Hooshmand Dehghan

Hooshmand Dehghan
A portrait photograph of Hooshmand Dehghan, an Iranian scholar and translator with glasses.
Born1969 (age 56–57)
Kashan, Iran
Known forBábí studies and Islamic mysticism
Academic work
DisciplineScholar and translator
Notable worksGanj-i-Penhan (The Hidden Treasure: The Life and Works of Quddús)

Hooshmand Dehghan (Persian: هوشمند دهقان; born in 1969) is an Iranian scholar and translator. He mainly works on Bábí studies and the fields of Islamic mysticism and Sufism. His book, Ganj-i-Penhan, is a study of the life and work of Quddús. Scholars such as Boris Handal and Stephen Lambden have referenced his work. He has also been imprisoned in Iran for his religious beliefs.

Early life and education

Dehghan was born in 1969[1] in Kashan, in the Isfahan Province.[2] After this, he moved to Gorgan, Golestan Province, in northeastern Iran, where he is living now.[3] In his childhood, he became interested in Quddús by reading a book on Bábí history, written by Fariborz Sahba, who is the architect behind Lotus Temple in India.[4] He finished regular schooling up to the high school diploma and did not attend any public university.[5] Later on he enrolled at the Ma'aref-e-Aali Institute (which is an internal religious training group that later was joined with the BIHE), and there, his thesis was about life of Quddús. With this research he expanded into his main book called Ganj-i-Penhan.[4] Afterward in his job, he gained knowledge about translation from studying by himself.[2] He has translated thirteen books into Persian.[5] The first translation he did was The Ishraqi Philosophy of Jalal al-Din Rumi, written by Iraj Bashiri.[6] His experience in Islamic mysticism made translating easy for him, but manuscript did not reach publication. After he finished the translation, he found that the author also made a Persian version at the same time as the English one. Still, he decided to translate William Chittick’s book, Ibn 'Arabi: Heir to the Prophets quickly.[2]

Career

Dehghan's research focuses primarily on Bábí studies and Islamic mysticism (Sufism).

Bábí studies: Ganj-i-Penhan

The front cover of the book Ganj-i-Penhan, featuring elegant Persian calligraphy on a dark background.
Cover of the first edition of Ganj-i-Penhan (2016)

His book named Ganj-i-Penhan (The Hidden Treasure: The Life and Works of Quddús) is on the topic of Bábí studies and various large libraries, for example the Library of Congress and universities such as Harvard, Columbia and Stanford hold it in their collections.[7][8][9][10][11][12] This writing is seen as the first standalone work about Quddús (Mullá Muḥammad ʻAlí-i-Bárfurúshi), who was a prominent follower of the Báb.[a] More than going through documents, Dehghan went to different towns of Iran like Qaem Shahr, Kerman and also Babol to interview people who are direct descendants of the persons who witnessed the Bábí period. During these trips, he made several historical observations: In Qaem Shahr, which is part of Mazandaran in Northern Iran, it was remarkable for Dehghan to see that some elderly Bahá'í people in the area could remember the stepmother of Quddús still going to visit the graveyard there.[13] In Kerman’s Jameh Mosque, he found the famous "Sang-e-Ayeneh" (which means "Mirror Stone"), a location thought to be a place where Quddús used to stand for reading out writings of the Báb.[14] In the northern city Babol where Quddús was born, he came across aged people whose family had direct contact with sister-in-law of Quddús.[15]

Ganj-i-Penhan (2016) not only tells about Quddús but offers a version that critically edits his works, after looking at seven hand-written versions.[16] This investigation can be found in special bibliographies for texts of Quddús that Stephen Lambden keeps.[17]

A historical manuscript page with dense handwritten Arabic calligraphy in black ink.
A manuscript of Āthár al-Quddúsiyya handwritten by Riḍvān ʿAlī, as referenced on page 167 of Ganj-i Penhan.

