Hasan Balyuzi

Hasan Muvaqqar Balyuzi (born September 7, 1908 in Shiraz , Iran ; † February 12, 1980 London , United Kingdom ) was an Iranian Baha'i scholar and was appointed one of the hands of the Cause by Shoghi Effendi in 1957 .

Life

Balyuzi was a descendant of the Bab family on both his father's and mother's side and lived in Bushehr on the Persian Gulf , in Mumbai and in Pune . Although he grew up in a Baha'i family, he was initially not convinced of the Baha'i faith.

In 1925 Balyuzi visited his cousin Shoghi Effendi in Haifa to spend the night on the way to Beirut . Although Dr. John Esslemont was dying, Shoghi Effendi could take the time to answer Balyuzi's questions. This meeting transformed him so much that he wholeheartedly supported the Baha'i Faith for the rest of his life.

After a year of preparation at the American University of Beirut , he first studied chemistry there and then switched to a degree in diplomatic history. After graduating in 1932, he left Beirut for the UK to begin postgraduate studies in diplomatic history at the London School of Economics and Political Science . In 1935 he received his M.Sc. (Econ.).

He worked in the Persian Department of the British Broadcasting Corporation . Part of the job was translating English literature into Persian . He wrote three works in Persian that were published in Iran: "The Story of the Three Sisters" ( Brontë siblings ), a collection of short stories entitled "Stepbrother" and a directory of over 700 English words of Persian origin.

In 1941 he married Mary Brown, with whom he had five sons.

In 1933 Balyuzi was elected to the National Spiritual Council of Great Britain. He was re-elected for the next 27 years and served as chairman for 17 years. At the same time he was a member of the Local Spiritual Council of London and on numerous committees. Shoghi Effendi appointed him a hand of the cause on October 11, 1957. A little later, on November 4th, Shoghi Effendi died, and Balyuzi became one of the nine hands of the cause in the Holy Land that ran the Baha'i world community. In this body, which worked until the election of the first Universal House of Justice in 1963, he remained until 1959, when it was replaced by another Hand of the Cause. In the following years he made many trips, which led him to Germany , Denmark , the Netherlands , Ecuador , Peru , other South American countries and Canada .

In the last years of his life he was unable to travel for health reasons. So he devoted all his time and energy to writing books on Baha'i subjects. Among them were biographies about Abdu'l Baha , the Bab, Bab's wife, Baha'u'llah , outstanding followers of Baha'u'llah and about the relationship of the orientalist Edward Granville Browne to the Baha'i faith. The Bab Biography was the first book on the Baha'i Faith to extensively cite official documents from government archives. Some of these works have also been translated into German and Persian. He died in 1980 and was buried in New Southgate North Cemetery, not far from the grave of Shoghi Effendi.

Works

• Hasan Balyuzi: Baha'u'llah . Bahai Publishing Trust, London 1938.
• Hasan Balyuzi: A Guide to the Administrative Order . Bahai Publishing Trust, London 1941.
• Hasan Balyuzi: Baha'u'llah, Word Made Flesh . Ed .: George Ronald. London 1963, ISBN 0-85398-014-4 .
• Hasan Balyuzi: Edward Granville Browne and the Bahai Faith . Ed .: George Ronald. London 1970, ISBN 0-85398-496-4 .
• Hasan Balyuzi: Abdu'l Baha: The Center of the Covenant of Baha'u'llah . Ed .: George Ronald. London 1971, ISBN 0-85398-043-8 .
• Hasan Balyuzi: The Bab: The Herald of the Day of Days . Ed .: George Ronald. Oxford 1973, ISBN 0-85398-054-3 .
• Hasan Balyuzi: Muhammad and the Course of Islam . Ed .: George Ronald. Oxford 1976, ISBN 0-85398-478-6 .
• Hasan Balyuzi: Bahá'u'lláh: The King of Glory . Ed .: George Ronald. Oxford 1980, ISBN 0-85398-328-3 .
• Hasan Balyuzi: Bahá'u'lláh Shams-i-Haqiqat . Ed .: George Ronald. 1989, ISBN 0-85398-320-8 .
• Hasan Balyuzi: Khadijih Bagum, the Wife of the Bab . Ed .: George Ronald. Oxford 1981, ISBN 0-85398-101-9 .
• Hasan Balyuzi: Abdu'l Baha: The center of the alliance of Baha'u'llah (Volume 1) . Bahai-Verlag, Hofheim-Langenhain 1983, ISBN 3-87037-140-4 .
• Hasan Balyuzi: Abdu'l Baha: The center of the alliance of Baha'u'llah (Volume 2) . Bahai-Verlag, Hofheim-Langenhain 1984, ISBN 3-87037-151-X .
• Hasan Balyuzi: Eminent Bahais in the Time of Bahá'u'lláh . Ed .: George Ronald. Oxford 1985, ISBN 0-85398-151-5 .
• Hasan Balyuzi: Bahá'u'lláh: the Lord of Glory . Bahai-Verlag, Hofheim-Langenhain 1991, ISBN 3-87037-262-1 .
• Hasan Balyuzi: Nabaradari. Chapkhanih Taban . Tehran 1951.
• Hasan Balyuzi: Havadith Tundbad, Chapkhaih Farus . Tehran 1953.
• Hasan Balyuzi: Vazhih-hay-i-Farsi dar Zaban Ingilisi, Chapkhanih Farus . Tehran.

literature

• Marion Hofmann: The Bahai World Vol. XVIII . Ed .: The Universal House of Justice. Haifa 1986, ISBN 0-85398-234-1 , p. 635-651 .
• Moojan Momen: Studies in honor of the late Hasan M. Balyuzi . Kalimát Press, Los Angeles 1988, ISBN 0-933770-72-3 .
• Barron Deems Harper: Lights of Fortitude . George Ronald, Oxford, UK 2007, ISBN 978-0-85398-413-9 , pp. 367-379 .