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The followers of the Son have awaited the Return of their Beloved throughout the ages with longing hearts, with lifetimes of hope (153:3) In a manner that no one predicted, no one envisioned, and few could have believed, that inevitable hour dawned on a sleeping world (153:4) In the winter of 1848, the town of Amul, on the southern shores of the Caspian Sea, witnessed the arrival of twelve men, prisoners escorted under armed guard. The arrival of these men caused such a turmoil in the town that about four thousand of its inhabitants, wishing to catch a glimpse of them, pressed for position, even crowding onto the rooftops. They wanted to see those who had espoused the new Faith that had caused such upheaval in their country (153:5) One of the prisoners was a Man of noble birth, thirty-one years of age. He possessed outstanding qualities - qualities that made Him the wonder of His countrymen. In knowledge, wisdom, compassion and humility, He had no equal. And all of these qualities He had brought to focus with the utmost energy on the spreading of a new Message, one which held the promise of the new Day of God. As He stood there in the presence of a malevolent congregation clamoring for the death of the prisoners, His end seemed certain. But this was not to be; for He stood not at the end of a short but eventful life, but rather at the very beginning of almost half a century of suffering and triumph in the path of God (153:6) The prisoners had been captured on their way to join their beleaguered companions in a village that lay a few miles to the east. That village, with its surrounding neighborhood, had recently been transformed into a battleground, and was then witnessing a miraculous drama. Approximately three hundred members of an obscure and persecuted "sect", which had appeared some four years previously, had been traveling through the countryside when they were attacked by the area's inhabitants who had been persuaded by the fanatical Muslim clergy that these men wished to bring down all that is good and holy. The victims retreated to a small shrine and made of it a fort for their defense. They were to remain in that fort, under violent siege, for seven months (153:7) Untrained in swordsmanship, horsemanship, or any such skills - for they were, for the most part, students of theology, humble and self-effacing - these were not men of physical prowess. Yet, though weakened by months of hardship and deprivation, at the call "Mount your steeds, O heroes of God!" , they would rush forth into battle and manifested a courage and ability which struck fear among the camp of the enemy and spread ruin among its troops
(153:8)
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