Arabic and Persian Baha'i Texts by Mirza Abu'l-Fadl Gulpaygani
Mirza Abu'l-Fadl Gulpaygani

Mirza Abu'l-Fadl
Gulpaygani

Collected Works
in Arabic and Persian


ad-Dura al-Bahaiyyih (The Shining Pearls). Cairo: Shaykh Faraju'llah Kurdi, 1900. Reprinted, East Lansing, Mi.: H-Bahai, 2006.

Note: A collection of essays on the history of religion in Arabic, published in Cairo by Shaykh Faraju'llah Kurdi in 1900. As it was in Arabic, it was responsible for making him generally known as a Baha'i in Egypt. (It has been translated into English by Juan Cole as Miracles and Metaphors.) The "Risaliyyih Iskandaraniyyih" (also below) written for Husayn Ruhi, giving proofs for the prophethood of Muhammad from the Christian and Jewish scriptures, and a treatise in explanation of the verse of the Qur'an "Then it is ours to explain it" (Q 75:19), were published together with Ad-Durar al-Bahiyyih (and are included in the English translation).


Hujaju'l Bahiyyih (The Baha'i Proofs). Egypt: n.p., 1925. Reprinted, East Lansing, Mi.: H-Bahai, 2006.

Note: This was the book that Gulpaygani composed in America ... in which he gives a defense and exposition of the Faith from a Christian point of view. It was translated by Ali Kuli Khan and published in New York in 1902 as The Behai Proofs. It was for many years, until the publication of Esslemont's Baha'u'llah and the New Era, the standard Baha'i textbook in America. The English translation also includes a short treatise on the history of the Baha'i Faith which Gulpaygani wrote while at Green Acre.


Kashf al-Ghitá' (The Uncovering of Error). Ishqabad: n.p., 1919. Reprinted, East Lansing, MI: H-Bahai, 1997-1998.

Note: When E.G. Browne published the Nuqtatu'l-Kaf with its Persian and English introductions that contained much material hostile to the Baha'i Faith, a number of Baha'i scholars worked on refutations of this book. Gulpaygani also began to work on such a book, but when heard that work on a similar book in Iran under the guidance of the Hands of the Cause (q.v.) had reached an advanced stage, he suspended work on his book awaiting a manuscript from Iran. Unfortunately he never got back to this book and at his death the manuscript was incomplete. When Mirza Abu'l-Fadl's papers were sent to his cousin Sayyid Mahdi Gulpaygani in Ashkhabad, the latter undertook to complete the work. The final work was published in Ashkhabad. Of the 438 pages of the book some 132 are attributed to Mirza Abu'l-Fadl. The final work, however, has a tone and vehemence completely uncharacteristic of Mirza Abu'l-Fadl and `Abdu'l-Baha instructed that it should not be distributed.



Kitab-i Fara'id (The Peerless Gems). Egypt: n.p., 1898. Reprinted, East Lansing, Mi.: H-Bahai, 2006.

Note: This book which is generally considered Gulpaygani's greatest was composed in six months, being completed in February 1898. It was written in reply to an attack on the Book of Certitude (q.v.) by the Shaykhu'l-Islam of Tiflis, Mirza Hasan Tahirzadih `Abdu's-Salam. It was published in Cairo in 1315/1898 and sparked off some seven or eight rebuttals of it by Iranian `ulama.


"Letter concerning `Ishqabad" Printed in Ruhu'llah Mihrabkhani, Zindigani-i Mirza Abu'l-Fadl Gulpaygani. Tehran: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1978. Pages 171-189. Reprinted, East Lansing: H-Bahai, 2000.


"Proofs for the Jewish People". Written in 1891-2. From the papers of Edward G. Browne. Includes margin notes by E.G. Browne. Reprinted, East Lansing, Mi.: H-Bahai, 2006.


Risalih Ayyubiyih (Treatise addressed to Ayyub). n.p., n.d. Reprinted, East Lansing, Mi.: H-Bahai, 200

6. Note: While Gulpaygani was in Hamadan, a great many Jews inquired about the Baha'i Faith. One Baha'i of Jewish background, Hakim Mirza Ayyub wrote to Gulpaygani from Tehran asking him a number of questions related to the Torah and the prophecies relating to the coming of the Promised One. This treatise was sent in reply in 1305/1887.


Risalih Istidlaliyyih dar Bayan Haqiqat Markaz Ahd n.p., 1911. Reprinted, East Lansing, Mi.: H-Bahai, 2006.

