Bahá'u'lláh

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Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh
Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh

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Bahá'u'lláh
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Bahá'u'lláh (ba-haa-ol-laa Arabic: بهاء الله "Glory of God") (November 12, 1817 – May 29, 1892), born Mírzá Ḥusayn-`Alí Nuri (Persian: میرزا حسینعلی نوری), was the founder of the Bahá'í Faith.

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",[1] referring to the fulfillment of the eschatological expectations of a prophetic cycle beginning with Adam, and including Abrahamic religions, as well as Zoroastrianism, the Indian religions, and others. Bahá'ís see Bahá'u'lláh as the initiator of a new religion, as Jesus or Muhammad — but also the initiator of a new cycle, like that attributed to Adam.

Bahá'u'lláh authored many religious works, most notably the Kitáb-i-Aqdas and the Kitáb-i-Íqán. He died in Bahjí, Palestine, present-day Israel, and is buried there.

There are two known photographs of Bahá'u'lláh. Outside of pilgrimage, Bahá'ís prefer not to view his photo in public, or even to display it in their private homes. Further information on this topic and one of the photos can be found in the photograph section of this article.

Contents

[edit] Early and family life

Bahá'u'lláh was born on November 12, 1817, in Tehran, the capital city of Persia, in present-day Iran. His ancestry can be traced back to Abraham through his wife Keturah, to Zoroaster and to Yazdigird III, the last king of the Sásáníyán dynasty, and also to Jesse.[2][3] His mother was Khadíjih Khánum and his father was Mírzá Buzurg. Bahá'u'lláh's father, Mírzá Buzurg, served as vizier to Imám-Virdi Mírzá, the twelfth son of Fat′h Ali Shah Qajar. Mírzá Buzurg was later appointed governor of Burujird and Lorestan,[4] a position that he was stripped of during a government purge when Muhammad Shah came to power. After the death of his father, Bahá'u'lláh was asked to take a government post by the new vizier Haji Mirza Aqasi, but he declined the position.[5] Bahá'u'lláh had three concurrent wives by the names of Navváb, Fatimih and Gawhar. He had fourteen children, ten sons and four girls, of which five sons predeceased him.[6]

[edit] Bábí movement

Main article: Bábism

In 1844, a 25 year-old man from Shiraz, Siyyid Mírzá `Alí-Muhammad, who took the title of the Báb, claimed to be the promised Mahdi of Islam.[7] The movement quickly spread across the Persian Empire and received widespread opposition from the Islamic clergy.[7] The Báb himself was executed in 1850 by firing squad at the age of 30 and the community was almost entirely exterminated in 1852-3.[7]

While the Báb claimed a station of revelation, he also claimed no finality for his revelation.[8] A constant theme in his works, especially the Persian Bayan was that of the great Promised One, the next embodiment of the Primal Will, whom the Báb termed He whom God shall make manifest, promised in the sacred writings of previous religions would soon establish the Kingdom of God on the Earth.[9][7] In the books written by the Báb he constantly entreats his believers to follow He whom God shall make manifest when he arrives.[8]

[edit] Acceptance of the Báb

At the age of 28, Bahá'u'lláh received a messenger, Mullá Husayn, telling him of the Báb, whose message he accepted, becoming a Bábí. Bahá'u'lláh began to spread the new cause, especially in his native province of Núr, becoming recognized as one of its most influential believers.[4][6] His notability as a local gave him many openings, and his teaching trips were met with success, even among some of the religious class. He also helped to protect his co-religionists, such as Táhirih, but did so at some risk, since the aid he was giving led to his being temporarily imprisoned in Tehran and enduring bastinado.[6] Bahá'u'lláh, in the summer of 1848, also attended the conference of Badasht in the province of Khorasan, where 81 prominent Bábís met for 22 days; at that conference where there was a discussion between those Bábís who wanted to maintain Islamic law and those who believed that the Báb's message began a new dispenation, Bahá'u'lláh took the pro-change side, which eventually won out. It is at this conference that Bahá'u'lláh took on the name Bahá.[6]