In a detailed study on codicology that was later developed into an English language article (2025), Dehghan identifies a compilation that is called Āthár al-Quddúsiyya (آثار القدوسیه) and claims that writing is in the hand of Riḍván ʿAlí, who is the son of Ṣubḥ-i-Azal. He notes that these manuscript pieces were first acquired by the British Commissioner who lived in Cyprus from Riḍván ʿAlí and after that they were passed on to the British Museum.[18] Although Edward Granville Browne once listed this set as Abḥár al-Quddúsiyya (ابحار القدوسیه)[19] and this was based on information from Ahmad Khan Qazvini (a Persian teacher at the University of Cambridge and sibling to the scholar Muhammad Qazvini),[20] Dehghan argues for a new reading of the name and suggests there had been a mistake in the Romanization. He says Ahmad Khan incorrectly wrote Āthár (آثار) as Abḥár (ابحار) in the documents he gave Browne in the year 1915.[21] Browne’s own book, as Dehghan points out, has the right title, Āthár (آثار), in the first lines of the manuscript.[22] Although other academics like Denis MacEoin[23] and Browne have already listed these manuscripts mentioning the related collection in Cambridge University Library and a journal called Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,[24][25] what is different in Dehghan’s study is that he provides textual comparison to fix this error with the title and also clear up differences found throughout the bibliography sources.

The work of Dehghan is focused on checking the already set ideas in Bábí studies and offering adjustments to many historical reports: He questions if a letter addressed to Quddús by Mahdī Qulī Mīrzā, a cousin of Nāṣer al-Dīn Shāh, was real;[26] He uses newspaper records from the time and works out a certain date for when the city's name Bárfurúsh changed to Bábul;[27][b] While Abbas Amanat thinks Quddús was born about 1819-1820,[28] Dehghan prefers 1822 after looking at evidence from history;[29][c] Going to Babol himself, Dehghan walked the entire last path of Quddús, from where his court was to where he was executed. He counted the way as 800 steps, and that is how he wrote down the story of the last walk and the execution of Quddús.[30] Dehghan also challenged the authenticity of the photo commonly identified as Quddús.[31][d] That photo was first published in a book titled Bābul, Shahr-i Zībā-yi Man (which means Bābul, My Beautiful City).[32]

Islamic mysticism

When considering Aflaki’s biographies and Michael Pifer’s studies, Dehghan claims that multicultural atmosphere in 13th-century Konya, with much music playing a role, became the factor that changed things. It was this special mood of Konya which turned Rūmī from being a usual jurist into a mystical poet.[33] Dehghan believes Rūmī changed on purpose to fit the "joy-oriented" attitude of locals of Konya. This was sharply different compared to his younger days in Balkh where he at first felt writing poetry was a job that brought embarrassment.[34] The changes of Rūmī got even deeper after meeting Shams Tabrizi, who put music and Sama as "totally verbal revelations" and regarded them as necessary for spiritual ascent.[35] At last, Dehghan’s opinion is that Rūmī’s combining of poetry with mysticism was the result coming from changing where he lived. He thinks if Rūmī had not left Khorasan, probably he would have stuck to being a regular jurist and not picked up a new style of aesthetics.[36][37] Dehghan studied Ibn Arabi, the Muslim mystic, as well. He made plenty of commentaries and explained Ibn Arabi’s mystical ways in a translated book by William Chittick.[38] Dehghan deals with the roots of mystical words such as Wahdat al-wujūd (Unity of Existence).[39] Building on Claude Addas and Miguel Asín Palacios’s research, Dehghan shows in his big commentaries that Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy was heavily changed by the Kitāb al-Isrā (Book of the Night Journey) of Ibn Arabi.[40]

Critical reception

Academic praise

Stephen Lambden, a scholar at the University of California, Merced includes Dehghan in a list of notable Baháʼí historians. He writes, "Among Bahā’ī writers who wrote about the Bāb and his writings one should consult the often prolific literary output of (to be selective) Mirza Abū al-Faḍl Gulpayiganī […] Hasan Balyuzi; Alessandro Bausani; Denis MacEoin; Abbas Amanat; Moojan Momen [...] Juan Cole […] Hooshmand Dehqan […]."[17] Lambden writes about Dehghan's book, Ganj-i penhan: sargozasht va asar-i hazrat-i Quddus, "An important volume about the life and writings of Muhammad `Ali Barfurushi entitled Quddus." He adds "it includes important Tablets [Sacred Writings], Ziyarat-Namah [Visitation Tablet] and other materials addressed by the Báb to this important 18th Huruf al-Hayy [the first eighteen disciples of the Báb]."[17]

