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KHODABAKHCH
ATTAR—HAMEDANI 1917_1994
We were saddened to learn of the passing of beloved friend Mr. Khodabakhch Attar—Hamedani. His many years of dedicated services to the Cause of God, and his endeavours in the international arena for the progress of the Chinese people, will long be remembered. We will oner our fervent supplications in the Holy Shrines that Baha’u’llzih’s bountiful blessings and favours will surround him in the Abhá Kingdom.
Universal House of Justice January 6, 1994
What a fabulous destiny to have been born in Hamadan, the ancient Ecbatana, the capital of the Medes, and then to die seventy—seven years later in Guangzhou, China, having traveled to and fro across a fair portion of the planet. And for all his adventures and for all the languages he learned to speak, Khodabakhch’s tongue embraced and retained the slightly guttural accent of his native home.
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IN MEMORIAM 1992—1997 105
I know not whether we should be saddened over his death. For Khodabakhch, the son of my first cousin, has, by having lived according to his ideals, managed the feat of making a success of his death. To die in a foreign land, often far from their homeland, has been the destiny ofPersian pioneers who left Iran in the 19405 and 19505. Some of them, having reached a certain age, are careful not to return home for fear of dying there and not being buried at their posts. Faithful to their promises to the beloved Guardian, having left under his orders, they founded and then carefully nurtured thousands of communities throughout the world before quietly departing this earthly plane. They had one glorious title, one single reward: being the cause ofjoy, great or small, to “his blessed person,” the Guardian. As soldiers of peace in his army, these aristocrats of the Bahá’í community went forward to earn titles of nobility in fat—distant lands, accomplishing what the world considered and still considers futile: the awakening of conscience, the transmission of spiritual wealth, the conquest of the hearts of men, and the offering of an ideal. In their mouths the expression ubeloved Guardian” had, and still has, a depth of meaning that the princes of the earth would envy. Their attachment to Shoghi Effendi, their guide (although he was very modest), was a mixture of filial tenderness and spiritual resonance. They lived for the sole pleasure of pleasing him and of edifying a future he described. This was their gift. And their satisfaction was to receive from him a measure of his approval. For some it would have been the report ofa pilgrim that the Guardian had mentioned their name and expressed joy for the services they were rendering. For others it might have been a small note of encouragement from the Guardian’s secretary or, better yet, his signature at the
foot ofa short letter written on his behalf. Then there were those who treasured the supreme award—a letter written in the Guardian’s own hand—a letter such as the one that Khodabakhch held dear.
With his departure, we have lost a living library The Dogon people ofMali have kept a sense of symbolism, and at the funeral of men such as Khodabakhch, a book is carried as a sign of the erudition and pleasure of the deceased, and to demonstrate that life is over, a pencil (the tool he had used most in the course of his life) is broken. Khodabakhch took many departures, leaving with a suitcase in one hand and a pack of books in the other, and yet, like other Easterners who had not forgotten their roots and oral tradition, he carried in his heart the many verses, poems, tablets, and epistles he had committed to memory.
Khodabakhch Attar (meaning Godgiven perfumer) was eighteen years old when he left to pioneer on the Iranian homefront, his first voluntary exile. He wanted to become a doctor so as to better serve humanity, but life decided otherwise, and he became a merchant
He married Monavar Rezvani during the Second World War, and nineteen days after their wedding, they were off to K_ha$, a distant village lacking in just about everything. That is where their children Abbas and Bijane came into the world, in conditions most primitive. Then they went back to Rasht, Where Behnouz and Behnam were born; they needed to prepare a nest egg to go still farther afield, perhaps to Afghanistan, India, or Egypt.
Finally, in 1952, one year before the Ten Year Crusade, the four sons and Khodabakheh and Monavar—the kindly mother and servant of her family and of all the community—arrived in Algiers. They were the first pioneers in Algeria, a country that was soon to know eight years
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of devastating civil war. The Attars welcomed and helped other newcomers. Some managed to settle and to later bring their families. A warm and fairly sizable community grew and several Local Assemblies were founded, bringing about the formation of the National Assembly in 1963.62
In November 1968 all foreign Bahá’ís were expelled, their properties confiscated, and the native believers, at least the men, were deported to the south, to the borders of the Sahara. My father, in his wanderings about the Mediterranean, searching for a land that would welcome his family, spent nine unforgettable months (1953—54) with the Attars before being expelled.
Khodabakhch and his family settled in Montpellier, France, for a while, but they had many plans and eyes on countries in the huge continent of Africa and in Southeast Asia. They left for the Far East. Unable to stay in China but for a few weeks, they finally settled in Hong Kong where they felt useful."3 Fourteen
(‘3 Mr. Saberan notes, “The late Mr. Mavaddat from Nice, Mr. Maher from Tours, and Mr. Baghdadi from Chambery were there also.” The first Local Spiritual Assembly ofAlgiers was formed in 1954. See Narguess Baghdadi, pp. 192—93.
(‘5 “Toward the end of the Nine Year Plan the Hong Kong community was bolstered by the addition of pioneers, and new members. K.H. and Monavar Attar, Formerly pioneers in Algeria and France, who resided in Hong Kong From 1972 to 1986. From Hong Kong, Mr Attar Frequently attended business fairs in China. An able speaker, he associated with the leaders of Hong Kong’s religious communities: the Sikhs, Taoists, Baptists, Brahma Samaj and other Hindus. Mr Attar was also a member of the Lions Club and Toastmasters, and participated in activities of the United Nations Association. Before departing in 1986 the Attars donated to the community the Bahá’í Centre at North Point in King’s Road. This property was later sold, the proceeds From its sale contributing to the purchase of the Bahá’í' Hall in Shelter Street.” Graham Hassall, “'Ihe Bahá’í Faith
THE BAHA’I’ WORLD
years went by, and each year found them becoming more and more “Asian,” something which delighted the mischievous, easy—going, and fun—making Khodabakhch. Then destiny hit them with an incurable affliction; in 1984 their son Bijane, the mystical poet, packed his things and was very quickly carried off by cancer. It is normal for a son to bury his father, but how unhappy are the poor parents who bury a son. In truth, in spite of their courage, Khodabakhch and Monavat never recovered. Khodabakhch was orphaned by his son, and then Monavar left him, passing away in 1991. In order to fulfill his destiny, this old student made a long trip to China to learn Chinese, for he had to abide to the end by the promise he made to the “young master,” as the Easterners used to call the Guardian in the 19305. When Shoghi Effendi granted you the aristocratic title of “pioneer,” you expected to remain true to your last breath. I said earlier that I do not know whether or not to be sad at the death of Khodabakhch. His departure for China in 1993 reminds me of the words of another old, gray—moustached Iranian pioneer that I met at the first International Convention in Northwest Africa in Tunisia in 1956. He looked at the adolescent I was then and said, “I am going to go and found the first Bahá’í cemetery in ‘Xm—a country in Western Africa. And he kept his word. My cousin Khodabakhch passed away on January 4, 1994. Just like that old man, he had gone very far, had in fact gone farther, to found the first Bahá’í cemetery Of Guangzhou.
From the translation of a tribute written in French [7}! Form’ Sabemn
in Hong Kong", web published January 2000. According to Hassall, Khodabakhch Attar was elected as treasurer of the first National Spiritual Assembly of Hong Kong which was established in 1974.
