Suffering and imprisonment

The Abha Beauty endured the most afflictive of calamities. He bore countless agonies and ills. He enjoyed not a moment's peace, drew not an easeful breath. He wandered, homeless, over desert sands and mountain slopes; He was shut in a fortress, and a prison cell. But to Him, His pauper's mat of straw was an eternal throne of glory, and His heavy chains a sovereign's carcanet. By day, by night, He lived under a whirring sword, and He was ready from moment to moment for death on the cross.

Throughout His entire life, Baha'u'llah was in a state of extreme hardship and torment. In Persia, He was imprisoned and bound in chains, was under constant threat of the sword, and was made to suffer grievous blows. He was then banished from Persia to Baghdad and lived as an exile in that land. He later became captive in the Prison of 'Akka and, while confined and in chains, promulgated His Cause and raised the banner of the oneness of humankind.

For the betterment of the world Baha'u'llah endured all the hardships, ordeals and vicissitudes of life, sacrificing His very being and comfort, forfeiting His estates, possessions and honor -- all that pertains to human existence -- not for one year, nay, rather, for nearly fifty years. During this long period He was subjected to persecution and abuse, was cast into prison, was banished from His native land, underwent severities and humiliation and was exiled four times.

Baha'u'llah endured ordeals and hardships sixty years. There was no persecution, vicissitude or suffering He did not experience at the hand of His enemies and oppressors. All the days of His life were passed in difficulty and tribulation -- at one time in prison, another in exile, sometimes in chains.

Baha'u'llah endured the greatest hardships. He found neither rest by night nor peace by day. He was constantly under the stress of great calamity -- now in prison, now in chains, now threatened by the sword -- until finally He broke the cage of captivity, left this mortal world and ascended to the heaven of God. He endured all these tribulations for our sakes and suffered these deprivations that we might attain the bestowals of divine bounty.

The Ancient Beauty and Most Great Name - may my spirit, my being and my essence be sacrificed for His dust - in every moment endured pain and sorrow. At times He was captive to cruelty, at times the target of calamity's arrows.

Though possessed of immortal glory and holiness, that hallowed Being endured manifold trials and tribulations and accepted every affliction and calamity. He tasted deadly poison from every cup and drank bitter venom from every chalice. He was bound in chains and fetters and held in iron shackles. In the dungeon, His companions were criminals, and His associates transgressors and evildoers. He was subjected to vengeance and torment; He was banished from His native land and exiled to Iraq, and thence to Adrianople. … He was consigned to the Most Great Prison and condemned to its oppressive confines. At all times, He was under the threat of sword and spear, a captive and a prisoner.

That sanctified Being spent His days in chains and fetters, and lived to the end of His life under the threat of the sword. Not a moment's rest did He find; not a tranquil breath did He draw. Not for a single night did He repose on a bed of comfort, nor lay His head upon a pillow of ease. Every bird hath a nest, and every creature dwelleth in its abode, while the Blessed Beauty was consumed by the fire of cruelty lit by His enemies.

Though the Ancient Beauty---may my life be offered up for His loved ones---was held alone and forsaken in the clutches of His enemies, though He was kept in chains and threatened by the sword, though He was banished to lands in Asia and Europe and finally exiled to the Most Great Prison, He ultimately rose in the utmost glory and beauty above the horizon of ancient might, manifest and radiant, resplendent and luminous, shedding light upon the world.

All through His blessed life He suffered oppression and hardship, and in spite of all this humanity was His enemy!

They denied Him, scorned Him, ill-treated Him and cursed Him.

The Blessed Perfection suffered innumerable ordeals and calamities, but during His lifetime He trained in all regions many souls who were peerless.

Although He remained forty days in the city of Tabriz the learned doctors did not condescend to approach Him and did not deem it right to meet Him. Then they sent Him off to the Castle of Maku, and for nine months lodged Him in the inaccessible castle which is situated on the summit of that lofty mountain.

… "We are about to shift from this most remote place of banishment unto the prison of 'Akka. And, according to what they say, it is assuredly the most desolate of the cities of the world, the most unsightly of them in appearance, the most detestable in climate, and the foulest in water; it is as though it were the metropolis of the owl; there is not heard from its regions aught save the sound of its hooting. And in it they intend to imprison the Servant, and to shut in Our faces the doors of leniency and take away from Us the good things of the life of the world during what remaineth of Our days.

From the first dawning of His beauty until the day of His supreme martyrdom, the Bab spent His days and nights in the severest tribulation for the sake of God, and at last made His breast the target of a thousand arrows of affliction, hastening with His pierced breast to the Most Glorious Kingdom.

I swear by the Most Great Lord that if ye knew where I am residing, ye would be the first to have mercy upon me. In the midst of a mountain there is a fortress, and in that fortress, through His grace, its inhabitants are limited to two guards and four dogs. Picture, then, My plight.

God knows and is sufficient witness to My condition, that I have committed no wrong deserving of such a judgment.

… If the purpose is to close the door upon Myself, I hope by God's might that once confined to a goodly place, it shall not be opened.

How can I fully describe what has befallen me in that land? The ink would run dry and the tablet would not suffice.

Say: O Lord! I have been patient in Thy path until the oppressors grew haughty against me and judged me without justice to this imprisonment in the depths of the mountain. They imagine they shall meet Thee in the next world and suppose they do good.

O people! This is indeed He Whom ye suspended in the air, and at Whom ye fired bullets, and Whom ye slew with swords. By God, this is His garment, besprinkled with the blood of hatred, at which the dwellers of the pavilions of eternity have covered their faces, and over which the inhabitants of the all-highest Paradise and they that dwell nigh the Ultimate Tree in the most exalted Gardens have raised their lamentations.

Consider how the sacred breast of the Exalted One---may my life be a sacrifice unto Him---was made a target for a hundred thousand bullets, and how the holy body of Quddus---may my life be offered up for him---was torn to pieces. Consider the galling of the chains and fetters that weighed upon the blessed neck of the Most Great Name---may my soul be offered up for His loved ones---and how He was taken, in that condition, bare-headed and bare-footed, all the way from Niyavaran to Tihran.

What greater honor could there be than this, that God should desire martyrdom for me and single me out for that which He hath reserved for the people of divine authority, especially at the hands of one such as thee -- an obstinate tyrant and a rebellious devil? God hath not placed thee in thy seat save to torment thee thereby and take vengeance upon thee through it.

Having suffered Me to be cast into the prison, Thou didst turn it into a garden of Paradise for Me and caused it to become a chamber of the court of everlasting fellowship.

How numerous the verses Thou didst send down unto Me, and the prayers Thou didst hear Me offer unto Thee. How diverse the revelations which Thou didst call into being through Me and the experiences Thou didst witness in Me.

Say, most people have openly repudiated God and have followed the rebellious wicked doers. Such people resemble those who have gone before them, upholding every hostile oppressor.

Not until He immolates His own heart at Thy feet, not until His whole body falls a victim to the cruelest tyranny in Thy path, not until His breast is made a target for countless darts for Thy sake, will the tumult of His soul be stilled.

The Bab taught for six years and was two years in exile and prison. When finally He hung on that fatal wall in the public square, His breast the target for a thousand bullets, His thoughts were of those who were to carry on the teachings of God's Kingdom on earth--the faithful followers of the Light.

Be not saddened by your own abasement in that land, nor pay heed to their mockery and derision. For Islam has returned to the state of strangeness it knew in its beginning. By Him Who created Me, even Salman - peace be upon him - despite his exalted station, was more abased among the people of Medina than you are, when one day someone seized his beard - may my soul be a sacrifice for him - and said what he said.

Now as before, though in the mountain, it is pleasant since it is according to the Beloved's good-pleasure [...] What can I say about the actions of the Sovereign, the Almighty, and the Wise, Compelling King? Each time I came to this place of glory, why were these people bewildered and tested, and how was the truth of the enduring Word (may my spirit and all who are known to God be sacrificed for Him) made manifest, as He said what is mentioned in Al-Nu'mani's Book of Occultation: "Azerbaijan is inevitable for us, nothing can withstand it" etc.

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A brutal man, accompanying Us on horseback, snatched off Our hat, whilst We were being hurried along by a troop of executioners and officials. We were consigned for four months to a place foul beyond comparison. As to the dungeon in which this Wronged One and others similarly wronged were confined, a dark and narrow pit were preferable. … The dungeon was wrapped in thick darkness, and Our fellow prisoners numbered nearly a hundred and fifty souls: thieves, assassins and highwaymen. Though crowded, it had no other outlet than the passage by which We entered. No pen can depict that place, nor any tongue describe its loathsome smell.

We were all huddled together in one cell, our feet in stocks, and around our necks fastened the most galling of chains. The air we breathed was laden with the foulest impurities, while the floor on which we sat was covered with filth and infested with vermin. No ray of light was allowed to penetrate that pestilential dungeon or to warm its icy-coldness.

When this Wronged One was beneath chains and fetters in the Land of Ta, two days passed during which nothing touched His lips and He possessed not a single coin.

Although that radiant Luminary was merciful, loving, and forgiving to all, the ignorant kindled such fires that they burned away all sense of decency and shame. As a result, that focal Centre of beauty was subjected to chains and fetters; He endured the bastinado and was afflicted, day and night, with all manner of torture. He was made homeless and a wanderer in mountains and plains; He was banished, exiled, and imprisoned. He spent twenty-five long years in confinement and was insulted and tormented.

In this terrible condition He was kept for four months.

During this time none of His friends were able to get access to Him.

A prison official made an attempt to poison Him but, beyond causing Him great suffering, this poison had no effect.

After a time the Government liberated Him and exiled Him and His family to Baghdad, where He remained for eleven years. During this time He underwent severe persecutions, being surrounded by the watchful hatred of His enemies.

And what a terrible chain! Because of its galling weight He could scarcely move. For me it was a sad and heart-rending moment. The tribulations of the Blessed Beauty are beyond description and the tongue cannot recount them.

In Tihran We were twice imprisoned as a result of Our having risen to defend the cause of the innocent against a ruthless oppressor. … Our second imprisonment, infinitely more severe, was precipitated by the attempt which irresponsible followers of the Faith made on the life of the Shah. That event led to Our banishment to Baghdad.

During His imprisonment in Tehran He had only one bread a day - there can be no poverty greater than this. Similarly, He passed many times in extreme hardship, while He was able to arrange means of comfort and expansion of livelihood.

In every dispensation a number of sanctified souls have become manifest who were self-sacrificing, severed from ought else save God, forebearing sufferings and tribulations, accepting hardships and persecutions, welcoming tortures and death for the sake of Truth; but in none of the past dispensations there have been such heroic and sublime instances of devotion and martyrdom as in this Baha'i Cause!

At the time when all the inhabitants of Teheran had arisen against this Cause and the Blessed Perfection was arrested and thrown into a prison I was a very young child. The jail wherein Baha'u'llah was imprisoned was a dark and gloomy cell, underground, and had no aperture, and no window save a small door. When the door was unlocked one had to descend many rickety steps before reaching the gloomy, stuffy and humid ground floor.

