Siyáh-Chál (Black Pit): “No pen can depict that place, nor any tongue describe its loathsome smell.”

We were consigned for four months to a place foul beyond comparison. As to the dungeon in which this Wronged One and others similarly wronged were confined, a dark and narrow pit were preferable. Upon Our arrival We were first conducted along a pitch-black corridor, from whence We descended three steep flights of stairs to the place of confinement assigned to Us. The dungeon was wrapped in thick darkness, and Our fellow prisoners numbered nearly a hundred and fifty souls: thieves, assassins and highwaymen. Though crowded, it had no other outlet than the passage by which We entered. No pen can depict that place, nor any tongue describe its loathsome smell. Most of these men had neither clothes nor bedding to lie on. God alone knoweth what befell Us in that most foul-smelling and gloomy place! 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Epistle to the Son of the Wolf’)

“The soul of every Prophet of God, of every Divine Messenger, hath thirsted for this wondrous Day.”

Great indeed is this Day! The allusions made to it in all the sacred Scriptures as the Day of God attest its greatness. The soul of every Prophet of God, of every Divine Messenger, hath thirsted for this wondrous Day. All the divers kindreds of the earth have, likewise, yearned to attain it. No sooner, however, had the Day Star of His Revelation manifested itself in the heaven of God's Will, than all, except those whom the Almighty was pleased to guide, were found dumbfounded and heedless.

O thou that hast remembered Me! The most grievous veil hath shut out the peoples of the earth from His glory, and hindered them from hearkening to His call. God grant that the light of unity may envelop the whole earth, and that the seal, "the Kingdom is God's", may be stamped upon the brow of all its peoples.  

- Baha'u'llah  ('Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah')

The Persian government successively exiled Bahá’u’lláh from Persia to Iraq, Constantinople, Adrianople, and finally to “the prison city of ‘Akká, which was reserved for rebels, murderers, thieves, and highway robbers”

In brief, this most great Luminary appeared suddenly above the horizon of Persia, and all the people of that land, whether ministers, divines, or the general populace, rose against Him with the fiercest animosity, claiming that He was bent upon annihilating and extinguishing their religion, laws, nation, and empire, even as had been said of Christ. Yet Bahá’u’lláh, alone and single-handed, withstood them all without faltering in the slightest.

At last they said, “So long as this man is in Persia there will be no peace or tranquillity. He should be banished, that Persia might again find rest.” They subjected Bahá’u’lláh, therefore, to severe hardships so that He would be forced to seek permission to leave Persia, and they imagined that the lamp of the Cause would be thereby extinguished. But this persecution produced the contrary effect: The Cause grew in stature and its flame waxed brighter. It had until then spread only within Persia; this caused it to spread to other regions. Later they said, “Iraq is too close to Persia; we must dispatch Him to distant lands.” Thus the Persian government persisted until Bahá’u’lláh was exiled from Iraq to Constantinople. But again they saw that He did not falter in the least. They said, “Constantinople is a crossroads for divers peoples and nations, and there are many Persians there.” Hence they took further steps and had Him exiled to Adrianople. But that flame gathered still more intensity and the Cause grew even greater in stature. Finally the Persians said, “None of these locations was a place of humiliation: He must be sent to a place where He will be disgraced and subjected to trials and persecutions, and where His kindred and followers will suffer the direst afflictions.” Thus they chose the prison city of ‘Akká, which was reserved for rebels, murderers, thieves, and highway robbers, and in this wise they made Him associate with such people. But the power of God was made manifest, for this prison became the means of the promotion of His Faith and the glorification of His Word. The greatness of Bahá’u’lláh became apparent in that He succeeded, from within such a prison and under such humiliating circumstances, in wholly transforming the condition of Persia, in overcoming His enemies, and in proving to all the resistless power of His Cause. His sacred teachings spread to all regions and His Cause was firmly established. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Table talks in Akka, authenticated by ‘Abdu’l-Baha; ‘Some Answered Questions’ – 2014 revised translation by the Baha’i World Centre)

1863: Baha’u’llah reveals the Lawh-i-Fitnih (Tablet of the Test) in honor of Princess Shams-i-Jihan (granddaughter of Fath-'Ali Shah, the King of Persia)

The Lawh-i-Fitnih (Tablet of the Test) is another of Bahá'u'lláh's Arabic Tablets revealed in Baghdad, in honour of Princess Shams-i-Jihan. She was a granddaughter of Fath-'Ali Shah, and was known by the designation Fitnih. Her interest in the Faith began when she came in contact with, and became a close friend of Tahirih.

