The áʼíBaháʼí Faith and related topics have appeared in multiple forms of fiction. The mention of this religion can be seen in science fiction, fantasy, short stories, novelettes, novels, and TV series. In 2005, an estimated value of 30 references could be found relating Baháʼí Faith to different forms of fiction. An estimated third of these references have a significant relationship with the religion in the way that these forms of fiction show the Baháʼí Faith as a crucial aspect of the story. The first known occurrence is perhaps in the writings of Marie von Najmajer, who wrote a poem dedicated to Tahirih in Gurret-úl-Eyn: Ein Bild aus Persiens Neuzeit which was published in 1874. After a series of works covering the events of the Bábí period, most of the focus shifted towards Baháʼí specific related connections. Soon Khalil Gibran wrote two books - The Prophet and Jesus, The Son of Man. There is some second-hand evidence for the sustained influence of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá in these works. In modern times the first known occurrence is of a short story by non-Baháʼí Tom Ligon The Devil and the Deep Black Void, - he also wrote a sequel The Gardener. The next fictional publication, in 1991, which references the Baháʼí Faith may be a short story "Home Is Where..." by Baháʼí Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff,
Initially and occasionally since, reference has been made to the events and figures of the Bábí Faith. As the history and events and coverage of these events in Persia made their way to Europe, coverage tended to shift to the events and figures of the Baháʼí Faith.
Bábí focus
Early writers
Austrian Marie von Najmajer wrote a poem dedicated to prominent Bábí and poet Tahireh in Gurret-úl-Eyn: Ein Bild aus Persiens Neuzeit published in 1874. José Maria de Eça de Queiroz, a well-known Portuguese novelist in the 19th century, wrote a novel Correspondência de Fradique Mendes in 1889 and spends several pages discussing the religion of the Báb and its impact. The material could not all have been derived from the most widespread review of the religion of the day, the work of Arthur de Gobineau. It is speculated Queiroz encountered followers of the Baháʼí Faith in Egypt sometimes from late 1869 to January 1870. The story is set in 1871. A more extensive reference to the events of the Bábí Faith comes from an obscure writer, A. de Saint-Quentin, in the book Un Amour au Pays des Mages in 1891 in the background of many events of the Bábí period. Polish/Russian playwright Isabella Grinevskaya wrote the play Báb based on the life and events of the founder of the Bábí Faith which was performed in St. Petersburg in 1904 and again in 1916/7, and lauded by Leo Tolstoy and other reviewers at the time. In 1904 Edith Wharton published a short story titled “The Descent of Man” with mention of the Bábí Faith. As early as 1908 Constance Faunt Le Roy Runcie attempted to publish a romance novel about the Báb and "Persia's celebrated poetess Zerryn Taj" while living in Missouri, USA. The Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis, Indiana, 28 September 1913, printed a story "Number Thirteen by the Master of Mysteries" on pages 64 and 67 of which discusses a note that seemed to indicate the involvement of a Baháʼí woman in a situation.
Bahiyyih Nakhjavani's books
The Saddlebag: A Fable for Doubters and Seekers, a published review of the 2000 publication notes: [A] day in the life of nine 19th-century characters traveling between Mecca and Medina in this engaging first novel. Though they come from a wide variety of religious, national, and socioeconomic backgrounds, all find themselves in the same caravan when it is beset by a sandstorm and a brutal bandit attack. Each chapter recounts these events from the perspective of its title character, a device Nakhjavani uses skillfully; not only does she avoid the tedium that could result from multiple retellings, but she also turns the bit player in one narrator's story into the complicated hero of another... Nakhjavani shows how God uses their respective religious orientations and the secrets bundled in a saddlebag to reveal life-changing truths to each of them. The novel's Baháʼí message is beautifully rendered in these tales of multiple paths leading to one destination.
Bahiyyih Nakhjavani has published six books - some academic and at least two fictional, as well as articles and poetry.
Another is La femme qui lisait trop (The Woman Who Reads Too Much) in 2007. It tells the story of Táhirih. The writer adopts the revolving points of view, of the mother, sister, daughter and wife respectively, to trace the impact of this woman's actions on her contemporaries and read her prophetic insights regarding her times, and perhaps ours too.