Nima Rafiei graduated with an M.A. in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago in 2021, where he wrote his master’s thesis on one of the early writings of The Báb. His primary specialty is in Arabic language and literature, and he also studied Persian prose and poetry from the classical and modern periods, including Persian prose from the Indian subcontinent (sabk-i Hindí).  His research interests include Islamic apocalypticism and mysticism, classical Persian poetry, the history of modern Iran, paleography, translation theory, and the historical development of Arabic and Persian calligraphy.

His interests in Bábí-Bahá’í studies include the collation of texts of The Báb, intertextuality between the writings of The Báb and the Qur’án, the early mystical prose writings of Bahá’u’lláh from Baghdád, the Arabic writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and the interpretation of the Qur’án and Islamic oral traditions (ḥadíth) in the Bahá’í writings. He has also been a translator of Bahá’í texts into English for several years. Nima is currently producing a compilation on the biography of his ancestor from southern Iran who became a Bahá’í and whose family received many writings from both Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.