Eminent Baha'is in the time of Baha'u'llah

The story of Bahá'u'lláh's followers in Iran.

The final work of the distinguished historian and Hand of the Cause Hasan Balyuzi.

At the time of his death in 1980, Hasan Balyuzi was midway through his intended four-volume study of the life and times of Bahá'u'lláh. He had already completed the first volume, his unequalled biography, 'Bahá'u'lláh, the King of Glory'.

This second volume, and his last major work, describing the effect of the new Revelation upon eighteen of the most important disciples of Bahá'u'lláh in Iran. They arose from the most varied backgrounds to reach heights of distinction and self-sacrifice. 'Nothing daunted them,' the author writes, 'no blow ever swerved them from their straight path . . . Serving the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh was the only goal they knew.'

Here are the stories of apostles, martyrs, poets, noblemen. Among their number are Samandar, both successful merchant and dedicated disciple; Na'im, a poet of the first rank; the grandson of a Shah of Iran; 'the gourmet who was a saint'; the renowned Mírzá Haydar-'Alí; and the extraordinary story of the secret allegiance to Bahá'u'lláh of the leading Shí'í clergyman of his day.

Of particular interest and value are the hundred photographs, many never before published in the West, the majority of eminent Bahá'ís and leading Iranian figures of the time.

The book concludes with several chapters about the homeland of Bahá'u'lláh, His ancestors, and certain remarkable prophecies His coming.

Mr Balyuzi had intended to add further chapters to this volume, but he did not live to complete them. The unfinished sections have been filled out by Dr Moojan Momen, his trusted research assistant.

The cover illustration is a painting of the prison city of 'Akká made in 1875. It shows the city of as many of the Bahá'ís mentioned in this book would have seen it when making their pilgrimage to Bahá'u'lláh, then confined within its walls.

Review

'. . . a delightful read . . . this very important work . . . a wonderful source for the early history of our Faith.'
Members of the Bahá'í Reviewing Panel of the United Kingdom

About the Author

H. M. Balyuzi, loved and honoured throughout the Bahá'í world for his invaluable books on the three Central Figures of the Bahá'í Faith, as well as for other important works, was mourned on his passing by the Universal House of Justice as one of 'the most powerful defenders, most resourceful historians' of the Faith.

He was related to the Báb, and a member of a family distinguished in Iran, but his belief was of conviction and not inheritance. It was his meeting at the age of seventeen with the Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, that stirred him to accept nearly five decades of unceasing labour in administrative, teaching and scholarly fields for the advancement of the Cause.

HM Balyuzi graduated from the American University of Beirut and later took his M.Sc. (Econ.) at London. At the outbreak of war in 1939, he joined the Persian service of the BBC. He was for many years chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the British Isles and in 1957 he was elevated to the rank of Hand of the Cause of God. The last fifteen years his life were wholly devoted to the writing of the eight books by which he will always be remembered. Mr Balyuzi passed away in London in 1980.

Pages: 400
Dimensions: 234 x 156 mm (9.25 x 6.12 in)
Weight: 990 g
ISBN: 978-0-85398-151-0