November 7, 1912Home of Mrs. Parsons, Washington, D. C.
Although this evening I feel quite fatigued, yet now that I
am face to face with you I suddenly feel animated; therefore I shall speak to
you.
Consider events in the Balkans today, where a great
conflagration is furiously raging and so much blood is being shed. You can say
the whole world of humanity is virtually lamenting and mourning because of the
revival of this warfare Governments are in the process of change and
transformation. The sovereignty of the Orient at large is tottering; it is
subjet to the greatest uncertainty. I desire, therefore, to touch upon this
subject.
Most especially do I wish to touch upon the phases of this
war which Baha’u’llah prophesied forty years ago fully and completely. He
addressed a letter to the sultan of Turkey during his exile and while he was
under surveillance in the prison of Akka. He likewise addressed epistles to
Napoleon III and to the Shah of Persia. All these letters which he sent to the
crowns heads of the earth were compiled in a book which was published thirty-five
years ago in Bombay, India.
It was published years ago. There are several editions of
the book. The first edition was about thirty-five years ago, and another
twenty-two years ago. I have with me a copy of the edition of twenty-two years
ago.
Professor E. G. Browne, of Cambridge University, wrote a
book detailing therein his visit to Akka. He followed that first work by
another wherein he quoted extracts from these Tablets or Letters, some of which
have been translated into English and are to be found in the libraries. You can
look them up in your library here. I thought some of the friends possessed
copies of these. Some had copies, but they have passed them on from hand to
hand until no one knows where these copies are. Inasmuch as they are published
in London you can all secure copies. When you get copies, carefully peruse
these extracts, in order that you may see the remarkable statements of these
tablets.
In brief, in His words addressed to the Sultan of Turkey He
says: "Verily, because of your oppression against the subjects who dwell
in your land, and because of your great tyranny in governing, erelong your
government will undergo change, and soon you shall be dethroned and Rumelia
will be taken out of Turkey or conquered. It will be occupied by others. And in
Constantinople there shall come a reign of terror, to such a degree that women
will be mourning and wailing, children will be crying, men lamenting, and the
cries of these will reach unto heaven."
I wish therefore to read certain parts of this book, citing
the very words which Baha'u'llah uttered in that connection. They will be
translated to you. The third edition was published in Bombay twenty two-years
ago. The date is 1308 A. H. about twenty two-years according to your calendar.
The western calendar is different from the east.
(Reading): "O thou King (literally president) verily
thou hast committed that whereat the prophet Muhammad mourns and laments in His
delectable paradise! Verily the glory of this earth bath made thee haughty
because thou hast turned thy face toward the countenance wherefrom light
radiates towards all the denizens of the earth. Ere long thou shalt find
thyself in the most great loss. Thou has united with the King of Persia, the
Shah, in exercising oppression toward Me; even after I cry towards ye from the
dawning point of Majesty and Might with a Command which has illumined the eyes
of the near ones. Verity this is the day wherein fire declares in all the
things." (This is an Arabic text; you must know there are many such
similes in Arabic. "Fire'' refers here to the fire in the "bush"
seen by Moses.)
''Verily it declares that the Beloved of the world hath
appeared, and in the estimation of all things there is a declaration that the
Interlocutor of the wise hath appeared, and they are ready to hearken to the
Word of the generous and wise. Hast thou imagined that thou canst extinguish a
light ignited by God? No verily, by His might and power! By that which thou
hast committed, that is to say the persecutions, its volume has been increased
and its ignition has augmented, and ere long it will spread and set aglow the
denizens of the earth. Even so hath the matter been accomplished, and nothing
upon the earth nor in heaven can withstand the onward march of this command."
(This is the prophecy:) "Ere long there shall come a
change of affairs; a revolution in the land of mystery, Adrianople, and in its
environment (Rumelia) and it will go out of the hand of the King. There shall
be a great quaking and be wailing, and revolution and corruption will be
witnessed everywhere. In all parts of Rumelia affairs will undergo
transformation because of that which hath befallen the captives. (Referring to
Baha'u'llah and His party) Verily that government will change, and things will
be straightened, and there will be lamentation even of the infants; lamentation
to the extent that stones and clay will lament in Constantinople, and even
trees and inanimate objects will bemoan and lament. Blood will be spilled in
that land, and thou shalt find the people in a great turmoil and trouble.
“Did the Pharaohs withstand the power of the sovereignty of
God while they existed upon the earth and when they were of the oppressors?
Verily we caused the Interlocutor (Moses) to appear from the house of Pharaoh
even to express the great power of God. And recall the time when Nimrod ignited
the fire to burn the Friend of God (Abraham) Verily the oppressors have ever
exercised a ferocity or oppression toward the wronged ones, endeavoring to
exterminate the light of God and extinguish the flame of life.
“We have caused the command to be issued in the countries
and we have caused His mission to be proclaimed amongst the unitarians. Verily
this youth hath come to unify the denizens of the earth; all of them. Ere long
God, through His power, will conquer, and thou shalt find the earth a
delectable paradise of Abha. Even so hath this matter been recorded upon a
mighty Tablet with the strong pen of God."
Many are the other prophecies in this book; especially to
the Shah of Persia, all of which prophecies have come to pass. They are lengthy
and we have not time to quote them.
The purpose of this citation is that Baha’u’llah great
endeavor in the east was to unify these people, to cause them to agree, to
reconcile them one with the other, thereby to manifest the oneness of the world
of humanity, to prepare the way for international peace, and to have all enjoy
composure and welfare. But they have not hearkened to the summons of
Baha'u'llah. Nay rather, both the Persian and Turkish governments arose against
His Cause, and the result is that the governments of Persia and Turkey have
both gone to pieces. Whereas had they heard His commands and received His
admonitions, both of these countries would have been protected. They would have
been in the utmost joy and happiness. They would have exercised fellowship
together. They would have availed themselves of the wonderful power of love and
unity. They would have been well pleased with each other. They would have dwelt
in the delectable paradise.
But alas! The commands and behests of the Blessed One have
not been listened unto. Nay rather, day after day they have followed their own
devices, until now this fire is raging most furiously.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Star of
the West, vol. 6, no. 2, April 9, 1915)