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"The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."
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"The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."
Baghdad, Iraq
96 stories took place here — most often featuring Bahá'u'lláh, 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Bahíyyih Khánum.
Baghdád (today: Baghdad, Iraq)
At eight ‘Abdu’l-Bahá grieved over His Father’s sufferings; in Baghdad He prayed without ceasing while Bahá’u’lláh was away in Sulaymaniyyih, rejoiced at His return, and drank in the teaching at the gatherings by the Tigris.
Four brothers living near Bahá'u'lláh's house in Baghdad were drawn to Him by watching Him come and go, and later bore captivity in Mosul with patience. ‘Abdu'l-Bahá remembers each of them and their uncle.
As a boy, Ibn-i-Asdaq travelled with his father to Baghdad and met Bahá'u'lláh, who revealed a prayer for him. Years later he became one of the four Hands of the Cause named by Bahá'u'lláh.
Escaping his captors after the upheaval in Nayríz, Muḥammad-Ibráhím Amír fled to Iraq, copied the sacred verses, and served Bahá'u'lláh day and night through every exile to the Most Great Prison.
Muḥammad-Ibráhím, a coppersmith and poet from Káshán, came to Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdad, was exiled to Mosul, and spent his last years in Haifa serving travellers. His elegy for the King of Martyrs moved all to tears.
Ḥájí Mírzá Músá, whose father had been devoted to Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdad, longed to give Him the house He lived in; Bahá’u’lláh would accept it only by purchase, and revealed a Tablet in Mírzá Músá’s honour.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá remembers Mírzá Músá, Bahá’u’lláh’s faithful brother, who shared every exile from Ṭihrán to ‘Akká, and recalls Bahá’u’lláh’s joy when the fame of the Cause reached Díyárbakr.
Mocked in Káshán for his faith, the poet Mírzá Mihdí came to Baghdad, stayed behind to guard the Holy House, endured exile in Mosul, and at last reached the ‘Akká prison, where he spent his final days in joy.
In Baghdad, Bahá'u'lláh has 'Abdu'l-Bahá settle a rich jeweler's disputed estate in a single day and gives the share pressed upon Him to the jeweler's son. Later Mírzá Muhammad defends those estates and becomes known as the Deputy.
A renowned mujtahid of Najaf met Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdád, then taught the Faith in Qá’in, Ṭihrán, Bukhárá and Ishqábád through persecution and poverty, until he died far from his homeland.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá recalls Shaykh Ṣádiq of Yazd, a man of constant prayer in Baghdád, whom He healed at Bahá’u’lláh’s bidding, and who later died on the road to Mosul, longing to reach his Lord.
Siyyid Ismá‘íl of Zavárih swept the doorstep of Bahá'u'lláh's house in Baghdad with his own turban each dawn. Transformed by His words, he at last gave up his life beside the river, an act Bahá'u'lláh recalls in the Epistle to the Son of the Wolf.
Shoghi Effendi's tribute to Bahíyyih Khánum recalls the years of crisis in Baghdád — when Mírzá Yaḥyá's faithlessness had unsettled the Bábí community and Bahá'u'lláh had retreated for two years to the mountains of Sulaymáníyyih — the tender solicitude she showed as a child in His absence, and the delicate, grave missions He entrusted to her in her teens.
Abbás Effendi, Who afterwards assumed the title of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (i.e.
After much negotiation, at the request of the Persian Government, an order was issued by the Turkish Government summoning Bahá’u’lláh to Constantinople.
This terrible imprisonment lasted four months, but Bahá’u’lláh and His companions remained zealous and enthusiastic, in the greatest of happiness.
After His return from this retirement, His fame became greater than ever and people flocked to Baghdád from far and near to see Him and hear His teachings.
From that time onwards, He became His father’s closest companion and, as it were, protector.
Wishing to help Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdad, a learned believer of Yazd took copper vessels from the city's mosques and sold them. Bahá'u'lláh accepted the money, then had it thrown into the river.
In Baghdád the divines of Karbilá and Najaf sent Mullá Hasan ‘Amú to ask Bahá’u’lláh for a miracle. He agreed, if they would first choose one and pledge in writing to accept His Cause; they did not dare.
In Baghdád Bahá’u’lláh sent gifts to the poor of His neighbourhood, stopped each day to greet an eighty-year-old woman who waited for Him in the road, and arranged a daily allowance for her when He left the city.
On 22 April 1863 crowds of believers and admirers wept in the streets of Baghdad as Bahá'u'lláh left His house and was ferried across the river to the garden that His followers named the Garden of Riḍván.
In Baghdad in 1862 the Báb's eldest uncle, still doubtful of his Nephew's claim, brought his questions to Bahá'u'lláh, Who answered them in two days and two nights with the Kitáb-i-Íqán, the Book of Certitude.
