Review of the book "The Prince of My Land"

Biography of a Martyr of Science Named Dr. Majid Shahriari

Fereydoun Heydari Molkmian
Translated by: Fazel Shirzad

2021-8-3

The book "The Prince of My Land" is written by Masoumeh Zeinali and its first edition was published under the supervision of the Office of Culture and Sustainability Studies of Zanjan Province and in Surah Mehr Publications (affiliated to Arts Center), in 404 pages and 1250 copies and priced at 80,000 Toman (Iranian currency) in 2021.

In general, as the author mentions in her introduction: "This book is the life story of a man who, relying on genius, ability, and domestic scientific and indigenous resources, was able to show the country's ability in the field of nuclear science to the world and show that Iran and Iranians respect the dignity and independence of their country at the cost of their entire existence." (Page 14)  

The book "The Prince of My Land" begins with a brief reference to the Arts Center of the Islamic Revolution of Zanjan province and while stating that "promoting the culture of oral history, memoirs and introducing the life of martyrs in the literature of sacred defense, has a special place as a great national capital ..."(Page 9) emphasizes that "Introducing prominent scientific and artistic personalities of the country in various fields can be the source of great works and blessings in various scientific and epistemological fields" (Page 10) and thus she tries to give an overview of this work.

Then, in the title "A Talk to the Readers", the author talks about how the book was written and her dialogue with the martyr's relatives and friends, and how she finally succeeds in this way to get a coherent text of the martyr's childhood, adolescence and martyrdom memories. Dr. Shahriari provided and succeeded in the stages of writing, arranging, and creating the narrative structure, putting together events, memories, and documents - which was a complex puzzle of scattered information - and bringing the work to an acceptable end.

 These memories are then recounted in four chapters which cover the bulk of the book by entering the narrative of the martyr's life. The interesting and, of course, a little strange thing about this is that the number of pages of the chapters does not have the familiar and usual approximate proportion of many books (the first chapter includes 210 pages, the second chapter includes 84 pages, the third chapter includes 25 pages, the fourth chapter includes 36 pages)

The first chapter begins with the biography of the martyr's mother - because of the profound impact she had on his life; her characteristics, whether as a lucky girl or as a devoted wife and responsible mother are considered:" Ms.Qamartaj, the fourth daughter of the house, was very different from other girls in terms of morals and behavior. She was a calm, hardworking, and very compassionate mother. If she was given a job, she would do it without protest, and she would always be given the hard works that daughters did not like do them. The mother knew that if her daughter got married, she would be alone to take care of the affairs of the house. But her daughter's happiness and future was a priority for him." (Page 23)

Ms. Qamrataj entered the marriage stage at the age of seventeen and a year later her son Majid is born ... and thus the first chapter follows the mother and child until Majid's first marriage and the birth of Mohsen (Majid's son) and subsequently, the death of his wife Mrs. Marzieh due to gassing.

The second chapter deals with remarriage and presence in the critical stages of life and deep-rooted emotional, spiritual, psychological, and scientific companionship of Mrs. Behjat, the martyr's wife: "They had a good time and complemented each other spiritually and emotionally, despite their material shortcomings. Their simple lives were so emotionally strong that everyone who came into their small home enjoyed the intimate gathering. When Mrs. Behjat's relatives entered their house and saw the unity, love, and spirituality in their lives, they subconsciously gave them a kind of honor and respect.

 Ms. Behjat was proud that she was able to provide a calm environment for their lives and was very satisfied and happy with her choice. Mr. Majid tried to compensate for Mrs. Behjat's love and the hardships of caring for Mohsen and his education, work, and life by giving her small gifts such as flowers and sweets or books and clothes, which he provided for occasions such as birthdays, holidays, or hearing good news; it was the ultimate appreciation and enthusiasm, and it took away for life and the tiredness of the activities from his wife's body and soul." (Page 255)

 in the continuation of this chapter, daily activities, important events, scientific activities, as well as the thoughts and behavior of the martyr in the family and workplace and with friends and acquaintances are paid attention to.

Chapter 3 deals with the manner of testimony and subsequent events: "It was the 29th of November. It was rare for a doctor to go to university with his wife. But that day, Mrs. Behjat preferred to go to work with Mr. Majid and his car. It was a polluted day, and the traffic rule prevented Ms. Behjat from using her car to go to work. Mr. Majid invited him to go to work together. Ms. Behjat accepted her husband's offer despite not having the first hour of class. Impressed by the joy of the previous day and the resumption of work on her dissertation, she quickly prepared herself. She could return home with a taxi whenever her working hours were over. So they both left with positive energy and happiness, while the children were at home ... "(p. 318)

The fourth chapter is dedicated to the will of the martyr and the statements of the Supreme Leader, professors, scholars, friends, and students of the doctor and mentioning the family situation and how they deal with the situation after the death of their loved ones.

The end of this chapter is an excerpt from the words of Mrs. Behjat Ghasemi, the martyr's wife, addressed to the youth and her demands from them: "Mr. Majid is already passed away. He belonged not only to me and his family but to the entire Iranian nation and was the capital of the country. But now I would like the young generation and our students to know Dr. Majid Shahriari; No need to be exaggerated because exaggeration will damage. It is enough to strengthen the people's sense of knowing the martyred scientists."

The exaggeration may cause people to go in the direction of recognizing only one aspect of the martyr's personality, which is incomplete. I would like people to know the scientists of their country. Knowing Dr. Majid will be beneficial in this period when our young people are involved in many daily issues and consider their success dependent on money and capital. The result of knowing Mr. Majid correctly will be that the youth trust God and walk in the way of God, who will take our hand." (P. 362)

The appendices at the end of the book are also dedicated to images of the martyr as well as several other images related to these memoirs, which, contrary to what is mentioned on the FIPA page: "Pictorial (colored)", was not only not colored but not of high quality optimally published!

 In conclusion, mentioning this point is not useless that the book "The Prince of My Land", as the author mentions at the end of the introduction, despite being read by at least one or two people before published, is even criticized by the literature and sometimes some words have slipped in spelling and calligraphy although there was an editor for this book. In addition, as stated in the book's identity card, it also had a formal editor. Here, of course, there is no place and opportunity to deal with this issue in detail, but if at least an example is needed, for example, we can refer to the beginning of the book (page 10, line 2) the phrase "common sense", which unfortunately stated "coexistence" that such inadvertent mistakes for this book is a weak point, and requires more attention!