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Nowruz

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Ali Shariati
Translated by
Mehdi Abedi
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Extract

In Esfand of 1346 (March 1967) the history students of the university went to Iraq on a scientific excursion. I had planned to accompany them, but at the last moment, “destiny” (!) ruled otherwise. Because they were to celebrate Nowruz on the trip, by the request of my dear colleagues, I composed this article upon their departure, so that it might be read in that assembly.

And now, in commemoration of that “incident“! … .

It is difficult to say something new about Nowruz. It is a national festival, and everyone knows what a national festival is. Nowruz takes place and is spoken of every year. Much has been told and much you have heard. Then is repetition appropriate?! Yes it is! Doesn't Nowruz repeat itself? Then you should attend to what is repeatedly said of Nowruz. In science and literature, repetition is boring and useless.

Type
Research Article
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 19 , Issue 3-4 , Autumn 1986 , pp. 235 - 241
Copyright
Copyright © Association For Iranian Studies, Inc 1986

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References

Notes

1. Such is the nature of tradition.-Sh.

2. Taftazani mentions repetition as “one of the defects of rhetoric, except when it recalls the beloved, in which case it is not only not a vice, and thus permissable, but is even a rhetorical virtue.“-Sh.

Sa'ad al-Din Taftazani (1312-1389 A.D.) was born in Taftazan, Khurasan, and died in Samarkand. He was an expert of jurisprudence as well as a philologist, logician, and metaphysician. His most famous work, Al-Mutawal, is the bible of the science of rhetoric and eloquence.-ed.

3. The first two lines of Feraydun Moshiri's poem, Khosh beh hal-e Ghoncheh ha ye nimeh baz (Merry be the half-opened buds). In the original version, instead of Pooneh (pennyroyal), there is Sabzeh (grass). The poem originally appears in Moshiri's Abr va Kucheh (Tehran, 1340/1961) and again, in his Parvaz Ba Khorshid (pp. 51-52): Bongah -e- Matbuati -e- Safialishah (Tehran, 1347/1968).

4. This refers to the son of Jacob in the Old Testament (Gen. 37-50) as well as in the Quran (Surah 12), who is sold into slavery by his brothers.-ed.

5. One of the agents of the Arab caliph, in charge of the conquest of northeastern Iran.-ed.

6. The caliph's military agents in Khurasan. His son Yazid (674-721 A.D.) succeeded him by the appointment of Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik.-ed.

7. The word “savage,” it must be admitted, is an inadequate translation of jahili. Jahilivah refers to the pre-Islamic culture of Arabia and is normally translated as “ignorance.” Ignaz Goldziher (Muslim Studies, Vol. I, pp. 201f.) preferred to translate it as “savagery.“-ed.

8. This apparently fabricated technonym makes symbolic reference to the bird abutimar (Pers. butimar, Engl. bitern), which according to Persian mythology would sit at the water's edge, and although thirsty, would not drink. Perhaps the bard, calling himself by this name, implies that he should not mourn over the Arab conquests as being a permanent state of affairs, but should drink from the vast ocean of Persian culture.-ed.

9. The Zoroastrian priestly caste. Perhaps the word mogh (magus) and the word mubad are variations of the same word; but since Shariati distinguishes them, they have been left distinguished in the translation.-ed.

10. In 656 A.D., a mob of malcontent Muslims stormed the house of Uthman (b. 574; r. 644-656), killing him, and delegated Ali as their caliph.-ed.

11. A place between Mecca and Medina, where, according to Shi'i beliefs, Muhammad, returning from his last pilgrimage, declared Ali as his successor on the 18th of Dhulhajjah, 632 A.D./11 A.H. The day is celebrated in Shi'i communities as an occasion for religious rejoicing.-ed.

12. Ruled Iran c. 1500-1736 A.D.-ed.

13. The tenth day of Muharram is observed as commemoration of the martyrdom of Husayn in 61 A.H./680 A.D. and is a day of grief. Muslim religious occasions are counted according to the Semitic Lunar calendar (354 days), whereas Iranian national events are counted by the solar calendar (365 days). Thus it frequently happens that a national and a religious holiday coincide.-ed.

14. See Sh. Abbas Qummi, Mafatih al-Jinan, ch. 11, wherein Nowruz is characterized as a Shi'i festival, and at the moment of annual transition the Shi'is recite an Arabic prayer:

Oh You Transformer of hearts and vision;

Oh You Director of day and night;

Oh You Evolver of years and situations;

Transform our situation into the best.

For characterization of Nowruz as a Muslim and Shi'i festival, the following, excerpted from Talat Rukni, “Jashnhayeh Irani” (Iranian Festivals). Nameh Haveh Nazat (Paris, Spring 1982, Persian) are worthy of note: Al-Bayruni (973-1048 A.D.), in Athar al-Baqiyah, says, “Soloman's ring was lost, and therefore he lost his kingdom. Forty days later the ring was found and he regained his kingdom. He made that day Nowruz.” Muhammad Baqir al-Majlisi (1627-1700 A.D.), in Bihar al-Anwar, says, “Nowruz is the day God, by the prayer of one of His prophets, gave rain and water to the people. That day was called Nowruz, and splashing water on one another became a tradition on that day.” The Shi'is say, “Nowruz is the day in which the Apostle held Ali on his shoulder.” It is related to Imam al-Sadiq's saying, “Nowruz is a day for us and for Shi'ism, held sacred by the Ajams; but you Arabs have spoiled it.“ According to another tradition, it is the day of Ali's coronation on the throne of the caliphate.-ed.

15. A mythical Iranian king, reputed to have established Nowruz as a festival.-ed.

16. It is alleged that some conquerors of Iran flaunted their triumph by constructing minarets using the heads of their victims as bricks. These minarets are referred to in Persian literature and folklore as Kalleh Munar. Even in Yazd, a city with a relatively peaceful history, there is a neighborhood bearing this name.-ed.

17. A poem by Hafiz contains the following lines:

The one whose heart is revived by love

shall never die;

Our durability is registered on the

Tablet of the World,

-ed.