• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Moderation Policy
  • Review Policies
  • Privacy Policy

Stumbling Through the Past

The past is not perfect

  • Book Reviews
  • Conferences
  • War and Conflicts
  • History and Technology
  • Belief
  • Education

The Prison Poet is Heard

14/05/2015 by Yvonne Perkins 3 Comments

Book cover for Prison Poems
Mahvash Sabet, Adapted from the original Persian by Bahiyyih Nakhjavani, Prison Poems, (George Ronald, 2013).

I write if only to stir faint memories of flight
in these wing-bound birds,
to open the cage of the heart for a moment
trapped without words.
For how can one not faint for these women,
beaten so brutally?
How can one not fear for them, suffering
such tyrannical cruelty.

Mahvash Sabet, ‘The Perfume of Poetry’, Prison Poems, p. 32

A woman sits in her prison cell in Iran, poetry flows from her pen. Of all Iran’s prisoners of conscience she and six fellow prisoners are serving the longest sentences of all. A member of a persecuted minority, the charges against them were patently false and their trial transgressed basic standards of legal procedure. The jail door has been slammed shut for a long time.

She is Mahvash Sabet and she ekes out her days in Tehran’s Evin Prison. Now sixty-two years old, Sabet has thirteen more years of her sentence to serve.

And this is where I stand sometimes
looking up at the sky
staring through that narrow gap
between two sheets of rusted steel
cutting me off from the heavy sky.

‘And This is Where I Stand Sometimes’, Prison Poems, p. 17

Yet her words have slipped through the narrow gap and are shared throughout the world in the leaves of her book, Prison Poems. While the poems convey the fragility of life in prison they also show a prisoner whose spirit is strong.

Mahvash Sabet smiling towards camera with flowers behind her.
The Prison Poet, Mahvash Sabet. Photo courtesy of Baha’i World News Service.

Mahvash Sabet is a Baha’i, a religion whose believers form Iran’s largest non-Islamic religious community. She is a member of an informal group of seven, the Yaran, who used to look after the needs of the Baha’is of Iran such as educating their children, supporting their youth who are barred from attending university, looking after the elderly and other assistance to the persecuted minority. After a trial that did not adhere to the most basic principles of justice each of the seven was sentenced to twenty years in prison.

Around the world there has been a chorus of criticism about the imprisonment of the Yaran. Last year the world-wide association of writers, PEN International highlighted the plight of Mahvash Sabet for the Day of the Imprisoned Writer. The imprisonment of the Yaran has been raised as a matter of concern at the United Nations by the Secretary-General as well as the Special Rapporteurs for human rights in Iran and the freedom of religion or belief. Prime Ministers and Presidents, professors and prominent advocates for human rights around the world have voiced their concerns about their treatment. The Australian government and members of parliament have also  regularly highlighted the injustice of these sentences.

Islamic cleric with pencil in hand in the final stages of drawing a colourful and intricate piece of calligraphy.
Ayatollah Abdol-Hamid Masoumi-Tehrani perfecting an illuminated work of calligraphy. Photo courtesy of Baha’i World News Service.

And something is stirring in Iran itself. In a significant development for the growth of a just and harmonious society for everyone, Iranians are increasingly voicing their support for the persecuted Baha’is. The most remarkable action is that by the prominent Ayatollah Abdol-Hamid Masoumi-Tehrani. Last year he created an illuminated piece of calligraphy and publicly gifted it to the Baha’is. For the text he chose an excerpt from the Baha’i Holy Writings:

Consort with all religions with amity and concord…

Mahvash Sabet and the Yaran are still incarcerated in Tehran but the voices of their fellow citizens as well as those around the world on the anniversary of their imprisonment can surely give them some hope that one day justice will prevail.

The prison poet is heard around the world.

#7Bahais7years.

Filed Under: Belief Tagged With: Bahai, human-rights, Iran, Poetry, Women's Writing

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. shahnaz atashband says

    15/05/2015 at 3:30 am

    Evokes feelings of emotions that one cannot express, but joy in the collective efforts of friends worldwide in the power of Baha u llah’s teaching “World is one country and mankind its citizen” In this age one cannot be complacent to the plight of any injustice. This is miracle we see in God’s work. Bless Mahvash Sabet who stoically bears her cross as she writes her memorable poems.

    Reply
  2. Kim in Fiji says

    17/05/2015 at 3:20 pm

    Hi, I saw this on a friend’s facebook page hand had to check it out. I’ve been following the imprisonment of the Yaran since it happened. Anyway, while here I checked out your blog – VERY NICE !! Best of luck with all your research. Whatever strides are made in Oz will filter over to Fiji eventually. At least that’s what we hope for.

    Reply
  3. June says

    23/05/2015 at 8:37 am

    Reblogged this on Blogs by Bahais.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Connect With Me Online

  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Email Newsletter

Get notifications about new posts and other goodies by subscribing to the Stumbling Through the Past newsletter.

Topics

Explore past posts by tags

Aboriginal Anzac ANZAC Day Archives Australia Bahai Biography books Brisbane Canberra China climate Digital History Elections Environment Floods Genealogy Historical Research History History of Education human-rights India Iran Libraries Melbourne Museums New South Wales New Zealand Queensland religion Religion in schools Secular SocialMedia South Australia Sydney Tasmania Teaching reading twitter United States Victoria War Women Writing WWI WWII

Footer

A brief background

Yvonne Perkins is a professional historian and launched Stumbling Through the Past in August 2010. Focusing on history, and Australian history in particular, posts include interviews, book reviews, news reports on conferences and reflective pieces.

Search this blog

Copyright © 2010–2023 · Profound History

Cleantalk Pixel