Aqa Husayn-i-Isfahani, distinguished calligraphist, and companion-in-exile of Baha’u’llah, surnamed “Mishkin-Qalam”: “Musk-scented pen”, a name by which he as a calligrapher of the first rank was known. He first heard of the Faith in Isfahan, but it was in Baghdad that he learned more about it. In Adrianople he met Baha'u'llah and became His follower. When Baha'u'llah and His companions were exiled to 'Akka, Mishkin-Qalam was sent to Cyprus. He was eventually freed and came to the Holy Land in 1886. After travelling in Egypt, Damascus and India, 'Abdu'l-Baha asked him to come back to the Holy Land, where he passed away in about 1912.
It is Mishkin-Qalam's calligraphic rendering of the Greatest Name which Baha'is most commonly use as its symbol.
(Adapted from 'A Basic Baha’i Dictionary', by Wendi Momen)
