“TÁHIRIH—A Portrait in Poetry”
Edited by Amin Banani
Published by Kalimat (hardback)
(Studies in the Bábí and Bahá'í Religions,
Volume Seventeen)

In 2002 the UK Bahá'í community held special events to mark the 150th anniversary of the death of Táhirih. Coincident with this George Ronald published a volume The Poetry of Táhirih. Now comes another volume. Is there room for two? The answer is “yes”.

This book contains two distinct sections, an account of Táhirih’s life and times by Amin Banani and (after an account of the translation process by Jascha Kjessler) a collection of her verse as rendered by Kessler aided by Banani. The Banani article is more aimed at a scholarly readership than the account that went with the George Ronald title and sets out her role in the Bábi movement, of which it explains “Among the Babís it was Táhirih who was absolutely the most active, and eventually triumphant, exponent of a radical break [with Islam]”.

And, accepting that preferences in poetry are very much a matter of individual taste, I have to say I preferred the verses as shared in this book to the earlier one.

ISP