Zarrin Moghimi-Abyaneh
Zarrin Moghimi-Abyaneh, 29 had a pure and innocent heart and was enamored by the Baha'i Faith. #ourstoryisone
On 18 June 1983, 10 Baháʼí women were taken to a square in Shiraz, Iran, under the cloak of night. After months of torture and imprisonment, they were mass executed without the knowledge of their families. One was 17, most in their 20s. Their crime was their belief in a faith that promoted gender equality — absent and criminalized in Iran — justice and truthfulness. They were hanged one by one, each forced to watch the next woman’s death in a harrowing attempt to coerce them into renouncing their faith. None did.
Zarrin displayed great courage. She was ready anywhere to defend the Faith and to prove its truth. When she was arrested, she documented the veracity of the Baha'i Faith in the Revolutionary Court of Shiraz, in a clear, full voice and using powerful language. (World Order, 1986)
Blessed is the one who hath been illumined with the light of your faces, hath drawn nigh unto the precincts of your court and circled round you, hath visited your resting-places and taken refuge with you, hath cleaved to the cord of your grace and held fast to the hem of your bounty, hath striven to the utmost in your path and suffered martyrdom for the sake of your love.
Through you the Supreme Horizon was illumined and all faces turned to God, the Lord of all Names. Through you were manifested His sovereignty and His might, His majesty and His grandeur. Ye are the lights of the Kingdom, the secrets of the Celestial Dominion, and the daysprings of the Cause of God in this nether world. Through you the sun of utterance shone forth, the ocean of understanding appeared, the heaven of certitude was upraised, and the throne of the All-Merciful was established in the realm of being.
Blessed are ye—the origin of your beings and their end, your outer temples and inner selves—and blessed is whosoever hath drawn nigh unto you and visited your graves, held fast to the cord of your favours, and clung firmly to the hem of the robe of your bestowals.
Lauded be Thy name, O Lord of Being and Possessor of all things visible and invisible! I beseech Thee by the showers of Thy mercy, through which Thy bounties and favours were manifested unto Thy servants, and by the mysteries of Thy knowledge and the pearls of the ocean of Thy wisdom, to forgive me, and my parents, and every servant who hath clung firmly to this exalted station and hastened to this sublime habitation.
I entreat Thee, O my Lord, by that Word wherewith Thou hast subdued the hearts of Thy chosen ones, to satisfy my needs and make me steadfast in Thy Cause, with my eyes fixed upon Thy horizon, wholly rid of all attachment to such as have disbelieved in Thee and in Thy signs.
O Lord! Thou seest Thy servant hastening to the ocean of Thy forgiveness, desiring only that which Thou hast ordained for them that love Thee. Thou art, in truth, that All-Powerful One Whom the pursuits of Thy servants can never frustrate nor the clamour of the people deter from Thy purpose. Thou doest, through the power of Thy might, what Thou willest, and ordainest as Thou pleasest. Thou, verily, art the All-Powerful, the All-Subduing, the Almighty.
—Bahá’u’lláh
GLORY be unto Thee, O Lord my God! Nothing whatsoever escapeth Thy knowledge, nor is there anything that could slip from Thy grasp, or anything that could thwart Thy Purpose, whether in the heavens or on the earth, of the past or of the future.
Thou seest Paradise and the inmates thereof; Thou beholdest the realm below and the dwellers thereof. All are but Thy servants and are held within Thy grasp.
O Lord! Render victorious Thy forbearing servants in Thy days by granting them a befitting victory, inasmuch as they have sought martyrdom in Thy path. Send down upon them that which will bring comfort to their minds, will rejoice their inner beings, will impart assurance to their hearts and tranquillity to their bodies and will enable their souls to ascend to the presence of God, the Most Exalted, and to attain the supreme Paradise and such retreats of glory as Thou hast destined for men of true knowledge and virtue. Verily Thou knowest all things, while we are but Thy servants, Thy thralls, Thy bondsmen and Thy poor ones. No Lord but Thee do we invoke, O God our Lord, nor do we implore blessings or grace from anyone but Thee, O Thou Who art the God of mercy unto this world and the next. We are but the embodiments of poverty, of nothingness, of helplessness and of perdition, while Thy whole Being betokeneth wealth, independence, glory, majesty and boundless grace.
Turn our recompense, O Lord, into that which well beseemeth Thee of the good of this world and of the next, and of the manifold bounties which extend from on high down to the earth below.
Verily Thou art our Lord and the Lord of all things. Into Thy hands do we surrender ourselves, yearning for the things that pertain unto Thee.
- The Báb
Divine Providence! Awaken me and make me conscious. Cause me to be detached from all else save Thee, and captivate me by the love of Thy beauty. Waft upon me the breath of the Holy Spirit, and suffer me to hearken to the call of the Abhá Kingdom. Bestow upon me heavenly power, and kindle the lamp of the spirit within the innermost chamber of my heart. Release me from every bond, and deliver me from every attachment, that I may cherish no desire except Thy good-pleasure, seek naught besides Thy Countenance, and tread no path other than Thy path. Grant that I may enable the heedless to become mindful and the slumberers to awaken, that I may proffer the water of life to those who are sore athirst and bring divine healing to those who are sick and ailing.
Though I am lowly, abased, and poor, yet Thou art my haven and my refuge, my supporter and my helper. Send down Thine aid in such wise that all may be astounded. O God! Thou art, verily, the Almighty, the Most Powerful, the Giver, the Bestower, and the All-Seeing.
-‘Abdu’l‑Bahá
My God, my Adored One, my King, my Desire! What tongue can voice my thanks to Thee? I was heedless, Thou didst awaken me. I had turned back from Thee, Thou didst graciously aid me to turn towards Thee. I was as one dead, Thou didst quicken me with the water of life. I was withered, Thou didst revive me with the heavenly stream of Thine utterance which hath flowed forth from the Pen of the All-Merciful.
O Divine Providence! All existence is begotten by Thy bounty; deprive it not of the waters of Thy generosity, neither do Thou withhold it from the ocean of Thy mercy. I beseech Thee to aid and assist me at all times and under all conditions, and seek from the heaven of Thy grace Thine ancient favor. Thou art, in truth, the Lord of bounty, and the Sovereign of the kingdom of eternity.
—Bahá’u’lláh