Chastisement for Rage

Soon after the arrival of Bahá’u’lláh and His party in ‘Akká the Governor visited the barracks for inspection. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, accompanied by a few believers, went to see him. But the Governor was discourteous and spoke to them in a provocative manner. He threatened to cut the supply of bread if one of the prisoners went missing and then ordered them back to their room. One of the Master's attendants could not bear to remain silent after such insulting treatment. He retorted with rage and hurled back at the Governor some offensive remarks. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá immediately chastened His attendant by slapping him hard in the face in front of the Governor and ordering him to return to his room. This action by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá not only defused a dangerous situation but also opened the eyes of the Governor to the existence of a real leader among the prisoners, a leader who would act with authority and justice.

Due to this action the Governor's attitude towards ‘Abdu’l-Bahá changed. He realized that, contrary to the wild rumours circulating in ‘Akká at the time, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and His family were from a noble background, and not criminals as he had been led to believe. The Governor therefore began to act in a more humane way towards the prisoners. He eventually agreed to substitute the allotted ration of bread with a sum of money and allowed a small party of the prisoners, escorted by guards, to visit the markets of ‘Akká daily to buy their provisions.

Source: Annamarie Honnold, Vignettes from the Life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “Chastisement for rage”, pp. 48–49; drawn from Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, vol. 3, who took the incident from the memoirs of the attendant, Ḥusayn-i-Áshchí.

Collected from bahaistories.com (Subject: justice).

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