God knows that at no time did We attempt to conceal Ourself
or hide the Cause which We have been bidden to proclaim. Though not wearing the
garb of the people of learning, We have again and again faced and reasoned with
men of great scholarship in both Núr and Mázindarán, and have succeeded in
persuading them of the truth of this Revelation. We never flinched in Our
determination; We never hesitated to accept the challenge from whatever
direction it came. To whomsoever We spoke in those days, We found him receptive
to our Call and ready to identify himself with its precepts. But for the
shameful behaviour of the people of Bayán, who sullied by their deeds the work
We had accomplished, Núr and Mázindarán would have been entirely won to this
Cause and would have been accounted by this time among its leading strongholds.
- Baha'u'llah (Words of Baha’u’llah to some pilgrims and a few resident believers who were
admitted into His presence on January 8, 1889, quoted by Nabil in the
‘Dawn-Breakers, translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)
