Adrianople: fellowship and proclamation in exile

But the rest of us, who were over fifteen in number and yet were obliged to live in one single room, were nevertheless filled with joy and composure; for we were blessed with exile for the sake of the Cause of God. And in order to pass the time, each day one of us cooked a certain dish for the rest to enjoy. So the severe winter went by and in the course of a few months the snow and cold passed away and the famous delectable spring-time of Rumelia came on. Then the weather was so delightful, that even the above Haji Mirza Ahmad began to praise the glorious air of Rumelia."

From there like captives we arrived in another city named Adrianople. Forty days of captivity had been heard of, but six months had never been heard of. Throughout this period several children were sick and ill until we found residence beyond Qaf. And now strange and alone, without companion or friend, without associate or helper, in this dark city we pass these transient days.

We stayed four months in Istanbul and (during that time) I never went anywhere or associated with anyone. After four months, a decree was issued to the effect that we must go to Edirne. We sought to know the reason for this, and various pretexts were advanced, but it became known to us that the real purpose was to carry out the wishes of the Iranian ambassador. I complied (with the decree) and we arrived in Edirne.

The Blessed Beauty (may my spirit be a sacrifice for His loved ones) was once exiled from Tehran to Iraq, another time banished from Iraq to the Great City, and for a time became a stranger in the land of Bulgaria, and for a long period in the Most Great Prison was companion to a hundred thousand afflictions and pains.

When we left Bagdad a Darvish came to me and begged to be a member of the party. I told him the trip will be most difficult. He was willing to accept all manners of hardships. He came with us as far as Constantinople and when we left for Adrianople he stayed behind. After a while he joined us. Having been accustomed with our association he could not live alone.

In Adrianople he rented a room in an adjoining Mosque with another friend and for sometime they lived together peacefully. One day the Darvish came to Baha'u'llah saying that "my friend this morning attacked me furiously and gave me a sound beating, but I did not say anything. I was in the state of the utmost resignation. After half an hour he returned, kissed my hands and said 'Verily you have attained the stage of great merit, you are now a saint.'"

Baha'u'llah listening with interest to this story said laughing:- 'If he beats you another time and you demonstrate such resignation he may believe that you have attained to the station of Prophethood.'

The Blessed Beauty did not make any more public speeches after leaving Baghdad and Adrianople. The mode of His discourse and the style of His utterances were a cause of wonder and were without peer or likeness. However, out of respect, I do not wish to give my speeches in that manner.

In the Land of Mystery too, we would meet with some and grant audience to others. But in the Most Great Prison we have met with no one and have completely closed the doors of association. The Master has borne all the hardships for our comfort and ease. He has become an impregnable fortress and a mighty shield before the world and its peoples, bringing us comfort.

Thou knowest, O my God, that the Dawning-Place of Revelation went forth from His inhabited house, directing His steps toward the house of His brother who was named Kalim, and there He secluded Himself for eight days and nights, which We completed with another night as a bounty from Our presence.

I, alone, have come to you from the dawning place of eternity with a great, a most great announcement. I shall wait until the sun sets in the west, so that perhaps my opponents will find the opportunity within themselves to repent.

… The beauty of God departed from the mosque. It so happened that the store of the aforementioned Hasan Aqa was on Baha'u'llah's route. When he arrived at the store, the tongue of God said, "Based on the decision that the gentleman had announced in his proclamation, the countenance of the All-Merciful presented himself, whereas the idolaters failed to honor their own agreement."

Subsequently, the Persian government caused Baha'u'llah to be further banished to Adrianople. From there numerous Tablets were revealed day and night to the effect that "Since We have been expelled from our homeland and banished from Baghdad to a remote place, that the fire of the love of God might be quenched, the lamp of guidance extinguished, the banner of God hauled down, and the call of the True One silenced, We have therefore chosen to fully reveal the Cause, manifest the proof, raise the call, and hoist the banner of the Cause of God, that all may see that this persecution, enmity, banishment, and exile has only deepened the influence of the Word of God, that the fame of the Cause has been noised abroad, and that the tidings of the advent of the Kingdom of God have reached unto both East and West." This universal declaration took place in the year 1280. All the friends, with the exception of Yahya and a few of his followers, became firm and devoted believers, and from Adrianople Tablets would ceaselessly flow to Persia.

