A Page from Bahá'í Sikkim

Bahá'í World Celebrates
163rd Birth Anniversary of Bahŕ'u'llŕh

On the 12th of November, 1817, the world experienced one of the greatest and the holiest of events in its history, the birth of the Promised One of all Ages. The precious child was born in Tehran (Iran) to a Minister in the court of the Shah. He was named Hussayn-Ali and later came to be known as BAHÁ'U'LLÁH (translated : The Glory of God.)

From an early age, He was distinguished from others by His extraordinary wisdom, intelligence and knowledge. Although He received no formal schooling, He was capable of solving the most difficult problems and in whatsoever meeting, He was found, He became the authority of explanation upon intricate and abstruse questions.

In the prime of His youth Bahá'u'lláh married the queenly, beautiful and saintly Navvab, the daughter of a prominent high official of the Persian government.

When Bahá'u'lláh was 22 years of age, His father died and He thereupon undertook the management of the vast family estate. However, He was intended for a work of a greater magnitude and the arena of government was too small a field for his capacities. Soon He was informed of the teachings of the 'Báb ' and declared them to be true. Because He expounded the Cause of the Báb, He suffered torture, imprisonment and banishment form Persia, first ot Baghdad (1853) then to Constantinople and Adrianople (1863) and finally to Akká, Palestine (1868).

It was in Baghdad in 1863 that Bahá'u'lláh  proclaimed that He was the one foretold by the Báb , the Promised One of all religions. In 1868, He began His public proclamation, addressed primarily to the rulers of the world, individually and collectively, including Queen Victoria, Napoleon III, Czar, Alexender II, Kaiser Wilhelm I, Emperor Francis Joseph, Sultan Abdu'l-Aziz, Nasirid-Din Shah and Pope Paul IX. To all He announced His Mission and called upon to bend their energies to the establishment of true religion. Just government and international peace.

In course of His banishment and particularly in Adrianople and Akka, Bahá'u'lláh revealed thousands of verses which make up the one hundred or more volumes of His work and which, together with the writings of the Báb and 'Abdu'l-Bahá form the extensive Bahá'í scriptures, laws and ordinances, and administration.

Bahŕ'u'llŕh 's earthly life came to an end in 1892 and His remains were laid to rest at Bahji on the outshines of Akká facing Mount Carmel across the Bay of Haifa.

Many eminent scholars of the world have paid rich tributes to Bahá'u'lláh. "If there has been any prophet in recent times," asserts the Rev. T. K. Cheyne in his book. 'The reconciliation of Races and Religions," "It is to Bahá'u'lláh  that we must go." "Bahŕ'u'llŕh , in the Judgment of many", writes Dr. David Rhys William, a Unitarian Minister, "possessed the tenderness of Saint Francis, the courage of Socrates, the sanity of Confucius, the Missionary vigor of Muhammad, the moral majesty of Isaiah, the compassion of Buddha, and the saintliness of Jesus."  

- Prof. Anil Sarwal