historians-from-iran

"The chief of Anhilwãra called Bhîm, fled hastily… Yamînu-d daula again started for Somnãt, and on his march he came to several forts in which were many images serving as chamberlains or heralds of Somnãt, and accordingly he (Mahmûd) called them Shaitãn. He killed the people who were in these places, destroyed the fortifications, broke in pieces the idols and continued his march to Somnãt…"

"In the year 159 (AD 776) Al Mahdî sent an army by sea under ‘Abdul Malik bin Shahãbu’l Musamma’î to India… They proceeded on their way and at length disembarked at Barada. When they reached the place they laid siege to it… The town was reduced to extremities, and God prevailed over it in the same year. The people were forbidden to worship the Budd, which the Muhammadans burned."

"This temple of Somnãt was built upon fifty-six pillars of teak wood covered with lead. The idol itself was in a chamber… Yamînu’d daula seized it, part of it he burnt, and part of it he carried away with him to Ghaznî, where he made it a step at the entrance of the Jãmi‘ masjid…"

"So he prayed to the Almighty for aid, and left Ghaznî on the 10th of Sha’bãn AH 414… with 30,000 horse besides volunteers, and took the road to Multãn. After he had crossed the desert he perceived on one side a fort full of people, in which there were wells. People came down to conciliate him, but he invested the place, and God gave him victory… So he brought the place under the sway of Islãm, killed the inhabitants, and broke in pieces their images…"

"It was said that I deal with resources with violence. This is while in European countries they tell students why you didn't torture the text? Why didn't you take it out?"

"Pan-Turkism is an amalgam of ignorance and idiocy"

"I never wanted to be known and my name to be mentioned. But whether or not this happened, it was very appropriate for me to write my own life history so that there would be no need for others to make incomplete inquiries and get a combination of right and wrong."

"a true anti-cleric."

"Today, one of the problems of Iran, in fact, its worst problem, is the dispersal of Iranians. People who share a common land and live within the territory of one country should not be divided into rival sects. Today's Iran is in this misery, and if this continues, God knows what a hard hand the Iranians will suffer."

"If you have heard that Dr. Zamenhof has created a language called Esperanto from the rules of knowledge, the ease of which is amazing, we should follow the same rules in adorning the Persian language and make this language very easy."

"I had to become a mullah after studying, and apart to my father's will, I hated the mullah myself."

"Cholera broke out and people hung the Quran in the streets at that time, so that anyone who passed under it would take refuge from the disease, and they set up Rawda Khwani in the gates and alleys. One day, one of the grandchildren of an ayatollah was put on a donkey and brought to our alley, and the men and women kissed his hand."

"As we have seen, they created a small group of constitutionalists in Iran, and many people did not know the meaning of constitutionalism, and it is clear that they did not want it either. At the beginning of its rise, the constitutional movement, above all, had the character of "Shiism" in order to gradually acquire the character of "patriotism". This duplicity also appeared in the newspapers, and the newspaper Sur-e Esrafil followed this new practice from the very beginning, and its writers showed a good knowledge of the history of Europe and the countries there, and over this innovation, animosities arose with them."

"The work of the word should not be despised, whoever turns to goodness, his word should also be trimmed and adorned. Language is the mirror of thoughts, language is the example of temperament"

"Our words have deep strong roots, and will never be eradicated with a pistol. There will be no better result from using a pistol than bloodshed. Say and write whatever you like, we will never be offended, but your support for thugs has a different meaning."

"The basis of Shiism is that the caliph should be chosen by God and not by the people. We ask: What was the reason for this? The book of Islam was the Qur'an, where is the Qur'an in such a statement? How could there be such a thing and it is not mentioned in the Qur'an?"

"We know that when Nader Shah was killed, the greatness he had created for Iran disappeared. But Iran was still considered one of the so-called countries, and Karim Khan and his successors, if they did not add anything to the country, did not reduce it. But during the Qajar dynasty, Iran became very powerless, and its greatness, position and reputation were greatly diminished, and the reason for this was more than one thing, and that was that the world was modernized and countries changed, but Iran was backward."

