The Cause Of the Banishment of Babis From Edirne to Palestine & Cyprus

2.    Ottoman Archives

2.4   Text of Baha’s Letter

متن نامه بهاء خطاب به والی ادرنه
عرض این بنده در خدمت وزیر اکرم افخم دام ظله المتعالی آنکه سنه قبل که سید محمد اصفهانی به اسلامبول رفته آقاجان بک و حاجی محمد نورس را دیده به وعده های زیاد فریب داده و بعد از آمدن سید محمد به ادرنه حاجی محمد نورس وعصمت افندی نامی نیز به ادرنه آمدند و نزد یحیی و سید محمد رفته و بعد دائره ای که مشتمل بر فتنه و فساد بود درست کرده و بحاجی محمد نورس و عصمت افندی داده اند که بناس بنمائید از جمله حاجی محمد نورس در ادرنه به شخصی آن دائره را داده بود که به نظر مبارک رسید بعد آن دو نفر مراجعت به اسلامبول نموده و به هر کس وعده ها دادند و نوشه ای از یحیی برده و داده اند در وعده هاشان اینکه در فلان تاریخ میرزا یحیی خروج خواهد کرد و چنین محبت ها به شما خواهد نمود و به این مزخرفات چند نفری که ثبت اسامیشان تقریم شد با خود متحد نموده تا آنکه جسارتشان کم کم زیار شد از قرریکه مذکور شد چند مکاتیب فبنه آمیز نوشته در خانها انداخته اند حال از باب حکومت در جستجوی کاتب مکاتیب افتاده اند و از بستگان بنده هم سؤال نموده اند توقع بنده این است که این فقره بکمال دقت تجسس شود و از نفوسیکه ثبت اسماشان تقدیم شد تحقیق بفرمائید تا معلوم شود که منشأ این فساد ها کیست و بکرات و مرات عرض شد که این سید محمد و یحیی مقصودی بجز فساد ندارند حال واضح شد به اندک تفتیش ظاهر میشود و در این مدت بنده به احدی از اهالی این مملکت مکتوبی ننوشتم ومعاشرت و مؤانست نجسته ام تفحص بفرمائید تا معلوم شود صدق از کذب باقی امرکم الاشرف الاعلی امرکم الاشرف الاعلی
مطاع حسینعلی

Baha’ullah’s letter numbered 12 in the file:
“The submission of the servant at the service of the most mobile and the most illustrious governor general, may his exalted shadow endure! Is that last year Sayyid Muhammad of Isfahan [murdered by Baha’s men at Acre, section 12.4.4], proceeded to Istanbul, where he met with Aqa Jan Beg [Kaj Kulah, murdered by Baha’s men at Acre, section 12.4.4] and Haji Muhammad Nevres Effendi [whose names appears in the list] and deceived them with many promises. After Sayyid Muhammad’s return to Edirne, Hajji Muhammad Nevres, and also one named Ismat Effendi [whose name appears in the list] came to Edirne and visited Yahya [Subh-i-Azal] and Sayyid Muhammad, who manufactured a document of circular terms and gave it to Hajji Muhammad Nevres and Ismet Effendi for display to the public, as an instance of this, at Edirne Hajji Muhammad Nevres gave that document to a person, which received your blessed attention. Later these two persons returned to Istanbul and held out some sort of promise to any body & everybody; they took with them a writing from Yahya and distributed copies of it, their promises were to the effect that on a certain date Mirza Yahya shall rise and display such loving-kindness towards them, and by their abjured statement he [i.e. Subh-i-Azal] allied himself with a number of persons whose names are inscribed in the list in the list attached hereto, little by little their boldness waxed high. It is reported that they wrote a number of seditious letters and left them at the doors of the houses. Now the authorities are out hunting after the author of these letters and my dependents have also been questioned by them. The expectation of this servant is that an investigation with the utmost careful attention be held into the matter, and that the persons whose names are entered in the list be examined so that it may become known who is the source of these mischiefs. Time after time, and over and over again it has been submitted to you that this Sayyid Muhammad and Yahya have no aim other than mischief making. It has now come out into the open and a brief investigation will disclose it During this period this servant wrote no letters to anyone of the inhabitants of these dominions and sought no association and intercourse with anyone. Please hold an investigation so that truth may be distinguished from falsehood.” “And finally [I await] your most eminent supreme command, obedience to which is mandatory.”

The document of circular form referred to is the information marked No. 26 in the file. It has four co-centric circles with a style similar to that of the horoscope readers. They include (alphabet) letters all around them and have a few dates converted to the Abjad notation with the words ‘understand the secret’ underneath them, with some other Arabic words having 1260, 1285 and 1286 written underneath them.

I have not verified if the conversions were calculated correctly or not, however it is generally understood that Subh-i Azal followers have been giving tidings that their affair will improve in the year 1285 or 1286. Strange enough, according to the reports prepared by the Iranian officials in Iraq during Baha’ullah’s and Subh-i Azal’s stay in Baqdad sent to Teheran which exist at the archives of the ministry of foreign affairs, in the early days Babi leaders had given the glad tiding of the year 1280 as the year of the victory.

For this reason, the government of Iran was concerned about the presence of these two brothers in close proximity to the holy shrines and the ease at which they could contact their Iranian followers. Finally, the representatives of the government applied their maximum effort to ensure that they were exiled to Edirne further away than Baqdad.

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