- 1847-05-00 —
Birth of Fátimih (Munírih) Khánum, wife of `Abdu'l-Bahá, in Isfahán.
- Daughter of Mírzá Muhammad-'Alí. [DB208]
- See MKML2-14 and DB208-209 for the story of her family and her conception.
- See MH96 for information on Munírih, future wife of `Abdu'l-Bahá.
- See CH84 for her account of a dream she had as a young child.
- She was first cousin to the King of Martyrs and the Beloved of Martyrs. [CH86]
- See MKML22-24 for the story of her first marriage to the younger brother of the King of Martyrs and the Beloved of Martyrs.
- See MKML26-44 for the story of her trip from Iran to Mecca and then to the Holy Land in the company of Shaykh Salman.
- 1873-03-08 —
Marriage of `Abdu'l-Bahá to Munírih Khánum in the House of `Abbúd.
- DH45 says the marriage took place in late August or September 1872.
- See CH87–90, SES25-26, DH45–6 and RB2:208–9 for details of the wedding.
- For the story of Munírih Khánum's life see RB2:204–9.
- She was the daughter of Mírzá Muhammad-`Alíy-i-Nahrí by his second wife. [BBD165; GPB130; RB2:204]
- See BBD 166, BKG340–1, DB208–9 and RB2:203–4 for the story of her conception.
- See BKG344, MA112–13 and RB2:206–7 for the story of her first marriage.
- The marriage resulted in nine children, five of whom died in childhood: Husayn Effendi (died 1887, aged two), Mihdí (died aged two-and-a-half), Túbá, Fu'ádiyyih and Rúhangíz. Four daughters grew to adulthood. The oldest of these was Díyá'iyyih, who married Mírzá Hádí Shírází in 1895. Shoghi Effendi was their eldest child. The second daughter, Túbá Khánum, married Mírzá Muhsin Afnán. The third daughter of `Abdu'l-Bahá, Rúhá, married Mírzá Jalál, the son of Mírzá Muhammad-Hasan, the King of Martyrs. The fourth daughter, Munavvar, married Mírzá Ahmad. [ABMM]
- 1879-12-31 — Birth of Túbá Khánum, second daughter of `Abdu'l-Bahá. [CH93, 95, ABMM]
- 1887-00-00 — Husayn, the young son of Àbdu'l-Bahá and Munírih Khánum died in Akka at the age of three or four. In speaking with Lady Blomfield she said that five of her children died in Akka. [SoG 85; SUR235]
She said that when Husayn passed away, Bahá'u'lláh wrote the following:
"The knowledge of the reason why your sweet baby has been called back is in the mind of God, and will be manifested in His own time. To the prophets of God the present and the future are as one." [CH90]
- 1896-00-02 —
Díyá'íyyih Khánum, the eldest daughter of `Abdu'l-Bahá, married Mírzá Hádí Afnán of Shíráz. [BW4:234 (GENEALOGY); DH59–60]
- These are the parents of Shoghi Effendi.
- For a picture of Díyá'íyyih Khánum see MA105.
- 1896-10-00 —
`Abdu'l-Bahá rented the former Governorate of `Abdu'lláh Páshá in the northwest corner of the city of `Akká at the inner moat. [BBD13, 108; DH60]
- He established it as His residence and as the home for His daughters, their husbands and families. [DH60-4, BW16:104]
- See also BW16:104–6, DH60–4.
- 1897-03-01 —
The birth of Shoghi Effendi, in the house of `Abdu'lláh Páshá. [BBD208; BKG359; DH60, 214; GBF2]
- He was descended from both the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh: his mother was the eldest daughter of `Abdu'l-Bahá; his father was an Afnán, a grandson of Hájí Mírzá `Abu'l-Qásim, a cousin of the mother of the Báb and a brother of His wife. [CB280; GBF2]
- He was the Ghusn-i-Mumtáz, the Chosen Branch. [BBD87]
- `Shoghi' means `one who longs'. [CB281]
- `Abdu'l-Bahá commanded everyone, even Shoghi Effendi's father, to add the title `Effendi' after his name. [CB281; GBF2]
- `Abdu'l-Bahá gave him the surname Rabbání in the early years of his study in Haifa so that he will not be confused with his cousins, who were all called Afnán or Shahíd. The family name "Rabbání" was also used by Shoghi Effendi's brothers and sister. [BBD191–2; DH60–1; PG4]
- As a young boy the Master sent him with a nurse named Hájar Khátún to live in Haifa where he was registered in the French Jesuit school, Collège des Frères. By the age of nine or ten his mother had gotten rid of this nurse. He was unhappy at school in Haifa so the Master sent him to a Catholic boarding school in Beirut where he was equally unhappy. He even sent an attendant to rent a house and provide care so he could attend as a day student but still he was not happy so arrangements were made for him to enter the preparatory school associated with the Syrian Protestant College. [PG4; PP15-17]
- See also Rabbani, The Priceless Pearl; Rabbani, The Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith; Giachery, Shoghi Effendi: Recollections.
- In a letter from the Universal House of Justice dated 1 October 1973 to Elias Zohoori, included on page 83 of his book, Names and Numbers: A Bahá'í History Reference Guide it says:
...we write to advise you that it has not been possible to establish with absolute accuracy the date of the beloved Guardian's birth. Shoghi Effendi's passport gives 3rd March 1896…A note in the Guardian's handwriting indicates 1st March 1897…A further and different date has been noted by Shoghi Effendi's father. Unless further research is able to clarify the matter, it is not possible to make a categorical statement of the Guardian's birth date.
- Shoghi Effendi's registration form for the Syrian Protestant College shows his year of birth as 1899. [PGp14-15]
- The inscription on the column erected at Shoghi Effendi's resting place shows "4 November 1896".
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