Baha'u'llah predicted the downfall of the sultan and his ministers, the destruction of Constantinople, the future sufferings of the Ottoman Empire and its eventual extinction, and the fall of the Caliphate. (18:35) Baha'u'llah summoned the sultan with these words: The day is approaching, when the Land of Mystery (Adrianople), and what is beside it shall be changed, and shall pass out of the hands of the king, and commotions shall appear, and the voice of lamentation shall be raised, and the evidences of mischief shall be revealed on all sides, and confusion shall spread by reason of that which hath befallen these captives at the hands of the hosts of oppression. The course of things shall be altered, and conditions shall wax so grievous, that the very sands on the desolate hills will moan, and the trees on the mountain will weep, and blood will flow out of all things. Then wilt thou behold the people in sore distress. (18:37) Soon, will He seize you in His wrathful anger, and sedition will be stirred up in your midst, and your dominions will be disrupted. Then will ye bewail and lament, and will find none to help or succor you.. Be expectant, however, for the wrath of God is ready to overtake you. Erelong will ye behold that which hath been sent down from the Pen of My command. (pdc 60-61) (18:38) All of the dire warnings that Baha'u'llah issued came true. A remarkable series of calamities-wars, disease, revolutions, massacres-befell the people and government. Eight years after the final exile of Baha'u'llah to the prison city of 'Akka, Sultan 'Abdu'l-Aziz was overthrown. Four days after this, he was assassinated. The succession of disasters that bankrupted and devastated the empire finally resulted in its extinction. By 1923, having entered its seventh century, the Ottoman Empire was no more. The following year, the Caliphate was abolished.
(18:39)
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