His remarks
to those who attained His presence, that the close of His earthly life was
approaching, though He refrained from mentioning it openly to any one. On
the night preceding the eleventh of _Sh_avval 1309 A.H. (May 8, 1892) He
contracted a slight fever which, though it mounted the following day, soon
after subsided. He continued to grant interviews to certain of the friends
and pilgrims, but it soon became evident that He was not well. His fever
returned in a more acute form than before, His general condition grew
steadily worse, complications ensued which at last culminated in His
ascension, at the hour of dawn, on the 2nd of _Dh_i'l-Qadih 1309 A.H. (May
29, 1892), eight hours after sunset, in the 75th year of His age. His
spirit, at long last released from the toils of a life crowded with
tribulations, had winged its flight to His "other dominions," dominions
"whereon the eyes of the people of names have never fallen," and to which
the "Luminous Maid," "clad in white," had bidden Him hasten, as described
by Himself in the Lawh-i-Ru'ya (Tablet of the Vision), revealed nineteen
years previously, on the anniversary of the birth of His Forerunner.

Six days before He passed away He summoned to His presence, as He lay in
bed leaning against one of His sons, the entire company of believers,
including several pilgrims, who had assembled in the Mansion, for what
proved to be their last audience with Him. "I am well pleased with you
all," He gently and affectionately addressed the weeping crowd that
gathered about Him. "Ye have rendered many services, and been very
assiduous in your labors. Ye have come here every morning and every
evening. May God assist you to remain united. May He aid you to exalt the
Cause of the Lord of being." To the women, including members of His own
family, gathered at His bedside, He addressed similar words of
encouragement, definitely assuring them that in a document entrusted by
Him to the Most Great Branch He had commended them all to His care.

The news of His ascension was instantly communicated to Sultan
'Abdu'l-Hamid in a telegram which began with the words "the Sun of Baha
has set" and in which the monarch was advised of the intention of
interring the sacred remains within the precincts of the Mansion, an
arrangement to which he readily assented. Baha'u'llah was accordingly laid
to rest in the northernmost room of the house which served as a
dwelling-place for His son-in-law, the most