# Tahirih

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-20 — 1 clipping.*

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Lowell Johnson, Tahirih, bahai-library.com.
> ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
> 
> Golden Crowns Series
> 
> Ṭáhirih
> by
> Lowell Johnson
> 
> The National Spiritual Assembly
> of the Bahá’ís of South and West Africa
> 
> Johannesburg
> Revised edition, Copyright (c) 1982 by the
> National Spiritual Assembly
> of the Bahá’ís of South and West Africa
> (Incorporated Association not for Gain)
> 
> Extracts from the following works reprinted by permission:
> By Bahá’u’lláh: Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh,
> Copyright 1939, 1952, (c) 1976 by the
> National Spiritual Assembly
> of the Bahá’ís of the United States;
> by Nabíl-i-A‘ẓam: The Dawn-Breakers: Nabíl’s Narrative
> of the Early Days of the Bahá’í Revelation,
> published by the National Spiritual Assembly
> of the Bahá’ís of the United States;
> by Martha Root: Ṭáhirih the Pure, Írán’s Greatest Woman,
> published by the National Spiritual Assembly
> of the Bahá’ís of Pakistan.
> 
> Illustrated by Mary-Jane Rostami.
> 
> Set in 11 on 13 pt Monotype Baskerville
> Monotype Composing Service (Pty.) Ltd., Cape Town
> and printed in South Africa by
> Budd and Thomson (Pty.) Ltd., Cape Town.
> 
> ISBN 0 908420 29 3
> Introduction to the Golden Crowns Series
> In these next pages you will read of great sacrifices. Anyone reading
> the stories of the early believers in the Bahá’í Faith will wonder why
> these people sacrificed so much. What was different about the
> Messages of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh which made ordinary people
> rise to the heights of heroism and die gloriously for their Faith?
> The teachings of the Báb* and Bahá’u’lláh† repeat the divine
> principles announced by the Prophets of the past. You can read these
> teachings in a very small book entitled The Hidden Words. It was
> written by Bahá’u’lláh. But added to these eternal truths, the Báb
> and Bahá’u’lláh have given new teachings never announced by any
> Prophet of God before. Here are some of them:
> The first teaching of the Bahá’í Faith is that all men belong to one
> human family. Speaking to all men, Bahá’u’lláh says, ‘Ye are the
> fruits of one tree and the leaves of one branch.’ By this He means that
> the world of men is like a tree, the nations and peoples are the
> different branches of that tree, and the men and women are as the
> fruits and blossoms of that tree. In all past religions, the world of
> men was divided into two parts—one part known as the people of
> the Book of God or the pure tree, and the other known as the lost
> people or the evil tree. Bahá’u’lláh has changed this teaching by
> announcing that the world is one world and all people in it members
> of one family. This is a special teaching of Bahá’u’lláh not to be
> found in any other religion. Some people are asleep, He says, and
> they need to be awakened; some are sick, they need to be healed;
> some are like children, they need to be taught; but all receive the
> bounty and gifts of God.
> 
> * The Báb is the title given to the Forerunner of Bahá’u’lláh. He was born in
> Shíráz, Írán (Persia) on the 20th of October 1819 and was martyred in Tabríz,
> Írán, on the 9th of July 1850. The ‘Báb’ means the ‘Gate’.
> † Bahá’u’lláh is the name of God’s newest Manifestation on earth. He was born
> in Ṭihrán, Írán on the 12th of November 1817 and died near Haifa. Israel on
> the 29th of May 1892. Bahá’u’lláh’ means the ‘Glory of God’.
> 
> Another new principle in the Bahá’í Faith is the need to investigate
> truth. That is to say, no man should blindly follow his ancestors and
> forefathers. Each man must see with his own eyes, hear with his own
> ears, and investigate truth for himself.
> Another teaching is this: that the foundation of all the religions
> of God is one. There is only one God. Therefore, there can be only
> one religion—the Religion of God. All the past Prophets have taught
> the same basic truths, which have all come from the same mouth of
> God. This teaching is a new teaching and is special in the Bahá’í
> Faith.
> A new principle is that religion must be the cause of unity, har-
> mony and agreement amongst men. If religion becomes the cause
> of disagreement and hatred, if it leads to separation and fighting,
> then it would be better if there were no religion in the world.
> The Bahá’í Faith also teaches that religion must agree with
> science and reason. If it does not agree with science and reason then
> it is superstition. Down to the present day it has been the custom for
> a man to accept a religious teaching even if it does not agree with
> his reason and judgement. The agreement of religious belief with
> reason and science opens new windows to the soul of man.
> Bahá’u’lláh has taught the equality of men and women. This is
> special to the teachings of the Bahá’í Faith, for all other religions
> have placed men above women.
> A new religious principle is that prejudices, whether religious,
> racial, patriotic or political, destroy the solid foundation for a
> peaceful life. Therefore, men must overcome their prejudices so that
> they can see the underlying truth, that the family of man is one
> family and not divided into separate parts.
> Universal peace is promised in the Bahá’í teachings. This universal
> peace will be accomplished by putting into practice the principles
> of Bahá’u’lláh. Peace shall come to all nations, governments, peoples,
> religions, races, and all parts of mankind. No other Prophet has
> ever promised peace to the world during His ministry, but this is
> one of the special teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.
> The Báb and Bahá’u’lláh have taught that every man must gain
> knowledge and receive an education. It is a religious law in the
> Bahá’í Faith that both girls and boys must be educated.
> Bahá’u’lláh has set forth the solution and provided the remedy for
> the economic question. The solution of the economic problem, He
> says, lies in the realm of the spirit. No religious books of the past
> Prophets speak of this important human problem.
> The greatest new principle of the new religion is the establishment
> and appointment of the Centre of the Covenant. This is another
> teaching not given by any of the Prophets of the past. Bahá’u’lláh
> has appointed a Centre of the Covenant* to carry on His work and
> hold the Bahá’ís together after His passing. When a person becomes
> a Bahá’í, he must agree to follow the laws contained in the Covenant.
> In this way, Bahá’u’lláh has protected the religion of God against
> differences and splits. He has made it impossible for anyone to create
> a new sect or faction of belief. To make sure of the unity of the
> believers, He has entered into a Covenant with all the people of the
> world, including the Interpreter and Explainer of His teachings, so
> that no one may interpret or explain the religion of God according
> to his own ideas or opinion, and thus create a sect founded upon his
> own understanding of the divine words.
> These are some of the principles of religion brought by the Báb
> and Bahá’u’lláh which are different from the religions of the past.
> Thousands of men and women died during the nineteenth century
> rather than give up their faith in these teachings. Today, in the
> twentieth century, millions of Bahá’ís live their lives so that they
> can demonstrate these teachings and bring them to all people,
> everywhere.
> In the Golden Crowns series, Lowell Johnson tells the stories of some
> of these early believers who won the crown of martyrdom. One of
> these believers was Ṭáhirih. Ṭáhirih’s story now follows.
> 
> * Bahá’u’lláh appointed His eldest Son, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, as the Centre of the
> Covenant. He guided the Bahá’ís until He passed away in Haifa, Israel, on the
> 28th of November 1921. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’ means the ‘Servant of Bahá’ or the
> ‘Servant of the Glory’.
> Note
> 
> For this edition, these stories have
> 
> been extensively revised. They may
> 
> be read aloud effectively, or else
> 
> used for private reading.
> 
> Ṭáhirih
> ‘Ṭáhirih’, meaning the ‘Pure One’, is the title given to the first
> woman believer in the Báb. The title was given to her by Bahá’u’lláh,
> and later confirmed by the Báb. You will see why she was called the
> ‘Pure One’, as we tell the story of Ṭáhirih.
> Ṭáhirih was born in Qazvín, Írán (Persia) in 1817, the same year
> in which Bahá’u’lláh was born. Qazvín is a city which at that time
> was one of the main centres of the Muslim religion. Her father was a
> priest and a teacher, a very famous and intelligent clergyman in
> Írán. Her father’s brother was also a priest and just as well known.
> Ṭáhirih’s brother was very much like his father, so the three men
> were always discussing religion in the home. Ṭáhirih therefore,
> heard much about religion from the day she was born.
