Fazlallah Astarabadi

Fazlallah Astarabadi (1339/40–1394), pen name Naimi, was a Persian mystic born at Astarabad near the Caspian. As a child he inherited his father's position as judge. At eighteen, hearing a dervish recite a verse by Rumi brought him a religious experience.

He later abandoned his family and possessions to become a wandering dervish, teaching that God reveals himself through the letters of scripture, the doctrine at the heart of the Hurufi movement. His Javidan-namah, or Eternal Book, set out his teaching, and followers gathered across Khorasan, Azerbaijan and Shirvan, above all at Baku. Condemned as a heretic, he was imprisoned at Alinja near Nakhchivan and executed in 1394 by order of Miran Shah, son of Timur.