The privilege of meeting ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s glorious sister, Bahiyyih Khanum: A pilgrim recalls

It is now thirty-three years since that never-to-be-forgotten first pilgrimage to the Most Great Prison was undertaken by a group of believers from the West and, while many details of the visit have faded into the background, there are certain events and personalities that remain clear and vivid in my memory, and which time seems powerless to efface. Next to meeting the Beloved Master Himself was the privilege of meeting His glorious sister, Bahiyyih Khanum, known as the Greatest Holy Leaf.

Her personality is indelibly imprinted upon my memory. Tall, slender and of noble bearing, her body gave the impression of perfect poise between energy and tranquility, between wiry endurance and inward composure, imparting to the beholder a sense of security, comfort and reliance, impossible to describe.

Her beautiful face was the feminine counterpart of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s the lines of suffering and privation softened by the patient sweetness of the mouth; the dominating brow, bespeaking intellect and will, lighted by the wonderful understanding eyes, in form like those of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, but deep blue rather than hazel. Watching their expressive changes—as one moment they darkened with sympathy or pain, the next moment sparkled with laughter and humor—only served to deepen the impression of her irresistible spiritual attraction. 

- Ella Goodall Cooper  (‘Bahiyyih Khanum – an Appreciation’; Star of the West, vol. 23, no. 7, October 1932)

The unique relationship between Bahá’u’lláh and the Greatest Holy Leaf

The writings of Bahá’u’lláh set out the uniqueness of His relationship with His daughter and disclose the dual aspects of that bond. For example, on the physical plane the Greatest Holy Leaf is described as “a leaf that hath sprung from this preexistent Root,” and the tenderness of the father’s love for His daughter is conveyed in the following testimony: 

“How sweet thy presence before Me; how sweet to gaze upon thy face, to bestow upon thee My loving-kindness, to favour thee with My tender care, to make mention of thee in this, My Tablet—a Tablet which I have ordained as a token of My hidden and manifest grace unto thee.”[1]

Beyond the ties of physical relationship, Bahá’u’lláh underlines a transcendent purpose for her physical being, a purpose that relates to her recognition of His station as Manifestation of God and the fulfillment of her purpose in life. He states, "We have created thine eyes to behold the light of My countenance, thine ears to hearken unto the melody of My words, thy body to pay homage before My throne. Do thou render thanks unto God, thy Lord, the Lord of all the world."[2] 

Bahá’u’lláh likewise expresses pleasure at the manner in which she exemplified the spiritual qualities embodied by the Manifestation of God when He states: 

"I can well inhale from thee the fragrance of My love and the sweet-smelling savour wafting from the raiment of My Name, the Most Holy, the Most Luminous." [3]

“the towering grandeur of her spiritual life”

Only future generations and pens abler than mine can, and will, pay a worthy tribute to the towering grandeur of her spiritual life, to the unique part she played throughout the tumultuous stages of Bahá’í history, to the expressions of unqualified praise that have streamed from the pen of both Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Centre of His Covenant, though unrecorded, and in the main unsuspected by the mass of her passionate admirers in East and West, the share she has had in influencing the course of some of the chief events in the annals of the Faith, the sufferings she bore, the sacrifices she made, the rare gifts of unfailing sympathy she so strikingly displayed—these, and many others stand so inextricably interwoven with the fabric of the Cause itself that no future historian of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh can afford to ignore or minimize.

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated 17 July 1932; ‘The Baha’i World 1932-1934)

1931: A pilgrim’s impression of the Greatest Holy Leaf

The face of the sister of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahiyyih Khanum, although shadowed by age, was so full of love and a genuine interest in life and people that we did not think of her as old, but rather as ageless and eternal. The freshness of the beauty of love radiating from her captivated us. 

- Sylvia Paine (Star of the West, vol. 23, no. 12, March 1933)

1909 Akka: Juliet Thompson sees the Greatest Holy Leaf for the first time

…we went to the Holy Household to visit the Holy Leaves. I shall never forget that little procession as they entered the room with the dignity of queens, led by the Greatest Holy Leaf. She was all in white: the Greatest Holy Leaf, the daughter of the Blessed Perfection. Her face had the look of one who had passed through crucifixion and was resurrected in another world. In it shone great blue eyes, eyes that had looked upon many sorrows and now were ineffably tender… Behind her came Túbá Khánum and Munavvar Khánum (two of the daughters of ‘Abdu’l-Baha and Munirih Khanum)...

