The predestined hour of Bahá’u’lláh’s departure from ‘Iráq having now struck, the process whereby it could be accomplished was set in motion. The nine months of unremitting endeavor exerted by His enemies, and particularly by _Sh_ay_kh_ ‘Abdu’l-Ḥusayn and his confederate Mírzá Buzurg _Kh_án, were about to yield their fruit. Náṣiri’d-Dín _Sh_áh and his ministers, on the one hand, and the Persian Ambassador in Constantinople, on the other, were incessantly urged to take immediate action to insure Bahá’u’lláh’s removal from Ba_gh_dád. Through gross misrepresentation of the true situation and the dissemination of alarming reports a malignant and energetic enemy finally succeeded in persuading the _Sh_áh to instruct his foreign minister, Mírzá Sa’íd _Kh_án, to direct the Persian Ambassador at the Sublime Porte, Mírzá Ḥusayn _Kh_án, a close friend of ‘Alí Pá_sh_á, the Grand Vizir of the Sulṭán, and of Fu’ád Pá_sh_á, the Minister of foreign affairs, to induce Sulṭán ‘Abdu’l-‘Azíz to order the immediate transfer of Bahá’u’lláh to a place remote from Ba_gh_dád, on the ground that His continued residence in that city, adjacent to Persian territory and close to so important a center of _Sh_í’ah pilgrimage, constituted a direct menace to the security of Persia and its government. Mírzá Sa’íd _Kh_án, in his communication to the Ambassador, stigmatized the Faith as a “misguided and detestable sect,” deplored Bahá’u’lláh’s release from the Síyáh-_Ch_ál, and denounced Him as one who did not cease from “secretly corrupting and misleading foolish persons and ignorant weaklings.” “In accordance with the royal command,” he wrote, “I, your faithful friend, have been ordered ... to instruct you to seek, without delay, an appointment with their Excellencies, the Sadr-i-‘Aẓam and the Minister of Foreign Affairs ... to request ... the removal of this source of mischief from a center like Ba_gh_dád, which is the meeting-place of many different peoples, and is situated near the frontiers of the provinces of Persia.” In that same letter, quoting a celebrated verse, he writes: “‘I see beneath the ashes the glow of fire, and it wants but little to burst into a blaze,’” thus betraying his fears and seeking to instill them into his correspondent. Encouraged by the presence on the throne of a monarch who had delegated much of his powers to his ministers, and aided by certain foreign ambassadors and ministers in Constantinople, Mírzá Ḥusayn _Kh_án, by dint of much persuasion and the friendly pressure he brought to bear on these ministers, succeeded in securing the sanction of the Sulṭán for the transfer of Bahá’u’lláh and His companions (who had in the meantime been forced by circumstances to change their citizenship) to Constantinople. It is even reported that the first request the Persian authorities made of a friendly Power, after the accession of the new Sulṭán to the throne, was for its active and prompt intervention in this matter.