‘Abdu’l-Baha had entrusted her with the sacred remains of the Báb which were housed in her room for some ten years in the house of 'Abdu'llah Pasha

The Greatest Holy Leaf also had a mystic bond, as Shoghi Effendi describes the relationship, with her brother, 'Abdu'l-Baha, the Centre of the Covenant -- One Who not only knew her station and appointed her to be in total charge of His household, but Who entrusted her with the sacred remains of the Báb which were housed in her room for some ten years in the house of 'Abdu'llah Pasha, Who entrusted her with His last will and testament and Who realized that after His passing she would play a central role in the community, as He knew that Shoghi Effendi was not present at the time of His passing. We can be sure that 'Abdu'l-Baha passed away with His mind at rest, because He knew that Shoghi Effendi would soon be there, and that the Greatest Holy Leaf was there. 

- ‘Ali Nakhjavani  (From an address presented during the World Centre seminar commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the passing of the Greatest Holy Leaf, held in the reception concourse, permanent Seat of the Universal House of Justice, 17 July 1982; The Baha’i World 1979-1983)

The impact of the Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh and “the dust and heat of commotion which that faithless and rebellious company engendered”

Great as had been her [the Greatest Holy Leaf’s] sufferings ever since her infancy, the anguish of mind and heart which the Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh occasioned, nerved her, as never before, to a resolve which no upheaval could bend and which her frail constitution belied. Amidst the dust and heat of the commotion which that faithless and rebellious company engendered she found herself constrained to dissolve ties of family relationship, to sever long-standing and intimate friendships, to discard lesser loyalties for the sake of her supreme allegiance to a Cause she had loved so dearly and had served so well. 

The disruption that ensued found her ranged by the side of Him Whom her departed Father had appointed as the Center of His Covenant and the authorized Expounder of His Word. Her venerated mother, as well as her distinguished paternal uncle, Áqáy-i-Kalím—the twin pillars who, all throughout the various stages of Bahá’u’lláh’s exile from the Land of His Birth to the final place of His confinement, had demonstrated, unlike most of the members of His Family, the tenacity of their loyalty—had already passed behind the Veil. Death, in the most tragic circumstances, had also robbed her of the Purest Branch, her only brother besides ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, while still in the prime of youth. She alone of the family of Bahá’u’lláh remained to cheer the heart and reinforce the efforts of the Most Great Branch, against whom were solidly arrayed the almost entire company of His faithless relatives. In her arduous task she was seconded by the diligent efforts of Munírih Khánum, the Holy Mother, and those of her daughters whose age allowed them to assist in the accomplishment of that stupendous achievement with which the name of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá will forever remain associated. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated 17 July 1932; ‘Baha’i Administration’)

Varaqiy-i-‘Ulya is the original Arabic title Bahá’u’lláh bestowed on Bahíyyih Khánum’s mother. After Ásíyih Khánum passed away, He bestowed the title on their daughter, Bahíyyih Khánum

Shoghi Effendi gives 1846 as the year of Bahá’íyyih Khánum's birth. When exactly during that year she was born is uncertain but she was born in Tihrán. The name given her at birth was Fátimih. Later, Bahá’u'lláh bestowed upon her the feminine form of His appellation ‘Bahá‘, meaning glory. Confirming this in a Tablet revealed in her honour, He says: “Verily she is a leaf that hath sprung from this preexistent Root. She hath revealed herself in My name and tasted of the sweet savours of My holy, My wondrous pleasure” [1] The full text of that Tablet is inscribed in golden letters around the base of the circular dome of her monument. She sealed the letters that she wrote to Bahá’í institutions and individuals with a seal bearing the name Baha’iyyih. The seal is on display in the International Archives Building. Bahá’u’lláh also bestowed upon her, after her mother passed away, the title of Greatest Holy Leaf. 

Varaqiy-i-‘Ulya is the original Arabic title Bahá’u’lláh bestowed on Bahíyyih Khánum’s mother. After Ásíyih Khánum passed away, He bestowed the title on their daughter, Bahíyyih Khánum. To avoid confusion, Shoghi Effendi translated the title as the Most Exalted Leaf for Ásíyih Khánum, and the Greatest Holy Leaf for Bahíyyih Khánum. 

- Baharieh Rouhani Ma’ani  (‘The Greatest Holy Leaf’s unparalleled role in religious history and the significance of the Arc, the site of her resting place’; presented at the Irfan Colloquia Session #121 [English], Louhelen Bahá'í Center: Davison, Michigan, USA, October 10–13, 2013 published in Lights of Irfan, volume 15)

[1] ‘Bahíyyih Khánum, The Greatest Holy Leaf’, a compilation by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, 1982

A letter from the Greatest Holy Leaf

O Leaf of Paradise!

