At times, it can seem that human society is falling apart altogether. Yet developments in all arenas of life are often the source of hope and signs of an emerging sense of individual and collective responsibility. Bahá’u’lláh’s writings illuminate this seeming contradiction. Like an adolescent moving to adulthood, humanity is growing up.
Baha'u'llah
Bahá'ís believe that Bahá’u’lláh is the Messenger of God for this day. His teachings are the basis of the Bahá’í Faith, whose primary aim is the unity of mankind. Here you will find information about His life, the persecution He faced, the nature of His teachings, and selections from His writings.
Life and Mission of Bahá’u’lláh
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`Abdu'l-Bahá's Description of His Father
The Blessed Perfection, Bahá'u'lláh, belonged to the royal family of Persia. From earliest childhood He was distinguished among His relatives and friends. They said, "This child has extraordinary power." 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. More >
Historical Introduction to Baha'u'lláh
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.
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An English Scholar's Encounter with Bahá'u'lláh In 1890, famed Cambridge orientalist Edward G. Browne met Bahá'u'lláh. He was the only Westerner to meet Him and leave an account of his experience. Browne, who visited Bahá'u'lláh in His home at Bahji, wrote:
Though I dimly suspected whither I was going and whom I was to behold (for no distinct intimation had been given to me), a second or two elapsed ere, with a throb of wonder and awe, I became definitely conscious that the room was not untenanted. In the corner where the divan met the wall sat a wondrous and venerable figure... The face of him on whom I gazed I can never forget, though I cannot describe it. Those piercing eyes seemed to read one's very soul; power and authority sat on that ample brow... No need to ask in whose presence I stood, as I bowed myself before one who is the object of a devotion and love which kings might envy and emperors sigh for in vain!
A mild dignified voice bade me be seated, and then continued: "Praise be to God that thou hast attained!...Thou hast come to see a prisoner and an exile...We desire but the good of the world and the happiness of the nations; yet they deem us a stirrer up of strife and sedition worthy of bondage and banishment...That all nations should become one in faith and all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men should be strengthened; that diversity of religion should cease, and differences of race be annulled -- what harm is there in this?...Yet so it shall be; these fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the `Most great Peace' shall come...Do not you in Europe need this also? Is this not what Christ foretold?...Yet do we see your kings and rulers lavishing their treasures more freely on means for the destruction of the human race than on that which would conduce to the happiness of mankind...These strifes and this bloodshed and discord must cease, and all men be as one kindred and one family...Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his country; let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind..."1
