O thou dear friend! Thy letter, filled with sighs of grief, was read with the utmost sorrow. Thou hast indeed fallen into grave difficulties and hast endured extreme hardships. But this year of great calamity hath encompassed all of Persia—nay, it hath enveloped the whole world. As attested by the poet, “No thorn is there that is not crimsoned by the martyrs’ blood.” [1]
‘Abdu’l-Bahá hath also been thy partner and associate in this regard. In Paris, while, on the one hand, each noble soul brought joy to our hearts, on the other, great difficulties arose as a result of attacks by small-minded individuals. In London some of the clergy hurled such assaults upon us as are impossible to describe. Wert thou to read the Churchman, thou wouldst know what things have come to pass. [2] But ‘Abdu’l-Bahá payeth no heed whatsoever to any ordeal, difficulty, or adversity. Nay, rather, he regardeth adversity to be, at times, the same as bounty itself. For forty years the prison-city of ‘Akká was for him a heavenly paradise, and he saw the early days of that imprisonment, which were its most severe, as a garden of roses.
Thou too must be my companion, and abandon not the arena in the face of afflictions and calamities. Thou must not merely refrain from complaining, but must rather be thankful. One day in Baghdad, the Blessed Beauty—may my soul be offered up for His servants—addressing us, uttered this verse:
Either speak no more of love, or content thyself with what hath been ordained;
Thus hath it been decreed by My command, and such is My law and My way. [3]
At that instant, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá understood what was expected of him.
And now, through His infinite favours, I hope that days as sweet as honey may once again return. Grieve not, neither sorrow nor repine. “Forsake all complaint and tend to the flock.” [4] My wish for thee is that, by the favour of the Blessed Beauty, thou mayest find ease of heart and soul. The Glory of Glories rest upon thee.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (‘Light of the World’)
[1] Cf. poem by Naẓírí Nishápúrí.
[2] English Churchman, a Protestant newspaper, had published articles opposing the Faith, including one by Rev. Peter Z. Easton on 20 September 1911.
[3] Cf. Qaṣídiy-i-Varqá’íyyih, an ode revealed by Bahá’u’lláh in Kurdistan.
[4] Cf. Rúmí.
