The Covenant of Baha'u'llah
by Adib Taherzadeh
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Chapter 20
Years of Incarceration
During the years of His confinement in the city of Akka Abdu'l-Bahá was engaged in writing numerous Tablets either in His own handwriting or by dictation to His secretaries. Through these He continued to guide the followers of Bahá'u'lláh in their service to the Cause, urging them to remain steadfast in the Covenant and diffuse the divine fragrances with wisdom and perseverance. Though restricted in His movements, the Master was now living in relative peace, directing the construction of the Shrine of the Bab on Mount Carmel, while the emanations of His pen continued to enrapture the souls of the faithful, thus enabling them to scale loftier heights of service in His Cause.Many significant achievements in the history of the Faith occurred during this time. In 1902, through Abdu'l-Bahá's instruction and guidance, the foundation stone of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar[1] in Ishqabad was laid. This was the first Bahá'à House of Worship in the world.
[1 Literally, 'Dawning Place of the Mention of God', a Bahá'à House of Worship.]
Another significant development during this period was the breathing of a new spirit of dedication and steadfastness in the Bahá'à community in both the East and the West. This spirit was particularly intensified as a result of the upheaval in the summer of 1903 in Yazd and neighbouring villages, when a great many souls were martyred in the most moving circumstances, shedding through their amazing steadfastness and exemplary heroism an imperishable lustre upon the annals of the Faith.
In the Holy Land, while the Covenant-breakers were rejoicing that Abdu'l-Bahá had been made a prisoner, many of the public were moved to sympathize with the Cause. The friendly Governor of Akka made several attempts to persuade Abdu'l-Bahá not to confine Himself within the city walls, but to go and visit other places outside Akka; however, the Master declined the suggestion. Eventually the Governor asked Abdu'l-Bahá to accompany him on a visit to the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh. The Master granted his wish and together they left the city and went to Bahji. In order to further circumvent the strict edict of the Sultan, the Governor arranged another visit, and this time he invited other high-ranking officials to accompany him, including Fariq Pasha mentioned earlier.
When the party arrived at Bahji, the Covenant-breakers witnessed the majestic figure of Abdu'l-Bahá walking at the front of the procession, and the dignitaries walking behind Him as a mark of respect. When Mirza Muhammad-'Ali saw the honour and reverence which the Governor and other officials paid to the Master, he became very disheartened, and his hopes that incarceration might diminish Abdu'l-Bahá's ascendancy were dashed.
As the year 1902 went by, pilgrims from the East and West were permitted by Abdu'l-Bahá to come again. All who attained the presence of the Master became magnetized by the spiritual forces He released and when they returned home they warmed the hearts of the friends through the fire of divine love ignited by the Master in their hearts. As we look back upon those perilous years we note that far from impeding the progress of the Faith, Abdu'l-Bahá's incarceration in the city of Akka, with all the hardships it entailed, coincided with an upsurge of the activities of the friends and the expansion of the community throughout the world.
Eye-witnesses have testified that during this agitated period in His life He used to pen no less than ninety Tablets per day in His own hand. It was the outpouring of these Tablets in such profusion that was chiefly responsible for the expansion of the Faith and the exhilaration and upliftment of the believers everywhere.
As these developments were taking place in the Bahá'à world, the Covenant-breakers resumed their malicious propaganda against the Master. In 1904 fresh adversities appeared on the horizon. The Covenant-breakers had assiduously plotted until the friendly Governor of Akka was replaced by one who was hostile toward Abdu'l-Bahá. Mirza Muhammad-'Ali took full advantage of this and stirred up mischief among certain elements of the population who had shown their opposition toward the Master. As a result, newspapers in Syria and Egypt wrote disturbing reports about Him, and the partisans of Mirza Muhammad-'Ali fanned into flame all the unfounded allegations these articles contained.
These activities culminated in the Arch-breaker of the Covenant finally drawing up an official indictment against the Master. In it he brought false and outrageous accusations against Him, and through bribery gathered a number of signatures from certain inhabitants of Akka to support his case. This document was sent to the authorities in Istanbul, the Seat of Sultan Abdu'l-Hamid, in the hope that the Sultan, who was a despot, might take measures to destroy Abdu'l-Bahá.
