No. 146

Baháʼu'lláh

بهاءالله

The Glory of God: Baháʼí Founder who taught one God, one faith, one humanity

Baháʼu'lláh, "Glory of God," was born Mírzá Ḥusayn-ʻAlí Núrí in Tehran in 1817. Baháʼís revere him as the Manifestation of God for this age and as the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, an independent religion. For his teachings he was exiled to Baghdad, Constantinople, Adrianople and Acre. He died at Bahjí in 1892.

Baháʼís turn to his writings for the vision of the oneness of God, of religion and of humanity. They believe that humanity is one family and that the great religions share one divine source. His shrine at Bahjí is the heart of Baháʼí pilgrimage. The Baháʼí calendar marks his birth, his declaration at Riḍván and his ascension as holy days.

See the gallery

Firman of Muhammad Shah Qajar, dated 1250 AH/1835 CE. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Layla S. Diba, in memory of Mahmood T. Diba, 2013 (CC0)

In art and place public-domain and openly licensed images

Firman of Muhammad Shah Qajar, 1250 AH/1835 CE, Iran: Qajar court chancery script from Baháʼu'lláh's youth.The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Layla S. Diba, in memory of Mahmood T. Diba, 2013 (CC0)

Calligraphy exercise by Muhammad Shah Qajar, 1844, Iran: Persian script culture of the year the Báb's movement began.The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Friends of Islamic Art Gifts, 2016 (CC0)

Calligraphy painting, ca. 1860, Iran: large Persian verse in the Qajar-era tradition of Baháʼu'lláh's Persian writings.The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, 2017 NoRuz at The Met Benefit, 2018 (CC0)

Colored Arabic calligraphy on black, early–mid-19th century Iran: the Arabic scriptural art of Baháʼu'lláh's Persian homeland.The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Charles K. Wilkinson, 1979 (CC0)

Illuminated Qur'an with lacquer binding, early 19th century, Iran: the Islamic devotional book culture in which Baháʼu'lláh grew up.The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Shamina Talyarkhan, 2006 (CC0)

Illuminated Qur'an dated 1268 AH/1851–52, Turkey: Ottoman book art from the empire where Baháʼu'lláh was later exiled.The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Elizabeth M. Riley, 1980 (CC0)

In the shop

The Deity Project makes no images of Baháʼu'lláh, in keeping with Baháʼí practice. The tradition welcomes learning through words: his life, his writings and the holy days. The Greatest Name and the ringstone symbol are explained in words rather than reproduced.

Sources

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