h, in consequence of which the
exiles manifested strange symptoms of illness. He even had, gradually and
with great circumspection, disclosed to one of the companions, Ustad
Muhammad-'Aliy-i-Salmani, the barber, on whom he had lavished great marks
of favor, his wish that he, on some propitious occasion, when attending
Baha'u'llah in His bath, should assassinate Him. "So enraged was Ustad
Muhammad-'Ali," Aqay-i-Kalim, recounting this episode to Nabil in
Adrianople, has stated, "when apprized of this proposition, that he felt a
strong desire to kill Mirza Yahya on the spot, and would have done so but
for his fear of Baha'u'llah's displeasure. I happened to be the first
person he encountered as he came out of the bath weeping.... I eventually
succeeded, after much persuasion, in inducing him to return to the bath
and complete his unfinished task." Though ordered subsequently by
Baha'u'llah not to divulge this occurrence to any one, the barber was
unable to hold his peace and betrayed the secret, plunging thereby the
community into great consternation. "When the secret nursed in his (Mirza
Yahya) bosom was revealed by God," Baha'u'llah Himself affirms, "he
disclaimed such an intention, and imputed it to that same servant (Ustad
Muhammad-'Ali)."

The moment had now arrived for Him Who had so recently, both verbally and
in numerous Tablets, revealed the implications of the claims He had
advanced, to acquaint formally the one who was the nominee of the Bab with
the character of His Mission. Mirza Aqa Jan was accordingly commissioned
to bear to Mirza Yahya the newly revealed Suriy-i-'Amr, which unmistakably
affirmed those claims, to read aloud to him its contents, and demand an
unequivocal and conclusive reply. Mirza Yahya's request for a one day
respite, during which he could meditate his answer, was granted. The only
reply, however, that was forthcoming was a counter-declaration, specifying
the hour and the minute in which he had been made the recipient of an
independent Revelation, necessitating the unqualified submission to him of
the peoples of the earth in both the East and the West.

So presumptuous an assertion, made by so perfidious an adversary to the
envoy of the Bearer of so momentous a Revelation was the signal for the
open and final rupture between Baha'u'llah and Mirza Yahya--a rupture that
marks one of the darkest dates in Baha'i history. Wishing to allay the
fierce animosity that blazed in the bosom of His enem