As a result of all this, it did not take very long before a Commission of Enquiry arrived in Akka. The news spread immediately and agitation seized the inhabitants of the city. Spies were planted in the neighbourhood and the approaches to the house of the Master were watched day and night. For the protection of the Faith and the community, Abdu'l-Bahá advised most of the believers to leave Akka and seek residence elsewhere. At the same time, pilgrimage by the believers was also temporarily halted.
Abdu'l-Bahá was summoned by the Commission to face charges brought against Him by the violators of the Covenant. He visited the members of the Commission several times, and ably refuted the false accusations. He disproved each one of these in such a masterly way as to leave no doubt about their spurious nature. His explanations, spoken with majesty and eloquence, were so convincing that the members of the Commission had no choice but to dismiss the case and return home. Once again Mirza Muhammad-'Ali and his fellow conspirators were frustrated. Their shameful public encounter with the Master brought no benefit to them; instead it had cost them large sums of money in bribes.
As the year 1904 drew to a close, the Master's situation gradually returned to normal, the believers returned to their homes in Akka, and even pilgrimages were resumed. On one occasion, when a few pilgrims were seated in His presence, Abdu'l-Bahá described His suffering at the hands of the Covenant-breakers. The stories He recounted were so heart-rending that all who heard Him were deeply distressed. At this point Dr Yunis Khan asked the Master to tell him how long these Covenant-breakers would continue to oppose Him. Abdu'l-Bahá is reported to have said that in four years' time they would become impotent to act against Him. He then stated that whereas in the future some vestige would remain of Mirza Yahya's followers in the world, no trace would be left of these Covenant-breakers. And indeed, as we shall see in the forthcoming pages, this prophecy of Abdu'l-Bahá has been fulfilled.
In one of His talks the Master is reported to have said that God always assisted the Covenant-breakers during His Ministry and enabled them to make every possible breach in the stronghold of the Cause, so that the Master might stop them all, and thus ensure that others in the future would be unable to do likewise.
The years 1905 and 1906 passed without major incident, although Abdu'l-Bahá was continually harassed by these enemies of the Faith and had to take appropriate measures to protect the Cause from their various manoeuvres. In the meantime the political situation in the heart of the Ottoman Empire was becoming increasingly unstable, and the Sultan correspondingly alarmed. He was known to be nervous of any popular movement in the country and had shown himself ruthless in dealing with dissidents.
The Covenant-breakers, who had lost hope of carrying out their evil plots, were heartened by the political situation in Istanbul. They now decided to take advantage of the Sultan's weakness and play on his fears and suspicions. All they had to do was to re-open their case against Abdu'l-Bahá and send their complaints anew to the court of the Sultan. This they did, but their last major onslaught against the Master proved to be a complete failure.
In their petition, Mirza Muhammad-'Ali and his associates reaffirmed their false claim that whereas Bahá'u'lláh was merely a holy man and an admirer of Sunni Islam, Abdu'l-Bahá had condemned the Sunni Faith and claimed the station of Prophethood for Himself. They also charged that Abdu'l-Bahá had not only acquired vast tracts of land in Akka and neighbouring villages, and had gathered a large following in the Holy Land, but that He had also built a mighty fortress on Mount Carmel,[1] had made a banner of 'Ya Baha'u'l-Abha' and raised it among the inhabitants, had received American and other Western military advisers[2] at His home, and was about to overthrow the government. Such inflammatory claims, made at a time when the government was apprehensive of revolt by some of the Turkish factions, disturbed the mind of the Sultan, who immediately ordered a new Commission of Enquiry to be despatched to Akka. This Commission, consisting of four officials, arrived in the winter of 1907. They had in their possession all the papers relating to the previous Commission of Enquiry, which had, ironically enough, found all the allegations against Abdu'l-Bahá to be baseless.
[1 This refers to the building of the Shrine of the Bab.]
[2 This refers to Western pilgrims.]
The Commission assumed full authority in the administration of the City, dismissed the Governor of Akka who was friendly toward Abdu'l-Bahá, and even disregarded the orders from the Governor of the Province of Syria who wielded supreme authority over the region. The members of the Commission then established direct contact with Mirza Muhammad-'Ali and his associates, and planned their course of action in consort with them. They took as their residence the house of Abdu'l-Ghani Baydun, a wealthy and influential man who was living in close proximity to the Mansion of Bahji and had friendly association with the violators of the Covenant.
