Montesquieu, Lettre CXXXIV

Yesterday I returned to the same library, and met a man very different from him whom I had seen the first time. His manner was simple, his countenance intelligent, and his address most courteous. As soon as he understood my desire, he set himself to satisfy it, and even, as I was a stranger, to instruct me.
- “Good father,” said I, “what are those large volumes which fill all that side of the library?”
- “These,” said he, “are interpretations of the Scriptures.”
- “What a quantity there are!” rejoined I; “the Scriptures must have been very obscure formerly, and cannot fail to be very obvious now. Do any doubts remain? Are there any points left in dispute?”
- “Any, good heavens! any!” cried he; “there are almost as many as there are lines.”
- “Indeed!” said I; “then what have all these authors done?”
- “These authors,” he replied, “did not search the Scriptures for what ought to be believed, but for what they themselves believed; they did not regard the Scriptures as a work containing doctrines which they were bound to accept, but as a work which might sanction their own ideas; therefore it is that they have corrupted its meaning, and twisted every text. It is a country which all sects invade as if bent on pillage; it is a battlefield on which hostile nations encounter each other in endless engagements, attacking and skirmishing in every possible manner.

What can I add? Nothing…

Thoughtless and clear lies

“How do they try to say that they do not confront people violently or to blame others? All of this took place in front of people’s eyes,” Karrubi told supporters, according to Aftab. “They kill the youth in front of people’s eyes and then say that they didn’t have firearms. As a member of this system, I am embarrassed of these thoughtless and clear lies.”
“It reminds me of the time just prior to the victory of the Islamic revolution,” Karrubi said, according to Aftab.
“Now it seems that all those events are repeating themselves. They have lied to the people, to the point that any false rumors will be taken as truths.”

Mehdi Karoubi/مهدی کروبی

Montesquieu, Lettre LXXIV

[…]
and I saw a little man, supercilious to a degree. He took a pinch of snuff with such a haughty air, he blew his nose so mercilessly, he spat with such indifference, and caressed his dogs in a style so offensive to the onlookers, that I could not but marvel at him. “Ah! Sweet Heaven!” said I to myself; “if, when I was at the court of Persia, I behaved in this way, I behaved like a great fool!” We would have been the very inferior creatures, Rica, had we offered a hundred little insults to those people who waited upon us daily in token of their goodwill. They knew well that we were above them; and if they had not, our favors would have made them daily conscious of it. There being no need to secure their respect, we did our utmost to win their affection: we were accessible to the humblest; in the midst of our greatness, usually so hardening, they found we had feelings; only our hearts appeared to belong to a higher order; we descended to their wants. But, when it was necessary to support the dignity of our sovereign in public ceremonies, to make the nation worthy of respect in the eyes of strangers; and lastly, when, in times of danger, we required to animate our soldiers, our bearing became more lofty a hundred times than it had been before lowly; we resumed our haughty looks; and not seldom we were found to play our part at least adequately.

Paris, the 10th of the moon of Saphar, 1715.

The Persian Letters,

Montesquieu

Montesquieu, Lettre XXX

I smiled frequently when I heard people who had never traveled beyond their own door, saying to each other, “He certainly looks very like a Persian.”

The Persian Letters,
Montesquieu

France has not changed a lot since the day these letters have been written…

Montesquieu, Lettre LXVII

Your mother, who was so chaste, gave to her husband, as the sole pledge of her virtue, that virtue itself: they lived happy in each other, and in their mutual confidence; and the simplicity of their manners was to them a thousand times more precious than the false splendor which you seem to enjoy in this sumptuous house.

The Persian Letters,
Montesquieu

NOCTOC

Let me tell you some words about an incredible “hellenico-persian” blog. And I use this adjective in its cultural sense: Hellenism is not only today’s Greece and Persianism is not only today’s Iran. These two countries have one point in common indeed: they have always had variable geometry borders and their great cultures have influenced many other countries…
And God knows that Cyprus has given and still gives a lot to Hellenism
This blog is ΝΟCΤΟC

I have discovered it by clicking on some link (I don’t even remember where: probably by looking for some information about Persian language) and I found so many articles about Iran and Cyprus. Not to talk about the music he uploads to his Imeem page.

I just wanted to share with you 3 Iranian poems he translated in Greek and published online in Greek and English for the first time; I copy only one of them and simply give you the links to the 2 others for more informations about these poets and also for you to enjoy the beautiful pictures he uploaded with those poems.
Sadly for those who are studying persian like me, he has not added the persian text of these poems…

Η βροχή της νύκτας , Ένα ποιήμα του Ιρανού ποιητή Μ. Αζαντέχ

The rain of the night , A poem by Iranian poet M. Azadeh

Το Σεληνόφως , Ένα ποιήμα του Ιρανού ποιητή Φερεϊτούν Ταβαλάρι

The moonlight , A poem by Iranian Poet Fereydun Tavallary

Κάτω από την διαστατική σκιά του χλωμού φεγγαριού

σε μια ομίχλη που μοιάζει με λάμψη, μελαγχολική και μαγευτική
ήταν κατάκοιτη, και οι μαύρες πλεξίδες της
κυμάτιζαν στον αέρα
μια σκοτεινή σιλουέτα ενάντια στη λάμψη της νύχτας.

