BAHA ULLAH

or Baha Allahbähäˈ oolˈä [Arab.,=glory of God], 1817–92, Persian religious leader originally named Mirza Husayn Ali Nuri. One of the first disciples of the Bab (see Babism), 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 Baha'ism 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 the Baha'i faith.

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

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