The Father [the Báb] did not lament his loss. [son: Ahmad] He
consecrated his death by words such as these:
“O God, my God! Would that a thousand Ishmaels were given
Me, this Abraham of Thine, that I might have offered them, each and all, as a
loving sacrifice unto Thee. O my Beloved, my heart’s Desire! The sacrifice of
this Ahmad whom Thy servant ‘Alí-Muhammad hath offered up on the altar of Thy
love can never suffice to quench the flame of longing in His heart. Not until
He immolates His own heart at Thy feet, not until His whole body falls a victim
to the cruelest tyranny in Thy path, not until His breast is made a target for countless
darts for Thy sake, will the tumult of His soul be stilled.
“O my God, my only Desire! Grant that the sacrifice of My
son, My only son, may be acceptable unto Thee. Grant that it be a prelude to
the sacrifice of My own, My entire self, in the path of Thy good pleasure.
Endue with Thy grace My life-blood which I yearn to shed in Thy path. Cause it
to water and nourish the seed of Thy Faith. Endow it with Thy celestial
potency, that this infant seed of God may soon germinate in the hearts of men, that
it may thrive and prosper, that it may grow to become a mighty tree, beneath
the shadow of which all the peoples and kindreds of the earth may gather.
Answer Thou My prayer, O God, and fulfil My most cherished desire. Thou art,
verily, the Almighty, the All-Bountiful.”
(Footnotes to Chapter 3, provided by Shoghi Effendi)
