Over two decades of research, this volume illuminates hidden stories of the women closest to the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh—mothers, wives, sisters and daughters long absent from history. Drawing on rare memoirs, fifty untranslated Tablets and archival documents from the Bahá’í International Archives—with the Universal House of Justice’s permission—this narrative reconstructs their childhoods, family bonds and responses to revelation and persecution.

Despite exile, imprisonment and social dislocation, these women displayed unwavering faith and quiet heroism, shaping the nascent Bábí and Bahá’í communities behind the scenes. Their personal reflections on divine guidance, resilience amid suffering and the forging of spiritual sisterhood resound with clarity. By making the invisible visible, this book invites readers to honour these pioneering figures and appreciate their vital contributions to religious history.