Baháʼí authors trace his ancestry to Abraham through both his wives Keturah[14] and Sarah,[b] to the Zoroaster,[16] to David's father Jesse,[17] and to Yazdegerd III, the last king of the Sasanian Empire.

[21][d] In his early twenties Baháʼu'lláh declined the life of privilege offered by his aristocratic lineage, instead devoting his time and resources to a range of charitable works that earned him renown as "the Father of the Poor".

[2] The Báb, a 24-year-old merchant from Shiraz, stirred Persia with his claim in May 1844, to not only be the promised redeemer of Islam (the Qa’im or Mahdi), but a new prophet of God similar to Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad.

[21] In his native province of Núr Bahá’u’lláh's notability as a prominent local provided numerous opportunities to teach the Bábí Faith, and his trips attracted many to the new religion, including Muslim clerics.

This provoked widespread opposition from both Islamic clerics fearful of losing congregants and associated benefits, and from civil authorities afraid of the growing influence of the Bábí community,[40] resulting in thousands of Bábís being killed in relentless campaigns of persecution.

[42] Baháʼís hold that the Báb's teachings lay the groundwork "for the eventual establishment of a society characterized by the unity of nations, fellowship of religions, equal rights of all people, and a compassionate, consultative, tolerant, democratic, moral world order".

[54] Dispossessed of his extensive properties and wealth, in the exceptionally severe winter of January 1853 Baháʼu'lláh with family members undertook a three-month journey to Baghdad, thus beginning what became exile for the rest of his life in territories of the Ottoman Empire.

Knowledgeable Bábís promptly rejected Yahya's bold claim, because the referenced letter indicated no such status, and due to the fact that other writings of the Báb specifically "eliminated the institution of successorship, or vicegerency"[62] from his religion.

Declining to dispute with Yahya or do anything to "endanger the unity and survival of the already demoralized Bábí community",[65] Bahá’u’lláh entrusted his family to the care of his brother Mirza Musa and without notice left Baghdad on 10 April 1854 for mountains in the north near Sulaymaniyyih in Kurdistan.

[76] The spread of Bahá’u’lláh's reputation in Baghdad and surrounding areas, along with increased dissemination of his writings, attracted "[p]rinces, scholars, mystics, and government officials" to meet him, many "prominent in Persian public life.

[81][l] Salmani reported that Yahya suddenly began to show kindness to him, then one day insinuated it would be "a great service" to their religion if he assassinated Bahá’u’lláh while attending to him in the bath.

[105][n] Having lost all respect or influence among Bábís who had become Bahá’ís, Mirza Yahya again sought to discredit Baháʼu’lláh with Ottoman authorities, accusing him of agitating against the Turkish government.

[108] June 1870 witnessed the tragic death of Baháʼu'lláh's 22-year-old son Mirzá Mihdí who fell through an unguarded skylight as he paced on the roof of the prison one evening while engrossed in prayer and meditation.

When visiting Acre in April 1871, Dr. Thomas Chaplin (director of a British-run hospital in Jerusalem) met with ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, on behalf of Baháʼu'lláh, in a home the family was living in after being moved out of the citadel.

[132] Nevertheless, Baháʼu'lláh said that the Creator bestowed upon humans' capacity to recognize the maker's existence, and the ability to develop spiritually through awareness of God's infinite superlative attributes and by striving to emulate those qualities as best as one can in life[133][134]—virtues such as love, mercy, kindness, generosity, justice, etc.

[135][136] Rather than simply being great thinkers with a better perspective on life than others, manifestations are spiritual entities specially created by God with capacities infinitely superior to ordinary humans.

"[139][140] Bahá’ís perceive each major world religion as part of one God-ordained holistic educational process[141] which has spiritually and socially enabled human civilization itself to progress—as people have learned to embrace ever-widening circles of unity which have successively involved ever more diverse families, tribes, city-states, and then nations.

