Ch.XXVI, p.609, f.1
"We had nothing to do with this odious deed, and Our innocence was
indisputably proved before the tribunals. Nevertheless, they arrested Us
and brought Us to the prison in Tihran, from Niyavaran, which was then
the seat of the royal residence; on foot, in chains, and with bare head and
feet, for a brutal fellow who was accompanying Us on horseback snatched the
hat from Our head, and many executioners and farrashes hurried Us along
with great speed and put Us for four months in a place the like of which
has not been seen. In reality, a dark and narrow cell were far better than
the place where this wronged One and His companions were confined. When We
entered the prison, on arrival, they conducted us along a dismal corridor,
and thence We descended three steep stairs to the dungeon appointed for
Us. The place was dark, and its inmates numbered nearly a hundred and
fifty--thieves, assassins, and highway robbers. Holding such a crowd as
this, it yet had no outlet but the passage through which We entered. The
pen fails to describe this place and putrid stench. Most of the company
had neither clothes to wear nor mat to lie on. God knows what We endured
in that gloomy and loathsome place! By day and by night, in this prison We
reflected on the condition of the Babis and their doings and affairs,
wondering how, notwithstanding their greatness of soul, nobility, and
intelligence, they could be capable of such a deed as this audacious
attempt on the life of the sovereign. Then did this wronged One determine
that, on leaving this prison, He would arise with the utmost endeavour for
the regeneration of these souls. One night, in a dream, this all-glorious
word was heard from all sides: `Verily We will aid Thee to triumph by
Thyself and by Thy pen. Grieve not for that which hath befallen Thee, and
have no fear. Truly Thou art of them that are secure. Ere long shall the
Lord send forth and reveal the treasures of the earth, men who shall give
Thee the victory by Thyself and by Thy name wherewith the Lord hath revived
the hearts of them that know.'" (Baha'u'llah's reference to the
Siyah-Chal in "The Epistle to the Son of the Wolf.") "Abdu'l-Baha,"
writes Dr. J. E. Esslemont, "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." ("Baha'u'llah and the New Era," p. 61.)