April 2, 1914
Holy Land
Holy Land
Friends, the time is coming when I shall be no longer with
you. I have done all that could be done. I have served the Cause of Baha’u’llah
to the utmost of my ability. I have labored night and day all the years of my
life.
O how I long to see the believers shouldering the
responsibilities of the Cause! This is the time of the proclamation of the
Kingdom of Abha! This is the hour of Union and Accord! This is the day of the
spiritual harmony of the friends of God! All the resources of my physical
strength are exhausted and the spirit of my life is the news of the Unity of
the people of Baha. I am straining my ears toward the East and toward the West,
toward the North and toward the South, perchance I might hear the songs of love
and good fellowship raised from the meetings of the believers. My days are
numbered, and save this there is no joy left for me.
O how I yearn to see the friends united like unto a strand
of shining pearls like the brilliant Pleiades, like the rays of the sun and the
gazelles of one meadow! The nightingale of significance is singing for them;
will they not listen? The bird of paradise is warbling; will they not heed? The
Angel of the Kingdom of Abha is calling to them; will they not hearken? The
Messenger of the Covenant is pleading; will they not obey?
Ah me! I am waiting, waiting to hear the glad news that the
believers are the embodiment of sincerity and loyally, that they are the
incarnation of love and amity and the visible symbols of unity and concord!
Will they not rejoice my heart? Will they not satisfy my cravings? Will they
not comply with my request? Will they not fulfill my anticipations? Will they
not answer my tall?
I am waiting. I am patiently waiting!
- ‘Abdu’l-Bha (‘Diary
of Ahmad Sohrab’; Star of the West, vol. 5, no. 7, July 13, 1914)
