Darvísh Muḥammad in Kurdistán

A retelling based on The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, Volume 1, by Adib Taherzadeh, and on Shoghi Effendi's account in God Passes By. Words in quotation marks are those of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá as given in those books.

About a year after Bahá'u'lláh arrived in Baghdád as an exile, jealousy and division among the Bábís there had grown so bitter that He decided to leave. In the Kitáb-i-Íqán He later explained why. "The one object of Our retirement," He wrote, "was to avoid becoming a subject of discord among the faithful, a source of disturbance unto Our companions, the means of injury to any soul, or the cause of sorrow to any heart." He added: "Our withdrawal contemplated no return, and Our separation hoped for no reunion."

On April 10, 1854, without telling anyone, not even His own family, He left Baghdád. One attendant went with Him, a Muslim named Abu'l-Qásim-i-Hamadání, to whom He gave a sum of money so that he could trade as a merchant. Soon afterwards the attendant was attacked by thieves and killed, and Bahá'u'lláh was left entirely alone in Kurdistán, among a hardy people long hostile to Persians.

He took the name Darvísh Muḥammad. He wore the coarse clothes of the poor and had with Him only an alms-bowl and a change of clothing. For a time He lived on a mountain called Sar-Galú, which the peasants of the region visited only at sowing and harvest. His shelter was a rough stone hut, and at times a cave. His food was mostly milk, with a little rice now and then. In a Tablet He wrote that "the birds of the air" were His companions and "the beasts of the field" His associates. In the Kitáb-i-Íqán He recalled: "Many a night I had no food for sustenance, and many a day My body found no rest."

In time a shaykh of Sulaymáníyyih who owned land nearby sought Him out, and then Shaykh Ismá'íl, head of the Khálidíyyih Sufi order, came and after repeated requests persuaded Him to move to the town. He lived there in a room of a theological seminary. At first He kept such silence that no one guessed He had any learning. Then a student showed the teachers a specimen of His handwriting, and they came to question Him. He answered them, explained difficult passages of the mystic Ibn-i-'Arabí, and at their request dictated some two thousand verses of Arabic poetry in the rhyme and metre of a famous ode by Ibn-i-Fáriḍ. From these He kept one hundred and twenty-seven, now known as the Qaṣídiy-i-Varqá'íyyih.

The learned men and the people of the region, Kurds, Arabs and Persians, came to hold Him in reverence and in many cases deep affection. 'Abdu'l-Bahá later wrote: "In a short time, Kurdistán was magnetized with His love. During this period Bahá'u'lláh lived in poverty. His garments were those of the poor and needy. His food was that of the indigent and lowly." And He added: "Everywhere He was greatly revered and loved."

Meanwhile His family in Baghdád heard reports of a remarkable dervish in the mountains and realized that He could only be Bahá'u'lláh. They sent Shaykh Sulṭán, the father-in-law of His brother Mírzá Músá, to find Him. Shaykh Sulṭán travelled for two months before he was led to Him near Sulaymáníyyih. He later told Nabíl that everyone around Bahá'u'lláh there was so devoted to Him that he feared for his own life if they learned he had come to take Him away.

After a time Bahá'u'lláh yielded to Shaykh Sulṭán's pleading and ended His two years' retirement. He reached Baghdád in March 1856, leaving behind in Kurdistán many admirers who bitterly lamented His departure.

This is a retelling. For the fuller account, see The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, Volume 1, by Adib Taherzadeh, and God Passes By by Shoghi Effendi.

Taherzadeh, A.. (1974). *The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh (4 volumes)*. George Ronald.