Shams-i-Jihan came to Baghdad, attained the presence of Bahá'u'lláh, recognized His station and became a devoted believer. The Pen of the Most High has revealed several Tablets for her and bestowed upon her the title of Varaqatu'r-Ridvan (The Leaf of Paradise).

The Lawh-i-Fitnih, as its title indicates, is all about tests and trials which are associated with the Day of God. In it Bahá'u'lláh alludes to His own Revelation and states that through His advent the whole creation will be tried; no soul will be exempt. All those who are the embodiments of piety and wisdom, of knowledge and virtue, every accomplished man of learning, the servants of God and His sincere lovers, the angels that enjoy near access to God, the Concourse on high, every righteous man of discernment, every mature embodiment of wisdom, even the realities of the Prophets and Messengers of God -- all will be tested.

Bahá’u’lláh reveals “the forces latent in His Revelation”

Expatiating on the forces latent in His Revelation Bahá’u’lláh reveals the following: “Through the movement of Our Pen of glory We have, at the bidding of the omnipotent Ordainer, breathed a new life into every human frame and instilled into every word a fresh potency. All created things proclaim the evidences of this world-wide regeneration.” 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a message dated 8 February 1934, printed as ‘The Dispensation of Baha'u'llah’ in ‘The World Order of Baha'u'llah’)

Reference to Bahá’u’lláh in the Báb’s Qayyúmu’l-Asmá

In the Qayyúmu’l-Asmá—the Báb’s commentary on the Súrih of Joseph—characterized by the Author of the Íqán as “the first, the greatest and mightiest” of the books revealed by the Báb, we read the following references to Bahá’u’lláh:

“Out of utter nothingness, O great and omnipotent Master, Thou hast, through the celestial potency of Thy might, brought me forth and raised me up to proclaim this Revelation. I have made none other but Thee my trust; I have clung to no will but Thy will… O Thou Remnant of God! I have sacrificed myself wholly for Thee: I have accepted curses for Thy sake, and have yearned for naught but martyrdom in the path of Thy love. Sufficient witness unto me is God, the Exalted, the Protector, the Ancient of Days.” 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘The Dispensation of Baha’u’llah; included in ‘The World Order of Baha’u’llah’)

Baha'u'llah defended Prophets of the past

The following story demonstrates Baha’u’llah’s noble vision of the Prophets and how He held Them in high esteem and honour. He would not tolerate it if anyone belittled their station or spoke of them in a discourteous manner. The story concerns Mirza Taqi Khan-i-Amir Nizam, who for many years was Persia’s Prime Minister during the reign of Nasiri’d-Din Shah. It was he who ordered the execution of the Bab, and committed great atrocities against the Babi community.

'Abdu'l-Bahá recounts that one day [when Baha'u'llah was a youth] Mirza Taqi Khan attended a gathering (presumably in Tihran) at which Bahá'u'lláh was present. He was referring to some verses of the Qur'án in a disrespectful manner and mockingly questioned the truth of the following verse:

He knoweth that which is on the dry land and in the sea;

there falleth no leaf, but he knoweth it; neither is there a

single grain in the dark parts of the earth, neither a green

thing, nor a dry thing, but it is written in the perspicuous

book [Qur'án].

Baha’u’llah’s station: “the Hidden Secret, the Impenetrable Mystery, Whose advent hath been foretold in the Book of God and hath been heralded by His Prophets and Messengers”

God testifieth that there is none other God but Him and that He Who hath come from the heaven of divine revelation is the Hidden Secret, the Impenetrable Mystery, Whose advent hath been foretold in the Book of God and hath been heralded by His Prophets and Messengers. Through Him the mysteries have been unravelled, the veils rent asunder and the signs and evidences disclosed. Lo! He hath now been made manifest. He bringeth to light whatsoever He willeth, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, invested with transcendent majesty and power.

