[A RADICAL POETIC MANIFESTO PRINTED IN LONDON BY A SELF-PROCLAIMED PROPHET / LONDON IMPRINT] شميسه لندنية، تتبعها صديره ناسوتيه / Shumaysa-e Londoniya, tatabba’uhâ Sudayra-e nâsûtiya [i.e., A small London booklet, followed by a small treatise on humanity]

BAVÂNÂTÎ, MÎRZÂ MOHAMMAD BAQER (1814-1892).

W. H. Allen and Co., 18, Waterloo Place, S.W.; and R.J. Mitchell and Sons, 50, and 36, Parliament Street, S.W., London, 1882.

Original brownish wrappers. 12mo. (14 x 9 cm). In Persian. 72, [2] p., one drawing by the author on the rear cover, promoting religious unity among Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, reflecting his personal religious philosophy. A small label on the top of the front cover, slight stains on the spine, rear cover, and the first several pages. Overall, a very good copy.

An exceedingly rare, highly unusual, and radically heterodox poetic treatise, printed in London, by Bavanati, born a Shi'a Muslim, later embracing Sufism, converting to Christianity, subsequently adopting atheism and then Judaism, before ultimately developing his own religious system, which he termed "Islamo-Christianity," a synthesis of Islam and Christianity, and proclaiming himself a self-styled prophet. One of his most significant works, produced in England, this treatise serves as the manifesto of his idiosyncratic religious system.

“He devoted most of his energy, time, and money to elaborating his religious system in Persian poems written ‘in the most bizarre style’ and in countless tracts and leaflets in English, which he often distributed on the streets of London, for which he was once severely beaten by the mob”. (Browne, 1893, pp. 12-13; Pîrzâda, p. 2 10).

“Bavânâtî was totally dedicated to the preaching of his so-called Islamo-Christian religious system. He did not care for money, avoided the company of the wealthy and the powerful, but at the same time, given to extreme loquacity and an uncontrolled bent toward argumentation, he often offended everybody around him by insulting their most cherished beliefs. Browne had characterized him as “a most remarkable and eccentric individual, impossible not to respect and like” (1893, pp. 12-15; Press and Poetry, p. 168).

Bavânâtî, also called Ebrâhîm Jân Moʿattar and known as Mr. Bakir of Persia, was a Persian man of letters, poet, instructor of Persian in London, and self-styled prophet. He was born in Seydân in Bavânât, Fârs. He left his home village at the age of twelve and went to Shiraz, where he received a traditional education and learned English. Possessing an inquiring mind and a restless nature, he soon delved into a variety of beliefs and faiths, professing to several during the course of his life.

After spending years traveling the world and having mastered several languages (including Hebrew), Bavânâtî found himself employed for a time as translator at the British consulate in Bûsehr (Bushire). In Bûsehr, he befriended the young Jamâl-al-Dîn Asadâbâdî (see Afgânî), who had stopped there in 1272/1856-57 on his way to India. Bavânâtî’s anti-Islamic statements had forced him to flee from Shiraz, and on his way to Bûsehr, in Borâzjân, his life had been saved by Asadâbâdî (Afsâr, p. 12; Keddie, pp. 24-25). Around 1880, he went to London and began teaching Persian. Among his students in London were the two brothers Hosaynqolî and 'Abbâsqolî Nawwâb Shîrâzî and Edward G. Browne; in Iran, Mîrzâ Hasan Khan Mosîr-al-Dawla and Mîrzâ Hosayn Khan Mo'tamen-al-Molk Pîrnîa were reported to have studied with him (Âdamîyat, quoting the son of Bavânâtî). Toward the end of 1884, his daughter's poor health forced him to leave London for Beirut, where he stayed for a few years before he returned to Iran.

Bavânâtî kept his ties with Sayyed Jamâl-al-Dîn Asadâbâdî and, in 1307/1889-90, for this association and on the charge of atheism was imprisoned in Tehran; he was freed through the intervention of Mîrzâ 'Alî-Asgar Khan Amîn-al-Soltân. Three of his letters (one in Arabic and two in Persian) to Sayyed Jamāl-al-Dīn have survived and are to be found in the Majles Library (published in Afsâr, pp. 14-18). He is also the author of a versified commentary on twenty-six sûras of the Koran, entitled Rawzât-e Landanî wa fawhât-e anjomanî kenâyat az Qor’ân-e mo’attar; the autograph manuscript is partly preserved in Cambridge (Browne, 1932, pp. 2-4) and partly in the library of the University of Tehran. Scattered fragments exist of his poetry, which, generally of very poor quality and almost incomprehensible, is filled with fantastic amalgams of bizarre imagery with all sorts of random allusions to history, mythology, legendary lore, political events of the time, mystic visions, etc. His most famous works to be published in England were the Somaysa-ye Landanîya and Sodayra-ye Nâsûtîya (1882). His work can also be seen in an English Persian dictionary compiled by A. N. Wollaston (London, 1889) on which he collaborated. He may also be the author of Meftâḥ al-‘erfân fî tartîb sowar al-Qor’ân (Browne, 1932, p. 292)”. (Source: Encyclopedia Iranica online). 

Not in Mushar., As of March 2026, OCLC lists only two institutional copies (1031872356), both in the North American libraries (Columbia University in the City of New York and Stanford University Lane Medical Library).