- 1908-09-07 — The birth of Hasan Muvaqqar Balyuzi, Hand of the Cause of God. [SBBR5:XI]
- 1925-11-21 —
On his way from Iran to study at the American University of Beirut (then called the Syrian Protestant College) the 17-year-old Hasan Balyuzi spent two days in Haifa. Although from a prominent Bahá'í family he was neither knowledgeable nor confirmed in his faith. After having spent more than one hour with Shoghi Effendi his faith was confirmed and the course of his life was set. [SETPE1p110-111, BW18p637-651]
- See BKG232 footnote for a by Hasan Balyuzi with a story about Mírzá Ahmad, a son of Mírzá Yahyá.
- 1957-10-00 —
The third contingent of Hands of the Cause of God was appointed: Enoch Olinga, William Sears, John Robarts, Hasan Balyuzi, John Ferraby, Collis Featherstone, Rahmatu'lláh Muhájir and Abu'l-Qásim Faizí. [GBF111; MBW127; PP254, 442; SS47]
- See TG160 for the story of how Enoch Olinga reacted to the news of being appointed a Hand of the Cause of God.
- 1957-11-19 —
Nine Hands of the Cause were chosen by Rúhíyyih Khánum to examine Shoghi Effendi's apartment. [BW 13:341]
- They were the five members of the International Bahá'í Council (Rúhíyyih Khánum, Mason Remey, Amelia Collins, Ugo Giachery and Leroy Ioas), an Afnán (Hasan Balyuzi), a representative of the Hands of the Western Hemisphere (Horace Holley), a representative of the Hands of the African continent (Músá Banání) and the Trustee of the Huqúqu'lláh ('Alí Muhammad Varqá). [BW13:341]
- After seeing that the seals were intact, the Hands examined the contents of Shoghi Effendi's safe and desk. [BW13:341]
- The nine Hands signed a document testifying that no Will or Testament of any nature executed by Shoghi Effendi had been found. This was reported to the entire body of Hands assembled in the Mansion of Bahjí. [BW13:341]
- See CB378–9 for an explanation of why Shoghi Effendi left no Will.
- 1957-11-25 —
Nine Hands were chosen to serve as Custodians of the Faith residing in the Holy Land. [BBD57; BW13:342; DH215]
- The Hands residing in the Holy Land were established as a legal body under the title 'The Custodians of the Bahá'í World Faith'.
- The Hands chosen as first Custodians are Rúhíyyih Khánum, Mason Remey, Amelia Collins, Leroy Ioas, Hasan Balyuzi, 'Alí Akbar Furútan, Jalál Kházeh, Paul Haney and Adelbert Mühlschlegel. [BW13:345–6; MC40–1]
- 1980-02-12 —
Hasan M. Balyuzi, Hand of the Cause of God, passed away in London. (b. 7 September, 1908, Shiraz, Iran). He was buried at the New Southgate Cemetery London. [BW18:635; VV52, Mess63-86p442]
- For his obituary see BW18:635–51 and SBBR5:XI–XX.
- Shoghi Effendi had appointed him among the third contingent on the 2nd of October, 1957. [MoCxxiii]
- See Bahá'í Chronicles for a biography.
- For a brief biography see Balyuzi, Hasan M. by Richard Francis and A Bio-bibliographic Sketch by Moojan Momen found in SBBR Vol 5 page XI-XIX.
- See a brief biography in The Bahá'í Community of the British Isles 1844-1963 p462-464 and for the story of his learning of the Faith, p449-451
- For some essays and excerpts from Hasan Balyuzi's work see Bahá'í Library.
- Find a grave.
- 2015-02-12 —
The official opening of the new location of the Afnan Library Trust at Sandy, close to Cambridge. The Afnan Library Trust was established in 1985 to manage the collection bequeathed by Hasan Balyuzi when he passed away in 1980. It consists of some 10,000 books, as well as a vast quantity of manuscripts, original letters, maps, documents, periodicals, and unpublished items – some of them dating back to the nineteenth century. [BWNS1040]
- The official website can be found here.
- "In a letter dated the 10 November and the 20 November 1979 he (Hasan Balyuzi) left instructions that all his books and document were to be kept together perpetually... and that they are to form the nucleus of the Afnán Library, founded in the name of his father, Muvaqqari'd-Dawlih, and dedicated to Khadíjih Bagum". [KBWBix]
- Included in the collection were volumes of photographic copies of Tablets by the Central Figures of the Faith, as well as historical and doctrinal works by individual Bahá'ís, 104 volumes in all, that had been compiled by the National Committee for the Preservation of Bahá'í Writings and Archives of Iran in the years just prior to the Iranian revolution. The Library worked closely with the Research Department of the Bahá'í World Centre to make digitized transcripts of these volumes. The digitized volumes contain some 4,000 works of Bahá'u'lláh, more than 3,000 works of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and many writings of the Báb. The index and the links to the volumes can be found on the Afnan Library site.
|