The Story of Bahaullah is an introduction to the Prophet and Founder of the Bahai Faith. Born to Persian nobility in the early nineteenth century, Bahaullah (1817-1892) seemed destined for a life of wealth and ease. Yet from an early age He showed little interest in courtly privileges, preferring to minister to the less fortunate of His native Tehran. Later, He cast aside all considerations of future material comfort by declaring His recognition of the Bab. The Bab was a young man from Shiraz who claimed to be a Messenger sent by God to transform the spiritual life of humanity and to prepare the way for One who would bring an even greater revelation. His support of the Bab resulted in the loss of virtually all His worldly possessions, imprisonment in Tehran's notorious Black Pit, and a series of increasingly harsh and remote exiles spanning forty years. The first exile was to Baghdad, where, in 1863, Bahaullah announced that He was that Promised One foretold by the Bab and, in fact, by all the world's religions. From Baghdad, Bahaullah was sent to Constantinople, then Adrianople, and finally to Akka, a remote outpost of the Ottoman Empire. Each exile was intended to strip Baha'u'llah of His influence and exterminate the young religion, yet each move had the opposite effect. Bahaullah teachings about the underlying unity of the world's religions and the inevitable emergence of a unified global civilization attracted thousands to investigate further. Today, the Bahai Faith is the second most widespread of the world's religions, with a growing membership numbering some five million.
