and even communicated it in person to the then Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Mirza Sa'id _Kh_an. "We have," Baha'u'llah is reported to have
commented, when informed of their reaction to this challenge, "through
this all-satisfying, all-embracing message which We sent, revealed and
vindicated the miracles of all the Prophets, inasmuch as We left the
choice to the 'ulamas themselves, undertaking to reveal whatever they
would decide upon." "If we carefully examine the text of the Bible,"
'Abdu'l-Baha has written concerning a similar challenge made later by
Baha'u'llah in the "Lawh-i-Sultan," "we see that the Divine Manifestation
never said to those who denied Him, 'whatever miracle you desire, I am
ready to perform, and I will submit to whatever test you propose.' But in
the Epistle to the _Sh_ah Baha'u'llah said clearly, 'Gather the 'ulamas
and summon Me, that the evidences and proofs may be established.'"

Seven years of uninterrupted, of patient and eminently successful
consolidation were now drawing to a close. A shepherdless community,
subjected to a prolonged and tremendous strain, from both within and
without, and threatened with obliteration, had been resuscitated, and
risen to an ascendancy without example in the course of its twenty years'
history. Its foundations reinforced, its spirit exalted, its outlook
transformed, its leadership safeguarded, its fundamentals restated, its
prestige enhanced, its enemies discomfited, the Hand of Destiny was
gradually preparing to launch it on a new phase in its checkered career,
in which weal and woe alike were to carry it through yet another stage in
its evolution. The Deliverer, the sole hope, and the virtually recognized
leader of this community, Who had consistently overawed the authors of so
many plots to assassinate Him, Who had scornfully rejected all the timid
advice that He should flee from the scene of danger, Who had firmly
declined repeated and generous offers made by friends and supporters to
insure His personal safety, Who had won so conspicuous a victory over His
antagonists--He was, at this auspicious hour, being impelled by the
resistless processes of His unfolding Mission, to transfer His residence
to the center of still greater preeminence, the capital city of the
Ottoman Empire, the seat of the Caliphate, the administrative center of
Sunni Islam, the abode of the most powerful potentate in the Islamic
world.

He had already flung a daring challenge to the s