نقی

[1] Ali al-Hadi, also known as Ali an-Naghi, was the 10th of the Twelve Imams ‎of Shi’ah Islam. According to the Shi’ah tradition, Imam Naghi was the grandfather of the Hidden ‎Imam (see note 10 for more info on this). ‎

[2] There is an Iranian phrase, lengesh kon, which is used to label armchair criticism. The phrase ‎essentially means, “Come on, bring him down already!” and the expression has its roots in ‎wrestling. It refers to a specific move where a wrestler grabs the opponent’s thigh to drop him to the ‎floor/wrestling mat. The phrase that Najafi uses in the original is “biroon az gowd,” which literally ‎means “outside the [wrestling] ring/arena,” typically found in “houses of strength” (zur-khānehs, ‎traditional Persian gymnasiums) and is a metaphorical reference to members of the Iranian diaspora ‎who criticize Iranians living inside Iran for not persisting in their protests against their government. ‎With this remark, Najafi is casting a spotlight on Iranian armchair critics and is calling them out on ‎their cowardice. The Encyclopedia Iranica has an in-depth article on zur-khānehs ‎‎here ‎

[3] Inside Iran, the value of the dollar has appreciated at a phenomenal rate while their own ‎currency (rials and tomans) has plummeted to the verge of worthlessness. Indeed, many Iranians ‎talk about how when it comes to luxury items (e.g. high-class cars), the vendors will only accept ‎payment in the form of dollars and will refuse to transact using Iranian currency on account of its ‎spiraling depreciation. ‎

[4] This is a reference to the celebration of the 33rd anniversary of Khomeini’s arrival in Iran, ‎which signaled an end to 2,500 years of Persian monarchy and the inauguration of a theocratic ‎government. On this particular anniversary, the Iranian government sponsored a reenactment of the ‎historic moment where Khomeini disembarked from an Air France plane and arrived in Tehran. The ‎star of this reenactment was a cardboard cutout of Khomeini. The event was ridiculed and mocked ‎by all sorts of press. David Goodman wrote a piece covering the reenactment and the reaction ‎towards it on the New York Times ‎

[5] This is a reference to a remark made by the Friday prayer leader of Qom (Ayatollah Muhammad ‎Sa’idi) last year, where after recounting an historical Shi’ah narrative, he claims that Ali ‎Khamenei—the Supreme Leader of Iran—came out of his mother’s womb saying, “Ya Ali!” (“O ‎Ali!”). Ali was the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad, and Shi’ah Muslims consider him to be ‎the first of the Twelve Imams and the rightful successor to Muhammad. The video of Ayatollah ‎Sa’idi’s sermon can be viewed online here ‎

[6] This is a quip about the ubiquity of nose jobs in Iran. In fact, many people say that Iran leads the ‎world in nose job per capita. My take on this verse is that Najafi is juxtaposing the phenomenon of ‎nose jobs in Iran—which women get so frequently because they’re forced to cover everything else, ‎and the nose thus remains their most prominent feature—with the clerics’ desire to instill religious ‎faith and fervor through jurisprudence classes. I think Najafi is ultimately trying to say that Iranian ‎youth don’t care about Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), and are instead more concerned with perfecting ‎the parts of their bodies which government-imposed religion has, for now, left untouched. ‎Essentially, it’s a message of rebellion against force-fed religion. ‎

[7] This remark underscores the fact that Iran is importing a huge amount of their commodities from ‎China—even down to the religious items, like prayer beads and rugs. ‎

[8] Sheys Rezaei is an Iranian soccer player who was banned from the Persepolis team for slapping ‎the buttocks of his teammate, Persepolis defender Mohammad Nosrati, and fingering his anus ‎during a goal-scoring celebration against the Damash Gilan team. The Iranian government ‎denounced this as an “immoral act,” and he did not return to the team until early 2012. The BBC ‎covered this incident here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15533927 And there is a ‎video here ‎

[9] Here, Najafi is both ascribing a general indifference towards religion to the people of Iran while ‎also acknowledging that the sport of soccer itself has become a totally government-owned and ‎regulated activity (hence the mixing of religion, an integral part of the Iranian government, with ‎soccer). ‎

