In the year 1908, the despotism of the Ottoman rulers came to an end, and `Abdu'l-Bahá found His freedom. The next year on Naw-Rúz Day—March 21st—in a vault beneath the building which He had raised with undaunted resolution and with heart-ache, He deposited the casket containing the remains of the Báb within a marble sarcophagus, the gift of the Bahá'ís of Rangoon. Nearly forty years later, Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith, undertook to adorn the Shrine of the Báb with a superstructure, both strong and beautiful, crowned with a golden dome. Today it shines dazzlingly in the heart of Mount Carmel—the Mountain of God—a spiritual home for a flourishing world community and a beacon of hope for the whole of mankind.
APPENDIX I
THE SIEGE OF KARBILÁ
The best and fullest account of the upheavals in Karbilá is contained in a sixty-six-page dispatch from Lt.-Col. Farrant, the British Special Commissioner, to Sir Stratford Canning (later Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe), the British Ambassador in Istanbul.[1] His description of the position and the condition of Karbilá is particularly worthy of note:
"The town of Kerbella is situated about four hours distance from the right bank of the Euphrates on the confines of the Syrian desert, south south west of Bagdad about 55 miles distant, and is about 1-3/4 miles in circumference, surrounded by a brick wall about 24 feet high with twenty nine bastions each of which is capable of containing one gun—it contains 3400 houses of a very inferior description; the houses closely crowded together approach within three yards of the wall—the streets are very narrow, the tops of the houses are surrounded by a brick parapet and can be fired from without exposure, it has six gates three of which are very small—The tomb of Imaum Hossein is a fine building and stands nearly in the centre of the town, that of his brother Abbas in the South East quarter about two hundred and fifty yards from the Najif gate. The town is surrounded by gardens which approach close to the walls, leaving only a small footpath. The gardens are filled with huge date trees, intersected with numerous ditches, and extend to some distance from the town which is not perceptible until you are close under the walls. Its strength consists in its situation, but it appeared to me that a few good troops ought to be able to take it in a short time. The houses mostly belonged to Persians who have left their country and settled there for generations. Many of the rich men in Persia have houses and land there, that in time of need they may have a safe place of refuge, or wishing in their old age to retire to a place held in such veneration by them—
'The population varies from ten thousand to twenty thousand and eighty thousand, it is always fluctuating, and I was informed that during the time the pilgrims arrive, the streets are almost impassable—The houses are mostly divided into several small courts, occasionally one hundred persons are crowded into one of these houses, which to outward appearance could with difficulty contain half that number—The poorer pilgrims take up their abodes in the Courts of the Mosques—
'The working classes at Kerbella viz Bakers small shopkeepers day labourers &c. were all Persians.'
Najíb Páshá had warned the Persian, the British and the French Agents that he intended to attack Karbilá. In a long letter addressed to the Persian Agent in Baghdád dated Shavvál 16th 1258 (November 18th 1842), he had, after detailing the history of the rebellion in Karbilá and its consequences, uttered this clear warning:
'Being, however, near the shrines of Ali & Hoosein [Ḥusayn] I thought it my duty to visit them; with this auspicious determination I proceeded thither, when the rebel above named [Ibráhím Za`farání][FR] declared that if I came with troops he would not permit my entrance; and I ascertained that he had also prepared the means of opposition. To withdraw in this position of affairs from my publickly announced purpose was a difficult step; & should the report of it spread abroad, it might, God forbid, affect the whole order of government, the rejection, too, of the petitions of loyal & suffering subjects, who are the most sacred charge of the deity to us, is contrary to all the rules & requirements of justice; I therefore, determined to proceed, under the Imperial shadow, and the aid of the Almighty to the punishment of the rebels, as a warning example to his equals; & if, as I hear, he is prepared for resistance he shall submit to my entrance by force. There are many subjects of Iran in the town alluded to; let there hereafter be no claims, on the part of that high power, in behalf of these persons; let them come out with their children, families and property ... in fact they must not be in that town in the hour of hostility, as this is quite inconsistent with the state of the town & place. You must therefore in compliance with your duty in such cases, without delay, inform, all those whom it may concern, of these facts; for which friendly aid this letter is written and despatched; and, please God you will doubtless thus act on the receipt thereof, & without delay favour me with a reply to the same.'[2]