This Photo of the Shrine of The Bab courtesy of Liz Hahn-Morin
Today, the Baha'i Faith is headquartered in Haifa, Israel.
On Mount Carmel is The Seat of the Universal House of Justice, The International Teaching Center, The Baha'i Archives, world-reknowned gardens, and this lovely Shrine, the final resting place of The Bab.
The Bab translates as "The Gate." Born in Shiraz, Iran in 1819, and a merchant until announcing His Mission on the night of May 23, 1844, He is the Herald of the Baha'i Faith. His dramatic life was cut short on July 9th, 1850 by firing squad in Tabriz, Iran, after a six year ministry in which thousands of His followers were martyred. Like John the Baptist, the Bab came to prepare the way for "The One that God will Make Manifest."
Baha'u'llah (1817 - 1892) was first a Babi and was Himself bastinadoed (a painful torture where the person is hung upside down and beaten on the soles of the feet and around the legs), deprived of riches and vast wealth, and in 1852 thrown into an underground dungeon in Tehran. It was while wrapped in galling chains surrounded by thieves and murderers that Baha'u'llah received the first stirrings of His Revelation, which He described as a "torrent" rushing from His forehead to the ground. (He has left a remarkable description of this event which is widely published.) After forty days in the loathsome prison, He was exiled with an hapless entourage of 70 persons first to Baghdad, later to Constantinople (Istanbul), Andrianople, and finally Akka, Israel. Baha'u'llah arrived in the Holy Land as a prisoner of the Turkish government, and would spend the remainder of His life in varying degrees of hardship, but always as a prisoner. He wrote over 100 books and Tablets during His 40 year ministry. His successor, appointed by Him in writing, was His son A'bdu'l-Baha. Then the Faith was lead by His great grandson Shoghi Effendi and since 1963 The Universal House of Justice.