Archive - May 23, 2011 - Article

On His Knees

Mr. Khatami is offering an olive branch to the two opposing forces with only one common denominator: a time span of thirty two years. On one side, it is the Iranian people oppressed for the last thirty-two years and on the other side are the Shi’a clergy and their Islamist allies who have brutalized Iranians for the last thirty two years. As it appears, there are two disproportionate and inequitable forces: the Iranian people and their oppressive government>>>

Defining Moment

Arguably the most important reason for the international interest in Iran is its strategically pivotal geography. Like some of its Muslim neighbours, it has tremendous oil and gas reserves. For the United States, the revolution in Iran was nothing less than a geopolitical shock. Revolutionary dynamics in the Arab World have recently rekindled the debate in the West on “political Islam”. To get a good understanding of the phenomenon, however, it is necessary to define it properly – which, so far, has hardly been done>>>

Ariobarzanes

Little is known about Ariobarzanes (Old Persian Ariyabrdna) life or his exact birth date; however historical evidence tells us that he was born into a wealthy, noble Persian family and he is probably descended from the earlier satraps of Cyrus the Great, Darius I and Xerxes I. It is interesting to note the fact that high King Darius III had appointed him satrap (or viceroy) of Persis. It seems that in the past, this position had not existed>>>

کلمه‌ی‌ «مردم» مرا نگران می‌کند

ولادیمیر سوروکین نویسنده کمابیش جنجالی روس، با چاپ داستان‌‌هایی که در ٢٠ سال گذشته نوشته، توانسته است برای خود در ادبیات روسیه اعتباری فراهم آورد. مهم‌ترین دستاورد ادبی او این است که موفق شده شیوه‌ی تازه‌ای در داستان‌نویسی برای نشان دادن خشونت ابداع کند و به‌این‌ترتیب بر غنای ادبی روسیه افزوده است. سوروکین که تجربه‌ی زندگی در دیکتاتوری تک‌حزبی شوروی را از سر گذرانده، رمان‌هایش با هیچیک از تعاریفی که برای رمان روسی در دست داریم، مطابقت ندارد>>>

صوفی اهل حال

من مریدم
مرید کسی که
منبرش بر درختان توت است
حرفهایش همه از سکوت است
>>>