The governor of Baghdad, Námiq-Páshá, entertained “profound…respect” for Bahá’u’lláh, Whom he regarded as “one of the Lights of the Age”

And finally, during the last year of His sojourn in Baghdád the governor Námiq-Páshá, impressed by the many signs of esteem and veneration in which He was held, called upon Him to pay his personal tribute to One Who had already achieved so conspicuous a victory over the hearts and souls of those who had met Him. So profound was the respect the governor entertained for Him, Whom he regarded as one of the Lights of the Age, that it was not until the end of three months, during which he had received five successive commands from ‘Álí Páshá, that he could bring himself to inform Bahá’u’lláh that it was the wish of the Turkish government that He should proceed to the capital. On one occasion, when ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá and Áqáy-i-Kalím had been delegated by Bahá’u’lláh to visit him, he entertained them with such elaborate ceremonial that the Deputy-Governor stated that so far as he knew no notable of the city had ever been accorded by any governor so warm and courteous a reception. So struck, indeed, had the Sulṭán ‘Abdu’l-Majíd been by the favorable reports received about Bahá’u’lláh from successive governors of Baghdád (this is the personal testimony given by the Governor’s deputy to Bahá’u’lláh himself) that he consistently refused to countenance the requests of the Persian government either to deliver Him to their representative or to order His expulsion from Turkish territory. 

- Shoghi Effendi (‘God Passes By’, chapter 8)

The “first imprisonment He [Bahá’u’lláh] suffered for the sake of His loved ones. He remained in captivity for a few days”

These officials were in their turn tempted to derive every possible advantage from the liberality of Bahá’u’lláh. They summoned Him to their presence, protested against His action, and accused Him of complicity in the act for which the captives had been condemned. “The kad-khudá,” replied Bahá’u’lláh, “pleaded their cause before Me and enlarged upon their sufferings and needs. He himself bore witness to their innocence and appealed to Me for help. In return for the aid which, in response to his invitation, I was impelled to extend, you now charge Me with a crime of which I am innocent.” Hoping to intimidate Bahá’u’lláh by threatening immediate punishment, they refused to allow Him to return to His home. The confinement to which He was subjected was the first affliction that befell Bahá’u’lláh in the path of the Cause of God; the first imprisonment He suffered for the sake of His loved ones. He remained in captivity for a few days, until Ja’far-Qulí Khán, the brother of Mírzá Áqá Khán-i-Núrí, who at a later time was appointed Grand Vazír of the Sháh, and a number of other friends intervened in His behalf and, threatening the kad-khudá in severe a language, were able to effect His release. Those who had been responsible for His confinement had confidently hoped to receive, in return for His deliverance, the sum of one thousand túmans, but they soon found out that they were forced to comply with the wishes of Ja’far-Qulí Khán without the hope of receiving, either from him or from Bahá’u’lláh, the slightest reward. With profuse apologies and with the utmost regret, they surrendered their Captive into his hands. 

- Nabil (‘The Dawn-Breakers’ chapter 15)

“Bahá’u’lláh… decided to visit…and intervene in…behalf” of those followers of Táhirih who were arrested in Qazvin and sent to Tihran

Bahá’u’lláh who was at that time residing in Tihrán, was informed of the plight of these prisoners who had been the companions and supporters of Táhirih. As He was already acquainted with the kad-khudá in whose home they were incarcerated, He decided to visit them and intervene in their behalf. That avaricious and deceitful official, who was fully aware of the extreme generosity of Bahá’u’lláh, greatly exaggerated in the hope of deriving a substantial pecuniary advantage for himself, the misfortune that had befallen the unhappy captives. “They are destitute of the barest necessities of life,” urged the kad-khudá. “They hunger for food, and their clothing is wretchedly scanty.” Bahá’u’lláh extended immediate financial assistance for their relief, and urged the kad-khudá to relax the severity of the rule under which they were confined. The latter consented to relieve a few who were unable to support the oppressive weight of their chains, and for the rest did whatever he could to alleviate the rigour of their confinement. Prompted by greed, he informed his superiors of the situation, and emphasised the fact that both food and money were being regularly supplied by Bahá’u’lláh for those who were imprisoned in his house. 

- Nabil (‘The Dawn-Breakers’ chapter 15)

Circumstances that resulted in placing Táhirh “in the strictest confinement in the house of her father”

This state of tension continued until the time when a certain Mullá ‘Abdu’lláh, a native of Shíráz and fervent admirer of both Shaykh Ahmad and Siyyid Kázim, arrived in Qazvín at the beginning of the month of Ramadán, in the year 1263 A.H.  Subsequently, in the course of his trial in Tihrán, in the presence of the Sáhib-Diván, [Master of the Registers] this same Mullá ‘Abdu’lláh recounted the following:

“I have never been a convinced Bábí. When I arrived at Qazvín, I was on my way to Máh-Kú, intending to visit the Báb and investigate the nature of His Cause. On the day of my arrival at Qazvín, I became aware that the town was in a great state of turmoil. As I was passing through the market-place, I saw a crowd of ruffians who had stripped a man of his head-dress and shoes, had wound his turban around his neck, and by it were dragging him through the streets. An angry multitude was tormenting him with their threats, their blows and curses. ‘His unpardonable guilt,’ I was told in answer to my enquiry, ‘is that he has dared to extol in public the virtues of Shaykh Aḥmad and Siyyid Kázim. Accordingly, Hájí Mullá Taqí, the Hujjatu’l-Islám, has pronounced him a heretic and decreed his expulsion from the town.’”

I was amazed at the explanation given me. How could a shaykhí, I thought to myself, be regarded as a heretic and be deemed worthy of such cruel treatment? Desirous of ascertaining from Mullá Taqí himself the truth of this report, I betook myself to his school and asked whether he had actually pronounced such a condemnation against him. ‘Yes,’ he bluntly replied, ‘the god whom the late Shaykh Ahmad-i-Bahrayní worshipped is a god in whom I can never believe. Him as well as his followers I regard as the very embodiments of error.’ I was moved that very moment to smite his face in the presence of his assembled disciples. I restrained myself, however, and vowed that, God willing, I would pierce his lips with my spear so that he would never be again able to utter such blasphemy.