utions and other domestic purposes; the
acts of imprudence which, in moments of rapture, they occasionally
committed; the expressions of wonder and admiration which their words and
acts evoked in a populace that had seldom witnessed such demonstrations of
religious transport and personal devotion--these, and many others, will
forever remain associated with the history of that immortal period,
intervening between the birth hour of Baha'u'llah's Revelation and its
announcement on the eve of His departure from 'Iraq.

Numerous and striking are the anecdotes which have been recounted by those
whom duty, accident, or inclination had, in the course of these poignant
years, brought into direct contact with Baha'u'llah. Many and moving are
the testimonies of bystanders who were privileged to gaze on His
countenance, observe His gait, or overhear His remarks, as He moved
through the lanes and streets of the city, or paced the banks of the
river; of the worshippers who watched Him pray in their mosques; of the
mendicant, the sick, the aged, and the unfortunate whom He succored,
healed, supported and comforted; of the visitors, from the haughtiest
prince to the meanest beggar, who crossed His threshold and sat at His
feet; of the merchant, the artisan, and the shopkeeper who waited upon Him
and supplied His daily needs; of His devotees who had perceived the signs
of His hidden glory; of His adversaries who were confounded or disarmed by
the power of His utterance and the warmth of His love; of the priests and
laymen, the noble and learned, who besought Him with the intention of
either challenging His authority, or testing His knowledge, or
investigating His claims, or confessing their shortcomings, or declaring
their conversion to the Cause He had espoused.

From such a treasury of precious memories it will suffice my purpose to
cite but a single instance, that of one of His ardent lovers, a native of
Zavarih, Siyyid Isma'il by name, surnamed _Dh_abih (the Sacrifice),
formerly a noted divine, taciturn, meditative and wholly severed from
every earthly tie, whose self-appointed task, on which he prided himself,
was to sweep the approaches of the house in which Baha'u'llah was
dwelling. Unwinding his green turban, the ensign of his holy lineage, from
his head, he would, at the hour of dawn, gather up, with infinite
patience, the rubble which the footsteps of his Beloved had trodden, would
blow the dust from the crannies of the wall a