When violence started between the Bábís and the Qajar government in the later part of 1848, Bahá'u'lláh tried to reach the besieged Bábís at the Shaykh Tabarsi in Mazandaran, but was arrested and imprisoned before he could get there.[6] The following years until 1850 saw the Bábís being massacred in various provinces after the Báb made his claim of being Manifestation of God more public.[6]

[edit] Síyáh-Chál

In 1852, two years after the execution of the Báb, Bahá'u'lláh met briefly with a couple radical Bábí leaders and learnt of an assassination plan against the Shah, Nasser-al-Din Shah, in retaliation for the Báb's execution. Bahá'u'lláh condemned the plan, but on August 15, 1852 Bábís attempted the assassination of the Shah and failed.[6] Notwithstanding the assassins' claim that they were working alone, the entire Bábí community was blamed, and a slaughter of several thousand Bábís followed. Many of the Bábís who were not killed, including Bahá'u'lláh, were imprisoned in the Síyáh-Chál (Black Pit), an underground dungeon of Tehran.[10]

According to Bahá'u'lláh, it was during his imprisonment in the Síyáh-Chál that he had several mystical experiences, and 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 prophesied.[10][6] After four months in the Síyáh-Chál, owing to the insistent demands of the Ambassador of Russia [11], and after the person who tried to kill the Shah confessed and exonerated the Bábí leaders, the authorities released him from prison, but the government exiled him from Iran. Bahá'u'lláh chose to go to Iraq in the Ottoman Empire and arrived in Baghdad in early 1853.[6]

[edit] Baghdad

[edit] Banishment from Persia

Bahá'u'lláh's passport, dated January 1853
Bahá'u'lláh's passport, dated January 1853

In 1853, with limited supplies and food, and through the cold of winter, Bahá'u'lláh and his family travelled from Persia to Baghdad.

Mírzá Yaḥyá had been appointed by the Báb to lead the Bábí community, and had been travelling around Persia in disguise. He decided to go to Baghdad and join the group using funds given to him by Bahá'u'lláh.

An increasing number of Bábí's considered Baghdad the new center for leadership of the Bábí religion, and a flow of pilgrims started coming there from Persia. However, as time went on, people began to look to Mírzá Yaḥyá for leadership less and less, and instead saw Bahá'u'lláh as their leader.[12]

Mírzá Yaḥyá, as the appointed leader of the Bábís, started to try to discredit Bahá'u'lláh and further divided the community.[12] The actions of Mírzá Yaḥyá drove many people away from the religion and allowed its enemies to continue their persecution.[5]

[edit] Kurdistan

On April 10, 1854 Bahá'u'lláh, without telling anyone his purpose or destination, left with one companion to the mountains of Kurdistan, north-east of Baghdad, near the city Sulaymaniyah.[5] He later wrote that he left so as to avoid becoming the source of disagreement within the Bábí community.

For two years Bahá'u'lláh lived alone in the mountains of Kurdistan[10] dressed like a dervish and using the name Darvish Muhammad-i-Irani. At one point someone noticed his remarkable penmanship, which brought the curiosity of the instructors of the local Sufi orders.[5] As he began to take guests, he became noted for his learning and wisdom. Shaykh `Uthmán, Shaykh `Abdu'r-Rahmán, and Shaykh Ismá'íl, undisputed leaders of the Naqshbandíyyih, Qádiríyyih, and Khálidíyyih Orders respectively, began to seek his advice and admire him. It was to the second of these that the Four Valleys was written. Several other notable books were also written during this time.[10]

In Baghdad, given the lack of firm and public leadership by Mirza Yahya, the Babi community had fallen into disarray.[5] Some Babis, including Bahá'u'lláh's family, thus searched for Bahá'u'lláh, and when news of a wise man living in the mountains under the name of Darvish Muhammad spread to neighbouring areas, Bahá'u'lláh's family pleaded with him to come back to Baghdad, which he did.[5]

