Arts and Literature

A garden from Galicia

He said he loved me
I dreamed he was a garden
My scent dwelt in him.
 
I said I loved him
He burned joy into my flesh
Our bed of jasmine >>>

Heaven and Hell

Truly, heaven and hell are not
In another realm, dimension, or place
They are right here and now
Alas, there is no salvation
But peace is possible and real >>>

وحدت وجود

‌ای ذات تو لایزال و سبحان
وی وصف تو فوق وهم انسان

بیرون ز کلام و حرف و ارقام
بر تر ز خیال و حدس و ایقان
>>>

Art & Opposition

The first thing you notice about Farahani is her eyes. Big, intense, and a gaze that is at times uneasy. She wears almost no make-up—her only whim, a pair of fashionable sunglasses which she quickly removes after sitting down. I ask if she’s had time to enjoy the vibrant French cultural life, and she raves about a new play by Ariane Mnouchkine. But she also mentions being constantly on the road, working on a new film, her music or doing press meets. The conversation soon turns to the repression back in Tehran>>>

Rumi and Shams

Delving into an in-depth discussion and analysis regarding the Erfân, Tasavvof, and Sufigary, which in the West, are often collectively referred to as Mysticism, Gnosticism, Sufism, or sometimes Dervishes’ thoughts, would have been beyond the scope of this work titled, “The Greatest Meeting”. Among the numerous books that have appeared in the West in the past few decades (mostly inept translations of Rumi’s poetry, or a few scholarly works on his life and time), it is challenging if not impossible to find a clear and convincing definition for these schools of thought>>>

که سنگین دلم

ستاره ی امشب آسمان تار من نوید داد
ستاره آب شد،از شب چکید
من آرزو کردم؛
که تیغ آفتاب از من زند این سایه ی تردید
وزین همراه تاریکم شوم آزاد... >>>

Apocalyptic Islam

the doctrine of the “authority of the jurists” (vilayat-e faqih) was a clear example of this shift from legalism to political power; an attempt to become relevant and regain the lost privileges. Contrary to common misperceptions about the clergy’s opposition to the state, throughout its history the clerical establishment in Iran almost never entertained a claim over political power; an area that traditional Shi’i jurists for centuries tried to avoid... Vilayat-e faqih should thus be seen as an act of empowerment, a discovery of the political potency of an Islamic ideology, while bypassing legal modernity>>>

Don't Forget About Egypt

It was a joke his father and his father's brothers and their friends liked to use when they were entering a conversation. They were men who liked to talk and who liked to talk about politics and who looked so at home talking about politics that the boy would wonder where that home was. They looked like American men talking about sports, only there was more - more heights and depths of emotion, more putting their arms around each other, more slowness in the listening to another man's heart coming out. "Don't forget about Egypt," a newcomer would say>>>

چه خاموشی ای بانوی ایرانی

نخواه که شمعی باشی
در کنج خلوتی
نخواه که به عزم کسی برافروزی و به خشم کسی خاموش شوی
قناعت مکن
به سوختن و راضی مباش
به گریستن بر سرنوشت مختوم خویش >>>

Sherlock Holmes’ Daughter (5)

“By the way, I wanted to ask you, has Christie’s been coming on to you lately?” “For God’s sake, Paul.” I protested. I had deleted Christie’s email, offering to spend the night at my house when Paul was away. But where was that subconscious repression mechanism when I needed it most? How was I to look Paul innocently in the eyes and deny that I had almost said ‘yes’ to his wife? “She has, hasn’t she? You’re a worse liar than I am,” Paul accused>>>

برای تو بانوی دموکراسی ایران

(والت ویتمن (1892-1819) شاعری است با صدایی اصیل برای دموکراسی در آمریکا. در پی سپری کردن دوران کودکی در بروکلین، او سالهای بسیاررا درمانهاتان و واشنگتن گذراند. در همان سالها بود که ویتمن از نزدیک شاهد بازگشت سربازان از جبهه های جنگ داخلی آمریکا بود و در بیمارستان ها از زخمی ها مراقبت می کرد. انسانیت فراگیر ویتمن وعشق به زندگی شهری (به ویژه مانهاتان)، همدرد بودن با همه گونه مردمان و درک دوراندیشانه و به نوعی پیشگویانه اش از واقعیت ((رویای آمریکایی))، از او شاعری ساخته است که مانند دوره ی جنگ داخلی، همچنان با روزگار امروز نیز مربوط است.>>>

Iran One

I encounter you
When I am half asleep
And you are just
Beginning to be
Half awake
Across this earth of nation-less hope >>>

روز کارگر

یادم است وقتی دبیرستان می رفتیم، دبیری داشتیم که می گفتند افکار چپ دارد، هر از چند گاهی ساواک دستگیرش میکرد ولی دوباره سر وکله اش پیدا می شد. ریاضیات درس میداد. وقتی تازه از زندان آزاد می شد، همه اش مدح شاه را می گفت ولی کم کم که خاطرات زندان یادش میرفت، دوباره شروع میکرد آخر کلاس از اوضاع بد گفتن و انتقاد کردن. ما دیگر عادت کرده بودیم و یادم است که می گفتیم : دوباره واکسن یادآوری لازم دارد تا مجدداً تبدیل به آدمی شاه دوست گردد. بر خلاف اغلب چپ های دو آتشه ایرانی آن دوران، با استالین بد بود. >>>

Sherlock Holmes' Daughter (4)

I double checked my voice mail and found the school principal’s message. Finally, after days of trying to get a hold of someone at my daughter’s school to grumble about her verbal scores, someone had bothered to reply. I wondered if the school would have bothered to return my call at all if she hadn’t done whatever she was supposed to have done. “Test scores are the least of her problems right now,” the principal barked. She sounded furious. “I’d like to discuss the smaller problems first, “ I said. “About the test scores…” >>>

شب سرود

به فانوس و شمع
عادت مکن
که قامت عشق
ازاین روزنه ها
.نتواند گذشت >>>

Back to the Torture (Part II)

"They pulled out my toenail
then clubbed me until I fell."
"I asked why am I in jail?
in answer, they fractured my head."
"In solidary confinement
for weeks I thought I was dead."
>>>