Navváb

Ásíyih Khánum (Persian: آسیه خانم‎‎‎ 1820 – 1886) was the wife of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. She is viewed by Bahá’ís as the paragon of a devoted mother and wife. She is also known by her titles of Navváb, the Most Exalted Leaf, Búyúk Khánum or Hadrat-i-Khánum. Khánum is a title usually given to a Persian lady and is equivalent to madam. Bahá’u’lláh and Ásíyih Khánum were known as the Father of the Poor and the Mother of Consolation for their extraordinary generosity and regard for the impoverished. Bahá'u'lláh, along with Ásíyih Khánum and her children, are regarded as the Bahá'í holy family.

Ásíyih Khánum was born Ásíyih Yalrúdí the only daughter of Mírzá Ismá’íl Yalrúdí, the vazír or minister. Ásíyih Khánum was born in the village of Yal Rud in Mazandaran, Persia to a wealthy noble family. Her father Mírzá Ismá’íl was a minister in the court of the King of Persia and highly influential and wealthy. She had one brother Mírzá Mahmúd who did not become a Bábí or a Bahá’í. Little is known about the early life of Ásíyih Khánum. This is mainly due to the fact that contemporaries did not care for the maternal side of families concentrating more on the males – hence the name of her mother is unknown. What can be assumed however is that the young Ásíyih Khánum was educated well, learning to read and write in Persian and Arabic.

More information is known about her after her marriage to Bahá’u’lláh. In 1832 her eldest brother, Mírzá Mahmúd, was wedded to an elder sister of Bahá’u’lláh; Sarah. Sarah Khánum was very close to Bahá’u’lláh and was gratified with evidence of her beauty, piety and kindness. She quickly devised a plan to marry the two together.Mírzá `Abbás Núrí (father of Bahá'u'lláh) accepted perhaps enticed by the huge dowry which included three servants, large piece of land, property and a huge sum of money. The betrothal was then made official. For the young Ásíyih marriage would have meant a new-found freedom, something which ladies in nineteenth-century Persia could only find through marriage. In her youth she was lauded for her beauty being described as "tall, slender, graceful, eyes of dark blue" "slender, stately…with white skin and blue eyes and dark hair" and "winsome, vivacious and exceedingly beautiful".

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