…His Holiness the Christ sayeth: “Everything which hath
happened in the cycles of the former prophets will certainly occur again in
these days.” Consider ye! What calumny, slander, cruelty and oppression were
brought down upon the apostles by the Israelites for the sake of faith and
assurance! They unlocked the hands of pillage, persecuted and tortured those
sanctified souls. Therefore, there is no doubt but that you will become
afflicted with trial, calamity and oppression in the path of the Beauty of
Abha. These trials are the essence of bestowal and pure bounty and the proofs
of your acceptance in the Threshold of Oneness. Consequently, when the fire of
trials is ignited, celebrate ye in joy, dance with overflowing emotions and be
ye happy that—praise be to God!—ye have become the target of contempt in the
path of the Beauty of Abha and are hated by the people of passion and desire. - ‘Abdu’l-Baha (‘Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, vol. 2)
