Hands of the Cause: Dorothy Baker, Shu’a’u’llah Ala’i, Ali-Akbar Furutan, Tarazu’llah Samandari, Musa Banani, and Valiyu’llah Varqa

Some of the Hands of the Cause attending the Stockholm Conference, 1953. From left to right: Dorothy Baker, Shu’a’u’llah Ala’i, Ali-Akbar Furutan, Tarazu’llah Samandari, Musa Banani, and Valiyu’llah Varqa

Haji Mirza Haydar-Ali -- 'the Angel of Mount Carmel'

Haji Mirza Haydar-Ali

Born into a -Shaykhi family of Isfahan, Haydar-'Ali was for a time a disciple of Karim Khan, the Shaykhi opponent of the Báb. But after studying the Bab's Writings and seeing the behaviour of the martyrs, Haydar-'Ali became a Bábi. When Baha’u’llah declared Himself to be the Promised One, Haydar-'Ali accepted Him and met Baha'u'llah in Adrianople. He was sent to Egypt where the Persian consul had him arrested. At the end of ten years' imprisonment in the Sudan, he was sent by Baha'u'llah to Persia and Iraq where he spent some twenty-five years travelling throughout the land, encouraging and inspiring the Persian Baha'is. After the passing of Baha'u'llah, Haydar-'Ali devoted himself to 'Abdu'l-Baha and was a staunch defender of the Covenant. He spent his last years in Haifa where he became known as 'the Angel of Mount Carmel' and wrote his memoirs, The Delight of Hearts. He died in 1920 and is buried in the Baha'i cemetery at the foot of Mount Carmel. (A Basic Baha’i Dictionary, by Wendi Momen)