.
.
Baha'u'llah
was in Tehran
when the Bab declared His Mission to His first disciples in
Shiraz ;
but
the new Message reached Baha'u'llah through the Bab's
first disciple, and He
accepted
it without the least hesitation though He had never met the
Bab
Himself.
He was then twenty-seven.
.
Having
identified Himself with the cause of the Bab, Baha'u'llah arose to promulgate
its teachings and share the sufferings of its followers. Before long, all
His possessions were confiscated, and He Himself was thrown into an underground
dungeon called " The Black
pit
" where one hundred and fifty murderers and
highway robbers were imprisoned and where the only opening was the door
through which they entered. In this foul place, Baha'u'llah spent four
months, and the heavy chains which He bore on His neck left their mark
on His body to the end of His days.
.
Yet
it was in this gloomy dungeon that Baha'u'llah became fully aware of the
revelation which was to flow through Him to the rest of mankind. The gentle
Bab had been martyred, and
many
thousands of His followers had by now laid down their lives for the new
Cause.
The
few who remained, homeless and broken-hearted, were being hunted
down
by
their cruel enemies. But Baha'u'llah knew that the blood of
the martyrs
had
watered the mighty tree of God's Cause and that nothing could
stopits
growth until it had gathered all the peoples of
the
world under its shadow.
,
After
four months, when He was so ill that they thought He would die, Baha'u'llah
was released from the dungeon but banished from His native land. So great
was the love He had created
in
the hearts of His friends that a number of them voluntarily went into exile
with Him. His
young
wife and two of His children also shared this banishment. The third child
had
to
be left behind with friends. He was so young that no one thought he could
endure
the rigours of the long and dreadful journey ahead of the,
through
snow-bound mountains in the heart of winter
with
no proper clothing or food.
..
...
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