On May 29, 1892, shortly before dawn began to break, Bahá’u’lláh (Glory of God) – {Prophet-Founder of the Bahá’í Faith} was seventy-five years old passed on from this mortal life and His spirith was finally “released from the toils of a life crowded with tribulations.”
(Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 221).
He was surrounded only by family members and a small but loyal band of followers. His body was laid to rest, reverently and without any extravagant ceremony, in one of the buildings of the property in Bahji, outside of Akka, Israel, where He had spent the last twelve years of His life. He died a prisoner, a captive of one of the many governments that had persecuted Him for the past forty years and exiled Him from Tehran to Baghdad to Constanstinople to Adrianople to Akka and finally to Bahji…..
(Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 99).
Methinks, the spiritual commotion set up in the world of dust had caused all the worlds of God to tremble…. My inner and outer tongue are powerless to portray the condition we were in…. In the midst of the prevailing confusion a multitude of the inhabitants of ‘Akká and of the neighboring villages, that had thronged the fields surrounding the Mansion, could be seen weeping, beating upon their heads, and crying aloud their grief.
(Shoghi Effendi,u God Passes By, p. 222).
As the Guardian indicated, the commemoration of the ascension of Bahá’u’lláh should be held, if feasible, at 3:00 am on 29 May and that of the Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá at 1:00 am on 28 November. These times should be measured according to standard time in each area. If daylight saving time is being used in the country, the commemorations should continue to be observed according to standard time.
(Universal House of Justice to all National Spiritual Assemblies 15 March 1992)
As per newly implemented Bahá’í Calendar, the Commemoration of the Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh should be held, if feasible, at 3:00 am on 28 May 2025 and that of the Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá at 1:00 am on 27 November 2025.
At the age of 27, Bahá’u’lláh became a follower of the Báb, a Persian merchant who began preaching that God would soon send a new Prophet similar to Jesus. The Báb and many of His followers were executed by the Ottoman authorities for their beliefs. Bahá’u’lláh was exiled for the same reason, despite this, in 1863 He declared that He was the expected Prophet the Báb spoke of. Since then, Bahá’ís have seen Bahá’u’lláh to be a Manifestation of God.
Bahá’u’lláh was imprisoned by Ottoman authorities, first in Edirne, and then in the prison city of Acre, (present-day Israel), where he spent His final 24 years of life. On May 9, 1892, Bahá’u’lláh contracted a fever which became progressively worse, and resulted in His death. Just after sunset on the day He passed away, Bahá’u’lláh was buried in a simple room in a house next to the Mansion of Bahjí in Arce, where he resided. His burial place is a destination of pilgrimage for His followers, and the Bahá’í World Centre sits in Haifa. Bahá’u’lláh named ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as His successor and head of the Bahá’í Faith. This was the first time in history that the Founder of a world religion had named His successor in a written irrefutable text.
This is the holiest place on earth for Bahá’ís, where they turn to in prayer each day. Pilgrims come from all corners of the globe to pay their respects to Bahá’u’lláh and to rededicate their lives to the noble purposes that He set before humanity.
Nine days later His Will was unsealed. It designated ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as His successor and head of the Bahá’í Faith — the first time in history that the founder of a world religion had made explicitly clear whom people should follow after His death. This declaration of a successor is the pivotal provision of what is known to Bahá’ís as the “Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh.” It has enabled the Bahá’í Faith to remain united around one central authority.
But while Bahá’u’lláh spent the last forty years of His life as a prisoner, His captivity in no wise prevented Him from proclaiming His message even to the most powerful of individuals on the planet. One of the most notable features of Bahá’u’lláh’s revelation is the fact that He sent personal tablets and letters to a number of kings and rulers who reigned during His ministry, even those who were responsible for His imprisonment. Among these rulers was Nasiri’d-Din Shah, the ruler of the Persian empire; Sultan Abdu’l-Aziz of Turkey; Napoleon III of France; the king of Prussia, and the first German emperor William I; Francis Joseph, who served as both the emperor of Austria and the king of Hungary; Nicolaevitch Alexander II, the all-powerful Czar of Russia; and even Pope Pius IX, the head of the Roman Catholic Church and the sovereign of the Papal States in Italy.