[143] Bahá’u’lláh links this "process of progressive Revelation"[10][144][145] to God's eternal covenant—the promise that every divine teacher makes with his followers regarding the next manifestation whom the Creator will send to guide them.

As for their responsibility in this covenant, the followers of each religion have the duty to carefully investigate, with an open mind, whether a person claiming to be the promised new messenger of their faith does, or does not, spiritually fulfill relevant prophecies.

[153] Baháʼu'lláh calls upon every Bahá’í to live a righteous, healthy, productive life,[154] characterized by good manners and moral virtues such as truthfulness, integrity, trustworthiness, patience, courtesy, hospitality, fidelity, purity, chastity, moderation,[154] forbearance, justice and fairness.

[156] Baháʼu'lláh describes in detail the role of true religion as a deterrent to crime, as a force for the maintenance of social order, and as a catalyst for ongoing personal spiritual development, daily communion with God,[157] and needed self-transformation.

[165] To realize such equality, Baháʼí teachings envisage the implementation of far-reaching societal changes everywhere[166]—including mandates to end discriminatory practices against females[167] and greater emphasis on education for girls[168] to ensure women fulfill their potential in all fields of human endeavor.

[195] When requested or needed, individual and group efforts, and Bahá’í community activities in general are coordinated, guided, and supported by nine-member councils (elected annually by secret ballot) operating at local, regional, and national levels.

[213] Categories include commentary on scriptures, prophecies, and beliefs of former religions;[214] abrogation of past laws, and enunciation of laws and ordinances for this new dispensation;[215][216] mystical writings;[217] claimed proofs and explanations about God; statements relating to God's creation of human souls as noble entities capable of knowing the Creator exists and able to reflect all Its virtues;[191] claimed proofs of life after death and descriptions of how souls progress for eternity in endless divine realms;[218][219][220] exaltation of work performed in a spirit of service to the status of worship; explications on just governance and on creating unity and world order; expositions on knowledge, philosophy, alchemy, medicine and healthy living; spiritual principles underlying social teachings; calls for universal education; and living virtuously and in harmony with God's Will.

[207] Bahá’u’lláh wrote a series of letters addressed individually and collectively to monarchs, political rulers, and clerical leaders, in which he claimed to be the Promised One of the Torah, the Gospels, and the Qur’an.

He asked them to accept his revelation, renounce their material possessions, rule with justice, protect the rights of the downtrodden, reduce their armaments, reconcile their differences, and collectively strive for the betterment of the world and the unification of its peoples.

[226] To religious leaders, Bahá’u’lláh counseled them to seriously examine his cause without prejudice, forswear secular leadership, renounce dogma, embrace ecumenical outreach, and eliminate meaningless rituals; while advising monks to avoid cloistering, to mingle with people and engage in beneficial community services, and to marry.

[229] In all, the following were addressed: Czar Alexander II of Russia; Francis Joseph I of Austria-Hungary; Napoleon III of France; Nasiri’d-Din Shah of Persia; Pope Pius IX; and Queen Victoria of Great Britain and Ireland; Ottoman Sultan ʻAbdu’l-ʻAzíz; Wilhelm I of Prussia; the rulers and presidents of the republics of America; elected representatives of peoples in every land; and leaders of religion.

He says all manifestations, as "channels of God's all-pervasive grace", are unfailingly guided by the Creator to use "the inspiration of Their words" to affect human hearts and souls, so that open-minded individuals will grasp the truths being given.

[x] Shoghi Effendi, who was later appointed as the interpreter of Baháʼu'lláh's writings,[246] gives the following statement of Bahá’í belief on this matter: The human temple that has been made the vehicle of so overpowering a Revelation must, if we be faithful to the tenets of our Faith, ever remain entirely distinguished from that "innermost Spirit of Spirits" and "eternal Essence of Essences"—that invisible yet rational God Who, however much we extol the divinity of His Manifestations on earth, can in no wise incarnate His infinite, His unknowable, His incorruptible and all-embracing Reality in the concrete and limited frame of a mortal being.