Boris Handal, a professor of Educational Technologies at the University of Notre Dame Australia and researcher in Bábí and Baháʼí studies, cites Dehghan 123 times in his own book, Quddús: First in Rank. He names Dehghan as a historical advisor and evaluates several aspects of his findings.[41] His analysis shows that Dehghan has managed to add details to the biography of Quddús, including those about Quddús’ family structure, his intellectual background, and the route of his travels.[42] Furthermore, he devotes several pages of the book to discussing Dehghan's historical views about Quddús.[43][44]

Translation reviews

Dehghan’s translation and his commentary were reviewed in several academic journals. Fatemeh Aghaya, known for research in Shiite Sects, did a comparative study of Dehghan’s translation of Chittick's Ibn 'Arabi: Heir to the Prophets in Persian with existing translations, saying that Dehghan’s version provides a deeper research about Ibn Arabi’s particular vocabulary.[45] Aghaya also mentions that these efforts are more than translating only because Dehghan brings out both the mystical and hadith-connected sources from which Ibn Arabi’s phrases originated. She goes on and gives example that readers can find extra research in footnotes added to the Dehghan’s Persian translation.[45] In addition she claims Dehghan’s translation is usually more flowing compared with the rest of the Persian options for Chittick’s book.[46]

When it comes to his historical translations, in March 2016 the journal Mehrnameh released a dossier of thirteen pages having title Jomhuri-ye Aameraneh (which means The Authoritarian Republic), centered on Atatürk to go along with new translation by the Dehghan of Andrew Mango’s biography.[47] The file featured different articles looking at both the work itself and its translation to Persian. For this file, the historian Rahim Raisnia, who works at Encyclopaedia Islamica Foundation, said that the translation is "generally not bad" but pointed out several errors especially for Turkish words and names. Raisnia says that Dehghan does not really know Turkish and that is why there are mistakes, for example, surname of Atatürk’s wife (Uşakîzâde) was put with Persian Alef (spelled Oshāghīzādeh / اوشاقی‌زاده) whereas correctly it should use Eyn (ʿOshshāghīzādeh / عشاقی‌زاده).[48]

Arrest and imprisonment

Dehghan was arrested in the city of Gorgan sometime in autumn of 2012 when several Baháʼís in Golestan Province were also arrested.[49] He first received a sentence of a total six years imprisonment because he was practicing Baháʼí Faith, being accused of "being in an unauthorized Baha’i group meant to weaken state security" and "spreading information against the authorities."[50][51] The first sentence later was reduced to only one year by Court of Appeal in January 2016. He later was arrested again in June 2017 and was moved to Amirabad Prison in Gorgan to serve the remainder of his sentence.[52][53][54] After having some brain strokes, in August 2017, a doctor allowed Dehghan to be taken, while handcuffed and with his legs in restraints, to hospital for treatment.[55] He was released on a conditional basis after serving about a third of his jail period.[56]

Bibliography

Authored books

  • Dehghan, Hooshmand (2016). Ganj-i-Penhan: Sarguzasht va Asar-i Hazrat-i Quddus (Hidden Treasure: The Life and Works of Quddus). Luxembourg: Intishārāt-i ʻĀdil. ISBN 978-3-01-003131-8.

