There streamed the people in, and lo, Qurratu’l-‘Ayn
Appeared, the people of Mázindarán to greet.
They all expected a haughty woman to see
Masterful, of lordly mien
And of proud glance.
And behold there came she from the forest
Tender-miened and lovely as a sunbeam
Breaking through a crown of foliage green;
In the highest simplicity, like an angel,
Modestly smiling as a beseeching child.
Yet as she, in clear and simple terms, began to speak
She appeared with every word to grow;
And continually by inspiration carried forward
She stood at last before them like a goddess
And cried inflamed, "Now the time is come
When God in spirit shall be worshiped and in truth.
There is come to us a New Light, a New Law;
And heart and soul and spirit shall rejoice.
“Yet such a great event not without struggle comes to pass!
Oh shrink not from a thousand sacrifices,
You chosen people, you children of this epoch!
There has come to us a Son of Light.
Arise, you men of Irán, give testimony of the truth!
“And also you-my own poor sex-you women, O awake!
The hour comes when no more in the harem
Hopeless and imprisoned shall you wait.
For other safer stiller days keep your innate timidity and fear;
But now prove yourselves companions to your husbands
In the struggle for humanity’s highest good.
The time is great! Oh friends, be great as it!”
Then rang a thousand-throated cry to greet her—
Inspired, sobbing and in jubilation—
“Prophetess, behold us ready and prepared
For all. We swear it to you, by God and by the Báb.”
“Then let us pray for strength and unity,” she called.
It was at the time of the publication of this poem that Marie von Najmajer and Marianne Hainisch, working in close unity, became the great moulders of thought in Austria for the equality of men and women and for the education of all boys and girls. The life of Qurratu’l-‘Ayn, stirring the creative genius and the human soul of the Austrian poetess, reached also Marianne Hainisch and became a great inspiration in the joint lives of these two noble women for the freedom of womanhood in Austria, as Qurratu’l-‘Ayn had been the great pioneer and martyr for the freedom of the women in Persia.
It was in 1870, Mme. Hainisch told Miss Martha Root—to whose interview with the Austrian leader we are indebted for the material for this article—that Mme. Hainisch first met Marie von Najmajer in a great assembly. Marie had been reading a great deal about Qurratu’l-‘Ayn and the history of the Báb and she decided to write a poem to portray the wonderful life of Qurratu’l-‘Ayn and the teachings of the Bab. This meeting was the beginning of a great friendship between Marianne and Marie. They de-