The Edict of Life Imprisonment

Three days after the arrival of Bahá’u’lláh and His companions in ‘Akká, the edict of the Sulṭán condemning Him to life imprisonment was read out in the Mosque. The prisoners were introduced as criminals who had corrupted the morals of the people. It was stated that they were to be confined in prison and were not allowed to associate with anyone.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá was summoned by the Governor of ‘Akká to hear the contents of the edict. When it was read out to Him that they were to remain in prison for ever, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá responded by saying that the contents of the edict were meaningless and without foundation. Upon hearing this remark, the Governor became angry and retorted that the edict was from the Sulṭán, and he wanted to know how it could be described as meaningless. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá reiterated His comment and explained that it made no sense to describe their imprisonment as lasting for ever, for man lives in this world only for a short period, and sooner or later the captives would leave this prison either dead or alive. The Governor and his officers were impressed by the vision of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and felt easier in His presence.

Some time later, when the Master emerged as the most eminent and the most loved person in ‘Akká and the neighbouring lands, when practically all the people of ‘Akká, both high and low, turned to Him for help, and when the Governors and high officials sought His advice and sat at His feet to receive enlightenment, the edict of the Sulṭán together with other documents relating to the imprisonment of Bahá’u’lláh and His companions were removed from the government files and presented to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá by a government official.

Source: Annamarie Honnold, Vignettes from the Life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “Imprisonment won’t last forever”, p. 155, quoting Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, vol. 3, pp. 18–19.

Collected from bahaistories.com.

Various. *bahaistories.com archive*. https://bahaistories.com/subject/prison-akka