- 1854-04-10 —
Bahá'u'lláh in Sulaymaniyyih
Bahá'u'lláh suddenly left Baghdád and went to the mountainous wilderness of Sar Galu, around Sulaymaniyyah in Iraqi Kurdistán. [BKG115-122; DB585; GPB120-124; TN38; CH256; KI250-251; AB392]
- Before He left, Bahá'u'lláh asked His family to look after Mírzá Yahyá during His absence. [CB70–1; CH50–1,]
- Bahá'u'lláh lived for some time as a dervish in a cave on the mountain of Sar-Galú. He took the name Darvísh Muhammad-i-Írání to conceal His true identity. [BBD214–15; BBRSM:60–1; BKG116–19; GPB120–1; TN38–9]
- See photo.
- This action compares to Moses' going out to the desert of Sinai, to Buddha's retreat to the wilds of India, to Christ's walk in the wilderness and to Muhammad's withdrawal to the hills of Arabia. [BKG114]
- Áqá Abu'l-Qásim-i-Hamadání was His only companion. Áqá Abu'l-Qásim was killed by thieves on a journey to collect money and provisions. [BKG116–17]
- "It was this period of voluntary seclusion, following shortly after the execution of the Báb in 1850, which bequeathed to history irrevocable proof that Bahá'u'lláh and not His half-brother, Subhi-Ezel, was, in reality, the one celebrated by the Báb and for whom the Bábí Movement was the spiritual preparation. By this act of voluntary retirement, Bahá'u'lláh gave Sebhi-Ezel unhampered opportunity to exercise the spiritual leadership over the Bábís which the latter claimed as his right. The result, however, demonstrated Subhi-Ezel's utter incapacity to maintain unity among the Bábís, inspire them with faith and confidence sufficient to meet their many difficulties and guide them along lines of true future progress. None other than the return of Bahá'u'lláh could re-quicken the flames of their ardour or supply them with the more universal principles of conduct and faith required to transform the Bábí Movement into a world religion." [BW2Surveyp33]
- It was during this time that Bahá'u'lláh revealed the poem Qasídiyi-i-'Izz-i-Varqá'íyyih (Ode of the Dove). It was composed of 2,000 couplets but Bahá'u'lláh allowed only 127 to be preserved. [BBD215; BKG118; GPB123]
- See BKG114, GPB117–19 and K1250 for reasons for Bahá'u'lláh's retirement.
- Before and during His absence no fewer than 25 people claimed to be the One promised by the Báb. [BBRSM29, 59; EB269; GPB125]
- As his position as nominal head deteriorated Mírzá Yahyá became more desperate, he had one such claimant, Mírzá Asadu'lláh Khí'í Dayyán, assassinated around 1856. [Bahá'u'lláh and the Naqshbandí Sufis in Iraq by Juan Cole p4]
- See BKG115–19 and GPB120 for Bahá'u'lláh's activities while in Kurdistán.
- See KI248–51 for Bahá'u'lláh's own account of the episode.
- See BKG119–22 and GPB124–6 for the condition of the Bábí community in Baghdád during this period.
- The son born to Navváb shortly after the family's arrival in Baghdád became ill and died during Bahá'u'lláh's absence. [CB71; CH51–2]
- See SBBR2:1–28 for Bahá'u'lláh's contact with Súfís.
- BW16:528 for an account of Daoud Toeg, who visited the caves of Sar-Galú and photographed them in August of 1940.
- Also see Bahá'í News No 145 July 1941 p11 and 12.
- 1854-04-11 —
Mírzá Yáhyá, who had been hiding in Mazíndarán since the attempt on the life of the Sháh, at some point prior to Bahá'u'lláh's retirement to the mountains of Kurdistán, had joined the exiles in Baghdád. During Bahá'u'lláh's absence He asked that the friends treat him with consideration and that the family offer him shelter and hospitality in the family home.
- See CH50-52 for the effect this had on the family. Eventually the family relocated to a different house during this period and Yáhyá did come come with them out of fear of exposure but rather he lived in a smaller house near theirs where they could continue to supply him with meals.
