Pilgrims Beyond the Third Moat

In Chapter 3 of Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, J. E. Esslemont describes the first years of Bahá'u'lláh's imprisonment in 'Akká. At that time 'Akká was a prison city to which the worst criminals were sent from all parts of the Turkish Empire. Bahá'u'lláh and His followers, about eighty to eighty-four men, women and children, were confined in the army barracks. For over two years none of them were allowed outside the prison door, except four men, carefully guarded, who went out daily to buy food.

During the imprisonment in the barracks, Esslemont writes, visitors were rigidly excluded. Some believers came all the same:

Several of the Bahá'ís of Persia came all the way on foot for the purpose of seeing their beloved leader, but were refused admittance within the city walls. They used to go to a place on the plain outside the third moat, from which they could see the windows of Bahá'u'lláh's quarters. He would show Himself to them at one of the windows and after gazing on Him from afar, they would weep and return to their homes, fired with new zeal for sacrifice and service.

Esslemont goes on to record that the imprisonment was later eased. When the barracks were needed for Turkish troops, Bahá'u'lláh and His family were moved to a house by themselves, and from the time they left the barracks visitors were allowed to see them.

A retelling based on Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era by J. E. Esslemont (Chapter 3, “Imprisonment in Akká”). For the fuller account, see the original.

Esslemont, J. E.. (1923). *Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era*. George Allen & Unwin. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19241