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)