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To the sleeping world, He may have been no more than a prisoner and an exile, but to those who believed in Him, He was their Lord (108:4) The rare qualities which Baha'u'llah possessed are made evident in the story of His life. And about His life, there is wealth of material written. Having appeared in the nineteenth century, Baha'u'llah was exposed to the full glare of history. Unlike the First Coming, in which only certain essential highlights of Christ's life have been recorded, at His Second Coming, virtually all of the moving episodes and countless details of His eventful life are available to those who wish to know Him (108:5) There emerge, in the chronicles of His life, certain overriding themes which reveal His hallowed nature. As a child and youth, He was much beloved and admired for His compassion and innate knowledge. The early years of His adulthood were characterized by philanthropic pursuits which demonstrated the abundance of His heart, and which earned Him the title "Father of the Poor". However, upon receiving the revelation from God to commence His holy mission, new themes emerged: among them, His sacrifice and suffering, and His unwavering fortitude in the Cause of God (108:6) Through all the affliction and hardship which governments and clergy relentlessly inflicted upon Him, in all the situations which presented to Him the real danger of His losing His life, Baha'u'llah never retreated, never sought to hide Himself, never halted. His fearless proclamation of the Message that He had come to deliver was constant
(108:7)
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