Mírzá Muḥammad-Quli

Mírzá Muḥammad-Quli
Mírzá Muḥammad-Quli c. 1868
Born	1837 Tehran, Iran
Died	1910 ‘Akka, Israel
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Mírzá Muḥammad-Quli (1837 - 1910) was a half-brother of Bahá’u’lláh. He became a steadfast Bahá’í and accompanied his Brother on His exiles and he was honored by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Memorials of the Faithful.

Biography

Quli was the son of Mírzá Buzurg and his concubine Turkamaniyyih. His father passed away when he was a baby and he was raised by his half-brother Bahá’u’lláh. When Bahá’u’lláh and His family were exiled from Iran to Baghdad in January 1853 Quli accompanied them, and he was also a member of Bahá’u’lláh's retinue when He was exiled from Baghdad to Constantinople in 1863. He established his own family while in Baghdad who accompanied him on his exiles alongside his brother.

When the family of Bahá’u’lláh was exiled to Adrianople later in 1863 and they occupied the House of Amru’lláh Quli and his family occupied the middle floor of the property with Bahá’u’lláh's family occupying the top floor. He rented a small piece of parkland with trees while living in Adrianople which Bahá’u’lláh visited regularly. When Bahá’u’lláh left the House of Amru’lláh and moved to the House of Ridá Big due to conflict with Mírzá Yaḥyá in March 1866 Quli and Mírzá Áqá Ján were initially the only people outside of His immediate family who He allowed to move into the new house and He refused to see all others for two months.

In 1868 Quli and his family were exiled to Akka with the rest of Bahá’u’lláh's household and they were housed on the lower floor of the citadel prison when they first arrived in the city. When some Bahá’ís acting alone murdered some Azalis in Akka in 1872, an act which was strongly condemned by Bahá’u’lláh, Quli was arrested along with Bahá’u’lláh and other members of the family despite having no involvement in the murders. He was imprisoned in the same cell as Bahá’u’lláh and was released after a short time.

When the Bahá’ís were permitted to live in the city of Akka Quli established a home overlooking the Khan-i-Shavirdi and after Bahá’u’lláh took up residence in the Mansion of Bahjí in 1879 He would frequently visit Quli's home in Akka. Quli later purchased coastal land outside of the city in an area called Nuqayb where he moved with his family and they established a farm which they operated.

After the Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh in 1892 Quli was a loyal supporter of His eldest son, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, who was His appointed successor as leader of the Bahá’í community however he also became withdrawn, giving advice to some Bahá’ís, but remaining alone most of the time. He became feeble in old age and passed away in 1910. He was buried on the grounds of his families farm on the instructions of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá but in 1985 the Universal House of Justice had him reinterred in a Bahá’í cemetery.

Family

Quli had two wives. The first was Khanum Jan and the second was Nash'ih Khanum. He also had three sons, Mirza 'Abdu'r-Ra'uf, Mirza Zikru’lláh, and Mirza Vahid, and a daughter Qudsiyyih Khanum. One of his granddaughters, Husnieh Bahá’í, served as a pioneer to St. Lucia in the West Indies in the 1980's.

His family lived on the farm he established until moving in 1948 as it was on the border of the newly established State of Israel which rendered it a dangerous region. In 1952 his grandchildren donated the land to Shoghi Effendi who traded it for land surrounding the grounds of Bahjí allowing him to expand the property.