ning. In the following year he went to war with
Prussia, firmly convinced that his troops could easily gain Berlin; but
the tragedy foretold by Baha'u'llah overwhelmed him. He was defeated at
Saarbruck, at Weisenburg, at Metz, and finally in the crushing catastrophe
at Sedan. He was then carried prisoner to Prussia, and came to a miserable
end in England two years later. Germany

Baha'u'llah later gave an equally solemn warning to the conquerors of
Napoleon, which also fell on deaf ears and received a terrible
fulfillment. In the Book of Aqdas, which was begun in Adrianople, and
finished in the early years of Baha'u'llah's imprisonment in Akka, He
addressed the Emperor of Germany as follows:--

O King of Berlin! ... Do thou remember the one whose power
transcended thy power (Napoleon III) and whose station excelled
thy station. Where is he? Whither are gone the things he
possessed? Take warning, and be not of them that are fast asleep.
He it was who cast the Tablet of God behind him, when We made
known unto him what the hosts of tyranny had caused Us to suffer.
Wherefore, disgrace assailed him from all sides, and he went down
to dust in great loss. Think deeply, O King, concerning him, and
concerning them who, like unto thee, have conquered cities and
ruled over men. The All-Merciful brought them down from their
palaces to their graves. Be warned, be of them who reflect....

O banks of the Rhine! We have seen you covered with gore, inasmuch
as the swords of retribution were drawn against you; and you shall
have another turn. And We hear the lamentations of Berlin, though
she be today in conspicuous glory.--Kitab-i-Aqdas.

During the period of German successes in the Great War of 1914-1918, and
especially during the last great German offensive in the spring of 1918,
this well-known prophecy was extensively quoted by the opponents of the
Baha'i Faith in Persia, in order to discredit Baha'u'llah; but when the
forward sweep of the victorious Germans was suddenly transformed into
crushing, overwhelming disaster, the efforts of these enemies of the
Baha'i Cause recoiled on themselves, and the notoriety which they had
given to the prophecy became a powerful means of enhancing the reputation
of Baha'u'llah. Persia

In the Book of Aqdas written when the tyrannical Nasiri'd-Din _Sh_ah was
at the height of his power, Baha'u'llah blesses the city of Tihran, which