Prestidigitation: Solace of the Eyes

When I first learned about the great heroine, Qurratu’l-‘Ayn, I was a young girl. I was gratified to hear Dr. Abbas Milani (director of Iranian Studio at Stanford University) revere this heroine in his recent address to supporters of the Baha'is in Iran at the Herbst theater in San Francisco:

"There is an Iran different from the zealotry, bigotry, and brutality of its current rulers--an Iran of Neda Agha Sultans and Qurratu’l-‘Ayns, the 19th century early convert to Bab, a great poet and scholar and the first woman to lift her veil and give a public lecture in Iran."

Qurratu’l-‘Ayn, meaning "Solace of the Eyes", and Tahirih, meaning "The Pure One", are the titles of Fátimih Baraghání. Qurratu’l-‘Ayn expounded subtle theological truths, invoked the word of Muhammad to remind corrupt governors of how "unbelievers" like her ought to be treated, and removed her veil in a public meeting eloquently proclaiming "this is the day on which the fetters of the past are burst asunder".

Reading Saving the World's Women in the New York Times this week, I marveled at Qurratu’l-‘Ayn's contribution to the world-wide emancipation of women. Indeed, where there is terrorism, political unrest, or economic strife, women are usually marginalized. Their emancipation brings greater social and economic prosperity.

Qurratu’l-‘Ayn was strangled and executed with her own veil in August of 1852. Her last words were, “You can kill me, but you cannot stop the emancipation of women.”

Baha'u'llah, founder of the Baha'i Faith, wrote that the reins of mankind fall into the hands of the foolish and ignorant and begged the question:

"What oppression is more grievous than that a soul seeking the truth, and wishing to attain unto the knowledge of God, should know not where to go for it and from whom to seek it?"

As women like Qurratu’l-‘Ayn are being written back into history, oppressed women around the world and especially in Iran have a legacy to prop them up and carry them forward.

The British orientalist Edward Granville Browne wrote:

"The appearance of such a woman as Qurratu'l-'Ayn is in any country and 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 forth incomparable and immortal amidst her countrywomen."