" before he was beheaded. In Egypt, a greedy and vicious
consul-general extorted no less than a hundred thousand tumans from a
wealthy Persian convert, named Haji Abu'l-Qasim-i-_Sh_irazi; arrested Haji
Mirza Haydar-'Ali and six of his fellow-believers, and instigated their
condemnation to a nine year exile in _Kh_artum, confiscating all the
writings in their possession, and then threw into prison Nabil, whom
Baha'u'llah had sent to appeal to the Khedive on their behalf. In
Ba_gh_dad and Kazimayn indefatigable enemies, watching their opportunity,
subjected Baha'u'llah's faithful supporters to harsh and ignominious
treatment; savagely disemboweled 'Abdu'r-Rasul-i-Qumi, as he was carrying
water in a skin, at the hour of dawn, from the river to the Most Great
House, and banished, amidst scenes of public derision, about seventy
companions to Mosul, including women and children.

No less active were Mirza Husayn-_Kh_an, the Mu_sh_iru'd-Dawlih, and his
associates, who, determined to take full advantage of the troubles that
had recently visited Baha'u'llah, arose to encompass His destruction. The
authorities in the capital were incensed by the esteem shown Him by the
governor Muhammad Pa_sh_ay-i-Qibrisi, a former Grand Vizir, and his
successors Sulayman Pa_sh_a, of the Qadiriyyih Order, and particularly
_Kh_ur_sh_id Pa_sh_a, who, openly and on many occasions, frequented the
house of Baha'u'llah, entertained Him in the days of Ramadan, and evinced
a fervent admiration for 'Abdu'l-Baha. They were well aware of the
challenging tone Baha'u'llah had assumed in some of His newly revealed
Tablets, and conscious of the instability prevailing in their own country.
They were disturbed by the constant comings and goings of pilgrims in
Adrianople, and by the exaggerated reports of Fu'ad Pa_sh_a, who had
recently passed through on a tour of inspection. The petitions of Mirza
Yahya which reached them through Siyyid Muhammad, his agent, had provoked
them. Anonymous letters (written by this same Siyyid and by an accomplice,
Aqa Jan, serving in the Turkish artillery) which perverted the writings of
Baha'u'llah, and which accused Him of having conspired with Bulgarian
leaders and certain ministers of European powers to achieve, with the help
of some thousands of His followers, the conquest of Constantinople, had
filled their breasts with alarm. And now, encouraged by the internal
dissensions which had shaken the Faith, and irritated by the evident