The Devil… The Devil‍
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Bozorg Alavi‍
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Translated by Dr. Abd Ali Kazem Al-Fatlawi‍
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The Devil… The Devil‍
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By the Iranian writer: Bozorg Alavi‍
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“There is another devil, with his poisoned eyes‍
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called “Zinkaw”, who had come from the invaders‍
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(Arabs) to rule the land of Iran!”‍
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Band Hashen [1]‍
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“You are not ashamed of your conscience and yourself‍
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No mind, no humanity, no shame‍
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With this face, this form, this opinion and this character‍
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You come coveting the kingdom and the crown”‍
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Ferdowsi [2]‍
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The atmosphere is hot and dusty, crowded and noisy, exposed to dirty corpses, the smell of sweat from the rotten, dirty, stinking cloaks, the groans of Iranian women, the weeping eyes of Arab women, a picture of the Kufa market more than a thousand years ago….‍
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Thin black hands hold a pearl necklace in their hands, poisonous red eyes appear from between dirty curly black hair, they are often stared at intently.‍
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They buy and sell camphor for bitter salt!‍
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They exchange gold for silver!‍
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They do not distinguish between musk and dung!‍
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They exchange the world for a lick of food!!‍
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Blood spilled in the alleys, hot blood that has not yet cooled, a piece of the Ctesiphon carpet that hands pick up from one hand to another. An Iranian wants to snatch this carpet. They slit his belly open with a knife, and walk over his corpse, that carpet they bought for the king of Abyssinia for a thousand dinars.‍
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A caravan enters the market… People leave what they have in their hands and go. Like ants and locusts they climb the camels, they throw Iranian girls to the ground, the women wail and cry, they wrestle with the men with their hands. An Arab puts his hand on a woman’s breast and pulls it out of her dress, a girl’s braid is tied around her neck so that she suffocates to death, an Arab woman stabs that man with a knife from behind, blood is spilled in the alleys. Little children fall from their mothers’ arms and drown in their own blood…‍
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Kufa market 1300 years ago or more…‍
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Iranian houses have set up funeral ceremonies, their walls are demolished and they have no roof, while the Arabs do not have a home at all.‍
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Iranian women are taken captive, the daughters of Iranian leaders are sold, a thousand dinars, a hundred dinars, less, more, ten dinars, five dinars, they count on their fingers. They scream in the alley and the market, whips circling in the air and descending on those soft bodies. One of them curses Ahriman [3], and the other wants help from Ahura [4]. The girls endure and endure…‍
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The Arab with the red turban, the black face, the yellow teeth like pigs’ teeth, the terrifying eyes, in his hand the sword and shouting: “Ajamiyyah al-Muqabba”‍
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This beautiful girl, her name is Arnawaz, the daughter of Karzwan, the guard of the Hamadan borders, her father had killed himself so that she would not fall into the hands of the enemy, they kidnapped her and tied her hands and feet…‍
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– Ajamiyyah al-Muqabba.[5]‍
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… Arnawaz had many buyers in the Kufa market. Every person who passed by wanted to devour her with his eyes. The Arab guard was guarding her with his drawn sword, his tongue was circling around his mouth. He rolled his eyes right and left and said: “Ajamiyyah al-Muqabba”‍
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An Arab camel herder, with disheveled hair and rough hands, buys Arnawaz and pays money, gives a pearl but it is too little for her. He gives gold, gold has no value. He gives silver, it is a cheap price. He gives his son a slave as a price for her.‍
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Kufa market 1300 years ago or less.‍
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Persian girls are offered for sale in the markets. The veil of Iranian chastity is torn by the Arabs, so what happened?‍
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Camel milk, camel hair, camel milk, camel dung, camel hatred destroys the Sassanid civilization that lasted hundreds of years!‍
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The wind blows, hail particles spread in the cold air, their crystalline atoms shine in that dim beam. They were falling on those ruins and demolished houses and casting shadows of worry, sadness and gloom on them.‍
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The sky had covered its white shroud over the ruins of the kings’ palaces.‍