Two books at a glance

The untold stories of commander and memoirs about commander

Elham Saleh
Translated by Mohammad Bagher Khoshnevisan

2016-4-17

Note: The victory of the Islamic revolution, struggle against anti-revolutionary forces and then the Iraqi imposed war against Iran each of which cover stories and events some of which have become public and have been talked about, but very little or even nothing has been talked about some others. These events find importance when they are expressed by influential people. The book “Untold stories of war” has such goal. On the occasion of the 17^th anniversary of the martyrdom of Lieutenant General Ali Sayyad Shirazi, the article is going to deal with this book of his memoirs first and then the book of memoirs released about him.

Before and after the victory of Islamic revolution

“The untold stories of war” [1] has 26 discourses which expresses many issues happened during the war. The book’s narrator was the commander of the Ground Forces of Islamic Republic of Iran’s Army and a member of the Supreme Council of Defense at that time. After 32 years of serving in different units of the Iranian army ground d force, he was assassinated in front of his house by the MKO terrorists on 10^th of April 1999.

In his book, martyr Sayyad Shirazi starts the first discourse with pre-revolution events. At that time, he was serving in the army and Isfahan garrison. While referring to pre-revolution events, he explains about some of his activities during the time which led to the victory of the Islamic revolution. He says, “I knew persons inside the garrison who were faithful, had been mixed with the spirit of the revolution and dared to work with each other. I gave the communiques of Imam Khomeini (may God bless his soul) to them for distribution. We tried to provide the grounds for those who were not ready, strengthening the atmosphere of the revolution in the army and among the personnel.”

Then, martyr Sayyad Shirazi in his memoirs explains about the movements of the anti-revolutionary forces in Kurdistan and Western Azerbaijan provinces the first of which were the fall of Mahabad Garrison and the looting of Mahabad Brigade. “We were informed that 52 forces of Islamic Republic of Guards Corps (IRGC) have been massacred in Kurdistan. There is a village near Sardasht named Rabt which is located 9 kilometers east of Sardasht. Their mission had come to an end. They were moving toward Isfahan when ambushed by anti-revolutionary forces.”

Many persons have been named among the narrations of martyr Sayyad Shirazi about campaign against anti-revolutionary forces. One of them is martyr Mustafa Chamran. About his method in irregular operations, Sayyad Shirazi says, “The method of martyr Chamran was that he got the information very fast and reviewed them on the map. He was very professional in his work. He organized the group immediately, appearing over the anti-revolutionary forces. His works were daring. We were inspired and motivated by him. Then, we used our knowledge to fight, particularly in irregular and commando operations.”

“The untold stories of war” is not just a book of memoirs. There are analyses in it. For instance, in his book, martyr Sayyad Shirazi divides the fight against anti-revolutionary forces in Kurdistan and south of Western Azerbaijan into three points. The first point was the appearance of the plot of anti-revolution in the region; the second one was the decisive fight against anti-revolutionary forces which led to liberation of the cities of Sanandaj, Marivan, Divan Darreh, Saqez, Sardasht and Piran Shahr, and finally the third point the period of which took 44 days during which the towns of Oshnavieh and Boukan were liberated and the two provinces of Western Azerbaijan and Kurdistan were connected together through Miandoab, Boukan and Saqez.

The lessons of commandership are trained in the book and the narrator shares his experiences. Some operations during the eight-year holy defense are explained in the book.

One of the memoirs of the book is about the decision to send forces to Lebanon for boosting Hezbollah and Lebanese militant forces during the war. He says, “We had one or two meetings with Hafez Assad (the then Syrian president). We also met the Syrian Defense Minister and the commander of Joint Chiefs of Staff. The topic of our meetings was what we want to do? We said that we want to send forces to Lebanon to strengthen Hezbollah and the Lebanese militant forces.”

The book in some parts covers issues such as the obstructions under the then president Bani Sadr and remarks against martyr Sayyad Shirazi, consisting of memoirs concerning courage and sacrifices of combatant forces during the eight-year war. He writes, “During Moharram Operations, a physician had come from Isfahan. His son was also in the war front. When he had come for medical operation, he was informed that his son has been martyred and his body was brought. He had been very saddened but controlled himself. He saw that the situation was not proper for leaving the front. He stayed there for some 48 hours, carrying out necessary operations. Then he put the body of his son behind the car and went back to Isfahan.”