The name of the gaoler was Aga Bozorg and he was an inhabitant from the city of Gazwin. As in the past he had received many favors, bounties, gifts and kindnesses from the blessed hands of Baha'u'llah he came one day to our house and took me with him to see my Father. Descending half the stairs of the cell I tried to peer through the darkness whether I can see anyone. I could see no one. Everything was pitch darkness. Suddenly I heard the wonderful, resonant voice of the Blessed Perfection: 'Take out this child. Do not let him come in.' Obeying the words of Baha'u'llah the goaler took me out and said: 'sit down here and be patient. About noon the prisoners are taken out and then you can see your father.' I did. A little after 12 o'clock they brought them out, amongst whom I saw the Blessed Perfection. A thick, heavy chain called 'Garé Kahar,' the heaviest and the thickest chain of the time, was placed around his Holy Feet, the end of which was dragged along the ground. His neck was also chained with heavy fetters and his hands manacled. Mirza Mahmoud - a most wonderful Baha'i - was the fellow - prisoner of Baha'u'llah. They were chained together. A common, ordinary felt hat, the top of which had been worn out and the fringe of which torn and soiled, was on his blessed head. I cannot describe to you the pain and anguish that attacked and tortured me by this sight of the Manifestation!...

In short, the fiendish cruelties of the authorities of Persia reached to such a height as to divide a large number of the believers amongst the various classes of the inhabitants of Teheran, so that they might martyr them according to their own devilish desires. For example, a believer was given to the government clerks, another to the policemen, another to the infantry, another to the Ulemas, another to the Dervishes, another to the butchers - one to the members of each craft and profession - so that all of them may lend a hand in shedding the blood of these innocent Babis. For instance, a believer was given to the cavalry. These ferocious beasts took him to Sabze Meydan and about one thousand of them riding on their horses, with drawn words attacked him from all sides. The body was actually cut into thousand small pieces and yet they did not gave it up. The sight of blood had maddened them and turning them into wild, dancing savages, thirsting for more blood. Finally the executioner cried out of them 'O ye mad men! Stop! It is enough! Nothing is left of the body. I must take these small shreds and pieces and bury them! Do not add more to the horror of my task.' At this juncture a restaurant keeper arrived on the scene and asked the executioner to let him have the remains of the 'accursed Babi,' because he would burn them in his stove and by this act gain his entrance into Paradise...

Those were days of miraculous deeds, matchless heroism, unsurpassable firmness, and divine courage. Each one of the believers while walking upon earth, were at the same time, soaring toward the Supreme Concourse. They were the angels of the Kingdom of Abha and the spiritual heroes of the arena of unparalleled sacrifice.

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Shall I complain, O my God, of my imprisonment for known months, or of the chains whose weight has broken my neck, or the iron upon my feet? Of what the hands of the wicked have wrought, or how our families were made captive in the hands of enemies, or how they seized our possessions and destroyed our homes? Or shall I recall, O my God, when they took me and led me from village to city, my head bare and my feet unshod, my neck in chains and my hands bound?

With bare head and feet, under a scorching sun, the Blessed Beauty was forced to walk from Niyavaran to Tihran. He was held captive in the Siyah-Chal, where His neck was made to bear the weight of the Qara-Guhar chain, and where He lived among thieves, murderers and criminals. The blood of many innocents was spilled. The Blessed Beauty was banished a number of times and eventually exiled to the Most Great Prison where every minute of His life was in peril.

"The chain around My neck was most painful, but worse and more severe than that was when they would bind both thumbs together behind the back. The hardship of this was far more intense than the chain. The royal guards were watching over Us, but the executioners showed kindness, and one of them brought Me a cup of tea and a cluster of grapes. Since I was in chains and My hands were bound behind Me, I was unable to partake of them.

Wherever We went, at first it was like the early days of the prison of 'Akka, with the same hardships.

Then the divines ruled that the Blessed Beauty must be beaten with rods. This indeed took place, but with great disrespect. Afterwards, they brought the Blessed Beauty to sit in the viewing chamber and passed judgment for the execution of His blessed person and eleven others.

A heavy chain was placed about His [Baha'u'llah's] neck by which He was chained to five other Babis; these fetters were locked together by strong, very heavy, bolts and screws. His clothes were torn to pieces, also His headdress. In this terrible condition He was kept for four months.

In the prison of Ta, as all have heard and know, We were in fetters and chains for four months, and Our companions were mostly thieves and highwaymen. … This Wronged One was brought bareheaded and barefoot in chains from Niyavaran to the prison of Tihran. That which is beyond human endurance was inflicted. Yet despite these afflictions which ye have seen, heard and know of, the tongue remained engaged in praise, the heart illumined with the greatest joy, and in prison this blessed verse was uttered: "He is sufficient unto me and sufficient unto all things.

How many nights did I find solace in the chains of iron, and I would kiss them for love of God, the King, the Protector, the Mighty, the Bountiful. And how many days did I address my neck beneath the fetters, saying: "Blessed art thou for having borne, in the path of the Beloved, the chains of the oppressors."

Know thou, O servant, that one day, upon awakening, We found the beloved of God at the mercy of Our adversaries. Sentinels were posted at every gate and no one was permitted to enter or leave. Indeed, they perpetrated a sore injustice, for the loved ones of God and His kindred were left on the first night without food. Such was the fate of those for whose sake the world and all that is therein have been created.

"By the Lord! The Youth hath remained lone and forlorn in the land of exile in the hands of the ungodly."

The Beauty of the All-Merciful tarried in the Garden of Ridvan for twelve days, during which the hosts of the Concourse on high, the well-favoured angels of God, and the souls of His Messengers circled day and night round the Tabernacle of grandeur and the Pavilion of inviolable sanctity, guarding and protecting the people of God from the hosts of the Evil One.

Then on Monday the twelfth of Dhi'l-Qa'dah, at eleven o'clock, an uproar arose. It was observed that the Pasha of the town with all his soldiers, bearing drawn swords, had surrounded the house. They likewise arrested all the companions.

Military officers surrounded the house. Someone came from the gate to the presence of the Most Great Branch - glorious be His praise - and submitted that by order they must proceed to Gallipoli.

What more can I say of what transpired? Everything in the sacred household was auctioned off and plundered.

When We departed from the City of Mystery, one cut his throat as a sacrifice, and at the time of entry into this land, another cast himself into the sea in his grief at separation. From their acts the most great consternation appeared in both places.

Later He added, "There was a time in Tihran when we had every means of comfort and luxury, and then in a single day they pillaged our house and robbed us of everything. Living became so hard for us that there came a day when my mother took a little flour and shook it into my hand instead of bread, and I ate it like that."

We commanded the servants of God in Iraq and other lands not to oppose anyone, and even if they were killed, not to kill. Therefore the people grew bold and made My family and loved ones captives unto Mosul the calamitous. There befell them what had befallen the family of the Apostle, nay worse, would ye but know.

Consider how He was driven from His native land with what tribulation and persecution - from Tehran to Iraq, from Iraq to the renowned city, thence to the land of Bulgaria, and thence to this Prison of tribulation. Four times was He rendered homeless.

When after two years the Blessed Beauty returned from Sulaymaniyyih, He was wearing a dilapidated coat, a vest with no sleeves and a cotton headgear.

And if thou desirest to know what hath befallen Us after Our departure from the City of God, the Mighty, the Generous, know that We journeyed for four known months until We arrived at this prison, which is cut off from the feet of seekers, for it lieth beyond upraised mountains and unnumbered cities and a surging sea and a deep ravine. And We remained therein in sorrow and bewilderment until God should please, for He is the best of judges and the wisest of rulers.

O servant of Baha! The Ancient Beauty, may my life be sacrificed for His loved ones, was repeatedly exiled from one land to another and banished from one country to the next.

The weather was so cold that the water was frozen in copper jars and vases and as a result, they were broken in pieces. My fingers were congealed to the bar of iron and when I tried to push them back the skin was torn off.

Although we had several rooms in the house, we decided that twelve of us stay in one room to get warmer. We did not have any heavy clothings and the one who had a light overcoat was considered most fortunate.

It was in all probability the second month of the summer when one early morning the steamer anchored off the shore of Haifa. Altogether we were seventy-seven persons. After sunrise we landed at Haifa, and hardly three or four hours had passed before a large sailing boat was brought into commission by the authorities, in which they were going to carry us back to Acca. The baggage was taken on board, and immediately afterward all of us were taken off.

Upon our arrival, we were surrounded by guards and confined together, men and women, young and old alike, in the army barracks. The first night all were deprived of either food or drink, for the sentries were guarding the gate of the barracks and permitted no one to leave. No one gave a thought to the plight of these wronged ones. They even begged for water, and were refused.

… Most of Our companions now lie sick in this prison, and none knoweth what befell Us, except God, the Almighty, the All-Knowing.

Consider these days in which He Who is the Ancient Beauty hath come in the Most Great Name, that He may quicken the world and unite its peoples. They, however, rose up against Him with sharpened swords, and committed that which caused the Faithful Spirit to lament, until in the end they imprisoned Him in the most desolate of cities, and broke the grasp of the faithful upon the hem of His robe.

Say, We have commemorated the Feast in the Most Great Prison, notwithstanding that the kings have risen up against Us; yet neither the ascendancy of the concourse of the oppressors can frustrate Our purpose, nor can the multitude of the hosts of the earth perturb Our mind.

In brief, two kings arose against Baha'u'llah: the Shah of Persia and the Sultan of Turkey. They imprisoned Him in the fortress of Akka in order to extinguish His light and exterminate His Cause. But Baha'u'llah while in prison wrote severe letters of arraignment to them. He declared that imprisonment was no obstacle to Him.

It is the most desolate of the cities of the world. When We entered the prison, its doors were guarded by souls who had never inhaled the fragrance of faith from the Egypt of certitude, nor had the breezes of the All-Glorious ever wafted upon their hearts. Three successive months passed and We did not enter a bath.

Thou seest Me in the hands of Mine enemies, and My son bloodstained before Thy face, O Thou in Whose hands is the kingdom of all names.

This is one of the days of the Ridvan Festival whereon a dwelling-place in the Prison hath been embellished through the presence of the Exponent of Thy Beauty, Who deigned to accept an invitation at the earnest request of one that hath been carried away by longing and desire.

… O Lord! Glory be to Thee for Thou hast singled out Thy loved ones, distinguished them from among Thy people and hast turned Thy gaze towards them from this place, wherein the Tabernacle of Thy Cause is incarcerated.

O handmaiden of God! The Ancient Beauty is confined in the Most Great Prison, and twenty women, out of their love for God, have entered this prison with the Manifestation of the All-Merciful Spirit, as have a number of men.

This room was so damp that grass had grown on the walls and the ceiling and when it rained there were several cracks in the ceiling which gave free and welcome entrance to the rain. The floor consisted of humid earth, a breeder of flees.

The house is not small - hearts must have capacity. In Akka, in the early days of our arrival, thirteen of us lived in one room. I ask God to expand hearts and grant the friends capacity.

For instance, when we arrived in 'Akka, the situation was very difficult. We were imprisoned, and two of our friends passed away. Funds for their burial were not available. There was a small carpet which we sold for a few qurush and gave to the Imam-Jum'ih, who placed these two in a ditch and poured a little dirt over them. We had to feed one hundred and fifty people.

After arrival in this land, which is the prison, an order was issued from the source of oppression that none should meet with anyone, such that even the barber could not attend to the prisoners to shave their heads without guards present. Thus did the Desired One of all worlds not visit the bath for several months. But now it has come to pass that the friends may go to any city they wish, except for the Ancient Beauty Who remains confined to His house and associates with no one.