[10] The Hidden Imam (also known as the Twelfth Imam or Mahdi) is the central figure of Islamic ‎eschatology and is the equivalent of the second coming of Christ in Christian eschatology. ‎According to the Shi’ah narrative, the Hidden Imam was born in 869 CE and went into occultation ‎in 874 at only 5 years of age, when he assumed the Imamate. When he returns, it is believed that he ‎will bring justice and peace by establishing Islam throughout the world. ‎

[11] Muslims typically wrap the dead in burial shrouds—usually made of white cotton or linen—‎before depositing them in their graves. It’s a satire against the religious zealots who boast that they ‎are ready to die for a cause that they often don’t even understand. ‎

[12] “Nan-e Sangak” is an Iranian kind of whole wheat, sourdough flatbread that is baked in an ‎oven on a bed of hot tiny river stones. The word “sangak” means “little stone” or “pebble,” and ‎these would cling to the bread due to the nature of the baking process. ‎‎This is a picture of sangak bread ‎

[13] I’m not entirely sure what Najafi means here by striped virginity, but I do have two theories: ‎
‎(A) The first theory pertains to the belief that exists among some ultraconservative Iranians which ‎states that a woman will go to heaven if she dies a virgin (if I am wrong about this and the details ‎that follow, someone please correct me). These super-traditional Iranians (usually prison guards) try ‎to prevent this from happening by raping the convicted women so that they will be “guilty” of ‎adultery, and will not go to heaven as a result. Obviously, this is just a pretext for having sex. ‎Placed in this context, the idea of “striped virginity” conjures up the image of a girl, clad in a ‎typically striped prison uniform, who is about to lose the only thing keeping her alive in the eyes of ‎the Iranian government: her virginity. Hence, a link is established between “stripes”, AKA the girl’s ‎prison uniform, and her virginity. ‎
‎(B) The second theory, which is actually not mine but a friend’s, considers the “striped virginity” to ‎be a girl’s hymen—which of course, when penetrated, marks the loss of her virginity. Taken in this ‎light, perhaps Najafi’s remark is some kind of allusion to hymenorrhaphy—a surgical procedure ‎whereby a girl’s hymen is surgically restored. This reconstruction of an “artificial virginity” would ‎at the very least be related to the theme of artificiality inherent in this particular verse, since Najafi ‎also mentions a chest of silicon, which to most women is the apex of superficiality. However, I have ‎no idea where the “striped” part of the verse would come into play when considering this theory. ‎

[14] This is a reference to the Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani, who posed nude for the French ‎magazine Madame Le Figaro at the beginning of 2012. Upon discovering this, the Iranian ‎government sent her a communication telling her that she would not be allowed to return to Iran. ‎Farahani’s nude photograph was the subject of much controversy among Iranians for several weeks. ‎The Telegraph covered this incident ‎‎here ‎

[15] This is a quip about the status of aberoo —which could mean honor, prestige, or saving face—‎in Iranian society. Najafi is criticizing people who never really had prestige or honor, even though ‎they thought they did. ‎

[16] Iranians believe that they are descendants of the Aryans (nejād-e ārīyā’ī) and many of them ‎take great pride in what they believe to be a heritage replete with heroism and magnanimous kings ‎‎(e.g. Cyrus the Great and his freedom of the Jews from Babylon; his “Cyrus Cylinder,” believed by ‎some to be the first charter of human rights; etc.). ‎

[17] Based on the patriotic context of the previous line, I believe that this is a reference to the pelāk-‎e Farvahar, which is a necklace that sports the ancient Zoroastrian icon of the Farvahar. It is ‎typically worn by Iranians who are proud of their heritage. More on the Farvahar at ‎‎Wikipedia‎

[18] This is a reference to an incident that occurred on an Iranian children’s television show last ‎year, when the hostess of the program asked the “audience”—composed entirely of kindergarteners, ‎and perhaps even younger—what sorts of activities they could perform on their own without any ‎help from others. One of the boys, who identifies himself only as Farnood (and was later dubbed ‎‎“Farnood-e Rāstgoo,” or “Farnood the Truthful,” by some Iranians), answers the question by ‎innocently stating that he goes to the bathroom and washes his penis all by himself. At first, the ‎hostess didn’t catch what Farnood said; but as soon as it hits her, she rejects his response on the air ‎by saying “No no no, that’s not right!” Many Iranians considered this an issue of censorship against ‎an innocent child who, as far as they were concerned, had no lewd or provocative intent in his ‎response and was merely answering the hostess’s question. There is a video of this incident ‎‎here‎

