She it was who while in Karbilá—the foremost stronghold of _Sh_í’ah
Islám—had been moved to address lengthy epistles to each of the ‘ulamás
residing in that city, who relegated women to a rank little higher than
animals and denied them even the possession of a soul—epistles in which
she ably vindicated her high purpose and exposed their malignant designs.
She it was who, in open defiance of the customs of the fanatical
inhabitants of that same city, boldly disregarded the anniversary of the
martyrdom of the Imám Ḥusayn, commemorated with elaborate ceremony in the
early days of Muharram, and celebrated instead the anniversary of the
birthday of the Báb, which fell on the first day of that month. It was
through her prodigious eloquence and the astounding force of her argument
that she confounded the representative delegation of _Sh_í’ah, of Sunní,
of Christian and Jewish notables of Ba_gh_dád, who had endeavored to
dissuade her from her avowed purpose of spreading the tidings of the new
Message. She it was who, with consummate skill, defended her faith and
vindicated her conduct in the home and in the presence of that eminent
jurist, _Sh_ay_kh_ Maḥmúd-i-Álúsí, the Muftí of Ba_gh_dád, and who later
held her historic interviews with the princes, the ‘ulamás and the
government officials residing in Kirman_sh_áh, in the course of which the
Báb’s commentary on the Súrih of Kaw_th_ar was publicly read and
translated, and which culminated in the conversion of the Amír (the
governor) and his family. It was this remarkably gifted woman who
undertook the translation of the Báb’s lengthy commentary on the Súrih of
Joseph (the Qayyúmu’l-Asmá) for the benefit of her Persian
co-religionists, and exerted her utmost to spread the knowledge and
elucidate the contents of that mighty Book. It was her fearlessness, her
skill, her organizing ability and her unquenchable enthusiasm which
consolidated her newly won victories in no less inimical a center than
Qazvín, which prided itself on the fact that no fewer than a hundred of
the highest ecclesiastical leaders of Islám dwelt within its gates. It was
she who, in the house of Bahá’u’lláh in Ṭihrán, in the course of her
memorable interview with the celebrated Vahíd, suddenly interrupted his
learned discourse on the signs of the new Manifestation, and vehemently
urged him, as she held ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, then a child, on her lap, to arise
and demonstrate through deeds of heroism and self-sacrifice the depth and
sincerity of his faith. It was to her doors, during the height of her fame
and popularity in Ṭihrán, that the flower of feminine society in the
capital flocked to hear her brilliant discourses on the matchless tenets
of her Faith. It was the magic of her words which won the wedding guests
away from the festivities, on the occasion of the marriage of the son of
Maḥmúd _Kh_án-i-Kalántar—in whose house she was confined—and gathered them
about her, eager to drink in her every word. It was her passionate and
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