Searching for Hassan
Page 36
With the travel ban firmly in place, fears of Iranian Americans are even more heightened as parents, siblings, spouses and others in Iran are barred from entering the United States. Their worries build with each passing day. Innocent lives are at risk. The great Persian cultural monuments are under threat.
On the farther horizon, the threat of armed conflict still looms large. Across the Gulf, clouds of war are brewing. If missiles and drones are launched, they will strike with deadly accuracy like those that crippled the Abqaiq fields in Saudi Arabia. The narrow Strait of Hormuz, gateway to the Persian Gulf, will close to oil tankers until the shooting ends. Lights of the industrial world will dim. It will be a time for lighting candles. Unless cooler heads prevail.
In the midst of such danger, Iranians and Americans still pursue their everyday lives. Yet we know that in today’s brinksmanship, false narratives breed conflict and hatred. Propaganda can lead to war. Counter measures need to be taken. Bridges can be built. And if our search for Hassan may help open Western eyes and hearts to a friendship that transcends cultural divides, then it can play a small part in starting the healing.
Acknowledgments
I owe immense gratitude to my many Iranian friends in the United States, Europe and Iran, and in particular the Ghasemi family, who taught me profound lessons in civility and love. In this journey, I owe a special thanks to my charismatic and loving mentor, Gholam Hosain Janati-Ataie, who guided me with his wit, spirituality and wisdom through Iran’s culture. Like Hassan, he has taught me to see.
I salute Gloria Loomis for recognizing the value of this chronicle, and Eric Chinski for his patient insight and wise counsel. I am deeply grateful to Theresa DiMasi and Anja Schmidt, who were inspired to republish this edition for Simon & Schuster. It is their belief and support that has given this work new life.
I wish to thank Caroline Lockhart for her Sag Harbor cabin, which served as my writing refuge during one snowy winter, and the late Paola Carola for her warm hospitality in Naples, which allowed me to plunge into the library of the Istituto Universitario Orientale.
The first reader of this book was Idanna, my treasured companion. With her lyrical storytelling gift and compassionate heart, daily she unveils to me life’s hermetic meanings. In this realm lies our tender and sacred bond, which will be neither broken nor bent in this life or the next.
I embrace my three brothers, Kevin, Chris and Richard, whose esprit de corps is like a deep cool well from which I have been drinking for decades, a source that miraculously never runs dry. Finally, I toast my parents, Donna and Patrick, for their limitless capacity of love and their deep wisdom. I am proud to be called your son.
Further Reading
If you wish to explore further the history, culture and literature of modern Iran and ancient Persia, I recommend the following books.
HISTORICAL SOURCES
Encyclopedia Iranica, brainchild of Dr. Ehsan Yarshater, is a monumental work of scholarship, representing the beating heart of Iranian civilization studies. Encompassing the entire Persianate world—from the Balkans to Bengal, including the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent—it is unique in its conception as the sum total of all knowledge about the Iranian universe. More than forty years ago, Dr. Yarshater shepherded the encyclopedia with total devotion and dedication until the end of his life at 98 years old in 2018.
The Histories of Herodotus (London: Wordsworth Classics of World Literature, 1988) is by far the largest classical source of material on the lives and times of the ancient Persians and remains a joy to read.
The Persians by Aeschylus (in Aeschylus II, edited by David Greene and Richmond Lattimore; New York: Pocket Books, 1973) is a surprisingly sympathetic drama set in the royal Persian court, where all await the fate of Xerxes at Salamis.
The Heritage of Persia by Richard Nelson Frye (London: Cambridge University Press, 1975) is a comprehensive study of pre-Islamic Persia from the birth of the Achaemenian Empire to the collapse of the Sassanian dynasty in the wake of the Arab invasion.
The Cambridge History of Iran (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1968–91), with contributions by leading scholars, also serves as a treasure trove of information about the Achaemenians, the Sassanian dynasty, the Arab invasion, the Timurid and the Safavid flowering as well as the turmoil of the twentieth century.