When we first arrived in 'Akka, we were in the direst of straits and stricken with some toil or calamity -- and yet, so great was our joy and delight that it cannot be put into words. At one point, seventy of our companions were imprisoned in the fortress, and they had all fallen sick with a fever so debilitating that it robbed them even of the ability to move. This illness had afflicted everyone but me and aqa Rida; consequently, we tended to the believers, preparing medicine and soup for them. … And yet, despite all these tribulations, so joyous were we beneath the sheltering shade of Baha'u'llah that we accounted every toil and trouble as comfort and ease.

Seventy souls are imprisoned with the Ancient Beauty - imprisoned according to their belief. By My life, I am the Prisoner! By My Beauty, I am the Prisoner! By My Life, I am the Prisoner!

They have imprisoned Us in a city whose air is foul, wherein naught can be perceived save fever and wherein no sound is heard from its outskirts save the bleating of sheep. Though outwardly We are in straits, affliction and abasement, inwardly We find Ourselves in expansion, ease, amplitude and a glory that no glory of the worlds can equal.

There was no one to give them water. This was the condition of Acca's climate. Our guards were ten in number. I saw nine of them in bed. The wells of Acca were as bitter as poison.

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.

For nine years he [Baha'u'llah] did not see a green leaf. He loved nature.

Aside from the severe illness that was raging, and the death of many among us prisoners - adults and children - on account of unsanitary surroundings and starvation, I noticed that my own presence in that crowded room was another source of torture to all of them. This was due to the fact that parents and children were suppressing and restraining themselves by trying to be quiet and polite in my presence.

So, in order to give them freedom, I accepted the morgue of the barracks, because that was the only room available, and I lived in it for about two years.

After this was presented, it was stated that although the Point of the Bayan -- may the spirit of all else be sacrificed for Him -- had commanded that 2001 exquisite and sublime lamps and adorned and lofty lights be lit before Him, yet now the Wronged One dwells in military barracks, in a house whose curtains are spiderwebs and whose dilapidation is evident from all sides.

Although this ruined house is, in the sight of God, more excellent, more beloved and more glorious than a palace of rubies, yet outwardly such accoutrements befit not this desolate place.

Sultan Abdu'l-'Aziz banished Us to this country in the greatest abasement, and since his object was to destroy Us and humble Us, whenever the means of glory and ease presented themselves, We did not reject them.

Blessed is He Who hath sent down upon His Servant such tribulations as have melted the hearts of them that dwell within the Tabernacle of eternity and the souls of those who have drawn nigh unto their Lord. Blessed is He Who hath showered upon His Servant, from the clouds of His decree, the darts of affliction, and Who beholdeth Me enduring them with patience and fortitude. Blessed is He Who hath ordained for His Servant that which He hath destined for no other soul.

Twenty years have passed, O kings, during which We have, each day, tasted the agony of a fresh tribulation. No one of them that were before Us hath endured the things We have endured. Would that ye could perceive it! They that rose up against Us have put us to death, have shed our blood, have plundered our property, and violated our honour.

O Khalíl! God beareth Me witness. Though My Pen be still moving on My Tablet, yet, in its very heart, it weepeth and is sore distressed. The lamp burning before the Throne, likewise, weepeth and groaneth by reason of the things which the Ancient Beauty hath suffered at the hands of them who are but a creation of His Will. God, Himself, knoweth and testifieth to the truth of My words.

O Maryam! The wrongs which I suffer have blotted out the wrongs suffered by My First Name from the Tablet of creation. The clouds of divine decree have at every moment rained down upon this manifest Beauty the showers of tribulation.

This is the Surih of Remembrance, sent down as a token of grace, that perchance the people of the Bayan might renounce that which they possess, turn towards the right hand of justice, shake off the slumber of wayward desires, and seek, through the power of truth, a path to their Lord, the Most Exalted, the All-Glorious.

In the name of God, the Most Holy, the Most Exalted, the Most High!

This is a Missive from the Primal Point unto them that have believed in God, the One, the Peerless, the Almighty, the All-Knowing, wherein He addresseth those among the people of the Bayan who have vacillated in this Cause, that haply they may apprehend the wondrous words of God and forsake the couch of heedlessness in this shining and resplendent morn.

Say: We, verily, bid you in Our Book not to advance yourselves before those from whose ranks would appear He Who is the Beloved of every understanding heart and the Object of the adoration of the denizens of earth and heaven. Moreover, We commanded you, should ye attain the presence of God, to stand before Him and to utter on My behalf these mighty and exalted words: "Upon Thee, O Glory of God, and upon Thy kinfolk, be the remembrance of God and the praise of all things at every moment before and after Hin." We honoured the people of the Bayan with these words, that they might ascend thereby unto the heights of holiness and be numbered with the blest. Yet they have so utterly forsaken Our injunction that not a single one among them hath appeared in His presence as We had commanded in Our Tablets. Nay rather, from every side they have hurled at Him the darts of malice. And at this, I, and the denizens of the Kingdom of grandeur, and beyond them the Faithful Spirit, have wept sore.

Say: O people! Be abashed before My Beauty. He that hath appeared with the power of truth is indeed the Glory of the worlds, could ye but perceive it. He, verily, is the Glory of God; upon Him be the remembrance of God and His praise, and the praise of the Concourse on high, and of the dwellers of the everlasting realm, and of all things at all times. Beware lest ye become veiled by aught that hath been created in heaven or on earth. Hasten unto the paradise of His good-pleasure and be not of them that slumber.

Say: His beauty is in truth My beauty, and His Self is Mine own Self, and all that We revealed in the Bayan is for the sake of His wondrous and resistless Cause. Fear ye God, and dispute not with the One Whose advent We heralded and Whose Revelation We announced unto you. I established a covenant with you concerning His mission ere I covenanted with you regarding Mine own, and unto this all things bear witness, even if ye were to deny it. By the righteousness of God! Through but a single one of His melodies the realities of all things were reborn, and through another the hearts of His favoured ones were filled with rapture. Take heed lest anything debar you from Him Whose presence is the same as Mine own. He sacrificed Himself in My path even as I sacrificed Myself in His path for the love of His glorious and incomparable beauty.

Say: But for Him the word "love" would never have been written, nor would the letters of the name of the Beloved have been joined together, nor would creation itself have been brought into being, would that ye might understand! But for Him I would never have surrendered Myself into the hands of the ungodly nor consented to be suspended in the air. By God! I have borne, in My love and yearning for Him, that which no other Prophet or Messenger hath borne, and I have acquiesced to bear all this Myself, that He might never be made to endure aught that would sadden His most kind and tender, His most pure and sanctified heart. We admonished you throughout the Bayan not to be the cause of grief to any soul, that haply no sorrow should ever befall Him. Otherwise, why would I have exhorted you and occupied Myself with your care, O assemblage of wavering ones? I intended in the Bayan none other than Him, I extolled no praise but His praise, and I uttered no name save His most blessed and most exalted, His most holy and most wondrous name.

I swear by My life! If I have made mention of "lordship", I have intended only His lordship over all things. If the word "divinity" hath ever flowed from My pen, I have intended naught but His divinity in relation to the world; and if an allusion to the "Desired One" hath proceeded therefrom, I have had none other in mind than Him. So too, in regard to the word "Beloved", He, indeed, is My Beloved and the Beloved of every understanding heart. If I have spoken of "prostration", I have meant only prostration before His exalted, His glorious and sublime Countenance. If I have praised any soul, Mine aim hath only been to celebrate His praise. And if I have bidden the people to act, My sole purpose hath been that they should act in accordance with His good-pleasure on the day of His Manifestation. Unto this beareth witness whatsoever was sent down unto Me from the kingdom of My Lord, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.

I have made all things conditional upon His approval and pleasure. He it is, in truth, Who is the Lord of the worlds and the Object of the desire of every searching soul. Were ye to open your eyes, ye would verily behold the Manifestations of "He doeth whatsoever He willeth" worshipping under His shadow. Yet ye have done to Him what even the people of the Qur'an dared not do to Myself, nor the Jews to Christ. Alas, alas! My heart is consumed with anguish and My soul groaneth at what hath befallen My Beloved at the hands of the infidels. Woe unto you for your faithlessness, O concourse of oppressors! We, verily, created faithfulness and courtesy for His sake, that perchance ye would not commit, in the time of His appearance, aught that would cause Mine inner reality and the realities of all things to lament. But ye have transgressed that which was laid down in the Book of God, the King, the Most Exalted, the Most Great. Ye have rent asunder the veil of restraint and cast aside the vesture of propriety, and ye have committed that which the Pen of creation is abashed to recount before the dwellers of earth and heaven.

Alas, alas, for that which ye have inflicted upon this wronged, this banished and forsaken Soul! Nor do I know what ye will inflict upon Him hereafter. Nay, by Myself, the All-Knowing! I do verily know, for with Me is the knowledge of all things in a Tablet that God hath shielded from the gaze of those who have joined partners with Him. We apprised Him aforetime of the things that have befallen or will befall Him, even though He Himself is well informed of all that the hearts of men conceal. For nothing can escape His knowledge, and whatever hath been created by a mere word from His mouth can never slip from His grasp. No God is there but Him, the Peerless, the Creator, the Quickener, the Destroyer.

Not for a moment did they enjoy rest and comfort, nor did they repose for a fleeting breath upon the couch of tranquillity. Rather did they endure agonizing torment and patiently carry the burden of hardship that every oppressor was wont to impose upon them. Having been consigned to dungeons and prisons, they severed themselves from the world and all its peoples.

Again I say: Hearken unto My voice that calleth from My prison, that it may acquaint thee with the things that have befallen My Beauty, at the hands of them that are the manifestations of My glory, and that thou mayest perceive how great hath been My patience, notwithstanding My might, and how immense My forbearance, notwithstanding My power.

O friend! This Bird lieth imprisoned beneath the talons of cruelty and malice; It seeth for itself neither nest wherein to shelter nor heavenly expanse in which to fly.

By the righteousness of God! Every morning I arose from My bed, I discovered the hosts of countless afflictions massed behind My door; and every night when I lay down, lo! My heart was torn with agony at what it had suffered from the fiendish cruelty of its foes. With every piece of bread the Ancient Beauty breaketh is coupled the assault of a fresh affliction, and with every drop He drinketh is mixed the bitterness of the most woeful of trials. He is preceded in every step He taketh by an army of unforeseen calamities, while in His rear follow legions of agonizing sorrows.

Know thou that if We reveal to thee but a sprinkling of the showers which, through God’s decree, and at the hands of the envious and the malicious, have rained upon Us, thou wouldst weep with a great weeping, and wouldst bewail day and night Our plight.

Every unbiased observer will readily admit that, ever since the dawn of His Revelation, this wronged One hath invited all mankind to turn their faces towards the Dayspring of Glory, and hath forbidden corruption, hatred, oppression, and wickedness. And yet, behold what the hand of the oppressor hath wrought! No pen dare describe his tyranny.

O Baha'u'llah! What hast Thou done? O Baha'u'llah! May my life be sacrificed for Thee! O Baha'u'llah! May my soul be offered up for Thy sake! How full were Thy days with trials and tribulations! How severe the ordeals Thou didst endure! How solid the foundation Thou hast finally laid, and how glorious the banner Thou didst hoist!

I sorrow not for the burden of My imprisonment. Neither do I grieve over My abasement, or the tribulation I suffer at the hands of Mine enemies.

