The greatest proof of Baha’u’llah — may my life be a ransom to Him — consists in the fact that He was always manifest and evident under all conditions and circumstances. He was never concealed nor was He disguised for one day. In Persia, in Bagdad, in Constantinople, in Adrianople and in the Most Great prison, Baha’u’llah ever withstood the persecutions of the enemies and kept His own ground in the face of all the world. He never attempted to protect or shield Himself for one second. Before all nations and all religions He proclaimed His Cause and declared His teachings. The foes were resisting the spread of the cause with the greatest hostility and His blessed breast was the target for an hundred thousand arrows. It is revealed in the Visiting Tablet:
“I bear witness that the eye of creation hath never gazed upon one wronged like Thee. Thou wast immersed all the days of Thy life beneath an ocean of tribulations. At one time Thou wast in chains and fetters; at another Thou wast threatened by the sword of Thine enemies.”
Continually He was threatened with the darts and javelins of the adversaries. He cried out:
“We have burned away the veil and the shroud and are enkindled with the fire of love. Like the candle We are set aglow and like the Beloved We are ever present in the gathering of the lovers.”
It is well-nigh beyond belief that notwithstanding all these dangers, Baha’u’llah was protected. The condition was like that of a deer: although surrounded by a hundred thousand hounds, attacking it from every side, yet protected by an invisible power.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha recorded by Mirza Ahmad Sohrab, His secretary and translator from 1912 to 1919; Star of the West, vol. 3, no. 4, May 17, 1916)