It corresponds to the most critical stage of the mission of
Bahá’u’lláh, during His exile to Adrianople, when confronted with the despotic
Sultán ‘Abdu’l-‘Azíz and his ministers, ‘Álí Páshá and Fu‘ád Páshá, and is
paralleled by the darkest days of ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá’s
ministry in the Holy Land, under the oppressive rule of the tyrannical ‘Abdu’l-Hamíd
and the equally tyrannical Jamál Páshá. - Shoghi Effendi (Chapter 2, ‘God Passes By’)
