.
.
.
.Baha'u'llah
remained an exile in Baghdad
for ten years. He had arrived broken in health, destitute of worldly belongings,
and branded as a heretic. It was not long, however, before people of all
backgrounds and denominations came seeking His presence. They arrived from
far
and near, forgetting their differences of class, color, and religion, as
they sat together listening to His teachings. At a time when religious
fanaticism was at its height, and
people
of different beliefs never met as friends, in the home of Baha'u'llah
they
came together as brothers, heralding the
dawn
of a new Age.
.
This
was not to be tolerated by Baha'u'llah 's enemies who had hoped that the
Movement started by the Bab had been uprooted from their midst. They resorted
to every means in their power until they had persuaded the government to
send Baha'u'llah further away from His native country. An order was
issued, banishing Him to Constantinople,
in Turkey
.
.
On
the day of His departure from Baghdad, hundreds of people thronged around
His house
with
tearful eyes, longing to catch a last glimpse of the One Who had given
them so much and asked for nothing in return.
,
Before
leaving for Constantinople, Baha'u'llah stayed in a beautiful garden outside
Baghdad for twelve days. A tent was pitched for him in a lovely spot
surrounded with the perfume of roses and the song of nightingales. His
many friends who came to bid Him farewell were filled with anguish at his
departure, not knowing what fresh calamities awaited Him and what was to
become of themselves once they were left without Him. But their sorrow
was not to last,
for
now , at a time when the world seemed to have rejected him, the hour had
struck when Baha'u'llah could lift the veil mystery which surrounded His
station and appear in His full glory. He was, He announced, that Great
Teacher promised in all the Holy
Scriptures of the world, for Whose advent
the Bab
had prepared the way and for Whose sake He had laid down His life.
,
,,
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