O ye the cherished loved ones of 'Abdu'l-Baha! It is a long time now since
my inward ear hath heard any sweet melodies out of certain regions, or my
heart been gladdened; and this despite the fact that ye are ever present
in my thoughts and standing clearly visible before my sight. Filled to
overflowing is the goblet of my heart with the wine of the love I bear
you, and my yearning to set eyes upon you streameth like the spirit
through my arteries and veins. From this it is clear how great is my
affliction. At this time and throughout this tempest of calamities now
tossing its waves to high heaven, cruel and incessant darts are being
hurled against me from every point of the compass, and at every moment,
here in the Holy Land, terrifying news is received, and every day bringeth
its quota of horror. The Centre of Sedition had imagined that it needed
but his arrogant rebellion to bring down the Covenant and Testament in
ruins; it needed but this, so he thought, to turn the righteous away from
the Holy Will. Wherefore he sent out far and wide his leaflets of doubt,
devising many a secret scheme. Now he would cry out that God's edifice had
been subverted and His divine commands annulled, and that accordingly, the
Covenant and Testament was abolished. Again he would set himself to
sighing and groaning that he was being held a prisoner and was kept hungry
and thirsty day and night. Another day he would raise an uproar, saying
that the oneness of God had been denied, since another Manifestation had
been proclaimed, prior to the expiration of a thousand years.
When he saw that his calumnies had no effect, he gradually formed a plan
to incite a disturbance. He began stirring up mischief, and went knocking
at every door. He started making false accusations to the officials of the
Government. He approached some of the foreigners, made himself their
intimate, and together with them prepared a document and presented it to
the Seat of the Sultanate, bringing consternation to the authorities.
Among the many slanderous charges was this, that this hapless one had
raised up a standard of revolt, a flag bearing the words Ya Baha'u'l-Abha;
that I had paraded this throughout the countryside, to every city, town
and village, and even among the desert tribes, and had summoned all the
inhabitants to unite under this flag.
O my Lord, verily I seek refuge with Thee from the very thought of such an
act, which is contrary to all the commandments of Baha'u'llah, and which
would indeed be a mighty wrong that none but a grievous sinner would ever
perpetrate. For Thou hast made it incumbent upon us to obey the rulers and
kings.
Another of his slanders was that the Shrine on Mount Carmel was a fortress
that I had built strong and impregnable--this when the building under
construction compriseth six rooms--and that I had named it Medina the
Resplendent, while I had named the Holy Tomb(56) Mecca the Glorified. Yet
another of his calumnies was that I had established an independent
sovereignty, and that--God forbid! God forbid! God forbid!--I had summoned
all the believers to join me in this massive wrongdoing. How dire, O my
Lord, is his slander!
Yet again, he claimeth that since the Holy Shrine hath become a point
visited by pilgrims from all over the world, great damage will accrue to
this Government and people. He, the Centre of Sedition, averreth that he
himself hath had no hand in all these matters, that he is a Sunni of the
Sunnites and a devoted follower of Abu-Bakr and Umar, and regardeth
Baha'u'llah as only a pious man and a mystic; all these things, he saith,
were set afoot by this wronged one.
To be brief, a Commission of Investigation was appointed by the Sultan,
may the glory of his reign endure. The Commission journeyed hither and
immediately upon arrival betook themselves to the house of one of the
accusers. They then summoned the group who, working with my brother, had
prepared the accusatory document and asked them whether it was true. The
group explained the contents of the document, stated that everything they
had reported therein was nothing but the truth, and added further
accusations. Thus they functioned at one and the same time as plaintiffs,
witnesses, and judge.
The Commission hath now returned to the seat of the Caliphate, and reports
of a most frightful nature are coming in daily from that city. However,
praised be God, 'Abdu'l-Baha remaineth composed and unperturbed. To none
do I bear ill will because of this defamation. I have made all my affairs
conditioned upon His irresistible Will and I am waiting, indeed in perfect
happiness, to offer my life and prepared for whatever dire affliction may
be in store. Praise be to God, the loving believers also accept and remain
submissive to God's Will, content with it, radiantly acquiescent, offering
thanks.
The Centre of Sedition hath imagined that once the blood of this wronged
one is spilled out, once I have been cast away on the wide desert sands or
drowned in the Mediterranean Sea--nameless, gone without trace, with none
to tell of me--then would he at last have a field where he could urge his
steed ahead, and with his mallet of lies and doubts, hit hard at the polo
ball of his ambitions, and carry off the prize.
Far from it! For even if the sweet musk-scent of faithfulness should pass,
and leave no trace behind, who would be drawn by the stench of perfidy?
And even if some gazelle of heaven were to be ripped apart by dogs and
wolves, who would go running to seek out a ravening wolf? Even should the
day of the Mystic Nightingale draw to its close, who would ever lend his
ear to the raven's croak, or the cawing of the crow? What an empty
supposition is his! What a foolish presumption! 'Their works are like the
vapour in a desert which the thirsty dreameth to be water, until when he
cometh unto it, he findeth nothing.'(57)
O ye loved ones of God! Be ye firm of foot, and fixed of heart, and
through the power of the Blessed Beauty's help, stand ye committed to your
purpose. Serve ye the Cause of God. Face ye all nations of the world with
the constancy and the endurance of the people of Baha, that all men may be
astounded and ask how this could be, that your hearts are as well-springs
of confidence and faith, and as mines so rich in the love of God. Be ye
so, that ye shall neither fail nor falter on account of these tragedies in
the Holy Land; let not these dread events make you despondent. And if all
the believers be put to the sword, and only one be left, let that one cry
out in the name of the Lord and tell the joyous tidings; let that one rise
up and confront all the peoples of the earth.