When Bahá'u'lláh withdrew to the mountains for two years, the young 'Abdu'l-Bahá prayed, read the writings of the Báb and helped His family. After His Father returned, He helped Him by receiving those who came to visit.
A grandfather tells his grandson how the Báb's eldest uncle, unsure that his Nephew could be a Messenger of God, took his questions to Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdad, and how the Kitáb-i-Íqán was revealed in two days and two nights.
Bahíyyih Khánum recalls the night Bahá’u’lláh came home to His family in Baghdád after more than two years as a dervish in the mountains, and how the young Abbas Effendi threw Himself at His Father’s feet, weeping.
Bahíyyih Khánum recalls how, as a youth in Baghdád, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá argued with the learned men in the mosques, who came to call Him the youthful sage. Asked who His teacher was, He answered that His Father had taught Him.
Bahíyyih Khánum recalled that four days before the exiles left the garden outside Baghdád in 1863, Bahá’u’lláh told ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and then four others, that He was the One promised by the Báb, asking them to keep it secret.
In April 1863, before His exile to Constantinople, Bahá'u'lláh spent twelve days in the Garden of Najíb Páshá outside Baghdád, and there announced that He was the One whose coming the Báb had foretold.
Bahá'u'lláh entered the Garden of Riḍván outside Baghdád on April 22, 1863. The river overflowed, and His family could not join Him there until the ninth day, which Bahá'ís now keep as a Holy Day.
At noon on May 3, 1863, the twelfth day of the Festival of Riḍván, Bahá'u'lláh rode out of the Garden of Riḍván and set out from Baghdád for Constantinople, as crowds of believers and others lamented His departure.
Bahíyyih Khánum recalls how, after Bahá’u’lláh withdrew from Baghdád, her brother ‘Abdu’l-Bahá grieved deeply and spent His days copying and memorizing the tablets of the Báb.
Bahíyyih Khánum recalls the caravan of about seventy-five people that set out from Baghdad with Bahá’u’lláh in 1863, and how ‘Abdu’l-Bahá guarded His father day and night on the journey.
Bahíyyih Khánum remembers the day Bahá’u’lláh, disguised as a dervish, came home to Baghdad after two years in the mountains, and the simple food He had lived on there.
This was a patient and long-enduring man, a native of Káshán.
These two blessed souls, Mírzá Maḥmúd of Káshán and Áqá Riḍá of Shíráz, were like two lamps lit with God’s love from the oil of His knowledge.
Áqá Ṣidq-‘Alí was yet one more of those who left their native land, journeyed to Bahá’u’lláh and were put in the Prison.
Muḥammad-Muṣṭafá was a blazing light.
The late Pidar-Ján was among those believers who emigrated to Baghdád.
This distinguished man was one of the greatest of all the Báb’s companions and all the loved ones of Bahá’u’lláh.
Nabíl of Zarand left his home as a youth to teach the new Faith, wrote odes in praise of Bahá'u'lláh and travelled on His errands. From 1888 he wrote the chronicle published in English as The Dawn-Breakers.
In Baghdád in 1862 an uncle of the Báb brought Bahá'u'lláh a list of questions about the promised Qá'im. In two days and two nights Bahá'u'lláh revealed the Kitáb-i-Íqán in reply, and the uncle's doubts were dispelled.
In Baghdád in 1862 an uncle of the Báb brought Bahá'u'lláh his written questions about the promised Qá'im. In two days and two nights Bahá'u'lláh revealed the Kitáb-i-Íqán, the Book of Certitude, in reply.
On 22 April 1863, on the eve of His exile to Constantinople, Bahá'u'lláh crossed the Tigris to the Najíbíyyih Garden. During the twelve days He spent there He declared His mission to His companions.
In Baghdád and Adrianople Bahá'u'lláh revealed verses faster than they could be written down. Shoghi Effendi gathers the testimony of those who saw it, including the verses He had thrown into the Tigris.
In ten years of exile in Baghdád, Bahá'u'lláh's house became a refuge for people of every faith and class. When He left for Constantinople in 1863, crowds wept and pressed forward to embrace His stirrups.
When His house in Baghdád could not hold all who came to bid Him farewell, Bahá'u'lláh crossed the Tigris to the Najíbíyyih garden, later called the Garden of Riḍván, and there on 22 April 1863 declared His station to His companions.
As Bahá'u'lláh left Baghdád for Constantinople in 1863, people of every class came to bid Him farewell. The Muftí and the governor visited Him in the Najíbíyyih Garden, and as He rode away crowds bowed to the dust before His horse.