[edit] Return to Baghdad

When Bahá'u'lláh returned to Baghdad he saw that the Bábí community had become disheartened and divided. In the time of Bahá'u'lláh's absence, the Baghdad community had become alienated with the religion since Mirza Yahya had proceeded to marry the widowed wife of the Báb against the clear instructions left by him [5] and dispatched followers to the province of Nur for the second attempt on the life of the Shah.[13] A few Babis went so far as refuting Mirza Yahya's claims to successorship, advancing counter-claims, and disseminating their own writings.[14]

Bahá'u'lláh remained in Baghdád 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 called revelations, including the Book of Certitude and the Hidden Words.

Bahá'u'lláh's rising influence in the city, and the revival of the Persian Bábí community gained the attention of his enemies in Islamic clergy and the Persian government. [15] They were eventually successful in having the Ottoman government exile Bahá'u'lláh from Baghdad to Constantinople.[15]

[edit] Declaration in the Garden of Ridvan

Map of Bahá'u'lláh's banishments
Map of Bahá'u'lláh's banishments

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.[10] Today Bahá'ís celebrate the twelve days that Bahá'u'lláh was in the Garden of Ridván as the festival of Ridván.

The eleven years of messianic secrecy that passed between when Bahá'u'lláh claimed to have seen the Maiden of Heaven in the Síyáh-Chál and this declaration are referred to by Bahá'í chroniclers and by Bahá'u'lláh himself as ayyam-i butun ("Days of Concealment"). Bahá'u'lláh stated that this period was a "set time of concealment".

[edit] Imprisonment

[edit] Constantinople (Istanbul)

As mentioned previously, Bahá'u'lláh was given an order to relocate to the Ottoman capital of Constantinople (now Istanbul). Although not a formal prisoner yet, the forced exile from Baghdad was the beginning of a long process which would gradually move him into further exiles and eventually the penal colony of Akká, Palestine (now Acre, Israel).

Bahá'u'lláh and his family, along with a small group of Bábís, stayed in Constantinople for only four months. (One source [16] states there were seventy-five people all together.) During this time the Persian Ambassador in the court of the Sultan mounted a systematic campaign against Bahá'u'lláh. He was thus exiled to Adrianople (now Edirne), but before leaving he wrote a Tablet to the Sultan, the contents of which are unknown, but Shamsi Big, who delivered the letter, gave the following report:

“I know not what that letter contained, for no sooner had the Grand Vizir perused it than he turned the color of a corpse, and remarked: ‘It is as if the King of Kings were issuing his behest to his humblest vassal king and regulating his conduct.’”[17]

[edit] Adrianople (Edirne)

`Abdu'l-Bahá in Adrianople with his brothers and companions of Bahá'u'lláh.
`Abdu'l-Bahá in Adrianople with his brothers and companions of Bahá'u'lláh.

During the month of December 1863, 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, upon hearing Bahá'u'lláh's words in a tablet read to him, challenging him to accept Bahá'u'lláh's Revelation, offered a counter-claim that he was the one whom the Báb had prophesied about. This caused a break within the Bábí community, and the followers of Bahá'u'lláh became known as Bahá'ís, while the followers of Mirza Yahya, also known as Subh-i-Azal ("Morning of Eternity") became known as Azalís. See Bahá'í/Bábí split. While in Adrianople, Bahá'u'lláh was poisoned and nearly died. His hand was left shaking for the rest of his life. Bahá'í historical texts, and contemporary accounts, report that Subh-i-Azal was directly behind the poisoning.[18][19] Later, followers of Azal made the counter-claim that Bahá'u'lláh had accidentally poisoned himself while trying to poison others.[20]

[edit] Letters to the Leaders of the World

Also, while in Adrianople, Bahá'u'lláh proclaimed the Bahá'í Faith further by addressing tablets to the kings and rulers of the world asking them to accept his revelation, renounce their material possessions, work together to settle disputes, and endeavor towards the betterment of the world and its peoples. Some of these leaders include:

