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The Faith of the Bab, as already observed, had, in consequence of the successive and formidable blows it had received, reached the verge of extinction. Nor was the momentous Revelation vouchsafed to Baha'u'llah in the Siyah- Chal productive at once of any tangible results of a nature that would exercise a stabilizing influence on a well- nigh disrupted community. Baha'u'llah's unexpected banishment had been a further blow to its members, who had learned to place their reliance upon Him. Mirza Yahya's seclusion and inactivity further accelerated the process of disintegration that had set in. Baha'u'llah's prolonged retirement to Kurdistan seemed to have set the seal on its complete dissolution. (128:1) Now, however, the tide that had ebbed in so alarming a measure was turning, bearing with it, as it rose to flood point, those inestimable benefits that were to herald the announcement of the Revelation already secretly disclosed to Baha'u'llah. (128:2) During the seven years that elapsed between the resumption of His labors and the declaration of His prophetic mission-- years to which we now direct our attention-- it would be no exaggeration to say that the Baha'i community, under the name and in the shape of a re- arisen Babi community was born and was slowly taking shape, though its Creator still appeared in the guise of, and continued to labor as, one of the foremost disciples of the Bab. It was a period during which the prestige of the community's nominal head steadily faded from the scene, paling before the rising splendor of Him Who was its actual Leader and Deliverer. It was a period in the course of which the first fruits of an exile, endowed with incalculable potentialities, ripened and were garnered. It was a period that will go down in history as one during which the prestige of a recreated community was immensely enhanced, its morals entirely reformed, its recognition of Him who rehabilitated its fortunes enthusiastically affirmed, its literature enormously enriched, and its victories over its new adversaries universally acknowledged. (128:3) The prestige of the community, and particularly that of Baha'u'llah, now began from its first inception in Kurdistan to mount in a steadily rising crescendo. Baha'u'llah had scarcely gathered up again the reins of the authority he had relinquished when the devout admirers He had left behind in Sulaymaniyyih started to flock to Baghdad, with the name of "Darvish Muhammad" on their lips, and the "house of Mirza Musa the Babi" as their goal. Astonished at the sight of so many ulamas and Sufis of Kurdish origin, of both the Qadiriyyih and Khalidiyyih Orders, thronging the house of Baha'u'llah, and impelled by racial and sectarian rivalry, the religious leaders of the city, such as the renowned Ibn- i- Alusi, the Mufti of Baghdad, together with Shaykh Abdu's- Salam, Shaykh Abdu'l- Qadir and Siyyid Dawudi, began to seek His presence, and, having obtained completely satisfying answers to their several queries, enrolled themselves among the band of His earliest admirers. The unqualified recognition by these outstanding leaders of those traits that distinguished the character and conduct of Baha'u'llah stimulated the curiosity, and later evoked the unstinted praise, of a great many observers of less conspicuous position, among whom figured poets, mystics and notables, who either resided in, or visited, the city. Government officials, foremost among whom were Abdu'llah Pasha and his lieutenant Mahmud Aqa, and Mulla Ali Mardan, a Kurd well- known in those circles, were gradually brought into contact with Him, and lent their share in noising abroad His fast- spreading fame. Nor could those distinguished Persians, who either lived in Baghdad and its environs or visited as pilgrims the holy places, remain impervious to the spell of His charm. Princes of the royal blood, amongst whom were such personages as the Na'ibu'l- Iyalih, the Shuja'u'd- Dawlih, the Sayfu'd- Dawlih, and Zaynu'l- Abidin Khan, the Fakhru'd- Dawlih, were, likewise, irresistibly drawn into the ever- widening circle of His associates and acquaintances.
(128:4)
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