> Ṭáhirih was not like most children who would rather play than
> study their books. She passed most of her time listening to her
> parents and family talk about God and the Muslim religion. As they
> talked, she learned many things, and part of what she learned was
> this: her family was confused about religion, and didn’t really
> understand its spiritual meaning. When she discovered this, she
> began to study religion for herself.
> Even as a child, she became very well known in Qazvín as a
> prodigy, a person who is more intelligent and clever than most.
> When she was born, she was named Fáṭimih Umm-Salamih, but she
> was never called by that name. She was such an outstanding child
> that the family always called her ‘Zarrín-Táj’, which means ‘Crown
> of Gold’. When her father taught his classes in religion, there would
> be hundreds of men studying, but no women. Women were treated
> only like animals in those days, especially in that part of the world.
> The men believed that they were good only for doing the housework
> and bearing the children. In public, the women always had to wear
> a veil.
> But young Zarrín-Táj received permission from her father to
> 
> listen to him teach his classes. He told her she could listen, but that
> she must always sit behind a curtain so that none of the men would
> know she was there. Zarrín-Táj’s father once said that he wished his
> daughter were a son, because if she were his son she would follow
> in her father’s footsteps and add glory to the family name. Little did
> he know what glory she would add to his name in the future.
> Little Zarrín-Táj was happy to listen to her father’s lectures from
> behind the curtain. But sometimes she could not remain completely
> quiet. One day she became so excited by what her father was saying
> that, without thinking, she spoke up from behind the curtain and
> told her father that he had made a mistake in what he had just said.
> Her father was very surprised, and quite angry, as well. But
> Zarrín-Táj proved that he was wrong in what he had just said, and
> from then on everyone knew that she was behind the curtain. She
> was even permitted to take part in all the discussions.
> At the age of thirteen, Zarrín-Táj was married to a cousin, Mullá
> Muḥammad. Her parents arranged the marriage, as that was the
> custom. Mullá Muḥammad was not her choice for a husband. But
> she lived with him for a while, and bore him three children. But most
> of the time she spent at the home of her father and mother, until she
> became a follower of Siyyid Káẓim and left the city of Qazvín.
> Now, this is how Zarrín-Táj learned of Siyyid Káẓim. One day,
> she was visiting the home of a cousin. Wherever she went she was
> always interested in what books people were reading, and what
> books they had in their libraries. In this cousin’s home, she saw some
> books written by two great scholars, Shaykh Aḥmad and Siyyid
> Káẓim. She looked through them, and asked if she could take them
> home with her. The cousin told her that her father would not like
> her to read those books, because they were written by very modern
> thinkers. These books did not agree with the way her father taught
> the Muslim religion. This pleased Zarrín-Táj very much, because
> she did not agree with her father, either. So, she promised to take
> good care of the books, and her cousin let her have them.
> In one of these books, she read that the time was soon to come
> 
> when a new Prophet of God would appear Who would fulfil all the
> promises of all the religions, and especially the promises made by
> Muḥammad in the Holy Qur’án. The book was so logical and
> convincing that Zarrín-Táj longed to meet these teachers. But,
> Shaykh Aḥmad had passed on a few years before, and Siyyid Káẓim
> was living a long way away in Karbilá in the country of ‘Iráq.
> And in those countries it was not permitted for a woman to travel
> alone.
> Zarrín-Táj became more and more interested in this new teaching
> of Shaykh Aḥmad and Siyyid Káẓim though, and she told everyone
> about it. Her family and her husband became very angry with her,
> but she could think only of the new Teacher Who was to come into
> the world. She even told her uncle that she wanted to be the first
> woman to serve the new Prophet when He appeared, because she
> knew how low Írán had sunk and how poorly educated the women
> were and she wanted to help them. She said to her uncle, ‘Oh, when
> will the day come when new laws will be revealed on the earth? I
> shall be the first to follow these new Teachings and give my life for my
> sisters!’
> Zarrín-Táj tried to discuss these new teachings with her father,
> but he would not listen. Therefore, she wrote letters to Siyyid
> Káẓim himself; to ask him the many questions she had in her mind.
> Siyyid Káẓim answered all her questions so well that Zarrín-Táj
> began to admire him more and more. She was so pleased with his
> answers that she wrote a long paper praising the teachings of Shaykh
> Aḥmad and defending these teachings against the many people who
> tried to prove that they were wrong. This paper was so intelligent,
> and it explained the teachings of Shaykh Aḥmad so simply that
> Siyyid Káẓim wrote her a letter which started with these words:
> ‘O thou who art the solace of mine eyes, and the joy of my heart!’
> In Persian, the words ‘solace of my eyes’ are translated ‘Qurratu’l-
> ‘Ayn’—and from then on Zarrín-Táj became known by the name
> Qurratu’l-‘Ayn.
> 
> After Qurratu’l-‘Ayn had received her letter from Siyyid Káẓim,
> she decided she must go to Karbilá to see him. But, what excuse
> could she use? Her father would never give his permission for her to
> visit Siyyid Káẓim. And certainly he would never permit her to
> travel hundreds of kilometres across the desert alone. But Qurratu’l-
> ‘Ayn thought of a plan.
> Karbilá is one of the holy cities in the religion of Islám. Many
> people go there every year to visit the shrines—if they cannot go to
> Mecca and Medina. Qurratu’l-‘Ayn had always wanted to visit
> these shrines, although being a woman, she was not expected to do
> so. However, she talked to her sister, and they decided they must ask
> their father’s permission to visit the shrines in Karbilá. Her father
> knew that if she went to Karbilá, she would also visit Siyyid Káẓim.
> But he decided that he would let her go anyway. He hoped that
> seeing the sacred shrines of Islám would make her change her mind,
> and that she would become a true Muslim again.
> The journey to Karbilá was made in 1843. Qurratu’l-‘Ayn was
> twenty-six years old at that time, and the mother of two sons and
> one daughter. She had already become famous all over Írán as the
> most beautiful and the most educated woman in the country. It
> would be a wonderful to have a picture of this great woman of Írán,
> but no photos of her were ever taken, and no artists ever painted her
> while she was alive. Therefore, the only picture we can have of her
> is a spiritual one.
> After making the long journey from Qazvín to Karbilá, Qurratu’l-
> ‘Ayn went straight to the home of Siyyid Káẓim. But when she
> arrived, she received a great disappointment. Siyyid Káẓim had
> passed from this world only ten days before. She was overcome with
> sadness and wept for many days. So disappointed was she about not
> meeting her new teacher that Siyyid Káẓim’s family invited her to
> stay with them. They let her read all of his writings, many of which
> 
> had never been published. She studied them eagerly, and even
> taught some of Siyyid Káẓim’s students. When she was teaching, she
> would sit behind a curtain, as she had done in Qazvín when she
> was in her father’s classes. It must have seemed very strange for
> Siyyid Káẓim’s students, who were all men, to hear the voice of a
> woman teaching them from behind a thick curtain.
> 
> Qurratu’l-‘Ayn stayed for three years in Karbilá. But during this
> time many things happened. One of the most important things was
> this: One night, after she had kept the fast and meditated during the
> day, she had a dream. In this dream, she saw a young Man, a
> descendant of the Prophet Muḥammad, in the heavens. This young
> Man was standing in the air, repeating certain words and praying.
> Qurratu’l-‘Ayn remembered some of these words and wrote them
> down when she awoke.
> In a few days’ time, she learned that her sister’s husband, Mírzá
> Muḥammad ‘Alí, was soon to leave Qazvín in search of the Promised
> One. As soon as she heard the news, Qurratu’l-‘Ayn sent a sealed
> letter to him and asked him to deliver it to the Promised One when
> he found Him. She said, ‘You are sure to meet the Promised One in
> the course of your journey. Say to Him from me, “The light of Thy
> face flashed before my eyes, and its rays arose high above me. Then
> speak the word, ‘Am I not your Lord?’ and ‘Thou art, Thou art!’ we
> will all reply.”’
