Point by Point
This is certainly Tahirih's best known poem. It is thought to have been written near the end of her life. Although, she was one of the Bab's first disciples, and corresponded with him regularly, she never had the opportunity to meet him. In this poem, she imagines what that meeting would be like.
Point by Point
If
I met you face to face, I
would retrace—erase!—my heartbreak,
pain by pain,
ache by ache,
word by word,
point by point.
In
search of you—just your face!—I
roam through the streets lost in disgrace,
house to house,
lane to lane,
place to place,
door to door.
My
heart hopeless—broken, crushed!—I
heard it pound, till blood gushed from me,
fountain by fountain,
stream by stream,
river by river,
sea by sea.
The
garden of your lips—your cheeks!—
your perfumed hair, I wander there,
bloom to bloom,
rose to rose,
petal to petal,
scent to scent.
Your
eyebrow—your eye!—and the mole
on your face, somehow they tie me,
trait to trait,
kindness to kindness,
passion to passion,
love to love.
While
I grieve, with love—your love!—I
will reweave the fabric of my soul,
stitch by stitch,
thread by thread,
warp by warp,
woof by woof.
Last,
I—Táhirih—searched my heart, I
looked
line by line. What did I find?
You and you,
you
and you,
you and you.
Persian text:
Tahirih: A Portrait in Poetry
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