THE LEADER AND YOUTH [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

of Islam The public call of the Holy Prophet had begun, he had openly
proclaimed this call and little by little, the people of Mecca,
especially the youth and slgradually gravitated towards the Holy
Prophet. Leaders of the Tagut such as Abu-Lahab, Abu – jahl, and
others had no other choice but to exile the prophet and those around him
and so they did. A large number of people consisting of tens of families
among whom were the Holy prophet and his family, Abi-Talib -who himself
was one of the leaders of the Quraish’s heads –children and others
were exiled from Mecca, but where could they go? Abi Talib had some land
–some miles away from Mecca– which was located in a mountain fissure
and was known as Sheb-e- Abi Talib (“sheb” means fissure of mountain
or narrow valley). We from Mashad call it “Bazeh”, an original
Persian word.

Abi –Talib had a “Bazeh” or “Sheb” and they were told that
it was better to go there” Now think about it, in Mecca it is very hot
in the day and very cold at night quite an intolerable situation, and
they lived there for three years only God knows what hardships and
hunger they suffered.

This was one of the most trying times for the Holy Prophet. In this
period he was not only responsible for managing a society, but he had to
support himself as well as the people who were suffering from severe
hardship.

When a situation is pleasant, the people who have gathered around a
leader are satisfied they say “God bless him that provided us with
such a nice situation, but in hardship and in the face of uncertainty
and they say “he guided us to this and we did not wish for such a
situation” of course people with strong faith resist, but in the final
analysis all the hardships are placed on the shoulders of the Prophet.
In the midst of such a severe situation Abi-Talib who his supporter and
hope and “Khadijah-e- Kubra” the greatest source of psychological
support for the Prophet both passed away within a week, this unforseen
calamity left the Holy Prophet completely alone.

I do not know if you have ever been in charge for a work collective
to know what responsibility really means? A situation like this could
make a man feel quite helpless. In such conditions take a look at
Fatimah Zahra’s role. When man looks at history he finds such
instances pushed aside to the corners and unfortunately no chapter is
opened for them.

Fatemah Zahra was like a mother consultant and nurse to the Holy
Prophet. That is why she is called “the mother of her father” from the time she was only six or seven years old. In Arabia and other
hot environments girls grow faster physically and mentally and the
equivalent of her age would be like that of a girl of twelve in our
environment, accompanied by a heightened sense of responsibility.

Couldn’t this be a pattern for youth that can encourage them to
quickly feel their responsibility toward matters in their environment,
to quickly feel that joy? She expended that excitement, that valuable
asset which permeated her existence in removing the dust of grief and
displeasure from a father’s face who was now about fifty years old and
was almost old man. Could she not be a pattern for youth? This is very
important.

The next example is that of a married life and haring a husband when
someone thinks about wife hood they think about organizing meals in the
kitchen, cleaning rooms, making beds like in the old days, arranging the
cushions and then waiting for the husband to come home from the office
or store. Being a wife, however is not just this.

Just look at the married life of Fatimah Zahra (S.A.).

Fatimah and Imam Ali (a.)
had been married for about nine of the ten years that the Holy Prophet
spent in Medina. Had wars taken place almost sixty in most of which of
Imam Ali had participated.

Now look here, here is a lady who stays at home while her husband is
involved in fighting battles on a regular basis and without whose
presence on the battlefield the struggle would be paralyzed, so much did
success on the battlefield depend upon him.

At the same time they did not have an easy life, exactly as we have
heard. It said: The same things that we have heard “Because of love of
God they feed the poor, the slaves, the orphans, saying: truly we feed
you for the sake of God alone”.

Truly they lived a life of poverty although she was the daughter of a
leader, the daughter of the Holy Prophet, and with a sense of
responsibility as well.

Do you know what a strong spirit a human being needs in order to
equip such a husband, to free his heart from the distractions of family
problems, to reassure him and to properly educate the children? You may
say that Imam Hassan and Imam Husayn (a.)
were both Imams and had nature of Imamate (leadership), but Zainab (a.)
was not an Imam. Fatimah Zahra had trained her during these nine years.
After the Holy Prophet’s demise she did not live very long. She was
that kind of housewife, she was that kind of spouse in this way they
managed the home and in this way this axis of family life is permanently
written in history.

Can not this be a pattern for a young girl? A woman who is a
housewife a lady who is honored as a housewife this is very important.

After holy prophet’s demise she (Hazrat-e-Zahra) comes to the
mosque and gives that startling lecture. Those of us who vocally give
extempore speeches and lectures will understand how extraordinary that
lecture was. A girl of eighteen, twenty or at most twenty four years old
(of course her real age is not certain because date of birth is in
dispute) experiencing those hardships and calamities comes to mosque and
in the presence of a huge crowd of people she gives a lecture whose
every word would remain in the annals of history.

The Arabs are famous for having good memories. A man might come and
compose an elegy of eighty lines, and afterwards, ten people would write
it. The elegies which have survived originated in this way. Poems were
read in social gatherings and were recorded. Lectures and sayings were
recorded in the same way, though memorizing or writing and they have
remained with us until today.

