Description

A collection of twenty-six of Baha’u’llah’s most important works.

Who was Baha’u’llah?

Mirza Husayn ‘Ali Nuri (1817–1892), known as Baha’u’llah, was the founder of the Baha’i Faith. Born in Tehran into a prominent family of court officials, he rejected the life of a courtier and instead joined the Babi movement, from which he developed his own religion. Imprisoned and exiled several times, in 1868, Baha’u’llah was exiled to Acre (then part of Ottoman Empire, now in modern-day Israel), where he spent the rest of his life. He was succeeded by his eldest son ‘Abbas Effendi, known as ‘Abdu’l-Baha (1844–1921).

The Majmūʻah-ʼi mubārakah

This volume contains twenty-six of Baha’u’llah’s most important works in an exceptionally decorated volume bound in a traditional lacquer binding. Every page is illuminated but this opening page is particularly fine. The calligrapher was Mirza ‘Ali Akbar Milani Muhibb al-Sultan, who was the manager the Royal Printing Press in Iran.

The manuscript was presented to the British Museum by the Baha’i scholar and translator Hippolyte Dreyfus-Barney on behalf of ‘Abdu’l-Baha on 12 April 1913, shortly after the conclusion of his second visit to Britain.