In this Tablet Bahá'u'lláh refers to two Persian believers living in `Akká itself, some who were trying to come in, and some who were staying at Haifa. The two in `Akká were Muhammad Ja`far-i-Tabrizi, entitled Mansur, and Mírzá Hadi `Abdu'l-Ahad. The latter was the first to arrive in `Akká. He had been sent there by `Abdu'l-Bahá some time before Bahá'u'lláh's exile to that city, and no one suspected him of being a Bahá'í. He opened a shop but did not try to contact Bahá'u'lláh and His companions in the barracks when they arrived. However, the few Bahá'í prisoners who went to the market every day to purchase provisions met him and knew that he was a Bahá'í. Through him, and by other means, the news of Bahá'u'lláh's whereabouts soon reached the believers in Persia and a few of His followers travelled to `Akká. `Abdu'l-Ahad very discreetly helped some of the visitors who had managed to enter the city to approach the barracks. Sometimes he even had to hide the visitors in the back of his shop.
Among those living at Haifa was Mírzá Ibráhím-i-Kashani, a copper-smith by profession, whom Bahá'u'lláh refers to in this Tablet as Khalíl. He was a devoted believer, and had been among the Bahá'í prisoners sent from Baghdad to Mosul. Accompanied by some relatives he had managed to leave Mosul and settle in Haifa. In those days, entering `Akká was very difficult for the believers, but he managed to enter frequently by taking some of his copper implements for sale. He thus became an important channel of communication between the believers and Bahá'u'lláh.
Another believer mentioned in the Ridván Tablet was an old man, Ustad Isma`il. He was a master builder of wide experience who had worked for the government officials in Persia. When he became known as a Bábí, he had to leave his work. He then went to Baghdad where he was given the honour of carrying out construction work on the house of Bahá'u'lláh. And when the believers in that city were exiled to Mosul, he managed to travel to `Akká. In spite of old age he walked all the way until he came and stood in front of the Most Great Prison eagerly waiting to behold the face of his Beloved from across the moat.
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