In the shadow of the ninth anniversary of the destruction of the Twin Towers in New York City and serious damage to the Pentagon in Virginia, in the wake of a continuing war against terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq, and ignited by a threat of a public display of anger in Gainesville Florida against Muslims, I offer a tribute to Simin Behbahani.

The 82-year-old Simin Behbahani, who was nominated in 1999 and 2002 for the Nobel Prize in literature, is currently living as a captive in her homeland.

Stop this screaming, mayhem and bloodshed. Stop doing what makes God's creatures mourn with tears.
My curses will not be upon you, as in their fulfillment. My enemies' afflictions also cause me pain.
You may wish to have me burned, or decide to stone me. But in your hand match or stone will lose their power to harm me.

(An excerpt from Behbahani’s poem "Stop Throwing My Country to the Wind")

Behbahani wields her words against violence including crimes against women. To read more about this extraordinary woman visit my blog Living in the Heartland.

(source material for story Mike Shuster NPR.org, Simin Behbahani photo credit Behrouz Mehri/AFP/Getty Images)