Ayatullah al-Uzma Sayyid Abul-Qasim al-Khui was born in Rajab 15, 1317 A.H. (November 19, 1899) at Khu’i in Iranian Azerbaijan. Around the age of 13, he moved to Iraq and took up residence in Najaf where he began studying Shia theology with the scholars of that city. He attained the rank of Ayatollah and was subsequently recognized as a Marja. He continued to live in Najaf, becoming a teacher for the remainder of his life, and oversaw the studies of scholars who would be qualified to issue fatwas based on Shia theology.

Ayatollah al-Uzma Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei (born 19 April 1939) is a Twelver Shia Marja' and the second and current Supreme Leader of Iran, in office since 1989. He was previously President of Iran from 1981 to 1989.

Ayatollah Sayyid Ruhullah Musawi Khomeini, also called Imam Khomeini, was the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, which saw the overthrow of the last Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

He was born in 1902 in Khomeyn, in what is now Iran's Markazi Province. He began studying the Quran and the Persian language from a young age and was assisted in his religious studies by his relatives, including his mother's cousin and older brother.

Ayatollah Mahmoud Taleghani (Persian: محمود طالقانی‎, 5 March 1911 – 9 September 1979) was a theologian and a senior Shi'a cleric in Iran.

Ayatullah Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr (Arabic: آية الله العظمى السيد محمد باقر الصدر‎) (March 1, 1935 – April 9, 1980) was born in al-Kazimiya, Iraq to the prominent Sadr family, which originated from Jabal Amel in Lebanon. In 1945 he moved to the holy city of Najaf where al-Sadr would spend the rest of his life. He was a child prodigy who, at 10, was delivering lectures on Islamic history. At eleven, he was a student of logic. He wrote a book refuting materialistic philosophy when he was 24.

Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Hussain Fadlallah (also Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadl-Allāh; Arabic: محمد حسين فضل الله‎; 16 November 1935 – 4 July 2010) was a prominent Shia cleric from a Lebanese family. Born in Najaf, Iraq, Fadlallah studied Islam in Najaf before moving to Lebanon in 1952. In the following decades, he gave many lectures, engaged in intense scholarship, wrote dozens of books, founded several Islamic religious schools, and established the Mabarrat Association.

Ayatullah Sayyid Muhammad Ridha Mudarrisi Yazdi.

Shaykh Abdullah al-Mamaqani.

Azim Sarvdalir is a poet, writer and translator who is currently living in Mashhad, Iran. He was born at a village called Golkhandan (previously called Koosalu) in Hamadan province and educated in English literature in Qom Azad University. He, along with Dr. Legenhausen- Azim's Farsi student- Translated the following Islamic books in English while living in Qom:
1- The Philosophical Instructions (by Muhammad Taqi Misbah Yazdi)
2- The Greatest Jihad (combat with Self) (by Imam Khomeini)
3- A Jug of Love (Imam Khomeini's poetry)