The Snowflake Chronicles

The Truth of Fiction

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Maidens like Zaynab create myths,
give birth to legends,
and become the curse their enemies fear most.

She stood inside the walls of Fort Tabarsi
watching the men return
wounded, bleeding and dying;
she bound their wounds
then went alone to the women’s quarters
where she cut her hair,
put on a tunic,
and donned the head dress of a man.

Going into the court yard,
she buckled on a sword,
picked up a musket and a shield
and slipped into the ranks of the defenders.

When the government troops attacked,
she leapt over the barricades shouting:
“Yá Sáhibu’z-Zamán!”

No man could fight like Zaynab
routing her enemies
encouraging her friends
and putting off for a little longer
the inevitable fate
of those out numbered
lovers of God.

For five months she fought,
sleeping briefly
with the hilt of her sword as her pillow
and her shield her blanket.

In her final battle,
her war cry ringing in her enemies ears,
she attacked
and overcame two of her opponents barricades,
before falling beneath a shower of bullets
at the third.

Based on the exploits of Zaynab was a village girl who joined the Babi’s when they held of in Fort Shaykh Tabarsi during the Zanjan Upheaval in 1850 A.D. See the Dawn Breakers: Nabil’s Narrative pages 550-552.