[19] I am fairly sure that this is a reference to Amir Mansour Khosravi (also known as Mahafarid ‎Amir Khosravi or Amir Mansour Aria), the former finance minister of Iranian President Mahmoud ‎Ahmadinejad, whom the Iranian parliament found guilty of embezzling $2.6 billion last year. This ‎incident is believed to be the biggest banking fraud in Iran’s history. ‎‎Here is one report on the fraud: ‎

The reference to a “children’s story” comes from the fact that this verse, translated literally, says “3 ‎billion [dollars] under the blue dome.” The blue dome refers to the sky, and is a reference to the ‎Persian phrase yeki bood yeki nabood, zir-e gonbad-e kabood which is essentially the equivalent of ‎‎“once upon a time” (lit. There once was, there once was not, under the blue dome/sky). This phrase ‎is a preface to all common children’s stories written in Persian. Thus, Najafi is comparing the ‎banking fraud to a children’s story, as if to say that despite the gravity of this incident, people were ‎invited by Khamenei to “forget about it” and “not to prolong or dwell on the discussion publicly.” ‎

[20] In the same vein as the previous reference, he is criticizing the Iranian tendency to blow up ‎‎“natonalistic causes,” such as the labeling of their nearby gulf as the Persian Gulf vs. the Arabian ‎Gulf, and the drying up of Lake Orumiyeh, which is vital to economy of the city of Orumiyeh and ‎surrounding cities. ‎

[21] Similar in nature to the previous two lines. Najafi is indicating that people have forgotten about ‎the Green Movement to the extent where they can’t remember the name of its leader (implying Mir ‎Hossein Mousavi?): ‎‎2009–2010 Iranian ‎election protests ‎

[22] This is a reference to a faux pas made by an Iranian television host on the air in 2009, when ‎instead of describing the death of Imam Khomeini as heart-rendering (jān-sooz), he accidentally ‎said “heart fart” (jān-gooz). There is a ‎video of this incident on YouTube ‎

[23] I think this is a reference to older Iranian politicians in the diaspora who have been ‎unsuccessfully fighting the Islamic Republic for over 30 years. ‎

[24] This is an attack on Iranian men who believe themselves to have a sense of honor (when it ‎comes to defending the honor of their wife, girlfriend, sister, or mother), while at the same time ‎they engage in dishonorable acts, such as cavorting with prostitutes. ‎

[25] I believe this is a reference to a particular episode of an Iranian talk show, when the guest was ‎an ultraconservative Muslim woman who was advocating the religiously-sanctioned subjugation of ‎women in comparison to the “station” of their husbands, and was ultimately defending men’s rights ‎to whatever the Qur’an supposedly entitled them when it comes to marriage. However, I only ‎vaguely remember seeing this and can’t find it on YouTube. If anyone knows what I’m talking ‎about—or if I’m way off base here—please contribute! ‎

[26] This might be Najafi musing on how some revolutions in the past have adopted colors as an ‎essential characteristic (i.e. “color revolutions”). Obviously, there is green with the Iranian Green ‎Movement, but there was also the Shah’s White Revolution, the Purple Revolution in Iraq, the Rose ‎Revolution in Georgia, and the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, to name a few. More information ‎about color revolutions is available on Wikipedia‎

[27] It looks like Najafi is attacking a general disinclination to reading books among Iranians. ‎Iranians have, as a whole, lost interest in reading books because their government has censored and ‎banned the majority of worthwhile literature. ‎

[28] I think Najafi is criticizing the litany of anti-regime slogans that Iranian protesters have devised ‎over the years, which—although clever—really didn’t do a whole lot for their cause in the end. The ‎word he uses to describe the slogans, ābakī, literally means “watery,” by which he probably intends ‎to convey the slogans as ineffective rallying cries that are devoid of any real power. ‎

[29] This is probably a reference to protesters during the premiership of Mohammad Mossadegh, ‎when one group would often pour into the streets shouting “Long live Mossadegh!” in the morning, ‎whereas in the evenings (or afternoons) another group would shout “Death to Mossadegh, long live ‎the Shah!” With this remark, Najafi is classifying Iranian protestors in general as nothing more than ‎mere bandwagoners with a whimsical sense of loyalty that is as flimsy as the wind.

