Open Wide the Doors

'In these dark days we live in, Mahvash Sabet’s memoirs about her persecution and incarceration in the dungeons of the Islamic Republic are a ray of light. This book is a testament to the power of truth, to the fact that in our darkest times, in times of brutality and indifference we can still preserve our dignity, our humanity and our belief in hope.' Azar Nafisi, author of Reading Lolita in Tehran

'Her book is valuable because it shifts the centre of Iranian history away from rulers and revolutions and towards the people who endure the consequences…Against the scale of Iran’s past, her testimony reinforces the power of individual conscience and endurance as the only way forward.' Financial Times

'An essential book that reminds us of both our capacity for evil as carriers of darkness, and our obligation to survive as carriers of light.' Alberto Manguel

'Mahvash Sabet, a prisoner of conscience in Iran, invokes doors – iron doors, doors with double chains and locks, doors with knobs on only one side – again and again in her heart-wrenching account of injustice, violence, and prejudice. Yet faith, conviction, grace, and dignity cannot be locked away. They move beyond enclosures, beyond the reach of tyranny. No door – no machinery of repression – can bar their power or their passage. Open Wide the Doors, edited and exquisitely translated by Bahiyyih Nakhjavani and Azita Mottahedeh, is an eloquent testimony to that truth.' Farzaneh Milani, author of Veils and Words

'Mahvash Sabet, a Bahá’í prisoner of conscience in Iran, writer and poet, was sentenced to twenty years in prison only because of her faith. She has endured torture, solitary confinement, and appalling conditions despite her serious health issues. In clear prose, Sabet shows how she fought against injustice and found strength in her faith and her connection with her cellmates – a testimony to how small acts of kindness in a world of evil can keep hope alive. This is an important book that illustrates the cruel persecution of the Bahá’ís in the Islamic Republic of Iran – an unflinching witness account that deserves to be read widely.' Marina Nemat, author of Prisoner of Tehran

'Amidst the tragedy engulfing the people of Iran today, Mahvash Sabet's prison memoirs provide a poignant glimpse of a better world. Her astonishing resilience and profound humanity in the face of prolonged injustice leave no doubt that it is in fact her tormentors who are in the prison of hatred and violence. Her shining example of dignified defiance shows us the path to a glorious future for Iran in which power and prosperity is derived from the noble potentialities inherent in human beings.' Payam Akhavan, Professor of International Law and former UN Prosecutor at The Hague

'In this deeply moving book, first-hand insights are shared about how to survive prolonged injustice and pain with profound dignity and strength. Mahvash Sabet’s love shines throughout – love for family, colleagues and friends, for co-detainees with various records of criminality, and even the very prison and intelligence officials who preside over her suffering, solitary confinement, torture, isolation and threats. In this book she demonstrates how delicate personal and artistic sensibilities can not only survive but also be finessed in such ugly settings and, in that, she demonstrates lessons for us all.’ Nazila Ghanea, Professor of Law, University of Oxford, UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief