Baha Ullah

Baha Ullah

or

Baha Allah

(bähä` o͝ol`ä) [Arab.,=glory of God], 1817–92, Persian religious leader originally named Mirza Husayn Ali Nuri. One of the first disciples of the Bab (see BabismBabism
, system of doctrines proclaimed in Persia in 1844 by Ali Muhammad of Shiraz. Influenced by the Shaykhi Shiite theology that viewed the Twelve Imams as incarnations of the Divine, Ali Muhammad proclaimed himself the Bab,
..... Click the link for more information. ), he and his half-brother Subhi Azal became the leaders of the Babi faith. In 1863, shortly before being exiled to Constantinople, he declared himself the manifestation of God, the Promised One, as fortold by the Bab. He then founded the Baha'iBaha'i
, religion founded by Baha Ullah (born Mirza Huseyn Ali Nuri) and promulgated by his eldest son, Abdul Baha (1844–1921). It is a doctrinal outgrowth of Babism, with Baha Ullah as the Promised One of the earlier religion.
..... Click the link for more information.  faith and wrote its fundamental book, Kitabi Ikan (tr. The Book of Certitude, 1943). He spent most of his adult life in prison or under close surveillance. He died in Acre; his tomb there is one of the monuments of Baha'i.

Bibliography

See J. E. Esslemont Bahaullah and the New Era (3d rev. ed. 1970).