on in the Holy Land, the wise men
realized that the glad tidings which God gave through the tongue of the
Prophets two or three thousand years before were again manifested, and
that God was faithful to His promise; for to some of the Prophets He had
revealed and given the good news that "the Lord of Hosts should be
manifested in the Holy Land." All these promises were fulfilled; and it is
difficult to understand how Baha'u'llah could have been obliged to leave
Persia, and to pitch His tent in this Holy Land, but for the persecution
of His enemies, His banishment and exile. His enemies intended that His
imprisonment should completely destroy and annihilate the blessed Cause,
but this prison was in reality of the greatest assistance and became the
means of its development. The divine renown of Baha'u'llah reached the
East and the West, and the rays of the Sun of Truth illuminated all the
world. Praise be to God! though He was a prisoner, His tent was raised on
Mount Carmel, and He moved abroad with the greatest majesty. Every person,
friend or stranger, who came into His presence used to say, "This is a
prince, not a captive."

Upon His arrival in prison(21) He addressed an epistle to Napoleon,(22)
which He sent through the French ambassador. The gist of it was, "Ask what
is Our crime, and why We are confined in this prison and this dungeon."
Napoleon made no reply. Then a second epistle was issued, which is
contained in the Suriy-i-Haykal.(23) The epitome of it is: "Oh Napoleon,
as thou hast not listened to My proclamation, and as thou hast not
answered it, thy dominion will before long be taken away from thee, and
thou wilt be utterly destroyed." This epistle was sent to Napoleon by
post, through the care of Cesar Ketaphakou,(24) as was known to all the
companions of His exile. The text of this warning reached the whole of
Persia, for it was at that time that the Kitab-i-Haykal was spread in
Persia, and this epistle was among the contents of this book. This
happened in A.D. 1869, and as this Suriy-i-Haykal was circulated in Persia
and India and was in the hands of all believers, they were waiting to see
what would come to pass. Not long after, in A.D. 1870, the war between
Germany and France broke out; and though no one at that time expected the
victory of Germany, Napoleon was defeated and dishonored; he surrendered
to his enemies, and his glory was changed into deep abasement.

Tablets(25) were also sent to other king