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Mírzá Husayn ʻAlí Núrí, who later took the title of Baháʼu'lláh (meaning "the Glory of God") was born in Tehran, Iran in 1817.{{Cite book |last=Stockman |first=Robert H. |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780429027772 |title=The World of the Bahá'í Faith |date=2021-11-26 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-429-02777-2 |edition=1 |location=London |language=en |doi=10.4324/9780429027772}} Baháʼu'lláh is regarded as being the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. As a young adult, Baháʼu'lláh became a follower of the Báb after hearing about the Báb's message from Mullá Husayn Bushrú'í. As a follower of the Báb, Baháʼu'lláh, along with many other Bábí's (as followers of the Báb are called) faced persecution in Iran from the ruling and religious authorities, including a four month imprisonment in the Siyáh Chál (the "Black Pit") in 1852, a notorious underground dungeon in Tehran. This imprisonment came after a failed assassination attempt against the Shah, Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, by a few Bábís. Baháʼu'lláh was not involved in the assassination attempt. In the Siyáh Chál, Baháʼu'lláh had a spiritual experience which he designates as being the start of his religious mission.

Baháʼu'lláh was released from the Siyáh Chál after four months on the condition that he leaves Iran. In 1853, Baháʼu'lláh arrived in Baghdad, Iraq, where he spent the next ten years of his life before being banished further to Constantinople (now Istanbul) by the Ottoman Sultan. After a few months, Baháʼu'lláh was further exiled to Adrianople (now Edirne), where he remained for four years, until a royal decree of 1868 banished all Bábís to either Cyprus or ʻAkká, Israel. Baháʼu'lláh was sent to ʻAkká. Before his banishment to Constantinople, Baháʼu'lláh announced his claim of prophethood to his family and followers in a garden on the banks of the river Tigris in 1863. Bahá'ís regard this as being the founding moment of the Bahá'í Faith. The period of time is celebrated by Bahá'ís as the Festival of Ridván.

Baháʼu'lláh spent the remainder of his life in, and then near, the penal colony of ʻAkká. After an initially strict and harsh confinement in the citadel of ʻAkká, he was allowed to live in a home near ʻAkká, while still officially a prisoner of that city. He died there in 1892. Baháʼís regard his resting place at Bahjí as the Qiblih to which they turn in prayer each day. Baháʼu'lláh appointed his eldest son, 'Abbás Effendi, as his successor as head of the Bahá'í Faith.

Baháʼu'lláh produced almost 20,000 distinct works in his lifetime totalling over seven million words, in both Arabic and Persian, of which only 8% have been translated into English. Some of his writings include the Hidden Words, the Seven Valleys, the Kitáb-í-Íqán (the Book of Certitude), and the Kitáb-í-Áqdas. During the period while he was in Adrianople, Baháʼu'lláh also wrote letters to the world's religious and secular rulers, including Pope Pius IX, Napoleon III, and Queen Victoria. Most of Baháʼu'lláh's original works or at least reliable transcriptions have been preserved and are kept at the Bahá'í World Centre in Haifa, Israel. {{User sandbox}}