Not a single night in Mine earthly life did I find rest; not a single day was I granted repose. … Every morn, as I arose from My bed, a fresh affliction awaited Me; and every eve, as I repaired to the solitude of My chamber, a sore trial was in store. In the succession of My woes there was no reprieve, and in the onslaught of My sorrows there was no respite.

He hath, during the greater part of His life, been sore-tried in the clutches of His enemies. His sufferings have now reached their culmination in this afflictive Prison, into which His oppressors have so unjustly thrown Him.

Build ye for yourselves such houses as the rain and floods can never destroy, which shall protect you from the changes and chances of this life. This is the instruction of him Whom the world hath wronged and forsaken.

And in those days, due to the weakness which had overtaken me, no voice would arise from the Ancient Tongue, as ye know. And when it would arise, all my limbs would shake such that the verses of God, the All-Possessing, the Self-Subsisting, would overwhelm me.

… And in those days if I speak for an hour, weakness preventeth Me in another hour.

Whoso will reflect upon the tribulations We have suffered, his soul will assuredly melt away with sorrow. Thy Lord Himself beareth witness to the truth of My words.

I swear by Him Who is the Mover of all beings! Heaven, earth and mountains would be incapable of bearing a single atom of the tribulations that have come to pass. Nay, better were it that the afflictions of this Youth remain concealed.

I swear by the Day-Star of the heaven of Divine Unity! Were the sun of this physical heaven to be acquainted with the sorrows that have afflicted the Beauty of the All-Merciful, it would rise no more above its dawning-place, and would divest itself of the robe of its refulgency and light. Howbeit, We have concealed Our woes from all created things, lest they that are the embodiments of names in the kingdom of creation should be consumed away.

Were a thousand seas to be made ink for My tribulations, by God! they would be exhausted while the mention of My tribulations, visible from the horizon of destiny, would not be ended.

Shouldst thou desire to know My situation, twenty years have passed since I have seen the light of day. I swear by the Sun of the Celestial Beauty that during this time I have not partaken even a glass of water in comfort and have been denied even a moment's rest owing to the venom of the ungodly. Like unto one constantly tormented in the mouth of a dragon, I have ever been confined in the prison of envy and afflicted by the claws of enmity.

My grief is not from My imprisonment, nor from what hath befallen Me at the hands of the followers of religions, but rather from My loved ones who follow their desires while imagining they are guided aright.

This Wronged One, in the midst of sorrows, hath summoned and continueth to summon all created things unto the Truth.

My grief - the least portion thereof Jacob did not recount,

And all the afflictions of Job are but part of My tribulation.

What lamentations would the Blessed Beauty - may my spirit be a sacrifice for His exalted threshold - utter in the middle of the night, and what sighs and moans would arise from His blessed heart! He would say to the companions that such and such a burden is heavy.

When my call was raised, the first servant who sought to shed my blood was my brother, whom I had nurtured over successive years and protected beneath the wing of my favor through the nights and days. Then Thy servants and creatures from all directions sought to harm me, and beyond them the people of the Bayan who denied the right of God and His favor, and the Manifestation of God and His sovereignty.

By God, the Sidratu'l-Muntaha hath verily been bowed, the Countenance of the One Who hath shone brightly amongst the people of the world hath clouded, and His black hair hath turned white by virtue of that which the host of unbelievers hath inflicted upon Him.

By God! No morning dawns except that calamity overtakes Me, and no evening falls save that another tribulation touches Me. It is as though trials were created for My wronged Self alone, and whenever I move, affliction moves with Me, and when I rest and sleep, it never rests.

O Muhammad! By God, the story of Husayn hath been repeated in this prison, yet the people understand not. Thus hath He fallen into the hands of enemies, and at every moment there befalleth Him what never befell this Name before.

O 'Ali! If thou askest of Our condition: having not yet been delivered from the prison of Our enemies, We have entered into the prison of Our friends, and having not yet escaped from the bonds of Our foes, We have become caught in the bonds of Our loved ones. Such is Our condition.

O thou who art present before the Throne and gazing upon the Countenance! While in the prison of Akka, We were conversing with all things when We heard the cry and lamentation of nature. We asked: "What aileth thee? In the daytime We hear thy cry, in the nighttime thy lamentation, and at dawn thy moaning." Whereupon it cried out saying: "O Lord of the worlds! the ungodly have sunk Thy crimson Ark and slaughtered Thy white She-Camel, and desired to extinguish Thy light through the fire of hatred that blazed in their hearts.

Why then is it that despite the expectation of men in their quest of the Manifestations of Holiness, and in spite of the signs recorded in the sacred books, such acts of violence, of oppression and cruelty, should have been perpetrated in every age and cycle against all the Prophets and chosen Ones of God? Even as He hath revealed: "As oft as an Apostle cometh unto you with that which your souls desire not, ye swell with pride, accusing some of being impostors and slaying others."

… What unspeakable cruelties they that have occupied the seats of authority and learning have inflicted upon the true Monarchs of the world, those Gems of divine virtue!

What proof did the Jewish doctors adduce wherewith to condemn Him Who was the Spirit of God, when He came unto them with truth? What could have been the evidence produced by the Pharisees and the idolatrous priests to justify their denial of Muhammad, the Apostle of God when He came unto them with a Book that judged between truth and falsehood with a justice which turned into light the darkness of the earth, and enraptured the hearts of such as had known Him?

… By God! Our hearts were consumed, and Our bodies were crucified, and Our blood was spilt, while Our eyes were fixed on the horizon of the loving-kindness of their Lord, the Witness, the All-Seeing.

Rely upon God, thy God and the Lord of thy fathers. For the people are wandering in the paths of delusion, bereft of discernment to see God with their own eyes, or hear His Melody with their own ears. Thus have We found them, as thou also dost witness.

O thou who dost magnify My praise! Give ear unto that which the people of tyranny ascribe unto Me in My days. Some of them say: "He hath laid claim to divinity"; others say: "He hath devised a lie against God"; still others say: "He is come to foment sedition." Base and wretched are they. Lo! They are, in truth, enslaved to idle imaginings.

As to the infidels that have witnessed what hath been manifested, they murmur and say: "Verily, this is a sorcerer who hath devised a lie against God." They are indeed an outcast people.

O Yusuf! Reflect upon the days when one named Joseph was imprisoned, and likewise when he was cast into the well. Consider also Abraham, the Friend of God, and the dedication of the Sacrifice at the place of offering. Behold what befell the Spirit of God, and observe attentively. Likewise consider the Seal of the Prophets, may the spirit of all else but Him be sacrificed for His sake, and the Herald, the Point of the Bayan, may the spirit of all in the Kingdom be sacrificed for His sake, and what befell Him is not remote.

Consider how all the Prophets of God were persecuted and what hardships They experienced. Jesus Christ endured affliction and accepted martyrdom upon the cross in order to summon mankind to unity and love.

Moses was persecuted and driven out into the desert, Abraham was banished, Muhammad took refuge in caves, the Bab was killed and Baha'u'llah was exiled and imprisoned forty years.

Behold, how, as soon as I revealed Myself, ye have rejected My truth and turned away from Me, and been of them that have regarded the signs of God as a play and pastime!

… And yet, no sooner did He manifest Himself, in His subsequent Revelation, clothed in the glory of Baha and arrayed in the robe of His grandeur, than ye rebelled against Him Who is the supreme Protector, the Self-Subsisting.

They who disdain to worship their Lord shall be of those who are cast off. And oft as Our verses are rehearsed unto them, they persist in proud disdain, and in their gross violation of His law, and know it not. As for them who have disbelieved in Him, they shall be in the shadow of a black smoke.

O My leaf! All the Books of the past and the Messengers of God have given the people the glad-tidings of this hallowed, this most exalted Day, nevertheless, the ungodly, the ignorant and the evil ones have arisen with utmost cruelty to uproot the Holy Tree.

Some among the princes and common folk have objected that this Wronged One was not among the divines and descendants of the Prophet.

And yet, O my Lord, the company of deniers are veiled from this manifest Light, and they that are estranged from Thee have turned away from Thy radiant countenance. They, indeed, are those that have failed to believe in Thy most exalted Beauty, the Manifestation of Thine own Self, the Embodiment of Thine incalculable and imperishable grace.

Consider how in the first age of Christianity the disciples were afflicted with trials and tribulations in the path of Christ. Each day they became the target of the arrows of derision, revilement and cursing from the Pharisees, and endured hardships. They experienced imprisonment and most drank the cup of supreme martyrdom.

Well is it with thee, O My Afnan, inasmuch as thou wert honored to receive My Holy Verses, hast inhaled the sweet savors of My Revelation and responded to My Call at a time when My servants and My creatures, casting the Mother Book behind their backs and, clinging to the dictates of the exponents of idle fancy and vain imaginings, have denounced Me.

O My handmaiden! How many the men who, throughout the centuries and ages, expectantly awaited the promised Manifestation; yet, when His radiance dawned above the horizon of the world, all turned away from Him but for a few.

These people believed not in one God but in many gods, to whom they ascribed miracles, and hence they all rose up against Abraham. No one supported Him except His nephew Lot and one or two other individuals of no consequence. At last the intensity of His enemies' opposition obliged Him, utterly wronged, to forsake His native land.

That is why, in all times, the Prophets of God have had tribulations and difficulties to withstand.

No sooner had a word gone forth from His lips, however, than the divines among Thy people turned back from Him, and the learned among Thy servants caviled at His signs. Thereby the fire of oppression was kindled in Thy land, until the kings themselves rose up to put out Thy light, O Thou Who art the King of kings!

Lauded be Thy name, O Lord my God! Thou dost witness that Thy will hath prevailed over all created things, and Thy mercy hath surpassed all who are in heaven and on earth. And when Thou didst purpose to unveil Thy sovereignty, and to glorify Thy word, and to reveal Thy bounteousness and mercy, Thou didst raise up one of Thy servants, and didst choose Him above all Thy creatures, and didst single Him out for Thy purpose, and didst clothe Him with the robe of Thy guidance, and didst immerse Him beneath the seas of Thy majesty and grandeur, and didst sanctify Him from all that beseemeth not the greatness of Thy glory and the power of Thy might, and didst bid Him to cry out before all that are in heaven and on earth, and summon the multitudes to the Manifestation of Thy Self and the Revealer of Thy signs.

No sooner had He proclaimed Thy Cause, and risen up to carry out the things prescribed unto Him in the Tablets of Thy decree, than the Great Terror fell upon Thy creatures. Some turned towards Thee, and detached themselves from all except Thee, and sanctified their souls from the world and all that is therein, and were so enravished by the sweetness of Thy voice that they forsook all Thou hadst created in the kingdom of Thy creation. Others recognized Thee and then hesitated, others allowed the world to come in between them and Thee and to withhold them from recognizing Thee. Others disdained Thee, and turned back from Thee, and wished to prevent Thee from achieving Thy purpose. And yet behold how all of them are calling upon Thee, and are expecting the things they were promised in Thy Tablets. And when the Promised One came unto them, they recognized Him not, and disbelieved in Thy signs, and repudiated Thy clear tokens, and strayed so grievously from Thy path that they slew Thy servants, through the brightness of whose faces the countenances of the Concourse on high have been illumined.

