The Lioness Rests Once More: RIP Simin Behbahani

Rest in peace, Simin Behbahani (1927-2014). Behbahani was both Iran's nightingale and lioness: she published nineteen books of poetry over the course of six decades and she is known for her fearlessness and ferocity. (She outspokenly supported freedom of expression.) Behbahani published her first book of poetry, Setar-e Shekasteh ("Broken Lute") in 1951. She was banned from traveling beyond Iran's borders during the final years of her life.

This remembrance comes from the NPR newsdesk:

For millions of Iranians all over the world, Behbahani represented the invincible power of the Iranian psyche. Her words were piercing and fierce, lamenting on the lack of freedom of expression through the ages. For six decades, many Iranians found refuge in her poetry as a way to nurture their hunger for dialogue, peace, human rights and equality.

Farzaneh Milani, who teaches Persian literature and women's studies at the University of Virginia, has been translating Behbahani's work for decades. She has said that much of Iran's history can be studied through Behbahani's poems, as her words stir the mind and quench the thirst of those who can only whisper their laments away from the public eye. Milani confirmed Behbahani's passing this morning: "Our dear Simin Khanum [lady], a woman I loved and a poet I admired, died this morning, even though her voice is undying."

One of the most famous of Behbahani's poems, "A Cup of Sin," reflects on the paradox of fear and hope:

"My country, I will build you again, if need be, with bricks made from my life. I will build columns to support your roof, if need be, with my own bones. I will inhale again the perfume of flower favored by your youth. I will wash again the blood off your body with torrents of my tears." (Milani and Kaveh Safa have been the primary translators of Behbahani's work.)

Learn more at NPR.