Siyyid Naṣru’lláh Báqirof

Siyyid Naṣru’lláh Báqirof
Born	1859 Rasht, Iran
Died	1924 Tehran, Iran
Spouse(s)	Sakineh
Children	Amínu’lláh

Siyyid Naṣru’lláh Báqirof (1859 - 1924) was an early Bahá’í who lived in Russia for a time and was instrumental to the early administrative development of the Bahá’í community of Iran. He received Tablets from Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. In his career he was a successful businessman.

Biography

Naṣru’lláh was born in Rasht and did not receive a high level of education in his youth. His father was Siyyid Báqir Musavi Tulami who was a wealthy landlord in Lahijan who was a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad.

In approximately 1877 Naṣru’lláh moved to Baku in what was then Russia where he found work in the emerging petroleum industry. In approximately 1879 Naṣru’lláh and four of his brothers became Bahá’ís and as a result they were all disinherited by their father. While in Baku he also married Russian Bahá’í Sakineh and he became a Russian citizen. He went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land and met Bahá’u’lláh during his time in Baku and he later received Tablets from Him, and he also made a second pilgrimage after the Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh while in Baku.

In the 1910's Naṣru’lláh returned to Iran settling in Tehran where he opened a publishing house with his four brothers and he continued to be successful in business and constructed an opulent hotel which he constructed hoping ‘Abdu’l-Bahá would be able to stay at it if He ever visited Iran, and he also provided the majority of funds required for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's tour of the West. He received several Tablets from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in which he was praised for his firmness in the Covenant and he and his brothers were referred to as the Sádát-i-Khams in them with their descendants adopting the surname Khamsi.

While in Iran Naṣru’lláh undertook several services for the Faith proclaiming it to prominent people, protecting and defending the community, serving the community internally and contributing to the Fund. He also undertook tasks directly from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá such as meeting with diplomats in Tehran on His behalf, and facilitating communications between ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the Bahá’ís of the East. Examples of his services include when in 1919 he met with the Prime Minister of Iran and spoke to him about ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and serving on the Central Assembly of Tehran which was the precursor to the National Spiritual Assembly of Iran.

At some point Naṣru’lláh attempted to make another pilgrimage to meet with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá from Tehran but was unable to do so. When the Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá took place in 1921 he was serving on the Central Assembly of Tehran and when the body received news of Shoghi Effendi becoming the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith he stated "Praised be God, the Faith has become young."

In 1924 Naṣru’lláh passed away in Tehran. Shoghi Effendi sent the following message to his family:

"Compulsory silence delayed me to give my condolences in regard to your irreplaceable loss. That blessed soul who ascended to the Lord is resting forever in the arms of the Eternal Beloved. Shoghi"

The family also received the following message from Bahíyyih Khánum:

"The servants and handmaidens of the Holy Threshold of the Abhá Beauty: The dreadful news of the passing of the blessed soul of Hazrat-i-Áqá Siyyid Naṣru’lláh Báqirof to the Abhá Kingdom was received by these downhearted souls, and this new calamity and descended disaster was added to the sorrows and pains of this mortal being, and in the hearts of the Holy Leaves. However, after the advent of the greatest calamity and the immense tragedy of the passing of the beloved ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, it is explicable that for the nightingales in the rose garden of faithfulness, living in this mortal cage is like being in a prison cell so tight and small. The holy souls in every breath of their lives beseech to take their flights to the realm of the Almighty, and wish to flee from this world of dust, like a desolate drop supplicating its union with the sea, and a bird aspiring to take its flight to the celestial nest. Therefore, this departed soul certainly reached the ultimate goal of those who are near to God, and achieved the greatest desire of the sincere ones, and was blessed with the everlasting joy, and eternal bliss. That exalted soul during his earthly life was relentless in his rendering service, in his servitude, and in his sacrifices in the path of the celestial light. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave a special attention to that precious soul, and often indicated His gratification for his conduct, behaviour, and demeanour, as his deeds were endowed with sincerity and purity of motive, and his heart was like a garden attributable to the love of God, and like a glowing candle in all the gatherings.

The hope of this mortal soul from the threshold of the Blessed Beauty is that those saplings of the Abhá Paradise, and the survivors of that reservoir of faithfulness be brought with the divine glad tidings, and be joyful and happy from the Lord’s Beneficence. May they find solace from the dewdrops of the effusions of the Celestial Bounties, and find consolation from the outpouring of magnanimity, and may walk the footsteps of that honourable man, and dwell in that abode, and be wayfarers in that path, so that the gates of triumph, felicity, divine assistance, and salvation be wide open from every direction for that family, and their lineage for eternity. Praise be to God, that those saplings of the garden of the love of God, for many years, being in the nearness to the splendour Spot, with utmost joy and happiness were nurtured in the shadow of the Blessed (‘Abdu’l-Bahá), and were in every moment subject of the beneficence of the Beloved, and his grace and kindness. Now is the time to manifest the results of those blessings and favours, which will no doubt, be made manifest. All the members of the Blessed family share the sorrows of those mourners and with their poignant hearts offer their condolences. May glory and praise be upon you."