There are, however, two other accounts which ought to be
mentioned. According to the _Traveller's Narrative_, the refuge
of Baha-'ullah was generally in a place called Sarkalu in the
mountains of Turkish Kurdistan; more seldom he used to stay in
Suleymaniyya, the headquarters of the Sunnites. Before long, however,
'the most eminent doctors of those regions got some inkling of his
circumstances and conditions, and conversed with him on the solution
of certain difficult questions connected with the most abstruse points
of theology. In consequence of this, fragmentary accounts of this were
circulated in all quarters. Several persons therefore hastened
thither, and began to entreat and implore.' [Footnote: _TN_,
pp. 64, 65.]
If this is correct, Baha-'ullah was more widely known in Turkish
Kurdistan than his family was aware, and debated high questions of
theology as frequently as if he were in Baghdad or at the Supreme
Shrine. Nor was it only the old physician and the poor Ba?„bi?„
disciple who were on the track of Baha-'ullah, but 'several
persons'--no doubt persons of weight, who were anxious for a
settlement of the points at issue in the Ba?„bi?„ community. A further
contribution is made by the Ezeli historian, who states that
S??ubh??-i-Ezel himself wrote a letter to his brother, inviting him to
return. [Footnote: _TN_, p. 359.] One wishes that letter could
be recovered. It would presumably throw much light on the relations
between the brothers at this critical period.
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