"From childhood to the age of six, I do not remember anything but shaving my head and suffering from it."

"If the Prophet wanted to appoint a "caliph", he must first speak on the fact that the selection and appointment of a caliph should be from God and not from the people, and he must said openly: "Now is my first caliph It is Ali who has been chosen by God.""

"There is no doubt that our alphabet must be changed. It has been talked about for fifty years, and now it must be used, and it is the most worthy group to use. If we do not use it today, it will either remain unfulfilled or fall into the wrong hands of those who have created something flawed and called it the alphabet."

"The Europeans have been trying for years to keep the Orientals in the well of ignorance, and they have come to one conclusion from this behavior: the Orientals become powerless and helpless in the shadow of this ignorance."

"If we want the truth, these scholars of Najaf and Sayyids and other scholars who insisted on constitutionalism did not know the true meaning of the constitution and the result of the prevalence of European laws, and did not know the very obvious incompatibility between the constitution and the Shiites. The brave men, on the one hand, saw the distress of Iran and the inability of the government, and saw no other way out of it than the constitution and the parliament, and tried to support it with great insistence, and on the other hand, were bound by religion and could not ignore it."

"They have said that the Qur'an, which was a book for reading, understanding and salvation, should not know its meaning except for the Imams, and thus they have despised that book. Shiite scholars considered the Qur'an incomprehensible to the general public and preferred "hadiths" to it."

"Our family in Tabriz was a mullah family. Aqa Mir Ahmad, my grandfather, was one of the famous scholars who was followed by all the people. He built a mosque in Hakmavar, which is now standing and is called Mirahmad Mosque. As I have heard, he was a very humble man and he was kind and sympathetic to people. When I was a child, even though thirty years had passed since his death, his memory was still alive among the people. Mir Ahmad's youngest son, my father, chooses to stay away from the mullah. My father wanted to have a child to succeed his father, so he named me Mir Ahmad."

"In Hokmavar, because many people were illiterate, they did not value literacy and there was no Maktab there. Only one mullah named Mullah Bakhshali taught us to read the Qur'an. He himself was not very literate and did not know Persian well, and because his teeth were missing, his words were difficult to understand. His art was to beat the hands and feet of children. People did not want anything more than this and saw education in beating children. However, from the day I went to Maktab, I did not give up because I wanted knowledge until I understood the lesson. I learned the alphabet in a week. Then I learned some lessons in Quranic chapters from mullah Bakhshali and learned the rest myself."

"My father, like his father, had studied Sharia, but had become a businessman. He was a Shiite but avoided many superstitions. There were many differences between Sunnis and Shiites at that time. Especially in Azerbaijan, where hearts were full of resentment against Sunnis and this caused ugly behavior. For example, on the ninth of Rabi al-Awal, they celebrated the day of Omar's death, thinking that it was the day of his death, and engaged in a series of light-hearted work. Clear such ignorance from Iran, the constitutional movement, and that is why Iranians should be happy that that movement is happend."

"Haji Mir Abolhassan Angji - The cowardly mullah who once threw himself in front of the constitutionalists and spread his false ideas in support of them, and then in the occupation of Tabriz by the Russians, he fell in front of the mob and looted the city.- excommunicated me because he had heard my attachments to constitutionalism."

"Kasravi wore a black turban at the time, wore a long robe and cloak, and wore a black cloak. His small compact turban was the best representative of Tabrizi students. His skinny face showed prominent bones, a look of suffering and anger, and at the same time a tyrant to the vote and Egypt in belief. He was not wearing glasses yet. He spoke Persian with a special Azerbaijani accent, but very well. In the first conversation I had with him, it was proved to me that the man is very fearless and even expresses his own opinions with a certain recklessness. He was not afraid to say anything against the custom and against the opinion of others."

