His mission and was enthusiastically accepted by the majority of
the Babis, who were known thereafter as Baha'is. A minority, however,
under the leadership of Baha'u'llah's half brother, Mirza Yahya, become
violently opposed to Him and joined with their former enemies, the
_Sh_i'ihs, in plotting for His overthrow. Great troubles ensued, and at
last the Turkish Government banished both Babis and Baha'is from
Adrianople, exiling Baha'u'llah and His followers to Akka, in Palestine,
where they arrived (according to Nabil)(15) on August 31, 1868, while
Mirza Yahya and his party were sent to Cyprus.

Letters to Kings

About this time Baha'u'llah wrote His famous letter to the Sultan of
Turkey, many of the crowned heads of Europe, the Pope, and the _Sh_ah of
Persia. Later, in His Kitab-i-Aqdas(16) He addressed other sovereigns, the
rulers and Presidents of America, the leaders of religion in general and
the generality of mankind. To all, He announced His mission and called
upon them to bend their energies to the establishment of true religion,
just government and international peace. In His letter to the _Sh_ah He
powerfully pleaded the cause of the oppressed Babs and asked to be brought
face to face with those who had instigated their persecution. Needless to
say, this request was not complied with; Badi, the young and devoted
Baha'i who delivered the letter of Baha'u'llah, was seized and martyred
with fearful tortures, hot bricks being pressed on his flesh!

In the same letter Baha'u'llah gives a most moving account of His own
sufferings and longings:--

O King, I have seen in the way of God what no eye hath seen and no
ear hath heard. Friends have disclaimed me; ways are straitened
unto me; the pool of safety is dried up; the plain of ease is
[scorched] yellow. How many calamities have descended, and how
many will descend! I walk advancing toward the Mighty, the
Bounteous, while behind me glides the serpent. My eyes rain down
tears until my bed is drenched; but my sorrow is not for myself.
By God, my head longeth for the spears for the love of its Lord,
and I never pass by a tree but my heart addresseth it [saying], "O
would that thou wert cut down in my name and my body were
crucified upon thee in the way of my Lord;" yea, because I see
mankind going astray in their intoxication, and they know it not:
they have exalted their lusts, and put aside their God, as