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H.M. Balyuzi was a Baha'i historian and wrote some major books about the Bab, Baha'u'llah and Abdul-Baha.. He was also designated a Hand of the Cause of God by Shoghi Effendi.. also many may not know this but H.M. Balyuzi was also an Afnan, a descendant of the family of the Bab..

Here is a brief biography:

Hand of the Cause of God Hasan Balyuzi from "Lights of Fortitude" by Barron Harper. George Ronald, Oxford. 1997. pp. 411-425:

"Hasan Balyuzi, an Afnan, was the only Hand of the Cause of God who who shared with the Guardian a great-grandfather, Haji Mirza Abu'l-Qasim. This ancestor was one of two brothers of Khadijih-Bagum, the wife of the Bab. His daughter, Fatimih-Sultan-Bagum, married Muhammad-Hasan, a merchant whom Baha'u'llah accepted as a member of the Bab's family. Their son was Mirza Ali Muhammad Aqa, Muvaqqaru'd-Dawlih, Hasan's father...." "Hasan's mother, Munavvar Khanaum, could trace her lineage from both brothers of Khadijih-Bagum...." "Born in Shiraz on 7 September 1908 had an eventful childhood. most of his early years were spent in Bushihr where his father was governor of the Persian Gulf Ports and Islands...." "...in 1921 his beloved father died...."

"....at this time [1926] Hasan Balyuzi did not count himself a Baha'i.... Although both his parents were believers... he could not accept that there could be another Prophet after Muhammad." [Balyuzi would later that year visit Shoghi Effendi and in so doing convert to the Faith in Haifa].

"In June 1941 Hasan married Molly (Mary) Brown at the Baha'i Center in Torquay [England}. She was... the daughter of Kathleeen Brown (later Lady Hornell), one of England's most steadfast and active Baha'is...." "They had five sons, perhaps explaining Hasan's comment come years later that 'a girl had not been born into our family for two hundred years'."

Source:

Re: H. M. Balyuzi & Afnan

From the flyleaf of one of his books "Eminent Baha'is in the time of Baha'u'llah":

"With degrees from the American University of Beirut and the University of London at the outbreak of WWII he put aside scholarship to join the .. Persian service of the BBC where he remained until 1958... In 1957 he was elevated to rank of Hand of the Cause of God."

He served on the National Spiritual Assembly of the British Isles for many years.

He passed away February 12, 1980.

His biography can be found at

Hasan M. Balyuzi