Leaves of the Twin Divine Trees

by Baharieh Rouhani Ma'ani

An In-depth Study of the Lives of Women Closely Related to the Báb and Bahá u lláh.

Women of the Middle East in the 19th century are generally absent from the pages of history. Even their names are not recorded. They have no voice. They are invisible.

The women closest to the twin Manifestations, the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh, are especially enigmatic.


What were they like as children? What was it like to live in the family of the Manifestation of God? What did they think about the new Revelations from God? How did they respond to the suffering and persecution that came upon them? So little is known.

Baharieh Ma ani decided to rectify this. Her task was formidable. There is little published about these women and documents are rare.

Over two and half decades she worked to gather all the known information about the women whose lives were intertwined with those of the Manifestations of God for this age mothers, wives, sisters, daughters. Looking beyond published sources, she was given permission by the Universal House of Justice to consult original documents in the Bahá'í International Archives and to make provisional translations of more than 50 Tablets, letters, memoirs and papers not previously published in English, many never before published in any language.

The result is an engaging and readable book that provides a unique and intriguing insight into the lives and circumstances of the women who played such important yet unseen roles in shaping the early history of the Bábí and Bahá'í religions. Mrs Ma ani has made the invisible visible.

Genres: History, Biography, Baha I

448 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Rachel León]

An interesting and beautiful book.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this on return from pilgrimage to Haifa where I had become intrigued by some of the stories of the women in the families of the two manifestations of God - the Bab and Baha'u'llah and wanted to know more. This book was just what I wanted and I am sure I will dip back into it again and again.

[Gayle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book about women of the Babi and Bahai Faith. Women were basically relegated to one part of the house and were an afterthought so hardly anything is known about them as men were not allowed or didn't think it was important enough to write about women who were like servants. Sometimes we don't know their names, their birthdates, their deaths, where they are buried. This book does its best to tell the stories of these wonderful women who were the followers of the Bab and Baha'u'llah, the Manifestations from God. There are also those women who rebelled against them and their stories are here also. I learned so much and enjoyed it.

[Louise]

I have just been reading about Bahiyyih, the Greatest Holy Leaf. Her story is so emotional, I have only been able it a little bit at a time. I was inspired to order the book, after I saw the author's presentation online about the women in the life of the Bab. I had bought a copy for a friend after I visited family in the Holy land years back. Now I have my own copy!