[edit] `Akká

Prison Cell of Bahá'u'lláh, Akká
Prison Cell of Bahá'u'lláh, Akká

The disagreements between the Bahá'ís and the Azalís 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 `Akká, Palestine. Bahá'u'lláh and his family left Adrianople on August 12, 1868 and after a journey by land and sea arrived in `Akká on August 31. The inhabitants of `Akká 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 `Akká imposed very harsh conditions on, and held very trying times for, Bahá'u'lláh. Mirzá Mihdí, Bahá'u'lláh's son, was suddenly killed at the age of twenty-two when he fell through a skylight while pacing back and forth in prayer and meditation. After some time, the people and officials began to trust and respect Bahá'u'lláh, and thus the conditions of the imprisonment were eased and eventually, after Sultan `Abdu'l-`Aziz's death, he was allowed to leave the city and visit nearby places. From 1877 until 1879 Bahá'u'lláh lived in the house of Mazra'ih.

[edit] Final years

[edit] Bahjí

The shrine where Bahá'u'lláh is buried, from above.
The shrine where Bahá'u'lláh is buried, from above.

The final years of Bahá'u'lláh's life (1879-1892) were spent in the Mansion of Bahjí, just outside `Akká, even though he was still formally a prisoner of the Ottoman Empire. During his years in `Akká and Bahjí, Bahá'u'lláh produced many volumes of work including the Kitáb-i-Aqdas.

In 1890 the Cambridge orientalist Edward Granville Browne had an interview with Bahá'u'lláh in this house. After this meeting he wrote his famous pen-portrait of Bahá'u'lláh:

"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!"[21]

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. He was buried in the Shrine located next to the Mansion of Bahjí.

[edit] Claims

Bahá'u'lláh declared that he was the "Promised One" of all religions, fulfilling the messianic prophecies found in world religions.[22] He stated that his claims to being several messiahs converging one person were the symbolic, rather than literal, fulfilment of the messianic and eschatological prophecies found in the literature of the major religions.[22] Bahá'u'lláh's eschatological claims constitute six distinctive messianic identifications: from Judaism, the incarnation of the "Everlasting Father" from the Yuletide propechy of Isaiah 9:6, the "Lord of Hosts"; from Christianity, the "Spirit of Truth" or Comforter predicted by Jesus in his farewell discourse of John 14-17 and the return of Christ "in the glory of the Father"; from Zoroastrianism, the return of Shah Bahram Varjavand, a Zoroastrian messiah predicted in various late Pahlavi texts; from Shi'a Islam the return of the Third Imam, Imam Husayn; from Sunni Islam, the return of Jesus, Isa; and from Bábism, He whom God shall make manifest.[22]

While Bahá'u'lláh did not claim himself to be either the Hindu or Buddhist messiah, he did so in principle through his writings.[22] Later, `Abdu'l-Bahá stated that Bahá'u'lláh was the Kalki avatar, who in the classical Hindu Vaishnavas tradition is the tenth and final avatar (great incarnation) of Vishnu who will come to end The Age of Darkness and Destruction.[22] Bahá'ís also believe that Bahá'u'lláh is the fulfilment of the prophecy of appearance of the Maitreya Buddha, who is a future Buddha who will eventually appear on earth, achieve complete enlightenment, and teach the pure Dharma.[23] Bahá'ís believe that the prophecy that Maitreya will usher in a new society of tolerance and love has been fulfilled by Bahá'u'lláh's teachings on world peace.[23] Bahá'u'lláh is believed to be a descendant of a long line of kings in Persia through Yazdgerd III, the last monarch of the Sasanian Dynasty;[24] he also asserted to be a descendant of Abraham through his third wife Keturah.[25]

[edit] Succession

When Bahá'u'lláh died, he left a Will and Testament, which stated the following in regard to succession:

