ibute paid her by a
noted commentator on the life of the Bab and His disciples. "The Persian
Joan of Arc, the leader of emancipation for women of the Orient ... who
bore resemblance both to the mediaeval Heloise and the neo-platonic
Hypatia," thus was she acclaimed by a noted playwright whom Sarah
Bernhardt had specifically requested to write a dramatized version of her
life. "The heroism of the lovely but ill-fated poetess of Qazvin,
Zarrin-Taj (Crown of Gold) ..." testifies Lord Curzon of Kedleston, "is
one of the most affecting episodes in modern history." "The appearance of
such a woman as Qurratu'l-'Ayn," wrote the well-known British Orientalist,
Prof. E. G. Browne, "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.
...Had the Babi religion no other claim to greatness, this were sufficient
... that it produced a heroine like Qurratu'l-'Ayn." "The harvest sown in
Islamic lands by Qurratu'l-'Ayn," significantly affirms the renowned
English divine, Dr. T. K. Cheyne, in one of his books, "is now beginning
to appear ... this noble woman ... has the credit of opening the catalogue
of social reforms in Persia..." "Assuredly one of the most striking and
interesting manifestations of this religion" is the reference to her by
the noted French diplomat and brilliant writer, Comte de Gobineau. "In
Qazvin," he adds, "she was held, with every justification, to be a
prodigy." "Many people," he, moreover has written, "who knew her and heard
her at different periods of her life have invariably told me ... that when
she spoke one felt stirred to the depths of one's soul, was filled with
admiration, and was moved to tears." "No memory," writes Sir Valentine
Chirol, "is more deeply venerated or kindles greater enthusiasm than hers,
and the influence which she wielded in her lifetime still inures to her
sex." "O Tahirih!" exclaims in his book on the Babis the great author and
poet of Turkey, Sulayman Nazim Bey, "you are worth a thousand Nasiri'd-Din
_Sh_ahs!" "The greatest ideal of womanhood has been Tahirih" is the
tribute paid her by the mother of one of the Presidents of Austria, Mrs.
Marianna Hainisch, "... I shall try to do for the women of Austria what
Tahirih gave her life to do for the women of Persia."

Many and divers are her ardent admirers who, throughout the five
continents, are eager to know more about her. Many are those whose conduct
has been ennobl