> Mírzá Muḥammad ‘Alí took Qurratu’l-‘Ayn’s letter with him on
> his journey. When he recognized the Báb in Shíráz, he became the
> sixteenth Letter of the Living.* At the same time, he gave to the Báb
> the letter and the message from Qurratu’l-‘Ayn. When the Báb
> read it, He immediately declared her the seventeenth Letter of the
> Living. And so, Qurratu’l-‘Ayn was the only one of the Letters of
> 
> * The first eighteen people to recognize the Báb were called ‘Letters of the
> Living’.
> 
> the Living who never came into the presence of the Báb, but
> through her dream she had recognized Him!
> When Mullá ‘Alí, the fourth Letter of the Living, left Shíráz,
> he received instructions from the Báb to take the news of the Faith
> to Karbilá. The Báb sent some of His Arabic Writings with Mullá
> ‘Alí, and when Qurratu’l-‘Ayn read these Writings, she found in
> them the words she had heard in her dream, and which she had
> written down. She was sure, then, that the Báb in Shíráz was the
> same man she had seen in her dream.
> So hungry was Qurratu’l-‘Ayn for news about the Báb that she
> kept Mullá ‘Alí with her for a long, long time, asking him questions.
> She would not let him rest until she knew everything. She studied the
> Writings of the Báb over and over, and then she began to translate
> the Books into Persian. She also wrote her own books and poems in
> Persian about the Báb and His Teachings.
> 
> Qurratu’l-‘Ayn was not alone in Karbilá. With her were some
> women who may interest you. There were the mother and sister of
> Mullá Ḥusayn,* and a woman known as Shams-i-Ḍuḥᆠwhich
> means the ‘Morning Sun’. Shams-i-Ḍuḥá’s real name was Khurshíd
> Bagum, but most people didn’t use it. She later became the grand-
> mother of Mírzá Jalál who married ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s daughter, Rúḥá
> Khánum.
> Soon everyone in Karbilá knew that Qurratu’l-‘Ayn had become
> a believer in the Báb, and that she was openly teaching His Faith in
> the Holy City of Islám itself. Not only did she teach this Faith, but
> she refused to celebrate the holy days of the Muslim religion any
> more. On the anniversary of the martyrdom of Ḥusayn (a very holy
> day in the Muslim religion), Qurratu’l-‘Ayn asked her sister and her
> relatives to put away the black clothes usually worn on that day, and
> instead to wear bright, colourful dresses. Why? Because it was also
> 
> * See the booklet about Mullá Ḥusayn.    † Pronounced Shams-seh-Zoha.
> 
> the anniversary of the Birth of the Báb, and that was a day for great
> happiness and joy, not a day for wearing black!
> When the priests of Karbilá heard about what Qurratu’l-‘Ayn
> had done on such a holy day to Islám, they reported her actions to
> the Government and demanded that she be brought before the
> Governor of the city and punished. The government officials who
> were searching for her arrested Shams-i-Ḍuḥá by mistake. When
> Qurratu’l-‘Ayn learned of this, she wrote to the Governor and told
> him that they had arrested the wrong woman. They must come and
> take her instead. The Governor became quite disgusted with these
> women and ordered a guard to keep Qurratu’l-‘Ayn in her house.
> For three months she was not permitted to see anyone. No one was
> able to enter the house, and she was not permitted to leave.
> Soon, Qurratu’l-‘Ayn received the news that the Báb had called a
> conference of the leading Bábís in the province of Khurásán in Írán.
> Qurratu’l-‘Ayn was gloriously happy! But she was a prisoner in her
> own home: how was she going to attend? Nothing was going to stop
> her from attending this conference, so she wrote a letter to the
> Governor and told him that she was leaving Karbilá for Baghdád.
> Baghdád was still in ‘Iráq, but nearer the Iranian border, and there-
> fore on her way to the conference.
> The priests of Karbilá tried to stop Qurratu’l-‘Ayn from leaving
> the city. They told her that the journey to Baghdád was too difficult
> and dangerous at this time. The real reason why they wanted her to
> stay in Karbilá was that the Governor had not yet announced what
> he was going to do with her for celebrating the birth of the Báb,
> instead of commemorating the Muslim holy day. They were still
> hoping that she would be publicly punished.
> Naturally, their arguments had no effect on Qurratu’l-‘Ayn.
> Instead, she wrote a long letter to each one of them telling them why
> she was going, and that she was quite able to make the journey—
> because there are no dangers when doing the will of God!
> Soon she received permission from the Governor to leave Karbilá.
> But, he said, she must stay in Baghdád until a final decision was
> 
> reached about her. The ladies packed their belongings and, with
> several men to protect them, they left for Baghdád. One of these
> companions was Mírzá Muḥammad ‘Alí, the sixteenth Letter of the
> Living who had delivered her message to the Báb. As they were
> leaving the city, Qurratu’l-‘Ayn was hit several times by stones
> which people threw at her.
> When they arrived in Baghdád, Qurratu’l-‘Ayn began to teach
> the Cause every day. People who had known her in the past came to
> listen to her lectures, and they were surprised at her power and her
> strength of words. ‘This is not the woman we knew before’, they
> would say. Her lectures attracted large crowds, and many people
> began to investigate the Truth for themselves, especially the women.
> Within a short time, many of her former students, both men and
> women, left Karbilá and came to Baghdád to attend her classes.
> Such was her power of attraction.
> Here in Baghdád, just as in Karbilá, she invited the priests to
> come to a public discussion of these new religious teachings. The
> priests all made excuses, however, and refused to come. Instead they
> made a loud outcry against her, such a huge outcry that it reached
> the ears of the Government. To protect them, the Governor sent all
> the ladies to live in the house of the Judge of Baghdád.
> Ṭáhirih and the other ladies lived with the Judge for some time,
> and the Judge was very impressed with their spirit. A few years later,
> when he wrote a book about his life experiences, he mentioned
> Qurratu’l-‘Ayn’s time in his home. He wrote that every morning in
> the early dawn she would arise and pray and meditate. Very often
> she would also fast. He added that he had never seen a woman more
> pure, nor one who had more knowledge. No woman was more brave
> or more eager to give her life to a cause. At one time he said of her,
> ‘I see in her such knowledge, education, politeness, and good
> character as I have not seen in any great man in this century.’
> It was 1847, and for three months she stayed in the home of the
> Judge. All this time she was waiting for her instructions. One day, the
> Judge brought her a message from the Governor. He said, ‘You are
> 
> now free, but you must leave ‘Iráq tomorrow. You must arrange
> your things for travelling to Írán, for the Sultán commands it.’ This
> made Qurratu’l-‘Ayn very happy, as she was eager to be on her
> way to the conference in the province of Khurásán.
> 
> When Qurratu’l-‘Ayn made her preparations for the journey back
> to her home country, she found that more than thirty of her friends
> wanted to go with her. Some were from ‘Iráq and some were friends
> who had come to her from Írán. She obtained permission for them
> to go with her, and the Judge sent along ten horsemen under the
> command of a general to protect them on their way. In this royal
> manner, they left on their journey and in a few days’ time they
> reached the border of Írán. From there, they continued on their way
> alone, without the horsemen, to the city of Kirmánsháh. On the way
> to Kirmánsháh, they stayed for three days in the village of Karand.
> Before leaving Karand, twelve hundred persons volunteered to
> follow Qurratu’l-‘Ayn and do her bidding.
> In Kirmánsháh the men in the group stayed in one house and the
> women in another. As soon as the people of the city learned that
> Qurratu’l-‘Ayn was there, they rushed to her house to see her. Even
> princes, priests and government officials hurried to visit her. They
> listened to her speeches and were impressed by her knowledge, her
> power, and her beautiful character. She seemed to have no sense of
> fear. She read the Writings of the Báb to everyone who came, and
> answered everyone’s questions. Even the wife of the Governor was
> among the ladies who heard her speak, and when the Governor
> himself heard her explain the Message of the Báb, he accepted the
> Cause and told everyone how much he loved and admired Qurratu’l-
> ‘Ayn.