Translations

Dehghan translated around thirteen volumes into Persian between 2014 and 2020, with attention mostly to Islamic mysticism, history, sociology and philosophy. From data of National Library and Archives of Iran, he has not published further translations in Iran after 2020.[57] His Persian translation of Martin Suter’s Small World was reviewed by Faraj Sarkohi on Radio Farda.[58] Dehghan said his translation work’s purpose is to show full intellectual background from original writers, specifically those in main topics of old mystical philosophy.[5]

Title Author Year Publisher Ref
Ibn ʿArabī: Heir to the Prophets William Chittick 2014 Payam-e Emrooz [59]
Atatürk: The Biography of the Founder of Modern Turkey Andrew Mango 2015 Payam-e Emrooz [60]
Socrates: A Man for Our Times Paul Johnson 2016 Payam-e Emrooz [61]
At the Existentialist Café Sarah Bakewell 2016 Payam-e Emrooz [62]
Happiness: A Philosopher's Guide Frédéric Lenoir 2017 Payam-e Emrooz [63]
Irresistible Adam Alter 2017 Payam-e Emrooz [64]
Educated Tara Westover 2018 Niloofar [65]
Atomic Habits James Clear 2018 Hormazd [66]
Drunk Tank Pink Adam Alter 2019 Tarjomaan [67]
An Unwanted Guest Shari Lapena 2019 Nashr-e Sales [68]
Neither Victims nor Executioners Albert Camus 2019 Razgoo [69]
Pandemic! COVID-19 Shakes the World Slavoj Žižek 2020 Seday-e Mo’aser [70]
A Small World Martin Suter 2020 Niloofar [71]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Record: Atatürk: the biography of the founder of modern Turkey / Andrew Mango; translated by Hooshmand Dehghan". National Library and Archives of Iran (in Persian). Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  2. ^ a b c "ریاضت ترجمه [The austerity of translation]". Shahrvand newspaper (in Persian) – via Pishkhan.
  3. ^ "جستجوی خوشبختی در دایره‌ای کوچکتر". Iran Book News Agency (IBNA) (in Persian). 19 January 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
  4. ^ a b Dehghan 2016, p. 5.
  5. ^ a b c "انگیزه ها از نداشته ها می آید نه داشته ها". IBNA (in Persian). Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  6. ^ Bashiri, Iraj. "The Ishraqi Philosophy of Jalal al-Din Rumi" (PDF). Retrieved 30 December 2025.
  7. ^ "Ganj-i pinhān : sarguz̲asht va ās̲ār-i Ḥaz̤rat-i Quddūs". Library of Congress Catalog (in Persian). Library of Congress. 2016. Retrieved 2025-12-26.
  8. ^ "Ganj-i pinhān : sarguz̲asht va ās̲ār-i Ḥaz̤rat-i Quddūs". WorldCat. Online Computer Library Center. Retrieved 22 December 2025.
  9. ^ "Ganj-i pinhān : sarguz̲asht va ās̲ār-i Ḥaz̤rat-i Quddūs". HOLLIS: Harvard Library Catalog (in Persian). Harvard University. 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2025.
  10. ^ "Ganj-i pinhān : sarguz̲asht va ās̲ār-i Ḥaz̤rat-i Quddūs". Stanford University Libraries (in Persian). SearchWorks Catalog. 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2025.
  11. ^ "Quicksearch for Hushmand Dihqan". Clio. Columbia University Libraries. Retrieved 2025-11-14.
  12. ^ "گنج پنهان : سرگذشت وآثار جناب قدوس/گنج پنهان (Ganj-i penhan: Sarguzasht va Asar-i Hazrat-i Quddus)". "New Zealand National Baha'i Reference Library catalog". Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  13. ^ Handal 2024, p. 351.
  14. ^ Handal 2024, p. 87, footnote 1.
  15. ^ Dehghan 2016, p. 121.
  16. ^ Dehghan 2016, pp. 163–169.
  17. ^ a b c Lambden, Stephen. "The Writings of Muhammad `Alí Barfúrúshí, Quddús". Hurqalya Publications. Retrieved 2025-12-30.
  18. ^ Dehghan, Hooshmand (2025). "Codicology and Manuscript Study of Quddús's Works (Ganj-i-Penhan)". Academia.edu. Retrieved 2025-12-30.
  19. ^ Browne 1918, p. 209.
  20. ^ Browne 1918, p. 175.
  21. ^ Dehghan 2016, p. 168.
  22. ^ Browne 1918, p. 210.
  23. ^ MacEoin, Denis (1992). The Sources for Early Bábí Doctrine and History. p. 106.
  24. ^ Browne 1918, p. 211.
  25. ^ Browne, Edward G. (1892). "Catalogue of the Bábí Manuscripts in the British Museum". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society: 484–487.
  26. ^ Dehghan 2016, pp. 157–160.
  27. ^ Dehghan 2016, p. 28, footnote 2.
  28. ^ Amanat, Abbas (1989). Resurrection and renewal: The making of the Babi movement in Iran, 1844-1850. Cornell University Press. p. 181. ISBN 978-0-8014-2098-6.
  29. ^ Nabil-i-Zarandi 1970, p. 72.
  30. ^ Handal 2024, pp. 327, 329.
  31. ^ Handal 2024, p. 500.
  32. ^ Nīākī, Ja'far (2004). Bābul, Shahr-i Zībā-yi Man [Bābul, My Beautiful City] (in Persian). Vol. 1. Tehran: Sālmī Publications. p. 161.