"Kasravi has the spirit of an honest historian. He is meticulous in detail and in presentation"

"When I was in Tehran, on the one hand, I became acquainted with the Esperantist group, and on the other hand, I became acquainted with the Baha'is. When I went to Mashhad, I wished to go to Nader Shah's grave. When I left, I was very sorry to see that they had turned it into a sleeping place for camels. When I arrived, a man with an Aftabeh came out. This upset me a lot. In Mashhad, I wrote a speech and sent it to a newspaper that I do not know whether it was published or not. A year later, in Tabriz, I wrote another speech in the newspaper Tajaddad. Bahman Mirza Sheydani, who represented the Great Association of Esperanto, had read it. Therefore, when there was a conversation in the National Assembly about Nader Shah's grave and a law was passed to clean it up, the prince wrote me a letter in which he gave good news. We got acquainted from there and sometimes we sent letters. In Tehran, he told me one day: I want you to learn Esperanto and become Esperantist. I said: I know Esperanto. He said: From whom did you read? I said I learned it myself. He was very pleased and invited me to the assemblies of the great association of Esperanto. One day he arranged a magnificent party for me."

"It is the responsibility of literate writers to try to cut down on Arabic words, and for others to follow them. The involvement of inexperienced youth in this work will bring no other benefit than loss and will create a series of other destructions in Persian."

"Regarding Reza Shah, it should be said: Many of the benevolent ideals of Iran were fulfilled by Reza Shah, from founding the National Bank, overthrowing the capitulation, unifying the clothes, railways, etc., to liberating women and removing the veil and chador."

"Curses and insults about the companions of the Prophet, which they called "Tabarra", is another basis of Shiism, and this is a disgraceful ugliness. Shiite books are full of curses and insults."

"All Iranians with little knowledge are concerned about the country's backwardness - especially the decline of Iran from a large and powerful empire to a weak and small state. Where is the root of degeneration? At the turn of the century, intellectuals could claim that the main culprits were tyrants who had a hidden interest in the illiteracy and ignorance of the people of the country. But in fact, twenty years after the constitutional government, we can not give the same answer. We now know that the main fault lies not with the rulers but with the obedient. Yes, the main cause of underdevelopment in Iran, and perhaps in most Eastern countries, is division and discord among the masses."

"Arabs are the most noble people in lineage, the most prominent, and the best in deeds. We were the first to respond to the call of the Prophet. We are Allah’s helpers and the viziers of His Messenger. We fight people until they believe in Allah. He who believes in Allah and His Messenger has protected his life and possessions from us. As for one who disbelieves, we will fight him forever in Allah’s Cause. Killing him is a small matter to us."

"By God! If any of the Arabs other than you were to say that to me, while he was in the same situation as you, I would not leave him without mentioning his mother's being deprived of him. I would say it whoever he might be. But, by God, there is no way for me to mention your mother except by saying the best things possible."

"I have fabricated things against God and have imputed to Him words which He has not spoken."

"I have not been ordered to fight you. I have only been ordered not to leave you until I bring you to al-Kufah. If you refuse to do that, then take any road that will neither brng you into al-Kufah nor take you back to Madina, and let that be a compromise between us; I shall write to Ibn Ziyad. You write to Yazīd ibn Mu‘āwiya if you wish to write to him, or to ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Ziyād if you wish. Perhaps God will cause something to happen that will relieve me from beingtroubled in any way by your affair. Therefore, take this road here and bear to the left of the road to al-ʿUdhayb and al-Qādīsiyyāh."

"Nobody seeks my help with a petition or offers an excuse that is more pressing than he, reminding me of a favor I did him so that it would be followed by its sister (i.e, one like it) and so good would be done to its asker because withholding of later things removes gratitude for earlier ones."

"If you [Muslims] are under their [infidels] authority, fearing for yourselves, behave loyally to them, with your tongue, while harboring inner animosity for them. Allah has forbidden believers from being friendly or on intimate terms with the infidels in place of believers except when infidels are above them [in authority]. In such a scenario, let them act friendly towards them."

