Mishkín-Qalam
Encyclopedia
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
and one of the nineteen Apostles of Bahá'u'lláh
Apostles of Bahá'u'lláh
The Apostles of Bahá'u'lláh were nineteen eminent early followers of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. The apostles were designated as such by Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith, and the list was included in The Bahá'í World, Vol...
, as well as a famous calligrapher
Calligraphy
Calligraphy is a type of visual art. It is often called the art of fancy lettering . A contemporary definition of calligraphic practice is "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious and skillful manner"...
of 19th century Persia. He is the author of a calligraphic rendering of the Greatest Name, used by Bahá'ís around the world.
Background
Mishkín-Qalam was born in ShírázShiraz, Iran
Shiraz is the sixth most populous city in Iran and is the capital of Fars Province, the city's 2009 population was 1,455,073. Shiraz is located in the southwest of Iran on the Roodkhaneye Khoshk seasonal river...
but was a resident of Isfahán
Isfahan (city)
Isfahan , historically also rendered in English as Ispahan, Sepahan or Hispahan, is the capital of Isfahan Province in Iran, located about 340 km south of Tehran. It has a population of 1,583,609, Iran's third largest city after Tehran and Mashhad...
, which is where he first heard of the Bahá'í Faith
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
. A few years later he travelled to Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
and learned in more detail from Zaynu'l-Muqarrabín and Nabíl-i-A`zam
Nabíl-i-A`zam
Mullá Muḥammad-i-Zarandí , more commonly known as Nabíl-i-A`ẓam or Nabíl-i-Zarandí , was an eminent Bahá'í historian during the time of Bahá'u'lláh, and one of the nineteen Apostles of Bahá'u'lláh...
, but was not confirmed until he later travelled to Adrianople
Edirne
Edirne is a city in Eastern Thrace, the northwestern part of Turkey, close to the borders with Greece and Bulgaria. Edirne served as the capital city of the Ottoman Empire from 1365 to 1453, before Constantinople became the empire's new capital. At present, Edirne is the capital of the Edirne...
and met Bahá'u'lláh
Bahá'u'lláh
Bahá'u'lláh , born ' , was the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. He claimed to be the prophetic fulfilment of Bábism, a 19th-century outgrowth of Shí‘ism, but in a broader sense claimed to be a messenger from God referring to the fulfilment of the eschatological expectations of Islam, Christianity, and...
.
Before becoming a Bahá'í, he was a Súfí
Sufism
Sufism or ' is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a '...
of the Ni'matu'lláhí order. He was also a skilled astronomer
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
.
Imprisonment
Mishkín-Qalam was sent by Bahá'u'lláh to Constantinople (IstanbulIstanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
), where he began attracting people through his art and vigorously teaching the Bahá'í Faith. The Persian ambassador began to complain to the Sultan's vazirs and soon had him arrested. When Bahá'u'lláh was exiled to `Akká, Mishkín-Qalam was exiled to Cyprus with the followers of Subh-i-Azal
Subh-i-Azal
' was a Persian religious leader of Azali Bábism.-Background:Mirza Yahya was born in 1831 to Kuchak Khanum-i-Karmanshahi and Mírzá Buzurg-i-Núrí, in the province of Mazandaran, and a younger-half-brother of Mírzá Husayn `Ali, better known as Bahá'u'lláh...
, where he remained a prisoner in Famagusta
Famagusta
Famagusta is a city on the east coast of Cyprus and is capital of the Famagusta District. It is located east of Nicosia, and possesses the deepest harbour of the island.-Name:...
from 1868 to 1877.
Cyprus eventually left Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
control and Mishkín-Qalam was released. He made his way to `Akká in 1886, and remained there until Bahá'u'lláh died in 1892, after which he travelled to Egypt, Damascus and India. He remained in India until 1905, and then returned to Haifa until his death in 1912.
Calligraphy
Mishkín-Qalam was a renowned calligrapher. `Abdu'l-Bahá`Abdu'l-Bahá
‘Abdu’l-Bahá , born ‘Abbás Effendí, was the eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. In 1892, `Abdu'l-Bahá was appointed in his father's will to be his successor and head of the Bahá'í Faith. `Abdu'l-Bahá was born in Tehran to an aristocratic family of the realm...
called him a second Mír `Imád
Mir Emad Hassani
Mir Emad is perhaps the most celebrated Persian calligrapher. It is believed that the Nasta'liq style reached its highest elegance in Mir Emad's works...
, a 16th century calligrapher of the Safavid dynasty
Safavid dynasty
The Safavid dynasty was one of the most significant ruling dynasties of Iran. They ruled one of the greatest Persian empires since the Muslim conquest of Persia and established the Twelver school of Shi'a Islam as the official religion of their empire, marking one of the most important turning...
who is perhaps the most celebrated Persian calligrapher.
Mishkín-Qalam enjoyed a special position among the court ministers of Tihrán
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
, and he became widely known for being adept at every calligraphic style. When E.G. Browne
Edward Granville Browne
Edward Granville Browne , born in Stouts Hill, Uley, Gloucestershire, England, was a British orientalist who published numerous articles and books of academic value, mainly in the areas of history and literature...
was in Persia, he was told that Mishkín-Qalam's works
- "would be eagerly sought after by Persians of all classes, were it not that they all bore, as the signature of the penman, the following verse:
- Lord of calligraphy, my banner goes before;
- But to Baha'u'llah, a bondsman at the door,
- Naught else I am, Mishkín-Qalam.
When visiting Bahá'u'lláh in Adrianople, he would often write out the phrase Yá Bahá'u'l-Abhá (O Glory of the All-Glorious) in many different forms, some taking the form of a bird, and send them everywhere. One of his renderings of this phrase is now one of the three common symbols of the Bahá'í Faith, known as the Greatest Name.
External links
- Short biography and pictures
- ICOM: The Conservation and Restoration of a 19th Century Calligraphy of a Baha'i Writing in Arabic, by S. Ishikawa and P. Ravines