Proximity in a Strange Land-4

Amin Kiani
Translated by: Fazel Shirzad

2020-12-08

Note: On March/April 2019, a precipitation system in two waves from 25 to 29 March and also from 31 March to 2 April, caused floods and damage in the cities of Lorestan. In these rainfalls, tolls such as landslide and submerging parts of Dorud, Khorramabad, Mamolan, and Pol-e Dokhtar cities were reported. Following the flood in these areas, in addition to the Housing Foundation of Islamic Revolution, Iranian Army (Artesh), and IRGC, some people also in the form of jihadi groups were sent to Lorestan to help the victims. What you read below is the second part of the narration of one of the jihadi forces who were present and active in this area for a few days.

***

7.

We were able to see the diversity of military forces with different ranks. At the crossroads, military Special Forces came to the help Traffic Police. Their riot police's vehicles were also the car Nissan. The organization's area was full of guards. Despite all these terrorists[1], no one in the city felt insecure. In fairness, they were full-fledged terrorists. A frantic army man was standing on the side of the road with a radio in his left hand. I opened and closed my eyes and stared carefully at the rank on his shoulder. I was not mistaken, he was the commander of the army. His boots were hidden under mud.

When I saw the enthusiasm of the IRGC, the army, and the Imam Reza's forces, I envied, especially when I saw that young man who was the force of Red Crescent and had rejected Mohammad Heydari. In the Khorramabad flood, many residents of the Cyrus Valley whose houses were injured by the flood were housed in a school. The school did not have heating equipment. Mostly, all the settled people had nothing. It was past midnight. We walked around Lake Keeyow with Mohammad Heidari and Mohammad Sadeghi. Mohammad Heydari said sadly:

- I went to school. It was a very bad situation. The victims did not have blankets. I quickly went to the Red Crescent. I explained the situation to them. A young boy replied to me that it was night and late and closed, and I should come early tomorrow morning for a blanket; therefore, whatever I insisted, he did not accept my request for receiving blankets. My question was, is the cold like that person in charge of the Red Crescent waiting for the blankets to arrive and tonight will be short?!

The city was full of jihadist forces. Many hosayniya were built next to each other. A Hilux car came; a clergyman was its driver, and an old lady was sitting next to him. There were shovels laid down at the back of the car. When the car reached us, it stopped and we got in the car. The clergyman was from Tehran and the old woman was talking with the accent of Pol-e Dokhtar. He took his head out of the window and said:

-Guys, the lady is going to his home!

I disrupted her words and said:

-Okay, it is better to take the lady to her home!

-Oh, dear! I can't understand what she says. I understand from all of her words that she wanted to go home. I have to go back. I am responsible for the comrades' tools with me. Now the comrades are waiting for me, considering the disorder situation we have; If possible, please take this lady to her house!

We said "okay" and got off the car. The clergyman bent and opened the door for the lady. The lady thanked him and got ready to get off. She was wearing slippers in the mud. Javad Mogoei arrived by motorbike. Amir Hussein told the story. Javad parked the motorbike right in front of the lady and said:

- Mother! Get on my motorbike.

The lady tried but could not get it on. Amir Maleki wanted to take the old lady's hand and helped her to get on the motorbike, Javad also tilted the motorbike. But it was as if the lady was embarrassed and ashamed.

We were returning from the area in the evening. We stood next to a hosayniya. In addition to tea and herbal tea, there were several types of herbal teas. They distributed tea and herbal teas. They also increase the voice of religious songs and made the atmosphere like the atmosphere of Karbala. A tractor approached, we got it on quickly. Before us, there were four army soldiers and two middle-aged men; we greeted each other.

8.