> But some of the priests of Kirmánsháh were not as friendly as the
> Governor and the princes. The priests went to the Mayor of the city
> and made some reports that were not true. The Mayor then had the
> 
> Bábís thrown out of the city. He even permitted a mob to attack their
> houses and steal everything that the Bábís owned. Then they were
> put into a wagon drawn by horses, and they were driven out into the
> desert. There, they were put out of the wagon, and left with no food,
> no change of clothing, and no blankets or rugs. It was very cold.
> Qurratu’l-‘Ayn wrote a letter to the Governor of Kirmánsháh,
> and explained to him what the Mayor had done. ‘We were your
> guests in Kirmánsháh’, she said. ‘Do you think it was kind to treat
> us like this?’ One of the group walked to Kirmánsháh to carry the
> message. When the Governor received the letter, he was very
> surprised, for he had known nothing about the order. He invited the
> whole group to return to Kirmánsháh as his guests, but this
> Qurratu’l-‘Ayn refused to do. She was eager to go on to the con-
> ference being called by the Báb.
> When the group reached the village of Hamadán, Qurratu’l-‘Ayn
> was met by her brothers from Qazvín who delivered a message to
> her from her father. Her father wanted her to come home for a visit
> and stay for a while. She did not want to go, but she agreed because
> it was her father’s desire. Before she left Hamadán, she asked some
> of her followers to go back to ‘Iráq; she left others in Hamadán.
> Only a few of her companions went with her. Two of them were
> Shaykh Ṣáliḥ and Mullá Ibráhím, both of whom soon died as
> martyrs, one in Ṭihrán and one in Qazvín. Others were Shams-i-
> Ḍuḥá, Mírzá Muḥammad-‘Alí the Letter of the Living, and Siyyid
> ‘Abdu’l-Hádí, who was promised in marriage to Qurratu’l-‘Ayn’s
> daughter. These last two had travelled with her all the way from
> Karbilá.
> 
> When Qurratu’l-‘Ayn arrived at her father’s home, a family dis-
> cussion was held which included her father, her husband, and her
> uncle, who was also her father-in-law. When she told her family that
> she had completely given her love to the Teachings of the Báb, her
> 
> father became very excited and showed her how really great he
> thought she was. He said to her: ‘If you, with all the learning and
> intelligence you have, were to claim to be the Báb or even more than
> that, I would immediately agree with you and believe in you—but
> what can I do, when you choose to follow this young man from
> Shíráz?’
> Qurratu’l-‘Ayn answered her father: ‘With the knowledge which
> I have, it is impossible that I could be mistaken in recognizing Him
> Who is the Lord of the worlds, Him Whom all the people are waiting
> for. I have recognized Him by the proofs of reason and the facts of
> knowledge. But this knowledge of mine is only a drop, compared
> with the great ocean of knowledge which is the Báb’s.’
> Her father was greatly impressed, but he could not see beyond his
> own daughter. He said, ‘If you had been my son instead of my
> daughter, and if you had made the claim that you were the Báb
> yourself, I would have believed it.’
> Qurratu’l-‘Ayn’s uncle, Mullá Taqí, became very angry during
> the evening, and cursed the Báb. In his anger he lost his temper and
> even hit Qurratu’l-‘Ayn several times. She remained very calm, but
> she turned to him and said these prophetic words: ‘O Uncle, I see
> your mouth filling with blood.’
> The next day, her husband sent several ladies to her with the
> message that she must come back and live with him. Qurratu’l-‘Ayn
> was not interested in living with her husband any more, because they
> no longer had anything in common. She said to the ladies, ‘Tell my
> proud and false-hearted husband, “If you had really wanted to be a
> faithful husband and companion to me, you would have hurried to
> see me in Karbilá, and would have guided my carriage on foot all
> the way back to your home. If you had done that, I would have
> awakened you from your sleep of heedlessness while we travelled, and
> shown you the way to Truth. But this was not meant to be. We have
> been apart for three years. Neither in this world nor in the next can
> I ever again be with you. I have put you out of my life forever.”’
> So strong and final was her answer to her husband that he and his
> 
> father became furiously angry. They immediately tried to prove that
> she was a bad woman, and that everything she told the people was
> untrue. Qurratu’l-‘Ayn was quite able to defend herself in every way,
> and she proved by her actions that it was not her character which
> was poor, but her husband’s.
> Qurratu’l-‘Ayn’s father was a peaceful, fair-minded man. He tried
> to bring his daughter and husband together again, but it was no use.
> A few weeks later, her husband divorced her.
> It was during this difficult time that a certain Mullá ‘Abdu’lláh
> committed a murder in Qazvín, which caused great trouble to
> Qurratu’l-‘Ayn. Mullá ‘Abdu’lláh killed Mullá Taqí, Qurratu’l-
> ‘Ayn’s uncle, because Mullá Taqí had ordered the persecution and
> death of Mullá Ibráhím, one of Qurratu’l-‘Ayn’s recent com-
> panions on her journey. This murder filled the family of Mullá Taqí
> with even more hate and anger against Qurratu’l-‘Ayn. They claim-
> ed that she had given the order for his death. You will remember
> that she said to Mullá Taqí on the night of the family conference,
> ‘O Uncle, I see your mouth filling with blood.’ This news got
> around to the family, and they said, ‘No one else but you is guilty of
> the murder of our father. You gave the order that he must be
> killed.’
> Of course, what they said was not true. But, nevertheless, the
> family succeeded in having her placed under strict guard in her own
> father’s home. The women who were chosen to watch over her were
> ordered not to let her out of her room, except for the purpose of
> washing herself once a day.
> Many of the other Bábís were arrested after this murder was
> committed. The clergy found it a convenient time to get rid of as
> many Bábís as they could. Therefore, the entire company of Bábís
> was sent to the prison in the capital city, Ṭihrán. But Mullá Taqí’s
> family was not satisfied that they should only be put in prison. They
> wanted them all killed, because one of them had killed their father.
> The case was then brought before the King himself, and he gave
> the order that only the murderer could be killed—the others must
> 
> be released. The family could not find the real murderer, as he was
> hiding somewhere. Therefore, they declared another Bábí, Shaykh
> Ṣáliḥ, to be the murderer. You will remember that he came with
> Qurratu’l-‘Ayn on the journey to her home.
> Shaykh Ṣáliḥ was arrested and told that he was to die for the
> murder of Mullá Taqí. As he was brought to the place where he was
> to be hanged, his face was filled with joy. He was not afraid to die.
> He was happy. He hurried to greet the man who was to kill him, as
> though he were a dear and lifelong friend. Just before he was killed,
> he spoke beautifully of the Báb, and said, ‘I gave up the hopes and
> the beliefs of men from the moment I recognized Thee, Thou Who
> art my Hope and my Belief!’ Shaykh Ṣáliḥ was buried in the court-
> yard of one of the Muslim shrines in Ṭihrán.
> The death of Shaykh Ṣáliḥ did not satisfy Mullá Taqí’s family.
> When the innocent Bábís were returned to Qazvín, all of them were
> put to death. A mob of men carrying knives, swords, spears, and
> axes attacked the defenceless Bábís, and cut them to pieces. The bits
> of their bodies were thrown in so many different directions that it was
> not possible to find any part of them for a proper burial. All this was
> done in the name of Muḥammad, in the city of Qazvín, where no
> less than a hundred of the highest leaders of the Muslim religion had
> their homes and lived their lives!
> And still the family of Mullá Taqí were not satisfied. They next
> turned their attention to Qurratu’l-‘Ayn herself. They insisted that
> she must suffer the same kind of death as had all the rest.
> During all this trouble, Mullá Muḥammad, Qurratu’l-‘Ayn’s
> husband, had been following in his father’s footsteps and become
> the highest religious leader in Qazvín. When Qurratu’l-‘Ayn learned
> that her enemies were going to kill her too, she wrote a letter to her
> husband, and this is what she said: If my Cause be the Cause of
> Truth, if the Lord whom I worship be none other than the one true
> God, He will deliver me from this house before nine days have
> passed. If God does not deliver me from here you are free to do what
> you wish with me.’
> 
> In some way, Bahá’u’lláh learned of Qurratu’l-‘Ayn’s danger and
> her brave announcement to her husband. He immediately sent
> Muḥammad-Hádí, Qurratu’l-‘Ayn’s eldest brother, to Qazvín to
> help her escape. Bahá’u’lláh gave him a letter which he was to give
> to his wife, Khátún-Ján, to deliver to Qurratu’l-‘Ayn.
