The Black Shroud is a long poem – an operetta – written by Mirzadeh Eshghi, an Iranian poet, journalist and freedom fighter, in early 20^th Century, depicting the repression of the Moslem women.  This poem and works of many other writers and poets were the reflection of a national argument that had started at the time for women’s liberation and their place in society, an argument that still continues today, although at a different level.

The title refers to the mandatory head to toe cover, -hejab, called by various names and styles: Burqa in Afghanistan, Niqab and Abaya in many Arab countries, Purdah in Pakistan, and Chador in Iran – which the Moslem women are forced to wear in public.  They were – and still are – predominantly in black color.

Moslem bury their dead in a white shroud, and the poet is analogizing the Chador to a shroud in black, in which the Moslem women are condemned to live, as if they are already dead and waiting to be buried.