O my well-beloved daughter of the Kingdom! The letter thou
hadst written to Dr. Esslemont was forwarded by him to the Land of Desire [The
Holy Land]. I read it all through with the greatest attention. On the one hand,
I was deeply touched, for thou hadst sheared off those fair tresses of thine
with the shears of detachment from this world and of self-sacrifice in the path
of the Kingdom of God. And on the other, I was greatly pleased, for that
dearly-beloved daughter hath evinced so great a spirit of self-sacrifice as to
offer up so precious a part of her body in the pathway of the Cause of God.
Hadst thou sought my opinion, I would in no wise have
consented that thou shouldst shear off even a single thread of thy comely and
wavy locks; nay, I myself would have contributed in thy name for the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár.
This deed of thine is, however, an eloquent testimony to thy noble spirit of
self-sacrifice. Thou hast, verily, sacrificed thy life and great will be the
spiritual results thou shalt obtain. Rest thou confident that day by day thou
shalt progress and wax greater in firmness and in constancy. The bounties of
Bahá’u’lláh shall compass thee about and the joyful tidings from on high shall
time and again be imparted unto thee. And though it be thine hair that thou
hast sacrificed, yet thou shalt be filled with the Spirit, and though it be
this perishable member of thy body which thou hast laid down in the path of
God, yet thou shalt find the Divine Gift, shalt behold the Celestial Beauty,
obtain imperishable glory and attain unto everlasting life.
(‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’)
(‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’)
