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Mirza Yahya, realizing full well to what a pass his unrestrained leadership of the Faith had brought him, had, moreover, insistently and in writing, besought Him to return. No less urgent were the pleadings of His own kindred and friends, particularly His twelve- year old Son, Abdu'l- Baha, Whose grief and loneliness had so consumed His soul that, in a conversation recorded by Nabil in his narrative, He had avowed that subsequent to the departure of Baha'u'llah He had in His boyhood grown old. (126:2) Deciding to terminate the period of His retirement Baha'u'llah bade farewell to the shaykhs of Sulaymaniyyih, who now numbered among His most ardent and, as their future conduct demonstrated, staunchest admirers. Accompanied by Shaykh Sultan, He retraced His steps to Baghdad, on "the banks of the River of Tribulations," as He Himself termed it, proceeding by slow stages, realizing, as He declared to His fellow- traveler, that these last days of His retirement would be "the only days of peace and tranquillity" left to Him, "days which will never again fall to My lot." (126:3) On the 12th of Rajab 1272 A.H. (March 19, 1856) He arrived in Baghdad, exactly two lunar years after His departure for Kurdistan.
(126:4)
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