With the passing of Bahá'u'lláh and the fierce onslaught of
the forces of disruption that followed in its wake, the Greatest Holy Leaf, now
in the hey-day of her life, rose to the height of her great opportunity and
acquitted herself worthily of her task. It would take me beyond the compass of
the tribute I am moved to pay to her memory were I to dwell upon the incessant
machinations to which Muhammad-'Ali, the arch-breaker of the Covenant of
Bahá'u'lláh, and his despicable supporters basely resorted, upon the agitation
which their cleverly-directed campaign of misrepresentation and calumny
produced in quarters directly connected with Sultan Abdu'l-Hamid and his
advisers, upon the trials and investigations to which it gave rise, upon the
rigidity of the incarceration it reimposed, and upon the perils it revived.
Suffice it to say that but for her sleepless vigilance, her tact, her courtesy,
her extreme patience and heroic fortitude, grave complications might have
ensued and the load of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's anxious care would have been considerably
increased.
(Shoghi Effendi, ‘Baha'i Administration’)