‎
(1)‎ Najafi s'en prend à la lâcheté de la diaspora iranienne qui ne fait que critiquer les ‎Iraniens de l'intérieur sans jamais rien apporter
(2)‎ les sanctions occidentales qui frappent l'Iran pour son programme nucléaire, mais surtout ‎le peuple
(3)‎ le dollar américain a subi une hausse spectaculaire vis-à-vis du rial iranien au cours des ‎derniers mois
(4)‎ À l'occasion du 33e anniversaire de l'arrivée de l'ayatollah Khomeiny en Iran, le ‎gouvernement a organisé une reconstitution de sa descente d'avion. Pour ce faire, il a ‎fabriqué une pancarte taille réelle, à son effigie, s'attirant les quolibets des Iraniens
(5)‎ Référence au sermon de l'Ayatollah Mohamad Saidi de Qom, qui a déclaré que le Guide ‎suprême, l'Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, était sorti du ventre de sa mère en criant "Vive Ali", ‎du nom du premier Imam chiite
(6)‎ Najafi oppose la jurisprudence islamique imposée par les mollahs au fait que l'Iran ‎demeure en réalité un des leaders au monde en matière de rhinoplastie
(7)‎ Najafi souligne le fait que l'Iran importe tout de Chine, y compris les objets religieux‎
(8)‎ Sheys Rezaei est un joueur de football iranien qui a été exclu de son équipe de ‎Persepolis pour avoir mis une main au postérieur de l'un de ses coéquipiers lors de la ‎célébration d'un but
(9)‎ le rappeur affirme que la religion est désormais rejetée par beaucoup de jeunes, tandis ‎que le football, très populaire en Iran, est totalement contrôlé par le gouvernement).‎
(10)‎ Najafi s'en prend au culte du martyr, savamment entretenu par les autorités. Ainsi, ‎nombre de miliciens bassidjis se disent prêts à se sacrifier au nom de la religion et du ‎Guide ‎
(11)‎ leur prix a augmenté considérablement ces dernières années, si bien qu'en consommer ‎est devenu un luxe ‎
(12)‎ le rappeur dénonce ici la hausse fulgurante des opérations esthétiques, ainsi que ‎l'hypocrisie de la société sur la virginité des jeunes femmes‎
(13)‎ voir l'affaire Golshifteh Farahani
(14)‎ Le rappeur regrette que les jeunes Iraniens ne cessent de se référer aux gloires de ‎l'empire perse pour mieux évacuer leur frustration actuelle
(15)‎ Les Iraniens ne cessent de se réclamer de leurs origines aryennes
(16)‎ Najafi se réfère ici au collier zoroastrien - l'une des premières religions monothéistes - ‎que portent beaucoup d'Iraniens, en Iran comme à l'étranger, en souvenir de leurs ‎origines perses préislamiques
(17)‎ Le rappeur évoque un incident survenu en direct à la télévision iranienne. Lors ‎d'une émission pour enfants, la présentatrice demande au public quelles tâches ‎ménagères il sait faire tout seul. C'est alors qu'un enfant, dénommé Farnood, lui répond ‎qu'il sait se laver le pénis, provoquant l'embarras de la journaliste
(18)‎ Najafi pointe du doigt le cas Amir Mansour Khosravi, ancien ministre des Finances de ‎Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, qui s'est rendu coupable l'année dernière de la plus grande ‎fraude bancaire de l'histoire de l'Iran
(19)‎ Le rappeur dénonce les tentatives gouvernementales de s'attirer les faveurs de la ‎population, en relançant les causes nationalistes, comme celle de l'appellation du Golfe ‎persique, que Google Maps a récemment supprimé de son site. Pendant ce temps, les ‎autorités sont en train d'assécher le lac d'Orumieh, vital pour l'économie du nord-ouest ‎du pays, la région azéri.‎
(20)‎ Najafi rappelle que les deux chefs de l'opposition iranienne, Mehdi Karoubi et Mir ‎Hossein Moussavi, sont toujours emprisonnés chez eux, dans l'indifférence la plus totale
(21)‎ Le rappeur se réfère à un nouvel incident survenu en direct à la télévision iranienne, où ‎un journaliste, au lieu d'annoncer que la mort de l'ayatollah Khomeiny avait déchiré son ‎coeur, a accidentellement parlé de mort "pétant dans son coeur"‎
(22)‎ L'opposition iranienne à l'étranger s'illustre depuis 30 ans par ses déchirements internes‎
(23)‎ Le rappeur dénonce le côté superficiel des Iraniens
(24)‎ Les Iraniens affluent sur la Toile pour draguer
(25)‎ nombre de maris se vantant d'avoir un sens aigu de l'honneur fréquentent en réalité des ‎prostituées en Iran
(26)‎ Najafi parle des quelques Iraniennes conservatrices au pouvoir, qui ne se battent pas ‎pour le droit des femmes
(27)‎ lors des émeutes de la révolution verte, le gouvernement est allé jusqu'à diffuser un ‎match en noir et blanc parce que les supporters arboraient des banderoles vertes, couleur ‎de l'opposition
(28)‎ Najafi s'attaque au caractère superficiel de la population, même si nombre de livres ont ‎été censurés depuis l'arrivée d'Ahmadinejad‎
(29)‎ le rappeur regrette que les slogans scandés par l'opposition lors des manifestations de ‎‎2009, quoique ingénieux et osés, se soient révélés totalement inefficaces‎
(30)‎ Le rappeur s'insurge contre la duplicité et l'hypocrisie des Iraniens qui le matin, sur leur ‎lieu de travail, s'efforcent de paraître favorables au régime, avant de s'époumoner contre ‎lui, sur les toits, dès la nuit tombée.