We came forward our distance from the river increased. Four groups of jihadists from the Imam Reza's camp and the Semnan's IRGC were cleaning the muds of houses on the street leading to the Resalat St. The number of loaders had increased. Two loaders were standing side by side. The comrades threw the muds into the alley with shovels and mops. The loaders collected the muds and loaded the trucks, and then emptied in the valley above Amin Hall. An old man from Semnan, who had a white beard and thick mustache, was the most active of all. He had a strange tool to clean mud. It was the first I saw that tool. It was a wide sheet of iron with wooden handles on the back and a one-meter rope hanging from the front. According to the militants, two crews were needed to use this tool. One pushed the wooden handle from behind and the other had to pull the rope from the front. The old man from Semnan was a fixed person and another person was constantly changing! This old man was very active and lively; he increased the spirits tenfold. He repeated some words regularly while working:

- The Muslims, good work! The Iranian, Good work! The Shiites, You've got it made! Bravo, the followers and the hope of Seyed Ali Khamenei!

***

I was offended by one of the comrades and I left the group. I went to the next alley, a group of five people was working there. All but one were clergymen. He was also a perfect man, isolated, quiet, and hardworking. At first glance, I liked him. He had a shovel with a flat head in his hand. With its edge, you pulled the hardened mud out of the garage. I also had the shovel with a flat head. After the greeting, I stood in front of him. He was in front of a hill of mud. He was pulling the mud towards him and I went through the hill of mud and pushed it with the back of the shovel. The four clergymen were working and cleaning the muds. The owner of the garage was standing next to his wife at the end of the garage and was constantly thanking us. He said that they had left there before the flood, and returned after hearing the arrival of jihadists and auxiliary forces. That's why their garage has not been cleaned until now. He opened a bottle of water and poured six glasses and offered. We all drank water. We finished cleaning the garage. After saying goodbye to the landlord, we went to another house as usual.

My new friend, whose name was Jafar, was very tired during those days, said:

 -Amin, I want to go!

He wants to say goodbye. Whereas I was waiting for an opportunity to leave there for some moments and go to Amin Hall and rest for two hours at noon, I said to him:

 -Jafar, Let's go together!

Honestly, I felt ashamed of going to the hall and rest. Based on the plan, we should not return to the hall at noon. When we went out in the morning, we had to return in the evening. One of the comrades who were from Shahroud explained to me that yesterday an old lady asked us to help her. His house was off the area of Gezoh, and the leader of the group couldn't find her and had not eaten anything until noon. He said that as he found there is no news of lunch and I did not eat anything, and he took the opportunity and intended to keep fast and did not eat anything until night, except for a few insults from one of the angry residents.

We went with Jafar by car. The street leading to the Martyrs' Bridge was very crowded. That's why we decided to go for a walk. Jafar was quiet and mostly I talked. Suddenly he quickly moved away from me and his words were cut in half. He ran to the Toyota car that had taken the old lady and was going to return. The old lady wanted to get off, but she had slippers and was hesitant to put her foot in mud or not. Jafar took off his boots and gave them to the old lady. He gave the slippers to her hand and came to me without any further words.

After the bridge, traffic flowed. As usual, we jumped on a Nissan car. Nissan turned into a street towards Basij Square and Amin Hall. After the city library, and the Army Park and field hospital, there were many shops in a line. There were a variety of goods surprisingly. The most irrelevant shops were selling goods side by side. There were groceries and building supplies shops that used the opportunity and hung shovels, mops, and many boots in front of their shops' doors, and car service station and tombstones shops! Jafar said:

- I want to get off here, Amin!

 I said:

-I will come with you.

Jafar went to the building supplies store. He bought a pair of boots. I said to him that he was going to leave there, I don't know why he bought the boots, there were too many boots in headquarters.  He didn't say anything. We were standing on the side of the street waiting for a Nissan.  A car stopped there. We looked at ourselves and our muddy clothes. I said:

- Hello sir, our clothes are muddy!

He replied unhappily:

- Your words were worse than a hundred insults. Got on my car! Don't worry?

We got on the car willfully. He was an honorable and kind driver.

