aimed
its truth, and arose to champion its cause. It was to His native city and
dwelling place that the steps of that envoy were first directed, as the
place which enshrined "a Mystery of such transcendent holiness as neither
Hijaz nor _Sh_iraz can hope to rival." It was Mulla Husayn's report of the
contact thus established which had been received with such exultant joy by
the Bab, and had brought such reassurance to His heart as to finally
decide Him to undertake His contemplated pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina.
Baha'u'llah alone was the object and the center of the cryptic allusions,
the glowing eulogies, the fervid prayers, the joyful announcements and the
dire warnings recorded in both the Qayyumu'l-Asma and the Bayan, designed
to be respectively the first and last written testimonials to the glory
with which God was soon to invest Him. It was He Who, through His
correspondence with the Author of the newly founded Faith, and His
intimate association with the most distinguished amongst its disciples,
such as Vahid, Hujjat, Quddus, Mulla Husayn and Tahirih, was able to
foster its growth, elucidate its principles, reinforce its ethical
foundations, fulfill its urgent requirements, avert some of the immediate
dangers threatening it and participate effectually in its rise and
consolidation. It was to Him, "the one Object of our adoration and love"
that the Prophet-pilgrim, on His return to Bu_sh_ihr, alluded when,
dismissing Quddus from His presence, He announced to him the double joy of
attaining the presence of their Beloved and of quaffing the cup of
martyrdom. He it was Who, in the hey-day of His life, flinging aside every
consideration of earthly fame, wealth and position, careless of danger,
and risking the obloquy of His caste, arose to identify Himself, first in
Tihran and later in His native province of Mazindaran, with the cause of
an obscure and proscribed sect; won to its support a large number of the
officials and notables of Nur, not excluding His own associates and
relatives; fearlessly and persuasively expounded its truths to the
disciples of the illustrious mujtahid, Mulla Muhammad; enlisted under its
banner the mujtahid's appointed representatives; secured, in consequence
of this act, the unreserved loyalty of a considerable number of
ecclesiastical dignitaries, government officers, peasants and traders; and
succeeded in challenging, in the course of a memorable interview, the
mujtahid himself. It was sole