Abstract

 

Baháʼuʼlláh’s epiphanic experience in the Síyáh-Chál (Black Pit) in 1852 is considered the point when He received “the first intimations of [His] dawning Revelation.” This is often understood to mean that Baháʼuʼlláh did not manifest any divine revelation prior to His encounter with the Maid of Heaven in the Síyáh-Chál. The primary purpose of this research is to provide evidence for a claim that, while the Síyáh-Chál was certainly “the birth[place] of the Mission of Bahá’u’lláh,” and that the ministry of Baháʼuʼlláh thus did indeed commence with His experience in that prison, the awakening of Baháʼuʼlláh to His divine station might have gone through multiple stages and that His experience in the Síyáh-Chál could be regarded as the culmination of that process. Evidence supporting this thesis comes from significant experiences throughout Baháʼuʼlláh’s life, spanning from childhood episodes in the 1820s–1830s through formative events in the 1840s leading up to 1852. This paper draws on the Writings of Baháʼuʼlláh and ʻAbdu’l-Bahá, as well as hagiographical accounts showing how members of Baháʼuʼlláh’s inner circle recognized His station before the Síyáh-Chál experience. Special attention is given to Ṭáhirih (Qurratu’l-ʻAyn), whose writings suggest she recognized Baháʼuʼlláh, before His encounter with the Maid of Heaven in the Síyáh-Chál, as a Manifestation of God equal to the Báb and previous Manifestations.