Mírzá Maḥmúd-i-Zarqání
Mírzá Maḥmúd-i-Zarqání (c. 1873 - 1927) was a Persian Bahá'í who served the Bahá’í Faith by travel teaching across Persia and India and serving as a secretary for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá during His travels of the west and later as a secretary for Shoghi Effendi.
Biography[edit]
Zarqání was born in Zarqán into a Bahá’í family in approximately 1873. His father was a shoe-maker and Zarqání also made shoes and he also became a Bahá’í when he was sixteen. He accompanied two Bahá’ís, Nayyir and Sina, who had taught him the Faith on travel teaching trips shortly after declaring.[1]
In 1896 Zarqání began regularly accompanying Mirza Haydar 'Ali on his extensive travel teaching trips across Iran, and in 1903 he visited India on a travel teaching trip.[2] He made another travel teaching trip to India in 1907 alongside Ibn-i-Abhar and American Bahá’ís Hooper Harris and Harlan Ober undertaken at the request of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.[3]
In 1912 Zarqání accompanied ‘Abdu’l-Bahá when he visited the Europe and North America serving as one of His translators and secretaries,[4] and he compiled a detailed diary of events during their visit after returning home in 1913 which was titled Kitáb-i Badáyi'u'l-Áthár and later translated into English in 1998.[5] He pioneered to India in 1914 to assist the Bahá’í community there.[6]
Shortly after the Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1921 Shoghi Effendi requested that Zarqání move to Haifa where he served as his secretary to assist him in his role as the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith. He later returned to Iran.[7]
Shoghi Effendi cabled the following message after his passing in 1927:
“‘Deeply mourn passing (of) Zargani. His outstanding services will shine evermore. Urge friends hold befitting memorials.”[8]
Publications[edit]
- 1914 - Kitáb-i Badáyi'u'l-Áthár
- 1998 - Maḥmúd's Diary: The Diary of Mírzá Maḥmúd-i-Zarqání Chronicling ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's Journey to America[9]
References[edit]
- ↑ Moojan Momen, The Baha'i Communities of Iran, 1851-1921: Volume 2, George Ronald: Oxford, 2021, p 318
- ↑ Moojan Momen, The Baha'i Communities of Iran, 1851-1921: Volume 2, George Ronald: Oxford, 2021, p 318
- ↑ Hasan Balyuzi, Eminent Baha'is in the Time of Baha'u'llah, George Ronald: Oxford, 1985, p 268
- ↑ Moojan Momen, The Baha'i Communities of Iran, 1851-1921: Volume 2, George Ronald: Oxford, 2021, p 319
- ↑ https://bahai-library.com/zarqani_mahmuds_diary#notefromthepublisher
- ↑ Moojan Momen, The Baha'i Communities of Iran, 1851-1921: Volume 2, George Ronald: Oxford, 2021, p 319
- ↑ Moojan Momen, The Baha'i Communities of Iran, 1851-1921: Volume 2, George Ronald: Oxford, 2021, p 319
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1930). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. New York City, NY. Volume 3 (1928-1930), Pg(s) 213. View as PDF.
- ↑ https://bahai-library.com/zarqani_mahmuds_diary
