I Shall Not Run Away
bahaistories.com archive · Read original
When in Bahá'í history
At a later period of danger and crisis the Spanish Consul put an Italian freighter at the disposal of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in order that He might escape during the night, but He refused to flee to safety, though the Bahá’ís begged Him to do so. Instead He sent a message to the ship’s captain: ‘The Báb did not run away; Bahá’u’lláh did not run away; I shall not run away . . .’ After three days and nights the freighter departed without the Master.
Source: Annamarie Honnold, Vignettes from the Life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 156; ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s own account is in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in London, and the episode is described in Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, ch. 17.
Collected from bahaistories.com (Subject: courage).
Cite this story
Various. *bahaistories.com archive*. https://bahaistories.com/subject/courage
Record yourself reading this story
Recording stays on this device only. Nothing is uploaded.
Related stories
Corinne True Is Asked to Speak
Before leaving for Minneapolis, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá asked Corinne True to speak about the Faith in public; when she protested that she had no training, He told her to turn her heart wholly toward Him.
Who Would Suspect Me?
During the First World War, when no one could be found to carry a Tablet of 'Abdu'l-Bahá from Haifa to Tihrán, Hájí Ramaḍán, an Arab believer of seventy-five and nearly blind, asked to go, walked there, and came back.
Shots Fired in the Night
In Haifa, where shootings were common, Yúnis Khán secretly followed ‘Abdu’l-Bahá home one night. Three shots rang out, yet the Master walked on at the same pace, quietly praying, and bade him goodbye at His gate.
The Master and the Turkish Commissions
In 1904 and 1907 Ottoman commissions came to 'Akká to investigate false charges against 'Abdu'l-Bahá. He declared Himself ready for any sentence, refused an offer of escape, and went on with His daily life until the 1908 revolution set Him free.