  33. ^ Pifer, Michael (2021). Kindred Voices: A Literary History of Medieval Anatolia. Yale University Press. pp. 47–50. As discussed by Dehghan (2025), Pifer emphasizes Rūmī's internalization of Konya's social norms and his 'cross-cultural entanglements' through music and poetry.
  34. ^ Rūmī, Jalāl al-Dīn (1981). Forūzānfar, B. (ed.). Fīhi Mā Fīh. Amir Kabir. p. 74. Cited in Dehghan (2025) to explain Rūmī's strategic shift toward poetry in Konya despite his initial aversion.
  35. ^ Lewis, Franklin D. (2000). Rumi: Past and Present, East and West. Oneworld. pp. 172–174. Referenced in Dehghan (2025) to explain how Shams taught Rūmī the practice of Sama and broke his resistance to poetic expression.
  36. ^ Schimmel, Annemarie (1992). I Am Wind, You Are Fire: The Life and Work of Rūmī. Shambhala. p. 11. Referenced by Dehghan (2025) to support the thesis that Rūmī's cultural shift to Anatolia was fundamental to his poetic development.
  37. ^ "Mowlānā va Chālesh-e Ma'naviyat-e Tarabnāk [Mawlana and the Challenge of Joyous Spirituality]". Aasoo (in Persian). 2025-10-01. Retrieved 2025-12-30.
  38. ^ Aghaya 2023, p. 81.
  39. ^ Chittick 2014, p. 105, n. 2.
  40. ^ Chittick 2014, p. 28, n. 4.
  41. ^ Handal 2024, p. ix.
  42. ^ Handal 2024, pp. 7, 24–25.
  43. ^ Handal 2024, pp. 26–28.
  44. ^ Handal, Boris. "Quddús: First in Rank" (PDF). Baháʼí Library Online. Retrieved 2025-11-14.
  45. ^ a b Aghaya 2023, p. 91.
  46. ^ Aghaya 2023, p. 93.
  47. ^ Raisnia, Rahim (March 2016). "Jomhuri-ye Aameraneh". Mehrnameh (in Persian). No. 46. pp. 135–148.
  48. ^ "Jomhuri-ye Aameraneh". Mehrnameh. No. 46. p. 138.
  49. ^ "HOUSHMAND DEHGHAN". United4Iran. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  50. ^ "صدور احکام طولانی مدت زندان برای ۲۴ بهایی در استان گلستان [Long-term Prison Sentences Issued for 24 Baháʼís in Golestan Province]". BBC Persian (in Persian). 28 January 2016. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  51. ^ "Heavy Sentences Imposed on Baha'is of Gorgan, Gonbad-e Qabus and Minudasht". Iran Press Watch. 26 January 2016. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  52. ^ "Several Baha'is Begin Prison Sentences in Golestan Province". Iran Press Watch. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  53. ^ WUNRN. "Iran – 24 Individuals of Baha'i Faith Imprisoned Because of Their Religion – Women & Men". Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  54. ^ "Iran Jails 24 Baha'is". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 2016-01-28. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  55. ^ "Bahá'í International Community Iran News Bulletin #19 (2017)". Bahá’í International Community. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  56. ^ "HRANA: Four Bahai Citizens Were Released from Golestan Province". Iran Bahai Persecution. 2021-01-26. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  57. ^ "Records of Works by Hooshmand Dehghan". National Library and Archives of Iran (in Persian). Retrieved 18 December 2025.
  58. ^ Sarkohi, Faraj (6 August 2021). "بررسی کتاب دنیای کوچک؛ معمای هویت [Review of A Small World; The Mystery of Identity]". Radio Farda (in Persian). Retrieved 20 December 2025.
  59. ^ "کتاب فیلسوف غربی درباره ابن عربی منتشر شد [Western philosopher's book on Ibn Arabi published]" (in Persian). IBNA.
  60. ^ "سرنوشت پر ماجرای بنیان‌گذار جمهوری ترکیه در کتاب «آتاتورک» [Adventurous fate of the founder of the Republic of Turkey in the book "Atatürk"]" (in Persian). IBNA.
  61. ^ "حافظ و سقراط به روایت کتاب [Hafez and Socrates as narrated by the book]" (in Persian). ISNA.
  62. ^ "At the Existentialist Café Released in Persian". Financial Tribune.
  63. ^ "خوشبختی در پیش رو [Happiness : a philosopher's guide]" (in Persian). National Library of Iran.
  64. ^ "لطفاً زامبی نباشید! [Irresistible]" (in Persian). National Library of Iran.
  65. ^ "دیدار با مترجم کتاب دختر تحصیلکرده [Meeting with the translator of the book "Educated"]" (in Persian). IBNA.
  66. ^ "کتاب‌هایی که همدم پاییز تهرانی‌ها بودند [Books that were the companions of Tehranis in autumn]" (in Persian). ILNA.
  67. ^ "بازداشتگاه صورتی [Drunk tank pink]" (in Persian). National Library of Iran.
  68. ^ "مهمان ناخوانده [An Unwanted Guest]" (in Persian). IBNA.
  69. ^ "وقتی کامو با خیام هم‌صدا می‌شود [When Camus echoes Khayyam]" (in Persian). IBNA.
  70. ^ "انتشار کتاب ژیژک درباره کرونا [Publication of Žižek's book on Corona]" (in Persian). ISNA.
  71. ^ "دنیای کوچک [A Small World]" (in Persian). ایبنا (خبرگزاری کتاب ایران).