Persia: From the Origins to Alexander the Great by Roman Ghirshman (edited by André Malraux and Georges Salles, translated by Stuart Gilbert and James Emmons; London: Thames & Hudson, 1962; in The Arts of Mankind series) renders pre-Islamic Persian history enjoyable through the passionate explanations of an archaeologist who spent a lifetime in Iran.
ISLAM AND OTHER FAITHS
The Mantle of the Prophet: Religion and Politics in Iran by Roy Mottahedeh (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1985) remains perhaps the most accessible account of the scholarly Islamic jurists of Qom who rule Iran today. The tale follows the life of Ali Hashemi, a religious student whose journey begins with his enrollment in theological school and who later comes of age as an activist in the Islamic Revolution. Mottahedeh also provides an excellent survey of the Shia faith, the roots of Sufi and gnostic influences and the role of Ayatollah Khomeini, who galvanized the clergy and emerged as the political victor of the Revolution.
The Koran Interpreted by A. J. Arberry (New York: Macmillan, 1955) serves as an essential translation of this holy book.
Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices by Mary Boyce (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1979) is a great source for understanding Iran’s oldest faith.
Beyond Belief: Islamic Excursions Among the Converted Peoples by V. S. Naipaul (New York: Random House, 1998) traces the role of Islam in non-Arabic-speaking lands. What intrigues Naipaul is the psychological complications of nations that have rich cultural identities that predate Islam.
LITERATURE
The Conference of the Birds by Farid ud-Din Attar (translated by Afkham Darbandi and Dick Davis; Middlesex, England: Penguin, 1984) is the inspirational twelfth-century Sufi epic poem about thirty birds in search of the mythical Simorgh and the immense revelation that lies in wait.
The Essential Rumi (translated by Coleman Barks; New York: HarperCollins, 1995) is, quite simply, a masterwork, an accessible and illuminating translation of an important Persian mystic poet.
The poetry of Hafez. Translations by A. J. Arberry, Gertrude Bell, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Elizabeth Gray, Daniel Ladinsky, Haleh Pourafzal and Roger Montgomery are all fine attempts to render this master’s verse into English.
The Epic of Kings by Ferdowsi (translated by Reuben Levy; Costa Mesa, Cal.: Mazda Publishers, 1996) offers the recently rehabilitated epic poem of pre-Islamic myth, Iranian kingship and heroic national history, all grandly told by the Persian Homer.
The Water’s Footfall: The Green Volume by Sohrab Sepehri (translated by Abbas Zahedi; Tehran: Zabankade Publications, 1958) is a wonderful contemporary work from the much-loved poet of Kashan.
THE CULTURAL DIVIDE
My Uncle Napoleon by Iraj Pezeshkzad (translated by Dick Davis; Washington, D.C.: Mage Publishers, 1996). This hilarious book lampoons the ever-lurking Iranian fears of British conspiracy, collusion and interference in Iran’s fragile destiny. Set in 1941 on the eve of the British occupation, the tale gallops to an operatic climax, led by the paranoid hero, Uncle Napoleon.
In a Persian Mirror: Images of the West and Westerners in Iranian Fiction by M. R. Ghanoonparvar (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1993). An original and intriguing survey of Iranian literature from the nineteenth century to the present.
The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia by Peter Hopkirk (New York: Kodansha America, 1990) is a riveting history of two centuries of Anglo-Russian competition in Asia, replete with secret agents, skullduggery and coups.
Occidentosis: A Plague from the West by Jalal Al-i Ahmad (translated by R. Campbell; Berkeley, Cal.: Mizan Press, 1984) is still a lightning rod for controversy among Iranians
. Its description of gharbzadegi, or the “Western-intoxicated,” was a touchstone of criticism of the Shah’s regime.
TRAVELERS’ TALES AND ÉMIGRÉS’ REFLECTIONS
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi (New York: Pantheon Graphic Library, 2004). An innovative and poignant graphic autobiography of young rebellious Marjane coming of age as a young girl in the Islamic Republic. Her portraits of family members inside the home are especially moving as they each navigate through the heady days of the Revolution with their idealism, hopes and shattered dreams. As Marjane’s destiny sends her abroad for education, she finds herself caught between two worlds. In the end, her story mirrors the personal narratives of many Iranian émigrés in the West. It continues to be a bestseller.