Their first act was to again plant a number of spies around the house of Abdu'l-Bahá. They then began to obtain testimonies from those very enemies who had put their signature to Mirza Muhammad-'Ali's original petition to the authorities. With the assistance of the Covenant-breakers, the members of the Commission even sought to bring pressure upon people to testify against the Master. In this way, through intimidation, people were forced to give false testimony while a local grocer who refused to comply was put in jail. Thus the inhabitants of the city were afraid to approach the house of the Master, lest they become incriminated by the authorities. Even the poor of Akka, whom Abdu'l-Bahá had succoured always, did not dare to come in contact with Him.
At one point the members of the Commission paid a visit to Mount Carmel, examined the six-room building of the Shrine, noted its massive walls, and commented on its extraordinary strength. Later in their report, they confirmed the Covenant-breakers' allegation that Abdu'l-Bahá had indeed built a fortress on a strategic location on the mountain! They also endorsed the other charges which had been brought against Him. Soon rumours began to circulate far and wide that the Commission was about to exile the Master to Fizan in Tripolitania, situated in the middle of the desert in North Africa.
During this period the Master remained unperturbed and confident. He continued to write His Tablets to the Bahá'Ãs of the East and the West, spent some time in planting a few trees in His small garden, and to the astonishment of some notables of Akka who considered His banishment to be imminent, was seen to be attending to repairs of His rented house. Their surprise was further intensified when they learned that He had bought and stored fuel for the winter.
The members of the Commission, who were actively engaged in preparing their report in collaboration with the Covenant-breakers, sent one of their agents to Abdu'l-Bahá inviting Him to meet with them, but He declined the invitation, saying that the Commission was biased against Him, and as such there was no point in meeting with its members. At the same time He had made it clear, as on previous occasions, that He was ready to submit Himself to whatever decision they made and reminded them that His greatest ambition was to follow in the footsteps of His Lord the Bab and die a martyr's death.
Abdu'l-Bahá Himself mentioned this episode in a talk to the friends The following is the gist of what He said:
"Upon their arrival, the Commission of Enquiry invited Me to meet with them, but I declined. They sent a certain official by the name of Hikmat Big to persuade Me to call on them. This agent begged Me, and even hypocritically brought tears to his eyes, pleading with Me to meet with members of the Commission even for a short time. I told him that since they had come to investigate accusations against Me, it would be better that I did not meet them. I told him that they had already sent a report to the capital, and I had sent a letter to Sultan Abdu'l-Hamid through Shaykh Badru'd-Din, the gist of which was as follows:
"'The members of the Commission have come to Akka, but I have not met with them. I understand that they have made a report in which they have levelled several accusations against Me and for this I am grateful. Their main complaints are as follows:
"1. That I have rebelled against the government and established My own.
"2. That I have built fortifications on Mount Carmel.
"3. That with the help of Mirza Dhikru'llah[1] I have hoisted a banner with the inscription of 'Ya Baha'u'l-Abha' [O Glory of the Most Glorious] among the inhabitants including the Bedouins.
[1 The son of Mirza Muhammad-Quli, the faithful half-brother of Bahá'u'lláh who remained steadfast in the Covenant after the ascension of Bahá'u'lláh.]
"4. That two-thirds of the land in Akka is owned by Me.
"The reason that I am grateful to the members of the Commission for the above accusations is that by their first complaint, they have, in reality, praised Me and attributed great powers to Me. How can a prisoner and an exile establish a new government? Anyone who could do that deserves to be congratulated.
"Similarly, by their second complaint they have also commended Me by ascribing to Me extraordinary capabilities. It would be a miracle for one who is a captive in the hands of the authorities to build fortifications strong enough to be capable of withstanding bombardment by powerful naval ships.
"But one is surprised by their third complaint, for how is it that the many government agents posted all over the country have failed to see the banner which has allegedly been hoisted among the inhabitants of these lands? Perhaps, during the last two years these officials have been asleep, or some angels have blinded their eyes.
