On June 1 1905 at the command of His Majesty Mozaffar-od-din Shah and the request of Soltan ‘Abd-ol-majid Mirza ‘Ain-od-dowleh and Her Highness Shams-od-dowleh I had to go to Shiraz with Her Highness Anis-od-dowleh. For several days I was busy with the arrangements and paperwork for his lord Mo’tasam-ol-molk, my husband, who was to take …
Extracted from Words, Not Swords: Iran Women Writers and the Freedom of Movement (Syracuse University Press, 2011). As I put pen to paper to jot down my recollections of the fourteen months I spent in Europe, I feel a bit apprehensive. I have to rely solely on what I can remember, and I confess …
THE EARLY YEARS Explaining Past Experience I was fifteen years old when the beginnings of these secrets occurred in my heart. I am now fifty-five; how shall I explain to you the secrets of my unveilings, and my subtle witnessings, things that have escaped you? But I shall explain some things that were unveiled to …
Know that, after the performance of religious duties, requirements, and the recitation of the Holy Qur’an, this weak woman who hopes for salvation regards no action as nobler than the remembrance of the spiritual states and stations of the revered saints (may God sanctify their spirits). Therefore, I have spent a portion of my time …
Extract from Risala-i-Sahibiyah (1640) Translated by Sunil Sharma Since my twentieth year I have had a sincere resolution and firm belief in the … order of the masters of Chisht (may their secrets be sanctified) and the ring of discipleship and servitude to the guiding pir, who is the pole of the saints, leader …
[From Hazin’s days of study as a young man] During those days [in Isfahan], of all the strange occurrences and events, there was the passion for a beauty [with such] manner of beautiful qualities, that my heart became maddened. You showed me a trace of the beauty of the friend but / Should this world …
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