“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)