page_title: Bahíyyih Khánum
section_title: Later in Acre, 1870−1892
hierarchical_section_title: Bahíyyih Khánum / During the lifetime of her father / Later in Acre, 1870−1892
caption_attribution_description: The Mansion of Bahjí
context_page_description: Bahíyyih Khánum was the only daughter of Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, and Ásíyih Khánum. She was born in 1846 with the given name Fatimih Sultan, and was entitled "Varaqiy-i-'Ulyá" or "Greatest Holy Leaf". Brought up through the trying times her family lived through, in adulthood she served the interests of the religion and was even occasionally trusted with running the affairs of the religion and is seen within the Baháʼí Faith as one of the greatest women to have lived. Bahíyyih was born in Tehran, initially to great privilege. In 1852, when she was aged 6, her father was arrested and imprisoned, the family's home pillaged and Bahíyyih and her family were forced to live in poverty. Later the same year the family were exiled to Baghdad. As a young girl she opted to remain single, and instead served her parents, especially her mother. During the 1860s a succession of exiles followed including Constantinople and Adrianople. By the time she was 21, Bahíyyih had spent all of her adult life a prisoner and arrived at her final destination, the penal-colony of Acre, Palestine.
context_section_description: After the death of her brother in 1870, the people of Acre started to respect the Baháʼís and in particular, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was able to arrange for houses to be rented for the family, the family later moved to the Mansion of Bahjí around 1879 when an epidemic caused the inhabitants to flee. Bahíyyih was 23 when she left the harsh prison. Despite the unhappy start, Acre was the place of some of the happiest times of Bahíyyih Khánum's life. With ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's marriage to Munírih, she had a companion of the same age and the two became close friends of each other. The Baháʼís realised that it was unlikely Bahíyyih Khánum would ever marry and she was respected for her choice of singlehood over matrimony at a time when marriage was seen as obligatory for a young woman. Bahíyyih Khánum helped her mother and father with serving pilgrims who came and visited the family. She was always concerned over her delicate mother's heath and served her diligently.  Baháʼu'lláh saw his daughter as consolation and solace describing "how sweet thy presence before Me; how sweet to gaze upon thy face, to bestow upon thee My loving-kindness, to favour thee with My tender care".
  One of the heartaches of Bahíyyih Khánum was the death of her mother in 1886. She had been very close to her mother since childhood and the death left Bahíyyih with a void in her life. From her youth Bahíyyih had emulated her mother and seen her as the epitome of the perfect woman. With the death of her mother, Navváb in 1886, Baháʼu'lláh gave her the title of "the Greatest Holy Leaf", and she took over the role of head of the household — managing the household and hosting events for the women pilgrims and other visitors — an arrangement that continued when ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was head of the religion. Six years passed when – in 1892 – her father died. Bahíyyih was distraught at the loss of her father. With her father's death in 1892 she was the only surviving member of her family to choose to support her brother when he was named head of the religion in 1892, though first she had to recover from severe mourning which caused her to become thin and feeble for a time. Bahiyyih Nakhjavani has characterized her as having a sleepless vigilance, a tact, courtesy, extreme patience and an heroic fortitude.
caption: The "Mansion" of Bahjí
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