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Nor was he the only one who had meditated such an act and was determined to carry it out. Others were ready to follow suit, had not Baha'u'llah promptly intervened, and ordered the refugees living in Baghdad to return immediately to their native land. Nor could the authorities, when it was definitely established that Dhabih had died by his own hand, remain indifferent to a Cause whose Leader could inspire so rare a devotion in, and hold such absolute sway over, the hearts of His lovers. Apprized of the apprehensions that episode had evoked in certain quarters in Baghdad, Baha'u'llah is reported to have remarked: "Siyyid Isma'il was possessed of such power and might that were he to be confronted by all the peoples of the earth, he would, without doubt, be able to establish his ascendancy over them." "No blood," He is reported to have said with reference to this same Dhabih, whom He extolled as "King and Beloved of Martyrs," "has, till now, been poured upon the earth as pure as the blood he shed."
(136:2)
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