O thou beloved scion of him that hath been immersed in the ocean of divine forgiveness! A long time hath passed since I last wrote. This hath been due to the numerous occupations that deny me a single free moment and that are, moreover, compounded by woes and trials. Among other things, in these days ‘Abdu’l-Bahá hath once again been confined to prison in ‘Akká by reason of the great mischief stirred up by the people of malice and the lengthy letters teeming with disruptive charges against him that they have dispatched to Constantinople, as well as other devices to which they have resorted and which it is not advisable to mention here. Those who are prey to pride and vainglory had hoped that this calamity would only afflict ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, oblivious that by their actions they shall cast themselves into the pit of everlasting disappointment and misery, and that they too shall suffer imprisonment.
This episode is similar in every respect to that of Yahyá. He too imagined that his sedition would cause harm and injury to the Blessed Beauty. It was for this reason that he sent Siyyid Muhammad to Constantinople and resorted to innumerable ploys and devices, until at last he exposed Bahá’u’lláh to great danger. But as soon as the fire of rebellion blazed, it immediately consumed Yaḥyá’s own home. He was exiled from Adrianople, even before the Blessed Beauty. “They lost both this world and the world to come; and this, verily, is but evident loss.” (cf. Qur’an 22:11)
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From a Tablet; ‘Light of the World’)
