Sulaymaniyyih: solitude, encounter, and return

When after two years the Blessed Beauty returned from Sulaymaniyyih, He was wearing a dilapidated coat, a vest with no sleeves and a cotton headgear. The Kurds used to recall that each night Baha'u'llah's voice was raised high in prayer and, though they could not make out the actual words, they could hear His supplications and invocations.

Soon after Our arrival, We betook Ourself to the mountains of Kurdistan, where We led for a time a life of complete solitude. We sought shelter upon the summit of a remote mountain which lay at some three days' distance from the nearest human habitation.

Upon My arrival in Iraq, detached from all else save God, I withdrew for two years. Singly and alone I departed for the wilderness and severed Myself from the world and its peoples. But during that period of withdrawal solitude was not granted to me. Those joyous days soon passed and came to an end, and it hath not been My portion ever since.

For the Well-Beloved was then in Kurdistan, living in a cave at Sar-Galu; and there, entirely alone in that wasteland, with no companion, no friend, no listening soul, He was communing with the beauty that dwelt in His own heart. All news of Him was completely cut off; Iraq was eclipsed, and in mourning.

While Baha'u'llah was in Baghdad, still in possession of great wealth, He left all He had and went alone from the city, living two years among the poor. They were His comrades. He ate with them, slept with them and gloried in being one of them.

And that is why the Blessed Beauty adopted the title Darvish, meaning, the poor:

Darvish, world is consumed by God's blazing flame,

It's time to breathe life through Thy Hidden Melody.

Or Darvish, do not utter too many words,

Since of a word came forth this world.

During Baha'u'llah's seclusion in Sulaymaniyyih, He mostly drank milk and ate bread with rice pudding; this is truly excellent sustenance.

During the time when the Ancient Beauty (may His glory be glorified) had gone to Sulaymaniyyih and was living in seclusion and retirement on Mount Sar-Galu, the days of the month of Ramadan arrived.

Perceiving the covert rebellion of Mirza Yahya and others, Baha'u'llah journeyed alone to Sulaymaniyyih and was absent for two years. During that time, Mirza Yahya was acting with utmost caution behind a veil of concealment and, fearing the attention of the General Consul of Persia in Baghdad, disguised himself, took the name of Haji 'Ali, and engaged in selling shoes and plaster in Basrah and in Suqu'sh-Shuyukh in the vicinity of Baghdad. The Cause became entirely quiescent, the Call ceased to be heard, and all name and trace thereof well-nigh vanished.

During His sojourn in Sulaymaniyyih, Baha'u'llah penned a number of works, among them certain prayers of which copies are still extant, and certain epistles on mystical wayfaring addressed to the doctors and the learned men of Islam, which are likewise still extant.

… In any event, all the doctors and learned men of Sulaymaniyyih attested to the knowledge, attainments, and perfections of Baha'u'llah and developed an affection for His person; that is, they would say that this Man was unique and ranked among the chosen ones of God.

The Kurdish nobles, both from the Pashas and the ulama who had attained His presence in Kurdistan, came to Baghdad. Some of them attained the Most Holy Presence and became the cause of spreading knowledge of Him. They told everyone that when He arrived in Sulaymaniyyih no one knew Him, even His blessed name was Darvish Muhammad. He took residence in the Sulaymaniyyih monastery.

There was a Mohamad Bey, a Kurd, of short stature, fat and a long beard. He had met Baha'u'llah when he was living in the mountain of Soleymanieh and became His ardent follower. When Baha'u'llah returned from the mountains after two years of absence, this Mohamad Bey also came to Bagdad bringing 46 mares for the governor Omar pasha.

Hence, Shaykh Sultan and Aqa Muhammad-Javad left for Sulaymaniyyih. There they investigated and made inquiries about His whereabouts. At last they learned that He was indeed residing on Sar-Galu mountain and that it was impossible for them to go there. So they waited in Sulaymaniyyih until He arrived. They attended His presence and presented their plea. Baha'u'llah, however, did not agree. Then they said, 'We do not want to do anything contrary to Thy blessed will but we are not leaving Thy presence either.'

The Hidden Words was revealed after the journey to Sulaymaniyyih. The Sprinkling of the Cloud was revealed in the year sixty-seven. The fame of the Blessed Beauty as Baha'u'llah was at that time. The Temple that the Bab wrote was in sixty-seven in the final days of the Bab.

And when the Luminary of the horizons illumined the horizon of Iraq, no voice was raised from any direction, and no movement was observed from any body. All were found to be dead or withered while living, and were concealed behind veils from the severity of the days and the wrath of men.