Juliet Thompson (‘The Diary of Juliet Thompson)

Condition of women in the Middle East in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and the unparalleled role of the Greatest Holy Leaf in religious history

The Greatest Holy Leaf’s role in Bahá’í history is unparalleled in religious history. To assess this role, it is necessary to take into consideration the constraints under which women in the Middle East lived in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Women in the Islamic world were largely invisible. They enjoyed few rights and had no status in the community. They were veiled and led a cloistered existence separated from all men except the members of their immediate family. Deprived of the opportunity for education and confined to the home, they tended to be illiterate. They were not permitted to participate in public affairs and had no role in religion. In addition, the historical record of the era contains few references to women, since it was considered unethical and im- proper for historians, who were mostly male, to invade the privacy of women by inquiring into their lives.

While the sources of information about Bahíyyih Khánum are scattered and sometimes sparse, it is particularly significant that Bahá’u’lláh Himself chose to withdraw "the veil of concealment” [1] from His daughter, thereby opening the way for historians to study her life, to rescue her from invisibility, to appreciate her role in society, and to assess her contribution to history. 

- Janet Khan  (‘Prophet’s Daughter’)

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

1903: The Greatest Holy Leaf, Munirih Khanum and her four daughters

Middle row, those sitting on chairs, left to right: Munawar and Touba (daughters of ‘Abdu’l-Baha and Munirih Khanum), the Greatest Holy Leaf, Munirih Khanum (wife of ‘Abdu’l-Baha), Diya’iyyih (daughter of ‘Abdu’l-Baha and Munirih Khanum, mother of Shoghi Effendi), and Ruha (daughter of ‘Abdu’l-Baha and Munirih Khanum). The other ladies in the picture are pilgrims and believers from Haifa-Akka area.

“her sleepless vigilance, her tact, her courtesy, her extreme patience and heroic fortitude” dealing with “the fierce onslaught of the forces of disruption that followed” the passing of Bahá’u’lláh

With the passing of Bahá’u’lláh and the fierce onslaught of the forces of disruption that followed in its wake, the Greatest Holy Leaf, now in the hey-day of her life, rose to the height of her great opportunity and acquitted herself worthily of her task. It would take me beyond the compass of the tribute I am moved to pay to her memory were I to dwell upon the incessant machinations to which Muhammad-‘Alí, the arch-breaker of the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh, and his despicable supporters basely resorted, upon the agitation which their cleverly-directed campaign of misrepresentation and calumny produced in quarters directly connected with Sulṭán ‘Abdu’l-Hamíd and his advisers, upon the trials and investigations to which it gave rise, upon the rigidity of the incarceration it reimposed, and upon the perils it revived. Suffice it to say that but for her sleepless vigilance, her tact, her courtesy, her extreme patience and heroic fortitude, grave complications might have ensued and the load of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s anxious care would have been considerably increased. 

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

After the passing of Bahá’u’lláh she served as the head of Abdu’l-Bahá’s household

Following the death of her Father, the Greatest Holy Leaf lived in the household of Abdu’l-Bahá. Because of the high station conferred upon her by Bahá’u’lláh and her unique qualities, she served as the head of Abdu’l-Bahá’s household. She cultivated social relationships to shield her Brother and acted as the honored hostess to the increasing numbers of pilgrims from the East and the West. In all things she was His loyal partner and trusted confidant. Finally, when the sultanate was overthrown in 1908 and all political and religious prisoners of the Ottoman state were freed, Abdu’l-Bahá was able to embark on his historic travels to the Western world. During His two-year absence from the Holy Land, Abdu’l-Bahá left the running of the affairs of the Cause in the hands of Bahíyyih Khánum. She was, according to Shoghi Effendi, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s “competent deputy, His representative and vicegerent, with none to equal her.” 

- Janet Khan  (‘Prophet’s Daughter’)

“The very elements of this frail being were leavened with her love, refreshed by her companionship, sustained by her eternal spirit.”

