In the early hours of the morning of 29 May, Bahá’ís throughout the world commemorate the passing of Bahá’u’lláh. The Founder of the Bahá’í Faith died in the Holy Land in 1892 at the Mansion of Bahji in Acre. His Shrine near there is the holiest place on earth for Bahá’ís. The commemoration, which is observed at 3 a.m., involves the reading of prayers and scripture. (Photo: The Mansion of Bahji.) Photo by Kamran Granfar. 

Reproduced with permission of the Baháí International Community  http://media.bahai.org

 

 

Already nine months before His ascension Bahá’u’lláh, as attested by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, had voiced His desire to depart from this world. From that time onward it became increasingly evident, from the tone of His remarks to those who attained His presence, that the close of His earthly life was approaching, though He refrained from mentioning it openly to any one. On the night preceding the eleventh of Shavval 1309 A.H. (May 8, 1892) He contracted a slight fever which, though it mounted the following day, soon after subsided. He continued to grant interviews to certain of the friends and pilgrims, but it soon became evident that He was not well. His fever returned in a more acute form than before, His general condition grew steadily worse, complications ensued which at last culminated in His ascension, at the hour of dawn, on the 2nd of Dhi’l-Qa’dih 1309 A.H. (May 29, 1892), eight hours after sunset, in the 75th year of His age. His spirit, at long last released from the toils of a life crowded with tribulations, had winged its flight to His “other dominions,” dominions “whereon the eyes of the people of names have never fallen,” and to which the “Luminous Maid,” “clad in white,” had bidden Him hasten, as described by Himself in the Lawh-i-Ru’ya (Tablet of the Vision), revealed nineteen years previously, on the anniversary of the birth of His Forerunner.  

 

Six days before He passed away He summoned to His presence, as He lay in bed leaning against one of His sons, the entire company of believers, including several pilgrims, who had assembled in the Mansion, for what proved to be their last audience with Him. “I am well pleased with you all,” He gently and affectionately addressed the weeping crowd that gathered about Him. “Ye have rendered many services, and been very assiduous in your labors. Ye have come here every morning and every evening. May God assist you to remain united. May He aid you to exalt the Cause of the Lord of being.” To the women, including members of His own family, gathered at His bedside, He addressed similar words of encouragement, definitely assuring them that in a document entrusted by Him to the Most Great Branch He had commended them all to His care.

 

The news of His ascension was instantly communicated to Sultan Abdu’l-Hamid in a telegram which began with the words “the Sun of Baha has set” and in which the monarch was advised of the intention of interring the sacred remains within the precincts of the Mansion, an arrangement to which he readily assented. Bahá’u’lláh was accordingly laid to rest in the northernmost room of the house which served as a dwelling-place for His son-in-law, the most northerly of the three houses lying to the west of, and adjacent to, the Mansion. His interment took place shortly after sunset, on the very day of His ascension.

 

From God Passes By, by Shoghi Effendi

 

 

 

 

 

The House of ‘Abbúd in ‘Akká (Acre), Israel

Reproduced with permission of the Bahá’í International Community http://media.bahai.org

 

 

 To Him Muhammad, the Apostle of God, had alluded in His Book as the “Great Announcement,” and declared His Day to be the Day whereon “God” will “come down” “overshadowed with clouds,” the Day whereon “thy Lord shall come and the angels rank on rank,” and “The Spirit shall arise and the angels shall be ranged in order.” His advent He, in that Book, in a surih said to have been termed by Him “the heart of the Qur’án,” had foreshadowed as that of the “third” Messenger, sent down to “strengthen” the two who preceded Him. To His Day He, in the pages of that same Book, had paid a glowing tribute, glorifying it as the “Great Day,” the “Last Day,” the “Day of God,” the “Day of Judgment,” the “Day of Reckoning,” the “Day of Mutual Deceit,” the “Day of Severing,” the “Day of Sighing,” the “Day of Meeting,” the Day “when the Decree shall be accomplished,” the Day whereon the second “Trumpet blast” will be sounded, the “Day when mankind shall stand before the Lord of the world,” and “all shall come to Him in humble guise,” the Day when “thou shalt see the mountains, which thou thinkest so firm, pass away with the passing of a cloud,” the Day “wherein account shall be taken,” “the approaching Day, when men’s hearts shall rise up, choking them, into their throats,” the Day when “all that are in the heavens and all that are on the earth shall be terror-stricken, save him whom God pleaseth to deliver,” the Day whereon “every suckling woman shall forsake her sucking babe, and every woman that hath a burden in her womb shall cast her burden,” the Day “when the earth shall shine with the light of her Lord, and the Book shall be set, and the Prophets shall be brought up, and the witnesses; and judgment shall be given between them with equity; and none shall be wronged.”

