fate, they
considered themselves the most fortunate of men in being privileged to
receive this new and glorious Revelation and to spend their lives or shed
their blood testifying to its truth. Well might their hearts sing with
joy, for they believed that God, the Supreme, the Eternal, the Beloved,
had spoken to them through human lips, had called them to be His servants
and friends, had come to establish His Kingdom upon earth and to bring the
priceless boon of Peace to a warworn, strife-stricken world.

Such was the faith inspired by Baha'u'llah. He announced His own mission,
as the Bab had foretold that He would, and, thanks to the devoted labors
of His great Forerunner, there were thousands ready to acclaim His
Advent--thousands who had shaken off superstitions and prejudices, and were
waiting with pure hearts and open minds for the Manifestation of God's
Promised Glory. Poverty and chains, sordid circumstances and outward
ignominy could not hide from them the Spiritual Glory of their Lord--nay,
these dark earthly surroundings only served to enhance the brilliance of
His real Splendor.

CHAPTER 4: 'ABDU'L-BAHA: THE SERVANT OF BAHA

When the ocean of My presence hath ebbed and the Book of My Revelation is
ended, turn your faces towards Him Whom God hath purposed, Who hath
branched from this Ancient Root.--BAHA'U'LLAH, Kitab-i-Aqdas.

Birth and Childhood

Abbas Effendi, Who afterwards assumed the title of 'Abdu'l-Baha (i.e.
Servant of Baha), was the eldest son of Baha'u'llah. He was born in Tihran
before midnight on the eve of the 23rd of May, 1844,(20) the very same
night in which the Bab declared His mission.

He was nine years of age when His father, to Whom even then He was
devotedly attached, was thrown into the dungeon in Tihran. A mob sacked
their house, and the family were stripped of their possessions and left in
destitution. 'Abdu'l-Baha tells how one day He was allowed to enter the
prison yard to see His beloved father when He came out for His daily
exercise. Baha'u'llah was terribly altered, so ill He could hardly walk,
His hair and beard unkempt, His neck galled and swollen from the pressure
of a heavy steel collar, His body bent by the weight of His chains, and
the sight made a never- to-be-forgotten impression on the mind of the
sensitive boy.

During the first year of their residence in Ba_gh_dad, ten years before
the open Declaration by Baha'u'llah of His Mission, the keen insi