If He was not banished to Adrianople, the Great Tablets to the Kings and rulers would not have been revealed and then if He was not sent to Acca, the prophesies of the Scriptures would not have been fulfilled and the Principles of this Revelation would not have been promulgated in America and Europe.

Nevertheless, three months ago, officials of the Ottoman state suddenly surrounded our house, seized all the belongings of my followers in the bazaar, and took them to the government building. After this, a man came from the governor and informed us that, on the orders of the Sultan, I had to go with (my wives?) and children to Gallipoli. They gave us no further notice than that. All the belongings of my followers were sold for a paltry price at the decree of the military commanders, but they did not even give us an opportunity to collect the money.

… No sooner had we arrived in Acre than they imprisoned us in a ruined barracks, even the women and six-month old children, and they forthwith shut the doors of entry and exit. We have now been imprisoned in the ruined barracks for fifty days, and, on account of the badness of the water and air, we have all been stricken by serious illnesses, such that, after two days, three people died without a physician or food or medicine.

Through the power of the Persian government the Blessed Perfection was then sent to Adrianople, in Roumelia, a country very far from Persian (and a possession of Turkey). Because there was no railway, there was very little travel by the Persians to and from Adrianople, and therefore, it was thought by the learned me of Persia that the Cause of god would have no effect upon the Persians. However, it was soon learned that these places were not places of banishment for the Blessed Perfection (Glory be to him!), and it was therefore decided that he should be sent to some small place--a place where murderers were confined, where robbers were imprisoned, so that this Cause would be weakened. Accordingly, the clergy, or learned men of Persia, being hostile to this holy Cause, so arranged that the Blessed Perfection was sent from Adrianople (the land of Mystery) to Acre, Syria.

He was single and alone, without help or assistance and four times he was exiled. Each exile became the means of strengthening his cause. From Persia they exiled him, saying, 'Now his cause is uprooted. No more trace of him will remain.' But no! If he had not come to Baghdad his cause would not have made such progress in Persia. Then two monarchs united and exiled him from Baghdad to Constantinople. 'If he goes further fro Persia,' they said, he will be uprooted sooner.' But instead of that his cause was elevated.

And when they strove to banish and expel the manifest light from Iran, the mighty banner was raised in Iraq. And when they engaged in hypocrisy in Iraq, it caused the Ancient Beauty to be exiled to the renowned city, and the mighty drum and the greatest bell were struck in Istanbul. And when they sent Him with utmost oppression and enmity from the center of Ottoman rule to Rumelia, that region too received the rays of the manifest light. And when He was transferred from that land to the Most Great Prison, and the ruined fortress became the prison of the Beloved of the world of being, and the utmost abasement and humiliation were imposed, the call of the Cause of God and the voice of the Word of God spread to the countries of Europe and America.

Indeed God's ways are mysterious and unsearchable. What outward relation exists between Shiraz and Teheran, Bagdad and Constantinople, Adrianople and Acca and Haifa! God worked patiently step by step through these various cities according to his own definite, eternal plan – so that the prophecies and predictions as foretold by the prophets may become fulfilled.

This golden thread of promise concerning the Messianic Millennium is running through the Bible and it was so destined that God in its own good time will cause its appearance. Not even a single word will be left meaningless or unfulfilled.

Therefore every calamity that befalls the friends of God, though outwardly it is a calamity, in reality it results in a bounty.

… Similarly when they were sending Him from Constantinople to Adrianople, how much it caused sorrow to the friends to a degree that cannot be described. Likewise when from Adrianople to Akka which was the prison for criminals. When this news reached various places all the friends became distraught. This calamity affected them so much that it cannot be described, and yet this became the greatest cause of the exaltation of God's Cause. If the Blessed Beauty had not come to Akka, where would the divine power and might be manifested such that imprisonment became the cause of the proclamation of God's Cause and its fame, prison became paradise, and jail became a palace.

Now, once again, we are being exiled from Adrianople without the knowledge of where we are destined and without any reason, and all our possessions were disposed of. If the Turkish government does not welcome us any more, and as we are not of this country, let us be free to go to a country of another power. It is to the sovereigns of Europe who like to help the oppressed that we plead, supplicating them to release us from this bondage.