Praise be to Thee, O Lord My God, for the wondrous
revelations of Thy inscrutable decree and the manifold woes and trials Thou
hast destined for Myself. At one time Thou didst deliver Me into the hands of
Nimrod; at another Thou hast allowed Pharaoh’s rod to persecute Me. Thou,
alone, canst estimate, through Thine all-encompassing knowledge and the
operation of Thy Will, the incalculable afflictions I have suffered at their
hands. Again Thou didst cast Me into the prison-cell of the ungodly, for no
reason except that I was moved to whisper into the ears of the well-favored
denizens of Thy Kingdom an intimation of the vision with which Thou hadst,
through Thy knowledge, inspired Me, and revealed to Me its meaning through the
potency of Thy might. And again Thou didst decree that I be beheaded by the
sword of the infidel. Again I was crucified for having unveiled to men’s eyes
the hidden gems of Thy glorious unity, for having revealed to them the wondrous
signs of Thy sovereign and everlasting power. How bitter the humiliations
heaped upon Me, in a subsequent age, on the plain of Karbilá! How lonely did I
feel amidst Thy people! To what a state of helplessness I was reduced in that
land! Unsatisfied with such indignities, My persecutors decapitated Me, and,
carrying aloft My head from land to land paraded it before the gaze of the
unbelieving multitude, and deposited it on the seats of the perverse and
faithless. In a later age, I was suspended, and My breast was made a target to
the darts of the malicious cruelty of My foes. My limbs were riddled with
bullets, and My body was torn asunder. Finally, behold how, in this Day, My
treacherous enemies have leagued themselves against Me, and are continually
plotting to instill the venom of hate and malice into the souls of Thy
servants. With all their might they are scheming to accomplish their
purpose.... Grievous as is My plight, O God, My Well-Beloved, I render thanks
unto Thee, and My Spirit is grateful for whatsoever hath befallen me in the
path of Thy good-pleasure. I am well pleased with that which Thou didst ordain
for Me, and welcome, however calamitous, the pains and sorrows I am made to suffer.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’)