"Concerning the fourth complaint, that I own most of the land in Akka and neighbouring villages, I am willing to sell them all for the small sum of one thousand liras.'" [20-1]
That Abdu'l-Bahá wrote this letter in such ironic language is indicative of the depravity of those with whom He was dealing. In the meantime, events were moving to a climax in which it was almost certain that Abdu'l-Bahá would be exiled or put to death. The atmosphere was becoming more tense with every passing day.
There is an interesting account of an Italian who was Acting Consul for Spain at this time. He was an admirer of the Master and his wife was friendly with the family of Abdu'l-Bahá. This man and his relatives were the chief agents of an Italian shipping company. When he was informed that Abdu'l-Bahá's life was in danger, he came to the Master in the dead of night and offered to transport Him out of the Holy Land to a safe spot. He even delayed a particular ship's departure for a few days in the hope of rescuing Him. Abdu'l-Bahá took the unusual step of inviting some of the elders of the Bahá'à community in Akka, including the celebrated Haji Mirza Haydar-'Ali, to consult together and give their opinion on this offer. It is amusing to see how Abdu'l-Bahá wanted to test these people and teach them a lesson. The group unanimously decided to advise the Master to accept the offer of the Italian friend and leave the Holy Land for a place of safety. Abdu'l-Bahá looked at them disapprovingly, and reminded them that running away had never been the practice of the Chosen Ones of God. His Lord the Bab had offered up His life, so how could He do otherwise? As a result of this episode, each one of the group recognized his own shortsightedness and lack of understanding of the spirit of the Faith.
Then, one day, late in the afternoon, the members of the Commission of Enquiry boarded their ship in Haifa and headed towards Akka. The sun was setting as the ship sailed closer to the prison city. Everyone in Haifa and Akka was certain that the ship was on its way to take Abdu'l-Bahá on board as a prisoner. In the meantime, Abdu'l-Bahá was calmly pacing the yard in His house, and the believers, extremely perturbed, were nervously watching the approaching ship. Suddenly, to their great relief, the ship changed course, headed out to sea and sailed towards Istanbul.
In one of His Tablets Abdu'l-Bahá states that at that moment the guns of God went into action, removed the chains from the neck of Abdu'l-Bahá and placed them on the neck of Abdu'l-Hamid, the Sultan of Turkey. This was a reference to the ultimate fate of the Sultan, who narrowly escaped death when returning from the mosque on a fateful Friday that same year. A bomb which was meant for him exploded, killing and injuring others, and it was this event which prompted the authorities to recall the members of the Commission. Some months later, the 'Young Turk' Revolutionaries demanded from the Sultan the release of all political prisoners. This was done, and in the summer of 1908 Abdu'l-Bahá was freed. A few months later the tyrannical Sultan Abdu'l-Hamid was deposed. Abdu'l-Bahá's total freedom after forty years of imprisonment thus enabled Him to fulfil one of the most important undertakings of His Ministry, the interment of the remains of the Bab, the Martyr-Prophet of the Faith, in the Shrine built by Him on Mount Carmel.[1]
[1 For more detailed information on this see The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, vol. 3, Appendix 1, also vol. 1, p. 268. ]
In one of His Tablets to the believers in Persia, Abdu'l-Bahá describes some of the events in the Holy Land during this period.
"O ye the cherished loved ones of Abdu'l-Bahá! 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 Bahá'u'lláh, 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[1] 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!
[1 At Bahji.]
"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 Bahá'u'lláh 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-Bahá 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.'[1]
[1 Qur'an 24:39.]
"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...
"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 Bahá'u'lláh may encompass all the earth..." [20-2]
Abdu'l-Bahá's dramatic release from confinement was the greatest blow that the Covenant-breakers had ever sustained in their entire period of opposition of the Master. It signalized the approaching end of their satanic endeavours to uproot from within the very foundations of the Cause of God. Abdu'l-Bahá's prophecy, uttered in 1904, that in four years' time they would become impotent, was thus fulfilled.