> Khátún-Ján was a faithful friend of Qurratu’l-‘Ayn, and the only
> person who could see her while she was kept in her father’s house.
> She found many excuses to go to visit her sister-in-law. Sometimes
> she would go there pretending that she must wash some clothes—any
> excuse was used. In this way, she would carry food, and help
> Qurratu’l-‘Ayn through her difficult times.
> Bahá’u’lláh instructed Khátún-Ján to go to Qurratu’l-‘Ayn’s
> house in the clothes of a beggar. She must deliver the letter into her
> own hands, wait at the entrance of the house until Qurratu’l-‘Ayn
> joined her, and then hurry to Muḥammad-Hádí.
> Then, He told Muḥammad-Hádí that, as soon as Qurratu’l-‘Ayn
> had joined him, he must start immediately for Ṭihrán. That very
> night, Bahá’u’lláh would send someone to Qazvín with three horses.
> Muḥammad-Hádí must bring Qurratu’l-‘Ayn to a spot outside the
> city walls, climb on the horses, and try to get to Ṭihrán before
> daybreak. As soon as the gates of the city were opened, they must
> come immediately to Bahá’u’lláh’s house. Bahá’u’lláh said he must
> be very careful that no one could recognize who she is. Then He
> added: ‘The Almighty will assuredly guide your steps and surround
> you with His unfailing protection.’
> Everything was done as Bahá’u’lláh had commanded. When
> Qurratu’l-‘Ayn read the letter, she said to Khátún-Jan, ‘You go, and
> I shall follow.’ Within the hour, she was on her way. They took her
> to the house of a carpenter where no one would look for her. From
> there they climbed over the city wall, and went to a slaughter-house
> where the horses were waiting. With no trouble at all, they reached
> the city of Ṭihrán, and, at the proper time, found themselves in the
> home of Bahá’u’lláh.
> As you can see, nine days had not yet gone by before Qurratu’l-
> 
> ‘Ayn was delivered from the danger in Qazvín. The city of Qazvín
> was shocked. The whole night they searched the houses for Qurratu’l-
> ‘Ayn. The house belonging to Khátún-Ján’s father was robbed of all
> its goods. Her promise to be out of the hands of her guards within
> nine days had surprised everyone. As a result of what had happened,
> a few people came to realize the greatness of the Faith she had
> accepted, and some of them became followers of the Báb.
> 
> When Qurratu’l-‘Ayn entered the house of Bahá’u’lláh, she knew
> full well Who Bahá’u’lláh was, and what He was going to be. She
> had recognized the Báb without even seeing Him, and it was this
> same spiritual greatness that caused her to recognize the future glory
> of Bahá’u’lláh. Even in the year 1844, while she was in Karbilá, she
> had written poems which clearly showed that she knew that both the
> Báb and Bahá’u’lláh were Prophets of God. Nothing else could have
> given her the courage to do the things which she did during the next
> few months of her life.
> At this time, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was a little boy only three or four
> years old. One day, the great scholar Vaḥíd* came to visit Qurratu’l-
> ‘Ayn. Vaḥíd was one of the early believers who was later martyred
> in Nayríz. He waited for a long time to see her. But Qurratu’l-‘Ayn
> was at that moment holding ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on her lap, as she so often
> did. Quite a long time went by, and Qurratu’l-‘Ayn made no move
> to go and talk to the great Vaḥíd. One of the women in the house
> became worried, and she said, ‘Shouldn’t you leave the child now,
> and go to speak with Vaḥíd?’ But Qurratu’l-‘Ayn pulled little
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá even closer to her and said, ‘Shall I leave Thee,
> Protector of the Cause, to go and see one of the followers of the
> Cause?’
> Those who heard her say this were greatly surprised, for no one
> knew what she meant. Today, although no one knows if it is true,
> 
> * See the booklet on Vaḥíd, to be published.
> 
> some people believe that Bahá’u’lláh had told her many things about
> what the future would be, and especially about the importance of
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as the protector of Bahá’u’lláh against His enemies
> in the many years to come.
> A few days after Qurratu’l-‘Ayn arrived in Ṭihrán, Bahá’u’lláh
> decided to send her on to Khurásán. The long-awaited conference
> called by the Báb was about to begin. Bahá’u’lláh Himself was to
> follow her in a few days’ time. He, therefore, called His own brother,
> Áqáy-i-Kalím, into His presence and gave him instructions about
> Qurratu’l-‘Ayn’s journey. He told Áqáy-i-Kalím that he must be
> very careful as he took Qurratu’l-‘Ayn through the gates of the city,
> as the guards had been given orders not to allow any women to pass
> through. If they discovered who Qurratu’l-‘Ayn was, they would not
> let her leave.
> Áqáy-i-Kalím was very careful to follow all of Bahá’u’lláh’s
> instructions. He and Qurratu’l-‘Ayn put their trust in God, and when
> they came to the gate, none of the guards took any notice of them.
> They rode out of the city safely and easily, and they did not stop
> riding for several kilometres.
> After two hours of riding, they came to a lovely orchard of trees
> situated at the foot of a mountain. In the centre of this orchard was a
> house which looked as though no one lived in it. As Áqáy-i-Kalím
> went looking for someone who might be in charge of the house, he
> came across an old man watering some plants. Áqáy-i-Kalím asked
> the old man, ‘Where are the owners of this house?’ and the old man
> said, ‘The owners are not here. There has been an argument over
> who owns this place, and until the problem is settled, I have been
> asked to watch over it.’
> Áqáy-i-Kalím was very happy to hear this news, because it meant
> that Qurratu’l-‘Ayn would be safe for a while in this place. They
> invited the old man to share their lunch with them, and then
> Áqáy-i-Kalím asked the old man if he would take care of Qurratu’l-
> ‘Ayn for a few hours while he made arrangements for their journey
> to Khurásán. The old man agreed, and all was settled.
> 
> When Áqáy-i-Kalím left Qurratu’l-‘Ayn, he went back into
> Ṭihrán through the same gates to tell Bahá’u’lláh what had
> happened, and he sent Mullá Báqir, one of the Letters of the Living,
> to join Qurratu’l-‘Ayn at the house in the orchard. Bahá’u’lláh was
> greatly pleased that everything had worked out so well, and He
> named the orchard the ‘Garden of Paradise’. Then He said, ‘That
> house has been prepared by the Almighty for this purpose, so that
> you may entertain in it the loved ones of God.’
> Qurratu’l-‘Ayn stayed in that house for seven days. Then she set
> out with several others for the great conference called by the Báb.
> 
> The conference called by the Báb in the province of Khurásán was
> held in the little village of Badasht. Badasht lies between Ṭihrán
> and Mázindarán. It was an out-of-the-way summer place full of
> gardens and grassland with only a few houses. It was the perfect place
> to hold a private conference. It would have been too dangerous to
> hold such a gathering in Ṭihrán. Bahá’u’lláh had selected Badasht,
> because it was quiet.
> It was the beginning of summer. When Bahá’u’lláh arrived in
> Badasht, He rented three gardens. One was for Quddús, the leader
> of the Bábís.* The second was for Qurratu’l-‘Ayn and her servant,
> and the third was for Himself. In the middle of these three gardens
> there was an open place like a court. There, the believers could
> consult comfortably and freely.
> The Báb was not able to attend, because He was in prison.
> Those who gathered in Badasht for this very first conference of the
> New Age were eighty-one in number. Every clay, Bahá’u’lláh
> revealed a new Tablet, or explanation, which one of the Bábís would
> chant for everyone to hear. In these Tablets, He gave each person
> present a new name for the New Day. He Himself accepted the
> name ‘Bahá”, which the Báb had already given to Him. And to
> 
> * see the booklet about Quddús.
