Mullá Sálih had among his children a daughter, Zarrín-Táj
(Crown of Gold), [later known as Táhirih] who had attracted attention from
early childhood. Instead of taking part in games and amusements like her
companions, she passed hours at a time listening to her parents discuss religious
matters. Her keen intelligence quickly perceived the fallacies of Islámic
science without succumbing to it and soon she was able to discuss points which
were most obscure and confusing. The Hadíths (traditions) held no secrets for
her. Her reputation soon became widely known in the city and her
fellow-citizens considered her a prodigy, and justly so. A prodigy in science,
also a prodigy of beauty, for the child, as she grew to girlhood, possessed a
face which shone with such radiant beauty that they named her ‘Qurratu’l-’Ayn’,
which M. de Gobineau translates as ‘The Consolation of the Eyes.’ Her brother
‘Abdu’l-Vahháb-i-Qazvíní who inherited the learning and reputation of his
father, himself relates, in spite of the fact that he remained, at least in
appearance, a Muhammadan: ‘None of us, her brothers or her cousins dared to
speak in her presence, her learning so intimidated us, and if we ventured to
express some hypothesis upon a disputed point of doctrine, she demonstrated in
such a clear, precise and conclusive manner that we were going astray, that we
instantly withdrew confused.’
She was present at her father’s and uncle’s classes, in the
same room with two or three hundred students, but always concealed behind a
curtain, and more than once she refuted the explanation that these two elderly
men offered upon such and such a question. Her reputation became universal
throughout all Persia, and the most haughty ‘Ulamás consented to adopt some of
her hypotheses and opinions. This fact is all the more extraordinary because
the Shí’ite Muḥammadan religion relegates the woman almost to the level of the
animal. They consider that she has no soul and exists merely for reproduction.
She was, as we shall see later, of an ardent temperament, of
a precise and clear intelligence, of a marvellous presence of mind and
indomitable courage. All of these qualities combined were to bring her to take
interest in the Báb whom she heard speak immediately after his return to
Qazvín. That which she learned interested her so vitally that she began
corresponding with the Reformer and soon, convinced by him, she made known her
conversion urbi et orbi. The scandal was very great and the clergy were
shocked. In vain, her husband, her father and her brothers pleaded with her to
renounce this dangerous madness, but she remained inflexible and proclaimed
resolutely her faith.
- A. L. M. Nicolas (‘Siyyid ‘Alí-Muhammad dit le Báb,’ pp.
273–274; included as a footnote by Shoghi Effendi to Chapter 3 of ‘The Dawn-Breakers’)
