in sore distress....

Thus hath the matter been decreed on the part of the Designer, the
Wise, Whose command the hosts of heaven and earth could not
withstand, nor could all the kings and rulers withhold Him from
that which He willeth. Calamities are the oil for this Lamp, and
through them its Light increaseth, were ye of those who know! All
oppositions displayed by the oppressors are indeed as heralds to
this Faith, and by them the appearance of God and His Cause have
become widely spread among the people of the world.

Again in the Book of Aqdas He wrote:--

O Spot [Constantinople] that art situate on the shores of the two
seas! The throne of tyranny hath, verily, been established upon
thee, and the flame of hatred hath been kindled within thy bosom,
in such wise that the Concourse on high and they who circle around
the Exalted Throne have wailed and lamented. We behold in thee the
foolish ruling over the wise, and darkness vaunting itself against
the light. Thou art indeed filled with manifest pride. Hath thine
outward splendor made thee vainglorious? By Him Who is the Lord of
mankind! It shall soon perish, and thy daughters and thy widows
and all the kindreds that dwell within thee shall lament. Thus
informeth thee the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.

The successive calamities which have befallen this once great empire since
the publication of these warnings have furnished an eloquent commentary on
their prophetic significance.

America

In the Book of Aqdas, revealed in Akka in 1873, Baha'u'llah appealed to
America as follows:--

O Rulers of America and the Presidents of the Republics therein
... Give ear unto that which hath been raised from the Dayspring
of Grandeur: Verily, there is none other God but Me, the Lord of
Utterance, the All-Knowing. Bind ye the broken with the hands of
justice, and crush the oppressor who flourisheth with the rod of
the commandments of your Lord, the Ordainer, the
All-Wise.--Kitab-i-Aqdas.

'Abdu'l-Baha in His addresses in America and elsewhere frequently
expressed the hope, the prayer and the assurance that the banner of
international peace would be first raised in America. At Cincinnati, Ohio,
on November 5, 1912, He said:--

America is a noble nation, a standard-bearer of peace throughout
the world, shedding her light to all regions. Other na