Alarmed, he [Baha’u’llah’s uncle] sought the aid of the mujtahid of Núr, Mullá
Muhammad, and appealed to him to lend him immediate assistance. “O vicegerent
of the Prophet of God!” he said. “Behold what has befallen the Faith. A youth,
a layman, attired in the garb of nobility, has come to Núr, has invaded the
strongholds of orthodoxy, and disrupted the holy Faith of Islám. Arise, and
resist his onslaught. Whoever attains his presence falls immediately under his
spell, and is enthralled by the power of his utterance. I know not whether he
is a sorcerer, or whether he mixes with his tea some mysterious substance that
makes every man who drinks the tea fall a victim to its charm.” The mujtahid,
notwithstanding his own lack of comprehension, was able to realise the folly of
such remarks. Jestingly he observed: “Have you not partaken of his tea, or
heard him address his companions?” “I have,” he replied, “but, thanks to your
loving protection, I have remained immune from the effect of his mysterious
power.” The mujtahid, finding himself unequal to the task of arousing the
populace against Bahá’u’lláh, and of combating directly the ideas which so
powerful an opponent was fearlessly spreading, contented himself with a written
statement in which he declared: “O Azíz, be not afraid, no one will dare molest
you.” In writing this, the mujtahid had, through a grammatical error, so
perverted the purport of his statement, that those who read it among the
notables of the village of Tákúr were scandalised by its meaning, and vilified
both the bearer and the author of that statement.
(Chapter 5, ‘The
Dawn-Breakers’)
