The life of Bahá’u’lláh and the events associated with the birth of a new revelation from God unfolded in the 19th century in the Islamic world of Iran and the Ottoman Empire.

The stern control of those two central powers dictated Bahá’u’lláh’s movements His entire life, starting in what was then called Persia, where He was born.

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Map with overlay depicting the approximate boundaries of Iran and the Ottoman Empire in 1850 and the route of Bahá’u’lláh’s forced exile from His home in Tehran to the prison city of ‘Akká. Map with modern names and

The childhood of Bahá’u’lláh

Bahá’u’lláh, a title that means "the Glory of God" in Arabic, was born on 12 November 1817 in Tehran, Iran. His given name was Husayn Ali, and He was the son of a wealthy government minister, Mirza Buzurg-i-Nuri. The family could trace its ancestry back to the great dynasties of Iran's imperial past. Bahá’u’lláh led a princely life as a young man, receiving an education that focused largely on calligraphy, horsemanship, classic poetry, and swordsmanship.

His son, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, said this concerning His childhood: "… Bahá’u’lláh, belonged to the nobility of Persia. From earliest childhood He was distinguished among His relatives and friends.… In wisdom, intelligence and as a source of new knowledge, He was advanced beyond His age and superior to His surroundings. All who knew Him were astonished at His precocity. It was usual for them to say, 'Such a child will not live,' for it is commonly believed that precocious children do not reach maturity." ⁽¹⁾

Photo 1 of 12: The city of Tehran, Iran, where Bahá’u’lláh was born

Haifa

Haifa Mount Carmel 1904 St. Elia Feast Haifa general view 1890

Photograph, 1930, of the Bay of Acre [Akka, St. Jean d'Acre] on the Mediterranean Sea, and the mosque compound of al-Jazzar built on the site of ancient sanctuaries in the Medieval City. "Within the walls there still appear several ruins which seem to distinguish themselves from the general heaps, by marks of a great strength and magnificence. At first those of the Cathedral Church dedicated to St.-Andrew, which stands not far from the sea side. Secondly the Church of St. John the tutelar Saint of this City. Thirdly, the Convent of the Knights Hospitallers; a place whose remaining walls sufficiently testify its ancient strength." A Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, At Easter, A.D.1697.

Photograph from the 1930's,of the court -yard of the al-Jazzar Mosque in Acre,Palestine[Since 1948 in Israel].The mosque,built in the classical Ottoman style in 1781 by the Boshnaq, [ Bosnian Ottoman] ruler of the city,Ahmad Pasha al-Jazzar[1775-1804],known for his cruelty[Jazzar=Butcher],who gained fame during Napoleon's failed Syrian campaign in 1799,and was able with the help of the British Navy to foil the French siege of his city.Mr.Farrah,a syrian jewish citizen of Damascus,served as his Secretary,or Prime Minister,and lost his eye as a punishment by his master.The mosque is a land-mark of the Medieval city of Acre,also known as Akka,Acca,Akko,and St.-Jean D'Acre,the Crusaders name of the city and their strong hold in the Holy-Land.,over looking the waters of the Mediterranean sea.

Baghdad

Photograph by German photographer, 1911, of Suq al-Ghazal (The Yarn Bazaar) Minaret in Baghdad-Mesopotamia. This is the oldest minaret in Baghdad. It belonged to the Caliph Mosque built by Caliph Muktafi 901-907 A.D. The mosque was destroyed by Hulagu in 1258 A.D. during the sack of the city of the Caliphs. The current minaret was built by Hulagu's son Abagha [1264-1281 A.D.]













A commercial Stereoscope of Iraqis sitting in a Mosul Cafe.

Baghdad's northern gate in 1917

In the middle of the last century, one of the most notorious dungeons in the Near East was Tehran's "Black Pit." Once the underground reservoir for a public bath, its only outlet was a single passage down three steep flights of stone steps. Prisoners huddled in their own bodily wastes, languishing in the pit's inky gloom, subterranean cold and stench-ridden atmosphere.

In this grim setting, the rarest and most cherished of religious events was once again played out: mortal man, outwardly human in other respects, was summoned by God to bring to humanity a new religious revelation.

The year was 1852, and the man was a Persian nobleman, known today as Bahá'u'lláh. During His imprisonment, as He sat with his feet in stocks and a 100-pound iron chain around his neck, Bahá'u'lláh received a vision of God's will for humanity.

The event is comparable to those great moments of the ancient past when God revealed Himself to His earlier Messengers: when Moses stood before the Burning Bush; when the Buddha received enlightenment under the Bodhi tree; when the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, descended upon Jesus; or when the archangel Gabriel appeared to Muhammad.

Bahá'u'lláh's experience in the Black Pit set in motion a process of religious revelation which, over the next 40 years, led to the production of thousands of books, tablets and letters--which today form the core of the sacred scripture of Bahá'í Faith. In those writings, He outlined a framework for the reconstruction of human society at all levels: spiritual, moral, economic, political, and philosophical.

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"Der Herr ist Nahe" (le Seigneur est proche).