They did not cover before him. Afterwards the ladies
told me something of his history. He was imprisoned for fourteen years
during the time of the persecution. At one time, when he was being
transferred from one prison to another, many days' journey away, he
and his fellow-prisoner, another Bahai, were carried on donkeys, head
downwards, with their feet and hands secured. Haydar 'Ali laughed and
sang gaily. So they beat him unmercifully, and said, "Now, will you
sing?" But he answered them that he was more glad than before, since
he had been given the pleasure of enduring something for the sake of
God.
'He never married, and in Akka was one of the most constant and loved
companions of Baha-'ullah. I remarked upon his cheerful appearance,
and added, "But all you Bahais look happy." Mirza Haydar 'Ali said:
"Sometimes we have surface troubles, but that cannot touch our
happiness. The heart of those who belong to the Malekoot (Kingdom of
God) is like the sea: when the wind is rough it troubles the surface
of the water, but two metres down there is perfect calm and
clearness."'
The preceding passage is by Miss E. S. Stevens (_Fortnightly
Review_, June 1911). A friend, who has also been a guest in Abdul
Baha's house, tells me that Haydar 'Ali is known at Akka as 'the
Angel.'
ABDUL BAHA (ABBAS EFFENDI)
The eldest son of Baha-'ullah is our dear and venerated Abdul Baha
('Servant of the Splendour'), otherwise known as Abbas Effendi.
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