During these turbulent and perilous years of incarceration great dangers had faced the Cause of God, and Abdu'l-Bahá had written in many of His Tablets about the sufferings which were inflicted on Him by His faithless brothers in this period. The threat from the Commission of Enquiry was not the only danger. One of the disgraceful accusations made by Mirza Muhammad-'Ali against Abdu'l-Bahá was that Abdu'l-Bahá claimed to be a new Manifestation of God following Bahá'u'lláh. They made a plan to take His life, pointing to the following passage in the Kitab-i-Aqdas as justification:
"Whoso layeth claim to a Revelation direct from God, ere the expiration of a full thousand years, such a man is assuredly a lying imposter. We pray God that He may graciously assist him to retract and repudiate such claim. Should he repent, God will, no doubt, forgive him. If, however, he persisteth in his error, God will, assuredly, send down one who will deal mercilessly with him. Terrible, indeed, is God in punishing!" [20-3]
Abdu'l-Bahá's Will and Testament was penned by Him during these fateful years. In the following passage Abdu'l-Bahá mentions one of the sons of Mirza Muhammad-'Ali, Shu'a'u'llah, as one who was aware of this plan to take His life:
"In like manner, the focal Centre of Hate hath purposed to put Abdu'l-Bahá to death and this is supported by the testimony written by Mirza Shu'a'u'llah himself and is here enclosed. It is evident and indisputable that they are privily and with the utmost subtlety engaged in conspiring against me. The following are his very words written by him in this letter: 'I curse at every moment him that hath kindled this discord, imprecate in these words "Lord! have no mercy upon him" and I hope ere long God will make manifest the one that shall have no pity on him, who now weareth another garb and about whom I cannot any more explain.' Reference he doth make by these words to the sacred verse that beginneth as follows: 'He that layeth a claim ere the passing of a thousand years...' Reflect! How intent they are upon the death of Abdu'l-Bahá! Ponder in your hearts upon the phrase 'I cannot any more explain' and realize what schemes they are devising for this purpose. They fear lest, too fully explained, the letter might fall into alien hands and their schemes be foiled and frustrated. The phrase is only foretelling good tidings to come, namely that regarding this all requisite arrangements have been made." [20-4]
Here too from the Will and Testament are Abdu'l-Bahá's words which speak eloquently of the perils threatening His life:
"O dearly beloved friends! I am now in very great danger and the hope of even an hour's life is lost to me. I am thus constrained to write these lines for the protection of the Cause of God, the preservation of His Law, the safeguarding of His Word and the safety of His Teachings. By the Ancient Beauty! This wronged one hath in no wise borne nor doth he bear a grudge against any one; towards none doth he entertain any ill-feeling and uttereth no word save for the good of the world. My supreme obligation, however, of necessity, prompteth me to guard and preserve the Cause of God. Thus, with the greatest regret, I counsel you saying: — Guard ye the Cause of God, protect His law and have the utmost fear of discord." [20-5]
Surrounded thus by enemies within and without, Abdu'l-Bahá in the Will and Testament now appointed His grandson Shoghi Effendi, who was then a young child, as the Guardian of the Cause. At this same time He also wrote a Tablet [20-6] of great significance to Haji Mirza Muhammad-Taqi, the Vakilu'd-Dawlih, the cousin of the Bab. He was a distinguished believer who was designated by Abdu'l-Bahá as one of the '...four and twenty elders which sat before God on their seats...' mentioned in the Revelation of St John the Divine.[1] In this Tablet He intimates to the Vakilu'd-Dawlih the great dangers which have surrounded His person, and urges him to make arrangements, when and if it becomes necessary, for the election of the Universal House of Justice. To bring this about, He directs him to gather the Afnan[2] and the Hands of the Cause in one place and establish this institution in accordance with the provisions of His Will and Testament.
[1 Revelation, ch. 11. Of the other twenty-three 'elders', only nineteen have been named by 'Abdu'l-Bahá i.e. the Bab and eighteen Letters of the Living.]
[2 The kinsmen of the Bab and those of His wife.]