Although outwardly a lowly and desolate prisoner, Bahá’u’lláh addressed these rulers with the majesty and authority invested in Him by God. Bahá’u’lláh wrote:
Lay not aside the fear of God, O kings of the earth, and beware that ye transgress not the bounds which the Almighty hath fixed. Observe the injunctions laid upon you in His Book, and take good heed not to overstep their limits. Be vigilant, that ye may not do injustice to anyone, be it to the extent of a grain of mustard seed. Tread ye the path of justice, for this, verily, is the straight path.
Compose your differences, and reduce your armaments, that the burden of your expenditures may be lightened, and that your minds and hearts may be tranquillized. Heal the dissensions that divide you, and ye will no longer be in need of any armaments except what the protection of your cities and territories demandeth. Fear ye God, and take heed not to outstrip the bounds of moderation, and be numbered among the extravagant.
(Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 250).
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the vast majority of the rulers to whom Bahá’u’lláh sent tablets, many of which were at the apex of their material power and influence, failed to heed His warnings and summarily dismissed His injunctions. But one by one, Bahá’u’lláh’s prophesies began to be realized. Násiri’d-Dín Sháh was “dramatically assassinated,” Persia became occupied by various national forces during World War I, and the Qajar dynasty was ousted in 1925; following Sultan Abdu’l-Aziz’s rule “the Ottoman empire was dissolved, the Sultanate was abolished, a republic was proclaimed, and a rulership that had endured above six centuries was ended”; Napoleon III was “ignominiously defeated in the Battle of Sedan (1870), marking the greatest military capitulation recorded in modern history, lost his kingdom and spent the remaining years of his life in exile”; William I sustained two attempts on his life, and after his passing revolution broke out and resulted in the complete dissolution of the Prussian empire; Francis Joseph “was so engulfed by misfortunes and tragedies that his reign came to be regarded as one unsurpassed by any other reign in the calamities it inflicted upon the nation” and the Austro-Hungarian empire ended after World War I; Nicolaevitch Alexander II “suffered several attempts on his life, and at last died at the hand of an assassin,” but not before his repressive rule initiated a revolution which “swept away on a bloody tide the empire of the Czars, brought in its wake war, disease and famine, and established a militant proletariat which massacred the nobility, persecuted the clergy, drove away the intellectuals, disendowed the state religion, executed the Czar with his consort and his family, and extinguished the dynasty of the Romanoffs”; and finally Pope Pius IX “was compelled to surrender, in distressing circumstances, to the besieging forces of King Victor Emmanuel, and to submit himself to be depossessed of the Papal States and of Rome itself. The loss of ‘the Eternal City,’ over which the Papal flag had flown for one thousand years, and the humiliation of the religious orders under his jurisdiction, added mental anguish to his physical infirmities and embittered the last years of his life.”
(Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 219-232).
In Persia, Bahá’u’lláh was imprisoned between the months of August and December 1852 in the Siyah-Chal (Black Pit), an
underground dungeon, which was one of the most notorious dungeons in Tehran. Bahá’u’lláh claimed that here He had a
vision of a Maid of Heaven, through whom He received His mission as a Messenger of God and as the One whose coming
the Bab Báb
had prophesied.
Bahá’u’lláh’s passing followed nearly 40 years of exile from His native Iran, first in Baghdad and later in Turkey before His
incarceration in Acre in 1868.
Bahá’u’lláh revealed more than 100 volumes of divinely inspired mystical writings, ethical and social teachings, and laws and
ordinances. He also addressed the kings and rulers of His day, including the Shah of Persia, the Sultan of Turkey, Pope Pius
IX, Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany, Queen Victoria, Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, Napoleon III, and the heads of
governments as mentioned above, in the West, informing them of the Revelation He bore. He exhorted them to govern their subjects with justice
and compassion, and He warned them that if they did not, power would pass from their hands.
Bahá’í communities around the world each year typically commemorate Bahá’u’lláh’s passing on May 28th or 29th at 3:00 a.m.
The Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh is one of nine holy days during the year on which Bahá’ís suspend work.
The Baháʼí Faith calls on humanity to acknowledge its essential oneness and work towards global peace through grassroots and international collaborative efforts.
Compiled by:-
Jaya Raju Thota
Greater Visakhapatnam
Andhra Pradesh
India