Blessed is that strong one who will shatter the gods of vain imaginings through the potency of the Name of his Lord, He Who ruleth over all men.

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah’ revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas')

“the miracles of Bahá’u’lláh”

I will not mention the miracles of Bahá’u’lláh, for the hearer might say that these are merely traditions which may or may not be true. Such, too, is the case with the Gospel, where the accounts of the miracles of Christ come down to us from the Apostles and not from other observers, and are denied by the Jews. Were I nonetheless to mention the supernatural feats of Bahá’u’lláh, they are numerous and unequivocally acknowledged in the East, even by some of the non-believers…

 In brief, our meaning is that many marvellous things appeared from Bahá’u’lláh, but we do not recount them, for not only do they not constitute a proof and testimony for all mankind, but they are not even a decisive proof for those who witnessed them and who may ascribe them to magic. 

‘Abdu’l-Baha (Table talks in Akka, authenticated by ‘Abdu’l-Baha; ‘Some Answered Questions’ – 2014 revised translation by the Baha’i World Centre)

“the first obligation and the object of the constant endeavor of each” Baha’i: - “To strive to obtain a more adequate understanding of the significance of Bahá'u'lláh's stupendous Revelation"

To strive to obtain a more adequate understanding of the significance of Bahá'u'lláh's stupendous Revelation must, it is my unalterable conviction, remain the first obligation and the object of the constant endeavor of each one of its loyal adherents. An exact and thorough comprehension of so vast a system, so sublime a revelation, so sacred a trust, is for obvious reasons beyond the reach and ken of our finite minds. We can, however, and it is our bounden duty to seek to derive fresh inspiration and added sustenance as we labor for the propagation of His Faith through a clearer apprehension of the truths it enshrines and the principles on which it is based." 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated February 8, 1934, ‘The Dispensation of Baha’u’llah’)

Baha’u’llah receives, for the first time, an excerpt from the Báb’s newly-revealed Writings through Mulla Husayn

The glorious mission entrusted to Mulla Husayn was truly enviable. Its nature was intimated to him by the Báb in assuring words:

"In this pilgrimage upon which We are soon to embark, We have chosen Quddus as Our companion. We have left you behind to face the onslaught of a fierce and relentless enemy. Rest assured, however, that a bounty unspeakably glorious shall be conferred upon you. Follow the course of your journey towards the north, and visit on your way Isfahan, Kashan, Qum, and Tihran. Beseech almighty Providence that He may graciously enable you to attain, in that capital [Tihran], the seat of true sovereignty. A secret lies hidden in that city. When made manifest, it shall turn the earth into paradise. My hope is that you may partake of its grace and recognize its splendour.”

When Mulla Husayn reached the capital, Tihran, he lived in one of the rooms of a religious school. The leader of the Shaykhi community of Tihran, who acted as an instructor in that institution was approached by Mulla Husayn but failed to respond to his motivation to accept the Message of the Báb. Mulla Husayn assured him that he had no intention of prolonging his stay in Tihran, that his aim was in no wise to abase or suppress the teachings inculcated by Shaykh Ahmad and Siyyid Kazim.

During his stay in that capital Mulla Husayn did not appear in public. He limited himself to confidential conversations with those who visited him. He received a fair number of individuals and won over a large number of enquirers. According to the French historian Comte de Gobineau, among the people who showed interest in seeing him were the King, Muhammad Shah and his Minister, Haji Mirza Aqasi. Mulla Husayn presented them with some of the Writings of the Báb.

Trying to fulfill the assignment given to him by his Master to find the “secret” that was in that city – the secret that when made manifest would “turn the earth into paradise” – Mulla Husayn began leaving his room early in the morning and would only return to it an hour after sunset. Upon his return he would quietly re-enter his room alone, close the door behind him, and remain in the privacy of his cell until the next day.

Bahá'u'lláh’s father - Mirza Buzurg

Specimen of the calligraphy of Mirza Buzurg

Bahá'u'lláh's father was renowned as a calligrapher. Indeed his real name was 'Abbas and he had been given the designation Buzurg (meaning "great") by the king because of his calligraphic prowess. He became the minister to a royal prince who was the commander of the royal guards. He was later a vizier (minister), an official responsible for the collection of taxes, in a province. As was customary among Iran's nobility, Mirza Buzurg had an extensive family.