> 
> Qurratu’l-‘Ayn He gave the title ‘Ṭáhirih’. Ṭáhirih, you remember,
> means the ‘Pure One’. At a later time during the conference, when
> Ṭáhirih did some things which to some of the believers did not seem
> to be very pure, they questioned whether Bahá’u’lláh had given her
> the right name. But later, when the Báb learned that some of the
> men were doubting Bahá’u’lláh’s wisdom, He wrote to them from
> His prison: ‘What am I to say regarding her whom the Tongue of
> Power and Glory has named Ṭáhirih?’ In other words, the Báb
> made it clear that He did not question the wisdom of Bahá’u’lláh
> and that He agreed with the name given to her. From then on
> Qurratu’l-‘Ayn was known as Ṭáhirih.
> Many of the men present at this conference wondered why
> Ṭáhirih, a woman, was permitted to consult with the men, even
> from behind a curtain. When one of them questioned her about it,
> she answered, ‘Our talk is about God, about religion, about spiritual
> matters, and above all, about giving our lives in the path of Truth.
> Know that every step we take is in the path of God. Are you prepared
> to follow us?’
> At this time in the development of the Cause, the Báb had not yet
> revealed to His followers His full importance. He had declared
> Himself to be the Báb (the Gate), but He had not yet told them that
> He was the beginning of a whole new era, and that laws would
> necessarily have to be changed. It was left to Bahá’u’lláh, Ṭáhirih
> and Quddús to prepare the rest of the believers to accept these new,
> revolutionary ideas.
> Then, on a certain day, Bahá’u’lláh was ill and stayed in His tent
> —and indeed there was a wisdom in this. Quddús came out of his own
> garden and went immediately to see Bahá’u’lláh. Soon, the others
> gathered around Bahá’u’lláh’s tent—all the believers, except Ṭáhirih.
> Being a woman, she was not permitted to be in the presence of the
> men, unless she stayed behind a curtain where no one could see
> her.
> While everyone was gathered around Bahá’u’lláh, Ṭáhirih sent
> a message to Quddús to come to see her in her garden. Quddús
> 
> refused to go. This did not surprise anyone, but what happened next
> surprised everyone. Because Quddús would not come to see her, she
> came to see him! And not only did she come into the garden of
> Bahá’u’lláh where all the men were—but she came without her veil,
> and beautifully dressed! Quietly, silently, and with the greatest calm
> and dignity, Ṭáhirih stepped forward and seated herself beside
> Quddús.
> Such a thing had never been seen by any man before. Everyone
> was afraid, angry, and confused to the depths of their souls. One man
> was so shocked that he cut his own throat and ran away from the
> face of Ṭáhirih. Many others followed him, and the rest stood
> speechless before her. In the meantime, Quddús remained seated in
> his place, but his face was very angry. It seemed that at any moment
> he would lift the sword in his hand and kill her.
> But his anger did not affect Ṭáhirih in the least. Her face was filled
> with a feeling of joy and triumph. She rose to her feet and, paying no
> attention to the fear and anger of her companions, she began to talk
> to them in words which sounded very much like the style of the
> Qur’án. She was a poetess, and she had never used more beautiful
> words. She finished her talk with a sentence from the Qur’án which
> reads, ‘Verily, amid gardens and rivers shall the pious dwell in the
> seat of truth, in the presence of the potent King.’
> Indeed, they were at that moment sitting in gardens beside rivers
> and, as she said it, she glanced at both Bahá’u’lláh and Quddús,
> so that no one could tell which one she meant was the King. Then
> she spoke the words, ‘I am the Word which the Promised One is to
> speak, the Word which shall make the chiefs and the nobles of the
> earth afraid! The Trumpet is sounding! The great Trump is blown!’
> With these words, Ṭáhirih awakened sleeping souls. After she had
> spoken, Bahá’u’lláh had someone read the Súrih of the Inevitable
> from the Qur’án, which tells of the Day of Resurrection. This shows
> what an important moment that was the Day of Resurrection had
> begun!
> Ṭáhirih then turned her face toward Quddús and said, ‘You were
> 
> not very careful about the way you served the Faith in Khurásán.’
> Quddús answered, ‘I can do as I think best. I do not have to follow
> the will and the good-pleasure of my fellow disciples.’ Ṭáhirih then
> turned away from Quddús and spoke to the others. ‘This is the day to
> be happy’, she said. ‘It is the day when everything in the past is
> forgotten. Let all of us who have shared this great occasion arise and
> embrace each other.’
> It seems a very important thing that a woman was chosen to
> announce the new Age to the followers of the Báb. It showed, indeed,
> that the new Age was to be completely different from the past. For
> instance, women were to become equal with men, for the first time
> in history. For a woman to be given the responsibility of announcing
> the end of the old laws showed that a great revolution was about to
> take place in all things.
> But great changes bring about great tests. As the old laws were
> thrown aside each day at the conference, most of the men became
> more and more confused. A few men thought that it was wrong to
> end the old laws, especially while the Báb was not there. Others
> turned to Ṭáhirih and accepted her as the only person who could be
> the judge in these matters. Others felt that Quddús was the proper
> person to decide about such things, because he was considered to be
> the true representative of the Báb at this meeting. A few believed that
> both Quddús and Ṭáhirih were right, and that this conference was
> meant to be a test of their faith.
> The quarrel between Ṭáhirih and Quddús lasted for several days.
> Ṭáhirih would say to the Bábís, ‘Quddús has made many mistakes,
> and I was sent here by the Báb to teach him what to do.’ Quddús
> would then answer, ‘Ṭáhirih is the one who is really wrong. Anyone
> who follows Ṭáhirih is walking down the wrong path.’ After a few
> days, Bahá’u’lláh stepped in and stopped the whole argument in His
> wonderful way. He brought Ṭáhirih and Quddús together, and both
> began to serve again in a constructive way.
> The Conference of Badasht lasted only twenty-two days. The
> exciting discussions caught the attention of a number of the people
> 
> who lived nearby, and they soon attacked the Bábís and stole their
> possessions. The Conference broke up very suddenly.
> After the Conference, Bahá’u’lláh and Ṭáhirih left for the village
> of Níyálá. There, Bahá’u’lláh was arrested by the Governor of Ámul
> because of all the trouble concerning the Bábís. Ṭáhirih was separated
> from Bahá’u’lláh, and taken under guard back to Ṭihrán where she
> was kept in the house of Mahmúd Khán, the Mayor of Ṭihrán.
> 
> One day, Ṭáhirih was brought before the King, Náṣiri’d-Dín Sháh.
> When he saw her, he said ‘I like her looks. Leave her, and let her be.’
> But Ṭáhirih was still kept at the home of the Mayor.
> During her imprisonment, Ṭáhirih was at first kept in a little room
> where there were no stairs. A ladder had to be put up each time she
> came out or went in. One of the princesses of Írán, who was a poetess,
> came especially to walk past this house, hoping to see Ṭáhirih. She
> was rewarded with a glimpse of her as Ṭáhirih walked on her
> balcony. Later, in one of her books, she tells how completely happy
> Ṭáhirih was. No matter where we read about Ṭáhirih in history
> books and stories, we always hear of her as being happy—as being
> full of joy in her religion. She was always bright and enthusiastic,
> and even when in the greatest danger herself, she was always
> inspiring others with her courage. She was not only a martyr, she
> was a smiling, joyful, beautiful young woman.
> It is also reported that the King sent a message to her in the care
> of the Mayor asking her to give up her belief in the Báb and become
> a true Muslim again. He said that if she would do this, he would
> make her his wife and she would be the guardian of all the ladies in
> the royal household. But Ṭáhirih wrote her reply in verse on the
> back of his letter, and returned it to him. In English, the message
> went something like this:
> Kingdom, wealth and ruling be for thee,
> Wandering, becoming a poor dervish and calamity be for me.
> 
> If that station is good, let it be for thee,
> And if this station is bad, I long for it, let it be for me!
> When the King read her reply, he spoke of her courage and
> wonderful spirit, and said: ‘So far, history has not shown such a
> woman to us.’
> One day there was a great gathering at the Mayor’s home. It was
> the day when the Mayor’s son was getting married. Naturally,
> many fine ladies of the city were there—princesses, wives of ministers,
> and other ladies of importance. The Mayor had gone to great
> expense to have music and dancing and the best of entertainment.
