By 1 May ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was finally well enough to travel to Paris.
Before leaving, He met the Stuttgart Bahá’ís in groups at His hotel. On one
memorable occasion, He was looking out of his hotel window when he saw a
regiment of soldiers marching by. He said:
They are ready to fight for their
fatherland. How barbarous it seems to send men who do not even know each other,
to the battlefield in order to shoot each other down. The Bahai Grand Army
consists of the invisible angels of the Supreme Concourse. Our swords are the
words of love and life. Our armaments are the invisible armaments of Heaven. We
are fighting against the forces of darkness. O my soldiers, my beloved
soldiers! Forward! Forward! Have no fear of defeat; do not have failing hearts.
Our supreme commander is Baha’o’llah. From the heights of glory he is directing
this dramatic engagement. He commands us! Rush forward! Rush forward! Show the
strength of your arms. Ye shall scatter the forces of ignorance. Your war
confers life; their war brings death. Your war is the cause of the illumination
of all mankind. Your war means victory upon victory. Their war is defeat upon
defeat. Their war is the origin of destruction. There are no dangers before
you. Push forward! Fire! Fire! . . .[i]
Just over a year later the conflagration of
war would engulf the whole of Europe.
[i] Star of the West, vol. VII, no. 16 (31 December 1916), p. 157;
a slightly different version is in Star
of the West, vol. IV, no. 4 (17 May 1913), p. 72.
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