THE KILLING OF SATTAR BEHESHTI
As the Disbelief Subsides, We Are Left Angry‎




by Reza Mohajerinejad (one of the student activists and organizers of the 1999 Student Movement ‎in Iran known as 18 Tir)

‎Iranian.com (Nothing Is Sacred), ‎‎07-Nov-2012‎

Sattar Beheshti died sometime in the last few days. I never met him in person. What I know of him ‎from the times we talked over the phone was that he was a simple young man, a hard worker, a son ‎to a mother to whom he was devoted. I also know that he loved his country. ‎
By all accounts Sattar was brutally tortured to death. Word has been trickling out from Iran, and ‎apparently other political prisoners saw him in the week he was in Evin Prison. They said he was ‎badly beaten, that barely a square inch of his body was untouched by the monsters who interrogated ‎him. ‎
Sattar was arrested by the government thugs who investigate any online activity on Facebook and ‎Twitter that they deem to be against the Islamic Republic of Iran. ‎
What is curious is how quickly they killed Sattar. He was only arrested on October 30, 2012, and by ‎November 6, his mother received a call to buy a plot in which to bury her son. I have to wonder if ‎he had been more famous if they might not have been so fast to end his life. Was he someone the ‎‎“cyber police” were using as an example to warn other young people against sending Tweets and ‎Facebook postings? Did he hold out on giving them the information they were seeking to the point ‎that his torturers lost control? ‎
We’ll never know the answers to these questions. ‎
What we know is that Sattar’s love of country made him a target. We know that he was brave and ‎raised his voice in protest. In one of our conversations I cautioned him to take care, and Sattar ‎responded that he saw the faces of the people in his country, how difficult their lives were and how ‎poor they were, and that he couldn’t be quiet as long as they suffered. ‎
Sattar’s life is just one more that has been cut short by a regime that places no value on human life. ‎Unlike any of the current events in the Middle East that get airtime from international media outlets, ‎Sattar’s death will be a blip that a few of us will write and talk about. He didn’t die out in the streets ‎where the world would see, but instead Sattar died in the shadows where cowards kill innocent ‎people behind closed doors. ‎
For those of us who knew Sattar, as the disbelief subsides, we are left angry. How long will we ‎watch this regime take the lives of our young people? How long will we wait? When will they pay ‎for the lives of the innocent brothers and sisters of our country that they have taken? ‎
They will remain until we unite. Sattar knew this. He didn’t live to see it, but he understood that ‎once we join together against the evil that has controlled out country since 1979, we will see its ‎end. Until then, we will remember Sattar…his face etched in our mind just as the faces of Neda, ‎Sohrab, Akbar, and the thousands of others are.