3 July] 1794,[3] – January 1847), Abbas Qoli Bakikhanov,[4][b] or Abbas-Qoli ibn Mirza Mohammad (Taghi) Khan Badkubi[5] was an Azerbaijani writer, historian, journalist, linguist, poet and philosopher.

[6] He is credited with being the first person that wrote a "scholarly monograph on the history of greater Shirvan"; the area that would later make up most of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

In 1828, he was among the Russian military command under General Paskevich that took part in peace negotiations with Persia, which resulted in signing the Treaty of Turkmenchay.

During this time he also found and translated Derbendname (Book of Derbent) by Mulla Muhammad Rafi, which was deemed as less quality work by Vladimir Minorsky.

[14] Dissatisfied with viceroy Georg Andreas von Rosen who questioned his loyalty, he decided to leave military service and tried to seek a career in Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He eventually made it to Saint Petersburg after receiving news from Karl Nesselrode in May 1834 but left only two months later, reportedly under pressure of Rosen.

On his way to the holy Islamic sights, he was warmly received by Mohammad Shah Qajar and was awarded the Shir-e Khorshid, the highest-ranking Persian medal for the second time.

[9] In Constantinople, Bakikhanov had an audience with Abdulmejid I in October 1846, who showed interest in some of his academic writings, particularly in Asrar al-Malakut, of which he was presented a copy.

On his way from Medina back to Damascus he caught cholera and died in the small town of Wadi Fatimah in Hejaz (present-day Saudi Arabia) in 1847.

According to Ahmedov, Bakikhanov understood Allah as a kind of transcendental essence of the world, revealed in an infinite number of attributes.

Sharing the messianic idea of Mahdism, Bakikhanov pointed out that Ali and his direct descendants personify the creed and power of the prophet.

Citing Rumi, Bakikhanov condemned the pursuit of external benefits, excessive fear of death, temptation (nafs) as desire for the forbidden and illicit, and the consumption of alcoholic beverages.

He criticized both wickedness (fisq) and hermitage (zuhd), believing that both the hermit and the wicked deceive people with their sophisms and tricks.

For him, religion had a nature that confirms the principles that become evident by considering the public interest and the order of the world, rather than directly mentioning what is good.