William McElwee Miller
William McElwee Miller, born in Middlesboro, Kentucky, received his A.B. in 1912 and M.A. in 1913 from Washington and Lee University. He acquired a Phi Beta Kappa key and in 1919 received the B.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary. From there he went to Persia (Iran) as a missionary of the Presbyterian Church, and he remained in service in Persia until retirement in 1962. He was given the D.D. degree by Washington and Lee University in 1932. He now resides in Philadelphia.
While living in Meshed, the sacred city of Shi'ite Muslims, he learned to speak Persian fluently. Miller discovered and translated an ancient Arabic creed, which was published by the Royal Asiatic Society in London. In Iran Miller soon came in touch with followers of Baha'u'llah, who was born in that country. Wishing to understand this movement and its history and doctrines more thoroughly, he began a study of the literature of the Babis and Baha'is which he has continued for fifty years. He published a book on Baha'ism in 1932, and has also written many articles on the subject. He cooperated with Dr. E.E. Elder in translating and publishing the Kitab-i-Aqdas, the most important writing of Baha'u'llah. From a scholar in Cyprus he received a large amount of historical material about the Babi-Baha'i Movement which has not been published previous to this volume.