I went to the water hose next to the gage of the hall and Jafar went inside. I went behind him. He took off his boots and handed them over to the warehouse! I washed my hands and face and rubbed my wet hands on my hair. Jafar was standing in front of me. I insisted on having lunch and then leaving, but he refused. He switches on his old car and left.

***

The situation in the city had improved a lot. Items were distributed more regularly than before. The Red Crescent had distributed the booklet. They drove through the alleys and handed out items to the flood victims from the notebook. Unlike the first days, the basic biological issues were not wanted and were not the priority of the flood victims, and this was very gratifying. We were in a narrow alley. A middle-aged woman came out of the house and said:

-Wipe the front gutter of my house. I want to wash my yard and my house, the gutter is full of mud and water comes back into my blood.

With the completion of the work and repair of the Haft Tir Martyrs Bridge by the Boroujerd Army Engineering Group, the traffic volume of the Government Martyrs Bridge was reduced; but there was still some traffic around noon and evening. We were stuck in traffic before the bridge. I turned my head to the right, the army Toyota was standing next to the mirror of our car. One was a driver and two were sitting in the front. I knew them; Ostovar Khosravi and Ostovar Hasanvand and another comrade of the 360th Battalion were 184th Air Defense. The traffic flowed and the way was opened. Five Hilux cars with many troops and shovels and mops passed in front of us. The comrades were sitting on the back of the car and they were singing a religious and martial song.

***

Monday, April 7, coincided with the birth of Hazrat Abbas (PBUH). There was a commotion, enthusiasm, and joy in the hall, the courtyard, and outside the hall. Everyplace of Pol-e Dakhtar was set up ḥosayniya. The mourners of the Al-Zahra (Peace be upon them) ḥosayniya from Khorramabad had also set up a food and drink station below Culture and Islamic Guidance building and in front of the student dormitory. We returned from the mission site. Time was passing indifferently to everyone and everything. It was a little past sunset and everywhere became dark. Several honorable jihadists have prepared some juices. The glasses were arranged on the table and anyone who passed must drink! Due to my work with a friend, I passed in front of the line of juice several times, and each time they offered me a glass of juice. If I am not mistaken, I drank about 8 glasses of juice!

I envied the mood of the comrades. I distanced myself from the smiling and happy jihadists. I lowered my head so as not to greet anyone, and if a familiar person saw me, we would not talk. The open space and the quite so little lawns was a good space to be alone. I passed the self-made Nissan parking lot that was the station of the jihadist and distributed items. I sat on the stone next to Amin Hall. I complain to God: "Oh my God, If a person is the one you created and he sweeps the houses from morning till night and plows and digs the holes, and prays at night and always laughs and laughs, then why did you create us as a servant ?!

9.

We returned from the mission in the afternoon. We were sitting on the edge of the upper garden in the hall. Behzad who had a back bag came forward. After greeting, he said goodbye. "I will return to Boroujerd," he said, "but I will come back tomorrow."

I asked in surprise:

- So, why do you do?

He said:

-I have a mourning ceremony.

We both fell silent, although I was still not convinced. I said to myself, it means there is no one but you…

Behzad disrupts my thoughts and said a handful of regrets that came out of his mouth:

- Amin, I used heroin for twelve years.

There was silence between us. After a few moments, a smile settled on his face. His Decussated teeth made his face look funnier. He said:

- I haven't smoked heroin for fifty years now. This is all due to Imam Hussein. I promised that the mourning lag of Imam Hussein's will never be left. I'm going to come back tomorrow, God willing.

***

I was sitting alone. I was watching Nasser Feyz's poetry reading on my phone. While I was absorbed by the poem of Nasser Khan, the sound "hello" caused me to come out from the absorption. I put the phone aside and turned my head to the sound. A young clergyman was standing next to me with a backpack hanging over his left shoulder. I stood up respectfully and greeted him. I asked him to sit down; he sat down. Then he asked:

-Sir, is this place belonged to anyone? Can I settle here!

