Baháʼu'lláh
A Persian nobleman turned divine messenger, he founded a global religion centered on the spiritual unity of all humanity and the oneness of the world's great faiths.
1817–1892 (age 75)·Founder of the Baháʼí Faith·Birthday: November 12
Biography
Born Mirza Husayn Ali Nuri into a wealthy family in 19th-century Tehran, Baháʼu'lláh's life took a radical turn when he embraced the teachings of the Báb, a new religious figure. This allegiance cost him everything: his social position, his wealth, and his freedom. He was imprisoned in a notorious subterranean dungeon in Tehran, an experience during which he received the first intimations of his own prophetic mission. Exiled successively from Persia to Baghdad, then to Constantinople, Adrianople, and finally the penal colony of Acre in Ottoman Palestine, he spent four decades as a prisoner. From these places of confinement, he penned a vast body of writings—over 100 volumes—that form the scripture of the Baháʼí Faith. His teachings declared the fundamental oneness of God, the essential harmony of all major religions, and the inevitability of a unified global civilization, ideas that attracted followers even as he remained physically confined until his death in 1892.
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Baháʼu'lláh's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1817Born
1822Started school
1830Became a teenager
1833Could drive
1835Could vote
1838Turned 21
1847Turned 30
1857Turned 40
1867Turned 50
President: Andrew Johnson
1877Turned 60
President: Rutherford B. Hayes
1887Turned 70
President: Grover Cleveland
1892Died at 75
President: Benjamin Harrison
Key Achievements
- Authored the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the central book of laws and principles for the Baháʼí Faith.
- Founded the Baháʼí Faith, which grew from obscurity in a Persian prison to a worldwide religion with millions of adherents.
- Outlined principles like the independent investigation of truth, harmony of science and religion, and equality of women and men in his extensive writings.
- His teachings led to the establishment of a unique global administrative order without a clergy, based on elected councils.
Did You Know?
His name, Baháʼu'lláh, is Arabic for 'Glory of God.'
He wrote major works addressed to the rulers of his time, including Queen Victoria, Napoleon III, and Pope Pius IX.
The shrine where he is buried near Acre, Israel, is the holiest site and Qiblih (point of adoration) for Baháʼís worldwide.
He was a follower of the Báb, whose tomb is located in Haifa, Israel, creating a twin holy geography for the faith.
““The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.””
