His Highness, the Supreme [1]—may my life be a sacrifice to
Him! —hath given up His life, and at every moment the Blessed Perfection [2] in
His own life sacrificed hundreds of lives, endured dire calamities and
oppressions. Laden with fetters He was thrown into the dark dungeon, He was
exiled and banished to distant lands and finally passed His days in the Most
Great Prison. Likewise a multitude of friends drank the sweet chalice of
martyrdom and sacrificed soul, possession, family and relatives for the Cause.
How many houses were overthrown! How many residences were pillaged and rapined!
How many magnificent palaces were turned into a desolate tomb! All these
phenomena transpired only that the world of humanity may become a luminous
realm; ignorance be changed into wisdom, human souls become merciful, warfare
and bloodshed be destroyed to their very foundation, and the Kingdom of Peace
become paramount over all men. Now strive ye, that perchance this Beloved of
Hopes appear in the assemblage of the world and this Providence become a
realized fact.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (‘Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, vol. 1’)
[1] The Báb
[2] Baha’u’llah
