- 1863-01-00 — The governor of Baghdád, Námiq Páshá, received the first of 'five successive commands' from 'Alí Páshá, the Grand Vizier of Turkey, to transfer Bahá'u'lláh to Constantinople. This order was ignored by the governor, who was sympathetic to Bahá'u'lláh. In the next three months, four more orders were received and similarly ignored before the governor was compelled to comply. [BKG154; GPB131]
- 1863-03-26 —
Bahá'u'lláh revealed the Tablet of the Holy Mariner on the fifth day of Naw-Rúz. The Tablet was revealed to the friends present and Nabil wrote that they understood it portended to a new period and greater tests. His further exile was being foretold. Immediately after it was chanted Bahá'u'lláh ordered the tents to be folded and everyone to return to the city. The party had not yet left when a messenger arrived from Námiq Páshá summoning Bahá'u'lláh to the governorate the next day to receive the announcement that he was to be transferred to Constantinople. [RB1:228-229; SA163-165, 234; BKG154; GPB147]
- The Tablet was recited by Mírzá Áqá Ján. [RB1:228]
- See GPB147 and RB1:228 for the effect on those present.
- See Tablet of the Holy Mariner (Lawh-i-Malláhu'l-Quds): Study Compilations by Aziz Mboya.
.
- 1863-03-27 —
Bahá'u'lláh met the deputy governor in a mosque opposite the Government House where the Farmán which had been sent by the Sultán was announced to Him and advised that He and His family were to be exiled to an unknown destination. Námiq Páshá, the governor of Baghdad, could not bring himself to meet Bahá'u'lláh and give Him this news in person. At first he summoned Him to the courthouse but when He refused to attend he asked Him to meet in the mosque. [CH81-82,BKG154–5; GPB147–8; RB1:229]
- See BKG155–6 and GPB148 for the effect of this news on the believers.
- Bahá'u'lláh and His family had been given Ottoman citizenship by this time. [BBRSM66]
- See BKG156–8 for a list of those chosen by Bahá'u'lláh to migrate with Him.
- See TN50–3 for the story of the sedition behind Bahá'u'lláh's removal from Baghdád.
- Fearful of Bahá'u'lláh's growing influence in Baghdád, the Persian Consul-General, Mirza Burzurg Khan, had made representation to the Sultan to have Him delivered to the Persian authorities. The Sultan, although the Caliph of Sunni Islam, considered himself a mystical seeker and was no doubt intrigued with Bahá'u'lláh from the reports of the Governor of 'Akká, Námiq Páshá, and his own Prime Minister, 'Alí Páshá. This combination of sympathy and interest led the Ottoman government to invite Him to the capital rather than send Him to a remote location or return Him to Persia to an uncertain fate. [BBD196; BBIC13, 57note 68; RoB1p142-147]
|
Site Map