Note: Two treatises on the Covenant. In 1329/1911, a work was published in Cairo consisting of two treatises, a longer one, written in 1317/1899, and a shorter one, written in 1314/1896. These deal with the actions of the Covenant-breakers, and bring forward proofs from the Bible and Qur'an for the Covenant and the position of `Abdu'l-Baha


Risalayi Iskandariyya (Proofs for Alexandar). Egypt: n.p., n.d. Reprinted, East Lansing, Mi.: H-Bahai, 2006.


Sharh Ayat Muvarikhih ("In Explanation of Sacred Verses that Prophesy Dates"). Pages 1-39, 40-72. India: n.p., n.d. Reprinted, East Lansing, Mi.: H-Bahai, 2006.

Note: A work on the prophecies in the scriptures of Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism about the date of the coming of the Promised One. It was written at the request of Muhammad Mahdi Mirza Mu'ayyadu's-Saltanih in Hamadan in 1888. It was published twice: once on its own in India, and once with the Risalih Ayyubiyyih in Shanghai in 1344/1925.

Sharh Ayat Muvarikhih n.p., n.d. Reprinted, East Lansing, Mi.: H-Bahai, 2006.

Sharh Ayat Muvarikhih Shanghai: n.p., 1925. Reprinted, East Lansing, Mi.: H-Bahai, 2006.


Sharh-i-Shajarih Namih-i-Mubarakih (Description of the geneology of Baha'u'llah). Bombay: Matba`-i Mustafa'i, 1321/1904. Reprinted, East Lansing, Mi.: H-Bahai, 2006.

Note: A treatise that Gulpaygani wrote on the genealogy of Baha'u'llah was confiscated when he was arrested in Tehran 1882 and thus lost, but years later a Baha'i wrote to `Abdu'l-Baha asking about this question and `Abdu'l-Baha referred him to Gulpaygani, who wrote a second, shorter treatise, tracing Baha'u'llah's ancestry to the last Sasanian king, Yazdigird III, a document that was of great importance in the conversion of the Zoroastrians.

For a partial translation see: Eminent Baha'is in the time of Baha'u'llah with some historical backgound. Hasan M. Balyuzi. Oxford: George Ronald, Publisher, 1985. Chapter 23, "The Ancestry of Baha'u'llah", (pp. 309-313). Here is Balyuzi's preface to his partial translation:

"The celebrated Baha'i scholar, Mirza Abu'l-Fadl-i-Gulpaygani, has written that at the time when he lived in Tihran a controversy arose amongst some of the Baha'is regarding the purpose of verses composed by Shalmaghani that point to the Advent of a Maniferstation of God in future years.

Abu-Ja'far Muhammad Ibn 'Ali was a native in the village of Shalmaghan, which was situated in the region of Wasit in 'Iraq. So he was known as ash-Shalmghani. He was a Shi'ih and a close associate of Husayn Ibn Ruh, who claimed to be the third deputy of the Hidden Imam. Husayn Ibn Ruh was a prominent member of the House of Nawbakht, and owed his appointment to the previous deputy: Abu'Ja'far Muhammad Ibn 'Uthman al-'Umari. Despite his high connections, he was thrown into gaol by the highly capricious 'Abbasid caliph, al-Muqtadir.

Shalmaghani is greatly vilified, because during the period of Husayn Ibn Ruh's incarceration he changed his views and denied the existence of a Hidden Imam. The Twelvers, amongst whom Shalmaghani had enjoyed prestige and leadership, then directed their efforts towards his destruction. During the caliphate of ar-Radi (AD 934-40) Shalmaghani and Ibrahim Ibn Abi-'Awn, one of his ardent supporters, were both put to death and their bodies were burned.

In a Tablet addressed to Mullazadih of Tabriz, 'Abdu'l-Baha points out that Shalmaghani spoke the word of truth, foretelling the rise of the Divine Luminary from the horizon of Iran, but that men devoid of truth denounced him and condemned him to death.

The following pages are from the pen of Mirza Abu'l-Fadl, to whom 'Abdu'l-Baha referred Aqa Khusraw Biman for information concerning the ancestry of Baha'u'llah. His reply was later published as a pamphlet in Bombay and is here translated, in part, by the present author."


Tafsil Shahadat Haji Muhammad Rida dar Ishqabad (Eyewitness account of the martyrdom of Haji Muhammad Rida in Ishqabad). n.p., n.d. Reprinted, East Lansing, Mi.: H-Bahai, 2006.

Note: Written in the hand of the author.


"Tafsir on the Hadith of the 27 Letters" n.p., n.d. Reprinted, East Lansing, Mi.: H-Bahai, 2006.



Notes above by Moojan Momen. For more biographical and bibliographical information see Moojan Momen's article found at: Bahai-Library Online or at Religious Studies and Baha'i Studies.

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