 

From God Passes By, by Shoghi Effendi

 

Path to the entrance of the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh     

Reproduced with permission of the Bahá’í International Community http://media.bahai.org

 

To Him Jesus Christ had referred as the “Prince of this world,” as the “Comforter” Who will “reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment,” as the “Spirit of Truth” Who “will guide you into all truth,” Who “shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak,” as the “Lord of the Vineyard,” and as the “Son of Man” Who “shall come in the glory of His Father” “in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory,” with “all the holy angels” about Him, and “all nations” gathered before His throne. To Him the Author of the Apocalypse had alluded as the “Glory of God,” as “Alpha and Omega,” “the Beginning and the End,” “the First and the Last.” Identifying His Revelation with  the “third woe,” he, moreover, had extolled His Law as “a new heaven and a new earth,” as the “Tabernacle of God,” as the “Holy City,” as the “New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” To His Day Jesus Christ Himself had referred as “the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of His glory.” To the hour of His advent St. Paul had alluded as the hour of the “last trump,” the “trump of God,” whilst St. Peter had spoken of it as the “Day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.” His Day he, furthermore, had described as “the times of refreshing,” “the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy Prophets since the world began.”

 

From God Passes By, by Shoghi Effendi

 

 

Cell occupied by Bahá’u’lláh in the citadel in ‘Akká (Acre), Israel (after restoration)

Reproduced with permission of the Bahá’í International Community http://media.bahai.org

 

To Him Isaiah, the greatest of the Jewish prophets, had alluded as the “Glory of the Lord,” the “Everlasting Father,” the “Prince of Peace,” the “Wonderful,” the “Counsellor,” the “Rod come forth out of the stem of Jesse” and the “Branch grown out of His roots,” Who “shall be established upon the throne of David,” Who “will come with strong hand,” Who “shall judge among the nations,” Who “shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips slay the wicked,” and Who “shall assemble the  outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.” Of Him David had sung in his Psalms, acclaiming Him as the “Lord of Hosts” and the “King of Glory.” To Him Haggai had referred as the “Desire of all nations,” and Zachariah as the “Branch” Who “shall grow up out of His place,” and “shall build the Temple of the Lord.” Ezekiel had extolled Him as the “Lord” Who “shall be king over all the earth,” while to His day Joel and Zephaniah had both referred as the “day of Jehovah,” the latter describing it as “a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.” His Day Ezekiel and Daniel had, moreover, both acclaimed as the “day of the Lord,” and Malachi described as “the great and dreadful day of the Lord” when “the Sun of Righteousness” will “arise, with healing in His wings,” whilst Daniel had pronounced His advent as signalizing the end of the “abomination that maketh desolate.”

 

From God Passes By, by Shoghi Effendi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A modern view of the house of Rida Big, the residence of Bahá’u’lláh in Adrianople for one year. The Mosque of Sultan Salim is in the background. (Photo by Axel Anders) Reproduced with permission of the Bahá’í International Community http://media.bahai.org

 

To His Dispensation the sacred books of the followers of Zoroaster had referred as that in which the sun must needs be brought to a standstill for no less than one whole month. To Him Zoroaster must have alluded when, according to tradition, He foretold that a period of three thousand years of conflict and contention must needs precede the advent of the World-Savior Shah-Bahram, Who would triumph over Ahriman and usher in an era of blessedness and peace.

 

He alone is meant by the prophecy attributed to Gautama Buddha Himself, that “a Buddha named Maitreye, the Buddha of universal fellowship” should, in the fullness of time, arise and reveal “His boundless glory.” To Him the Bhagavad-Gita of the Hindus had referred as the “Most Great Spirit,” the “Tenth Avatar,” the “Immaculate Manifestation of Krishna.”

 

From God Passes By, by Shoghi Effendi

Reproduced with permission of the Bahá’í International Community. http://media.bahai.org/

The proof of the claims of a Manifestation of God is through His person and His divinely revealed utterance.  The power and majesty of Bahá’u’lláh’s presence could have a remarkable effect even on those who were not among His followers and who seldom or never saw Him. This is demonstrated during the incident in Adrianople (now Edirne in Turkey) in September 1867 when Bahá’ulláh accepted a challenge from and publicly confronted His foolish brother, Mirza Yahyá (also known as Azal), and once and for all exposed Mirza Yahyá’s preposterous claims of leadership. Excerpted from:

The Revelation of  Bahá’ulláh, Volume 2

by Adib Taherzadeh  

Mirza Aqa Jan mentions that when Bahá’u’lláh left for the mosque with Mir Muhammad, he himself was not in the house, as he had gone to attend to some business in town. He heard the news and hastened back. On his way he saw a large crowd on both sides of the street and they told him that Bahá’u’lláh had just gone to the mosque of Sultan Salim. Mirza Aqa Jan immediately went to the mosque, where he found Bahá’u’lláh uttering the verses of God in majestic tone and in great profusion. None of the companions of Bahá’u’lláh was permitted by Him to accompany Him except Mir Muhammad and Mirza Aqa Jan who followed. Those members of the public who were in the mosque were amazed by what they saw. So powerful were the words of Bahá’u’lláh that a Persian man who heard them was awestruck; he was trembling all over and tears flowed from his eyes. Bahá’u’lláh at one point ordered Mir Muhammad to go and call Mirza Yahya to come with all his sins and transgressions and face his Lord. Bahá’u’lláh remained in the mosque till near sunset, while Mirza Yahya and Siyyid Muhammad stayed at home and gave some excuses to Mir Muhammad for not attending.