> During the entertainment, Ṭáhirih began to speak. The ladies
> became so interested in what she had to say that they forgot all about
> the music and the dancing, and spent the rest of the time listening to
> the words of Ṭáhirih.
> Not long after Ṭáhirih had come to live with the Mayor of Ṭihrán,
> the ladies of the household grew to love her very much. They asked
> permission for her to leave her little room with no stairs, and to live
> with them in their own home. Ṭáhirih was given a lovely room with
> a balcony on the second floor of the house, and although she was
> still a prisoner and could not leave the house, she was allowed to
> have any number of visitors.
> Both men and women came to see her and talk with her in Ṭihrán.
> For three years she lived like this in the house of the Mayor, and it
> may be said that these three years were the most important ones in
> her service to the Faith.
> She talked to the women and showed them what a low place they
> had in the Muslim religion, and how they would be given more
> freedom and respect in the Bábí religion. Through her talks, many
> women became Bábís.
> This would have continued for many more years, but for the
> attempt by a young man to kill the King. Many Bábís were wrongly
> accused of having a part in this. The Premier ordered two priests
> to visit Ṭáhirih and find out what she was teaching. These two priests
> visited Ṭáhirih seven times. Each time Ṭáhirih talked with them and
> 
> insisted that the Báb was the promised Imám expected by the
> followers of Muḥammad. The priests tried to show her that the Báb
> could not be the Promised One because, according to the Muslims
> prophecies, the Imám was supposed to come from the cities of
> Jábulqá and Jábulsá—the Báb came from the city of Shíráz.
> Ṭáhirih answered that those prophecies had been forged by false
> writers, and that there were no such cities as Jábulqá and Jábulsá,
> and had never been any such cities—they could only be the super-
> stitions of diseased brains. No matter how she explained the
> Teachings of the Báb, however, she always met with the same
> argument from the priests—the Promised One must come from the
> cities of Jábulqá and Jábulsá!
> Finally, she lost her patience with these priests, and she said, ‘Your
> reasoning is like that of an ignorant and stupid child. How long will
> you keep repeating these stupidities and lies? When will you lift your
> eyes toward the Sun of Truth?’
> The priests were shocked by such a statement. They stood up and
> said, ‘Why continue our discussion with a non-believer?’ They
> returned home, and wrote out her sentence of death, in the name of
> the Holy Qur’án!
> A relative of Ṭáhirih tells that the day before she was killed, she
> was called before the King and asked the question, ‘Why should you
> be a believer in the Báb?’ She replied with a sentence from the
> Qur’án which reads like this: ‘I do not worship whom you worship,
> and you do not worship whom I worship. I shall never worship whom
> you worship, and you will never worship whom I worship. There-
> fore, permit that I worship whom I wish and you worship whom you
> wish.’
> When he heard this verse from the Qur’án, the King bent his head
> in silence for a long time, and then he arose and walked out of the
> room without a word. The King did not give the order for Ṭáhirih
> to be killed. It was done the next day without his knowledge, and
> when he learned that the deed had been done, he was filled with
> sorrow and tears.
> 
> There are many stories about the death of Ṭáhirih. Not all of them
> agree upon the exact way in which she was killed. But all do agree
> that she knew beforehand that her time had come, that she prepared
> herself as a bride for the supreme moment, and that she met her
> murder bravely, without fear.
> In one account, at the hour of her death, she said to a guard: ‘You
> can kill me as soon as you like, but you cannot stop the emancipation
> of women.’
> The story of her death which is likely to be most complete is the
> one told by the wife and the son of the Mayor, who were present
> with her on that last night.
> It was the day after Ṭáhirih’s visit to the King. The priests had
> secretly given the order that she must he killed. This order was
> passed on to the Mayor and to the police.
> As the Mayor’s son tells the story he says, ‘On the day that she
> was secretly killed, it seemed as if she had been told it was going
> to happen. Ṭáhirih bathed, changed all of her clothing and came down-
> stairs to see the family. One by one, she asked their pardon for
> having stayed in our house for so long, and for causing us so much
> trouble. She was like a traveller getting herself ready for a journey.
> She busied herself with the greatest pleasure and joy. Near sunset, as
> she usually did, she started walking back and forth on her balcony.
> She talked to no one, but she was quietly whispering to herself. This
> continued until three hours after sunset.
> ‘In the evening, my father came to me and said: “I have made all
> the necessary arrangements, and I have commanded all the watch-
> men to be very awake tonight, in case anyone finds out about this
> order to kill Ṭáhirih and tries to stop it. Now, I want you to go with
> these guards and take Ṭáhirih to the police station. You must stay
> there until the case is settled, then you must come back and report
> to me, so that I may go and inform the King.”’
> 
> The Mayor’s wife loved Ṭáhirih very greatly, although she never
> became a follower of the Báb. Her story of Ṭáhirih’s last night is this:
> ‘That night, Ṭáhirih called me to her room. When I walked into the
> room, I saw that she was wearing a dress made of snow-white silk.
> Her room was filled with beautiful perfume. I was surprised to find
> her like this, so I asked her, “What is the reason for this dress and
> this perfume?” She answered, “I am preparing to meet my Beloved.
> I shall no longer be a prisoner in your home.” I was shocked at the
> idea of her leaving us, and tears filled my eyes which I could not
> stop. Ṭáhirih tried to comfort me by saying, “You must not cry. The
> time for tears has not yet come. Listen to me. I want to share with
> you my last wishes, for the hour when I shall be arrested and killed
> is soon coming. This is my wish: I want you to let your son come with
> me to the place of my death so that he can protect me if the guards
> try to take off these clothes. I also want my body thrown into a pit
> and I want that pit filled with earth and stones. Three days after my
> death a woman will come to visit you. You must give her this parcel
> which I now deliver into your hands. My last wish is that you not
> allow anyone to come into my room until after I leave this house. No
> one must come to me while I am in my last prayers and devotions.
> This day I intend to fast—a fast which I shall not break until I am
> brought face to face with my Beloved.”
> ‘With these words, Ṭáhirih asked me to leave her room, to lock
> the door, and not to open it until the final hour. She also told me to
> keep the news of her coming death a secret, until her enemies should
> announce it themselves.
> ‘I did as she had asked. I locked the door to her room and went to
> my own. I could not control my tears. I lay on my bed for hours,
> thinking of the great Ṭáhirih, and the end which was soon to come.
> I prayed, “Lord, Lord, turn from her, if it be Thy wish, the cup
> which her lips desire to drink.”
> ‘That day and night, I went quietly to her door and listened
> several times. Each time I heard her chanting prayers to her Beloved.
> The melody of her voice was so beautiful I could hardly remain
> 
> standing on my feet. Four hours after sunset, I heard a knocking at
> the door. I went immediately to my son and told him of Ṭáhirih’s
> wishes. He gave his word that he would carry out every instruction
> to the last detail. My son then went to the door and found the
> guards standing at the gate. They demanded that Ṭáhirih be handed
> over to them.
> ‘I was filled with tear when I heard their voices. I walked slowly to
> Ṭáhirih’s room, unlocked the door, and found her veiled and ready
> to leave. She was walking back and forth in her room chanting a
> prayer of both sorrow and triumph. As soon as she saw me, she came
> to me and kissed me. She put into my hands the key to her wardrobe
> and said, “I have left a few little things in the wardrobe for you as a
> remembrance of my stay in your house. Whenever you open it and
> see the things I have left there, I hope you will remember me and be
> happy in my gladness.”
> ‘With these words she said her last goodbye and left the house
> with my son. As I stood by the door, I saw her climb on the horse
> which the Chief of Police had sent for her to use. With my son and
> a few guards, she rode out of my yard to the place of her martyrdom.’
> Three hours later, her son returned to the house, his face covered
> with tears and his mouth cursing the police and the guards. This is
> the story he told.
> ‘Mother, I can hardly describe what my eyes have seen tonight.
> From our house, we went straight away to the Ílkhání garden,
> outside the gate of the city. I went to the police office and reported to
> the Chief of Police. He was there waiting for us, but he was drunk.