"“He first took Bãmiãn, which he probably reached by way of Herãt, and then marched on Balkh where he ruined (the temple) Naushãd. On his way back from Balkh he attacked Kãbul… “Starting from Panjhîr, the place he is known to have visited, he must have passed through the capital city of the Hindu Šãhîs to rob the sacred temple - the reputed place of coronation of the Šãhî rulers-of its sculptural wealth… “The exact details of the spoil collected from the Kãbul valley are lacking. The Tãrîkh [-i-Sistãn] records 50 idols of gold and silver and Mas’udî mentions elephants. The wonder excited in Baghdãd by elephants and pagan idols forwarded to the Caliph by Ya’qûb also speaks for their high value. “The best of our authorities put the date of this event in 257 (870-71). Tabarî is more precise and says that the idols sent by Ya’qûb reached Baghdãd in Rabî’ al-Ãkhar, 257 (Feb.-March, 871). Thus the date of the actual invasion may be placed at the end of AD 870.”"

""By God, our religion (din) from which we have departed is better and more correct than that which these people follow. Their religion does not stop them from shedding blood, terrifying the roads, and seizing properties." And they returned to their former religion."

"Killing Unbelievers is a small matter to us."

"By the following Friday, Mansur had dealt with thirty thousand Muslims who had been paying the jizyah and eighty thousand polytheists who had been exempted from the jizyah. He imposed the jizyah on the polytheists and removed it from the Muslims."

"Now then, O people, you have a right over your wives and they have a right over you. You have [the right] that they should not cause anyone of whom you dislike to tread on your beds; and that they should not commit any open indecency (fāḥishah). If they do, then God permits you to forsake them in bed and to beat them, but not severely. If they abstain from [evil], they have the right to their food and clothing in accordance with custom (bi’l-ma‘rūf). Treat women well, for they are [like] captives ('awan) with you and do not possess anything for themselves. You have taken them only as a trust from God, and you have made the enjoyment of their persons lawful by the word of God, so understand and listen to my words, O people. I have conveyed the Message, and have left you with something which, if you hold fast to it, you will never go astray: that is, the Book of God and the sunnah of His Prophet. Listen to my words, O people, for I have conveyed the Message and understand [it]. Know for certain that every Muslim is a brother of another Muslim, and that all Muslims are brethren. It is not lawful for a person [to take] from his brother except that which he has given him willingly, so do not wrong yourselves. O God, have I not conveyed the message?"

"We have been dealt a situation from which there is no escape. You have seen what Muhammad has done. Arabs have submitted to him and we do not have the strength to fight. You know that no herd is safe from him. And no one even dares go outside for fear of being terrorized."

"The morning after the murder of Ashraf, the Prophet declared, "Kill any Jew who falls under your power.""

"“The ultimate capture of Beykund (in AD 706) rewarded him with an incalculable booty; even more than had hitherto fallen into the hands of the Mahommedans by the conquest of the entire province of Khorassaun; and the unfortunate merchants of the town, having been absent on a trading excursion while their country was assailed by the enemy, and finding their habitations desolate on their return contributed further to enrich the invaders, by the ransom which they paid for the recovery of their wives and children. The ornaments alone, of which these women had been plundered, being melted down, produced, in gold, one hundred and fifty thousand meskals; of a dram and a half each. Among the articles of the booty, is also described an image of gold, of fifty thousand meskals, of which the eyes were two pearls, the exquisite beauty and magnitude of which excited the surprise and admiration of Kateibah. They were transmitted by him, with a fifth of the spoil to Hejauje, together with a request that he might be permitted to distribute, to the troops, the arms which had been found in the place in great profusion.”"

"After the Messenger had finished with the Khaybar Jews, Allah cast terror into the hearts of the Jews in Fadak when they received news of what Allah had brought upon Khaybar. Fadak became the exclusive property of Allah’s Messenger."

"Muhammad carried arms, helmets, and spears. He led a hundred horses, appointing Bahir to be in charge of the weapons and Maslamah to be in charge of the horses. When the Quraysh received word of this, it frightened them."