Baha'i Holy Places in Turkey
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Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Anonymous, Baha'i Holy Places in Turkey, bahai-library.com.
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Bahá'í Holy Places in Turkey

Anonymous

n.d.

1. PDF scan (see uncorrected text below)

Download: anonymous_bahai_holy-places_turkey.pdf.

2. OCR text

Istanbul (Constantinople)

16th of August, 1863, marks the arrival of
Baha'u'llah and His companions to Istanbul, then
the capital city of the Ottoman Empire. He and
his family had stayed here for a period of four
months. It was during His residence here that,
because of the false accusations made by the
Iranian Ambassador, the agreeable attitude of the
authorities changed to that of animosity and bitterness.

The house of Veysi Pasha (not original)
During this same eventful period, however,
marks a "significant milestone in the enfoldment
of His Mission" in a sense that the "initial phase
of the proclamation of the Message of
Baha'u'llah to the kings and rulers of the world
was ushered in by the revelation of a Tablet addressed
to Sultan 'Abdu'l-Aziz and his ministers
sternly rebuking them for their actions against the
new-born Faith of God and its Leader."

Baha'u'llah arrived in Istanbul in a perceptible
majesty and was received by the authorities with
great honor as He disembarked from the ship. He
was driven with all the members of His family to
the residences of Semsi Bey (Shamsi Big), an
official who was present at the port and who was
appointed by the Government to entertain its
guests.

The residence of Semsi Bey was a two storey
building located in the area of Hirka-yi Serif
mosque. This house, because of the size of
Baha'u'llah and His fifty-four companions,
proved to be small. As a result, He was soon
moved to a more spacious house - the three-storey
residence of Veysi Pasha near the Fatih
(Sultan Mehmed II) mosque. Neither of these
houses, unfortunately, is today in its original
form.

Many of the high-ranking authorities that visited
Baha'u'llah during this time had expected Him
to supplicate their help in obtaining support of
the Government for Himself and His Cause.
They soon, however, noticed that not only was
He not remotely interested, but was "far removed
from the expedient practices current
among men, and that His standards were exalted
above human statesmanship."

One of the well-known works which Baha'u'llah
revealed in Constantinople is the Mathnaviy-i-Mubarak.
It has been stated that this work is "a
masterpiece of Persian poetry, noted for the
beauty and power of its composition, and acclaimed
as one of the most soul-stirring among
His Poems" and that in it Baha'u'llah has "unveiled
the mysteries of a vast and limitless Revelation,
disclosed some of the realities of the
world of man, and indicated how he can achieve
the summit of glory."

Edirne (Adrianople)

Now that Baha'u'llah was in Istanbul, the Persian
Ambassador was making every attempt
misrepresent and falsely accuse Him to the authorities
to gain their support to banish Him even further. The
situation of Baha'u'llah's exile was tragic as well as
humiliating. The officials did not even give sufficient
time to Baha'u'llah and His companions for this long
and extremely dangerous journey. The Guardian
Shoghi Effendi, in regards to this journey, writes:
"Travelling through rain and storm, at times even
taking night marches, the weary travellers, after brief
halts ... arrived at their destination, on the first of Rajab
1280 A.H. (December 12, 1863), and were lodged
in the Khan-i-'Arab, a two-storey caravanserai, near
the house of 'Izzat Aqa."

The inhabitants, shortly after Baha'u'llah's arrival in
Adrianople, noticed His greatness and were deeply
impressed by His genuine love and exalted character.
Even the high-ranking city officials and men of culture
and learning were attracted to Him and discovered
for themselves that Baha'u'llah was "the source
of all knowledge and embodiment of all virtues," and
that "such was were the marks of honour and esteem
shown to Baha'u'llah that on occasions when He
walked in the streets and bazaars the people spontaneously
stood and bowed before Him."

Despite the extreme difficulties faced from another
exile, the outpourings of Baha'u'llah's
Revelation continued in Adrianople. "From the
tone of these Tablets it became clear that the
Revelation of Baha'u'llah had entered a new
phase and that He was now openly summoning
the believers to Himself as the supreme Manifestation
of God."

Suriy-i-Ashab (Surih of Companions) was one of
the early Tablets revealed in Adrianople. This
lengthy Tablet in Arabic "played a significant
role in the unveiling of the station of Baha'u'llah
to the Babis of Persia." Another of the wellknown
Tablets that was revealed during this time
is the Tablet of Ahmad, both the Arabic and Persian.
The Tablet" of Ahmad (Arabic) was revealed
around 1282 A.H. (1865) in honour of Ahmad,
native of Yazd.

The activities of Baha'u'llah's enemies, who intended
to impose upon Him the strictest of confinements,
gathered momentum in early 1868.
The most glorious, yet the most turbulent period
in Baha'u'llah's ministry, from 1863 to· 1868,
was drawing to a close, and those mainly responsible
for Baha'u'llah's final banishment, the
Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, succeeded
in their efforts to banish Baha'u'llah to 'Akka,
and impose on Him life imprisonment within the
walls of that prison city.

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-- Baha'i Holy Places in Turkey (Used by permission of the curator)