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(1855-96), poet and an early follower of Bahaism. VARQĀ, ʿALI-MOḤAMMAD (b. Yazd, 1855; d. Tehran, 2 May, 1896, FIGURE 1), a well-known poet, student of traditional Iranian medicine, and an early follower of Bahāʾ-Allāh , the founder of the Bahai Faith.He was the youngest son of Ḥāji Mollā …

(1884-1955), one of the leading figures among 20th-century Iranian Bahāʾis. VARQĀ, WALI-ALLĀH (b. Tabriz, 1884; d. Tubingen, 12 November 1955, FIGURE 1), one of the leading figures of the 20th-century Iranian Bahāʾis. He was appointed in 1939 as the Trustee of Ḥoquq-Allāh (the Right of God), and on 24 December 1951 as a Hand of the Cause of God (Ayādi-e Amr Allāh), as part of the first contingent of the Hands of the Cause, by Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian [Head] of the Bahāʾi faith (Bahāʾi World XIII, p. 381); Shoghi Effendi , 1971, p. 20). Wali-Allah was the third son of Mirzā ʿAli-Moḥammad Varqā, a well-kown poet and one of the Apostles of Bahāʾ-Allāh, the founder of the Bahāʾi faith (Shoghi Effendi, 1944, p. 296), who was imprisoned and subsequently martyred in Tehran in 1896 alongside his 12 year old son, Ruḥ-Allāh (Taherzadeh , p. 226; Momen, pp. 361-62). ʿAli-Moḥammad Varqā was posthumously elevated to the rank of Hand of the Cause of God by ʿAbd-al-Bahāʾ ( Bahāʾi World XIV, p. 446).…

In Ashkhabad, Forutan had the opportunity to study under the Bahai scholar, Mirzā Mahdi Golpāygāni, and at his bidding gave lectures at Bahai meetings and wrote articles for the Bahai magazines Fekr-e-javān and Ḵoršid-e ḵāvar. When he was in secondary school, Forutan served as a member of the Bahai Youth Committee in Ashkhabad. FORUTAN, ʿALI-AKBAR (b. Sabzevār, 29 April 1905; d. Haifa, 25 November 2003, Figure 1), prominent Bahai teacher, educator, public speaker, and author. He was born into a Bahai family in Sabzevār in northeast Iran, where he received his early education at a traditional school (…