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Mírzá Ḥusayn-`Alí Núrí i.e. Baháʼu'lláh was a Persian religious leader, and the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, which advocates universal peace and unity among all races, nations, and religions. Wikipedia

He was born on 12 November 1817, in Tehran, the capital of Persia, present-day Iran and died on 29 May 1892, Acre, Israel. Baháʼí authors trace his ancestry back to Abraham through Abraham's wife Keturah, to Zoroaster, to Yazdgerd III, the last king of the Sassanid Empire, and also to Jesse. According to the Baháʼí author John Able, Baháʼís also consider Baháʼu'lláh to have been "descended doubly, from both Abraham and Sarah, and separately from Abraham and Keturah".[13]

At the age of 27, Baháʼu'lláh became a follower of the Báb, a Persian merchant who began preaching that God would soon send a new prophet similar to Moses, Jesus, or Muhammad. The Báb and thousands of followers were executed by the Iranian authorities for their beliefs.[citation needed] Baháʼu'lláh faced exile from his native Iran, and in Baghdad in 1863 claimed to be the prophet the Báb foretold. Thus, Baháʼís regard Baháʼu'lláh as a Manifestation of God, fulfilling the eschatological expectations of Islam, Christianity, Zoroastrianism and other major religions.

Baháʼu'lláh faced further imprisonment under Ottoman authorities, first in Edirne, and ultimately in the prison city of Acre (present-day Israel), where he spent his final 24 years. His burial place is a destination of pilgrimage for his followers, as well as the direction they face for daily obligatory prayers. The Baháʼí World Centre sits in nearby Haifa.

Baháʼu'lláh wrote many texts, of which only a part has been translated into English until now.

There have been 15,000 works written by him identified; many of these are in the form of short letters, or tablets, to Baháʼís, but he also wrote larger pieces including the Hidden Words the Seven Valleys, the Book of Certitude (Kitáb-i-Íqán) and the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, The total volume of his works is more than 70 times the size of the Qurʼan and more than 15 times the size of the combined Old and New Testaments of the Bible.

The books and letters written by Baháʼu'lláh cover religious doctrine, the proclamation of his claims, social and moral teachings as well as Baháʼí laws; he also wrote many prayers. Jináb-i-Fádil-i-Mázindarání, analyzing Baháʼu'lláh's writings, states that he wrote in the different styles or categories including the interpretation of religious scripture, the enunciation of laws and ordinances, mystical writings, writings about government and world order, including letters to the kings and rulers of the world, writings about knowledge, philosophy, medicine, and alchemy, writings calling for education, good character and virtues, and writing about social teachings.[8] All of his works are considered by Baháʼís to be revelation, even those that were written before his announcement of his prophetic claim.

Baháʼu'lláh's teachings focus on the unity of God, religion, and mankind. Similar to other monotheistic religions, God is considered the source of all created things. Religion, according to Baháʼu'lláh, is renewed periodically by Manifestations of God, people who reflect perfections through divine intervention and whose teachings are the sources of the major world religions throughout history. Baháʼu'lláh wrote that there are no perfect personalities, that former Messengers of God reflected God's perfections, that there will be future Messengers of God, and that this is a key concept for understanding how all people are one with Messenger's of God. For instance, Christ is seen as embodying God by reflecting God, but he is not seen as being the whole embodiment of God. He is seen as being given his power. Baháʼís view Baháʼu'lláh as the most recent of these teachers whose mission includes the spiritual unification of the entire planet through the eradication of racism and nationalism. Baháʼu'lláh's teachings include the need for a world tribunal to adjudicate disputes between nations, a uniform system of weights and measures, and an auxiliary language that could be spoken by all the people on earth. Baháʼu'lláh also taught that the cycles of revelatory renewal will continue in the future, with Manifestations of God appearing about every thousand years.

After Baháʼu'lláh died on 29 May 1892, the Will and Testament of Baháʼu'lláh named his son ʻAbdu'l-Bahá as Centre of the Covenant, successor and interpreter of Baháʼu'lláh's writings, and the appointment was readily accepted by almost all Baháʼís, since the appointment was written and unambiguous, and ʻAbdu'l-Bahá had proved himself a capable and devoted assistant. However, the appointment given to ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was a cause of jealousy within Baháʼu'lláh's family. Baháʼu'lláh had also stated that another one of his sons Mírzá Muhammad ʻAlí was to be subordinate and second in rank after ʻAbdu'l-Bahá. ] Mírzá Muḥammad ʻAlí, however, insisted that ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was exceeding his powers, and started a rebellion, at first covert, and then public to discredit ʻAbdu'l-Bahá. Mírzá Muḥammad ʻAlí's actions, however, were rejected by the majority of the Baháʼís. Due to this conflict, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá later ex-communicated his brother as a covenant-breaker. The conflict was not long-lived; after being alienated by the Baháʼí community, Muhammad Ali died in 1937 with a handful of followers.

Bahá'í literature, like the literature of many religions, covers a variety of topics and forms, including scripture and inspiration, interpretation, history and biography, introduction and study materials, and apologia. Sometimes considerable overlap between these forms can be observed in a particular text.

The "canonical texts" are the writings of the Báb, Bahá'u'lláh, `Abdu'l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi and the Universal House of Justice, and the authenticated talks of `Abdu'l-Bahá. The writings of the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh are regarded as divine revelation, the writings and talks of `Abdu'l-Bahá and the writings of Shoghi Effendi as authoritative interpretation, and those of the Universal House of Justice as authoritative legislation and elucidation. Some measure of divine guidance is assumed for all of these texts.

The Bahá'í Faith relies extensively on its literature. Literacy is strongly encouraged so that believers may read the texts for themselves. In addition, doctrinal questions are routinely addressed by returning to primary works.

Many of the religion's early works took the form of letters to individuals or communities. These are termed tablets and have been collected into various folios by Bahá'ís over time. Today, the Universal House of Justice still uses letters as a primary method of communication.

- Baha-u-llah

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