 Elahi was born in Jeyhunabad, a small Kurdish village near the eponymous capital of Kermanshah Province.His father, Hajj Nematollah (1871–1920), was a mystic and poet who was a leader of the Ahl-e Haqq and revered as a saint.From early childhood, he led an ascetic, secluded life of rigorous discipline under his father's supervision with a special focus on mysticism, music, and ethics.