Khusraw Bíman

Khusraw Bíman
Born	c. 1832 Iran
Died	December 31, 1936 India
Spouse(s)	Sarvar
Children	Rostam Sabet & 6 others

Khusraw Bíman (c. 1832 - December 31, 1936) was a Persian Bahá’í who was among the early members of the Bahá’í Faith from a Zoroastrian background. He became a Bahá’í in India and assisted with the establishment of Bahá’í communities in Bombay and Poona.

Biography

Bíman was born into a Zoroastrian family in a village near Yazd in Iran in approximately 1832. His family faced persecution due to their religion and he received no education instead working as a farmer.

Muslim merchants would routinely underweigh goods sold by Zoroastrian farmers in order to underpay them and on one occassion Bíman was surprised when a merchant in Yazd paid him fairly later learning that the merchant was a Bahá’í. On another occassion he visited a Zoroastrian High Priest in Yazd who was ill and requested that he send for a Bahá’í physician as the priest felt he would be more reliable and fair-minded.

In approximately 1884 Bíman moved to India and in 1888 he settled in Bombay where he began managing a restaurant. He kept in touch with relatives and friends in Iran and they sometimes discussed the persecution of Bahá’ís in the country, and Hájí Siyyid Mírzá Afnán lived near his restaurant. He once delivered an order of food to Hájí Siyyid Mírzá personally and was impressed by his hospitality and later attended a Bahá’í meeting at his home.

Bíman's contact with Hájí Siyyid Mírzá Afnán inspired a deep interest in the Bahá’í Faith and he was able to meet with ‘Andalíb, a prominent Bahá’í poet, who was visiting India and questioned him on the Faith's relationship with Zoroastrianism. He became a committed Bahá’í through his discussions with and began enthusiastically teaching the religion to other Zoroastrians with a Zoroastrian priest, Hurmuzyár Khudábakhsh, being the first person to become a Bahá’í through his teaching.

Around 1900 Bíman moved from Bombay to Poona where he supported himself by establishing the National Hotel which became a highly successful business. He also enthusiastically taught the Faith in the city resulting in some in the Zoroastrian community requesting that he be excommunicated. He was called to a meeting with the Zoroastrian High Priest of Poona however the priest came to have a positive opinion of the Bahá’í Faith as a result and did not excommunicate him. In 1902 he went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land and met ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and fellow pilgrims Lua Getsinger and Siyyid Muṣṭafá Rúmí.

Bíman later received permission to produce a gramophone recording of the voice of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and he visited France and England to source the required equipment also meeting with Bahá’í communities in both countries. He then went to the Holy Land although the attempts to produce a recording were unsuccesful. During this second pilgrimage Bíman asked if ‘Abdu’l-Bahá could encourage the Bahá’ís of the West to visit India resulting in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá requesting American travel teachers visit the country with several answering His call. He received many Tablets from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá addressed him as Thábit, meaning steadfast, with his children adopting it as their surname.

Bíman passed away on December 31, 1936, at the age of one hundred and four. An excerpt from a Tablet revealed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in his honor was used as his epitaph:

O Khusraw ... every crowned head will pay tribute to you. Monarchs will eulogise you and will envy your state, saying, 'Oh, that we too had been ever-ready in the service of the Divine Threshold like unto him, forgetful of all else save God!