Haji Mirza Haydar-‘Ali, who was in Adrianople at the time, has written the account of that day. This is a translation of some of his reminiscences:

The meeting was to be on Friday at the mosque of Sultan
Salim at the time of the congregational prayer when the  
Muslims gather inside in great numbers… Mir Muhammad-i-Mukari
from Shiraz who was a Bábí … could not
imagine that Azal had broken the Covenant. So he begged
the Blessed Beauty to enlighten him. Bahá’u’lláh said to him
that if ever Azal came face to face with Him at a meeting
place, then he could consider Azal’s claims to be true. Mir
Muhammad accepted this statement as a criterion for distinguishing
between truth and falsehood, and he endeavoured
to bring this meeting about.

The news and date of the confrontation became known
among the peoples of Muslim, Christian and Jewish religions
in the city. All of them had heard of the miracles of Moses
and the story of His confrontation with Pharaoh. And now
they were expecting the meeting face to face in the mosque
between His Holiness the Shaykh Effendi (a designation by
which the people called Bahá’u’lláh to express their reverence
for Him) and Mirza Ali who had denied Him. (For fear of
being recognized, Azal had called himself by this name.)
Therefore, from the morning of Friday until before noon, a
large multitude drawn from the followers of these three
religions had thronged the area between the house of
Amru’llah … and the entrance to the mosque. The crowd
was so large that it was difficult to move about. Bahá’u’lláh,
the Day-Star of Glory, emerged from His home … and as
He passed through the crowd, people showed such reverence
as is difficult to describe. They greeted Him with salutations,
bowed and opened the way for Him to pass. Many of them 
prostrated themselves at His feet and kissed them. Bahá’u’lláh,
the Countenance of majesty and omnipotence, in
acknowledgement greeted the crowd by raising His hands
(as was customary among the Ottomans), and expressed His
good wishes. This continued all the way to the mosque. As
soon as He entered the mosque, the preacher, who was
delivering his discourse, became speechless or perhaps he
forgot his words. Bahá’u’lláh went forward, seated Himself
and then gave permission to the preacher to continue.
Eventually the preaching and prayers came to an end. But
Azal did not turn up. We heard that he had feigned illness
and asked to be excused.

In every city in the Ottoman Empire, there are Mawlavis,
who are dervishes and followers of Mawlavi, the author of
Mathnavi. Every Friday they hold their services in their
takyihs (centres of congregation) when they whirl around
their master and chant certain words in unison. Inside its
chambers some play music and sing delightful melodies.
When Bahá’u’lláh was about to leave the mosque He said:
‘We owe a visit to the Mawlavis. We had better go to their
takyih.’ As He rose to go, the Governor of Adrianople and
other dignitaries, together with the divines, availed themselves
of the opportunity to be in His presence and so they
accompanied Him. As a token of their humility and courtesy,
the Governor, the Shaykhu’l-Islam, the Ulama and other
dignitaries walked four or five steps behind Bahá’u’lláh
while the stream of His utterance was flowing. Sometimes,
through His grace and loving-kindness, Bahá’u’lláh would
stop and beckon the Governor and the others to walk in
front. But they would refuse to do so. In this way, with  
majesty and glory born of God, Bahá’u’lláh arrived in the
takyih. At that time the Shaykh of the Mawlavis was standing
in the centre and the dervishes were circling around and
chanting. As soon as their eyes beheld Him, they all stopped
their service without any reason. They bowed and showed
their respect for Him and became absolutely silent. Bahá’u’lláh
then seated Himself, permitted others who were with
Him to be seated. He then gave permission to the Shaykh to
resume his service again.

The news was widely circulated in Adrianople that when
Shaykh Effendi had entered the mosque the preacher was
unable to deliver his sermon and when he went to the taykih,
the dervishes and their leader forgot their words and stopped
their service. The following evening some believers attained
His presence and I was among them… Bahá’u’lláh made
these remarks: ‘When We entered the crowded mosque, the
preacher forgot the words of his sermon, and when We
arrived inside the takyih, the dervishes were suddenly filled
with such awe and wonder that they became speechless and
silent. However, since people are brought up in vain imaginings,
they foolishly consider such events as supernatural acts
and regard them as miracles!’

Haji Mirza Haydar-‘Ali then describes how much he was touched by these words of Bahá’u’lláh. Through these words he clearly saw the difference between the ways of God and those of man. He recalls his meetings with men of eminence, leaders of religion and outstanding personalities who, without exception, were eager to publicize their slightest achievements and to exploit every opportunity through which they could enhance their fame and consolidate their positions. But this is not so with the Manifestations of God. Bahá’u’lláh, in this instance, by refuting the claims of the people who attributed miracles to Him, demonstrated that His glory does not depend upon the praise of men and their actions. He stands far above the human world and is its Ruler.

 

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