It is in the same Tablet that He gives the glad-tidings of the progress of the Cause, emphasizes its greatness, foretells the appearance of dire opposition by the nations of the world, and assures its followers of ultimate victory. The following passage is part of this Tablet translated into English by Shoghi Effendi:
"How great, how very great is the Cause! How very fierce the onslaught of all the peoples and kindreds of the earth. Ere long shall the clamour of the multitude throughout Africa, throughout America, the cry of the European and of the Turk, the groaning of India and China, be heard from far and near. One and all, they shall arise with all their power to resist His Cause. Then shall the knights of the Lord, assisted by His grace from on high, strengthened by faith, aided by the power of understanding, and reinforced by the legions of the Covenant, arise and make manifest the truth of the verse: 'Behold the confusion that hath befallen the tribes of the defeated!'" [20-7]
These ominous events, the struggle between the forces of light and darkness, foreshadowed in such clear and unequivocal terms, have not as yet taken place except in the Cradle of the Faith, where the onslaught of the people against the persecuted Bahá'à community has continued from time to time since its birth in 1844. The opposition which, according to the above prophecy is to take place on a universal scale, will have a far greater effect in the promotion of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh than that which past persecutions have ever produced. The Founders of the Faith and the Guardian of the Cause have, in many of their writings, described the dire opposition which the infant Faith of God will encounter from its enemies, both secular and ecclesiastic, prophesying stupendous victories which will be won as a result of this opposition.
In one of His Tablets Bahá'u'lláh states:
"Behold how in this Dispensation the worthless and foolish have fondly imagined that by such instruments as massacre, plunder and banishment they can extinguish the Lamp which the Hand of Divine power hath lit, or eclipse the Day Star of everlasting splendour. How utterly unaware they seem to be of the truth that such adversity is the oil that feedeth the flame of this Lamp! Such is God's transforming power. He changeth whatsoever He willeth; He verily hath power over all things..." [20-8]
The following are the words of Abdu'l-Bahá describing the onslaught of the peoples of the world upon the Faith:
"This day the powers of all the leaders of religion are directed towards the dispersion of the congregation of the All-Merciful, and the shattering of the Divine Edifice. The hosts of the world, whether material, cultural or political are from every side launching their assault, for the Cause is great, very great. Its greatness is, in this day, clear and manifest to men's eyes." [20-9]
Shoghi Effendi has also foreshadowed in many of his writings the advent of severe opposition to the Cause of God on a universal scale. We cite a few passages:
"The resistless march of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh ... propelled by the stimulating influences which the unwisdom of its enemies and the force latent within itself, both engender, resolves itself into a series of rhythmic pulsations, precipitated, on the one hand, through the explosive outbursts of its foes, and the vibrations of Divine Power, on the other, which speed it, with ever-increasing momentum, along that predestined course traced for it by the Hand of the Almighty." [20-10]
"We cannot believe that as the Movement grows in strength, in authority and in influence, the perplexities and the sufferings it has had to contend with in the past will correspondingly decrease and vanish. Nay, as it grows from strength to strength, the fanatical defendants of the strongholds of orthodoxy, whatever be their denomination, realizing the penetrating influence of this growing Faith, will arise and strain every nerve to extinguish its light and discredit its name. For has not our beloved Abdu'l-Bahá sent forth His glowing prophecy from behind the prison walls of the citadel of Akka — words so significant in their forecast of the coming world turmoil, yet so rich in their promise of eventual victory..." [20-11]
"Nor should a survey of the outstanding features of so blessed and fruitful a ministry omit mention of the prophecies which the unerring pen of the appointed Centre of Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant has recorded! These foreshadow the fierceness of the onslaught that the resistless march of the Faith must provoke in the West, in India and in the Far East when it meets the time-honoured sacerdotal orders of the Christian, the Buddhist and Hindu religions. They foreshadow the turmoil which its emancipation from the fetters of religious orthodoxy will cast in the American, the European, the Asiatic and African continents." [20-12]
"For let every earnest upholder of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh realize that the storms which this struggling Faith of God must needs encounter, as the process of the disintegration of society advances, shall be fiercer than any which it has already experienced. Let him be aware that so soon as the full measure of the stupendous claim of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh comes to be recognized by those time-honoured and powerful strongholds of orthodoxy, whose deliberate aim is to maintain their stranglehold over the thoughts and consciences of men, this infant Faith will have to contend with enemies more powerful and more insidious than the cruellest torture-mongers and the most fanatical clerics who have afflicted it in the past. What foes may not in the course of the convulsions that shall seize a dying civilization be brought into existence, who will reinforce the indignities which have already been heaped upon it!" [20-13]
"Fierce as may seem the onslaught of the forces of darkness that may still afflict this Cause, desperate and prolonged as may be that struggle, severe as may be the disappointments it may still experience, the ascendancy it will eventually obtain will be such as no other Faith has ever in its history achieved..." [20-14]
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chapter 19 | start page | single page | chapter 21 | |
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