Siyyid Asadu’llah-i-Qumi

Siyyid Asadu’llah

Siyyid Asadu’llah-i-Qumi (d. 1919) was a Persian Bahá’í who resided in the Holy Land during the Ministries of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and accompanied ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on His travels in the West.

Biography

Qumi was born into a Muslim family in Qum and was raised as a dedicated Muslim. He became literate in his youth then became a shoemaker working at a shop run by his elder brothers.

Qumi first heard of the Bábí Faith in 1852 when two Bábí's acting alone attempted to assassinate Náṣiri’d-Dín Sháh which caused widespread persecution of Bábí's and prejudice against the religion and its adherents, however as he was preoccupied with learning the shoemaking trade he took little notice. He later visited Tehran where he heard stories about the Martyrdom of Ṭáhirih and he was inspired to secure some of her poetry which he memorized. At some he Qumi moved to Tabriz where he opened his own shoemaking shop and while in Tabriz he heard of the Martyrdom of Badí‘ in 1869 which prompted him to begin studying the Bahá’í Faith and he established contact with some Bahá’ís, studied the religion, and became a Bahá’í.

In 1883 Qumi was arrested and imprisoned in Tehran for twenty-two months alongside prominent Bahá’ís including Mullá Muhammad-i-Ridáy-i-Muhammmad-Ábádí and Ḥájí Ákhúnd. After being released he decided to go on pilgrimage to the Holy Land and due to a lack of finances his journey was difficult, however he was able to reach Beirut, where he met Afnán-i-Kabír, and he was able to continue on to Akka by accompanying Ibn-i-Abhar who was in the city at the time. He arrived in the Holy Land in 1886 where he met with Bahá’u’lláh, witnessed Him revealing a Tablet, and received His permission to move his residence to the Holy Land.

After settling in Akka Qumi established a shop operating from his home, was enlisted by Bahá’u’lláh to assist with transcribing His Writings, and assisted Nabíl-i-A‘ẓam with his literary work. By 1891 he was assisting in tutoring the younger sons of Bahá’u’lláh, and he became Bahá’u’lláh's personal attendant serving up until His Ascension in 1892.

After the Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh Qumi began faithfully serving His appointed successor ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. In late 1910 he went to Egypt and assisted ‘Abdu’l-Bahá during His time in the country, and in March 1912 he accompanied ‘Abdu’l-Bahá when He sailed to Europe on the Cedric serving as His personal attendant during His travels across Europe and the United States, and on His return to Egypt in June, 1913.

After arriving back in the Holy Land ‘Abdu’l-Bahá sent Qumi to undertake a teaching trip across Turkmenistan and he taught extensively in the territory and also visited Kazan where he met members of the Russian royal family, and at their recommendation he also visited Moscow and Petrograd. He passed away in 1919.