After the ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Baha to the realm of the All-Glorious, that Light of the Concourse on High enfolded me, helpless as I was, in the embrace of her love, and with incomparable pity and tenderness, persuaded, guided, and urged me on to the requirements of servitude. The very elements of this frail being were leavened with her love, refreshed by her companionship, sustained by her eternal spirit. Never for a moment will her kindnesses, her favours, pass from my memory, and as the months and the years go by, the effects of them on this mourning heart will never be diminished.

O Liege Lady of the people oj Baha! Broken is our circle by thy going— 

Broken our circle, broken too, our hearts.

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

‘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’)

1923: The Greatest Holy Leaf arranged for two rooms and a small bath to be built for Shoghi Effendi on the roof of the Master's home

After his arrival in Haifa Shoghi Effendi occupied his old room, next to that of 'Abdu'l-Bahá; however, a few days later he moved to a room in the home of one of his aunts, next door, and while he was in Haifa continued to stay there until the Greatest Holy Leaf, in the summer of 1923, had two rooms and a small bath built for him on the roof of the Master's home.

Ruhiyyih Khanum  (‘The Priceless Pearl’)

1936: General view of the Resting-Place of Bahiyyih Khanum, the Greatest Holy Leaf

‘Abdu’l-Baha’s prayer for the Greatest Holy Leaf

Dear and deeply spiritual sister! At morn and eventide, with the utmost ardour and humility, I supplicate at the Divine Threshold, and offer this, my prayer:

Grant, O Thou my God, the Compassionate, that that pure and blessed Leaf may be comforted by Thy sweet savours of holiness and sustained by the reviving breeze of Thy loving care and mercy. Reinforce her spirit with the signs of Thy Kingdom, and gladden her soul with the testimonies of Thy everlasting dominion. Comfort, O my God, her sorrowful heart with the remembrance of Thy face, initiate her into Thy hidden mysteries, and inspire her with the revealed splendours of Thy heavenly light. Manifold are her sorrows, and infinitely grievous her distress. Bestow continually upon her the favour of Thy sustaining grace and, with every fleeting breath, grant her the blessing of Thy bounty. Her hopes and expectations are centred in Thee; open Thou to her face the portals of Thy tender mercies and lead her into the ways of Thy wondrous benevolence. Thou art the Generous, the All-Loving, the Sustainer, the All-Bountiful. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (‘Bahiyyih Khanum, The Greatest Holy Leaf’; a compilation prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice’)

1922: Shoghi Effendi “left for a time the affairs of the Cause both at home and abroad, under the supervision of the Holy Family and the headship of the Greatest Holy Leaf”

IN THE NAME OF GOD

This servant, after that grievous event and great calamity, the ascension of His Holiness ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to the Abhá Kingdom, has been so stricken with grief and pain and so entangled in the troubles (created) by the enemies of the Cause of God, that I consider that my presence here, at such a time and in such an atmosphere, is not in accordance with the fulfilment of my important and sacred duties.

For this reason, unable to do otherwise, I have left for a time the affairs of the Cause both at home and abroad, under the supervision of the Holy Family and the headship of the Greatest Holy Leaf  until, by the Grace of God, having gained health, strength, self-confidence and spiritual energy, and having taken into my hands, in accordance with my aim and desire, entirely and regularly the work of service I shall attain to my utmost spiritual hope and aspiration.

The servant of His Threshold,

SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine.

Circa May, 1922 (undated).

(‘Baha’i Administration’)

“within the space of a single day from being the privileged member of one of the wealthiest families of Tihrán she had sunk to the state of a sufferer from unconcealed poverty”

How well I remember her recall, at a time when her faculties were still unimpaired, the gnawing suspense that ate into the hearts of those who watched by her side, at the threshold of her pillaged house, expectant to hear at any moment the news of Bahá’u’lláh’s imminent execution! In those sinister hours, she often recounted, her parents had so suddenly lost their earthly possessions that within the space of a single day from being the privileged member of one of the wealthiest families of Tihrán she had sunk to the state of a sufferer from unconcealed poverty. Deprived of the means of subsistence, her illustrious mother, the famed Navváb, was constrained to place in the palm of her daughter’s hand a handful of flour and to induce her to accept it as a substitute for her daily bread. 

