Tomb of the founder of the Baha'i Faith in Bahji near Acre, Israel
The
Mansion of Bahji
(
Arabic
:
??? ????
, Qasr Bahj?,
mansion of delight
) is a summer house in
Acre, Israel
where
Baha?u'llah
, the founder of the
Baha?i Faith
, died in 1892. He was buried in an adjacent house, which became the
Shrine of Baha?u'llah
, a place of pilgrimage and the Baha?i
Qiblih
. The whole area was called
Al-Bahja
(
Place of Delight
).
Mansion of Bahji
[
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]
Baha?u'llah's son
?Abdu'l-Baha
first rented, and then purchased, the mansion for his father and the Baha?i holy family to live in, and Baha?u'llah moved from
Mazra'ih
to Bahji and resided in the building until his death.
In 1890 the Cambridge orientalist
Edward Granville Browne
met Baha?u'llah in this house; after this meeting he wrote his famous
pen-portrait of Baha?u'llah
.
When Baha?u'llah died in 1892 he was interred in one of the surrounding buildings.
The site has since been beautified with
paradise gardens
, which are termed
Haram-i-Aqdas
(the Most Holy Precincts or Sanctuary) and are intersected by a circular path that serves to circumambulate the shrine of Baha?u'llah.
The Mansion, shrine, and surrounding gardens are among the most sacred spots on earth for Baha?is and are
Baha?i pilgrimage
sites.
Shrine
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]
The Shrine of Baha?u'llah is composed of a central area that contains a small, tree-filled
garden
surrounded by paths covered with
Persian rugs
.
[1]
[5]
A glass roof was constructed by Qulam-?Aliy-i-Najjar after the death of Baha?u'llah.
[6]
At the northwest corner of the central area there is a small room containing Baha?u'llah's remains.
[7]
The central area has doors to a number of other rooms that have, in recent years, been opened to accommodate the growing number of pilgrims and visitors.
During obligatory prayers Baha?is face the
Qiblih
, which is the Shrine of Baha?u'llah, comparable in practice to Muslims facing the
Kaaba
during daily prayer, or Christians/Jews facing Jerusalem. The Bab changed the direction of prayer to
He whom God shall make manifest
, a role claimed by Baha?u'llah. Baha?is during his lifetime prayed facing the person of Baha'u'llah, until the spot became fixed when he was buried.
A Tablet explaining this existed but had been stolen by Covenant-breakers.
[9]
The shrine and its surrounding gardens, as well as the Mansion of Bahji, were inscribed on the
World Heritage List
in July 2008.
[10]
[11]
History
[
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]
The area was originally a garden planted by
Sulayman Pasha
, who was the ruler of Acre, for his daughter Fatimih, and he named it Bahji.
Later the area was further beautified by ?Abdu'llah Pasha, and in 1831 when
Ibrahim Pasha
besieged Acre he used the property as his headquarters.
The property was well known for its beautiful gardens and pond fed by an aqueduct. The property then fell into the possession of a Christian family, the Jamals.
In 1870 ?Udi Khammar, a wealthy merchant from Acre who also originally owned the
House of ?Abbud
, bought some of the land from the Jamals close to the mansion of ?Abdu'llah Pasha and built the Mansion of Bahji, over an earlier and smaller building, which Abdu'llah Pasha had built for his mother.
Udi Khammar placed an Arabic inscription over the door in 1870 which reads: "Greetings and salutation rest upon this Mansion which increaseth in splendour through the passage of time. Manifold wonders and marvels are found therein, and pens are baffled in attempting to describe them."
?Udi Khammar had built the house for his family, and when he died was buried in a tomb in the south-east corner of the wall directly around the building.
In 1879 an epidemic caused the inhabitants to flee and the building became vacant.
The shrine, after
?Abdu'l-Baha
's death, was occupied by
Mirza Muhammad ?Ali
and his supporters, who forcibly took the keys to the shrine in January 1922.
The governor of Acre ordered the keys to be returned to the authorities and a guard was posted at the shrine.
In early 1923 the keys were returned to
Shoghi Effendi
.
In the 1950s, Shoghi Effendi had made plans for a future superstructure, which would surround the whole area and would include a platform with 95 marble columns, each 6 meters high.
Shoghi Effendi has called the shrine the Darya-yi-Nur (Ocean of Light), which has taken the Kuh-i-Nur (Mountain of Light, the
Shrine of the Bab
) under its shadow.
At the entrance to these gardens stands a wrought iron decorative gate called "Collins Gate" named after
Amelia Collins
.
Image gallery
[
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]
-
Aerial view (2022)
-
Gardens near the Shrine of Baha?u'llah
-
Baha?i gardens at Bahji
-
Mansion of Bahji
-
Collins Gate at the entrance of the pathway towards the shrine
-
The larger building on the left is the mansion, and the shrine is on the right
-
Main entrance to the Shrine of Baha?u'llah
See also
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Notes
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]
References
[
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]
- Ruhe, David (1983).
Door of Hope: The Baha?i Faith in the Holy Land
. Oxford: George Ronald.
ISBN
978-0853981503
.
External links
[
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]
32°56′36″N
35°05′32″E
/
32.94333°N 35.09222°E
/
32.94333; 35.09222
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