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Indeed the wondrous story of her life propagated itself as far and as fast as that of the Bab Himself, the direct Source of her inspiration. "Prodige de science, mais aussi prodige de beaute" is the tribute 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 Qasvin, 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 Qasvin," 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 Shahs!" "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."
(76:1)
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