In a highly significant prayer, revealed by Bahá’u’lláh in memory of His
son—a prayer that exalts his death to the rank of those great acts of
atonement associated with Abraham’s intended sacrifice of His son, with
the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the martyrdom of the Imám Ḥusayn—we
read the following: “I have, O my Lord, offered up that which Thou hast
given Me, that Thy servants may be quickened, and all that dwell on earth
be united.” And, likewise, these prophetic words, addressed to His
martyred son: “Thou art the Trust of God and His Treasure in this Land.
Erelong will God reveal through thee that which He hath desired.”
After he had been washed in the presence of Bahá’u’lláh, he “that was
created of the light of Bahá,” to whose “meekness” the Supreme Pen had
testified, and of the “mysteries” of whose ascension that same Pen had
made mention, was borne forth, escorted by the fortress guards, and laid
to rest, beyond the city walls, in a spot adjacent to the shrine of Nabí
Ṣáliḥ, from whence, seventy years later, his remains, simultaneously with
those of his illustrious mother, were to be translated to the slopes of
Mt. Carmel, in the precincts of the grave of his sister, and under the
shadow of the Báb’s holy sepulcher.
Nor was this the full measure of the afflictions endured by the Prisoner
of Akká and His fellow-exiles. Four months after this tragic event a
mobilization of Turkish troops necessitated the removal of Bahá’u’lláh and
all who bore Him company from the barracks. He and His family were
accordingly assigned the house of Malik, in the western quarter of the
city, whence, after a brief stay of three months, they were moved by the
authorities to the house of _Kh_avvám which faced it, and from which,
after a few months, they were again obliged to take up new quarters in the
house of Rabí’ih, being finally transferred, four months later, to the
house of Údí _Kh_ammár, which was so insufficient to their needs that in
one of its rooms no less than thirteen persons of both sexes had to
accommodate themselves. Some of the companions had to take up their
residence in other houses, while the remainder were consigned to a
caravanserai named the _Kh_án-i-‘Avámid.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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