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Several of the companions who had been brought from Constantinople were awaiting them in Gallipoli. On his arrival Baha'u'llah made the following pronouncement to Hasan Effendi, who, his duty discharged, was taking his leave: "Tell the king that this territory will pass out of his hands, and his affairs will be thrown into confusion." "To this," Aqa Rida, the recorder of that scene has written, "Baha'u'llah furthermore added: `Not I speak these words, but God speaketh them.' In those moments He was uttering verses which we, who were downstairs, could overhear. They were spoken with such vehemence and power that, methinks, the foundations of the house itself trembled." (181:1) Even in Gallipoli, where three nights were spent, no one knew what Baha'u'llah's destination would be. Some believed that He and His brothers would be banished to one place, and the remainder dispersed, and sent into exile. Others thought that His companions would be sent back to Persia, while still others expected their immediate extermination. The government's original order was to banish Baha'u'llah, Aqay- i- Kalim and Mirza Muhammad- Quli, with a servant to Akka, while the rest were to proceed to Constantinople. This order, which provoked scenes of indescribable distress, was, however, at the insistence of Baha'u'llah, and by the instrumentality of Umar Effendi, a major appointed to accompany the exiles, revoked. It was eventually decided that all the exiles, numbering about seventy, should be banished to Akka. Instructions were, moreover, issued that a certain number of the adherents of Mirza Yahya, among whom were Siyyid Muhammad and Aqa Jan, should accompany these exiles, whilst four of the companions of Baha'u'llah were ordered to depart with the Azalis for Cyprus.
(181:2)
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