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Ascension of Baha’u’llah
Baha’u’llah, was born Mírzá Husayn-`Alí on 12th November 1817 in Teheran, the capital city of Iran (then Persia), and is remembered to this day as the founder and prophet of the Bahá'í Faith.
As a child he was a devout Shi’a Muslim and was regarded as being extremely intelligent, as he was taking part in deep religious debates at the age of 13 or 14 years.
In 1844, when Mirza was 26 years of age, a 25 year old man from Shiraz, Siyyid Mírzá `Alí-Muhammad, who later took the title of The Báb (which in Arabic means "The Gate"), claimed to be the promised Mihdi of Islam. The news of his claims, and the movement which he generated, quickly spread across the Persian Empire – much to the anger of many, who fostered widespread opposition from the Islamic clergy. The Báb himself was executed in 1850 by firing squad at the age of 30, and the community which had developed around his presence was almost entirely exterminated within 3 years.
At the age of 28, Baha’u’llah (still known as Mírzá Husayn-`Alí) received a "messenger" telling him of the Báb, whose message he accepted, becoming a member of the Bábí movement. Baha’u’llah began to spread news of the new teachings, particularly in his native province of Núr, and he became recognised as one of the most influential believers and preachers in the Bábí movement, converting many people from traditional Islamic beliefs.
Following the execution of the Báb, a plot was instigated to assassinate the Shah (King) of Persia, which, although limited to a handful of people was attributed to all the followers of Bábí. Many thousands were killed or, like Baha’u’llah, imprisoned, even though, as in his case, found innocent of any involvement.
Whilst in the Síyáh-Chál Prison (commonly known as the Black Pit)Baha’u’llah received a vision of a maiden from God, from whom he received his instructions to become a messenger of God, as he had been "chosen as the One whose coming the Báb had prophesied".
When released from prison (in all probability solely due to the efforts of the Russian Ambassador to Persia) Baha’u’llah wrote to Czar Alexander II:
"Whilst I lay chained and fettered in the prison, one of thy ministers extended Me his aid. Wherefore hath God ordained for thee a station which the knowledge of none can comprehend except His knowledge".Despite this exalted pressure on his behalf, Baha’u’llah was banished to Baghdad (then part of the Ottoman Empire), where his teachings were equally unwelcome. In later times he was subsequently banished to Constantinople, then Adrianople and, finally, to `Akká in the Holy Lands.
He claimed to fulfill the Bábí prophecy of "He whom God shall make manifest", but in a broader sense he also claimed to be the "supreme Manifestation of God". In his teachings, Baha’u’llah referred to the fulfilment of the expectations of a prophetic cycle beginning with Adam and embracing the Abrahamic religions, as well as Zoroastri beliefs and the Dharmic religions, among others.
The final years of Baha’u’llah's life were spent in the Mansion of Bahjí, just outside `Akká, where, although he was still technically a prisoner of the Ottoman Empire, he found that he was able to travel within the region without hindrance. During his years in `Akká, and especially when living at the Mansion of Bahjí, Baha’u’llah produced many volumes of work including the "Kitab-i-Aqdas".
In 1890 the Cambridge University orientalist Prof Edwards Granville Browne held an interview with Baha’u’llah in his house. After this meeting Browne wrote his famous pen-portrait of Baha’u’llah:
"In the corner where the divan met the wall sat a wondrous and venerable figure, crowned with a felt head-dress of the kind called táj by dervishes (but of unusual height and make), round the base of which was wound a small white turban. The face of him on whom I gazed I can never forget, though I cannot describe it. Those piercing eyes seemed to read one's very soul; power and authority sat on that ample brow; while the deep lines on the forehead and face implied an age which the jet-black hair and beard flowing down in indistinguishable luxuriance almost to the waist seemed to belie. No need to ask in whose presence I stood, as I bowed myself before one who is the object of a devotion and love which kings might envy and emperors sigh for in vain!"
On 9th May 1892 Baha’u’llah contracted a slight fever which grew steadily worse over the following days, then abated, but finally took his life on 29th May. He was buried in a shrine located next to the Mansion of Bahjí, located in Palestine (now Israel).
Followers of the Bahá'í faith not only see Baha’u’llah as the initiator of a new religion, in the same manner as Jesus Christ or Muhammad, but also the initiator of a new cycle, similar to the one attributed to Adam.
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