betrayed when informed of the
tragic death which his Master had suffered; his condemnation to death of
all the Mirrors of the Babi Dispensation, though he himself was one of
those Mirrors; his dastardly act in causing the murder of Dayyan, whom he
feared and envied; his foul deed in bringing about, during the absence of
Baha'u'llah from Ba_gh_dad, the assassination of Mirza 'Ali-Akbar, the
Bab's cousin; and, most heinous of all, his unspeakably repugnant
violation, during that same period, of the honor of the Bab Himself--all
these, as attested by Aqay-i-Kalim, and reported by Nabil in his
Narrative, were to be thrown into a yet more lurid light by further acts
the perpetration of which were to seal irretrievably his doom.

Desperate designs to poison Baha'u'llah and His companions, and thereby
reanimate his own defunct leadership, began, approximately a year after
their arrival in Adrianople, to agitate his mind. Well aware of the
erudition of his half-brother, Aqay-i-Kalim, in matters pertaining to
medicine, he, under various pretexts, sought enlightenment from him
regarding the effects of certain herbs and poisons, and then began,
contrary to his wont, to invite Baha'u'llah to his home, where, one day,
having smeared His tea-cup with a substance he had concocted, he succeeded
in poisoning Him sufficiently to produce a serious illness which lasted no
less than a month, and which was accompanied by severe pains and high
fever, the aftermath of which left Baha'u'llah with a shaking hand till
the end of His life. So grave was His condition that a foreign doctor,
named _Sh_i_sh_man, was called in to attend Him. The doctor was so
appalled by His livid hue that he deemed His case hopeless, and, after
having fallen at His feet, retired from His presence without prescribing a
remedy. A few days later that doctor fell ill and died. Prior to his death
Baha'u'llah had intimated that doctor _Sh_i_sh_man had sacrificed his life
for Him. To Mirza Aqa Jan, sent by Baha'u'llah to visit him, the doctor
had stated that God had answered his prayers, and that after his death a
certain Dr. _Ch_upan, whom he knew to be reliable, should, whenever
necessary, be called in his stead.

On another occasion this same Mirza Yahya had, according to the testimony
of one of his wives, who had temporarily deserted him and revealed the
details of the above-mentioned act, poisoned the well which provided water
for the family and companions of Baha'u'lla