Esfahani was born in 1902 in Khomeyni Shahr (then called Sadeh), a city located some 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) west of the central city of Esfahan. His father, Mirza Asadollah, was a religious scholar; his mother, Lady Najmeh, was a daughter of Sayyed Mohammad Taghi MirDamadi.[1] He is a descendant of one of the Jabal Amel (Arabic: جبل عامل‎) scholars who converted to Islam in the early days of Islam; his ancestors then moved to the area near Esfahan.[2]