When Bahá'u'lláh was summoned from Baghdád in 1863, His followers were dismayed. Esslemont records that during the twelve days in the Garden of Riḍván He showed the greatest joy, dignity and power, and His followers became happy and enthusiastic.
In A Traveller's Narrative, 'Abdu'l-Bahá records the Báb's words calling Himself a dewdrop from a limitless ocean and pointing to One yet to come. Shoghi Effendi explains how the Declaration in the Garden of Riḍván fulfilled the Báb's prophecy.
Nabíl-i-A'ẓam, who was in the Garden of Riḍván in 1863, recalled the roses heaped each morning in Bahá'u'lláh's tent and the night Bahá'u'lláh spoke of the nightingales.
Bahá'u'lláh entered the Garden of Riḍván on 22 April 1863. That same day the Tigris overflowed, and the rest of His family could not join Him until the ninth day, which Bahá'ís now keep as a Holy Day.
The Báb foretold the coming of "Him Whom God shall make manifest," pointing to the year nine and to a span of nineteen years. Shoghi Effendi shows how both were fulfilled, in the Síyáh-Chál and in the Garden of Riḍván.
'Abdu'l-Bahá, then eighteen, arranged His Father's stay in the Garden of Riḍván and crossed the Tigris with Him. There, The Chosen Highway relates, Bahá'u'lláh confided to Him that He was "He Whom God shall make Manifest."
Áqá Muḥammad-i-Qá'iní, the one disciple Shaykh Murtaḍá raised to the rank of mujtahid, met Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdád and became Nabíl-i-Akbar. He spent the rest of his life teaching the Faith, hunted and poor, and died far from home.
In Baghdád, after His return from Sulaymáníyyih, Bahá'u'lláh answered the mystical questions of Shaykh Muḥyi'd-Dín, a Ṣúfí judge of Khániqayn, with the Seven Valleys, which describes the soul's journey toward God in seven stages.
In Baghdád, about 1858, Bahá'u'lláh revealed the Hidden Words as He paced the banks of the Tigris in meditation. He described the book as the inner essence of what had been revealed to the Prophets of old.
When the believers in 'Iráq were hiding their faith, Muḥammad-Muṣṭafá Baghdádí openly served Bahá'u'lláh, later hosted pilgrims in Beirut, and stayed firm in the Covenant, as 'Abdu'l-Bahá recalls in Memorials of the Faithful.
On the exile journey from Baghdád to Constantinople, Mírzá Maḥmúd and Áqá Riḍá walked ahead of Bahá'u'lláh's howdah each day, then cooked and washed up for the believers until midnight. 'Abdu'l-Bahá remembers their humility and contentment.
Shaykh Ṣádiq of Yazd, healed in Baghdád through words given by Bahá'u'lláh, stayed behind as bidden when the exiles left the city. After Bahá'u'lláh reached Mosul he could bear the separation no longer, ran after Him, and died on the open plain.
Darvísh Ṣidq-'Alí, a Súfí poet, found Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdád and begged to go with Him into exile as a groom. He walked beside the convoy by day, tended the horses at night, and served Him faithfully all the way to the prison of 'Akká.
At Naw-Rúz 1863 Bahá'u'lláh camped with His companions in a field outside Baghdád. On the fifth day He revealed the Tablet of the Holy Mariner, then had the tents folded; a month later He entered the Garden of Riḍván.
In April 1863 Bahíyyih Khánum, then in her teens, helped the household prepare for exile while Bahá'u'lláh stayed in the Garden of Riḍván. The Tigris overflowed, and only on the ninth day could the family join Him there.
Mírzá Asadu'lláh Káshání and other companions pitched Bahá'u'lláh's tent in the Garden of Riḍván, cooked and made tea, held the tent ropes through days of wind, and kept watch at night during the twelve days of 1863.
On 22 April 1863 Bahá'u'lláh was ferried across the Tigris to the Garden of Riḍván. That same day the river overflowed, and His family could not join Him there until the ninth day.
Bahá'u'lláh crossed the Tigris to the Garden of Riḍván on 22 April 1863 with three of His sons. The river overflowed that day, and the rest of His family joined Him only on the ninth day, 30 April.
'Abdu'l-Bahá was eighteen when He crossed the Tigris with Bahá'u'lláh to the Garden of Riḍván in 1863. Shoghi Effendi records that He had recognized His Father's station while still a child.
Ásíyih Khánum, whom Bahá'u'lláh called Navváb, lost her wealth and home when He was imprisoned in Ṭihrán, and shared His exile. In 1863 she and the rest of the family joined Him in the Garden of Riḍván on the ninth day.
When Bahá'u'lláh was imprisoned in Ṭihrán in 1852, His family was left destitute, and they shared His winter exile to Baghdád. In 1863 a flooded river kept them from joining Him in the Garden of Riḍván until the ninth day.
