Bahá’í History Collection* 1892 Ascension of Bahá'u'lláh

During 40 years of imprisonment and exile, Bahá'u'lláh brought to humanity the latest guidance from God.

In 2008, Bahá'u'lláh's shrine and surrounding gardens, located on the outskirts of ‘Akká, Israel, and toward which Bahá'is turn in prayer each day as the most holy spot on earth, were placed on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites for their "profound spiritual meaning" -- you may read the article here:

https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1220

The news of His ascension was instantly communicated to the Ottoman Empire's Sultan Abdu’l-Hamid in a telegram which began with the words “the Sun of Bahá has set”. The sacred remains were interred within the precincts of His residence in Bahji, just outside the city walls of ‘Akká, where He had arrived in 1868 as a prisoner. It is now the holiest place of pilgrimage for members of the Bahá'i Faith, and Bahá'is turn toward it each day in prayer.

‘Akká was a prison-city with a reputation such that an old proverb warned if a bird flew over the city it would drop dead from the sky. Napoleon’s unsuccessful siege of the Ottoman-controlled, walled city (then called Acre) was his first setback in the Egyptian campaign, one of his few defeats, and marked the end of his hopes of carving out an empire in the East.

When Bahá’u’lláh and His exiled companions reached this place, the farmén of Sultan ‘Abdu’l‘Aziz, not only condemned them to perpetual banishment, but stipulated their strict incarceration, and forbade them to associate either with each other or with the local inhabitants. In other words, Bahá’u’lláh was supposed to be in solitary confinement for the rest of His life. When criminals were sent to ‘Akká, their life expectancy was intended to be very short; this was the hope of the despot rulers of the Persian and Ottoman empires.

The text of the farmén itself was read publicly, soon after the arrival of the exiles, in the principal mosque of the city as a warning to the population.The horrible conditions of the city and the dreadful treatment Bahá'u'lláh and his companions received upon arrival were meant to signal their imminent demise and the end of Bahá'u'lláh’s cause. Yet, Bahá'u'lláh’s description of that scene paints another picture entirely:
"Upon Our arrival, We were welcomed with banners of light, whereupon the Voice of the Spirit cried out saying: “Soon will all that dwell on earth be enlisted under these banners."

His ascension on 29 May 1892 occurred eight hours after sunset, in the 75th year of His age.

For a full week after His passing, a vast number of mourners, rich and poor alike, tarried to grieve with the bereaved family, partaking day and night of the food that was dispensed by its members. Notables arrived from the communities of many faiths: Muslim Shi’ahs, Sunnis, Christians, Jews and Druzes, as well as poets, ulamas and government officials; all joined in lamenting the loss, and in magnifying the virtues and greatness of Bahá’u’lláh's life, character, and Revelation, many of them paying to Him their written tributes, in verse and in prose.

His eldest son, `Abdu’l-Bahá, wrote:
"The world’s great Light, once resplendent upon all mankind, hath set, to shine everlastingly from the Abhá Horizon, His Kingdom of fadeless glory, shedding splendour upon His loved ones from on high and breathing into their hearts and souls the breath of eternal life."

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