Join activities, celebrations, study groups, spiritual empowerment and education programs for young people, and more.
Baha’i beliefs address essential spiritual themes for humanity’s collective and individual advancement. Learn more about these and more.
Featured in: Abdu'l-Baha
Abdu’l-Baha—the eldest Son of Baha’u’llah—was the Baha’i Faith’s leading exponent, renowned as a champion of social justice and an ambassador for international peace.
A long time ago, I joined a study group that diligently worked its way through The Promulgation of Universal Peace, the recorded talks Abdu’l-Baha gave in America. It was wisely suggested to us that we read Mahmud’s Diary in tandem with our study, as Mirza Mahmud Zarqani, one of Abdu’l-Baha’s travel companions, provided invaluable context and historical flavour to the talks that Abdu’l-Baha gave. Mahmud’s Diary is a priceless resource, but it doesn’t contain all of Mahmud’s accounts.
I was over the moon when I discovered George Ronald was going to publish the second part of Mahmud’s recollections, as translated by Adib Masumian, and I was also thrilled when Adib agreed to tell us all about it!
Question: Can you tell us a little about yourself?
I was born to Iranian Baha’i parents in Austin, Texas, where I still live. As you might expect, I was raised a Baha’i, and I have identified as one all my life (I wrote this essay about my spiritual journey, in case it’s of interest). I work in the field of eLearning, and my main creative outlet is translation. These two aspects of my life—my commitment to the Baha’i Faith and my passion for translation—have blended into a spiritually fulfilling form of expression through the projects I’m constantly working on, with this book being my biggest undertaking to date.
Question: Can you tell us a little bit about the first volume of Mahmud’s Diary for anyone who is unfamiliar with it?
The first volume is an account of Abdu’l-Baha’s travels throughout America, along with Montreal in Canada, and the talks He gave there from mid-April to early December 1912. That volume and the second one were both written in Persian by a devoted Baha’i named Mirza Mahmud Zarqani, who accompanied Abdu’l-Baha on these travels, so both books are often explicitly associated with him. The first volume is probably the clearest example of this, in that the English translation is titled Mahmud’s Diary. Notably, the Universal House of Justice has said that both volumes constitute “a reliable account of Abdu’l-Baha’s travels in the West and an authentic record of His utterances,” probably because they seem to have been reviewed by Abdu’l-Baha Himself.
Question: Can you please tell us about this second volume?
The second volume covers the rest of Abdu’l-Baha’s journey to the West and primarily takes place in Europe, featuring His departure from America and subsequent travels in England, Scotland, France, Germany, Hungary, and Austria. After leaving Europe, Abdu’l-Baha spent a few months in Egypt before finally returning to the Holy Land, and the book concludes with some glimpses into this period of His life. I have also prepared a freely available supplement to this volume that adds another layer of contemporaneous utterances and Writings by Abdu’l-Baha, along with a translated biography of Mahmud Zarqani.
I want to take this opportunity to clarify a couple of things about the second volume. First, it does not cover Abdu’l-Baha’s first trip to Europe in 1911 because Mahmud Zarqani was not present for that journey. Second, I have been asked why I titled my translation of it Abdu’l-Baha in Europe, 1912–1913, instead of something like Mahmud’s Diary, Volume 2. The main reason for this is that I wanted to put the spotlight on Abdu’l-Baha again. I say “again” because the original title of both volumes actually translates to something like “A Book of the Wondrous Traces of the Master’s Glorious Travels to the West.” Hence, in keeping with the author’s original intent, and out of respect for his profound humility, my preference was to choose a simple title that shifts the focus back to Abdu’l-Baha and also clearly reflects the content of the book.
Question: What was the process like to translate it?
It was an enlightening and rewarding collaboration with my mother, Farnaz Masumian. I would translate about a page or two at a time, after which she would check the translation against the original text and suggest changes or make other comments as needed. That process lasted for right around three years from start to finish. It was slow going at first because I was unaccustomed to Mahmud Zarqani’s ornate (but very beautiful) style of Persian and some of the old-fashioned vocabulary he used, but eventually I got a handle on his way of writing and became able to do more work in less time while making fewer mistakes along the way. I also referred constantly to multiple dictionaries and benefited from consulting with various experts when presented with particularly challenging questions, whether linguistic or historical.
I must add that I felt indescribably close to Abdu’l-Baha as I worked on this project, and this is a testament to how vividly Mahmud Zarqani has chronicled the events in his account. He really makes you feel like you are a member of the Master’s retinue, traveling from place to place, witnessing His exemplary conduct, and relishing His sublime words. Working on this project was not only a thrilling experience, but also an immeasurable privilege.
Question: Could you tell us about the spiritual principles that informed your translation work?
The one that chiefly comes to mind is prayerfulness, which influenced me from the very beginning of the project. It happened as I was reading Mahmud Zarqani’s preface to this volume, where he included a personal prayer in which he asked God to be protected from errors and omissions as he was setting out to write the events in his book. This made me acutely aware of my own fallibility, so I adopted Zarqani’s prayer for myself but adapted it to the task before me, imploring that I would correctly understand the intended meanings of the words in his book (especially those of Abdu’l-Baha) and that I would render them into English befittingly.
This takes us to another principle I aimed to observe: striving for excellence. That may not seem like much of a spiritual principle, but it is actually upheld as a standard in our Writings, such that the Baha’i World Center even released an official compilation on excellence in all things. This endeavor was at least as much a research undertaking as it was a translation project, and I tried to be as meticulous and diligent as possible while producing the translation and carrying out the research. Such a special book deserved nothing less than every ounce of my level best, and I can only hope that was enough to do it justice.
Question: What are you working on now?
I am translating the most comprehensive biography we have of Mirza Abu’l-Fadl, spanning nearly 400 pages, from Persian into English. It was written many years ago by a dedicated Baha’i pioneer and author named Ruhollah Mehrabkhani, and I have been working on the project in consultation with him. At the rate I’m going, it will definitely be at least a few more years before I finish (God willing), but the exciting prospect of acquainting a Western audience with this exemplary Apostle of Baha’u’llah on a level they have yet to experience will be all the fuel I need to keep me going.
While that is my main project right now, I have been posting provisional translations of selected Arabic and Persian Baha’i Writings to my website for the past several years, and am continuing to do this as time permits. I also occasionally record recitations of excerpts from the Writings in their original languages for the Utterance Project.
Thank you, Adib, for taking the time to share this with us!
You can purchase Abdu’l-Baha in Europe, 1912–1913 from a variety of book retailers including directly from George Ronald.
"*" indicates required fields
Join activities, celebrations, study groups, spiritual empowerment and education programs for young people, and more.
Horizons is an online magazine of news, stories and reflections from around individuals, communities
and Baha’i institutions around Australia
Baha’i beliefs address essential spiritual themes for humanity’s collective and individual advancement. Learn more about these and more.
We recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their cultures; and to elders both past and present.
The views expressed in our content reflect individual perspectives and do not represent authoritative views of the Baha’i Faith.
Visit the site of the
Australian Baha’i Community
and the Baha’i Faith Worldwide