Bahá'u'lláh’s father was a close associate of Qa'im-M'aqam, the Prime Minister to Muhammad Shah. Qa'im-Maqam was one of the few Iranians who had woken up to the fact that the world was passing Iran by and that the country needed to modernize if it was not to be swallowed up by the colonialist forces that threatened it: Russia from the north and Britain from the south. But in 1835, Muhammad Shah turned against Qa'im-Maqam and had him executed, a not uncommon fate for Qajar Prime Ministers. As a result, Bahá'u'lláh's father fell into disfavour also, particularly as he was at odds with the new Prime Minister, Haji Mirza Aqasi. He lost his position and much of his wealth, and even his mansion in Takur was all but destroyed in a flood. He fell ill and eventually died in the spring of 1839. 

(Adapted from ‘Bahá'u'lláh, a Short Biography’, by Moojan Momen)

Condition of Persia (Iran) at the time of Bahá'u'lláh’s birth

Tehran - Shimran gate circa 1800

Iran at the beginning of the nineteenth century was asleep. The world around it was beginning to change rapidly but it was largely unaware of this. In Europe, the Industrial Revolution was starting to transform life in all its aspects: food, clothes, housing, work, transport, the city landscape, the environment -- nothing was spared its effects. Politically the age of the colonialist expansion into India and Africa was just beginning and even China and Japan were eventually unable to resist foreign penetration. Intellectually, the effects of the Age of Enlightenment were removing religion from the central position that it had always occupied and replacing it with science as the guarantor of truth.

But just as the world was being roused into a flurry of activity, Iran was settling into a comfortable repose after a turbulent eighteenth century which had seen the two-hundred year Safavid dynasty overthrown and a seventy-year period of turmoil.

At the end of the eighteenth century, the Qajar tribe had imposed its authority over the whole of Iran and settled into a system of government where every governorship of the provinces and every high government position was sold off to the highest bidder who would then act as a tax farmer, milking his position for whatever returns it offered until he was replaced. There was no law or system of government beyond the will of the king or of the local governor. They had the power of life and death over their subjects, who could be killed for even the most trivial reason. Even the state treasury was very rudimentary with officials being allocated in lieu of salary the taxes of certain villages, of which they in effect became lords and from which they were responsible for collecting their salaries as taxes. The nomadic tribes which were at least a third of the population were virtually independent. 

- Moojan Momen  (‘Bahá'u'lláh, a Short Biography’)

“…Bahá’u’lláh, as well as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá after Him, has, unlike the Dispensations of the past, clearly and specifically laid down a set of Laws, established definite institutions, and provided for the essentials of a Divine Economy”

For Bahá’u’lláh, we should readily recognize, has not only imbued mankind with a new and regenerating Spirit. He has not merely enunciated certain universal principles, or propounded a particular philosophy, however potent, sound and universal these may be. In addition to these He, as well as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá after Him, has, unlike the Dispensations of the past, clearly and specifically laid down a set of Laws, established definite institutions, and provided for the essentials of a Divine Economy. These are destined to be a pattern for future society, a supreme instrument for the establishment of the Most Great Peace, and the one agency for the unification of the world, and the proclamation of the reign of righteousness and justice upon the earth. Not only have they revealed all the directions required for the practical realization of those ideals which the Prophets of God have visualized, and which from time immemorial have inflamed the imagination of seers and poets in every age. They have also, in unequivocal and emphatic language, appointed those twin institutions of the House of Justice and of the Guardianship as their chosen Successors, destined to apply the principles, promulgate the laws, protect the institutions, adapt loyally and intelligently the Faith to the requirements of progressive society, and consummate the incorruptible inheritance which the Founders of the Faith have bequeathed to the world. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated February 8, 1934; ‘The Dispensation of Baha’u’llah’)

The “central theme” of Baha’u’llah’s Dispensation

In every Dispensation the light of Divine Guidance has been focussed upon one central theme.... In this wondrous Revelation, this glorious century, the foundation of the Faith of God and the distinguishing feature of His Law is the consciousness of the Oneness of Mankind. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi in ‘The World Order of Baha'u'llah’)

Bahá'u'lláh didn’t attend any schools

The education and instruction which Bahá'u'lláh received was limited both in nature and extent, as He Himself states in the Tablet addressed to Nasir’d-Din Shah: 'The learning current amongst men I studied not; their schools I entered not. Ask of the city wherein I dwelt, that thou mayest be well assured that I am not of them who speak falsely.' 