When these things were witnessed, We arose to promote the Cause - an arising after which there was no sitting down. And when, through divine power, the banners of the Most Great Remembrance were raised upon the highest station of the world, the buzzing of flies emerged from behind the veil.

At length, abandoning My home and all that was therein, and renouncing My life and all that pertained thereunto, I retired alone and companionless. I roamed the wilderness of resignation, travelling in such wise that in My exile every eye wept sore over Me, and all created things shed tears of blood because of My anguish. The birds of the air were My companions and the beasts of the field My associates. In such wise did I, even as the flash of the spirit, pass over this fleeting world. For two years or rather less, I shunned all else but God, and closed Mine eyes to all except Him, that haply the fire of hatred may die down and the heat of jealousy abate.

… At last the divine decree prompted certain spiritual souls to remember this Canaanite Youth. Armed with a number of petitions, they searched in every place and enquired from every person, until they found in a mountain cave a trace of this traceless One.

When Baha'u'llah left Bagdad and without the knowledge of the friends went to Soleymanie, one day he saw a boy in the streets weeping.

… Then all the learned and wise men of the city gather around him and after a time finding that these men have taken all his time, he retired to the mountains where nobody could reach him.

Baha'u'llah departed to Sarkalu alone. Nobody knew just where he was, even we were not informed. Two years he passed at Sarkalu. Some of the time he passed in the mountains, some of the time in grottoes, and some of the time in the city of Sarkalu.

When we were exiled from Teheran to Bagdad we remained there one year. Then, suddenly, Baha'u'llah disappeared. We endeavored to find him but were not successful. For two years there was no news of him.

Bread and milk are more healthful than any other kind of food. The Blessed Beauty used to say: 'During My days in Sulaymaniyyih, My food on most occasions consisted of milk and sometimes rice pudding.'

These two new believers from Meelan came and knocked at the door. I went and opened it. I observed they are two young men from Meelan. Their faces were luminous, their eyes radiant. They were shining like unto two suns. I asked them to come in. … After a while they asked about the Cause. I told them the Cause is extinct, there is no Cause. They asked about Mirza Yahya, I told them he is concealed and no one knows his whereabouts. They asked about Baha'u'llah. I told them I do not know where he is.

As soon as they heard this sad news they looked at each other and began to weep and weep. For nearly one hour they sat down on the floor and wept bitter tears of regret and disappointment.

In the days of Baghdad and Sulaymaniyyih, Shaykh 'Abdu'l-Husayn was told that the Blessed Beauty was attracting the Kurds to Himself by quoting Sufi and gnostic terms. This poor Shaykh obtained a copy of the Futuhat-i-Makkiyyih [The Meccan Revelations] and committed its passages to memory. But wherever he quoted them, he saw that none lent an ear to him. He was greatly puzzled as to why people did not listen to him.

At the time that His Holiness Baha'u'llah was in the mountains of Sulymanieh one of the young rugged, illiterate kurds inhabiting in the valleys came to see Him. The Blessed Perfection is kind to him and his love grows for Baha'u'llah. His name was Mollah Ali Mardan. Although he had the title of "Mullah" yet he was illiterate. He did not know anything about faith but ardently he adored Baha'u'llah. Everyday he would leave his flock and go to the cave to hear the Blessed Perfection speak.

… Baha'u'llah received him with graciousness and open arms.

As the inspector of the custom-house was a devoted follower of the Blessed Perfection He sent for him. When he arrived, Baha'u'llah pointed Mulla Ali Mardan to him "This is my friend" He said "I hope you will give him a position in the custom House." "Very well" the inspector respectfully answered. and the "friend" of Baha'u'llah was properly installed in work with fair wages.

Therefore, the Shah of Iran strove until Baha'u'llah was exiled to Istanbul.

When some mounted guards who were accompanying him on the road wounded him and took his possessions, this news and report reached Baghdad and came to the ears of the friends that Aqa Abu'l-Qasim's property and belongings should be delivered to Darvish Muhammad.

And if my Beloved were to command me to bear stones from the mountains, this would be dearer unto me than to consort with these idolaters. Alone did I withdraw from among the servants, and I journeyed for two years in the wilderness, severed from all that dwell in the kingdom. Then, when the appointed promise came, He returned me unto the servants once again; and the decree proceeded from Him, not from myself nor from my desire.

When the Blessed Beauty returned from Sulaymaniyyih to Baghdad, He opened wide the door and gave a summons unto all. At first, one or two of the Persian adversaries came, intending to raise objections, and some said, "Once again the Babis have appeared in the light of day." But the Blessed Beauty so silenced them that thereafter all took heed of their own account.

Little by little, the blessed uprising exalted the Cause of God, rent asunder the veils, and drew souls unto the station of sanctity and detachment.