…it hath been recorded in the “Káfí,” in the tradition of
Jabír, in the “Tablet of Fátimih,” concerning the character of the Qá’im:
“He shall manifest the perfection of Moses, the splendour of
Jesus, and the patience of Job. His chosen ones shall be abased in His day.
Their heads shall be offered as presents even as the heads of the Turks and the
Daylamites. They shall be slain and burnt. Fear shall seize them; dismay and
alarm shall strike terror into their hearts. The earth shall be dyed with their
blood. Their womenfolk shall bewail and lament. These indeed are my friends!”
Consider, not a single letter of this tradition hath
remained unfulfilled. In most of the places their blessed blood hath been shed;
in every city they have been made captives, have been paraded throughout the
provinces, and some have been burnt with fire. And yet no one hath paused to
reflect that if the promised Qá’im should reveal the law and ordinances of a
former Dispensation, why then should such traditions have been recorded, and
why should there arise such a degree of strife and conflict that the people
should regard the slaying of these companions as an obligation imposed upon
them, and deem the persecution of these holy souls as a means of attaining unto
the highest favour?
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Kitab-i-Iqan’)
