Tehran
 | This article does not cite any sources; the information may not be accurate or reliable. |
| تهران Tehran | ||
|---|---|---|
| City in Iran | ||
From top, left to right: Azadi Tower, a symbol of Tehran, designed by Bahá’í architect Hossein Amanat; the Residence of Bahá’u’lláh in Tehran; the former Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds of Iran; and the city's first Local Spiritual Assembly, 1899.
|
||
| Location of Tehran
|
||
 Related media
|
Tehran (
pronunciation; FA: تهران, also rendered as Teheran or Tihran) is the current capital city of Iran (formerly Persia).
During the time of Bahá'u'lláh[edit]
The Báb never visited Tehran, which was the home Bahá’u’lláh. He therefore sent Mullá Husayn to Tehran, with a letter. While instructing Mullá Husayn, the Báb said:
A secret lies hidden in that city. When made manifest, it shall turn the earth into Paradise.
Mullá Husayn took up lodgings in a madresseh (religious school), and a series of events led him to find out about the person of Bahá'u'lláh. He asked his informant to deliver the letter from the Báb to Bahá'u'lláh, which He did. Bahá'u'lláh immediately accepted the Báb as a Messenger of God, and Mullá Husayn had fulfilled His mission.
Bahá'u'lláh was known as the "Father of the Poor", as the least fortunate people of the city would turn to Him for help, and so when His open promotion of the Bábí cause provoked hostility from some of the political and religious authorities, they did not dare to simply have Him executed, for fear of provoking a backlash. When He was arrested, He was taken, on foot, to Tehran and imprisoned in the Síyáh-Chál, or "Black Pit". It was there, in this dungeon in Tehran, that Bahá'u'lláh received His revelation. While He was in the prison, his son, Abbas, (whom we now refer to as 'Abdu'l-Baha), came to visit Him. 'Abdu'l-Bahá had been born in Tehran, on the same day as the actual declaration of the Báb. He was eight or nine years old when He visited His father in prison. Bahá'u'lláh was actually brought up to ground level for the visit. 'Abdu'l-Bahá recognised that His father had changed, and become more than previously, and threw Himself at His father's feet. Events in Tehran were at this stage central to the fortunes of the Faith.
Later developments[edit]
The Guardian of the Faith encouraged the formation and election, in Tehran, of a central Assembly for Iran, which would evolve into the National Spiritual Assembly.
A design was chosen for a Mashriqu’l-Adhkár for Tehran, but conditions have not yet been deemed propitious for its construction. This design has been published in Bahá'í books.
In a letter of July, 2014, the Universal House of Justice announced that henceforth Tehran would be the spot on the planet which would be used to determine the date of the vernal equinox, essential for the establishment of the New Year every nineteen months, and the settling of the calendar.
Bahá'u'lláh foretold that in the future, Tehran's agitation would be transformed into quiet calm.