Το ρυάκι ξεχειλισμένο από νερό
τραγουδούσε για αυτούς που έφυγαν
για αγάπες του παρελθόντος και για τους νεκρούς
έκρυβε εντάσεις από μυστικούς πόνους.

Κάτω από το κρύο και κουρασμένο σεληνόφως, η πλαγιά του βουνού
σαν μια μακρινή επιθυμία
σαν ένα φωτοστέφανο της ελπίδας
ή σαν γυμνή, ζεστή και τρεμάμενη σε μετάξι
κοιμόταν μέσα στη ζάλη
ενώ το βράδυ περνούσε
πλούσια αλλά ήσυχα λαγκάδια

Αυτή, η ελπίδα μου, η ενσάρκωση των ονείρων μου
κάηκε στις ζεστές φλόγες της δικής της φαντασίας
τραγουδώντας στο λαμπερό μέτωπο του σεληνόφως
το παραμύθι της λύπης μου- για τη δική της συστολή.

Φερεϊτούν Ταβαλάρι

Under the dappled shade of the pale moon

in a mist-like glow, somber and bewitching

she was prostate, and her black brainds

waving in the wind

a dark silhouette against the night's glow.

The brook overflowing with water

sang of the departed

of past loves and the dead

it held strains of secret pain.

Under the cold and tired moonlight, the mountainside

like a distant desire

like a halo of hope

or like a nude, warm and atremble in silk

slept in a daze

while the eventide passed

lush but quiet fields

She, my hope, my dreams' incarnation

burned in the warm flames of her own fancy

singing to the glowing brow of the moonlight

the tale of my sorrow- of her own coyness.

By Fereydun Talallary

Η κλωστή και ο ουρανός , Ένα ποιήμα του Ιρανού ποιητή Νάντερ Ναντερπούρ

The string and the sky , A poem by Iranian poet Nader Naderpur

Ευχαριστώ, φίλε!

Iranian painting

Some time ago an Iranian friend of mine sent me a mail with some paintings of the Iranian artist Iman Maleki. They were really beautiful and touched me very deeply.
I forwarded them to some friends of mine and most answered me they liked these paintings very much too.
Then I decided to write the name Iman Maleki on Google and I found his homepage. I would just like that you take a look at his paintings; I simply put a few of them here.
I simply hope these paintings will give you another idea of the Iranian people: they are not what CNN and other media might tell you…
It is a country with a great past (I am not talking only about the last 30 years or so…) and an unbelievable culture.
Last night I also received a mail from my friend Marjan from Tehran: she paints too and she sent me three of her latest works. These flowers on top of the message are hers.
I would like to use this blog to thank her and to make everybody discover both Maleki and my friend Marjan's work.

Stop or I'll Tweet!

From .faramarz

9 July, 2009 in Iran!

• 9 July: 10 years later
• 2009: 30 years later

We can only wait for news…

A few courageous bloggers inform us despite the danger they face and the technical problems they have to deal with: slow connection &c.

Revolutionary Road is one of them: follow today's even in real time or so.

Tehran 9 July,Kargar shomali ST!

Tehran,Keshavarz Blvd.9 july!

Omar Khayyam in Greek…

Θανάσης Παπακωνσταντίνου singing Omar Khayyam: a song based on 3 rubayyat by this great Persian poet/mathematician.

For my Persian friends.
And for all Iranians who are just asking for Freedom!

Saeed Valadbaygi

It seems that in any coup d'état, the first ones who are arrested (if not killed…) are the intellectuals: doctors, university professors, politicians, philosophers; all those who can lead a nation to its freedom.
And this is what happened in Tehran recently: 70 university professors have been arrested after meeting Mousavi. I think that most of them have been released but it is a milder for of oppression.
But now there seems to be a new category of intellectuals who are as dangerous for dictators: bloggers. Or maybe they are the same people and blogs is just a new medium, a new way to publish their ideas.
One of those bloggers is Saeed Valadbaygi: I have discovered his blog, Revolutionary Road..., recently and I have found in it many interesting news, pictures, links about what is happening in iran today.
Sadly his brother has been arrested and his own life is in danger now.

We are asking for change

"Etekaf", lo sciopero islamico

One Islamic strike: what is better than to beat your enemies by using their own weapons? For the mollahs to remember that God is always with the victims and not with the power, with justice and not with the judge. Read more about it (in Italian) in this article by Fatemeh Karimi.

Mi piange il cuore e mi chiedo il perché: non siamo giovani anche noi? Perché non abbiamo il diritto di un'esistenza normale come tanti altri? Questa non è vita, ormai qualcosa si è spezzato per sempre, non riusciranno più a farci stare buoni come vogliono loro.

