The Baha\'i Belief in Reincarnation

Even though Baha’is vehemently deny that they believe in reincarnation, there are explicit writings in the Baha’i corpus that show the contrary. In the current article we will mention three of Baha’u’llah’s Tablets where he expresses this meaning. Unfortunately, to date, none of these tablets have been officially translated by Baha’i authorities.

The first table that we will cite is called the Tablet of Visitation (Ziyarat). Baha’u’llah claims in this tablet that he was reincarnated age after age into many different people including: Able who was killed by Cain, Abraham who was thrown into fire by Nimrod, Moses who suffered at the hands of the Pharaoh, Jesus who was put on the cross, Muhammad who suffered at the hands of Abu-Jahl, Imam Husayn who was martyred and beheaded, the Bab who was suspended in the air and then killed, and finally as himself who was imprisoned and banished:

This is a book from the wronged one who is referred to in the Kingdom of Existence as Baha; and in the Most High majesty as the Most Exalted; and in the Sky of Concealment using all of God’s most beautiful Names; and in the Land of Creation as Husayn, but the majority of the people are under a great veil and delusion. Things happened to him in every era that only God the Greatest Exalted King can enumerate.

Once he was afflicted at the hands of Cain and was killed in God’s path and ascended to Him oppressedly and this is what happened in the past and God was witness to this and well aware of it.

Once he was afflicted at the hands of Nimrod (Abraham’s enemy) and was thrown in fire and God made the fire for him a light and mercy and He certainly protects his close servants.

Once he was afflicted at the hands of Pharaoh (Moses’ enemy) and things happened to him that would burn the hearts of the sincere.

Once he was put on the cross and ascended to God the Mighty, the Beautiful.

Once he was afflicted at the hands of Abu-Jahl (Muhammad’s enemy) and those hypocrites that stood up against him with dissension and things happened to him that cannot be expressed through words. The Merciful is well aware about the things that happened to him and witnessed them.

Once he was killed innocently in the land of Taff (Karbala). Those that God associates with His Illuminant Sacred Self were martyred alongside him. Then they beheaded him and took his family as prisoners and paraded them in the lands and this is what reached him from the armies of the Devils.

Once he was suspended in the air and was martyred in the path of God the Dominant, the Mighty, the Most Capable.

Once he was imprisoned in the Land of Ta (Tehran) for forty well known months and the pen of the worlds cannot enumerate the things that happened to me. After that they freed me from prison and banished me and my family from my land until we reached Iraq and dwelled there.

In that land, people who were created by my order, did things to us that no one can enumerate. They acted towards us with hypocrisy at every chance they got, but we concealed the affair and gave glad tidings to the people and preached for God the Dominant, the Beautiful. (Baha’u’llah, Athar-i Qalam-i A`la, vol. 2, no. 91, p. 607-8 [Canada: Association for Baha’i studies in Persian, 2002])

In another Tablet, called the Tablet of Pilgrimage to the House in Baghdad (Hajj-i Bayt-i Baghdad), Baha’u’llah repeats the same statements about himself:

“Wasn’t this (meaning himself) from the signs of God and wasn’t this youth His servant and beauty and then His splendor and light and then His order and luminance. And he shone with the lights that eclipse all suns when they shine, and how is [the state] of these oppressors? Say by God, he descended from the sky of commandment while in his right hand was the kingdom of splendor and power. He invites people to the Garden of Holiness and he fears no one even though the polytheists from among these infidels have surrounded him. Say He appeared once with the name of the First Badi` (Adam or Able?), then another time with the name of Khalil (Abraham), then with the name of Kalim (Moses), then with the name of the Spirit (Jesus), then with the name of Habib (Muhammad), then with the name of Ali (the Bab) with truth, and then with the name of Husayn (Baha’u’llah) in this holy, illuminant, brilliant, beauty.” (Baha’u’llah, Athar-i Qalam-i A`la, vol. 2, no. 84, p. 518 [Canada: Association for Baha’i studies in Persian, 2002])

Yet again Baha’u’llah repeats similar statements in another of his writings called Surat ad-Dam (Surah of Blood):

“Oh people! I am definitely Ali (the Bab) who has returned again after the first return and I manifested for you things that are greater than what I had manifested before . . . Oh Lord! I praise you for the novelties that you have destined and all your calamities. Once You put me in the hands of Nimrod (Abraham’s enemy), then in the hands of the Pharaoh (Moses’ enemy) and they inflicted upon me what You have enumerated in Your Knowledge and have encompassed by Your Will. And once You placed me in the Prison of the infidels for I narrated to the Blind people a single letter from a dream that You had revealed to me by Your Knowledge and had made me understand by Your Majesty. And once you beheaded me by the hands of the infidels and once you crucified me because of what I had expressed from the hidden Jewels of your splendid Oneness and the novel remnants of your everlasting Majesty. And once You afflicted me in the land of Taff (Karbala) such that I was alone among your servants and abandoned in Your land until they cut off my head and raised it on top of spears and paraded it in all lands and brought it to the sitting place of polytheists and the position of infidels. And once they suspended me in the air and hit me with the bullets of enmity and hatred until my limbs were cut off and my body was torn apart. The times passed until today in which the foes have gathered [to take] my life and are always planning to turn the people into my enemies...”

(Baha’u’llah, Athar-i Qalam-i Ala, vol. 2, no. 75, pp. 396-7 [Canada: Association for Baha’i studies in Persian, 2002])

In case you’re wondering why there is no mention of Buddha, Krishna, and etc: Being brought up in nineteenth century Iran, Baha’u’llah probably didn’t even know that these people existed. These figures were added to the so called Baha’i “manifestations” years later when Baha’u’llah and Abdu’l-Baha came into contact with followers of these individuals in Palestine. In fact, there is no reference whatsoever to Buddha in Baha’u’llah’s writings.

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