Mansion of Bahjí
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Acre, Israel
Acre , is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the country....
, where Bahá'u'lláh
Bahá'u'lláh
Bahá'u'lláh , born ' , was the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. He claimed to be the prophetic fulfilment of Bábism, a 19th-century outgrowth of Shí‘ism, but in a broader sense claimed to be a messenger from God referring to the fulfilment of the eschatological expectations of Islam, Christianity, and...
, founder of the Bahá'í Faith
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
died in 1892. His shrine
Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh
The Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh, located in Bahjí near Acre, Israel, is the most holy place for Bahá'ís and represents their Qiblih, or direction of prayer...
is located next to this house. The whole area was called Al-Bahjá (Place of Delight).
The area was originally a garden planted by Suleiman Pasha
Suleiman Pasha (disambiguation)
Suleiman Pasha may refer to one of the following persons.*Suleyman Pasha , son of Orhan I.*Hadım Suleyman Pasha - Ottoman general; see also Battle of Vaslui*Suleiman pasha in the 16th century....
, 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
Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt
Ibrahim Pasha was the eldest son of Muhammad Ali, the Wāli and unrecognised Khedive of Egypt and Sudan. He served as a general in the Egyptian army that his father established during his reign, taking his first command of Egyptian forces was when he was merely a teenager...
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 `Abbúd, bought some of the land from the Jamals close to the mansion of `Abdu'llah Pasha and built the Mansion of Bahji, over a much earlier and smaller building. `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.
`Abdu'l-Bahá
`Abdu'l-Bahá
‘Abdu’l-Bahá , born ‘Abbás Effendí, was the eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. In 1892, `Abdu'l-Bahá was appointed in his father's will to be his successor and head of the Bahá'í Faith. `Abdu'l-Bahá was born in Tehran to an aristocratic family of the realm...
first rented, and then purchased, the mansion for Bahá'u'lláh and the Bahá'í
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
holy family to live in, and Bahá'u'lláh moved from Mazra'ih to Bahji and resided in the building until his death. In 1890 the Cambridge orientalist Edward Granville Browne
Edward Granville Browne
Edward Granville Browne , born in Stouts Hill, Uley, Gloucestershire, England, was a British orientalist who published numerous articles and books of academic value, mainly in the areas of history and literature...
met Bahá'u'lláh in this house; after this meeting he wrote his famous pen-portrait of Bahá'u'lláh.
When Bahá'u'lláh died in 1892 he was interred in one of the surrounding buildings, and that building became the shrine of Bahá'u'lláh
Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh
The Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh, located in Bahjí near Acre, Israel, is the most holy place for Bahá'ís and represents their Qiblih, or direction of prayer...
,. The site has since been beautified with paradise garden
Paradise garden
The Paradise garden is a form of garden, originally just paradise, a word derived from the Median language, or Old Persian. Its original meaning was "a walled-in compound or garden"; from pairi and daeza or diz...
s, which are termed Haram-i-Aqdas (the Most Holy Precincts or Sanctuary) and are intersected by a circular path which serves to circumambulate
Circumambulation
Circumambulation is the act of moving around a sacred object.Circumambulation of temples or deity images is an integral part of Hindu ritual. It is also practised in Buddhism. In Islam, circumambulation is performed around the Kaaba in Mecca, in a counter-clockwise direction...
the shrine of Bahá'u'lláh. The Mansion, shrine, and surrounding gardens are among the most sacred spots on earth for Bahá'ís and are Bahá'í pilgrimage
Bahá'í pilgrimage
A Bahá'í pilgrimage currently consists of visiting the holy places in Haifa, Akká, and Bahjí at the Bahá'í World Centre in Northwest Israel. Bahá'ís do not have access to other places designated as sites for pilgrimage....
sites.