Iran in the media

From the Guardian

Iran election: faces of the dead and detained

We want to put a face to each of those hundreds - possibly thousands - killed or arrested since the Iranian election. See how to help below

See the gallery of faces on the Guardian's page: and do not forget that each of them is unique, each of them has their own story, their own life. But all have the same right to freedom!

From l'Unità

Il coraggio dei ragazzi del web contro Ahmadinejad

Chiusi i siti, espulsi i giornalisti esteri, incarcerati quelli iraniani - se ne contano 33, l’Iran è diventato il primo della lista per repressione di giornalisti, sorpassando la Cina -, intercettati e poi bloccati gli sms e ora i blogger. L’ultima mannaia che si abbatte sull’ondata di contestazione al regime che ha su Facebook il volto di Saeed Valadbaygi, con i capelli tirati dal gel e il suo amore dichiarato per la pizza. Sparito. Non è certo il primo. È l’ultimo.
La prima vittima acclarata è stata la reporter iraniano-canadese Zara Kazemi, torturata e uccisa nel carcere di Evin. Un caso che ebbe molto risalto perché il fratello si impuntò di chiedere il corpo indietro - un diritto per ogni musulmano - e poi sottoporlo ad autopsia. Era il 2003. Sei anni dopo, il 19 marzo scorso, è stata certificata la morte di Omidreza Mir Sayafi, venticinquenne cybergiornalista. «Morto per troppi farmaci antidepressivi, un suicidio», è stato detto dalle autorità. Era in carcere per quello che scriveva.
Si spera che siano vivi, ma mancano tuttora all’appello anche Hossein Derakhshan e Ali Mazroui. Il primo è il papà della galassia blogger in Iran. Iraniano-canadese anche lui. Arrestato nel novembre scorso appena sceso all’aeroporto Ayatollah Khomeini. Non si hanno più sue notizie da allora, neanche se è stato arrestato e con quali capi d’imputazione. Il secondo, Ali Mazroui, è il presidente dell’associazione giornalisti iraniani. Anche di lui non si hanno notizie da parecchie settimane. Il giro di vite si è nel frattempo stretto ancor di più.
Prima delle elezioni il regime ha oscurato Facebook. Un gesto che, paradossalmente, ha attirato invece che respinto i giovani iraniani verso i social network e la comunicazione via web. Messaggi, video, reportage dalle piazze, foto scattate col cellulare. I testi in lingua farsi vengono poi tradotti in inglese da blogger iraniani espatriati negli Stati Uniti o altrove e rimbalzati sulla Rete. Censurato Facebook, il fiume di notizie si è incanalato sul più agile Twitter. Lì è stato anche trasmesso un sistema per aggirare i controlli: settando i propri interventi, tutti da ogni parte del mondo, sull’ora di Teheran, sembrando cioè tutti iraniani. Messaggi brevi, appuntamenti e uno stringato diario di avvenimenti. L’Onda verde trova ogni canale, ogni fessura nel muro del sistema, per andare avanti. Per darsi appuntamento per le manifestazioni e non correre il rischio di essere intercettati i giovani iraniani ricorrono persino alle scritte sulle banconote. «Oggi tutti a piazza Baharestan», «lo sciopero è andato bene». Certo, niente ha il crisma della verità nel passaparola. Neanche l’identità di Saeed e degli altri. Finché riemergono dalla galera.

And some good news from Saeed:

In the past few days,we have been attacked by Police and we had to move to new places to live and start out activities. Thanks for all your concerns and emails.I guess we'll be back to the normal situation in couple of hours...

Please do not hesitate to write about it in your own blog, even if it seems that you just copy the same information for the 1001st time. We have to inform not only the whole world but also Iranians themselves as many of them do not have acces to those informations, because some sites are filtered or for some other reasons…

Iranian propaganda on state TV

Who could believe these people and what they say?
How many times have we seen people who had confessed anything after being tortured?
Look at this video: first these “forced confessions" and then images of the truth, of what really happens in the streets of Tehran.

Protest in Kashan University, july 2009!

Once again thanks to Saeed for this video: students singing and dancing at the Kashan university.

They form chains and sing “Yare dabestani", “my fellow schoolmate" a classic revolutionary song that every Iranian around knowns by heart.

(rough translation)

My schoolmate
You're with me and going along with me
The alphabet stick is above our heads
You're my spite and my woe
Our names have been carved
On the body of this blackboard
The stick of injustice and tyranny
Still remains on our body
This uncivilized plain of ours
Is covered with weeds
Good, if good
Bad, if bad
Dead is the hearts of its people
My hand and yours
Should tear up these curtains
Who can, except you and I
Cure our pain?
My schoolmate
You're with me and going along with me
The alphabet stick is above our heads
You're my spite and my woe
Our names have been carved
On the body of this blackboard
The stick of injustice and tyranny
Still remains on our body

Ahmadinejad Lying Again With Photoshop

Some years ago the French PS paid students and unemployed people to go to their meetings so that the “concert hall" was not empty.
Ahmadinejad prefers to use Photoshop to multiply the numbers of his fans. Or should I say fanatics?

Thanks to Gizmodo for this picture.