Nabíl recalled that each morning in the Garden of Riḍván roses were heaped in Bahá'u'lláh's tent, and He sent them to His friends in Baghdád. A flooded river kept His family from joining Him there until the ninth day.
Returning to Baghdád from Kurdistán in 1856, Bahá'u'lláh found the Bábí community dispirited and divided. Through His counsels and His writings He restored its faith and reformed its conduct.
In Baghdád Bahá'u'lláh sent gifts to the poor, the disabled and the orphans of His neighbourhood. He stopped each day for an old woman who waited for Him, and when He left the city He provided for her for the rest of her life.
After leaving the Garden of Riḍván on 3 May 1863, Bahá'u'lláh travelled with His family and twenty-six companions across eastern Anatolia to Constantinople. Officials and villagers welcomed Him along the way, and His companions served Him on foot.
When Bahá'u'lláh's convoy left Baghdád for Constantinople in 1863, Muḥammad-Muṣṭafá Baghdádí remained in the city. 'Abdu'l-Bahá recalls how he stayed loyal, withstood the enemies of the Faith and taught it openly.
In the Garden of Riḍván, Bahá'u'lláh revealed the Súriy-i-Ṣabr, the Tablet of Patience, in honour of Ḥájí Muḥammad-Taqí, a survivor of Nayríz whom He named Ayyúb (Job). It praised the steadfast and prepared the believers of 'Iráq for His departure.
In Baghdád 'Abdu'l-Bahá grew into a youth beloved by all who knew Him. The Chosen Highway records how, before the exile of 1863, He shielded His Father, arranged His move to the Garden of Riḍván and set out with Him on the journey to Constantinople.
On the long journey from Baghdád to the Black Sea in 1863, officials and villagers received Bahá'u'lláh with honour in town after town. As the caravan neared Sámsún, He revealed the Tablet of the Howdah.
At noon on 3 May 1863 Bahá'u'lláh rode out of the Garden of Riḍván on a red roan stallion, the best His lovers could buy for Him. Crowds bowed at His horse's feet, and believers and unbelievers alike wept.
Summoned to Constantinople, Bahá'u'lláh spent twelve days in the Garden of Riḍván while a caravan was prepared. Then He set out with members of His family and twenty-six disciples on a journey of three to four months.
In the twelve days before He left Baghdád for Constantinople, Bahá'u'lláh showed, in Esslemont's words, the greatest joy, dignity and power, and the notables of the city, even the Governor, came to honor Him.
When Bahá'u'lláh left Baghdád in 1863, friends and strangers wept in the streets. On the day He rode out of the Garden of Riḍván, an eyewitness wrote, believers and unbelievers alike sobbed and lamented.
Shoghi Effendi calls Riḍván the holiest and most significant of all Bahá'í festivals. Its twelve days, which Bahá'u'lláh called the King of Festivals, ended at noon on May 3, 1863, when He rode out of the garden toward Constantinople.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá recalled walking twelve miles in the Baghdád heat to a poor thorn-picker’s hut, where the wife burnt the little cake she made for Him, and called it the best reception He ever attended.
At Naw-Rúz 1863, in His tent outside Baghdád, Bahá'u'lláh revealed the Tablet of the Holy Mariner. His companions were filled with sorrow when they heard it, and the next day He was told He must go to Constantinople.
After Bahá’u’lláh returned to Baghdad from the mountains, curiosity-seekers crowded to see Him; His son ‘Abdu’l-Bahá put placards on the doors and admitted only genuine truth-seekers.
Bahíyyih Khánum recalls the order that sent Bahá'u'lláh from Baghdad to Constantinople, the grief of His followers, and how the family went to live in tents in a friend's garden until the departure.
As the exiles prepared to leave Baghdad, 'Abdu'l-Bahá shielded His Father from intruders. In the Riḍván garden, Bahá'u'lláh confided to Him that He was the One promised by the Báb.
While Bahá’u’lláh lived as a dervish in the mountains, His family in Baghdád sold their only rug to buy a donkey for a Bábí who set out to find Him; months later He came home.
Speaking at the Bowery Mission in New York, 'Abdu'l-Bahá told how Bahá'u'lláh, though wealthy, left all He had in Baghdad and lived two years among the poor, choosing the title The Poor One.
The greatest bestowal of God in the world of humanity is religion; for assuredly the divine teachings of religion are above all other sources of instruction and development to man.
Today there is no greater glory for man than that of service in the cause of the “Most Great Peace.”
Amid these troublous times, however, the Cause of God will prosper.
November 7th ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said: I will speak to you today of Bahá’u’lláh.
O thou who art attracted to the Beauty of Abha! For a period of time no news hath been outwardly received from thee, but spiritual communications are continual (between us).