Yusuf Khan-i-Vujdani

Distinguished Persian Baha’i teacher. d. 1934

Dr. Arastu Khan Hakim (1877-1934)

Dr. Arastu Khan was the grandson of Hakim Masih, court physician to Muhammad Shah, and the first Jewish Baha’i. Hakim Masih had learned something of the new faith through Tahirih herself, during the early days of the Báb’s manifestation, when he was in Baghdad, and from that time on he had searched for the source of her power. Later in Tihran he offered to visit the prison and treat a Baha’i child, when the Muslim doctors had refused; the child's father was the famous Ismu’llahu'l-Asdaq, and in the course of these visits Hakim Masih became a Baha'i. He later achieved fame in the Cause, and among other Tablets, Bahá’u’lláh revealed the following for him:

"In the name of God, the Wise, the All-knowing: O Hakim, be staunch in the faith of thy Lord, that the blasts of oppressors may not cause thee to shake; be enduring in the Cause of thy Lord, by thy trust in the Lord and His might; and say, O men, how long will ye sin and stray, how long will ye place passion over salvation? Do ye not see that those who left your midst have not returned, that those who were scattered have not again been gathered? Ere long shall your days to come pass by as your days that are gone. Fear your merciful Lord: by the one true God He hath desired only that which will draw you close unto Him and cause you to enter the realms of eternity, and He is the Giver, the Kind. Eat ye of the fruit of the eternal tree which is ever at hand, for those bereft of it are back of heavy veils… Then know We are imprisoned where eyes can never penetrate, where ears cannot distinguish the words that God the Wise, the Able, and the Knowing doth reveal. By such means have they sought to withhold God’s slaves from hearing the words of their Lord, that His light might go out in the midst of His creatures; but God in His might hath revealed what He willed unto those who were turning toward Him with radiant faces. Then guard what We have entrusted to thee: thou hast in the sight of God a high station; praise Him, be of those who acclaim Him. Grieve not over that which hath come upon Us, be content with what God hath desired for Us, for We are in radiant gladness, and all praise is meet for the Lord of the heavens and earth.”

Dr. Arastu’s father Hakim Sulayman was likewise a Baha’i and Dr. Arastu himself gradually increased his services in the Cause as he grew to manhood. Meanwhile he was carrying on the family tradition, as are his sons today, of practicing medicine.