Baháʼu’lláh
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About
Baháʼu’lláh, born Ḥusayn-ʻAlí was raised in an aristocratic Persian family. Baháʼu’lláh did not receive a formal education growing up, but spent time reading and grew devoutly religious. It has been deduced that he was a descendant of Abraham. Despite being offered governmental positions due to his family’s status and wealth, he chose to focus on charity work. At the age of twenty-seven he claimed to the revelation of the Bàb and began to teach the Bábí Faith throughout Iran. This eventually lead to him being exiled from Iran at the age of thirty-three.
Following his exile, Baháʼu’lláh moved throughout the Ottoman Empire, spreading his teachings regarding the Bábí Faith and uniting with Bábís and garnering followers throughout the empire. Among these followers was Baháʼu’lláh’s younger half brother, Mírzá Yaḥyá. Yahyá and Baháʼu’lláh eventually became imprisoned by the Ottoman Empire in the city of ‘Akká. Baháʼu’lláh remained prisoner until the Sultan’s death in 1877, after which he was allowed to leave the city.
Baháʼu’lláh’s writings focused on spiritual principles, human life, and religion. His words inspired composers such as Bob Alcivar, Luke Slott, Zenobia Powell Perry, and Ramine Yazhari to name a few. He discussed health and philosophy frequently within his writings and emphasized the importance of living in harmony with God.
-Lucy Koukoudian
This profile was created during the 2023-2024 academic year as part of the Song of America Fellowship Program, a project of the Classic Song Research Initiative between the Hampsong Foundation and the University of Michigan, School of Music, Theatre, and Dance.
Related Information
BAHÁ’U’LLÁH – THE DIVINE EDUCATOR
bahai.org/bahaullahBahá’í International Community
bic.org/statements/faith-bahaullah-world-religionRecords
2022
Soul and Reconciliation
Maria Thompson Corley, Jonathan Bailey Holland, James Lee III, Zenobia Powell Perry, Rosephanye Powell, Dave Ragland, Richard Thompson
Sheet Music
An Anthology of African and African Diaspora Songs – 60 Songs
Christmas Lullaby (H. Leslie Adams)
Sence You Went Away (H. Leslie Adams)
The Heart of a Woman (H. Leslie Adams)
The Alarm Clock (David N. Baker)
The Negro Speaks of Rivers (Margaret Bonds)
Caring (Charles Brown)
Desire (Charles Brown)
Your Eyes So Deep (H. T. Burleigh)
Your Lips Are Wine (H. T. Burleigh)
Autumn (Valerie Capers)
Elëanore (Samuel Coleridge-Taylor)
The Willow Song (Samuel Coleridge-Taylor)
Minakesh (Arthur Cunningham)
Stars (Harriette Davison Watkins)
Out in the Fields (William Dawson)
The Refused (Mark Fax)
With Rue My Heart Is Laden (Bruce Forsythe)
Suspiro d’alma (Antônio Carlos Gomes)
If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking (Adolphus Hailstork)
Longing (Adolphus Hailstork)
Loveliest of Trees (Adolphus Hailstork)
Dormi, Jesu (Jacqueline Hairston)
Gardé Piti Mulet Là (Maud Cuney Hare)
I’ll Not Forget (Jeraldine Herbison)
Little Elegy (Jonathan Holland)
In Time of Silver Rain (Sylvia Hollifield)
The Founding Fathers (Langston Hughes)
This is My Land (Langston Hughes)
L’il Gal (J. Rosamond Johnson)
Soliloquy (Thomas Kerr)
Amazing Grace (Lena McLin)
The Year’s at the Spring (Lena McLin)
I Am in Doubt (Undine Smith Moore)
I Want to Die While You Love Me (Undine Smith Moore)
For a Poet (Andre Myers)
Chere, Mo Lemmé Toi (Camille Nickerson)
Gué, Gué, Solingaie (Camille Nickerson)
Mshila (Fred Onovwerosuoke)
Entreaty (I Am the Rose of Sharon) (Eurydice Osterman)
Could I but Ride Indefinite (Robert Owens)
Die Nacht (Robert Owens)
From the Dark Tower (Robert Owens)
The Lynching (Robert Owens)
The Secret (Robert Owens)
Madrigal (Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson)
O Children of Men (Zenobia Powell Perry)
I Want to Die While You Love Me (Rosephanye Powell)
Spring (Florence Price)
The Sum (Florence Price)
Martin Luther King, Jr. (Dave Ragland)
Mangez, Boulez (Eat, Drink, Be Merry) (Nadine Shanti)
Prayer (Carlos Simon)
Troubled Woman (Hale Smith)
Why Fades a Dream? (Irene Britton Smith)
Dream Variations (Brandon Spencer)
Spring Song (Hilbert Stewart)
One Day (Howard Swanson)
I Went to Heaven (George Walker)
Norris Swamp (Aurelia Young)
The Hidden Words of Baha’u’llab (1977)
O children of men
O son of being
O friends abandon not the everlasting beauty
O companion of my throne
O oppressors on earth withdraw