Loose your tongue at all times in gratitude for the blessings of the Beloved of the Worlds, for you are always mentioned in His Glorious and Sanctified Presence, and you are ever in the hearts of His maidservants. The pen is unable to describe the depths of our longing, nor can the tongue recount the love concealed within our hearts. Should you look into the mirror of your own heart, which is free from the defilements of this world of dust, you would clearly see the truth of what has been set forth.

From the time of your departure no day passes without mention being made of your name. Please God you may in your days and nights hold fast to the sure handle of detachment, and be occupied in the remembrance of God, the Wondrous, the All- Glorious.

There is no blessing greater than attainment unto His Holy Presence. Thank God you attained this bounty.

May the spiritually-minded son, Mirza Badí’u’lláh, God willing, be always safe in the stronghold of God’s care and protection. 

- ‘Bahíyyih Khánum (‘Bahíyyih Khánum, The Greatest Holy Leaf’, a compilation by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, 1982)

Facsimile of Bahíyyih Khánum’s handwriting

(‘Bahíyyih Khánum, The Greatest Holy Leaf’, a compilation by the 

Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, 1982)

See the translation

The amazingly high station of the Greatest Holy Leaf

O thou Greatest Holy Leaf! If I cry at every moment out of a hundred mouths, and from each of these mouths I speak with a hundred thousand tongues, yet I could never describe nor celebrate thy heavenly qualities, which are known to none save only the Lord God; nor could I befittingly tell of even the transient foam from out the ocean of thine endless favour and grace.

Except for a very few, whose habitation is in the highest retreats of holiness, and who circle, in the furthermost Sanctuary, by day and by night about the throne of God, and are fed at the hand of the Abhá Beauty on purest milk—except for these, no soul of this nether world has known or recognized thine immaculate, thy most sacred essence, nor has any befittingly perceived that ambergris fragrance of thy noble qualities, which richly anoints thy brow, and which issues from the divine wellspring of mystic musk; nor has any caught its sweetness.

To this bear witness the Company on High, and beyond them God Himself, the Supreme Lord of all the heavens and the earths: that during all thy days, from thine earliest years until the close of thy life, thou didst personify the attributes of thy Father, the Matchless, the Mighty. Thou wert the fruit of His Tree, thou wert the lamp of His love, thou wert the symbol of His serenity, and of His meekness, the pathway of His guidance, the channel of His blessings, the sweet scent of His robe, the refuge of His loved ones and His handmaidens, the mantle of His generosity and grace. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘Bahíyyih Khánum, The Greatest Holy Leaf’, a compilation by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, 1982)

Baha’u’llah and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá prepared her “to face the storm which the treacherous conduct of the Covenant-breakers had aroused”

Armed with the powers with which an intimate and long-standing companionship with Bahá’u’lláh had already equipped her, and benefiting by the magnificent example which the steadily widening range of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s activities afforded her, she was prepared to face the storm which the treacherous conduct of the Covenant-breakers had aroused and to withstand its most damaging onslaughts. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated 17 July 1932; ‘Baha’i Administration’)

Prayer by the Greatest Holy Leaf

All praise to the omnipotent Lord, that in this auspicious day He Who is the Sun of bounty has shone out so fair and bright as to light up the world of the hearts. He has burned away the veils of waywardness and ignorance. He has struck off the fetters of baseless myths and ignoble concepts that chained the people hand and foot. He has cleansed and burnished the mirrors of men’s souls, sullied by the dust and rust of this dark world. He has opened wide the door to that Celestial Tavern of matchless wine, and He is freely pouring out the immortal draught of knowledge and perception and love. He has hoisted the banner of oneness, and destroyed the foundations of estrangement. Under the sway of His unity, the many-coloured races and diverse religions have tasted the rose-red wine of His love, and are aliens no more. Those pure in spirit who have set eyes upon Him, and approached the place He dwells in, reflecting Him have shone out like mirrors, and cleaving to Him alone, they have detached their hearts from all else but Him. They have heard, with their inner ears. His words, and they have noted His ways, and forgotten all else. They are ever soaring upward, out of the lower world to the world above, and they are fit to be told the mysteries, and they understand them.

Such a day, then, is a day for praise and thanks, a time of benedictions and blessings, a time to wash away the stains of earth’s defilement.

Let us turn our hearts to the world aloft, and cup our hands and supplicate our matchless Loved One, and urgently entreat Him, saying:

O Thou Kind Bestower, O Nourisher of our souls and hearts!

