The kings of Christendom, more specifically, Bahá’u’lláh, in that same
Tablet, censures for having failed to “welcome” and “draw nigh” unto Him
Who is the “Spirit of Truth,” and for having persisted in “disporting”
themselves with their “pastimes and fancies,” and declares to them that
they “shall be called to account” for their doings, “in the presence of
Him Who shall gather together the entire creation.”
He bids Sulṭán ‘Abdu’l-‘Azíz “hearken to the speech ... of Him Who
unerringly treadeth the Straight Path”; exhorts him to direct in person
the affairs of his people, and not to repose confidence in unworthy
ministers; admonishes him not to rely on his treasures, nor to “overstep
the bounds of moderation” but to deal with his subjects with “undeviating
justice”; and acquaints him with the overwhelming burden of His own
tribulations. In that same Tablet He asserts His innocence and His loyalty
to the Sulṭán and his ministers; describes the circumstances of His
banishment from the capital; and assures him of His prayers to God on his
behalf.
To this same Sulṭán He, moreover, as attested by the Súriy-i-Ra’ís,
transmitted, while in Gallipoli, a verbal message through a Turkish
officer named Umar, requesting the sovereign to grant Him a ten minute
interview, “so that he may demand whatsoever he would deem to be a
sufficient testimony and would regard as proof of the veracity of Him Who
is the Truth,” adding that “should God enable Him to produce it, let him,
then, release these wronged ones and leave them to themselves.”
To Napoleon III Bahá’u’lláh addressed a specific Tablet, which was
forwarded through one of the French ministers to the Emperor, in which He
dwelt on the sufferings endured by Himself and His followers; avowed their
innocence; reminded him of his two pronouncements on behalf of the
oppressed and the helpless; and, desiring to test the sincerity of his
motives, called upon him to “inquire into the condition of such as have
been wronged,” and “extend his care to the weak,” and look upon Him and
His fellow-exiles “with the eye of loving-kindness.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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