Empty talk does not remain in history neither would any kind of
speech, lots of words have been expressed, lots of poems hare been
composed, but none have survived and nobody pays to them any attention.
That which history keeps in its heart and after 1400 years would fill
anyone with humility when they consider it this demonstrates
magnificence and in my opinion this can be a pattern for a young girl.

You are correct, the fault is with those of us who are in charge of
these affairs. Of course by this I do not mean those in charge of
governmental affairs I mean spiritual and religious affairs, that we
have not offered them to the young generation as we would have liked,
but you yourselves can do work in these areas. There are similar cases
to be seen in the lives of our Imams, as well.

Imam Jawad’s life is also a model. Imam Jawad (a.)
despite his stature and his magnificence died when he was only twenty
five years old; these are not our words but the words of history, a
history written by non-shiites. This magnanimous man during his infancy
and his youth attained a magnificence before the eyes of “Mamoun”
and all the people. This is very important and could also be seen as a
model for all of us.

Of course, in our time we have a model as well. Imam Khomeini (May
his spirit be sanctified) is a model, these young volunteer forces are a
model both those who had been martyred and those who are still alive to-
day. Of course man’s culture makes it easy to speak about people who
have been martyred or have passed away. Just look and see what models we
can find. We have seen people in the war who had left their towns or
villages as very average people. I had noted previously that the
previous regime could not elevate these potentials or even realize them.
In the previous regime these people were normal human beings, but in
this system they came to the battlefield which was a field of work and
all of a sudden their potentials were realized, they became “major
generals” and later they were martyred. Such cases are many.

Some years ago I was reading about them in a pamphlet entitled “My
commander” recounting the memories of young menabout their commanders
on the battlefield. I don’t know if this work was continued or not.
They narrated very short stories or brief memories, memories that
manifest the magnificence of such a personality to man. These could be
patterns for us. And of course, in our scientific personalities,
athletic personalities, literary personalities, as well as among our
artistic personalities we may find patterns as well; personalities that
are truly notable.

Of course man chooses his model in accordance with his own criteria.
You may choose any pattern that you wish, but I ask you to consider
piety as a criterion, piety is something that cannot be neglected. It is
necessary for a worldly life as well as a spiritual one.

In response to your question as to what personalities had impressed
me I must say that there were quite a variety.

The person who impressed me very much in my youth was the late
“Navab Safavi”. I was about fifteen when he came to Mashad. I was
really impressed by him. When he left Mashad he was martyred in a
terrible way only after some months had passed. This deepened his
impression upon us. Ladder Imam Khomeini profoundly impressed me. Before
I left for Qom and before the outbreak of the struggle I had heard Imam
Khomeini’s name, I had not yet seen him but I was interested in him;
because all the young men in Qom’s theological school took great
interest in his lectures which appealed to them. When I left for Qom I
did not hesitate to go to his classes.

From the start I attended his sessions and I continued to attend his
classes for as long as I stayed in Qom. He impressed me very much. My
father and mother, of course, impressed me as well. My mother especially
so, she impressed me deeply. She was quite an effective lady.

* Considering your
interest in art and literature, who among contemporary poets have you
studied most and in whom are you more interested?

I divide contemporary poets into:

Poets who composed lyric poems, poets who composed of satirical
poems, and poets who composed modern verse. Each of these categories
consists of some individuals in whom I was interested. Among the lyric
poets there is the late “Amiry Firouzkouhy” who was a friend of mine
and he took a great liking to me we were in contact with each other for
many years after the Revolution. He passed away during my term as
president. Besides “Amiry” there were, of course one or two other
composers of lyric poems whose work attracted me; one of them is the
late “Rahy Moayery” I did not hare close contact with him, the other
one is the late “Shahriar” I was very interested in his poems, and I
was also acquainted with him, after the Revolution but we had no
relation before the Revolution. One of the best among composers of
satirical poems was “Malekashoara Bahar” whose satirical poems
proved very attracted to me. The late “Amiry Firouzkouhy” used to
compose a sort of satirical poem in the style of “Khaghany” a famous
and noted composer of satirical poems, I was very interested in him.

There were two or three people in the area of modern verse, whose
work I found very interesting; one of them is “Akhavan”. We knew
“Akhavan” and his poetry was very exceptional. There are two or
three other people that are also notable but I do not wish to mention
their names. During our youth there were individuals who were masters in
the art of modern verse and I believe they composed modern verse even
better than “Nima Youshij”, although he paved the way but in my
opinion these people were better at composing more experienced and more
noteworthy. Of course no one had the sincerity that “Nima Youshij”
had neither did “Akhavan” nor the two or three people that have not
mentioned. “Nima Youshij”- contrary to gossip – was a religious
man. The late “Amiy” was his close friend and he told me that
“Nima Youshij” was religious. He was interested in traditional
poems, but he was also interested in this style modern verse as well.
You know, of course that he imitated Europeans in this style.

Basically the style of our (modern verse) is not an original style in
a real sense; it is a style of European poetry; with many of the
characteristics that these poems possess, even patterns of English
sentence structure has entered modern Persian poetry.

