Nabíl-i-Akbar was the author of a masterly essay
demonstrating the truth of the Cause, but the friends do not have it in hand at
the present time. I hope that it will come to light, and will serve as an
admonition to the learned. It is true that in this swiftly passing world he was
the target of countless woes; and yet, all those generations of powerful
clerics…all of them will disappear without a trace. They will leave no name
behind them, no sign, no fruit. No word will be passed down from any of them;
no man will tell of them again. But because he stood steadfast in this holy
Faith, because he guided souls and served this Cause and spread its fame, that
star, Nabíl, will shine forever from the horizon of abiding light.
It is clear that whatever glory is gained outside the Cause
of God turns to abasement at the end; and ease and comfort not met with on the
path of God are finally but care and sorrow; and all such wealth is penury, and
nothing more.
A sign of guidance, he was, an emblem of the fear of God.
For this Faith, he laid down his life, and in dying, triumphed. He passed by
the world and its rewards; he closed his eyes to rank and wealth; he loosed
himself from all such chains and fetters, and put every worldly thought aside.
Of wide learning, at once a mujtahid, a philosopher, a mystic, and gifted with
intuitive sight, he was also an accomplished man of letters and an orator
without a peer. He had a great and universal mind.
(‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘Memorials of
the Faithful’)
