 Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh Bahá'u'lláh (1817 - 1892) (Persian - Mírzá Husayn-'Alí (میرزا حسینعلی)) was the founder and prophet of the Bahá'í Faith. He was also known as Bahá'u'lláh ("The Glory of God" in Arabic), as "He Whom God will make manifest" (from the Báb's writings), and as "Father of the Poor". Bahá'u'lláh's also authored serveral religious works, including the Kitáb-i-Aqdas (Most Holy Book) and the Kitáb_i_Íqán (Book of Certitude). He died in Bahji, Palestine (outside 'Akká, Acre).
His photograph can be found at the bottom of this article
Bahá'u'lláh's Life
Early years
Bahá'u'lláh was born in Tehran, Persia. His father was a distinguished nobleman in the court of the Persian King. As a young child Bahá'u'lláh was privately tutored and was known for his intelligence. When his father passed away, he was asked to take his father's position. He declined and instead opened a shelter for the poor.
Revelation in the Síyáh-Chál It is generally believed that Bahá'u'lláh had accepted the Báb's new religion in his late 20's. After the Báb's martyrdom in 1850, the leadership of the Bábís was with Bahá'u'lláh's half-brother Mirza Yahya Nuri, known as Subh-i Azal, who was appointed as the leader of the movement by the Báb before his death. Mirza Yahya was also appointed by the Báb to finish the Bayan, the great revelation of the Babi movement.
In 1852, as result of continued persecutions, a group of Bábís attempted to assassinate the King of Persia, Nasser-al-Din Shah. Although Bahá'u'lláh had no connection to the failed assassination attempt, he was arrested and imprisoned in the Síyáh-Chál (the Black Pit), an underground dungeon.
According to Bahá'u'lláh, it was during his imprisonment in the Síyáh-Chál that he received a vision of a Maiden from God, through whom he received his mission as a Messenger of God and as the One whose coming the Báb had prophesized. After four months in the Síyáh-Chál, and after the person who tried to kill the Shah confessed and exonerated the Bábi leaders, the authorities banished Bahá'u'lláh from Persia. Bahá'u'lláh chose to go to Baghdad, then a city in the Ottoman Empire.
Baghdad In 1853, with limited supplies and food, and through the cold of winter, Bahá'u'lláh and his family (including his two wives, his siblings, and his children) travelled from Persia to Baghdad. In Baghdad, an increasing number of Bábí's would come to Bahá'u'lláh for guidance, instead of Mirza Yahya. Mirza Yahya felt that he should be the leader of the Bábís and started to sow doubt within the Bábí community about Bahá'u'lláh's intentions. The Bábí community started to become disunited. On April 10, 1854 Bahá'u'lláh, without telling anyone his purpose or destination left to the mountains of Kurdistan, northeast of Baghdad, near the city Sulaymaniyah. He later wrote that he left so as to avoid becoming the source of disagreement within the Bábí community.
Mountains of Kurdistan For two years Bahá'u'lláh lived alone in the mountains of Kurdistan. He occasionally visited the surrounding towns and villages and news of a man living in the mountains spread to neighbouring areas. When the news of such a man reached Baghdad, Bahá'u'lláh's family realized who the man was and pleaded with him to come back to Baghdad, and Bahá'u'lláh accepted.
Return to Baghdad When Bahá'u'lláh returned to Baghdad he saw that the Bábi community had become disheartened and divided. Bahá'u'lláh remained in Baghdad for seven more years. During this time, while keeping his perceived station as the Manifestation of God hidden, he taught the Báb's teachings. He published many books and verses, which he claimed to be revelations, including the Kitáb-i-Íqán (Book of Certitude) and the Hidden Words. He married his third wife in Baghdad. According to the Bahá'ís, due to Bahá'u'lláh's rising prestige in the city, the clergy tried to have the Persian and Ottoman governments condemn Bahá'u'lláh. They were eventually successful in having the Ottoman government exile Bahá'u'lláh from Baghdad to Constantinople.
Declaration in the Garden of Ridvan On April 22, 1863, Bahá'u'lláh left Baghdad and entered the Garden of Ridván near Baghdad. Bahá'u'lláh and those accompanying him would stay in the garden for twelve days before departing for Constantinople. It was during his time in the Garden of Ridván that Bahá'u'lláh declared to his companions his perceived mission and station as a Messenger of God. Some of the Bábí community, including Subh-i-Azal, did not accept Bahá'u'lláh's declaration and became known as "Azali Bábís." Today Bahá'ís celebrate the twelve days that Bahá'u'lláh and his companions spent in the Garden of Ridván as the festival of Ridván.
Exile in Constantinople Bahá'u'lláh and his family, along with a small group of Bábís, stayed in Constantinople for only four months. During this time the Persian Ambassador in the court of the Sultan mounted a systematic campaign against Bahá'u'lláh. Bahá'u'lláh was thus exiled to Adrianople. Before Bahá'u'lláh left for Adrianople he wrote a Tablet to the Sultan, rebuking him for his and his minister's immaturity and incompetence.