Among the poets we have today, we have some very good ones; we have
also good lyrical poems and to be fair, among those whom we say are good
poets; we have those who write modern verse as well. Among the poets of
the Revolution, some are really good and gifted ones. Allow me not to
get into commenting upon the contemporary poets at this time.

* Today literature is
directly mixed up with political viewpoints; consequently bewildering
writers of the young generation. What is your opinion in this case?

I do not understand what you are getting at when you by say that
literature has become mixed with politics. Does it mean that it has
political content? For instance, suppose we say that, there is a poet
who is in opposition to our current reasoning from the political point
of view but he is a notable poet, if his poems found its way into the
universities and attract attention it may be used, therefore it should
not be so employed. Of course I do not know how such poetry is
encountered with in the universities. If we really had a poet who had a
high position from a poetic point of view so that a student in the
university could really make use of his poetry I would not criticize
him. Even if that poet was going against the revolution for coming into
a class and being the subject to attention; but honestly I do not know
any such a poet now.

You speak of the separation of modern poem and prose from the poems
of the previous era. In that time when this so called notable poet
composed this poem, we probably had ten other poets who may have had the
same fame or more famous. Now this particular poet’s poetry, and I
wish not to mention his name and will not do so, found its way into the
university but Akhavan’s poetry did not and I do not think that his
poetry was the best manifestation of the poetry of that period.
“Akhavan” was a friend of mine; during my presidential term we had a
warm relationship with each other After my presidential term.

Subsequent to return from a one year trip to Europe, he wrote me a
letter and composed a poem, and soon after he passed away. Therefore
there is nothing wrong with «Akhavan». In fact why shouldn’t we not
gravitate towards such a man who could be so useful to us? In other
words, if we really have great poets right now I see no problem in
students of universities making use of their poetry and subjecting them
to scholarly research, I see no problem in this, at least it is not
prohibited on my part. I am not aware about any such programs but I do
not know such poets.

You should know that there are some people who have famous names, but
really are not that great and their poems, too, are not that important.
When exposed to criticism, and putting aside their status as poets in
considering both good and bad in detail it then becomes clear that some
of them are fakes. Usually I am not uninformed about these contemporary
poets. Some of these so-called poets compose poems and claim that they
are this and they are that, that they are the roots of poetry in this
country, while we know they are nothing of the sort. At the time when it
was best for their work they were second rate, some of them were third
rate while there were many in the country who were much better than
them.

Contemporary poems should be worked on. You will find no one in lyric
poetry who is better than Rahy Moayery during his time. «Rayh» is from
the same generation that is connected to this period, and it is the same
with the late Amiry Firouzkouhy, and these are quite noted poets, or the
late «Gholam Reza Qodsi» or Mr «Qahraman» who is now in Mashad and
is a very good composer of lyric poems; or for instance Mr. Sahebkar in
Mashad who is not a well-known poet but his lyric poems are excellent.
Or for example in Kermanshah there is Mr. Behzad. These are the poets of
note in this period. The young poet of today will really not be able to
find any pobetter than these.

We have exceptional poets that unfortunately the young generation is
not aware of. All of them are also good people. People who are on the
line of the Revolution, the system and Islam; the very line that the
people support in Iran. There is no opposition or separation. They could
be quite useful for us, but our youths are somewhat lazy in the fields
of research, investigation and follow up. If it is not too presumptious
to the youth this must be said. If they search a little and be serious
they can uncover very good sources. Right now in our own university in
Tehran we have very excellent and noteworthy poets to whom people pay
very little attention.

* We have observed that
in social and political affairs, some people take up extremist positions
and also follow up on them. What is your guidance for young people in
this regard?

One should not be very afraid of variety in tastes. Variety in taste
is not a bad thing. Now, for example, if there are two political
orientations, and one youth believes in one of them and the other youth
believes in the other it’s no problem, what is harmful is action
without thinking and without study jumping to quick decisions, becoming
agitated and carrying out activities without proper study. I warn dear
youths to beware of this attitude. Being young does not necessarily mean
having speed in making decisions. Of course, youth means intrepidity in
taking action, which means that man should not let himself be rendered
helpless by the complications and complexities of the work that he wants
to accomplish. It does not mean becoming, agitated and acting without
methodology and without deliberation. Youth can act without deliberation
but they can also work with deliberation which is to work completely,
thoughtfully and with reflection. These characteristics that is, the
characteristics of deliberation, of thoughtfulness of study and of
seeking the truth all of them can exist in the youth. If some youth, for
example can be seekers after truth which is, basically, part of their
attributes there will be no objection at all to them having variety in
taste and it will not be the cause of any error, at least it will not
create any serious damage.

As regards to the attitude of denying the other side, such as in
social affairs, a person taking up a position and saying that it is one
hundred percent so and so and nothing else, is not right. It is not a
good attitude to have. Of course, we must be so with regard to some of
the principles of our religious beliefs that is, one must follow it
thoughtfully and take stand on a fixed and well established point, and
decisively say this is it and there is nothing else. In this case it is
not bad to say so, rather, it’s good but in social matters, in
political matters and in various social encounters it is not right to