We have no aim, except to walk Thy path; we have no wish, except to bring Thee joy. Our souls are united, and our hearts are welded, each to each. In offering Thee our thanks and praise, in following Thy ways and soaring in Thy skies, we are all one.

We are helpless, stand Thou by us, and give us strength.

Thou art the Protector, the Provider, the Kind. 

- Bahíyyih Khánum; (‘Bahíyyih Khánum, The Greatest Holy Leaf’, a compilation by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, 1982)

Unique contribution to the development of the Baha'i Faith

Bahíyyih Khánum was the eldest daughter of Bahá’u’lláh, the Prophet and Founder of the Baha i Faith, a religion that had its origins in Iran in the middle of the nineteenth century. She witnessed firsthand the momentous events surrounding the birth of this new Revelation and subsequently played a major role in its emergence as an independent world religion. Bahíyyih Khánum's contribution to the development of the Baha i Faith is unique. Indeed, a systematic study of the exploits and achievements of this relatively unknown Persian woman is long overdue. Furthermore, the example of her life is of enduring importance, and her personal qualities have special relevance to the issues confronting contemporary society. 

- Janet Khan  (‘Prophet’s Daughter’)

“At the time of His [‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s] absence in the western world, she was His competent deputy, His representative and vicegerent, with none to equal her”

The year 2013 marks the hundredth anniversary of ‘Abdu’l- Bahá’s return to the Holy Land from His historic trip to Egypt and the West. He left Haifa for Egypt in September 1910 and returned there three years later. The person “invested … with the responsibility” to attend “to the multitudinous details arising out of His protracted absence from the Holy Land” was His honoured sister, Bahíyyih Khánum, [2] the Greatest Holy Leaf. In the words of Shoghi Effendi: “At the time of His [‘Abdu’l- Bahá’s] absence in the western world, she was His competent deputy, His representative and vicegerent, with none to equal her” [3].

The centenary of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s return to the Holy Land after His protracted absence coincides with the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of the Universal House of Justice. As we gather to celebrate these landmarks, we take time to ponder upon the life of a most remarkable woman in the history of religion, focus attention on the outstanding services she rendered and on the significance of the site Shoghi Effendi chose for her burial place. It was his choice of a specific spot on Mount Carmel that determined the location of the Arc, around which are built the institutions of the world administrative centre of the Faith, the Seat of the Universal House of Justice occupying its centre top.

- Baharieh Rouhani Ma’ani  (‘The Greatest Holy Leaf’s unparalleled role in religious history and the significance of the Arc, the site of her resting place;pPresented at the Irfan Colloquia Session #121 [English], Louhelen Bahá'í Center: Davison, Michigan, USA, October 10–13, 2013 published in Lights of Irfan, volume 15)

[1] ‘BAHÍYYIH KHÁNUM’, A compilation from Bahá'í sacred texts and writings of the Guardian of the Faith and Bahíyyih Khánum's own letters, made by the Research department at the Bahá'í World Centre

[2] The name engraved on the seal, with which the Greatest Holy Leaf sealed her letters, is Bahá’íyyih. This may be the reason the Iranian friends refer to her as Bahá’íyyih Khánum and, as a sign of respect, do not use it to name their daughters. In his messages to the western friends Shoghi Effendi used Bahíyyih as the Greatest Holy Leaf’s name, probably because it is easier to pronounce and is used as a proper noun. Bahá’íyyih and Bahíyyih are derivatives of the Arabic root Bahá’, which means “glory.”

[3] ‘BAHÍYYIH KHÁNUM’, A compilation from Bahá'í sacred texts and writings of the Guardian of the Faith and Bahíyyih Khánum's own letters, made by the Research department at the Bahá'í World Centre

The mystic bond between the Greatest Holy Leaf and ‘Abdu’l-Baha

The Greatest Holy Leaf also had a mystic bond, as Shoghi Effendi describes the relationship, with her brother, 'Abdu'l-Baha, the Centre of the Covenant -- One Who not only knew her station and appointed her to be in total charge of His household, but Who entrusted her with the sacred remains of the Bab which were housed in her room for some ten years in the house of 'Abdu'llah Pasha, Who entrusted her with His last will and testament and Who realized that after His passing she would play a central role in the community, as He knew that Shoghi Effendi was not present at the time of His passing. We can be sure that 'Abdu'l-Baha passed away with His mind at rest, because He knew that Shoghi Effendi would soon be there, and that the Greatest Holy Leaf was there.