Gaze ye not upon the dire happenings at this Illumined Spot. The Holy Land
is in danger at all times, and here, the tide of calamities is ever at the
flood; for this upraised call hath now been heard around the world, and
the fame of it hath gone forth to the ends of the earth. It is because of
this that foes, both from within and from without, have turned themselves
with subtlety and craft to spreading slander. It is clear that such a
place as this would be exposed to danger, for there is no defender here,
none to arise and take our side in the face of calumny: here are only a
few souls that are homeless, hapless, held captive in this stronghold. No
champion have they; there is none to succour them, none to ward off the
arrows of lies, the darts of defamation that are hurled against them: none
except God.
It behoveth you to ponder on all those well-beloved ones who hastened to
the holy field of sacrifice, those precious souls who offered up their
lives. Bear ye in mind what streams of sacred blood were poured away, how
many a righteous heart was commingled with its gore, how many a breast was
the target of tyranny's spear, how many a chaste body was ripped to
shreds. How then could it be right for us even to think of saving
ourselves! To curry favour with stranger or kin, and make a show of
compromise! Should we not, rather, take the pathway of the righteous, and
follow in the footsteps of those great ones gone before?
These few brief days shall pass away, this present life shall vanish from
our sight; the roses of this world shall be fresh and fair no more, the
garden of this earth's triumphs and delights shall droop and fade. The
spring season of life shall turn into the autumn of death, the bright joy
of palace halls give way to moonless dark within the tomb. And therefore
is none of this worth loving at all, and to this the wise will not anchor
his heart.
He who hath knowledge and power will rather seek out the glory of heaven,
and spiritual distinction, and the life that dieth not. And such a one
longeth to approach the sacred Threshold of God; for in the tavern of this
swiftly-passing world the man of God will not lie drunken, nor will he
even for a moment take his ease, nor stain himself with any fondness for
this earthly life.
Nay rather, the friends are stars in the high heavens of guidance,
celestial bodies in the skies of divine grace, who with all their powers
put the dark to flight. They break down the foundations of malevolence and
hate. They cherish but one desire for the world and all its peoples:
well-being and peace. By them, the ramparts of warfare and aggression are
battered down. They have truthfulness and honest dealing and friendship
for their goal, and kindness even toward a vicious foe; until at last they
change this prison of treachery, the world, into a mansion of utmost
trust, and turn this gaol-house of hatred and malevolence and spite, into
God's Paradise.
O ye loving friends! Strive ye with heart and soul to make this world the
mirror-image of the Kingdom, that this nether world may teem with the
blessings of the world of God, that the voices of the Company on high may
be raised in acclamation, and signs and tokens of the bounties and
bestowals of Baha'u'llah may encompass all the earth.
Jinab-i-'Amin hath expressed the greatest admiration for you honoured men
and enlightened women, naming and commending you each by each, telling at
length of the firmness and constancy ye all have shown, saying that, God
be praised, in all Persia the men and women are standing together,
straight, strong, unmoveable--a mighty edifice solidly raised up; and that
ye are engaged with love and joy in spreading abroad the sweet savours of
the Lord.
These were tidings of great joy, especially as they have reached me in
these days of extreme peril. For the dearest wish of this wronged one is
that the friends be spiritual of heart and illumined of mind, and once
this grace is granted me, calamity, however afflictive, is but bounty
pouring down upon me, like copious rain.
O God, my God! Thou seest me plunged in an ocean of anguish, held fast to
the fires of tyranny, and weeping in the darkness of the night. Sleepless
I toss and turn upon my bed, mine eyes straining to behold the morning
light of faithfulness and trust. I agonize even as a fish, its inward
parts afire as it leapeth about in terror upon the sand, yet I ever look
for Thy bestowals to appear from every side.
O God, my God! Make thou the believers in other lands to partake of Thine
abounding grace, deliver Thou, by Thine unfailing help and bounty, whoso
among Thy loved ones in the farthermost climes sigheth over the bitter
cruelty of his foe. O Lord, they are the captives of Thy love, the
prisoners taken by Thy troops. They are the birds that fly in the heavens
of Thy guidance, the whales that swim in the ocean of Thy bestowals, the
stars that sparkle on the horizon of Thy gifts. They are the defenders of
the fortress of Thy law. They are the banners of Thy remembrance amongst
men. They are the deep wells of Thy divine compassion, the fountains of
Thy favours, the well-springs of Thy grace.
Keep them ever in safety beneath Thine all-protecting eye. Assist them to
exalt Thy Word; make Thou their hearts to be constant in Thy love;
strengthen Thou their backs that they may serve Thee well; in servitude,
strengthen Thou their powers.
Spread Thou through them Thy sweet savours far and wide; expound through
them Thy Holy Writ; make known through them Thine Utterance; fulfil
through them Thy Words; through them pour out Thy mercy.
Thou art verily the Mighty, the Powerful. Thou art verily the Clement, the
Compassionate.