I beseech Thee, O Thou Who art the Lord of all names, to guard Thy loved ones against Thine enemies, and to strengthen them in their love for Thee and in fulfilling Thy pleasure. Do Thou protect them, that their footsteps may slip not, that their hearts may not be shut out as by a veil from Thee, and that their eyes may be restrained from beholding anything that is not of Thee. Cause them to be so enraptured by the sweetness of Thy divine melodies that they will rid themselves of all attachment to any one except Thee, and will turn wholly towards Thee, and extol Thee under all conditions, saying: "Praised be Thou, O Lord our God, inasmuch as Thou hast enabled us to recognize Thy most exalted and all-glorious Self. We will, by Thy mercy, cleave to Thee, and will detach ourselves from any one but Thee. We have realized that Thou art the Beloved of the worlds and the Creator of earth and heaven!"

Glorified be God, the Lord of all creation!

"Where she hath a place prepared of God," that is, the Arabian Peninsula became the home, the habitation and the focal centre of the religion of God.

"That they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days." According to the terminology of the Bible these twelve hundred and sixty days mean twelve hundred and sixty years, as was before explained. Thus for twelve hundred and sixty years the religion of God was fostered in the vast desert of Arabia, until the Promised One appeared. After these twelve hundred and sixty years that religion ceased to be in effect, for the fruit of that tree had been manifested and its result had been produced.

Consider how closely the prophecies correspond one to another! The Book of Revelation fixes the advent of the Promised One after forty-two months. The Prophet Daniel specifies three times and a half, which is also forty-two months or twelve hundred and sixty days. Another passage of the Revelation of John directly states twelve hundred and sixty days, and it is explicitly indicated in the Bible that each day signifies one year. Nothing could be clearer than this agreement of the prophecies with each other. The Bab appeared in the year A.H. 1260, which is the starting point of the calendar followed by all Muslims. There are no clearer prophecies than this in the Bible for any Manifestation. If one be fair, the agreement between the times indicated by these glorious Souls is the most conclusive proof and can in no wise be subject to any other interpretation. Blessed are the fair-minded who search after truth.

When justice is lacking, however, the people challenge, dispute, and deny the obvious. Their conduct is like that of the Pharisees in the time of Christ, who would obstinately deny the interpretations and utterances He and His Apostles made, and who would wilfully obscure the truth before the ignorant masses, saying, "These prophecies do not apply to Jesus, but to the Promised One Who will erelong appear according to the conditions mentioned in the Torah"--among which being that He would be a king, sit upon the throne of David, enforce the law of the Torah, inaugurate the most great justice, and cause the wolf and the lamb to gather at the same spring. And thus did they veil the people from recognizing Christ.

When Abraham was sent forth, however much He expounded the truth, established the religion of God, disseminated new teachings, and explained the divine mysteries, the Assyrians and the Chaldeans would say, "This is but an idle fancy and an empty tale, a mere figment of the imagination. It will never come to pass." Even more, they called it sheer ignorance and counted themselves among the exponents of reason and understanding.

Apparently Jesus Christ was opposed by the Jews only, but the Manifestation was opposed by the whole universe. Jesus Christ, on account of injury from the Jews, and their opposition, used to go from one place to another, but that the Manifestation stood before all was evident, as He was seen by all and did not hide Himself, even in a village.

The king pondered, then asked: "After making this claim and enduring hardships, did he waver in his cause and claim?" He said: "No, he became more steadfast." Then he asked: "Is he now advancing or declining?" He said: "More people gather around him and follow him." He thought, then asked: "Are his believers from the nobles, aristocrats, learned and accomplished ones, or from the poor, destitute and base people?" He said: "Not at all - reasonable, knowledgeable people, accomplished scholars and the wealthy are not with him." Again he asked: "Do those who join him become respected, wealthy and comfortable?" He said: "No, they all become more abased and are forced to flee their homelands."

The Master said:-

"Yes! But their sadness does not come from anything belonging to himself. He desires to make a soul illumined, he prefers darkness; this makes the Manifestation sad. He wishes to change the ignorance of the people into knowledge; their error into guidance; their insincerity into sincerity; their faithlessness into faithfulness, but people prefer the latter qualities than the former and so the Manifestation of God will be sad and unhappy over the heedlessness and negligence of these sleepy souls."

The available source contains an omission or incomplete wording; sentence boundaries need review.

While the Manifestations of God are still alive, the people do not appreciate their value, they curse and execrate them; but after their ascension they worship them.

How much Noah lamented, and Abraham's face was cast into Nimrod's fire. Joseph fell into a well and prison, Jacob became the companion of weeping eyes. Moses wandered lost in the desert. The Spirit (Christ) was raised upon the cross. John's head was severed. The Messenger (Muhammad) fell under the dominion of enemies in Batha.

Remember Christ, when they placed the crown of thorns on His head. At that very moment, as the thorns wounded His brow, He looked down the vista of the centuries and beheld innumerable kings bowing their jewelled crowns low before that crown of thorns. Do you think He did not know, that He could not foresee? When they spat in the face of Christ, when they made a mock procession and carried Him around the streets, He felt no humiliation.

This is a day among the days of Thy Festival which Thou hast named Ridvan, wherein Thou didst manifest Thy sovereignty over all who are in Thy earth and Thy heaven, after which all arose to harm Thee and to extinguish Thy light.

Behold, how, deluded by this emblem, they have risen against Me, and heaped upon Me their denials!

It has always been thus - if accusations and calumnies did not arise, no innocent one would ever be caught. Christ (may the spirit of the worlds be sacrificed for Him) would not have fallen into the hands of the Jews, and the Lord of Martyrs (may my spirit be sacrificed for Him) would not have fallen into the hands of the bloodthirsty army in Karbala, the oppressed and subdued Master would not have been wronged, and Zachariah would not have been sawn asunder, and so on for the rest.

It was this: 'While the apostles longed with perfect resignation and radiant acquiescence for the station of martyrdom and many of them and thousands of later converts sacrificed their lives with joy and happiness, how is it that his holiness Jesus the Christ, just before his crucifixion prayed to His Father to take away this cup from him, saying: 'The spirit is truly ready, but the flesh is weak?'

It was night and impenetrably dark. It was very cold and he was thinly clad. Then it started to rain very hard. Christ did not know to which direction he should turn his face in this pitch darkness. He tried to walk but he stumbled at every step. Finally he reached a cave. He wished to enter in, in order to escape the rain, but he heard the roaring of lions and wild animals. He came out and stood alone in the open.

The rain became torrential and dashing against the slopes of rocky mountains, formed streams of waters, carrying everything before them with fury and rage.

And when We sent forth the Spirit, there rose against Him Annas, who was the most learned of the divines of his age in his country, and who pronounced judgment against the Spirit with such injustice that all things lamented, and beyond them every discerning soul.

I have summoned the people unto none save God, thy Lord and the Lord of the worlds, and have endured for love of Him such afflictions as the eye of creation hath never beheld.

… Whensoever the clouds of tribulation have rained down the darts of affliction in the path of God, the Lord of all names, I have hastened to meet them, as every fair-minded and discerning soul shall attest. How many the nights which found the beasts of the field resting in their lairs, and the birds of the air lying in their nests, while this Youth languished in chains and fetters with none to aid or succour Him!

And among His signs is His long-suffering, His tribulations and His woes, His agony in His chains and fetters, and His calling out at every moment: "Come unto Me, come unto Me, ye righteous! Come unto Me, come unto Me, ye lovers of the good! Come unto Me, come unto Me, ye dawning points of light!"

Because He promulgated the message of universal peace and international agreement, the kings of the Orient arose against Him, for they did not find their personal and national benefits advanced by His admonition and teaching. They persecuted Him bitterly, inflicted upon Him every torment, imprisoned, bastinadoed, banished Him and eventually confined Him in a fortress.

He hath drained to its dregs the cup of sorrow, that all the peoples of the earth may attain unto abiding joy, and be filled with gladness. This is of the mercy of your Lord, the Compassionate, the Most Merciful. We have accepted to be abased, O believers in the Unity of God, that ye may be exalted, and have suffered manifold afflictions, that ye might prosper and flourish. He Who hath come to build anew the whole world, behold, how they that have joined partners with God have forced Him to dwell within the most desolate of cities!

My body hath borne imprisonment that your souls may be released from bondage, and We have consented to be abased that ye may be exalted. Follow the Lord of glory and dominion, and not every ungodly oppressor. My body longeth for the cross, and Mine head awaiteth the thrust of the spear, in the path of the All-Merciful, that the world may be purged from its transgressions.

Had the Dayspring of Thy Causation not been established in the Most Great Prison, how could Thy Cause have been spread abroad, Thy sovereignty manifested, Thy power proclaimed, and Thy signs demonstrated?

Thou hast, verily, O my God, suffered Him Who is the Manifestation of Thine own Self to be afflicted with all manner of adversity in order that Thy servants may ascend unto the pinnacle of Thy gracious favor, and attain unto that which Thou hast, through Thy providence and tender mercies, ordained for them in the Tablets of Thine irrevocable decree.

The people of the world have grievously erred, for they fondly imagine that they can exterminate the Cause of God, that they would be able to extinguish His effulgent light and put out His heavenly lamps.

Know thou that We have come to the Most Great Prison that the servants might be freed from the prison of self and desire, and turn unto the sanctuary of their Lord, the Mighty, the Gracious. We summon the servants from the horizon of this tribulation unto God, the Lord of Names, that perchance the breaths of the words of Him Who is the Fashioner of the heavens might take hold of them.

Alone, He undertook a task that can scarcely be conceived, for the Persians are known throughout the world for their religious fanaticism. This illustrious Being arose with such power as to shake the foundations of the religious laws, customs, manners, morals, and habits of Persia, and instituted a new law, faith, and religion. Though the eminent men of the State, the majority of the people, and the leaders of religion arose one and all to destroy and annihilate Him, He single-handedly withstood them and set all of Persia in motion.

Singly and alone, He hath withstood the world and uplifted His mighty Cause in the Most Great Prison. Though subjected to utter abasement, He hath crowned His loved ones with the diadem of everlasting glory.

Baha'u'llah suffered forty years as a prisoner and exile in order that the Kingdom of love might be established in the East and West. He has made it possible for us to meet here in love and unity. Because He suffered imprisonment, we are free to proclaim the oneness of the world of humanity for which He stood so long and faithfully. He was chained in dungeons, He was without food, His companions were thieves and criminals, He was subjected to every kind of abuse and infliction, but throughout it all He never ceased to proclaim the reality of the Word of God and the oneness of humanity.

In order to ensure the progress of mankind and to establish these principles Baha'u'llah suffered every ordeal and difficulty. The Bab became a martyr, and over twenty thousand men and women sacrificed their lives for their faith. Baha'u'llah was imprisoned and subjected to severe persecutions.

Say: Verily, divine decree doth reinforce this Cause, and tribulation doth assist this Revelation, yet the people remain veiled and imagine they can extinguish this Light.

O my Friends when you shall hear of My calamities, the like of which the eye of creation has not seen, do not be saddened inasmuch as We have been created for all these afflictions and tribulations and God has ordained that they be the oil for My Lamp.

The heedless ones sent Us to the Most Great Prison, and God transformed it into this palace despite their wishes, that My power and sovereignty might be made manifest to all who are in the heavens and on earth.

I testify, O my Lord, that He hath surrendered His life in Thy path, and hath wished for Himself nothing but tribulation in the love He beareth to Thee. He hath endured all manner of vexations that He may manifest Thy sovereignty unto Thy servants, and exalt Thy word amidst Thy creatures. As the adversities deepened, and the troubles sent down by Thee compassed Him on every side, He became so impassioned by His thought of Thee, that the hosts of all them that had disbelieved in Thee and repudiated Thy signs ceased to affright Him.