Saffron Sky by Gelareh Asayesh (Boston: Beacon Press, 1999) is a poignant reflection by an Iranian-American émigré on her brave struggle to reclaim her culture. An immigrant’s story, it also examines the conflicts Iranians face when they attempt to hold on to their identity in America.
The Road to Oxiana by Robert Byron (London: Macmillan, 1937) is a witty, insightful account of a journey across Iran and Afghanistan during the reign of Reza Shah. It is considered to be one of the great works of travel writing.
Travels in Persia, 1673–1677 by Sir John Chardin (New York: Dover Publications, 1988) is an exhaustive account by a French jeweler seeking clients in seventeenth-century Safavid Isfahan. It includes fascinating descriptions of social customs, food, natural resources, architecture and crafts of the day.
Seven Shades of Memory: Stories of Old Iran by Terence O’Donnell (Washington, D.C.: Mage Publishers, 1999). A collection of tales that illustrate Iran’s diverse cultural mix before the Revolution.
Tales of Two Cities: A Persian Memoir by Abbas Milani (Washington, D.C.: Mage Publishers, 1996) describes a dark and troubled childhood in Tehran. After a college education in the West, where he is seduced by left-wing ideologues, Milani returns to Tehran to illuminate the masses. While he is teaching at a university, the secret police arrest him. He charts his tortuous path through Evin Prison and revolutionary Iran, and finally his escape to Berkeley.
CURRENT AFFAIRS
COUP 53 by Taghi Amirani and Walter Murch (London: Amirani Media, 2019). Ten years in the making, the documentary COUP 53 tells the story of the Anglo-American coup d’etat that overthrew Iran’s government of Prime Minister Mohammad Mossedegh and reinstalled the Shah. The CIA/MI6 covert action was called Operation Ajax. It was all about Iran’s oil and who gets to control and benefit from it. BP was at the heart of the story. Shot in seven countries, featuring participants and first-hand witnesses, and unearthing never-before-seen archival material, COUP 53 is a politically explosive and cinemtatically innovative documentary that lifts the lid on secrets buried for over sixty six years. A must-see!
Persian Mirrors: The Elusive Face of Iran by Elaine Sciolino (New York: Free Press, 2000) and The Last Great Revolution: Turmoil and Transformation in Iran by Robin Wright (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000) share insights on the Islamic Republic, its inner workings, its current elite, the democratic ferment and the diverse social currents rippling throughout Iran. These two American journalists, of the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times respectively, have been reporting on Iran since the Revolution of 1979. Their books explore two decades of political, religious and social developments, with special glimpses of the world of women and contemporary Iranian life.
All the Shah’s Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror by Stephen Kinzer (Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2003). The powerful narrative of the Anglo-American coup in 1953 that removed the democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mossedgh from power. This dark event of imperial hubis during the Cold War by the Dulles brothers and MI5 would sow the seeds for the Iranian Revolution a generation later. Kinzer presents the cast of rogue characters with Kermit Roosevelt on center stage taking credit for the entire operation, which would lead to CIA-inspired coups across the Third World.
More in Personal Memoirs
The Glass Castle
Shoe Dog
The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo
Year of Yes
An Invisible Thread
Primates of Park Avenue
About the Author
Terence Ward was born in Boulder, Colorado, and spent his childhood in Saudi Arabia and Iran. He is an author, a documentary producer and a cross-cultural consultant who has advised corporations and governments in the Islamic world and the West. His critically acclaimed books include Searching for Hassan: A Journey to the Heart of Iran, The Guardian of Mercy: How an Extraordinary Painting by Caravaggio Changed an Ordinary Life and The Wahhabi Code: How the Saudis Spread Extremism Globally. He divides his time between Florence, Italy, and New York.
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Iranian doorway by Stefano Baldini/Alamy;
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