Time hath passed, and we all remain confined in these
barracks, notwithstanding that during the five years we dwelt in Adrianople,
all its inhabitants, whether learned or ignorant, rich or poor, bore witness to
the purity and sanctity of these servants. At the time this Youth was departing
from Adrianople, one of the loved ones of God attempted to take his own life,
so unbearable to him was the sight of this Wronged One in the hands of His
oppressors. During the journey we were thrice compelled to change ships, and it
is evident how much the children suffered as a result. Upon disembarking, four
of the believers were separated and prevented from accompanying Us. As this
Youth was leaving, one of the four, named ‘Abdu’l-Ghaffár, cast himself into
the sea, and no one knoweth what befell him thereafter.
All this is but a drop in the ocean of the wrongs that have
been inflicted upon Us, and still ye are not satisfied! The officials enforce
every day a new decree, and no end is in sight to their tyranny. Night and day
they conceive new schemes. They have assigned each prisoner, from the
government storehouse, a daily allowance of three loaves of bread that no one
can eat. From the foundation of the world until the present day a cruelty such
as this hath neither been seen nor heard of.
- Baha’u’llah (From Lawḥ-i-Ra’ís, a
Tablet addressed to ‘Álí Páshá, the Ottoman Prime Minister shortly after
Bahá’u’lláh’s arrival and confinement in ‘Akká; ‘Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)