I yield Thee thanks for that Thou hast made me the target of divers tribulations and the mark of manifold trials, in order that Thy servants may be endued with new life and all Thy creatures may be quickened.

Thanks be to Thee for having sacrificed me for the life of the worlds, and thanks be to Thee for having imprisoned me for the emancipation of the worlds.

At a time when the East was enshrouded with superstition and hatred, Baha'u'llah flooded these regions with his glorious light. Under the chains he unfurled the flag of the oneness of the world of humanity; in the prisons he spread the principles of universal peace and brotherhood; from behind the barracks he wrote his famous epistles to the kings and rulers of the world, arraigning the oppressors of the earth and calling upon them in the name of God the exalted not to place their sovereignty above that of His Highness the Almighty.

Specifically for the deliverance of two souls this prayer was revealed, for verily He chose imprisonment for Himself and freedom for His servants, and He is truly the Forgiving, the Merciful.

He hath accepted sorrows for the joy of those in the realm of possibilities, and borne abasement for the glory of all creation.

He hath accepted tribulation for your deliverance and borne imprisonment for your freedom.

O loved ones of God! Grieve not over the world and what hath befallen you in My path. Rather, behold what hath befallen this Wronged One. We have borne all tribulations for your salvation, as attesteth whosoever dwelleth in the realms of the seen and unseen.

O thou who art endowed with vision! Know thou that We have arrived at the Most Exalted Prospect, and they who imagine that I am in prison are in manifest heedlessness. Say: Verily, He is established upon that Spot which God hath made the Point of Adoration for all the worlds. Say: Through Him every land is transformed, did ye but know. Our mention of the prison containeth signs for them that are nigh unto God, and clear proofs for them that are endowed with insight.

Know thou, moreover, that We have been cast into an afflictive Prison, and are encompassed with the hosts of tyranny, as a result of what the hands of the infidels have wrought. Such is the gladness, however, which the Youth hath tasted that no earthly joy can compare unto it. By God! The harm He suffereth at the hands of the oppressor can never grieve His heart, nor can He be saddened by the ascendancy of such as have repudiated His truth.

I render thanks unto Thee, O my God, that Thou hast chosen this Prison to be the throne for Thy kingdom, the loftiest height for Thy heavens, the Dawning-Place for Thy Lights, the Dayspring for Thy revelations, the Fountain-head for the liberal effusions of Thy grace and the spirit of life to the bodies of Thy creatures.

Hear thou the call of the All-Glorious from a dark pit: "Aid Me, O people of Baha, with the sword of wisdom and utterance!" Say: The pit is My house, and the prison is My palace, and tribulation is the crown of Baha.

How sweet, O my Beloved, is the injury which, in my love for Thee, and for the sake of Thy pleasure, I suffer from the darts of the wicked doers! How pleasing are the wounds which, in Thy path and in order to proclaim Thy Faith, I sustain from the swords of the infidels!

The Blessed Perfection, Baha'u'llah, endured hardships and vicissitudes nearly fifty years. There was no ordeal or difficulty He did not experience, yet He endured all in perfect joy and happiness.

… Even in prison He was like a king enthroned in majesty and greatness, and He ever bore Himself with supreme confidence and dignity.

There was a time when this Wronged One had nothing of earthly means - neither food, nor drink, nor place to rest. By My life! I was in such joy as no joy in the world could equal, for whatsoever comes to pass is from God.

But for the troubles that touch me in Thy path, O my God, how else could my heart rejoice in Thy days; and were it not for the blood which is shed for love of Thee, what else could tinge the faces of Thy chosen ones before the eyes of Thy creatures?

This sorrow is not due to the imprisonment of the friends or the tribulations of the chosen ones, for through His love every prison is the Most Exalted Paradise and every affliction is choice honey.

He hath indeed decreed with truth, and We are among those who render thanks. Grieve not over what hath been decreed and ordained, but be filled with supreme gladness, for in this mighty seizure and great captivity We are in manifest ease and comfort. Praise be unto Him for having made me a prisoner in His path, and made my kindred captives in the hands of the oppressors.

We render Thee thanks, O our Lord, for all the troubles which have touched us in Thy path. Oh, that the span of my earthly life could be so extended as to embrace the lives of the former and the latter generations, or could even be so lengthened that no man on the face of the earth could measure it, and be afflicted every day and every moment with a fresh tribulation for love of Thee and for Thy pleasure's sake!

Say: The Youth hath grown so intimate with tribulations even as infants are intimate with their mothers' breasts. Whenever tribulations and trials touch Him, His love for God, the Mighty, the Trusted, the Knower of the seen and unseen, increaseth. Grieve not that I have become a captive in the hands of the enemies and that My family are prisoners in the land of falsehood.

The Manifestations of God have come into the world to free man from these bonds and chains of the world of nature. Although They walked upon the earth, They lived in heaven. They were not concerned about material sustenance and prosperity of this world. Their bodies were subjected to inconceivable distress, but Their spirits ever soared in the highest realms of ecstasy.

The Prison is become a dawning-place for the revelation of God, the Almighty, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. By My life! The Prison is My habitation, and it is more glorious than all other habitations, were ye of those who know.

Assuredly, imprisonment in God's path is sweeter than the favours of the people of the world. What bounty is greater than being oppressed, and what station more glorious than utter evanescence? In the presence of the radiant lights of His Revelation, every hardship and tribulation in His path hath been and shall ever be beloved.

For We dwelt in cities with chains and shackles in that place and places like it. In truth, the homeland of those near to God has been and is the prison of the oppressors.

He is the Beloved, but the people understand not. By His beauty! I long that every sword should fall upon Me in His path, and this is what My heart desireth, did ye but know. Can there be found in existence anything sweeter than affliction in His path and tribulation in His love? Nay, by His Self, the True One, if ye but knew!

Indeed, anxiety is My gladness and grief is My delight and tribulation is My festival and the prison is My paradise and the well is My vista and suffering is My companion.

Baha'u'llah passed forty years of His life in prison and exile in order that He might upraise the banner of the oneness of the world of men. … He was under the dominion of Abdu'l-Hamid. I, too, was in the prison of Abdu'l-Hamid until the Committee of Union and Progress hoisted the standard of liberty and my fetters were removed.

Enter into ecstasy and rapture, into attraction and wonderment, for 'Abdu'l-Baha has become a prisoner in chains of the prison of Joseph, so that in the marketplace of servitude He may illumine His face, and in the Egypt of servitude He may place the crown of tribulation on His head and hang the necklace of greatest bounty around His neck.

I myself was in prison forty years -- one year alone would have been impossible to bear -- nobody survived that imprisonment more than a year! But, thank God, during all those forty years I was supremely happy! Every day, on waking, it was like hearing good tidings, and every night infinite joy was mine. Spirituality was my comfort, and turning to God was my greatest joy.

All the peoples of the world are launching their assaults; all its nations and kindreds are hostile and contending. And in the midst of this field of tribulations standeth 'Abdu'l-Baha, the target of every dart of tyranny. … Instead of being a healing salve for the wounds inflicted by the darts of the enemies, ye have aimed your knives at my throat. Instead of shielding me from the shafts of tyranny hurled by the nations of the world, ye have at every moment stabbed me and dealt a heavy blow upon my feeble body.

To have been lodged in this faraway prison is for me exceeding joy. By the life of Baha! This prison is my supernal paradise; it is my cherished goal, the comfort of my bosom, the bliss of my heart; it is my refuge, my shelter, my asylum, my safe haven, and within it do I exult amid the hosts of heaven and the Company on high.

Rejoice in my bondage, O ye friends of God, for it soweth the seeds of freedom; rejoice at my imprisonment, for it is the well-spring of salvation; be ye glad on account of my travail, for it leadeth to eternal ease.

"There was no communication whatever with the outside world. Each loaf of bread was cut open by the guard to see that it contained no message.

… "Freedom is not a matter of place. It is a condition. I was thankful for the prison and the lack of liberty was very pleasing to me, for those days were passed in the path of service under the utmost difficulties and trials, bearing fruits and results.

In those days, a few influential notables were planning to procure 'Abdu'l-Baha's release from confinement. They were fully capable of doing so. But in reply, this servant said, "This citadel is the Prison of the Abha Beauty. He spent well-nigh four and twenty years here; I have therefore no wish to be released from this prison, nor do I seek deliverance. Nay, rather, I seek renewed confinement and earnestly desire an even more severe incarceration."

Glorified art Thou, O Lord my God, my Master, and my Ruler! Thou seest me a victim of every tribulation, a target for every shaft, and exposed to every spear. Not a day passeth but that swords are drawn against me and afflictive darts are hurled successively at the breast of this servant of Thine who standeth poor and desolate amongst Thy creation.

'Abdu'l-Baha is also a captive in this Most Great Prison. But I have found this prison to be a palace, and regard this bondage as true freedom. This cage is to me a heavenly rose garden, and this captivity an everlasting throne, for it hath befallen me in the path of God and for the sake of the love of the Abha Beauty---may my life be offered up for His loved ones.

The prison in which thou languishest was for a certain time the very pit wherein resided the beauty of the All Glorious and that darksome place was the abode where the King of the placeless, the Lord of the unseen world Himself hath dwelt.

For forty years Abdul-Baha was confined in prison and had infinite longing to proclaim the Word of God throughout all lands and to open his tongue in teaching.

Nay, rather, he regardeth adversity to be, at times, the same as bounty itself. For forty years the prison-city of 'Akka was for him a heavenly paradise, and he saw the early days of that imprisonment, which were its most severe, as a garden of roses.

This hath been due to the numerous occupations that deny me a single free moment and that are, moreover, compounded by woes and trials. Among other things, in these days 'Abdu'l-Baha hath once again been confined to prison in 'Akka by reason of the great mischief stirred up by the people of malice and the lengthy letters teeming with disruptive charges against him that they have dispatched to Constantinople, as well as other devices to which they have resorted and which it is not advisable to mention here.

However, no harm was done, for it is now being reconstructed most solidly, under the supervision of this servant, and will soon be completed. Although due to my incarceration I have been unable to go to the Holy Shrine in person, I have been supervising the construction work from a distance. It will soon be complete and will be most firm and solid. Indeed, it is not a cistern, but a sea!

When it is necessary, my body can endure everything. It has withstood forty years of imprisonment and can still undergo the utmost trials.

During the many years that I was in prison each moment we were living under the sword. We felt that perhaps tomorrow or tonight or in an hour or on this very hour an order may come from the Sultan to kill all of us. We never went to bed a single night of that time thinking to see the morrow!

He must correspond with East and West, and converse with North and South. He must answer all questions and comfort all souls. For every newborn child he must write an eloquent letter, and for every soul ascended to God he must seek pardon and forgiveness. For every sorrowful one he must be a consoler, and for every joyful one a confidant.

This servant's sorrow and regret is due to harm to the Cause of God; otherwise whatever affliction arrives I welcome with heart and soul. From infancy I have longed for a hundred thousand afflictions and every kind of calamity and trial in the path of Baha until, praise be to God, this cup has overflowed and this chalice has been filled to the brim - and praise be to Him for this.

O friends of 'Abdu'l-Baha! The oppressors unleashed their hands of tyranny and the despots engaged in severe aggression, subjecting 'Abdu'l-Baha to intense restrictions in this Most Great Prison, to such a degree that a prison was established within the prison - or as the Turks say, "a prison within a prison." All paths were cut off and those seeking the Ka'bah of their desire were forbidden. 'Abdu'l-Baha fell under severe surveillance from all directions, to the point where breath became constricted and souls could no longer bear to wait.