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

In her teens she was “entrusted by the guiding hand of her Father with missions that no girl of her age could, or would be willing to, perform”

And when at a later time this revered and precious member of the Holy Family, then in her teens, came to be entrusted by the guiding hand of her Father with missions that no girl of her age could, or would be willing to, perform, with what spontaneous joy she seized her opportunity and acquitted herself of the task with which she had been entrusted! The delicacy and extreme gravity of such functions as she, from time to time, was called upon to fulfill, when the city of Baghdád was swept by the hurricane which the heedlessness and perversity of Mírzá Yaḥyá had unchained, as well as the tender solicitude which, at so early an age, she evinced during the period of Bahá’u’lláh’s enforced retirement to the mountains of Sulaymáníyyih, marked her as one who was both capable of sharing the burden, and willing to make the sacrifice, which her high birth demanded. 

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

“For all her days she was denied a moment of tranquillity.”

The Greatest Holy Leaf was the eldest daughter of Bahá’u’lláh, the Founder of the Baha’i Faith. Born in Persia in 1846 she, in her long life which ended in 1932, spanned, with the exception of two years, the entire Heroic Age of this new world religion.

At the age of six when her Father was cast into the subterranean dungeon in Tihrán known as the ‘Black Hole’, her home was immediately looted and despoiled. In a day the wealthy and noble family was beggared and hid in fear of their lives as Bahá’u’lláh lay in heavy chains—the most prominent, the most blameless victim of the turmoil which His Forerunner’s liberal teachings had provoked in a land of bitter Muslim Shí'ah fanaticism.

Navváb, the refined, frail, saintly mother of the little girl fled to a humble dwelling near the dungeon where she could be near her illustrious and much-loved Spouse; ‘Abdu'l-Bahá, her eight-year-old Brother, accompanied His mother when daily she went to the home of friends to ascertain whether Bahá'u'lláh was still alive or had been executed that day— for every day some of His co-religionists were martyred, often being handed over to various guilds, the butchers, the bakers, the shoemakers, the blacksmiths, who exercised their ingenuity on new ways of torturing them to death. Through long days of constant terror the little girl stayed at home with her four-year-old brother Mihdí; often, she recalled, she could hear the shrieks of the mob as they carried off their victims.

“I can well inhale from thee the fragrance of My love”

O My leaf! Hearken thou unto My Voice: Verily there is none other God but Me, the Almighty, the All-Wise. I can well inhale from thee the fragrance of My love and the sweet-smelling savour wafting from the raiment of My Name, the Most Holy, the Most Luminous. Be astir upon God's Tree in conformity with thy pleasure and unloose thy tongue in praise of thy Lord amidst all mankind. Let not the things of the world grieve thee. Cling fast unto this divine Lote-Tree from which God hath graciously caused thee to spring forth. I swear by My life! It behoveth the lover to be closely joined to the loved one, and here indeed is the Best-Beloved of the world. 

- Baha’u’llah  (From a Tablet; compilation: ‘Bahiyyih Khanum: The Greatest Holy Leaf’, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, 1982)

“Whenever I remember thee my heart swelleth with sadness and my regret groweth more intense”

O my well-beloved, deeply spiritual sister! Day and night thou livest in my memory. Whenever I remember thee my heart swelleth with sadness and my regret groweth more intense. Grieve not, for I am thy true, thy unfailing comforter. Let neither despondency nor despair becloud the serenity of thy life or restrain thy freedom. These days shall pass away. We will, please God, in the Abhá Kingdom and beneath the sheltering shadow of the Blessed Beauty, forget all these our earthly cares and will find each one of these base calumnies amply compensated by His expressions of praise and favour. From the beginning of time sorrow and anxiety, regret and tribulation, have always been the lot of every loyal servant of God. Ponder this in thine heart and consider how very true it is. Wherefore, set thine heart on the tender mercies of the Ancient Beauty and be thou filled with abiding joy and intense gladness.... 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (From a Tablet; compilation: ‘Bahiyyih Khanum: The Greatest Holy Leaf’, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, 1982)

She “arose to dedicate her life to the service of her Father’s glorious Cause”

Banishing from her mind and heart every earthly attachment, renouncing the very idea of matrimony, she, standing resolutely by the side of a Brother whom she was to aid and serve so well, arose to dedicate her life to the service of her Father’s glorious Cause. Whether in the management of the affairs of His Household in which she excelled, or in the social relationships which she so assiduously cultivated in order to shield both Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, whether in the unfailing attention she paid to the every day needs of her Father, or in the traits of generosity, of affability and kindness, which she manifested, the Greatest Holy Leaf had by that time abundantly demonstrated her worthiness to rank as one of the noblest figures intimately associated with the life-long work of Bahá’u’lláh. 

