s that had been misunderstood, and would support
it with proofs and evidences that were wholly convincing to His listeners.

Amazed by the profundity of His insight and the compass of His
understanding, they were impelled to seek from Him what they considered to
be a conclusive and final evidence of the unique power and knowledge which
He now appeared in their eyes to possess. "No one among the mystics, the
wise, and the learned," they claimed, while requesting this further favor
from Him, "has hitherto proved himself capable of writing a poem in a
rhyme and meter identical with that of the longer of the two odes,
entitled Qasidiy-i-Ta'iyyih composed by Ibn-i-Farid. We beg you to write
for us a poem in that same meter and rhyme." This request was complied
with, and no less than two thousand verses, in exactly the manner they had
specified, were dictated by Him, out of which He selected one hundred and
twenty-seven, which He permitted them to keep, deeming the subject matter
of the rest premature and unsuitable to the needs of the times. It is
these same one hundred and twenty-seven verses that constitute the
Qasidiy-i-Varqa'iyyih, so familiar to, and widely circulated amongst, His
Arabic speaking followers.

Such was their reaction to this marvelous demonstration of the sagacity
and genius of Baha'u'llah that they unanimously acknowledged every single
verse of that poem to be endowed with a force, beauty and power far
surpassing anything contained in either the major or minor odes composed
by that celebrated poet.

This episode, by far the most outstanding among the events that transpired
during the two years of Baha'u'llah's absence from Ba_gh_dad, immensely
stimulated the interest with which an increasing number of the 'ulamas,
the scholars, the _sh_ay_kh_s, the doctors, the holy men and princes who
had congregated in the seminaries of Sulaymaniyyih and Karkuk, were now
following His daily activities. Through His numerous discourses and
epistles He disclosed new vistas to their eyes, resolved the perplexities
that agitated their minds, unfolded the inner meaning of many hitherto
obscure passages in the writings of various commentators, poets and
theologians, of which they had remained unaware, and reconciled the
seemingly contradictory assertions which abounded in these dissertations,
poems and treatises. Such was the esteem and respect entertained for Him
that some held Him as One of the "Men of the Unseen," others