Birth of Baha'u'llah November 12th, 1817

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The childhood home of Baha'u'llah, destroyed by the Iranian government in 1981.

On November 12, about five million Baha'is around the world will celebrate the 196th anniversary of another rare event that may have an increasingly large impact on human history. Mirza Husayn Ali, who later took the title "Baha'u'llah", was born on this day in 1817 in Tehran, Persia. Despite a life of imprisonment and serial exile at the hands of Nasridin Shah of Persia and Sultan Abdul Aziz of Ottoman Turkey, His writings number over 100 volumes, are now spread over 200 countries and territories, and have been translated into over 800 languages. I have seen with my own eyes remote villages in Papua New Guinea that have built a special house to hold one of the books He wrote -- a sign of respect in their culture, and something the Shah of Persia could not have believed in his wildest dreams.

Author: Shashtri Purushotma

Excerpted from the Huffington Post:

The Birth of Baha'u'llah | Shastri Purushotma

 

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I was going to share some background of the family of Baha'u'llah in preparation for the Holy Day next week..

I've found David Marrick has some material that I wanted to share..

Father, Family, Lineage, Location

Looking north onto the shore of the Caspian Sea, and nestling against the protective rocky peaks to the south, lies the small village of Takur. This village is the ancestral home of one of the most ancient, wealthy and renowned families of Nur, a family honoured by its descent from Abraham, Zoroaster and the ancient Prophets, and through the last Zoroastrian King of Persia. Many members of this family held important Government posts, both in the Civil and the Military.

It was to this illustrious family that Bahá'u'lláh's father was born, and named 'Abbas. As an adult, he was married, and lived within the Persian Capital of Tihran, where he was a favoured minister of the Crown.

Father Named 'Mirza Buzurg'

Bahá'u'lláh's father was distinguished by a special name from the Shah himself. One day the Shah was marvelling at a masterpiece of beautiful writing, wondering if anyone alive could ever create its equal.

Bahá'u'lláh's father was suggested, and was sent for. Challenged to match its excellence and beauty, he copied this work of art, adding his own lines, and after illuminating them, he brought the new masterpiece as a present to the Shah.

The Shah was overwhelmed with admiration, and he issued a royal decree giving Bahá'u'lláh's father the name of 'Mirza Buzurg'; he also gave him a robe of honour, which he had himself worn, and exempted his entire village from tax. A few years later, Bahá'u'lláh's father was made a high-ranking advisor to the Shah's own son, and so he prospered in this and many other ways.

Birth of Bahá'u'lláh

Bahá'u'lláh's father had seven wives, and a great many children through them. At dawn, on the second day of the Islamic Year, on 12 November 1817, his wife Khadijih Khanum gave birth to the eldest of her surviving sons.

At that very same moment, Shaykh Ahmad, who announced the coming of the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh, was found fallen upon his face, repeating in wrapt devotion the words, 'God is Great!' and saying, 'That which I have been announcing to you is now revealed. At this very hour the light of the Promised One has broken, and is shedding illumination upon the world.'

Given the name of Husayn-'Ali, as the Child grew from an infant into adulthood, He astounded all who encountered Him, and would later, as Bahá'u'lláh, change the face of history.

Infancy

From His birth, Bahá'u'lláh never cried, always remaining in a most remarkable state of peacefulness. His mother was completely astonished, and before long it became obvious to everyone around, that her Child was entirely different from other children.

Residence

Bahá'u'lláh was brought up on the outskirts of Tihran, close to a moat. Part of every year, typically in the summer months, He would spend in His father's great mansion in their ancestral village of Takur, on the shores of the sea.

In a prominent place of this mansion, there still survives the inscription of Bahá'u'lláh's father, recording, "When you reach the threshold of the Beloved, say 'Yea'; for 'Peace' and 'Upon Thee' find no place there. This is the vale of Love, pause your steps; this is holy ground, cast off your shoes!"

Character and Qualities

Bahá'u'lláh as a child displayed a purity of character quite extraordinary, and a wonderful, innate wisdom and knowledge.

He greatly loved outdoor life, spending most of His time in the garden or fields.

Extremely kind and generous, He had an incredible power of attraction, which was felt by all. People always crowded around Him, children were devoted to Him, and the ministers and people of the Court would gather about Him.


Birth and Childhood of Baha'u'llah

 

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Schooling

As He grew up, Bahá'u'lláh desired no schooling. He received a little customary education at home, in riding, using a sword or gun, good manners, calligraphy, poetries, and the ability to read out the words of the Qur'an.
Despite a lack education, Bahá'u'lláh shone forth in wisdom and ability, and all who knew Bahá'u'lláh were astonished. It was usual for them to say, that such a child will not live beyond maturity.

Letter

To His aunt, when still so young in years, the Child Bahá'u'lláh wrote this remarkable and most literate letter:-


"He is the Well-Beloved! God willing you are abiding restfully beneath the canopy of Divine mercy, and the tabernacle of His bounty. Although to outward seeming, I am little and cannot write, yet because this Illiterate One is clinging to the Divine Lote tree, He can read without knowledge and write without being taught. And this fact is clear and evident in the spiritual realm to those endowed with insight. Those who are outside have been, and still are, unaware of this mystery."

Dream of Swimming in an Ocean

One night Bahá'u'lláh appeared in a dream, which was so very vivid, it awakened its dreamer.


Bahá'u'lláh was in a garden; great birds flew overhead; they attacked Him, yet they were powerless to harm Him. He was bathing in the sea, and began to swim in a vast, limitless ocean; His body shone out, and illuminated the sea! Above the waters, His long, jet-black locks, stood forth, floating in great profusion above the waves in all directions. Large numbers of fish gathered around Him, each fish holding fast to the end of a hair with its mouth. There were every kind of fish: large fish, small fish, white and black: and wherever He swam, they followed the light of His face. Such a vast number of fish clinging so tightly, caused no damage: not even a hair was lost from His head. Free and unrestrained, Bahá'u'lláh moved above the waters, with all the fish following His light.
His father was stunned by this dream, and with the Shah's permission, laid it before his well-known seer.



The seer, swept away with amazement, explained how the garden and its birds, and the limitless ocean with its fish, were the world of existence, and its people, and that Bahá'u'lláh would single-handedly triumph over it, unhindered and alone; yet, he declared himself quite unable to imagine how it could ever come to pass. So His father took him to see Bahá'u'lláh, who was just a Child of five, and his praise and admiration of Bahá'u'lláh was so profuse, and so great his concern that He be protected, that His father became yet more passionately devoted to Him


Early Life of Bahá'u'lláh