‘Abdu’l-Bahá Keeps the Exiles Together

When ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was about twenty-four years old, the most terrible crisis which Bahá'u'lláh and His family ever had to meet, developed in Adrianople, when once again they were on the eve of banishment. A banishment far more cruel than the three that had preceded it, for now this uniquely united family was to be torn asunder, Bahá'u'lláh sent to a distant city, a secret destination, His wife and children to another secret destination; forever parted, and forever lost, one to the other.

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'Abdu’l-Bahá sought out the officials. Again and again He went to them. What He said has not been recorded--only that "He pleaded", "He persisted", and that the officials "seemed unable to put the measure into execution."

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While this measure was pending, news of it reached the believers of Adrianople and they rushed in a body to the house of Bahá'u'lláh, frantic at the thought of separation from Him. In such a state of agitation and despair one old man seized a knife and crying, "If I must be separated from my Lord, I will go now and join my God," cut his throat.

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A scene of wild confusion followed, during which a cordon of police surrounded the frenzied crowd and attempted brutally to control it.

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It was then that 'Abdu’l-Bahá suddenly appeared in their midst. Juliet Thompson writes of "a lightning flash of power, a superhuman force" in His "impassioned and vehement words", denouncing the cruelty of the police, demanding the presence of the governor.

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In telling the story, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s sister, Bahíyyih Khánum, said: "We had never before seen my brother angry."

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So swift was the effect of this anger that the governor was at once sent for. He hurried to the scene and, witnessing it, said: "We cannot separate these people. It is impossible."

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Thus it was that about seventy devotees were allowed to accompany their Divine Beloved, Bahá’u’lláh, to ‘Akká.

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(Adapted from ‘‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Center of the Covenant’, by Juliet Thompson, World Order, vol. 7, no. 12, March 1942)

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