He spoke calmly. I said jokingly:

- Here you are. Of course, you can settle and live here!

The young clergyman had just arrived. He put his turban on the table and put his bag under the table. He was silent. Respecting the good neighborliness and the right of the neighborhood, I opened the discussion with him. I offered tea. he thanked. I said:

-God willing, the presence and welcome of the people's forces are very good. And it's very valuable, and of course, it's a good omen. During the time of the sacred defense, the people's forces did not get involved in the administration of the official process, and the revolutionaries and the Basijis went to war. How similar it is to the sacred defense!

In the middle of his words, I realized that he had just gotten married two weeks ago. While we were talking warmly when his wife called. I stood and went a little away deliberately so that Hussein speak with his wife comfortably.

***

10.

At the end of the night, we gathered our belongings and left the hall. Many comrades were asleep. They were sleeping deeply on the floor and the cream carpets of the hall. Some of the comrades had put their sacks under their heads, and some of them had their heads fallen off the sacks and laid down on the carpet.

 

The small hand of the clock was on the number 12. The middle hand patiently counted the minutes and it passed the number 15. It tall hand of the clock was counting seconds, it, like me, was patient and he was restlessly turning the clock. "I will come to Basij Square at 12:30," said Ahmad Safari.

 

It was time to go back. This soil absorbed us and this dust absorbed us more. The breath of the possessors was blown in this tent, and the sensuality was departed from this camp. Everything here was and is the color of God and the smell of God. I look at the lovers' camp with regret. How soon I missed Pol-e Dokhtar. I miss everything about Amin Hall. I miss the smell of socks and the sweat of the jihadists who had been run for a cake and a juice and, apart from the belongings of the world, they were practicing love under the servitude of God Almighty and preparing for the day of emergence of Hujjat Allah al-Mahdi.[2]

                                                                 

For turbans whose black and white color had been forcibly browned with mud. For the mourners that were held one or two people mourned and cried secretly and silently. For diluted hearts and refined hearts. For those who have deep knowledge and companions. For the tears rained when they heard Hussein's name. For the cracked and calloused hands of the landlord who brought us tea. I miss the soldier who won the game of knowledge. I only saw him once, but the picture of his burnt black face was drawn in my mind. I miss sitting on the Nissan crown, behind the tractor, the Special Forces' riot machines, the IRGC Toyota, and the army trailers. I miss the stinky mud.

I miss Chubby, Reza who used his small hands to clean the muds of houses with the comrade, and how excited he was when he found his notebook under the mud. I miss Amin Hall. I miss blankets that were only slightly thicker than swan feathers. For sleep on the carpet without a pillow. For the sunburned and whipped faces of jihadi comrades. I miss drinking tea in Imam Khomeini ḥosayniya. I miss drinking tea in ḥosayniya next to the gage of the army field hospital; I miss the comrade of the army, the IRGC, and the NAJA. I miss all that purity and intimacy, and now we are lying on the back of an Isuzu car on a blanket, and the wind is blowing mercilessly on our head.

With jokes and laughs, we want to deceive ourselves that everything is normal and everything is going well. We do not want to remember a piece of our heart left in Pol-e Dokhtar, in the streets and alleys full of mud, and in Amin Hall. Nostalgia means our mood behind Isuzu car. Who does not know that the fiery hearts of Hosseini's companions and Khomeini's followers cannot be calmed except through watery diamonds of eyes the homily is a prescription that is given to us from the beginning of existence. We are full of hatred and looking for an excuse to break it. I turn to Amir Hossein and said:

- Start homily!

He stared as follows:

- Come back so that the children don't see the stone rain on your head, or go ahead so that you do not see the children are being slapped.

Ya-Ali

The end.

 

Proximity in a Strange Land-1

Proximity in a Strange Land-2

Proximity in a Strange Land-3

 
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