Bahá'u'lláh's imprisonment; CCWV.LIFE

After an attempt on the Shah's life by two Bábís in 1852, Bahá'u'lláh is held for four months in the Síyáh-Chál, the Black Pit of Tehran. Bahá'ís understand this imprisonment as the moment of his intimation of revelation, the vision of the Maid of Heaven recorded in his own writings.

Tagged: Bahá'í Bábí Faith The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh

The Event

Date: 1852 (exact)
Also called: The Síyáh-Chál
Era: The Bábí Era; Standard periodization of Bahá'í history
Location: Tehran; today Iran
Traditions: Bahá'í
Streams: Bábí Faith, The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh
Key figures: Bahá'u'lláh

How the Tradition Tells It

The intimation in the Síyáh-Chál is known from Bahá'u'lláh's own later writings; the record states it as the community holds it.

Connections

History Event Martyrdom of the Báb 1850 follows

Primary Sources

Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf (the Síyáh-Chál account).

Secondary Sources

MacEoin, Denis. The Messiah of Shiraz: Studies in Early and Middle Babism. Leiden: Brill, 2009.
Momen, Moojan. The Baha'i Faith: A Beginner's Guide. Oxford: Oneworld, 2008.
Shoghi Effendi. God Passes By. Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1944 (the community's own history, cited as such).
Smith, Peter. An Introduction to the Baha'i Faith. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
Warburg, Margit. Citizens of the World: A History and Sociology of the Baha'is in Britain and North America. Leiden: Brill, 2006.

Provenance: HIST-1105; confidence 0.95; accessed 2026-10-28.