- 1855-00-00 — At some point during the retirement of Bahá'u'lláh, Mírzá 'Aqá Ján was engaged in the service of Mírzá Yahyá who wanted him to go on a secret mission to Tehran to assassinate Násiri'd-Dín Sháh. He accepted the assignment and soon after his arrival managed to obtain access to the court in the guise of a labourer. He realized the extent of his folly and returned to Baghdád and when Bahá'u'lláh returned from exile he confessed his part in the scheme and begged Bahá'u'lláh's forgiveness and he was permitted to resume service for Bahá'u'lláh. [CoB181-182]
- 1856-00-02 — Bahá'u'lláh's writings during this period were so prolific that in one hour He would reveal a thousand verses and in the course of one day the equivalent of the Qur'án. He revealed a vast number of works and then commanded that hundreds of thousands of verses be destroyed. [BBRSM62–3; BKG167; GPB137–8]
- 1856-03-19 —
Áqá Kalím, Bahá'u'lláh's faithful brother, felt that Bahá'u'lláh should return from his self-imposed exile owning to the state of the community so he sent his Arab father-in-law, Shaykh Sultán, to find Him and try to convince Him to return. He carried letters from several family members, including Mírzá Yahyá, pleading with Him to return. [Bahá'u'lláh and the Naqshbandi Sufis in Iraq, 1854-1856 p20-21]
Bahá'u'lláh returned from Sulaymáníyyih, Kurdistán two years after His withdrawal, a moment Shoghi Effendi has described as "a turning point of the utmost significance in the history of the first Bahá'í century." [GPB127]
Baha'u'llah's return revived and animated the Bábí community.
"He Himself has described the situation which then confronted Him:
We found no more than a handful of souls, faint and dispirited, nay utterly lost and dead. The Cause of God had ceased to be on any one's lips, nor was any heart receptive to its message. [GPB125]
- From this time Bahá'u'lláh started to educate the believers in the principles of the Faith. [GPB127–8; TN39]
- 1856-03-20 —
During Bahá'u'lláh's absence Mírzá Musá rented a house near the Al-Kazimiyya mosque and shrine, in the Kādhimayn district in Baghdad. (It is the burial place of Imam Musa Al-Kadhim and Imam Muhammad Al-Jawad, they are respectively the Seventh and the Ninth of the Twelve Imams.) The house was large, two or three stories, and was made of simple mud brick with a surrounding central courtyard. At some point before His departure on the 22nd of April, 1863, the house was purchased. He later named it "The Most Great House" (Bayt-i-‘Aẓam) and designated it a place of pilgrimage. It is also referred to as the "Throne of His Glory", and the "Lamp of Salvation between earth and heaven". [CEBF66; Bahaipedia]
- After His departure the House was held in the names of various custodians and allowed to fall into disrepair. [CEBF66]
- Bahá'u'lláh revealed a Tablet to be used when making a pilgrimage to the House. [GWB111-114; 114-115]
- 1927-00-00 — The Baghdád believers took photographs of the cave in the Sargul Mountain near Sulaymáníyyih where Bahá'u'lláh spent two years in solitude. [BW2Surveyp.33, SETPE1p141]
- 1940-08-00 —
Daoud Toeg, then resident in Baghdad, made a trip to the district of Sulaymáníyyih in Kurdistán to try to determine where Bahá'u'lláh took refuge during His time there 1854 10 April - 1856 19 March. He photographed four possible sites. The story of his trip was published by Newsletter of the Haifa Spiritual Assembly and reprinted in Bahá'í News No 145 p11 and 12.
- Also see BW16:528 for a brief account of the trip. iiiii
- 1974-02-01 —
The passing of Daoud Toeg (b. Baghdad, Iraq in 1897) in Hull, Quebec (now Gatineau).
- After he had learned of the Faith he enrolled eight other persons before writing the Guardian with his own declaration.
- He pioneered to Italy in the 1930s for about a year and a half.
- In 1954 he was appointed Auxiliary Board Member for Iraq, on the first Auxiliary Board for Asia. He served for sixteen years.
- He supervised the construction of the Hazíratu'l-Quds in Baghdad and was helpful in securing a Temple site.
- Mr. Toeg served the Guardian by conveying artifacts and Huqúqu'lláh payments from Persia to the Holy Land at a time when there was no direct communications.
- He served as a representative of the Huqúqu'lláh for the believers in Iraq.
- He was instrumental in locating and photographing the caves of Sar-Galú in Sulaymáníyyih, Kurdistán where Bahá'u'lláh lived for two years while in retreat.
- He, his wife Latifa, and their sons pioneered to Kirkuk during the Ten Year Crusade but after seven years were asked to return to Baghdad to assist with the work there.
- The family left Iraq in 1970 and settled in Hull where they helped to establish the first Local Spiritual Assembly. [BW16p527-528, Bahá'í World 16, Grave]
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