The Letters of the Living were the first people who, each
individually, and without help from others, recognized the promised One, the
Báb, in 1844. They became His first Disciples and they are known to posterity
by the title bestowed on them by the Báb! All but one of them were men. Tahirih
was the only woman among the Letters of the Living. Here is the story of how
she found the Promised One and the incredible role that she played in
proclaiming His Message to the world.
Tahirih lived in Persia over one hundred and seventy years
ago. In fact, she lived there at the time when the Báb began teaching His
message and she became one of His first followers. She was the only woman among the first
special nineteen followers to believe in Him who the Báb named ‘The Letters of
the Living’.
One day, while Tahirih was visiting her cousin, she found
some books that interested her very much. They were written by a holy man of
Persia called Shayk Ahmad, who had been preparing for a long time for the
coming of a new Teacher from God. Shaykh Ahmad was sure that this was the time
when such a great Prophet would appear and he had written many books about it.
These were the books that Tahirih had found. She borrowed them from her cousin
and spent most of her time reading and studying them.
