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Better Conditions
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1 |
"After two years of the strictest confinement
permission was granted me to find a house so that
we could live outside the prison walls but still
within the fortifications. Many believers came
from Persia to join us but they were not allowed to
do so. Nine years passed. Sometimes we were
better off and sometimes very much worse. It
depended on the governor, who, if he happened to
be a kind and lenient ruler, would grant us
permission to leave the fortification, and would
allow the believers free access to visit the house;
but when the governor was more rigorous, extra
guards were placed around us, and often pilgrims
who had come from afar were turned away."
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2 |
I learned, afterwards, from a Persian, who,
during these troublous times, was a member of
`Abdu'l-Bahá's household, that the Turkish
government could not credit the fact that the
interest of the English and American visitors was
purely spiritual and not political. Often these
pilgrims were refused permission to see him, and,
many times, the whole trip from America would
be rewarded merely by a glimpse of `Abdu'l-Bahá
from his prison window.
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3 |
The Government thought that the tomb of the
Báb, an imposing building on Mount Carmel,
was a fortification erected with the aid of
American money, and that it was being armed
and garrisoned secretly. Suspicion grew with each
new arrival, resulting in extra spies and guards.
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