To these evidences of an ever deepening veneration for Bahá’u’lláh and of a passionate attachment to His person were now being added further grounds for the outbreak of the pent-up jealousies which His mounting prestige evoked in the breasts of His ill-wishers and enemies.
- The steady extension of the circle of His acquaintances and admirers;
- His friendly intercourse with officials including the governor of the city;
- the unfeigned homage offered Him, on so many occasions and so spontaneously, by men who had once been distinguished companions of Siyyid Káẓim;
- the disillusionment which the persistent concealment of Mírzá Yahyá, and the unflattering reports circulated regarding his character and abilities, had engendered;
- the signs of increasing independence, of innate sagacity and inherent superiority and capacity for leadership unmistakably exhibited by Bahá’u’lláh Himself—
all combined to widen the breach which the infamous and crafty Siyyid Muhammad had sedulously contrived to create.
- Shoghi Effendi (‘God Passes By’, chapter 7)