If you had asked Shahram’s mother since Ashura of 1388 [December 28, 2009] what her sole wish was, she would have said:
“To see my son’s face once more, to hold my beautiful and graceful young man in a mother’s embrace, to kiss him endlessly as I did when he was a child, and to caress him continuously.”
But this mother knew well that from now on, while she lives, her share of embracing would only be the gravestone that, if it had a tongue to speak, it would tell you:
“Every time this mother arrives, kissing me instead of her son’s face, embracing me instead of her child, and touching me instead of her son’s face, wiping the dust off me, and opening the book of her separation here, even my stone heart melts.”
Perhaps many of you friends know, for a few nights now, this mother’s wish has been fulfilled, and the meeting has been made possible.
Finally, after six years, this mother and son have reunited, and now, this mother can sit with peace of mind and recount all her sorrows in detail to her son. In the meantime, it seems the charm of this son has also blossomed, constantly reminiscing to his mother about all his childhood mischiefs, asking:
“Mom, do you remember those days when I went to school, and upon returning, I’d throw my schoolbag aside and shout, ‘Mom, I’m hungry, hurry, tell me what we’ve got to eat?'”
Now Shahram continuously asks about his sister and brother and inquires about his father’s days and condition:
“I’m telling you, Mom, is it true that Dad’s aged a lot in these six years?
Isn’t that right, Mom?”
Today, Shahram will tell his mother everything, except one thing: what happened to him under the wheels of the law enforcement vehicle during that bloody Ashura, and what happened to his face beneath the trampling wheels.
These things are beyond telling. Do we know what happened to Ali Akbar, son of Imam Hussein, under the hooves of Yazid’s horses on Ashura of 61 Hijri [October 10, 680]?
No, no, Shahram will not say this. After all, he knows this part must certainly be censored. Shahram knows she is a mother, and a mother’s heart cannot bear hearing these things.
Mohammad Mahdavifar
Deminer and Diver of the Sacred Defense
4th of Bahman 1394 [January 24, 2016]