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Ridván declaration

1863 · Baghdad (Iraq)

In the garden outside Baghdad that his followers name Ridván, paradise, Bahá'u'lláh declares to his companions, over twelve days in April and May 1863, that he is the one foretold by the Báb. The festival of Ridván is the Bahá'í Faith's holiest celebration, and the declaration opens the faith's own history.

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

The Event

Date
1863 (exact)
Also called
Declaration of Bahá'u'lláh
Era
The Heroic Age; Standard periodization of Bahá'í history
Location
Baghdad; today Iraq
Traditions
Bahá'í
Streams
The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh
Key figures
Bahá'u'lláh

How the Tradition Tells It

To whom the declaration was made in the garden, and in what words, rests on the accounts of the companions present; the record states the community's observance.

Connections

Illustration for Bahá'u'lláh's imprisonment History Event Bahá'u'lláh's imprisonment 1852 follows

Primary Sources

  • Nabíl's Narrative (The Dawn-Breakers).

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-1106; confidence 0.95; accessed 2026-10-28.

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