Mohsen Jaafarnia, and Sahar Boroomand (2018). FAITH IN THE ETERNITY OF IRAN. The People Museum Journal , Volume 4, Issue 1,  ISSN 2588-6517

FAITH IN THE ETERNITY OF IRAN

Mohsen Jaafarnia
Assistant Professor, School of Design, Hunan University, China

Sahar Boroomand
School of Art and Architecture, Central South University, Changsha, China

The faith of the Iranian people in the eternity of Iran is as old as Iran itself. It is reflected from the very beginning of the Persian Empire in the political concepts and the religious beliefs of the Iranians as well as in their art and architecture. It is an essential mark of the Persian make up to live in eternity not in tightly defined lengths of time; to take each event in relation to the continuing flow of history and not in isolation. They behaved as though they were mature from the very first day of their birth in the sense that Baruch Spinoza, the famous Dutch philosopher of the seventeen century, would like mature men to behave.

Figure 1. Baruch Spinoza, the famous Dutch philosopher.

The faith of the Iranians in the eternity of Iran explains, at least in part, the survival of Iran through 2,500 years of trial. Roman Ghirshman realized the impact of this faith when he wrote：”The Achaemenians conceived of Iran as a state, and turned that concept into a reality. Its survival no less than its independence was the legacy bequeathed· to posterity.” (Ghirshman, 1978) To say the reverse, that is to explain the existence of this faith in terms of the continuity of Persian history, as historians are prone to do, is not completely accurate, although it is true that faith in Iran’s eternity has been considerably strengthened by Iran’s power to regenerate and renew itself (Nasr, 1974).

Figure 2. The Arts of Ancient Iran: from Its Origins to the Time of Alexander the Great

‘The God of Iran is great.’ This sentence, repeated over and over again by the common people of Iran, is a simple affirmation of their faith in Iran’s eternity. In this way Comte de Gobineau says “The Persians … are a very old nation, and, as they say themselves, perhaps the most ancient of the world which has had a regular government and has played the role of a great people. This reality is present in the mind of the whole Iranian family (nation). It is not only the educated class that knows it and expresses it; people of the lowest level believe in it, come back to it readily, and make of it the subject of their ordinary conversations. This is the basis of the firm feeling of superiority which constitutes one of their common ideas and forms an important portion of their moral patrimony.” (Gobineau, 2012).

Related to this issue one can feel the level of love that how much Iranians are in love with Iran through the song of Mohammad Nouri:

Homeland, you will be in my heart and soul forever.
 در روح و جان من ، میمانی ای وطن

The heart of whoever does not have heart rate for you will be under the feet.
 به زیر پا فتد آن دلی، که بهر تو نلرزد

Verbally through words no one can have any description for this love.
 شرح این عاشقی ، ننشیند در سخن

Any value and worth of the world cannot be equal to reach to this level of noble love.
  که بهر عشق والای تو همه جهان نیارزد

Iran Iran
 ای ایران ایران

I wish your pure and clean essence be away from any impurity and whoever has impure essence.
 دور از دامان پاکت دست دگران، بد گهران

Hot love. Sweetest dream of my life stay with me in my heart and soul.
 ای عشق سوزان , ای شیرین ترین رویای من تو بمان در دل و جان

Iran Iran.
 ای ایران ایران

Your flower garden stays away from any attack of autumn, any alteration of time.
 گلزار سبزت دور از تاراج خزان، جور زمان

Shiny love.
 ای مهر رخشان

Brightness donor and enlightening of my life clarify the world. You stay.
 ای روشنگر دنیای من به جهان، تو بمان

Greenness of nature, redness of my blood and whiteness of sunrise have been seated on your flag.
 سبزی صد چمن ،   سرخی خون من ،   سپیدی طلوع سحر ، به پرچمت نشسته

Iran stay forever as my life has attached to your presence.
 بمان که تا ابد هستیم به هستیِ تو بسته

Iran Iran
 ای ایران ایران

Figure 3. Mohammad Nouri.

Both the Iranians and Iranologists are convinced that Iran’s ability to triumph over the cruelest and most destructive invaders of history must certainly bestow upon it the right to have faith in its own future and to consider itself eternal. The Macedonians have been erased from the face of history; not even a trace of Alexander’s grave remains. Islam is alive and expanding and yet Arabia (which thanks to that Islam religion came to dominate the whole area of world extending from north of China, the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic,) was not able to maintain its domination for more than a century. On the contrary, Arabia returned quickly to the situation of the pre-Islamic period, known as the ‘Age of Ignorance’, and lost its importance except for containing the sacred cities of Islam, Mecca and Medina. Of the empires of Chingiz Khan and Tamerlane nothing remains but stories of slaughter and mass destruction (Nasr, 1974).   

If during the past twenty five centuries the Iranians had exhibited no other special talent than being able to maintain the existence of their country, they would still hold a place unequalled in history and would deserve recognition and praise. But Iran’s eternity does not imply that for 2,500 years Iran has remained unchanged. A dynamic interest in innovation, not a rigid conservatism, constitutes the dominant feature of Iranianism. As will be noted in the course of the following research, the secret of Iran's survival must be sought in the enduring creative genius that has enabled it to keep abreast of the changing circumstances and to regenerate itself without ever having lost its distinctive identity.

