The Hidden Words/Appendix

The Hidden Words by Bahá’u’lláh
Appendix: About Bahá’u’lláh

Appendix

ABOUT BAHÁ’U’LLÁH

Bahá’u’lláh, whose name means in Arabic “the Glory of God,” is the founder of the Bahá’í Faith. His followers, known as Bahá’ís, believe him to be the latest in a line of great Prophets, or Manifestations of God, that includes Abraham, Moses, Zoroaster, Jesus, and Muhammad.

Born Mírzá Ḥusayn-‘Alí on 12 November 1817 in Tehran, the capital of Persia (now Iran), Bahá’u’lláh was a member of a wealthy noble family that could trace its ancestry to the ruling dynasties of Persia’s imperial past. Though he was invited to follow his father in government service in a ministerial position that would have ensured a life of wealth and luxury, he had no interest in politics. He chose instead to devote himself to philanthropic endeavors and to an undertaking that has gradually captured the imagination and loyalty of some five million people from virtually every race, culture, class, [Page 166]File:The Hidden Words.pdfand nation on earth. The undertaking is today embodied in the Bahá’í Faith, the youngest of the independent world religions.

In 1844 Bahá’u’lláh embraced the cause of a young merchant from Shiraz known as the Báb (Gate), who was advancing a claim that the advent of a universal Prophet, the Promised One of all religions —“Him Whom God shall make manifest”—was imminent and that his advent would usher in an era of universal peace and initiate a new cycle in the religious history of humankind. This occurred during a period marked by social upheaval and messianic expectation around the globe. Believers from many faith traditions were seeking guidance from their scriptures about the fulfillment of prophecies signaling the end of human history. Many Christians felt the return of Christ was near at hand. Shiah Muslims speculated about the return of the Twelfth Imam (also known as the Qá’im, or “the one who shall arise from the family of Muhammad”).

The Báb’s announcement provoked swift and severe responses from both church and state in his native land. They believed that Muhammad was the last and final Prophet of God; thus the Báb and his followers, known as Bábís, were seen as a dangerous heretical movement that must [Page 167]File:The Hidden Words.pdfbe stopped. The Báb was arrested, beaten, and imprisoned, and eventually he was publicly executed in 1850. Some twenty thousand of his followers were killed, many after enduring heinous torture.

Bahá’u’lláh quickly became a leading supporter and defender of the Báb’s cause. As a result, he, too, was assailed by the same forces of ignorance and fanaticism that had imprisoned and executed the Báb. He was cast into the infamous Black Pit of Tehran, an underground dungeon from which few escaped with their lives. There, surrounded by thieves and murderers, he was fettered with heavy shackles and chains that cut into his flesh. He and the cause he so vigorously espoused were expected to perish. Yet it was there in the Black Pit that Bahá’u’lláh received the first intimations of his own mission. Many years later, near the end of his life, Bahá’u’lláh described the experience as follows:

One night, in a dream, these exalted words were heard on every side: “Verily, We shall render Thee victorious by Thyself and by Thy Pen. Grieve Thou not for that which hath befallen Thee, neither be Thou afraid, for Thou art in safety. Erelong will God raise up[Page 168]File:The Hidden Words.pdf the treasures of the earth—men who will aid Thee through Thyself and through Thy Name, wherewith God hath revived the hearts of such as have recognized Him.”

Bahá’u’lláh further described the experience, saying,

During the days I lay in the prison of Ṭihrán, though the galling weight of the chains and the stench-filled air allowed Me but little sleep, still in those infrequent moments of slumber I felt as if something flowed from the crown of My head over My breast, even as a mighty torrent that precipitateth itself upon the earth from the summit of a lofty mountain. Every limb of My body would, as a result, be set afire. At such moments My tongue recited what no man could bear to hear.

Through the experience of divine revelation amidst the horror, agony, and gloom of the Black Pit, Bahá’u’lláh began to understand his mission and its relationship to the Báb’s prophetic words regarding “Him Whom God shall make manifest.”

Bahá’u’lláh survived his imprisonment and [Page 169]File:The Hidden Words.pdfwas released after four months; however, the remaining forty years of his life were marked by severe hardships in the form of exile, further imprisonment, and unrelenting persecution.

Upon his release from prison, Bahd’u'llah and his family were banished from Persia. He chose Baghdad, Iraq, as his place of exile. From there he was later banished to Constantinople (Istanbul), then Adrianople (Edirne, Turkey), and finally to the prison-city of Acre, Israel, where he remained for over twenty-four years until his passing on 29 May 1892.

During the course of his exiles, Bahá’u’lláh wrote voluminously, expounding the principles of his faith, formulating its laws and ordinances, proclaiming his message to the kings and rulers of the world, and calling upon them to turn to God and reign with justice.

The aim of Bahá’u’lláh is not to abolish but to fulfill the revelations of the past; to reconcile, rather than accentuate, the divergencies of conflicting creeds; to restate the basic truths of the world’s major religions in a manner that conforms to the needs and maturity of the age in which we live; and to herald the approach of an age in which the peace of the planet will be permanently ensured.

The main thrust of his message is unity. He [Page 170]File:The Hidden Words.pdftaught that there is only one God, that all of the world’s religions represent one changeless and eternal Faith of God, and that all humanity is one race, destined in the fullness of time to live in peace and harmony. He proclaims that the ages of the infancy and childhood of the human race are past, that the convulsions associated with its present stage of adolescence are gradually and painfully preparing it to reach the stage of adulthood, and are heralding the approach of that Age of Ages when swords will be beaten into plowshares, when the Kingdom of God. promised by Jesus will have been established, and the peace and prosperity of the entire planet will be definitely and permanently ensured. He proclaims the necessity and inevitability of the unification of humankind, asserting that it is gradually approaching and that nothing short of the spirit of God, working through His chosen Mouthpiece in this day, can ultimately succeed in bringing it about.

Bahá’u’lláh enjoins on his followers the primary duty of an unfettered search for truth, condemns all forms of prejudice and superstition, declares the purpose of religion to be the promotion of friendship and harmony, proclaims the essential harmony of science and religion, and recognizes religion as the foremost [Page 171]File:The Hidden Words.pdfagency for the orderly progress of society. He asserts the principle of equal rights, opportunities, and privileges for women and men; insists on compulsory education; declares the necessity of eliminating extremes of poverty and wealth; abolishes the institution of priesthood; prohibits slavery, asceticism, begging, and monasticism; prescribes monogamy; discourages divorce; emphasizes the necessity of strict obedience to one’s government; exalts any work performed in the spirit of service to the level of worship; urges the creation or selection of an auxiliary international language; and delineates the outlines of those institutions that must establish and perpetuate the general peace of mankind.

Bahá’u’lláh does not claim that his own revelation is to be the last revelation from God. He promises that a larger measure of the truth that he has been commissioned by God to bestow on humanity will be disclosed at future stages of its constant and ever-advancing evolution.