"The Will of the divine Testator is this: It is incumbent upon the Aghsan, the Afnan and My Kindred to turn, one and all, their faces towards the Most Mighty Branch... Verily God hath ordained the station of the Greater Branch [Muhammad ‘Alí] to be beneath that of the Most Great Branch [`Abdu'l-Bahá]. He is in truth the Ordainer, the All-Wise. We have chosen ‘the Greater’ after ‘the Most Great’, as decreed by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Informed."[26]

The favor given to `Abdu'l-Bahá was a cause of jealousy within Bahá'u'lláh's family. Muhammad `Alí insisted that he should be the one to lead the Bahá'í community. This period is considered by Bahá'ís as one of the most difficult tests of the early years of the Faith.

Due to the conflict with his half brother, `Abdu'l-Bahá ex-communicated him as a Covenant-breaker. The division was not long lived. After being alienated by the Bahá'í community, Muhammad Ali died in 1937 with only a handful of followers.

[edit] Works

See also: List of writings of Bahá'u'lláh

Bahá'u'lláh wrote many books, tablets and prayers, of which only a fraction has been translated into English until now.[27] There have been 15,000 works written by him identified so far; many of these are in the form of short letters, or tablets, to Bahá'ís.[27] The total volume of his works are more than 70 times the size of the Qur'an and more than 15 times the size of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.[28][29][30]

The books and letters written by Bahá'u'lláh cover religious doctrine, the proclamation of his claims, social and moral teachings as well as Bahá'í laws; he also wrote many prayers.[27] Jináb-i-Fádil-i-Mázindarání, analyzing Baha'u'llah's writings, states that he wrote in the different styles or categories including the interpretation of religious scripture, the enunciation of laws and ordinances, mystical writings, writings about government and world order, including letters to the kings and rulers of the world, writings about knowledge, philosophy, medicine, and alchemy, writings calling for education, good character and virtues, and writing about social teachings.[31] All of his works are considered by Bahá'ís to be revelation, even those that were written before his announcement of his prophetic claim.[27] Some of his better known works that have been translated into English include Gleanings, the Hidden Words, the Kitáb-i-Aqdas and the Kitáb-i-Íqán.

[edit] Photograph

Bahá'u'lláh. Persian inscription reads Mírzá Ḥusayn-`Alí' Nuri
Bahá'u'lláh. Persian inscription reads Mírzá Ḥusayn-`Alí' Nuri

There are two known photographs of Bahá'u'lláh. This photo was taken while he was in Adrianople (reproduced in William Miller's book on the Bahá'í Faith). Copies of both pictures are at the Bahá'í World Centre, and one is on display in the International Archives building, where the Bahá'ís view it as part of an organized pilgrimage. Outside of this experience Bahá'ís prefer not to view this photo in public, or even to display it in their private homes,[32] and Bahá'í institutions have requested the press not to publish the image in the media.[33]

Bahá'u'lláh's image is not, itself, offensive to Bahá'ís. However, Bahá'ís are expected to treat the image of any Manifestation of God with extreme reverence. According to this practice, they avoid depictions of Jesus or of Muhammad, and refrain from portraying any of them in plays and drama. For example, copies of the photographs are displayed on highly significant occasions, such as six conferences held in October 1967 commemorating the centenary of Bahá'u'lláh's writing of the Suriy-i-Mulúk (Tablet to the Kings), which Shoghi Effendi describes as "the most momentous Tablet revealed by Bahá'u'lláh" (God Passes By, pp. 171). After a meeting in Edirne (Adrianople), Turkey, the Hands of the Cause travelled to the conferences, 'each bearing the precious trust of a photograph of the Blessed Beauty, which it will be the privilege of those attending the Conferences to view.' (Marks, Geoffry W. (Ed.) (1986). Messages of The Universal House of Justice 1963 to 1986, p. 105.)

