Book Review

Description of the Pain of Desire

By: Asghar Kazemi, researcher of Sacred Defense literature
Translated by: M.B. Khoshnevisan

2024-10-8

Memoirs of Dr. Mohammad Reza Zaffarqandi about the days of war and front and serving in field hospitals was published in a book titled “Description of the Pain of Love-Desire” compiled by Raheleh Sabouri in 466 pages. It was released in 1401 (2022) by Sooreh Mehr Publications. The number of titles of medical group books (doctors, paramedics and nurses) of the Sacred Defense, in addition to the number of medical memoirs of captivity, is about one hundred titles.

"Description of the Pain of Love-Desire " is the fifth book of Mrs. Raheleh Sabouri, compiled in line with oral history books and sacred defense literature. Among the chapters of the book, photos and documents related to each chapter are provided, so that the reader gets more confidence in the details of the incident.  

However, among non-medical written documents, Dr. Zaffarqandi's diaries have an important position. This book is based on 40 hours of interviews in a hospital environment, and conducting an interview in a hospital environment has an impact on the interviewer's understanding of the medical environment and improving the quality of the conversation.

In compiling and publishing the books of the Sacred Defense Medical Group, paying attention to the general audience plays a major role, because the specialization of the doctor's work and the extensive use of specialized terms in this field make it difficult to understand the contents. When a paramedic combatant or a nurse recounts his memories from the front line, he may have a general audience, but it is not easy for a specialist doctor or surgeon to present his memories of his service in the operating room. The space of the operating room is specialized and this content has fewer audience, but with more effort, we can also have access to the general audience.  In compiling the memoirs of a doctor, specialized medical content in a simple way makes the work doubly difficult. Both the doctor and the interviewer should try harder so that medical concepts and terms are written fluently and simply for the general audience. In the book "Description of the Pain of Love-Desire ", this issue is discussed in the text or footnote so that the general audience can relate to the book.

In addition to the medical experiences, the books of the Sacred Defense Medical Group also reveal the human aspect of war, which cannot be ignored.

In the battlefield, the two sides of the war open fire at each other and intend to massacre. In Dr. Zaffarqandi’s memoirs, it has been mentioned many times that he had cured many Iraqi wounded soldiers and that the beds of the field hospital were the same for the friend and enemy. The field hospital is the black and white turning point of the war. What can be seen outside the hospital is violence and killing, but inside the hospital, everyone is trying to help and treat any injured person. We all know that the surgical blade is stronger and sharper than the sword, but in the field hospital, this blade only works to save people.

What has been said about the Iranian captives in Iraq is different. Killing the wounded is an inhumane action which the Iraqi Ba’athists did it many times. These two different and distinguished aspects of the war were seen in the field hospital; the rise and fall of humanity is in this turning point. Thus, the memoirs of doctors and relief workers deserve to be reviewed and paid attention to both in medical and humane terms. The excessive violence of the Baathists, their aerial and artillery attacks on field hospitals has been mentioned in "Description of the Pain of Enthusiasm" in many cases.

On the Iranian front, doctors were busy helping the wounded beyond the field hospital. In the mountainous operations of the Shiller Plain, where the distance between the front line and the field hospital was long, Dr. Zaffarqandi voluntarily went to the front line in the heights of Kanimanga to treat the wounded like a relief worker (but with the expertise of a doctor). The most intense one-month conflict was Operation Valfajr 4 in 1904 Kanimanga Peak; it looked like a horse saddle. The 1904 peak had been exchanged between us and the Iraqis several times, the heavy artillery fire made Kanimanga look like a volcano, but our combatants in the saddle-like peak, among whom was a doctor, did not retreat a step. Dr. Zaffarqandi stayed with the injured until the end of the work so that they didn't have to worry about their treatment. The doctor left the war zone only when he was lying on a stretcher! Like other combatants, he had been harmed by the chemical attack.

However, the post-war memoirs of Dr. Zaffarqandi are also also detailed and worthy of attention, and he himself suffers from chemical injuries during the sacred defense.

In the northern part of Sina Hospital, a building has been founded which has been funded by Zaffarqandi family.

"Description of the Pain of Love-Desire " is a book worthy of reading, and many years of efforts by Dr. Zaffarqandi and Mrs. Sabouri are not hidden from the reader. Of course, the choice of the title of the book is unfortunately romantic and poetic: I want a bosom torn by severance that I may unfold (to such a one) the pain of love-desire.

The book of memoirs is based on documentation and can be part of our oral history. For this reason, we should pay more attention in choosing the title of the book. The audience expects that the main title of the book also refers to the medical content.

The narrative of the book is diverse. If the interviewer (Mrs. Sabouri) or the narrator (Dr. Zaffarqandi) were to manipulate in this narrative and exaggerate, it would turn into a cliché. The beauty of the book is that after reading a few chapters, a connection between you and the book is formed. The compiler has collected a lot of information and is not written merely for the general audience. Although he tried to approach the general audience, because there are ups and downs in the personal and private narrative of a doctor that can attract the general audience. In this book, the narratives are presented with the least interference and with only literary editing.

In short, the characteristic and behavior of the sacred defense combatants was not killing and violence. Destiny made the brave warriors of the battlefield out of volunteer and civilian forces, which today the writers are proud to record their memoirs. The sacred defense literature shows the promotion of self-restraint and non-violence of Iranian forces. Saddam was originally a thief who intended to separate the cities of Khuzestan and loot property. In order to achieve this goal, he launched an imposed war with 12 army divisions, but after 8 years, he became a madman that Iranian and even Iraqi civilians made no difference for him and killed everyone. This war criminal could not win even with more than 60 divisions. The vigilance and sacrifice of the Iranian people caused Saddam to be defeated and this honor was recorded for us Iranians that the warriors of the holy defense fought manfully and morally. 

In the battle of killing and violence, the preservation of morals and humanity is manifested to a large extent, but the memories of the combatants and the war documents, especially the memories of the doctors, show that the human aspect and medical ethics have been observed during the sacred defense. The doctor is sworn to save the patient, even if he is his enemy. This moral, beautiful and very different aspect has been the secret of the victory and salvation of our combatants.