“Shaykh ‘Alíy-i-Mírí, the Muftí of ‘Akká, had even, at the suggestion of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, to plead insistently that He [Bahá’u’lláh] might permit the termination of His nine-year confinement within the walls of the prison-city, before He would consent to leave its gates. The garden of Na‘mayn, a small island, situated in the middle of a river to the east of the city, honoured with the appellation of Ridván, and designated by Him the ‘New Jerusalem’ and ‘Our Verdant Isle,’ had, together with the residence of ‘Abdu’lláh Páshá—rented and prepared for Him by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and situated a few miles north of ‘Akká—become by now the favourite retreats of One Who, for almost a decade, had not set foot beyond the city walls, and Whose sole exercise had been to pace, in monotonous repetition, the floor of His bed-chamber.” Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, pp. 192-193.

“Bahá’u’lláh loved the beauty and verdure of the country. One day He passed the remark: ‘I have not gazed on verdure for nine years. The country is the world of the soul, the city is the world of bodies.’ When I heard indirectly of this saying I realized that He was longing for the country, and I was sure that whatever I could do towards the carrying out of His wish would be successful. There was in ‘Akká at that time a man called Muhammad Páshá Safwat, who was very much opposed to us. He had a palace called Mazra‘ih, about four miles north of the city, a lovely place, surrounded by gardens and with a stream of running water. . . . I got the house at a very low rent, about five pounds per annum, paid him for five years and made a contract. I sent labourers to repair the place and put the garden in order and had a bath built. I also had a carriage prepared for the use of the Blessed Beauty. . . .” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, quoted by J. E. Esslemont in Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1998), p. 35.