The Babi and Baha'i Religion — Page 49
THE B Ā B Ī AND BAH Ā ’ Ī RELIGION 49 Was Bah a ’ull a h a prisoner in ‘Akk a ? Some Bah a ’ i historians have sought to create an impression that Bah a ’ull a h was in ‘Akk a as a prisoner. For instance H ashmatul a h says: "From 1868 to 1892 Hadrat Bah a ’ull a h remained in prison in ‘Akk a , and after forty years in prison, he died at the age of 75, in a garden about a mile outside ‘Akk a " 64. "Now even if we assume that all the time he was in ‘Akk a he was being held as a prisoner, even then from 1868 to 1892 makes 24 years at the most, in no case forty. But it is altogether wrong to say that at ‘Akk a Bah a ’ull a h was treated as a prisoner. From what we know of the circumstances of his life in ‘Akk a , we can say that the word ‘prisoner’ was never applicable to him. ‘Abdul Bah a ’ himself admits that though technically Bah a ’ull a h may be said to have been in ‘Akk a , yet it was a confinement during which he was treated with great honour, never as a common prisoner 65. In regard to the early years which the Bah a ’ i s describe as ‘prison’, Bah a ’ull a h’s son, ‘Abdul Bah a ’ himself says: " Hadrat Bah a ’ull a h was a prisoner only in name, for the orders of Sul ta n ‘Abdul ‘Az i z were never formally cancelled. But in fact in his life and behaviour be showed such dignity that all 64 Ta ‘ l i m a t , page 22. 65 Khit a b a t ‘Abdul Bah a ’, volume 1, page 144.