After the passing of 'Abdu'l-Baha the mystic bond between Shoghi Effendi and the Greatest Holy Leaf assumed far-reaching proportions. I am sure that future historians and other writers will write about the eleven years that passed from the night of the passing of 'Abdu'l-Baha to the night of the passing of the Greatest Holy Leaf.

- ’Ali Nakhjavan  (‘The Greatest Holy Leaf: A Reminiscence’; excerpts from an address presented during the World Centre seminar commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the passing of the Greatest Holy Leaf, held in the reception concourse, permanent Seat of the Universal House of Justice, 17 July 1982; The Baha’i World 1979-1983)

1925: The Greatest Holy Leaf visits the Shrine of ‘Abdu’l-Baha and the new Gardens after over a year

As I write, the Greatest Holy Leaf is on a visit to the Shrine of the Master. It is over a year, I think, since she has been able to visit the shrine and until now she has not seen the new Gardens, in the laying out of which Shoghi Effendi has taken such a deep interest. The Gardens are looking lovely now and it is easy to imagine how delighted she will be. One day during the feast of Ridván she and the Holy Mother were able to visit Bahjí and the Garden of Ridván. 

- Dr. Esslemont  (From a letter dated 8 May 1925 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer; ‘Arohanui, Letters from Shoghi Effendi to New Zealand’)

From her earliest days, Bahíyyih Khánum had an appreciation of the station of her father as a Messenger of God and a deep love and desire to serve Him

At the age of six she witnessed the sacking and plundering of her parents’ property when her father was imprisoned in the Síyáh-Chál, the "Black Pit" of Tehran. She shared with her mother, Navváb, and her brother Abdu’l-Bahá the gnawing anxiety concerning whether Bahá’u’lláh would be executed. While her mother was absent, endeavoring to obtain information about the situation of her beloved husband and attempting to provide for the daily needs of the family, Bahíyyih Khánum alone cared for her infant brother.

When Bahá’u’lláh was released from incarceration, He and His family and a number of close associates were exiled to Baghdad in 1853. Thus began a period of exile that, for Bahíyyih Khánum, was to last until the end of her life and to include periods of captivity. She shared the imprisonment and banishment of Bahá’u’lláh when He was, at the behest of the Persian and Ottoman civil and ecclesiastic authorities, sent first to Baghdad, then to Constantinople, then to Adrianople, and finally to the prison city of Acre.

From her earliest days, Bahíyyih Khánum had an appreciation of the station of her father as a Messenger of God and a deep love and desire to serve Him and the cause He founded. At each stage of her life, she was called upon to undertake delicate and difficult missions and to demonstrate heroic qualities of character and spirit in service to that cause. She was elevated to a high rank by Bahá’u’lláh, Who also bestowed upon her the title of the Greatest Holy Leaf, a designation that members of the Bahá’í Faith often use when referring to her. 

- Janet Khan  (‘Prophet’s Daughter’)

"In her face one could easily read the history of the Cause from its earliest days to the present moment."

Bahíyyih Khánum was born in Persia (modern-day Iran) in 1846. Her life spanned all but two years of the most turbulent and formative period in the history of the Baha'i Faith, a period characterized by the exploits and the trials of the Faith's central figures and by the sufferings and sacrifices of the legion of martyrs who arose to champion the infant religion. Those who are familiar with this record will be aware of the broad outline of the life of Bahíyyih Khánum. She was not only an observer but also an active participant in many of these tumultuous happenings. Indeed, after her death in 1932, Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith, stated, "In her face one could easily read the history of the Cause from its earliest days to the present moment."[1] 

- Janet Khan  (‘Prophet’s Daughter’) 

[1] Shoghi Effendi (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi; compilation: ‘Bahíyyih Khánum, The Greatest Holy Leaf’, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, 1982)

“her sensitive heart instantaneously reacted to the slightest injury that befell the least significant of creatures”

That her sensitive heart instantaneously reacted to the slightest injury that befell the least significant of creatures, whether friend or foe, no one who knew her well could doubt. And yet such was the restraining power of her will—a will which her spirit of self-renunciation so often prompted her to suppress—that a superficial observer might well be led to question the intensity of her emotions or to belittle the range of her sympathies. In the school of adversity she, already endowed by Providence with the virtues of meekness and fortitude, learned through the example and exhortations of the Great Sufferer, who was her Father, the lesson she was destined to teach the great mass of His followers for so long after Him. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated 17 July 1932; ‘Baha’i Administration’)

Family background

Bahiyyih Khánum was born to Mírzá Husayn-’Alí, later known as Bahá’u’lláh, and Ásíyih Khánum, titled Navváb and the Most Exalted Leaf. Bahá’u’lláh and Navváb came from prominent families in the district of Núr in Mázandarán, Iran. Bahá’u’lláh’s father, Mírzá ‘Abbás-i-Núrí, entitled Mírzá Buzurg, was a celebrated calligrapher. Both he and Ásíyih Khánum’s father, Mírzá Ismá‘íl-i-Yálrúdí, held high-ranking positions in the government and were known as viziers. Almost nothing is known about Ásíyih Khánum’s mother.

