It is a curiosity of the history of Baha'ism that, for all the emphasis placed within the religion on the historicity and chronological proximity of events relating to its origins, there has not until recently appeared any very detailed biography of the movement's founder, Mirza Husayn 'Ali Nüri Bahā' Alläh (1817-1892). Bahā'ī historical writing has tended to concentrate on earlier and later phases, notably the period associated with Sayyid Ali Muḥammad Shirazī, the Bāb (1819-1850), whose messianic Babi movement provided the matrix within which Baha'ism eventually emerged in the late 1860s. Baha'i writing on the Bab and Babism has tended to be hagiographical and frequently distorted (a point first made by E.G. Browne in the last century), but it is dramatic, colourful, and ideally suited to the inspirational and devotional needs of a small religious community. Much the same is true of the numerous accounts of the life and travels of Baha' Allah's eldest son and successor, 'Abbās Effendi 'Abd al-Bahã' (1844?-1921), whose patriarchical appearance and saintly manner have made him a particular focus for devotional attention within the religion since the turn of the century. It is nonetheless curious that Baha'is have been content until now with brief and inadequate descriptions of the life of the man who occupies the most sacred and authoritative position in their history and whose writings, translated in part into numerous languages, form the core of their scriptural canon.
(Baha'u'llah: The King of Glory by Hasan Balyuzi, Review by: Denis MacEoin)
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