July 27, 2017

Baha’u’llah recalls His release from captivity in Ámul

The acting governor of Ámul succeeded in effecting Our release from captivity. Through an opening in the wall that he ordered his men to make, he enabled Us to leave that room, and conducted Us to his house. No sooner were the inhabitants informed of this act than they arose against Us, besieged the governor’s residence, pelted Us with stones, and hurled in Our face the foulest invectives. 
- Bahá’u’lláh  (Cited in ‘The Dawn-Breakers’, by Nabil; translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)

July 20, 2017

Baha’u’llah was freed from temporary imprisonment in a room of a mosque in Ámul but faced very dangerous circumstances

Mark X shows place where opening was made in the wall
Bahá’u’lláh and His companions remained for a time imprisoned in one of the rooms that formed part of the masjid. The acting governor, who was still determined to shield his Prisoner from the assaults of an inveterate enemy, secretly instructed his attendants to open, at an unsuspected hour, a passage through the wall of the room in which the captives were confined, and to transfer their Leader immediately to his home. He was himself conducting Bahá’u’lláh to his residence when a siyyid sprang forward and, directing his fiercest invectives against Him, raised the club which he held in his hand to strike Him. The acting governor immediately interposed himself and, appealing to the assailant, “adjured him by the Prophet of God” to stay his hand. “What!” burst forth the siyyid. “How dare you release a man who is the sworn enemy of the Faith of our fathers?” A crowd of ruffians had meanwhile gathered around him, and by their howls of derision and abuse added to the clamour which he had raised. Despite the growing tumult, the attendants of the acting governor were able to conduct Bahá’u’lláh in safety to the residence of their master, and displayed on that occasion a courage and presence of mind that were truly surprising. 
- Nabil  (‘The Dawn-Breakers’, translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)

July 10, 2017

Baha’u’llah recalls the treatment He received from the divines in Ámul

When … We went to Ámul, such was the turmoil which the people had raised that above four thousand persons had congregated in the masjid [mosque] and had crowded onto the roofs of their houses. The leading mullá of the town denounced Us bitterly. “You have perverted the Faith of Islám,” he cried in his Mázindarání dialect, “and sullied its fame! Last night I saw you in a dream enter the masjid, which was thronged by an eager multitude that had gathered to witness your arrival. As the crowd pressed round you, I beheld, and, lo, the Qá’im [1] was standing in a corner with His gaze fixed upon your countenance, His features betraying great surprise. This dream I regard as evidence of your having deviated from the path of Truth.”

We assured him that the expression of surprise on that countenance was a sign of the Qá’im’s strong disapproval of the treatment he and his fellow-townsmen had accorded Us. He questioned Us regarding the Mission of the Báb. We informed him that, although We had never met Him face to face, yet We cherished, none the less, a great affection for Him. We expressed Our profound conviction that He had, under no circumstances, acted contrary to the Faith of Islám.

The mullá and his followers, however refused to believe Us, and rejected Our testimony as a perversion of the truth. They eventually placed Us in confinement, and forbade Our friends to meet Us. 
- Bahá’u’lláh (Cited in ‘The Dawn-Breakers’, by Nabil)

That which hath touched this Wronged One is beyond compare or equal. We have borne it all with the utmost willingness and resignation, so that the souls of men may be edified, and the Word of God be exalted. While confined in the prison of the Land of Mím (Mázindarán) We were one day delivered into the hands of the divines. Thou canst well imagine what befell Us. 
- Baha’u’llah  (‘Epistle to the Son of the Wolf’)
[1] He who shall arise; the Twelfth Imám, or Mihdí, awaited by Shí‘ah Muslims and expected to inaugurate a new era of righteousness in the world. The Báb declared Himself to be the Qá’im and the Gate to another divine Messenger, “Him Whom God shall make manifest.”