Bahá'u'lláh's three wives Bahá'u'lláh had three wives, concurrently. He married Asiyih Khanum in Tehran in 1835 when he was over eighteen years of age. Asiyih Khanum, given the name Navváb by Bahá'u'lláh, bore seven children, of whom four died in childhood, and she passed away in 1886 in Akká. His second wife, whom he married in Tehran in 1849, was named Fatimih Khanum, and was later known as Mahd-i-'Ulya. Four of their six children survived to adulthood. His third marriage, to Gawhar Khanum, was contracted in Baghdad. Gawhar Khanum gave birth to one daughter, and the two remained in Baghdad. Many years later, Gawhar Khanum and her daughter travelled to Akká. While a great deal has been written about Navváb, little is known of Bahá'u'lláh's second and third wives. His third wife, Gowhar, was initially one of his house maids of his first wife, who later became his third wife.
The fact that Bahá'u'lláh had three wives concurrently has been a subject of controversy since in the Bábí religion which he had accepted early in his life, there is a limit of two wives, while in surrounding Islam the legal limit is four wives. In the Bahá'í Faith according to Bahá'u'lláh's own writing, also there is a limit of two on the number of wives a man can have. So the fact that he married his third wife in Baghdad, breaks the law of both Bábí as well as Bahá'í principles.
Exile in Adrianople During the month of December, Bahá'u'lláh and his family embarked on a twelve day journey to Adrianople. Bahá'u'lláh stayed in Adrianople for four and a half years. Mirza Yahya, who had not accepted Bahá'u'lláh declaration that he was the one whom the Báb had prophesized about, started to cause disunity within and harm to the Bahá'í community, including trying to poison Bahá'u'lláh. (The Hasht Bashist version is that it was Bahá'u'lláh who tried to poison Mirza Yahya.) While Bahá'u'lláh recovered, his hand was left shaking until the end of his life.
Also, while in Adrianople, Bahá'u'lláh proclaimed the Bahá'í Faith further by addressing Tablets to the kings and rulers of the world including:
Imprisonment in Akka The disagreements between the Bahá'ís and the Azali Bábis allowed the Ottoman and Persian authorities to exile Bahá'u'lláh once again. One morning, without any notice, soldiers surrounded Bahá'u'lláh's house and told everyone to get ready to depart to the prison-city of Akka, Palestine. Bahá'u'lláh and his family left Adrianople on August 12, 1868 and after a journey by land and sea arrived in Akka on August 31st. The inhabitants of Akka were told that the new prisoners were enemies of the state, of God and his religion, and that association with them was strictly forbidden.
The first years in Akka were a period of great suffering for Bahá'u'lláh; Mirzá Mihdí, Bahá'u'lláh's son, was suddenly killed when he fell through a skylight while pacing back and forth in prayer and meditation. Yet after some time, the people and officials of the city recognized Bahá'u'lláh's wisdom, and thus the conditions of the imprisonment were eased and eventually, after the Sultan Abd-ul-Aziz's death, he was allowed to leave the city and visit nearby places.
Final Years
The final years of Bahá'u'lláh's life were spent in the Mansion of Bahji, just outside Akka, even though he was still formally a prisoner of the Ottoman Empire. During his years in Akka and Bahji, Bahá'u'lláh produced many volumes of work including the Kitáb_i_Aqdas. On May 9, 1892 Bahá'u'lláh contracted a slight fever which grew steadily over the following days, abated, and then finally took his life on May 29, 1892.
Bahá'u'lláh's Works Bahá'u'lláh wrote many books, tablets and prayers. Below are some that have been translated to English: - The Hidden Words
- The Four Valleys
- The Seven Valleys
- Gems of Divine Mysteries
- The Summons of the Lord of Hosts
- Epistle to the Son of the Wolf
- Tablets of the Bahá'u'lláh
- Kitáb-i-Aqdas
- Kitáb-i-Íqán
- Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh
Some feel that his writings in Persian and in Arabic are of excellent literary quality [1] (http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/notes/vol3/scripture.lit.htm), while e.g. Ahmad Kasravi, a renowned, but not uncontroversial, Iranian scholar and linguist feels Bahá'u'lláh has poor grammar and style in his Arabic writings.
See also
References - British Broadcasting Corporation (2002). BBC Religion and Ethics Special: Bahá'í (http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/bahai/). Retrieved January 15, 2005.
- Browne, E.G. (1891). A Traveller’s Narrative. Cambridge.
- Effendi, Shoghi (1974). God Passes By. Bahá'í Publishing Trust, Wilmette, Illinois 60091. ISBN 0-87743-020-9. Available online here (http://bahai-library.com/writings/shoghieffendi/gpb/).
- "History and Doctrines of the Babi Movement", Maulana Muhammad Ali; Lahore, India. 1933
- Ahmad Kasravi, Bahai-ism (published in Persian on www.kasravi.info)
- "Scripture as Literature", by Frank Lewis, in Research Notes in Shaykhi, Babi and Baha'i Studies,Vol. 3, no. 2 (April 1999)
External links - Holy Writings of Bahá'u'lláh in English, Persian and Arabic (http://reference.bahai.org)
- Official Website of the Bahá'í Faith (http://www.bahai.org)
- Bahá'u'lláh: Manifestation of God (http://www.bahai.org/article-1-3-0-2.html)
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Bahá'u'lláh
Photo of Bahá'u'lláh  Bahá'u'lláh Baha'is belieave that Baha'u'llah was a prophet within their religion and should be treated with reverence and respect and his picture should only be seen when those situations are present. They feel the internet is not such a place, and find his picture being there offensive. This image is taken from his passport.
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