The love of the Iranians for Iran cannot be explained only by the usual instinctive feelings which most of people have for their homeland. Many countries are loved without their having any noticeable effect upon the progress of mankind, and therefore the existence of these countries is more or less unimportant for other nations. The Iranians love Iran not only because it is their homeland, but also because they believe that Iran has proven its worth in terms of its contribution to world civilization. By the same token, they believe and expect that all those devoted to the progress of mankind should love Iran, and should Iran be adversely criticized they consider that criticism indicative of bad intentions or ignorance. To prove the level of love ,one can have a look to the history of war in that 8 years with Iraq that all countries were helping the dictator Saddam. Italy, UK, US, Germany, France and … those countries were looking for blood bath, in order to kill more and more people.  They began to resort to help Saddam to use of chemical weapons and other kinds of blind weapons. These weapons killed people in large numbers. Germany was consistently leading this industry for a long time. German companies were largely involved in exporting a large number of chemical weapons or equipment even setting up factories of weapon’s manufacturing in Iraq. Of course, America, France, Netherlands, England and others were also illegally involved in exporting raw materials to build these weapons of mass destruction to Iraq, but one can see how strong love in heart of Iranian could  change the result of war (Jaafarnia, 2012).

Since in its external aspect the Iranians' love for their homeland does not always correspond to the love of others for their countries, many foreign observers have been unable to assess accurately the depth and intensity of Iranian patriotism.

In recuperative potential some nations are like pine and others like plane trees. If a pine is sawn off at the ground it dies; but if a plane tree is sawn off it shoots out new branches and grows rapidly, sometimes more luxurient than before. In the past, Iran’s branches and boughs have been repeatedly chopped off and at times even its trunk has been severed at the base. However, every time the nation has recovered quickly and flourished. The remarkable progress of modern Iran and the great hopes which the Iranian people entertain towards their future are symptomatic of this historical fact.

Iran’s eternity has attracted the attention of orientalists and others who have come to know the country. Among them, those better acquainted with Iran appreciate more the enthusiasm, devotion and pride of Abu’l Qasim Firdawsi (940-1020) as an enormous, cohesive poem of 50,000 verses. the standard bearer of eternal Iran, and they understand why the Iranians place this epic poet not only among their two or three greatest poets but also among their foremost national heroes. ”If Iran Is Not To Be, Let Me Not Be”. This is Firdawsi’s message throughout his epic history, Shahnamah. Therefore Shahnama can be viewed as a national declaration of love to Iran. No one can read Firdawsi without being overwhelmed by the faith of this master heromaker of Iran (Nasr, 1974).  The epic tells of the life of the Iranian princes – their courage, adventures, and conflicts – from “the beginning of the world” to the 7th century. In addition to being a historic narrative and poetry, it was written as a tribute to the country’s past before the advent of the Arabs and Islam: its history, dynasties, heroes, and greatness. Firdawsi’s aim was to create a magnificent and indelible picture of ancient Persia, a national identity that he himself and the aristocracy of which he was part could be proud of, an identity that contrasted with the culture and history of the Muslim rulers in that time (Akbarzade, 2016).

The monumental poem has always been very popular in the Persian-speaking parts of the world. In town and country, professional storytellers have recounted the most dramatic episodes to a wide audience. With its many tales of kings and military prowess, the epic has also been a favorite of princes, who along with the wealthy elite commissioned finely executed, illustrated Shahnama manuscripts (Akbarzade, 2016).

Conclusion

During 2,500 years of confrontation with foreign enemies Iran has suffered many setbacks, but only three times was the historical thread of its existence as an independent nation broken, or at least did it appear to be broken as a result of its becoming part of a larger empire. These three instances arose from the invasion of:

1. The Macedonians, who attacked Iran under the leadership of Alexander in the third century after the foundation of the Achaemenian dynasty (the first half of the fourth century B.C.).

2. The Arabs, who overthrew the Sassanid twelve centuries after the establishment of the Iranian Monarchy (seventh century A.D.).

3. The hordes of Chingiz and Tamerlane, who overran and devastated Iran, the former a little less than eighteen centuries and the latter a little more than nineteen centuries after the establishment of the Persian Monarchy (the first half of the thirteenth century A.D., and the second half of fourteenth century A.D.).

In addition，the European colonial powers set out to bring Iran under their control in the nineteenth century. During this period, although resistance against the Europeans: who had come to dominate almost all of Asia and Africa, seemed impossible, the Iranian people were able to safeguard their independence until they attained a new national revival.

Victory over each group of these invaders strengthened Iranian patriotism and the faith of the Iranians in the eternity of their country (Nasr, 1974).

As an ending point of this article I have nothing to say just I tell: ”If Iran Is Not To Be, Let Me Not Be”.

References

Akbarzade, Pejman 2016. “SHAHNAMA The Colorful Epic about Iran's Past.” BBC. http://www.bbc.com/persian/arts/2016/07/160731_l10_denmark_shahnameh   and    https://www.davidmus.dk/en/current_events/tidligere_saerudstilling/special-exhibition-shahnama

Ghirshman, Roman 1978. Iran. City of Westminster: Penguin Books.

Gobineau, Le Comte de 2012. Trois Ans En Asie (de 1855 À 1858) 2 Vol., Paris: Nabu Press.

Jaafarnia, Mohsen 2012. Let’s save humans’ life with good design. Guwahati: Papyrus. ISBN: 978-93-81287-17-0 http://design.hnu.edu.cn/images/stories/downloads/mohsen/Lets_save%20humans_life_with_good_design.pdf

Nasr, Taghi 1974. The Eternity of Iran. Tehran: The Ministry of Culture and Arts publication.

  © 2018 by the authors. Submitted for possible open access publication under the
terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).