Monday, June 13, 2011

Pilgrimage Day 8: A Most Sacred Trust

"When all was finished, and the earthly remains of the Martyr-Prophet of Shiraz were, at long last, safely deposited for their everlasting rest in the bosom of God's holy mountain, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Who had cast aside His turban, removed His shoes and thrown off His cloak, bent low over the still open sarcophagus, His silver hair waving about His head and His face transfigured and luminous, rested His forehead on the border of the wooden casket, and, sobbing aloud, wept with such a weeping that all those who were present wept with Him. That night He could not sleep, so overwhelmed was He with emotion. 'The most joyful tidings is this,' He wrote later in a Tablet announcing to His followers the news of this glorious victory, 'that the holy, the luminous body of the Báb...after having for sixty years been transferred from place to place, by reason of the ascendancy of the enemy, and from fear of the malevolent, and having known neither rest nor tranquillity has, through the mercy of the Abha Beauty, been ceremoniously deposited, on the day of Naw-Ruz, within the sacred casket, in the exalted Shrine on Mt. Carmel..." - Adib Taherzadeh


On the day His blessed life was stolen
Darkness obscured the skies
A gale of dust stole sight from all eyes
The world itself mourned His unjust demise

Anis, His pure and devoted servant
Gave his life to stand by His side
Glorious the manner in which he died
His head on the breast of his loving Guide

Their remains were thrown outside the city
Their bodies mingled into one
Their faces reflecting the Bountiful Sun
Their journey to burial barely begun

The authorities, wishing to quench the Faith’s flame
Protected the bodies from sight
But still they were stolen in the dead of night
By the lovers of His magnificent light

For sixty long years they journeyed far
The hands of His servants protecting this treasure
Their sacrifices and risks impossible to measure
This hidden mystery their deepest pleasure

Until at last the bodies of these blessed souls
Reached their final resting place
Abdu’l-Bahá with tears streaming down His face
Laid Them to rest under the dome of God’s Grace

The commitment and devotion of these few special souls
Is a blessing and bounty given to this world
For though into the path of danger they were hurled
Their actions saw the banner of our Faith unfurled

Lamp outside Abdu'llah Pasha in which the remains of the Bab were kept
hidden for a number of years. 

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