neither name nor fame.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From a Tablet; ‘Light of the World’)
[1] Mírzá Yahyá
[2] The attempt on the life of the Shah by Sádiq-i-Tabrízí.
