ruined
his life. His relatives and friends turned against him, finding a new
excuse to hound him with every passing day. Finally he broke up his home,
took his family and fled to Adrianople. He reached there during the close
of the Adrianople period and was taken prisoner by the oppressors.

Along with us homeless wanderers, and under the protection of the Ancient
Beauty, he came to the Most Great Prison and was a confidant and
companion, sharing with us the calamities and tribulations, humble and
long-enduring. Afterward, when the restrictions were somewhat relaxed, he
engaged in trade, and through the bounty of Baha'u'llah was comfortable
and at peace. But his body had become enfeebled from the earlier
hardships, and all the suffering, and his faculties had deteriorated; so
that ultimately he fell ill, beyond hope of a remedy; and not far from
Baha'u'llah, and shadowed by His protection, he hastened away from this
least of worlds to the high Heavens, from this dark place to the land of
lights. May God immerse him in the waters of forgiveness; may He bring him
into the gardens of Paradise, and there keep him safe forevermore. His
pure dust rests in Akka.

QULAM-'ALIY-I-NAJJAR

This man, a carpenter and a master craftsman, came from Ka_sh_an. For
faith and certitude, he was like a sword drawn from the scabbard. He was
well known in his own city as a man righteous, true and worthy of trust.
He was high-minded, abstemious and chaste. When he became a believer, his
urgent longing to meet Baha'u'llah could not be stilled; full of joyous
love, he went out of the Land of Kaf (Ka_sh_an) and traveled to 'Iraq,
where he beheld the splendor of the rising Sun.

He was a mild man, patient, quiet, mostly keeping to himself. In
Ba_gh_dad, he worked at his craft, was in touch with the friends, and
sustained by the presence of Baha'u'llah. For some time he lived in utter
happiness and peace. Then those who had been taken prisoner were sent away
to Mosul, and he was among the victims and like them exposed to the wrath
of the oppressors. He remained in captivity for quite a while and when
freed came to Akka. Here too he was a friend to the prisoners and in the
Fortress he continued to practice his skill. As usual he was inclined to
solitude, apt to stay apart from friend and stranger alike, and much of
the time lived by himself.

Then the supreme ordeal, the great desolation, came upon us. Qulam-'Ali
took on the carpentry