The official Bahá'í position on displaying the photograph of Bahá'u'lláh is:

"There is no objection that the believers look at the picture of Bahá'u'lláh, but they should do so with the utmost reverence, and should also not allow that it be exposed openly to the public, even in their private homes."
(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, December 6, 1939)
(Compilations, Lights of Guidance, p. 540)

While the above passage clarifies that it is considered disrespectful to display his photograph to the public, regarding postings on other websites the Bahá'í World Centre has written:

"For Bahá'ís, the photograph of Bahá'u'lláh is very precious and it should not only be viewed but also handled with due reverence and respect, which is not the case here. Thus, it is indeed disturbing to Bahá'ís to have the image of Bahá'u'lláh treated in such a disrespectful way. However, as the creator of the site is not a Bahá'í, there is little, if anything, that can be done to address this matter. We hope these comments have been of assistance."
(Office for Public Information, 1999 Sept 04, Photo of Bahá'u'lláh on Web Site)

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Bahá'u'lláh (1976). Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh. Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, pp. 151. ISBN 0877431876. 
  2. ^ H. Balyuzi (1980). Baha'u'llah: The King of Glory. Oxford, Great Britain: George Ronald, pp. 9-12. 
  3. ^ Effendi, Shoghi (1944). God Passes By, p. 94. 
  4. ^ a b Balyuzi, Hasan (2000). Bahá'u'lláh, King of Glory. 
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Cole, Juan. A Brief Biography of Baha'u'llah. Retrieved on 2006-06-22.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cole, Juan (1989). "Baha'-allah". Encyclopædia Iranica.  
  7. ^ a b c d MacEoin, Dennis (1989). "Bāb, Sayyed `Ali Mohammad Sirazi". Encyclopædia Iranica.  
  8. ^ a b Browne, Edward G. (1889). Bábism. 
  9. ^ Farah, Caesar E. (1970). Islam: Beliefs and Observances. Woodbury, NY: Barron's Educational Series. 
  10. ^ a b c d e Hutter, Manfred (2005). "Bahā'īs". Encyclopedia of Religion (2nd ed.) 2. Ed. Ed. Lindsay Jones. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA. p737-740. ISBN 0028657330. 
  11. ^ http://www.h-net.msu.edu/~bahai/diglib/books/P-T/S/sohrab/LP25.gif
  12. ^ a b Ma'sumian, Bijan (1993 Fall). "Baha'u'llah's Seclusion in Kurdistan". Deepen Magazine 1: pp. 18-26. 
  13. ^ Smith, Peter (1987). The Bábí & Bahá'í Religions: From Messianic Shí'ism to a World Religion. Cambridge: The University Press, pp. 60. ISBN 0521301289. 
  14. ^ Taherzadeh, Adib (1976). The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, Volume 1: Baghdad 1853-63. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0853982708. 
  15. ^ a b "The Bahá'í Faith". Britannica Book of the Year. (1988). Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica. ISBN 0852294867. 
  16. ^ http://www.h-net.msu.edu/~bahai/diglib/books/P-T/S/sohrab/LP27.gif
  17. ^ Quoted in Effendi, Shoghi (1944). God Passes By, p. 160. 
  18. ^ Mírzá Muhammad Jawád of Qazvín (1904). An epitome of Bábí and Bahá'í history to A.D. 1898. 
  19. ^ Cole, Juan R.I.. Baha'u'llah's Surah of God: Text, Translation, Commentary. Retrieved on 2006-11-24.
  20. ^ Mirza Aqa Khan Kirmani made this claim later in his Hasht-Bihisht. This book is abstracted in part by E.G. Browne in "Note W" of his translation of A Traveller's Narrative, (Browne, E.G. (1891). A Traveller's Narrative, An epitome of Bábí and Bahá'í history to A.D. 1898, p. 359. ). However, contemporary historians recognize that: "The Azali Babis and in particular Mirza Aqa Khan Kirmani and Shaykh Ahmad Ruhi showed little hesitation in alteration and falsification of Babi teachings and history in their works." (Manuchehri, Sepehr (September, 1999). "The Practice of Taqiyyah (Dissimulation) in the Babi and Bahai Religions". Research Notes in Shaykhi, Babi and Baha'i Studies Vol. 3 (no. 3). Retrieved on 2007-11-27. )
  21. ^ Introduction by E.G. Browne, p.XXXIX-XL. A Traveller's Narrative. Cambridge (1891). Retrieved on 2006-06-22.
  22. ^ a b c d e Buck, Christopher (2004). "The eschatology of Globalization: The multiple-messiahship of Bahā'u'llāh revisited", in Sharon, Moshe: Studies in Modern Religions, Religious Movements and the Bābī-Bahā'ī Faiths. Boston: Brill, p. 143-178. ISBN 90-04-13904-4. 
  23. ^ a b Momen, Moojan (2002-03-02). Buddhism and the Baha'i Faith. bahai-library.org. Retrieved on 2007-07-15.
  24. ^ H. Balyuzi (1980). Baha'u'llah: The King of Glory. Oxford, Great Britain: George Ronald, pp. 9-12. 
  25. ^ Sears, William [1961] (2002). Thief in the Night. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 085398008x. 
  26. ^ Bahá'u'lláh [1873-92] (1994). Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh Revealed After the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, p. 221. ISBN 0877431744. 
  27. ^ a b c d Smith, Peter (2000). "Bahá'u'lláh, writings of". A concise encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith. Oxford: Oneworld Publications. p. 79-80. ISBN 1-85168-184-1. 
  28. ^ BWNS. A new volume of Bahá'í sacred writings, recently translated and comprising Bahá'u'lláh's call to world leaders, is published. Retrieved on 2006-11-24.
  29. ^ Archives Office at the Bahá'í World Centre, Haifa, Israel. Bahá'í Archives - Preserving and safeguarding the Sacred Texts. Retrieved on 2006-11-24.
  30. ^ Universal House of Justice. Numbers and Classifications of Sacred Writings texts. Retrieved on 2006-11-24.
  31. ^ Fádil-i-Mázindarání, Asadu'lláh (1967). Asráu'l-Áthár, Vol.I. Bahá'í Publishing Trust, Tehran, p.453. 
  32. ^ UHJ letters: photo.bahaullah.html
  33. ^ http://www.bahai.us/system/files/PublicationofPhotos.pdf

