Scholar Meets Prophet: Edward Granville Browne and Baha’u’llah (Acre, 1890)

Rediscovery of contemporaneous handwritten notes by Cambridge orientalist, Edward Granville Browne, of his historic meetings with Baha’u’llah, prophetfounder of the Baha’i Faith in Akka (St Jean d’Acre), Palestine, during his stay there – which lasted from his arrival on Sunday, 13 April 1890, to Browne’s departure on Sunday, 20 April 1890 – significantly adds to our knowledge of those spiritual and momentous events. Given the fact that Baha’u’llah was to become widely regarded as the founder of a new world religion, Browne’s published account of his 16 April 1890 audience with Baha’u’llah takes on added significance as a rare first-hand description by a distinguished contemporary from the West. Although well-known to those acquainted with Baha’i history, relatively little is known regarding the sequence of events. This article will draw from Cambridge manuscripts to add some new details, and will draw a fuller picture of what transpired by use of Browne’s correspondence with Russian academics, along with known Baha’i sources judiciously compared with Azali sources. Together, a composite account of that historic encounter between scholar and prophet, Browne and Baha’u’llah, will be offered.