Faizi

Contents Introduction Acknowledgements Prologue 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

vii xv xix

Childhood Tehran – Tarbíyat School – Youth Beirut Return Home Najafábád Qazvín Preparing to Leave Iran Baghdad Bahrain: The Lonely Years Bahrain: Beginnings of a Community The Road of No Return The Holy Land: A Change of Direction The End of an Era ‘I Do It Because I Must’ No Time for Rest Anecdotes and Insights The Indomitable Spirit A Quiet Year Twilight Vignettes

1 40 54 71 78 120 132 136 140 160 225 229 259 291 297 304 330 334 339 351

Appendix I: Passion Plays Appendix II: Zúrkhánih Appendix III: Record of Faizi’s Travels Appendix IV: Major Publications

375 378 381 388

Bibliography References and Notes Index

391 393 399 v

fa i z i

1

Childhood Naw-Rúz had come and gone over the land of Iran and left spring in its wake. Wild flowers carpeted the countryside around the city of Qum. Fruit trees were bursting into blossom. The air shook off the chill of winter with every movement of the temperate breeze. The inhabitants of the city warmed themselves under the gentle rays of the sun with hopes of a good year to come.

In the home of one of the leading families of the city an expectant mother waited patiently for the imminent birth of her fourth child. As her time approached the woman willed her unborn to enter this world with the good fortune of a long life. Her firstborn, Muhammad ‘Alí was now a healthy seven year old boy and the apple of his parents’ eyes but she had lost two infants after him and could not bear the thought of going through the heartache of losing another child.

In time the young mother gave birth to a son and as she held him in her arms the strong bond she already had with him grew even stronger. Little did she know what the future of her newborn would be as she gazed into his tender face. All she wanted to do was to hold him, to care for and protect him, to love him and his brother and to bring them up to be good men.

The child was named Abu’l-Qásim. And so Faizi’s life began. *** Setting the Scene Faizi was born in Qum in 1906 or 1907. The exact date of his birth is unknown, as most people in Iran at that time did not 2

childhood

attach much importance to birthdays. The custom was that the date of a child’s birth would be recorded on a page of the family Qur’án or the book of Háfiz1 and then forgotten. Faizi himself did not find celebrating birthdays important, nor did he care to find out when he was born but he once told me that he believed it was in the first week or two of April.

The city of Qum, not far from the capital, Tehran, is the second most sacred city in Iran. It is still considered to be the most conservative and fanatical of all the Muslim strongholds in the country with the rich, golden dome of the shrine of Ma‘Súmih, the sister of one of the important Imáms in Islam, dominating the town and attracting pilgrims from all over the country. The turbaned priests of the city held the reins of all affairs in their hands and no one was permitted to utter a word contrary to their wishes – even in the privacy of their homes husbands and wives did not dare to speak their minds to each other, fearing that their words might reach the ears of the district priest and provoke his anger and severe punishment.

During Faizi’s childhood the visiting pilgrims crowded the shrine of Ma‘Súmih and the surrounding streets. Hovering nearby were the priests who offered to recite the right prayers for the pilgrims for a nominal fee and the Siyyids who pestered the pilgrims to pay their dues.2 From the moment of their arrival until they left, the pilgrims were harangued by these men who would ruthlessly insist on receiving their money. The predicament of the pilgrims who were poor upset the young, tender-hearted Faizi so much that he would be reduced to inconsolable sobbing in the street and his grandmother had to spend a long time comforting and calming him down.

Adjacent to the shrine where the men came together was a large courtyard and a smaller one reserved for the women where they gathered in great numbers in the evenings to breathe a breath of fresh air and allow their smaller children, who had been confined to cramped houses during the day, to run around and play. On one of the graves in this area was a 3

fa i z i

stone lion with an engraving of an Indian club and the bowshaped iron that is used in Persian gymnastics. Little Faizi’s favourite game was to ride on this stone lion. One day his grandmother told him that the grave belonged to Pahlaván3 Husayn.

‘God rest his soul in peace,’ she said. ‘He was like a strong pillar. When a loaded donkey fell in the stream he straddled the stream and pulled out the donkey and its load.’

Her words created such great excitement in the child’s vivid imagination that he pictured himself as Pahlaván Husayn and wished that he could have known him. To the end of his life Faizi was drawn to pahlaváns and tried to spend some time in their company wherever he came across them.

The Family Faizi’s parents, ‘Abdu’l Husayn Khán and Siddíqih Khánum (Mádar-jún,4 as we knew her) were cousins and descendants of the well-known scholar and commentator of the Qur’án Mullá Muhsin-i-Fayz-i-Káshání, in whose name the famous theological college in Qum, the Faydiyyih, was founded. His maternal uncle was Mullá Muhammad Fayd, a powerful and influential Muslim scholar. (Faizi remembered going to this uncle’s house as a child and described it as being very large with upper floor living accommodation, enclosed gardens and open grounds where carpets were spread under the trees. Priceless termeh5 hung over the branches of these trees and servants continuously served tea to the crowd of never-ending visitors.) Through his maternal grandmother Faizi was also a descendant of the much-loved 18th-century benevolent ruler of Iran Karím Kháni-Zand, whose short dynasty was overthrown by the Qájárs.

‘Abdu’l Husayn Khán was a dignified person and respected by all who knew him. Faizi, who addressed his father as ‘Khán’ (as did everyone else), described him as being ‘tall, good-looking and with a penetrating gaze’. Although Khán loved his sons, his relationship with them was rather formal and distant and, 4

childhood

as was the custom of the time, he left their upbringing to his wife. By contrast, Mádar-jún’s relationship with her sons was close, warm, affectionate and gentle, but firm when necessary.

It was she who had the greatest influence in developing their characters and both spoke of the debt they owed her for instilling in them compassion for their fellow humans and teaching them endurance in the face of difficulties. They described her as being kind, generous and pure in spirit. My own memory of Mádar-jún is that she was quietly strong-willed but at the same time an even-tempered and loving lady who always seemed to be helping some disadvantaged soul. She was an extremely generous woman and did not think twice about giving what she had to someone who was needier than herself.

An example of her compassionate and charitable heart happened in Qum during a period of famine and left a lasting impression on her youngest son. One day during this time Faizi and his mother went to one of her sisters, who was a well-todo woman, where Mádar-jún spent the whole day helping the family bake bread. Towards evening they returned home with a few loaves which Mádar-jún carried under her chádur.6 On their way they passed a small group of poverty-stricken people leaning against a wall. As they approached the group one of the starving men who had caught a whiff of the freshly-baked bread moaned with hunger.

‘Oh, what a good smell of bread!’

Without a second’s thought or any hesitation in her walk Mádar-jún let all the loaves she was carrying drop in front of the poor people and continued on her way. She and Faizi returned home empty-handed.

Another of Mádar-jún’s qualities was that she would not tolerate negative comments being made about anyone and would cut short any backbiter, saying that they did not really know what the person’s circumstances were or what was in his or her heart. She was loved by all who crossed her path but remained an unassuming woman to the end of her life.

5

End of this sample.

To learn more or to purchase this book, Please visit Bahaibookstore.com or your favorite bookseller.