[edit] References

  • Balyuzi, Hasan (2000). Bahá'u'lláh, King of Glory, Paperback, Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0853983283. 
  • "The Kitab-i Iqan:An Introduction to Bahá'u'lláh's Book of Certitude with Two Digital Reprints of Early Lithographs" by Christopher Buck in Occasional Papers in Shaykhi, Bábi and Bahá'í Studies, Vol. 2, No. 5 (June, 1998) Available online here.
  • Furútan, `Alí-Akbar (editor) (1986). Stories of Bahá'u'lláh. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0853982430. 
  • Hatcher, J.S. (1997). The Ocean of His Words: A Reader's Guide to the Art of Bahá'u'lláh. Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá'í Publishing Trust. ISBN 0877432597. 
  • Salmani, Ustad Muhammad-`Aliy-i, the Barber; Gail, Marizieh (tr.) (1982). My Memories of Bahá'u'lláh. Los Angeles, USA: Kalimát Press. ISBN 0933770219. 
  • Taherzadeh, Adib (1977). The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, Volume 2: Adrianople 1863-68. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0853980713. 
  • Taherzadeh, Adib (1984). The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, Volume 3: `Akka, The Early Years 1868-77. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0853981442. 
  • Taherzadeh, Adib (1987). The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, Volume 4: Mazra'ih & Bahji 1877-92. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0853982708. 

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Persondata
NAME Bahá'u'lláh
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Nuri, Husayn-Ali
SHORT DESCRIPTION Founder of the Bahá'í Faith
DATE OF BIRTH November 12, 1817
PLACE OF BIRTH Tehran, Iran
DATE OF DEATH May 29, 1892
PLACE OF DEATH Acre, Israel
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bah%C3%A1%27u%27ll%C3%A1h"
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