Notes

  1. ^ Dehghan (2016, p.21) introduces Bábí history through his review of multiple works which include Fádil Māzandarānī’s Ẓuhūr al-Ḥaqq (1942), Hooshang Goharriz’s Ḥurūf-i Ḥayy (1993), Nosrat Muhammad-Husayni’s Ḥaḍrat-i Báb (1995) and Abbas Amanat’s Resurrection and Renewal (1989) while he explains that these works discuss Quddús’s life only incidentally. According to him, there was no book-length independent biographical work prior to Ganj-i-Penhan that solely dealt with the life of Quddús.
  2. ^ Dehghan used the 1931 newspaper Ettela'at issues to show that city reports maintained the Bárfurúsh designation until 27 December (6 Dey 1310 SH) but shifted to Bábul on 29 December (8 Dey 1310 SH).
  3. ^ The historical evidence which Dehghan examined leads him to propose 1822 as the correct birth year. He refers to Nabil-i-Zarandi (1970, p. 72) and Shoghi Effendi (1944, chap. 1), who both state that Quddús was twenty-two years old when he arrived in Shiraz and embraced the Báb's declaration in 1844.
  4. ^ Dehghan uses the history of Iranian photography to support his portrait rejection because Jules Richard brought daguerreotypes to Iran from 1844 to 1849 which matched the period of Quddús's existence and death. Dehghan uses his communication with Ja’far Niaki to show that the author, Niaki, who published the photo in Bābul, Shahr-i Zībā-yi Man admitted he lacked proof that the image showed Quddús. (See: Handal 2024, p. 500)

Sources

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