Mulla Abu'l-Hasan-i-Ardikani, who is known as Haji Amin or
Amin-i-Ilahi, was born in about the year AH 1232 (AD 21 November 1816 -- 10
November 1817) in Ardikan, a small town near Yazd. At seventeen years of age he
married into a family of Bábís of the town. He was persuaded to investigate the
new religion and eventually, shortly after the martyrdom of the Báb, he
declared his belief. When news of the Declaration of Bahá'u'lláh came, he
accepted immediately and travelled throughout Iran meeting other Bábís and
teaching them of the advent of Bahá'u'lláh. After a time he became the
assistant of Haji Shah-Muhammad Manshadi, Aminu'l-Bayan, who was the Trustee of
the Huququ'lláh. [1] He would travel about the country, earning his living by
trading and also by acting as a writer for those who could not write. At the
same time he collected the Huququ'lláh and any letters that the believers
wished to forward to Bahá'u'lláh, and also distributed Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh
when these were received. He came to 'Akká while Bahá'u'lláh was still
imprisoned in the citadel and succeeded in establishing contact with the
exiles. He was the first Bahá'í from the outside world to be able to meet
Bahá'u'lláh in 'Akká (in the Public Baths). He returned to 'Akká on several
further occasions. When Haji Shah-Muhammad Manshadi was killed in 1880, Haji
Abu'l-Hasan was appointed Trustee (Amin) of the Huququ'lláh. In 1891 he was
imprisoned with Haji Akhund for three years in Tihran and Qazvin. In the time
of 'Abdu'l-Bahá he continued his travels, visiting 'Akká and Haifa on several
occasions. Towards the end of his life he resided in Tihran and Haji
Ghulam-Rida, Amin-i-Amin, was appointed his assistant. He died in 1928 and was
posthumously named a Hand of the Cause of God by Shoghi Effendi.
- Balyuzi (‘Eminent
Baha’is in the Time of Baha’u’llah’)
[1]. The 'Right of God' -- a payment by believers instituted
in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas.
