Bahá’u’lláh’s intention to throw in His lot with the
defenders of the fort of Shaykh Tabarsí was destined to remain unfulfilled.
Though Himself extremely desirous to lend every possible assistance in His
power to the besieged, He was spared, through the mysterious dispensation of
Providence, the tragic fate that was soon to befall the chief participators in
that memorable struggle. Had He been able to reach the fort, had He been
allowed to join the members of that heroic band, how could He have played His
part in the great drama which He was destined to unfold? How could He have
consummated the work that had been so gloriously conceived and so marvellously
inaugurated? He was in the heyday of His life when the call from Shíráz reached
Him. At the age of twenty-seven, He arose to consecrate His life to its
service, fearlessly identified Himself with its teachings, and distinguished
Himself by the exemplary part He played in its diffusion. No effort was too
great for the energy with which He was endowed, and no sacrifice too woeful for
the devotion with which His faith had inspired Him. He flung aside every consideration
of fame, of wealth, and position, for the prosecution of the task He had set
His heart to achieve. Neither the taunts of His friends nor the threats of His
enemies could induce Him to cease championing a Cause which they alike regarded
as that of an obscure and proscribed sect.
- Nabil (‘The Dawn-Breakers’,
translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)
