father, Mullah Hussain Heravi hailed from Herat, who was a cleric and a silk merchant. In 1850, he came to Mashhad to attend a Shi'ite seminary, Madrassa Ismail Khan. By 1856, he had completed the early education (sutuh) and got married. At age 22, he left for Sabzevar, where he stayed for three months and got familiar with islamic philosophy under Molla Hadi Sabzavari. He wanted to go to Najaf but due to lack of funds, he delayed his departure and stayed in Tehran where he continued Islamic philosophy under Mulla Husayn Khoʾi at the Sadr seminary and completed his studies in Logic. In 1862, he moved to Iraq and in Najaf followed the open lectures of the great Shi'ite jurist Ayatullah Shaykh Murtaza Ansari. Simultaneously he participated in open lectures of Ayatullah Mirza Hassan Shirazi, who later became famous for his campaign against the tobacco concession. He studied about two years under Murtaza Ansari. After the death of Murtaza Ansari in 1864 CE, Mirza Hassan Shirazi became highest marja-e taqlid (“sources of emulation”) of the Shi'ite world. Akhund Khurasani continued studying under him until his migration to Samarra in 1875 CE. Like most seminary students, Khurasani lived a humble life, and he had to bear loss of loved ones. Because of lack of money, he could only fulfill immediate needs and was content with the basic amenities offered by the office of the Marja. After marriage, he couldn't take his wife with him to Najaf and left her in Mashhad, due to lack of finances. He was informed of the death of his first child soon after arriving in Najaf. His wife joined him later but in 1864 CE, died after giving birth to the second child. It took years before Akhund decided to marry again in 1873 and had four children: Mirza Mahdi Khurasani (1875–1945), Mirza Muhammad (1877–1937), Mirza Ahmad Kifa’i Khurasani (1912–1971), and Zahra (1891–1956). His second wife died from a chronic illness, and Khurasani married for the last time in 1895 and fathered two sons: Hussain Aqa (1901–?) and Hassan Kifa’i (1902–1954). As a Marja, Khurasani spent khums money on the neediest of the seminary students and funded the operation of the seminary. He supported public schools that were not necessarily fully religious. He also built three madrassahs in Najaf: in 1903, the Grand School of Akhund (Madrisih-yi Buzurg-i Akhund), in 1908, Akhund's Intermediate School (Madrisat