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

Bahiyyih Khanum, The Greatest Holy Leaf

“next to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, … [she is] … the brightest embodiment of that love which is born of God and of that human sympathy which few mortals are capable of evincing”

Not until, however, she had been confined in the company of Bahá’u’lláh within the walls of the prison-city of Akká did she display, in the plenitude of her power and in the full abundance of her love for Him, more gifts that single her out, next to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, among the members of the Holy Family, as the brightest embodiment of that love which is born of God and of that human sympathy which few mortals are capable of evincing. 

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

“How staunch was her faith, how calm her demeanor, how forgiving her attitude, how severe her trials”

How staunch was her faith, how calm her demeanor, how forgiving her attitude, how severe her trials, at a time when the forces of schism had rent asunder the ties that united the little band of exiles which had settled in Adrianople and whose fortunes seemed then to have sunk to their lowest ebb! It was in this period of extreme anxiety, when the rigors of a winter of exceptional severity, coupled with the privations entailed by unhealthy housing accommodations and dire financial distress, undermined once for all her health and sapped the vitality which she had hitherto so thoroughly enjoyed. The stress and storm of that period made an abiding impression upon her mind, and she retained till the time of her death on her beauteous and angelic face evidences of its intense hardships. 

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

The monument of the resting place of the Greatest Holy Leaf symbolically represents stages in the Administrative Order of the Faith

This love the Guardian had for the Greatest Holy Leaf, who had watched over him for thirty-five years as far more than a mother, continued to be demonstrated for the remainder of his life. When the news of her death [15 July 1932 at the age of 86] reached him in Switzerland his first act was to plan for her grave a suitable memorial which he hastened to Italy to order. No one could possibly call this exquisitely proportioned monument, built of shining white Carrara marble, anything but what it appears - a love temple, the embodiment of Shoghi Effendi's love, he had undoubtedly conceived its design from buildings of a similar style and, under his supervision, an artist now incorporated his concept in the monument he planned to erect on her resting-place. Shoghi Effendi used to compare the stages in the Administrative Order of the Faith to this monument, saying the platform of three steps was like the local Assemblies, the pillars like the National Assemblies, and the dome that crowned them and held them together like the Universal House of Justice, which could not be placed in position until the foundations and pillars were first firmly erected. After the Greatest Holy Leaf's monument had been completed in all its beauty he had a photograph of it sent to many different Assemblies, as well as to a special list of individuals to whom he wished to present so tender a memento. 

- Ruhiyyih Khanum  ('The Priceless Pearl')

“archetype of the people of Baha”

…the shining attributes of that most resplendent Leaf, that archetype of the people of Baha. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (compilation: ‘Bahiyyih Khanum, The Greatest Holy Leaf’, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, 1982)

“the outstanding heroine of the Bahá'í Dispensation”

… known… by the same title as that of her illustrious mother, and whose services until the ripe old age of four score years and six, no less than her exalted parentage, entitle her to the distinction of ranking as the outstanding heroine of the Bahá'í Dispensation… 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

Bahá’u’lláh’s Tablet addressed to the Greatest Holy Leaf inscribed around the circular dome of her resting place on Mount Carmel

 Baha'u'llah's Tablet, in His Own handwriting, to Bahiyyih Khanum

He is the Eternal! This is My testimony for her who hath heard My voice and drawn nigh unto Me. 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. At one time We gave her to drink from My honeyed Mouth, at another caused her to partake of My mighty, My luminous Kawthar. Upon her rest the glory of My name and the fragrance of My shining robe.

- Baha’u’llah  (compilation: ‘Bahiyyih Khanum, The Greatest Holy Leaf’, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, 1982)