Baha Ullah

Baha Ullah or Baha Allah [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 the Baha'i 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).

Bahaullah (1817–92) Name adopted by Mirza Husayn Ali Nuri, Persian religious leader and founder of the Baha'i faith. He embraced the Babi faith in 1850 but broke away in 1867, proclaiming himself Bahaullah (‘The Glory of Allah’), the Promised One foretold by Bab. His Katabi ikan (Book of Certitude) is the Baha'i holy book.