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So imperturbable was Abdu'l-Baha's equanimity that, while rumors were being bruited about that He might be cast into the sea, or exiled to Fizan in Tripolitania, or hanged on the gallows, He, to the amazement of His friends and the amusement of His enemies, was to be seen planting trees and vines in the garden of His house, whose fruits when the storm had blown over, He would bid His faithful gardener, Isma'il Aqa, pluck and present to those same friends and enemies on the occasion of their visits to Him. (269:1) In the early part of the winter of 1907 another Commission of four officers, headed by Arif Bey, and invested with plenary powers, was suddenly dispatched to Akka by order of the Sultan. A few days before its arrival Abdu'l- Baha had a dream, which He recounted to the believers, in which He saw a ship cast anchor off Akka, from which flew a few birds, resembling sticks of dynamite, and which, circling about His head, as He stood in the midst of a multitude of the frightened inhabitants of the city, returned without exploding to the ship.
(269:2)
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