lamity striketh, be ye patient and composed. However
afflictive your sufferings may be, stay ye undisturbed, and with perfect
confidence in the abounding grace of God, brave ye the tempest of
tribulations and fiery ordeals.

Last year a number of the unfaithful, both from within and from without,
both known to us and strangers, took before the Sultan of Turkey
slanderous charges against these homeless exiles, bringing against us
grave accusations with no basis in fact. The Government, conformably with
prudence, determined to look into these charges, and dispatched a
Commission of Investigation to this city. It is obvious what an
opportunity this afforded our ill-wishers, and what a storm they
unleashed, all this beyond description by tongue or pen. Only one who
witnessed it could know what a turmoil they created and what an earthquake
of anguish was the result. And notwithstanding this, the response was to
depend utterly upon God, and to remain composed, confident,
long-suffering, undisturbed, to such a degree that a person knowing
nothing of the situation would have thought us easy of heart and mind,
perfectly happy, thriving and at peace.

Then it came about that the accusers themselves, those who had made the
defamatory charges against us, joined with the members of the Commission
to investigate the accusations, so that plaintiffs, witnesses and judge
were all one and the same, and the conclusion was foregone. Nevertheless,
to be fair, it must be stated that up to now His Majesty the Sultan of
Turkey hath paid no heed to these false charges, this defamation, these
fables and traducements, and hath acted with justice....

O Thou Provider! Thou hast breathed over the friends in the West the sweet
fragrance of the Holy Spirit, and with the light of divine guidance Thou
hast lit up the western sky. Thou hast made those who were once remote to
draw near unto Thyself; Thou hast turned strangers into loving friends;
Thou hast awakened those who slept; Thou hast made the heedless mindful.

O Thou Provider! Assist Thou these noble friends to win Thy good pleasure,
and make them well-wishers of stranger and friend alike. Bring them into
the world that abideth forever; grant them a portion of heavenly grace;
cause them to be true Baha'is, sincerely of God; save them from outward
semblances, and establish them firmly in the truth. Make them signs and
tokens of the Kingdom, luminous stars above the horizons of this nether
life