Four sons of Bahá’u’lláh and Asiyih Khánum died in infancy and childhood. Two of them, Kázim and Mihdi, were probably dead before Bahiyyih Khánum was born. Of the other two, one lived to be several years old. His name was Alí-Muhammad. 'Abdu'l-Bahá speaks of him as a very clever, friendly and sociable child. The other, also named 'Alí-Muhammad, died in Baghdád in 1854. He was then about one year old. Bahiyyih Khánum’s surviving brothers were Mírzá ‘Abbás and Mírzá Mihdi. Mírzá ‘Abbás, later known as Abdu’l-Bahá, was about three years older than Bahiyyih Khánum; Mírzá Mihdi, entitled the Purest Branch, was about three years younger. He died at the age of 22 when he fell through an unguarded skylight in the roof of a section of the army barracks in ‘Akká, where Bahá’u’lláh and His family were imprisoned for two years. 

- Baharieh Rouhani  (‘Leaves of the Twin Divine Trees)

“Her patience, her magnanimity, her indiscriminating benevolence”; “the spirit of confident hope, of deep-rooted optimism that beamed upon her serene countenance”; “the brightness of her saintly face”; “the composure of her gracious and dignified behaviour”

How grievous was the ingratitude, how blind the fanaticism, how persistent the malignity of the officials, their wives, and their subordinates, in return for the manifold bounties which she, in close association with her Brother, so profusely conferred upon them! Her patience, her magnanimity, her indiscriminating benevolence, far from disarming the hostility of that perverse generation, served only to inflame their rancour, to excite their jealousy, to intensify their fears. The gloom that had settled upon that little band of imprisoned believers, who languished in the Fortress of Akká, contrasted with the spirit of confident hope, of deep-rooted optimism that beamed upon her serene countenance. No calamity, however intense, could obscure the brightness of her saintly face, and no agitation, no matter how severe, could disturb the composure of her gracious and dignified behaviour. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated 17 July 1932; ‘Baha’i Administration’)

The Greatest Holy Leaf – a tinted photograph taken about 1895

Her photograph, taken about 1895, shows a slim figure in Victorian dress - a narrow tailored jacket, with embroidered collar and cuffs, and buttoned down the front a spreading, floor-length skirt, with vertical flowered bands, the general effect being a delicately elegant blend of East and West. Unusually, she wears no kerchief; she stands facing the camera, her hands loose at the sides, dark hair off the face and hanging down her back, the ears showing, the face fragile and delicate; under curving brows the long blue eyes gaze off into distance, and her presence is somehow diffident and regal at the same time.

This is Khánum, the Most Exalted Leaf, the Lady par excellence, the Liege Lady of the people of Bahá, and next to her brother ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “the brightest embodiment of that love which is born of God ..." [1]

She lived to be “the last survivor of a glorious and heroic age”. [2] …

- Marzieh Gail  (‘Khanum, The Greatest Holy Leaf’)

[1] Shoghi Effendi, ‘Baha’i Administration’

[2] Shoghi Effendi, ‘The Dispensation of Baha’u’llah’, included in ‘The World Order of Baha’u’llah’ 

1922: The Greatest Holy Leaf announced the provisions of the Master's Will – to Persia and America

It was befitting that the Greatest Holy Leaf, and not Shoghi Effendi himself, should announce to the Bahá'í world the provisions of the Master's Will. On 7 January she sent two cables to Persia as follows: "Memorial meetings all over the world have been held. The Lord of all the worlds in His Will and Testament has revealed His instructions. Copy will be sent. Inform believers." and "Will and Testament forwarded Shoghi Effendi Centre Cause." … To the United States the Greatest Holy Leaf cabled on 16 January: "In Will Shoghi Effendi appointed Guardian of Cause and Head of House of Justice. Inform American friends." In spite of the fact that from the very beginning Shoghi Effendi exhibited both a tactful and masterful hand in dealing with the problems that continually faced him, he leaned very heavily on the Greatest Holy Leaf, whose character, station and love for him made her at once his support and his refuge. 

- Ruhiyyih Khanum  (‘The Priceless Pearl’)