In Memoriam 1992-1997/Monib ‘Abdu’l-Hossein Collestan

MONIB ‘ABDU’L—HOSSEIN

COLLESTAN 1922—1996

onib ‘Abdu’l—Hossein Collestan, MD,

homefront pioneer to and founding member of the first Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Seminole County, Florida, was laid to rest in the Highland Memory Gardens in Orlando on Sunday, August 11, 1996. Surrounded by his wife, Rezvanieh Eghrari Collestan; their two children, ‘Alzi Balsam Collestan and Goli Young, and their spouses; all seven grandchildren; and a large number ofhis admirers, melodic and moving prayers sped the immortal soul of this very special servant of Bahá’u’lláh on his way to the Abhá Paradise.

Born on September 1, 1922, in Cairo, Egypt, he passed away in his sleep on August 7, 1996, after having just returned from a strenuous international traveling teaching trip to Albania with his wife and companion of forty—two years. This was his great longing, to die as a martyr or in active service, “with his boots on.”

A message dated August 16, 1996, and addressed to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States by the Universal House ofjustice read:

DEEPLY SADDENED PASSING MONIB ‘ABDU‘L-HOSSEIN COLLESTAN FAITHFUL SERVANT BAHA‘U’LLAH VIGOROUS PROMOTER DIVINE TEACHINGS. HIS UNTIRING EFFORTS AS PIONEER SUDAN, LIBYA, TUNISIA AND AS TRAVELLING TEACHER NUMBER COUNTRIES AFRICA, AMERICAS AND EUROPE GRATEFULLY REMEMBERED. EXTEND OUR LOVING SYMPATHY MEMBERS HIS DEAR FAMILY. ASSURE ARDENT PRAYERS HOLY

[Page 340]34o

SHRINES PROGRESS HIS NOBLE SOUL ABHA KINGDOM.

A descendant of the Prophet Muhammad and a fifth generation Bahá’í on his maternal side, he grew up in Egypt and studied with such renowned teachers as the Hand of the Cause of God Muhammad Taqi—i—Iṣfahání. Inasmuch as his grandparents, Siyyid ‘Ali Yazdi and Hubiyyih, were residing in the Holy Land, as a child he had the privilege of visiting the Holy Shrines, the Greatest Holy Leaf, and the beloved Guardian many times over a period of fourteen years.

While in medical school and on Dr. Collestan’s twenty—first birthday, he wrote to the Guardian offering his services and asking to become a spearhead for the Faith. In response Shoghi Effendi mentioned that he prayed for Hossein (the name given Dr. Collestan by the Greatest Holy Leaf) to succeed in the field of enlightening the people about the Faith as well as healing people physically. It was this encouragement that set him offon his lifelong journey of service to the Cause of the Most Great Name in foreign lands.

His profession first took Dr. Collestan to Sudan and later to the southern part of the country where he served in an impossible role as surgeon for a population oftwo million. Later, on returning to Egypt and hearing of the pioneering plan for Africa, he oHered his services, and through the Hand of the Cause of God Amelia Collins the Guardian advised him to go to Libya where he became its first pioneer.

From 1952 to 1959 he remained steadfastly at his Libyan pioneer post. Through him the first member of the Berber tribe accepted the Faith. "Ibis brought great joy to the Guardian. Dr. Collestan established the first dispensary in the desert, in the town of Ajedabia, where he was physically attacked,

THE BAHA’I’ WORLD

an experience which was to embolden him in his undying commitment to the Cause.

He met Rezvanieh Eghrari who had been pioneering in Libya since October 1953. They married in Cairo on January 17, 1954, and promptly returned to their pioneer post in Benghazi, Libya, where their two children were born. Bonded spiritually as a lifelong teaching team, Rezvanieh had already gained spiritual kudos for her humble pioneering service in England and Scotland, Following the direction of the Guardian. On completion of the British Six Year Plan in 1950, she departed as a pioneer to India.

When his medical service contract was completed in 1959, Dr. Collestan, accompanied by his family, pioneered in Tunisia where he was offered a position and served the Faith until 1961, whereupon they headed for a pioneer post in Sunderland, England, remaining there until the completion of the Ten Year Crusade. It was following the first Bahá’í World Congress that the family departed for Iran, where they stayed until 1967.

Then a new Chapter in their lives opened upon their arrival in the United States. They dedicated themselves to propagating the Faith of Baha’u’llah in this new land, especially in the state of Illinois. A ceaseless flurry of intense teaching and deepening activities was to characterize their lives. Dr. Collestan’s admiration for America stemmed from his awareness of its spiritual destiny as outlined by the Master and amplified by the Guardian.

In retrospect it must be said that his insatiable thirst for spiritual knowledge resulted in Dr. Collestan’s having spent most of his life studying the Faith and particularly its relationship to Islam. His understanding of the Bahá’í administrative order had been continually enhanced as he had served as a member of various

[Page 341]IN MEMORIAM 1992—1 997

Mom'b ‘Aédu'I—Honcin Callesmn

Local Spiritual Assemblies since the age of twenty—one. He attended several intercontinental conferences, and in 1971 he and his family made their pilgrimage.

He shared his knowledge during teaching trips and speaking engagements at summer and winter schools and in deepenings and seminars for children, youth, and adults. His facility with Arabic, Persian, French, Italian, and English complemented his knowledge and enhanced his effectiveness in delivering the Message to many cultures and peoples. Chanting prayers in Persian and in the melodic Arabic Hijézi style, no one could but be moved by his exquisite voice.

The latter years of his full life were anchored in the new family homefront pioneer post ofSeminole County, Florida, where they moved in 1979 and helped form the first Spiritual Assembly there the following year.

The river of his traveling teaching service in foreign lands took Dr. Collestan from his various pioneer posts to Canada,

341

Belize, Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands, several Caribbean islands, and Mexico; [0 Algeria, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Kenya, Uganda; as well as to Albania, England, France, and Italy. In the land he was wont to love, he went on traveling teaching tours in homefront areas in at least half of the fifty states of the United States. Let others follow his noble example oflove and service to the Cause of the Most Great Name.

Benjamin Levy