For thirty-five years in this Most Great Prison, the landlord makes excuses for us every day - sometimes acting coy, sometimes flirting, sometimes employing coquetry, and sometimes bringing forth a buyer. In short, we move from house to house, and in the path of the Unique Beloved we seek neither nest nor dwelling.

Therefore great danger lies ahead unless divine protection preserves me, just as it preserved me in the time of Abdul-Hamid. It had been decided and the imperial order issued to send me to Fezzan, and what would happen in Fezzan was unknown. Suddenly liberty was proclaimed and what had been decided was overturned. But this was my utmost hope and desire that the end of life be musk-scented, and now this is my desire - if we attain to the greatest martyrdom, we will have shown faithfulness to the Sacred Threshold.

I said to the Mutasarrif of 'Akka, "Tell Khalil Pasha, the Vali of Beirut, that God has not decreed abasement for Me. The Vali thinks that if I was compelled into manual labor, beaten in the head, made the target of various sufferings, imprisoned or killed, that would be My humiliation. Astaghfuru'llah! That would be My greatest glory! I pray to God to hasten such a blessed day! In Adhirbayjan, the blessed breast of My Murshid was made the target of a thousand bullets. Therefore, how can I, Who follow in His footsteps, be perturbed by the threat of injury, captivity or death?"

As we were imprisoned for the Cause of God and not for political reasons, while in prison we were not perturbed and had no worries.

I am so fatigued the hour is come when I must leave everything and take My flight. I am too weary to walk.

You and all the handmaidens of the Merciful and the loved ones of God should feel the utmost happiness about this journey, for after forty-two years of confinement in a mighty and formidable prison, 'Abdu'l-Baha journeyed to this great land with the utmost dignity and authority. No one imagined that a day would come when the chains and fetters would be removed from 'Abdu'l-Baha's neck and placed around the neck of the tyrannical 'Abdu'l-Hamid.

From early childhood I drank from the breast of tribulation, and until reaching this stage of life, I have not seen a day of rest and comfort. Therefore, I have grown accustomed to hardship and become intimate with tribulation.

Souls were educated under the shadow of the Word of God who, by hundreds and thousands, strove to spread eternal life, turned toward the Kingdom of God, sacrificed their lives in the field of martyrdom, and finally I chose this prison for myself, meaning I was content to be imprisoned and become the cause of spreading divine love and the unity and oneness of the human world.

The tribulations and afflictions that have befallen 'Abdu'l-Baha are like a book, and you have become aware of just one page. If you were to become fully aware and observe, you would see that no person could bear it for even one day. 'Abdu'l-Baha has been afflicted by these trials from early childhood until now, but praise be to God, through the love of Baha'u'llah the bitterness of this poison has the sweetness of honey.

O thou handmaid of the Lord!

Thou hast, in the end of thy letter, prayed the Lord thy God to deliver me from the hand of the enemy and shield me from his harm. O handmaid of God! Shouldst thou wish to pray for 'Abduil-Baha turn thou, lowly and suppliant, to Godis Kingdom on high and implore Him and say: "O God, my God! Add Thou to the tribulation which 'Abduil-Baha sustaineth for Thy sake, refill his cup of woes and sufferings, and rain upon him showers of tests and trials. Adorn his temple with chains and fetters, make him to fall a captive for Thy love, cause his blood to be shed in Thy Name, and bestow upon him the great gift of crucifixion in Thy path; till, drunk with the joy and desire of self-sacrifice, he may wing his flight unto the Abode of Mercy, under the shadow of Thy most glorious Kingdom."

Such should be thy ardent prayer for 'Abduil-Baha for this is his highest aim, his most cherished desire, and the wondrous favour he seeketh continually by day and by night.

Upon thee be greeting and praise.

During our imprisonment in Akka means of comfort were lacking, troubles and persecutions of all kinds surrounded us, yet notwithstanding such distressful conditions, we were able to endure these trials for forty years. The climate was very bad, necessities and conveniences of life were denied us, yet we endured this narrow prison forty years.

This Wronged One, alone and solitary, with doors closed, sat in a corner of the house in complete submission and resignation.

All enemies, even relatives and kinsmen who were hostile, were waiting to cast this servant into the sea, or throw him into the fire, or banish him to the desert of Fezzan.

The Lord bless thee, and bless thy fidelity unto Him, inasmuch as thou hast remained His companion through all His sorrows and His sufferings.

Say: Be ashamed, O ye that call yourselves the lovers of the Ancient Beauty! Be ye admonished by the tribulation He hath suffered, by the burden of anguish He hath carried for the sake of God. Let your eyes be opened. To what purpose hath He labored, if the manifold trials He hath endured are, in the end, to result in such contemptible professions, and such wretched conduct?

Grant, then, that their hearts may be made as strong as brass, that they may remain unmoved by the overpowering might of such as have transgressed against Him Who is the Manifestation of Thine Essence and the Day-Spring of Thine invisible Self, and that they may all arise to glorify and help Thee, so that through them the ensigns of Thy triumph may be lifted up in Thy realm, and the standards of Thy Cause may be unfurled throughout Thy dominions.

Indeed he hath, for most of the time, been hemmed in by manifold sorrows, and verily his merciful Lord is the One Who seeth and knoweth all things.

All praise be unto the Almighty, the Sanctified-glorified be His power-Who hath ordained that the tyranny of the unjust and the violence of the oppressors should become the means whereby the true lovers draw nigh unto the glorious habitation of the Best-Beloved and the sincere among His servants attain the Paradise of communion with Him Who is the Desire of all men, and that sufferings and tribulations should serve as the instrument whereby His Word of command is spread abroad and the standards of His praise are unfurled in all regions.

Pay thou no heed to the humiliation to which the loved ones of God have in this Day been subjected.

This humiliation is the pride and glory of all temporal honor and worldly elevation.

Thou seest how Thy servants have everywhere been compassed with tribulations, how their adversaries have all risen up against them and grievously wronged them.

In such a state, no matter what may befall him in his love for God -- harassment, reproach, vilification, curses, beatings, imprisonment, death -- he will never be cast down, and his passion for the Divine Beauty will but gain in strength.

Shalt thou shed tears of anguish because thou hast to bear, for a few days, what that Beloved of hearts bore over so many years?

The Blessed Beauty did not create and educate us for the comfort, the joy and the cares of this world. He endured all these trials and tribulations so that we would be edified and enlighten the world.

[During a former visit to Akka, when conditions for the prisoners were most severe, Miss Rosenberg was deeply distressed and asked 'Abdu'l-Baha why he, who was so perfect, should have to endure such sufferings. He answered:]

How could they (the Manifestations) teach and guide others in the way if they themselves did not undergo every species of suffering to which other human beings are subjected?

Blessed are ye, O exiles of the earth! Ye are they who have turned towards the realms of banishment out of longing to attain the presence of the Dayspring of the Light of Oneness, and have borne in the path of God that which caused the dwellers of the Kingdom to lament.

At times they were bound in chains, at times under threat of the sword. Many rushed dancing to the field of sacrifice and raised their banner at love's altar, giving up their homes to plunder and pillage.

Never become discouraged. To be weak is not necessarily to be unwilling to be strong. Rejoice, be glad, if in the Cause of God you are made to suffer. To be misrepresented, to be misunderstood for the sake of God is of no consequence. All sincere followers of God are misjudged and have been.

Should tribulations befall you in My path, remember ye My trials and imprisonment. Thus have ye been commanded by One all-knowing, all-wise.

Misery, O my Lord, hath taken hold on them in Thy path, exalt them by the power of Thy sovereignty; and weariness hath afflicted them in their love for Thee, render them victorious, through Thy strength and Thine omnipotence, over Thine enemies.

I beseech Thee, O Thou Who art the King of Names and Creator of earth and heaven, to write down for such of Thy loved ones as have been debarred from entering the precincts of Thy mercy and standing before the throne of Thy might the recompense decreed for such as have attained Thy presence and beheld Him Who is Thy Beauty.

Thou hearest, O Lord, their sighs and lamentations in their separation and remoteness from Thee. I beseech Thee to ordain for them all the good Thou dost possess.

I implore Thee, O Thou Who art the beloved Companion of Baha, by Thy name, the All-Glorious, to keep safe these Thy servants under the shadow of the wings of Thine all-encompassing mercy, that the darts of the evil suggestions of the wicked doers among Thy creatures, who have disbelieved in Thy signs, may be kept back from them.

Blessed are they who have borne tribulations in My path and have been imprisoned for My Name. These, verily, abide beneath the canopy of My majesty. Soon shall We adorn the pages of the Book of Creation with their names amidst all existence.

O My companion in prison! For We have been imprisoned in this prison even as thou hast been imprisoned in that prison; and this is from the decree of God, the Exalted, the Most Great.

O leaves attracted to the divine! Blessed are you who [like men] have become captives in the path of the All-Glorious and [were paraded through the streets and bazaars]. One has endured the brand of torment and punishment, had her veil torn, becoming renowned throughout the horizons and disgraced in street and market. Another was made prisoner and captive, her collar rent and her hair cut, living with tearful eyes in the hands of oppressors.

The troubles in thy affairs are solely that thou mayest share in the tribulations and trials of 'Abdu'l-Baha, for in times of comfort and ease every soul would participate, keep company, show friendship, manifest agreement and demonstrate steadfastness.

If all Akka should be destroyed, change not; look not to this; do not waver; let it make no difference in your faith. My only desire is to give all I have in the Path of GOD. Therefore, be not sorrowful for My hardships and calamities. Be happy, be extremely gladdened, - because the more calamities are inflicted upon Me, the more the Cause of GOD will be uplifted.

Thou seest Thy loved ones in the land of exile and their abasement among the people, though the abasement of Thy loved ones in Thy path is glory unto them.

The ocean of tribulation hath surged, and its waves have encompassed the Ark of God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. Fear not, O Mariner, the tempestuous winds, for He Who causeth the dawn to break is with thee in this darkness that hath enveloped the worlds. Put thy trust in God under all conditions, and fear not the blasts of the winds of hatred.

I bear witness that the eye of creation hath never gazed upon one wronged like Thee. Thou wast immersed all the days of Thy life beneath an ocean of tribulations. At one time Thou wast in chains and fetters; at another Thou wast threatened by the sword of Thine enemies.

Praise be to Thee, O Lord My God, for the wondrous revelations of Thy inscrutable decree and the manifold woes and trials Thou hast destined for Myself. At one time Thou didst deliver Me into the hands of Nimrod; at another Thou hast allowed Pharaoh's rod to persecute Me. Thou, alone, canst estimate, through Thine all-encompassing knowledge and the operation of Thy Will, the incalculable afflictions I have suffered at their hands. Again Thou didst cast Me into the prison-cell of the ungodly, for no reason except that I was moved to whisper into the ears of the well-favored denizens of Thy Kingdom an intimation of the vision with which Thou hadst, through Thy knowledge, inspired Me, and revealed to Me its meaning through the potency of Thy might. And again Thou didst decree that I be beheaded by the sword of the infidel. Again I was crucified for having unveiled to men's eyes the hidden gems of Thy glorious unity, for having revealed to them the wondrous signs of Thy sovereign and everlasting power.

