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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 enemies, and to assure to each one of the exiles a complete freedom to choose between Him and them, Baha'u'llah withdrew with His family to the house of Rida Big (Shavval 22, 1282 A.H.), which was rented by His order, and refused, for two months, to associate with either friend or stranger, including His own companions. He instructed Aqay- i- Kalim to divide all the furniture, bedding, clothing and utensils that were to be found in His home, and send half to the house of Mirza Yahya; to deliver to him certain relics he had long coveted, such as the seals, rings, and manuscripts in the handwriting of the Bab; and to insure that he received his full share of the allowance fixed by the government for the maintenance of the exiles and their families. He, moreover, directed Aqay- i- Kalim to order to attend to Mirza Yahya's shopping, for several hours a day, any one of the companions whom he himself might select, and to assure him that whatever would henceforth be received in his name from Persia would be delivered into his own hands. (167:1) "That day," Aqay- i- Kalim is reported to have informed Nabil, "witnessed a most great commotion. All the companions lamented in their separation from the Blessed Beauty." "Those days," is the written testimony of one of those companions, "were marked by tumult and confusion. We were sore- perplexed, and greatly feared lest we be permanently deprived of the bounty of His presence." (167:2) This grief and perplexity were, however, destined to be of short duration. The calumnies with which both Mirza Yahya and Siyyid Muhammad now loaded their letters, which they disseminated in Persia and Iraq, as well as the petitions, couched in obsequious language, which the former had addressed to Khurshid Pasha, the governor of Adrianople, and to his assistant Aziz Pasha, impelled Baha'u'llah to emerge from His retirement. He was soon after informed that this same brother had despatched one of his wives to the government house to complain that her husband had been cheated of his rights, and that her children were on the verge of starvation-- an accusation that spread far and wide and, reaching Constantinople, became, to Baha'u'llah's profound distress, the subject of excited discussion and injurious comment in circles that had previously been greatly impressed by the high standard which His noble and dignified behavior had set in that city. Siyyid Muhammad journeyed to the capital, begged the Persian Ambassador, the Mushiru'd- Dawlih, to allot Mirza Yahya and himself a stipend, accused Baha'u'llah of sending an agent to assassinate Nasiri'd- Din Shah, and spared no effort to heap abuse and calumny on One Who had, for so long and so patiently, forborne with him, and endured in silence the enormities of which he had been guilty.
(167:3)
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