The book is the memoirs of a person who has experienced the events happened before and after the revolution and retelling them. The book which is categorized as an oral history book needs to be listed more precisely. The book's list starts from the first discourse, continuing until the 26^th discourse. They discourses need to have titles so that the audience finds out the subject of them. The subjects of the book have also not been separated, and martyr Sayyad Shirazi should have been introduced briefly.

The aim for publishing books in the form of oral history is to present information about the events that have happened. Thus, it is necessary to be categorized properly so that the audience can study them easily and inform of the events.

The expression of memoirs from the language of martyr Sayyad Shirazi who was the commander of the Ground Forces of Islamic Republic of Iran’s Army and a member of the Supreme Council of Defense creates a great proof for this book. Therefore it is necessary that the book's appearance should fit with its content.

The book ends with some photos of martyr Sayyad Shirazi with different positions such as "inside a helicopter" or "inside a military aircraft along with his younger son Mohammad", and so on.

“The untold stories of war” may be a simple name but it exactly discloses the untold stories of the Iraqi imposed war against Iran.

Personal and professional life of martyr Sayyad Shirazi

The imposed war against Iran had many commanders. A group of them have survived while some others were martyred during the war. Some had more different destiny. Martyr Sayyad Shirazi is one of them. As a war commander, he was not martyred at front but in front of his house by the Mujahedin Khalq (hypocrites) terrorists. The book "God wanted you to survive "[2] introduces this war commander.

Nasser Arasteh, Mohammad Kousheshi, Shahr Banou Shoja, Sedigheh Sayyad Shirazi, Ahmad Aram, Alireza Hojati, Hadi Reza Tab'a, Mohammad Kahdem al-Hosseini and Ataollah Salehi are among those express their memoires about martyr Sayyad Shirazi in this book. But the first one who talks about him is his wife, Effat Shoja. In the first part of the book, she talks about issues such as matchmaking, homesickness, and day of his martyrdom. But one thing is completely obvious which was much highlighted since the beginning of their marriage. She says, "Ali was supposed to return to Kermanshah and I stay in Darreh Gaz for more one year in order to complete my education. I thought that after one year this absence would be finished. I did not know that I would be almost far from him for my entire life. Those days we were far from each other because I was studying then we were again far because of his profession. Then the revolution happened and then the war started. After the war came to an end, he was so busy that I hardly see him until he was martyred and now I found out that I won't wait for him anymore."

Each of the memoirs in this book expresses one aspect of the character of martyr Sayyad Shirazi. Some of his characters have been seen jointly. Good order is one of them. In this regard, Seyyed Javad Pak'del says, "His schedule was so orderly that we could adjust our time with his commute."

About his being orderly, Alireza Hijati also says, "The general was very orderly. I should work as much as he continued. It was very hard for me. He said, "Mr. Hojati, I sleep and wake me up 22 minutes later." I became agitated that what the hell is this two minutes. But I had to wake him up on time and he went on his work."

Martyr Sayyad Shirazi is also described from the viewpoint the persons who were closer to him. His mother Shahrbanou Shoja says about his son, "He acted like elders since his childhood. His behavior and words proved this. He was very humble and submissive."

The advantage of "God wanted you to survive" is that it has not just sufficed to retelling the martyr's personal or professional characters, but it has also introduced different aspects of his character.

If we want to highlight the structure of "God wanted you to survive", there are points in it that should be stated. It is the seventh volume of the collection "From eyes". The collection is introduced in the beginning of every book. The introduction is a descriptive and emotional text after which the book has been explained separately. This text also exists in "God wanted you to survive". The book has been divided into different parts each of which the persons who have been in relation with martyr Sayyad Shirzi retell their memoirs.

The book has also "an announcement" and in the photo section, you can find photos from martyr Sayyad Shirazi but there is no caption. It would be better that they had captions so that the reader can be informed of each of them. It has also another weak point. There are no footnotes in different pages and the audience cannot find out who is retelling the memoirs in most cases.      

1.  “The untold stories of war: Memoirs of Lieutenant General Martyr Ali Sayyad Shirazi " compiled by Ahmad Dehqan, the Office of Resistance Literature and Art of the Art Bureau and Sooreh Mehr Publications, first edition 1999, second: July 1999, 357 pages
2. "God wanted you to survive: Book of Ali Sayyad Shirazi", compiled by Fatemeh Qaffari, Ravayat-e Fat'h Publications, first edition: 2005, second: 2008, 248 pages.