Thank you for reminding us dear Iskandar of the significance of 31st August
as the Day of Baha'u'llah's entrance to the Most Great Prison.
***I have seen, O Shah, in the path of God what eye hath not seen nor ear
heard. Mine acquaintances have repudiated Me, and My pathways have been
straitened. The fount of well-being hath run dry, and the bower of ease hath
withered. How numerous the tribulations which have rained, and will soon
rain, upon Me! I advance with My face set towards Him Who is the Almighty,
the All-Bounteous, whilst behind Me glideth the serpent. Mine eyes have
rained down tears until My bed is drenched.
1.266
I sorrow not for Myself, however. By God! Mine head yearneth for the spear
out of love for its Lord. I never passed a tree, but Mine heart addressed it
saying: "O would that thou wert cut down in My name, and My body crucified
upon thee, in the path of My Lord!", for I see the people wandering
distraught and unconscious in their drunken stupor. They have raised on high
their passions and set down their God. Methinks they have taken His Cause
for a mockery and regard it as a play and pastime, believing all the while
that they do well, and that they dwell securely in the citadel of safety.
Howbeit the matter is not as they fondly imagine: tomorrow shall they behold
that which today they are wont to deny!
1.267
Erelong shall the exponents of wealth and power banish Us from the land of
Adrianople to the city of 'Akká. According to what they say, it is 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, within whose precincts naught
can be heard save the echo of its cry. Therein have they resolved to
imprison this Youth, to shut against our faces the doors of ease and
comfort, and to deprive us of every worldly benefit throughout the remainder
of our days.
1.268
By God! Though weariness lay Me low, and hunger consume Me, and the bare
rock be My bed, and My fellows the beasts of the field, I will not complain,
but will endure patiently as those endued with constancy and firmness have
endured patiently, through the power of God, the Eternal King and Creator of
the nations, and will render thanks unto God under all conditions. We pray
that, out of His bounty -- exalted be He -- He may release, through this
imprisonment, the necks of men from chains and fetters, and cause them to
turn, with sincere faces, towards His face, Who is the Mighty, the
Bounteous. Ready is He to answer whosoever calleth upon Him, and nigh is He
unto such as commune with Him. We further beseech Him to make of this
darksome tribulation a shield for the Temple of His Cause, and to protect it
from the assault of sharpened swords and pointed daggers. Adversity hath
ever given rise to the exaltation of His Cause and the glorification of His
Name. Such hath been God's method carried into effect in centuries and ages
past. That which the people now fail to apprehend they shall erelong
discover, on that day when their steeds shall stumble and their finery be
folded up, their blades blunted and their feet made to falter
(Baha'u'llah, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 132)
***
I just realized that yesterday Wednesday was the anniversary of the
arrival of Baha'u'llah and some 70+ of His followers, relatives and
family members in the desolate prison city penal colony of `Akka in the
mid-afternoon of August 31st 1868 after a long and harrowing sea journey
from Adrianople; one of His very erudite and devoted followers JenAb-e
Munib, passed away during the journy in Smyrna. As Baha'u'llah and His
followers were being led through the narrow streets of `Akka into their
prison at the barracks that hot & humid afternoon, the inhabitants lined
up to hurl insults and vituperations at Him. The first few days/weeks
and months of His 26-month incarceration in the military barracks of
`Akka were exceedingly hard and He later named it the Most Great Prison.
By coincidence the passing of the 7th Shi`ah Imam, Musa al-kAzim,
according to the lunar Muslim calendar fell on August 31st 2005 this
year.
Baha'u'llah describes some of His suffering and tribulations in the
Tablet that He sent to the Ottoman Premier Ali Pasha, the Tablet known
as the Lawh-i Rai's.
http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/SLH/slh-11.html sart from paragraph 2
onwards
Also, please read paragraphs 11-18 of that same Lawh-i Ra'is
Regards,
Iskandar
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