Melting Snow

Solace of the Eyes

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

"A poetess, less than thirty years of age, of distinguished birth, of bewitching charm, of captivating eloquence, indomitable in spirit, unorthodox in her views, audacious in her acts, immortalized as Tahirih (the Pure One) by the [Bab] and surnamed Qurratu’l-‘Ayn (Solace of the Eyes) by Siyyid Kazim, her teacher, she had, in consequence of the appearance of the Bab to her in a dream, received the first intimation of a Cause which was destined to exalt her to the fairest heights of fame, and on which she, through her bold heroism, was to shed such imperishable luster."

Shoghi Effendi12

The "Blogging Circle of Friends "  prompt for DAY 1938
This is Women's History Month, write something about a women in history. What was her contribution to human history and/or culture?

Tahirih, The Pure One,
Qurratu’l-‘Ayn, Solace of the Eyes,
A Letter of the Living, the only woman among The Bab's disciples.

In July of 1848 there were two conferences held continents apart. One was in Seneca Falls, New York, at Wesleyan Chapel3, the other was held in Badasht4 in what is today Iran. At the conference in Badasht, that Tahirih removed her veil and appeared in public. This cause great distress to some of the attendees; however, this act emphasized two things. First, it emphasized the emancipation of women, and, second, it showed that the Babi faith, and its successor the Baha'i faith, were not sects of Islam.

About 4 years after the Badasht Conference, Tahirih was strangled and her body thrown into a well. Tahirih's fame did not remain in the well or in Iran, because Sir Justin Sheil, a British diplomat, and Prince Dolgorukov, the Russian Ambassador, sent word to their countries about her death.5 After those other people, who had access to information from Persia (Iran) continued to spread her fame across the world to their nations.

Tahirih,
martyr for women's rights,
symbol of the emancipation of women,
she now writes her poetry in the Abha Paradise.

Footnotes
1  God Passes By, p. 7.
2  Quoted in "A Woman Sacrifices Her Life for Equality" by Hussein Ahdieh http://bahaiteachings.org/woman-sacrifices-life-equality
3  https://www.nps.gov/wori/learn/historyculture/the-first-womens-rights-convention...
4  http://bahaiteachings.org/will-never-stop-emancipation-women
5  http://bahaiteachings.org/west-found-tahirih