How many years have passed wherein tribulation floweth like the rain of Thy mercy, and afflictions appear resplendent from the horizon of destiny! In these days Thou hast not ordained for this servant any seat of companionship or assembly of security. In the beginning Thou didst nurture me through Thy servants with mercy and compassion, yet in the end Thou didst abandon me to the companions of wrath and the men of severity.

How many the nights during which the weight of chains and fetters allowed Me no rest, and how numerous the days during which peace and tranquillity were denied Me, by reason of that wherewith the hands and tongues of men have afflicted Me!

O my God and my Master! Thou knowest how they have disgraced Thy Cause and dishonored Thee among Thy creatures, how they have joined Thine enemies, that they may undermine Thy Revelation and injure Thee.

I beseech Thee, by the wrong Thou hast suffered and the ills inflicted upon Thee by the hosts of wrongful doers, to send down upon me from the clouds of Thy mercy that which will purify me of all that is not of Thee, that I may be worthy to praise Thee and fit to love Thee.

Thou seest him compassed about with such of Thy creatures as have transgressed and rebelled against Thee, who have come in between him and Thy loved ones, who have fixed his abode in this land and wronged Thee, and who have hindered Thy servants from turning towards Thee.

How many the days, O my God, which I have spent in utter loneliness with the transgressors amongst Thy servants, and how many the nights, O my Best-Beloved, during which I lay a captive in the hands of the wayward amidst Thy creatures!

Though the fierce winds of the hatred of the wicked doers blew and beat on this Lamp, He was, at no time, in His love for Thy beauty, hindered from shedding the fragrance of His light.

… Though -- as Thou beholdest me, O my God -- I be dwelling in a place within whose walls no voice can be heard except the sound of the echo, though all the gates of ease and comfort be shut against us, and thick darkness appear to have compassed us on every side, yet my soul hath been so inflamed by its love for Thee, that nothing whatsoever can either quench the fire of its love or abate the consuming flame of its desire.

There befell Him, at the hands of such of Thy creatures as have transgressed against Thee, that which the tongue of no one of Thy servants can recount.

O my God! Thou beholdest the Lord of all mankind confined in His Most Great Prison, calling aloud Thy Name, gazing upon Thy face, proclaiming that which hath enraptured the denizens of Thy kingdoms of revelation and of creation.

Thou seest me dwelling in this prison-house that lieth behind the seas and the mountains, and knowest full well what I have endured for love of Thee and for the sake of Thy Cause.

I beseech Thee by Thy Name, the Restrainer, to withhold from us the maleficence of Thine adversaries who have disbelieved in Thy testimony, and caviled at Thy beauty. Overpower by Thy Name, the All-Subduing, such as have wronged Thy Previous Manifestation Who hath now appeared invested with Thy title, the All-Glorious. Lay hold, by Thy name, the Chastiser, on them that have treated Thy Cause with scorn, have jested at Thy most mighty utterances, and were hindered from attaining this most exalted station.

I yield Thee thanks for having enabled me to recognize the Manifestation of Thyself, and for having severed me from Thine enemies, and laid bare before mine eyes their misdeeds and wicked works in Thy days, and for having rid me of all attachment to them, and caused me to turn wholly towards Thy grace and bountiful favors. I give Thee thanks, also, for having sent down upon me from the clouds of Thy will that which hath so sanctified me from the hints of the infidels and the allusions of the misbelievers that I have fixed my heart firmly on Thee, and fled from such as have denied the light of Thy countenance.

Thou seest me in this day shut up in my prison, and fallen into the hands of Thine adversaries, and beholdest my son (The Purest Branch) lying on the dust before Thy face.

… Thou well knowest what they who love Thee have endured through this trial that hath caused the kindreds of the earth to wail, and beyond them the Concourse on high to lament.

I beseech Thee by Him Who is Thy Most Great Name, Who hath been sorely afflicted by such of Thy creatures as have repudiated Thy truth, and Who hath been hemmed in by sorrows which no tongue can describe, to grant that I may remember Thee and celebrate Thy praise, in these days when all have turned away from Thy beauty, have disputed with Thee, and turned away disdainfully from Him Who is the Revealer of Thy Cause.

Thou seest how He Who is Thy Light hath been shut up in the fortress-town of 'Akka, and been sore oppressed by reason of what the hands of the wicked doers have wrought, whose corrupt desires have kept them back from turning towards Thee, O Thou Who art the King of all names!

I beseech Thee by the Sovereign of Names and its King, and the Manifestation of attributes and their Creator, and by those who have soared in the atmosphere of Thy nearness and meeting and have tasted the sword's edge in Thy path, to assist all Thy creatures to recognize the Manifestation of Thy Self, Who is imprisoned in exile for having summoned all creation unto Thee.

The power of Thy might beareth me witness! Such is the depth of mine abasement that Thy servants who have strayed far from Thy path deride me.

… My lamentations are not for the things which have befallen me in Thy path, but are due to my recognition that by reason of mine abasement the hearts of them that love Thee have been sore shaken, and the souls of Thine adversaries have been so filled with joy that they rejoice over those who have detached themselves from all except Thee and have hastened towards the river of Thy remembrance and praise.

Say:

Praise be to Thee, O my God, that Thou didst graciously remember me through Thy Most Exalted Pen, at a time when Thou wert held in the Most Great Prison by reason of that which the hands of such enemies as had turned away from Thee and from Thy most resplendent signs had wrought. O my Lord! I have turned unto Thee and have set my face towards Thy Horizon.

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Thou beholdest, O my God, how the ungodly have compassed Thy cities and Thy realms! I ask Thee by Thy Messengers and Thy chosen ones and by Him whereby the standard of Thy divine unity hath been implanted amidst Thy servants, to shield them by Thy bounty.

Thou beholdest my tribulations and all that hath befallen me at the hands of such of Thy servants as keep company with me, who have disbelieved in Thy most resplendent signs, and turned back from Thy most effulgent Beauty.

Thou beholdest my dwelling-place, and the prison into which I am cast, and the woes I suffer. By Thy might! No pen can recount them, nor can any tongue describe or number them. I know not, O my God, for what purpose Thou hast abandoned me to Thine adversaries.

Thou beholdest, O my God, the Day-Star of Thy Word shining above the horizon of Thy prison-city, inasmuch as within its walls He who is the Manifestation of Thy Self and the Day-Spring of the light of Thy unity hath raised His voice and uttered Thy praise.

I, likewise, recognize, O my God, that every lamp, when exposed to the fury of the winds, must cease from burning. As to Thy Lamp, however, O Beloved of the worlds, I cannot think what power except Thy power could have kept it safe for so many years from the tempests that have continually been directed upon it by the rebellious among Thy creatures.

… Do Thou preserve Thy loved ones, I beseech Thee, in the shelter of Thy shadowing mercy which transcendeth all things, that haply the sufferings they bear may not deter them from turning in the direction of Thy name, the All-Glorious, the Most Bountiful."

The clouds of the heaven of Thy bounty have rained their rain on this City within whose walls is imprisoned Him Whose desire is the salvation of Thy creatures.

I give Thee thanks, O my God, for that Thou hast made me to be a target for the darts of Thine adversaries in Thy path. I offer Thee most high praise, O Thou Who art the Knower of the seen and unseen and the Lord of all being, that Thou hast suffered me to be cast into prison for love of Thee, and caused me to quaff the cup of woe, that I may reveal Thy Cause and glorify Thy word.

Thou seest, O my God, how, notwithstanding the swords that are drawn against Him, He calleth the nations unto Thee, and though Himself a prisoner summoneth them to turn in the direction of Thy gifts and bounties. With every fresh tribulation He manifested a fuller measure of Thy Cause, and exalted more highly Thy word.

I implore Thee, O Thou Who art inscrutable to all except Thee, and can be comprehended through naught else save Thyself, by the wrongs which He Who is the Day-Spring of Thy Cause hath suffered at the hands of the ignoble among Thy creatures, and by what hath befallen Him in Thy path, to grant that I may, at all times, be wholly dissolved in Thee, and fix my gaze upon the horizon of Thy will and be steadfast in Thy love.

Thou seest how I have been sorely vexed among Thy servants, and beholdest the things that have befallen me in Thy path.

Thou dost witness, O my God, how He Who is Thy splendor calleth Thee to remembrance, notwithstanding the manifold troubles that have touched Him, troubles which none except Thee can number. Thou beholdest how, in His prison-house, He recounteth Thy wondrous praises with which Thou didst inspire Him.

Finally I fell a captive into the hands of the wayward among Thy servants.

Thou beholdest, therefore, the exile which I suffer in Thy days, and art aware of my vehement longing to look upon Thy face, and of mine irrepressible yearnings to enter the court of Thy glory, and of the stirrings of my heart under the influences of the winds of Thy mercy.

Magnified be Thy name, O God, the Lord of heaven! Attire my head with the crown of martyrdom, even as Thou didst attire my body with the ornament of tribulation before all that dwell in Thy land. Grant, moreover, that they whose hearts yearn over Thee may draw nigh unto the horizon of Thy grace, above which the Day-Star of Thy beauty sheddeth its radiance.

Thou seest Thy dear One, O my God, lying at the mercy of Thine enemies, and hearest the voice of His lamentation from the midst of such of Thy creatures as have dealt wickedly in Thy sight. He it is, O my Lord, through Whose name Thou didst beautify Thy Tablets, and for Whose greater glory Thou didst send down the Bayan, and at Whose separation from Thee Thou didst weep continually. Look Thou, then, upon His loneliness, O my God, and behold Him fallen into the hands of them that have disbelieved in Thy signs, have turned their backs upon Thee, and have forgotten the wonders of Thy mercy.

Thou dost consider, O my God, how He Who is the Manifestation of Thy names is in these days threatened by the swords of Thine adversaries. In such a state He crieth out and summoneth all the inhabitants of Thine earth and the denizens of Thy heaven unto Thee.

They finally banished Him from the land of His birth, and caused Him to dwell within the most desolate of Thy cities, though all the world had been built up by Thee for His sake. Within this, the Most Great Prison, He hath established His seat. Though sore tried by trials, the like of which the eye of creation hath not seen, He summoneth the people unto Thee, O Thou Who art the Fashioner of the universe!

Thou seest me, O my Lord, lying at the mercy of Thine adversaries, who have repudiated Thy signs, and refuted Thy testimony, and turned back from Thy beauty, and resolved to shed Thy blood.

Thou seest me sitting under a sword hanging on a thread, and art well aware that in such a state I have not fallen short of my duty towards Thy Cause, nor failed to shed abroad Thy praise, and declare Thy virtues, and deliver all Thou hadst prescribed unto me in Thy Tablets. Though the sword be ready to fall on my head, I call Thy loved ones with such a calling that the hearts are carried away towards the horizon of Thy majesty and grandeur.

Lauded be Thy name, O my God! Thou beholdest me in the clutches of my oppressors.

I swear by the Sun of inner meaning that the cruelties inflicted by these oppressors have bowed Me down, and turned My hair white. Shouldst thou present thyself before My throne, thou wouldst fail to recognize the Ancient Beauty, for the freshness of His countenance is altered by the oppression of the idolaters and its brightness hath faded. I swear by God! His heart, His soul, and His vitals are melted!

Catalogue reference: BH11105 · passage alignment is approximate; supplied wording retained.

Though previously subjected in another land (Tehran) to chains and fetters, We yet refused to call it by that name.

Catalogue reference: BH02333 · passage alignment is approximate; supplied wording retained.