While camping on the side of Mount Carmel, Baha’u’llah revealed a shocking revelation: he was the one of whom the Bab had spoken, the one who would be greater than him. He was the Mahdi of Islam, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. He was the newest Manifestation of God to appear upon the earth.

During his long years of exile in Acre, Baha’u’llah’s disciples grew in number, and Baha’u’llah composed a vast number of holy texts, over 40 books in all. These include the Kitab-i-Aqdas (Most Holy Book), the Kitab-i-Iqan (Book of Certitude) and The Hidden Words, among many others.

Upon the death of Baha’u’llah in 1892, leadership of this burgeoning Baha’i movement went to his son, Abdul Baha. Abdul Baha began the work of spreading the faith even farther than his father had, and under his leadership it began to become a truly international religion.

It was under Abdul Baha’s grandson, Shoghi Effendi that the movement truly took off, however. Shoghi Effendi was educated in England at Oxford, and was the first to begin translating the writings of Baha’u’llah into English. He is called the Guardian of the Faith, and was the last single leader of the Baha’i movement.

Shoghi Effendi left the leadership of the Baha’i Faith to a group known as Hands of the Cause of God upon his death. It was the duty of these men to create the Universal House of Justice (UHJ). In his writings Baha’u’llah had spoken of the Universal House of Justice, and wrote that it would someday be the center of the Baha’i Faith. Today it is the ultimate guiding body of the faith.