In those days, the scions of noble houses were taught such matters as befitted their station in life, such as riding, handling a gun, wielding a sword, calligraphy, acquaintance with the works of the great classical poets of the land, a good reading knowledge of the Holy Book, the Qur'an, and hardly ever anything more. They were given such instruction by tutors, specially engaged by the parents, who were also required to teach them good manners. 

- Hand of the Cause Balyuzi  (‘Bahá'u'lláh, The King of Glory’)

Bahá'u'lláh's intelligence and perception as a child surpassed mature men

When Bahá'u'lláh was seven years old, one day His mother was watching the elegance of His bearing as He paced to and fro, and remarked 'He is somewhat short of stature.' but His father answered: 'It is of no importance. Are you not aware of His capacity and His abilities? Such intelligence! And such perception! He is as a flame of fire. Even at this young age He surpasses mature men.' 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (Quoted by Ishraq-Khavari in Risaliy-i-Ayyam-i-Tis’ih; in ‘Stories of Baha’u’llah’, compiled by Hand of the Cause Ali-Akbar Furutan)

“passages in the writings of ‘Abdu’l Bahá” about the “nature” of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation

Such is, dearly-beloved friends, Bahá’u’lláh’s own written testimony to the nature of His Revelation. To the affirmations of the Báb, each of which reinforces the strength, and confirms the truth, of these remarkable statements, I have already referred. What remains for me to consider in this connection are such passages in the writings of ‘Abdu’l Bahá, the appointed Interpreter of these same utterances, as throw further light upon and amplify various features of this enthralling theme. The tone of His language is indeed as emphatic and His tribute no less glowing than that of either Bahá’u’lláh or the Báb.

• “Centuries, nay ages, must pass away,” He affirms in one of His earliest Tablets, “ere the Day-Star of Truth shineth again in its mid-summer splendor, or appeareth once more in the radiance of its vernal glory… How thankful must we be for having been made in this Day the recipients of so overwhelming a favor! Would that we had ten thousand lives that we might lay them down in thanksgiving for so rare a privilege, so high an attainment, so priceless a bounty!”
• “The mere contemplation,” He adds, “of the Dispensation inaugurated by the Blessed Beauty would have sufficed to overwhelm the saints of bygone ages—saints who longed to partake for one moment of its great glory.”
• “The holy ones of past ages and centuries have, each and all, yearned with tearful eyes to live, though for one moment, in the Day of God. Their longings unsatisfied, they repaired to the Great Beyond. How great, therefore, is the bounty of the Abhá Beauty Who, notwithstanding our utter unworthiness, hath through His grace and mercy breathed into us in this divinely-illumined century the spirit of life, hath gathered us beneath the standard of the Beloved of the world, and chosen to confer upon us a bounty for which the mighty ones of bygone ages had craved in vain.”
• “The souls of the well-favored among the concourse on high,” He likewise affirms, “the sacred dwellers of the most exalted Paradise, are in this day filled with burning desire to return unto this world, that they may render such service as lieth in their power to the threshold of the Abhá Beauty.”

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘The Dispensation of Baha’u’llah; included in ‘The World Order of Baha’u’llah’)

Bahá'u'lláh’s Seals

Apart from one seal which bore His name, Husayn-'Ali, Bahá'u'lláh had altogether ten seals which were made at different times during His ministry. Only one of them bears the inscription 'Bahá'u'lláh'. A few contain passages which describe Him as a Prisoner and the One Whom the world has wronged. Others declare in majestic language and unmistakable terms His undisputed authority, His transcendent majesty and His glorious station as the Supreme Manifestation of God and His Vicegerent on this earth. 

- Adib Taherzadeh  (The Revelation of Baha'u'llah vol. 1)