> “Did anyone recognize you on the way?” he asked. I said, “No. No
> one.” He then called to a servant and said, “Take this handkerchief
> and twist it around the neck of this Bábí woman, and choke her to
> death. She is the cause of leading many people from the path of
> Muḥammad.” The servant left the room, and I went with him. He
> went ahead and I stood by the door. When he came near to Ṭáhirih,
> she looked at him and said a few words. He suddenly turned around
> and came walking back. He was hanging his head and talking softly
> 
> to himself in Turkish. He walked out of the door, and did not come
> back.
> ‘Ṭáhirih called to me and asked me to go to the Chief of Police
> with a special request. “It seems that they wish to strangle me”, she
> said. “Long ago, I set aside a silk handkerchief which I hoped would
> be used for this purpose. I deliver it into your hands and I want you
> to ask that drunkard to use it for the purpose of taking my life.”
> ‘When I went to the Chief I found him completely drunk. He
> only shouted at me, “Don’t interrupt our gay festival. Let that Bábí
> woman be strangled and her body thrown into a hole.” I was greatly
> surprised by such an order, because it was exactly what she had
> wanted. I did not ask him whether he would permit the murderer
> to use the silk handkerchief. I just went to the two guards and they
> agreed that the handkerchief would be a good thing to use.
> ‘A drunken servant was called and given the handkerchief. “You
> are such a brave man”, the policeman said. “Can you choke this
> woman?” The servant said yes, and as soon as he reached Ṭáhirih,
> he quickly wrapped the silk handkerchief around her throat so
> tightly that she became unconscious and fell. It was a slow death. It
> seemed to take a long time. Finally, he kicked her in the side and the
> chest, and the deed was finished.
> ‘I hurried to the gardener of this place, then, and asked whether
> he could suggest a spot where I could bury the body. He took me to
> a well which had been recently dug, and left unfinished. With the
> help of a few others, I lowered her into her grave and filled the well
> with earth and stones, as she had requested.’
> And so ended the life of the glorious Ṭáhirih. On the third day
> after her martyrdom, a woman came to visit the wife of the Mayor.
> ‘I asked her name,’ said the Mayor’s wife, ‘and finding it to be the
> same as the one Ṭáhirih had told me, I delivered into her hands the
> parcel she had given to me. I had never before met that woman, nor
> did I ever see her again.’
> The martyrdom of Ṭáhirih took place in August 1852. She was
> born in the year 1817, the same year as the birth of Bahá’u’lláh.
> 
> She was thirty-six years old when she suffered martyrdom in Ṭihrán.
> The time from the day she first heard of the coming of the Báb until
> the time she was martyred was a little less than nine years. Her
> career was as dazzling as it was short, as tragic as it was eventful. The
> lives of most of the early disciples of the Báb remain unknown to
> most of the world even to this day. But the life of Ṭáhirih quickly
> became famous, even as far as the capital cities of Europe. Both men
> and women of many nations, professions and cultures praised her,
> and admired her deeds and her sacrifice.
> The world remembers Ṭáhirih as the first woman suffrage martyr.
> Bahá’ís remember her in the same way as other religions revere
> Sarah, Ásíyih, Fáṭimih, and the Virgin Mary. The call she put forth
> at the conference of Badasht and in Ṭihrán marked the end of the
> 1200-year-old law of Islám, and the beginning of a new era.
> 
> Epilogue
> Following are additional notes quoted from friends and historians
> about the importance of Ṭáhirih to the world.
> As the news of Ṭáhirih’s martyrdom quickly spread around the
> world, it reached the ears of the great actress Sarah Bernhardt who
> requested that a play be written for her about Ṭáhirih’s life. Un-
> fortunately, a suitable play has not yet been written.
> One great Iranian Prince at the League of Nations in 1927 said,
> ‘I was only a young man when I heard of the martyrdom of the gifted
> poetess Ṭáhirih in Ṭihrán, and I tell you, I wept for three days.’
> Sulaymán Náẓim Big, a great author and poet of Turkey, wrote
> a book, Náṣiri’d-Dín Sháh and the Bábís. In it he closes his account of
> Ṭáhirih’s life with the words: ‘O Ṭáhirih, you are worth a thousand
> Náṣiri’d-Dín Sháhs!’
> Mrs Marianna Hainisch of Vienna, Austria, mother of one of the
> Presidents of Austria, said in 1925: ‘The greatest ideal of womanhood
> all my life has been Ṭáhirih (Qurratu’l-‘Ayn) of Qazvín, Írán. I was
> 
> only seventeen years old when I heard of her life and her martyrdom,
> but I said: “I shall try to do for the women of Austria what Ṭáhirih
> gave her life to do for women of Persia.”’ No woman in Austria has
> done so much for freedom and education for women as has Mrs
> Marianna Hainisch.
> Professor Edward G. Browne, an English historian who was the
> only Westerner to meet Bahá’u’lláh in Person, had this to say about
> Ṭáhirih: ‘The appearance of such a woman as Qurratu’l-‘Ayn is,
> in any country and in any age, a rare phenomenon, but in such a
> country as Persia it is a prodigy—nay, almost a miracle. Alike in
> virtue of her marvellous beauty, her rare intellectual gifts, her fervid
> eloquence, her fearless devotion, and her glorious martyrdom, she
> stands incomparable and immortal amidst her countrywomen. Had
> the religion of the Báb no other claim to greatness, this were sufficient
> —that it produced a heroine like Qurratu’l-‘Ayn.’
> An account signed by Jináb-i-Adíb, a famous Bahá’í teacher who
> visited Bahá’u’lláh in ‘Akká, has this to say: ‘… in every meeting
> held in Ṭihrán, both women and men were speaking in Ṭáhirih’s
> praise and honour. Many high-born, loving women came to her
> and were filled with joy because of her hopeful words. All were
> attracted by her eloquence, and people of all classes, even the
> royalty and ministers of state on entering her presence, humbly
> bowed before her. Her speeches and explanations were spread all
> over Írán, and no one had the least doubt about her erudition and
> scientific knowledge.
> ‘While a youth I used to study philosophy with Mírzá ‘Abdu’l-
> Vahháb, a brother of Ṭáhirih. When I had any doubts or made
> errors, I used to ask his help. One day in summer I went to him in
> his private court. He was alone and as it was a hot day he wore a
> loose, light garment. After sitting a little and finding a good oppor-
> tunity, I said: “I wanted to ask you some questions but I have
> hesitated. Now, if you will permit me, I shall ask you.” He gave
> permission and I continued: “Both the learning and perfection of
> Ṭáhirih are so spread among the people that minds are amazed. No
> 
> one knows better than you, and I want to know from you the truth
> or falsity of this matter.”
> ‘Then he sighed and responded: “You only hear the word of
> Ṭáhirih alas, you have not seen her! Know verily, that in a meeting
> where she sat neither I nor any one else could say a word. It was as if
> all the former and future books were with her. She used to explain a
> subject by bringing forth demonstrations and proofs from the learned
> books, page by page, so that no one had the power to deny. …”
> ‘Since then the clergy have prevented all women from studying
> lest they should become believers like Ṭáhirih.’
> With all these written records and these many praises and proofs
> of her greatness in the past, the true measure of her importance lies
> in her influence today. Nothing can show how deeply her sacrifice
> has penetrated the life of modern Írán more than this: When fathers
> in Írán today want to urge their daughters to progress, they say to
> them, ‘Be a Ṭáhirih, be a Qurratu’l-‘Ayn!’
> 
> Sources
> The following books were consulted in the writing of this story of
> Ṭáhirih:
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Memorials of the Faithful (Wilmette, 1971)
> Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’í World Faith (Wilmette
> 1956)
> Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By Wilmette, 1944)
> J. E. Esslemont, Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era (London 1974 and
> Wilmette, 1950)
> Nabíl, The Dawn-Breakers (Wilmette, 1932)
> Martha L. Root, Ṭáhirih the Pure, Írán’s Greatest Woman
> (Karachi, 1938)
> All the quotations in the Epilogue are from Ṭáhirih the Pure, pages
> 84 and 85, except the one from Jináb-i-Adíb, which is on pages 69–71
> of the same book.
>
> — *Tahirih (Used by permission of the curator)*