A Traveler's Narrative (page 56)

A Traveler's Narrative

page 56

became enamored of his words and befooled by his conduct. This one was [like] the sucking child, and that one became as the much-prized breast. At all events, how much soever some of the chiefs of the sect wrote admonitions and pointed out to him the path of discretion saying, "For many a year hast thou been nurtured in thy brother's arms and hast reposed on the pillow of ease and gladness; what thoughts are these which are the results of madness? Be not beguiled by this empty name, (26) which, out of regard for certain considerations and as a matter of expediency, was bestowed [upon thee]; neither seek to be censured by the community. Thy rank and worth depend on a word, and thine exaltation and elevation were for a protection and a consideration," yet still, the more they admonished him, the less did it affect him; and how much soever they would direct him, he continued to account opposition as identical with advantage. Afterwards, too, the fire of greed and avarice was kindled, and although there was no sort of need, their circumstances being easy in the extreme, they fell to thinking of salary and stipend, and certain of the women dependent on Mírzá Yahyá went to the [governor's] palace and craved assistance and charity. So when Bahá'u'lláh beheld such conduct and behavior on his part He dismissed and drove away both [him and Siyyid Muhammad] from Himself.

Then Siyyid Muhammad set out for Constantinople to get his stipend, and opened the door of suffering. According to the account given, this matter caused the greatest sorrow and brought about cessation of intercourse. In Constantinople, moreover, he presumptuously set afloat certain reports, asserting,

26. Mírzá Yahyá's's title was Subh-i-Azal, the Morning of Eternity. Bahá'u'lláh, in this connection, cites Amos 4:12-13, which says that God "maketh the morning darkness." Cf. Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1953), p. 146. See Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1974), p.114, for other titles of Mírzá Yahyá.

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