I testify that, verily, thou hast believed in God, thou hast become assured of the Verses of God, thou hast trusted in the appearance of the Kingdom of God, thou hast turned unto God, thou hast kept firm in the Covenant of God, thou hast served the Cause of God, thou hast endeavored to promote the Word of God, and thou hast suffered martyrdom in the path of God. May the soul of men be a sacrifice to thee!
Blessed is the land which is reddened by thy blood! Blessed is the heart which is burnt with the fire of thine afflictions! Blessed is the eye which weeps over thy disaster! Blessed are the hearts which are consumed by thy calamities! Blessed are the bosoms which are rent asunder by thy sufferings!
Praise be unto thee! Exaltation be unto thee! Faithfulness be unto thee! O thou sign of guidance and thou standard of great martyrdom!
O that the bullets which shot thee were shot at the breast of ‘Abdu’l-Baha! O that the darts which pierced thee would strike the heart of ‘Abdu’l-Baha! By the might of my Lord, afflictions are much more favored by ‘Abdu’l-Baha than the honey of life, inasmuch as this cup is overflowing with the gift of God.
Blessed is the one who attaineth to visit thy grave! Blessed is the forehead which is set against thy tomb! Blessed is the man who serves thy sepulchre! Blessed is the person who lights a lamp at thy resting-place!
I beg of God to cause spheres of light to descend upon thy sepulchre and the clouds of mercy to shower rains of forgiveness upon thy resting-place and tomb!
Verily, He is the Compensator, the Beneficent, the Giver!
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (‘Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, vol. 2)
[1] For recitation when visiting the tomb of his honor Reza, of Isfand-Abad, Iran, a famous and valiant man who suffered martyrdom in 1901. The chief religious magistrate of the locality commissioned a number of men to enter his home at night and they shot him to death.
