The Báb, at the outset of His mission, explicitly prohibited
tobacco, and the friends one and all abandoned its use. But since those were
times when dissimulation was permitted, and every individual who abstained from
smoking was exposed to harassment, abuse and even death—the friends, in order
not to advertise their beliefs, would smoke. Later on, the Book of Aqdas was
revealed, and since smoking tobacco was not specifically forbidden there, the
believers did not give it up. The Blessed Beauty, however, always expressed
repugnance for it, and although, in the early days, there were reasons why He
would smoke a little tobacco, in time He completely renounced it, and those
sanctified souls who followed Him in all things also abandoned its use. (‘Abdu’l-Baha,
‘Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’)
