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The evacuation of the Mansion of Baha'u'llah by these Covenant- breakers, after their unchallenged occupancy of it since His ascension, a Mansion which, through their gross neglect, had fallen into a sad state of disrepair; its subsequent complete restoration, fulfilling a long cherished desire of Abdu'l- Baha; its illumination through an electric plant installed by an American believer for that purpose; the refurnishing of all its rooms after it had been completely denuded by its former occupants of all the precious relics it contained, with the exception of a single candlestick in the room where Baha'u'llah had ascended; the collection within its walls of Baha'i historic documents, of relics and of over five thousand volumes of Baha'i literature, in no less than forty languages; the extension to it of the exemption from government taxes, already granted to other Baha'i institutions and properties in Akka and on Mt. Carmel; and finally, its conversion from a private residence to a center of pilgrimage visited by Baha'is and non- Baha'is alike-- these served to further dash the hopes of those who were still desperately striving to extinguish the light of the Covenant of Baha'u'llah. Furthermore, the success later achieved in purchasing and safeguarding the area forming the precincts of the resting- place of the Bab on Mt. Carmel, and the transfer of the title- deeds of some of these properties to the legally constituted Palestine Branch of the American Baha'i National Spiritual Assembly, no less than the circumstances attending the death of the one who had been the prime mover of mischief throughout Abdu'l- Baha's ministry, demonstrated to these enemies the futility of their efforts and the hopelessness of their cause.
(356:1)
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