منجنیق آه مظلومان | سعدی

 

بـس بـگردیـد و بـگردد روزگـــار

دل به دنیـــا درنبنــــدد هوشیـــار

ای که دستت میرسد، کاری بـکــن

پیش از آن کز تو نیاید هیچ کـــــار

این که در شهنامه‌هـــا آورده‌انـــد

رستم و رویینه‌تن اسفندیــــــــار

تا بدانند این خداوندان مُلــــــک

کز بسی خلقست دنیا یادگـــــــار

این همه رفتند وما، ای شوخ‌چشـم

هیچ نگرفتیم از ایشان اعتبـــــــار

این همه هیچست چون ‌می‌بگــذرد

تخت‌وبخت‌ و امرونهی وگــیرودار

چون زبردستیت بخشید آسمــــان

زیردستان را همیشه نیـــــــک دار

زور بازو داری و شمشیر تــــــیز

گر جهان لشگر بگیرد غم مــــدار

از درون خستگان اندیشه کـــــن 

وز دعای مردم پرهــــیزگـــــار

منجنیق آه مظلومان به صـــــبـح

سخت گیرد ظالمان رادرحســاب

هر کرا خوف ‌وطمع‌درکارنیسـت

از خَتا باکش نباشد وز تـَتـــــار

The First Charter of Rights of Nations

I am Cyrus, king of the world, the great king, the powerful king, king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four quarters of the world, son of Cambyses, the great king, king of the city of Anshan, grandson of Cyrus, the great king, king of the city of Anshan; great-grandson of Teispes, the great king, king of the city of Anshan; eternal seed of royalty whose rule Bel and Nabu love, in whose administration they rejoice in their heart. When I made my triumphal entrance into Babylon, I took up my lordly residence in the royal palace with joy and rejoicing; Marduk, the great lord, moved the noble heart of the residents of Babylon to me, while I gave daily attention to his worship. My numerous troops marched peacefully into Babylon. In all Sumerand Akkad I permitted no enemy to enter. The needs of Babylon and of all its cities I gladly attended to. The people of Babylon [and . . .], and the shameful yoke was removed from them. Their dwellings, which had fallen, I restored. I cleared out their ruins. Marduk, the great lord, rejoiced in my pious deeds, and graciously blessed me, Cyrus, the king who worships him, and Cambyses, my own son, and all my troops, while we, before him, joyously praised his exalted godhead. All the kings dwelling in palaces, of all the quarters of the earth, from the Upper to the Lower sea dwelling [. . .] all the kings of the Westland dwelling in tents brought me their heavy tribute, and in Babylon kissed my feet. From [. . .] to Asshur and Susa, Agade, Eshnunak, Zamban, Meturnu, Deri, with the territory of the land of Qutu, the cities on the other side of the Tigris, whose sites were of ancient foundation— the gods, who resided in them, I brought back to their places, and caused them to dwell in a residence for all time And the gods of Sumer and Akkad—whom Nabonidus, to the anger of the lord of the gods, had brought into Babylon—by the command of Marduk, the great lord, I caused them to take up their dwelling in residences that gladdened the heart. May all the gods, whom I brought into their cities, pray daily before Bêl and Nabû for long life for me, and may they speak a gracious word for me and say to Marduk, my lord, "May Cyrus, the king who worships you, and Cambyses, his son, their [. . .] I permitted all to dwell in peace [. . .]

The Ritual Washing of the Corpse of the Assassinated King of Iran (Naser-o-Din Shah)

The Ritual Washing of the Corpse of the Assassinated King of Iran (Naser-o-Din Shah)

From Journals and Documents of Zahir-o-Dowleh

Ttanslated by M.R. Esnaashari

We came into the presence of the prime minister. Around half past midnight, the means for the ritual washing of the corpse was prepared …

The Shah's body, that was put on a small carpet and surrounded by all the princes and the ministers, was carried out of the room and set above the stairs, between two marble columns and then everybody left. Nobody stayed for the disrobement except: Mohammad Ali Khan Amin-o-Saltaneh , Shah's habilitator; Gholam Ali Amin-Homayun, the head servant; Ja'far Gholi Khan e Qajar, Hajeb-o-Dowleh, the Shah's doorman; Prince Haaj Fereydun Mirza who was brought there by the prime minister due to his being the eldest of the Qajars, as well as the fact that Qajars should wash the corpse of Shahs of Qajar; a cleric; Haaj Heydar, Shah's personal beard shaver; and some royal water carriers with Bulgar buckets in their hands.  Then I said, "God be praised. O Viewers! Do contemplate" [from the Holy Qoran]. Dear brother! Beware of the beginning and the end of the world! Beware what I say. What I have written and will write is what I myself have seen. It is not some rumor that may or may not be true. There are no lies in this.

At first, the water carriers poured some pails of water on the terrazzo between the crystal pool and the stairs, where common people took off their shoes, and washed it. Then Haaj Amin-o-Saltaneh took the royal black uniform with diamond embroidery off the king's body. The king had wishfully had it made for feasts and banquets and it had recently been finished. "There is no god but God" [from the Holy Qoran, used as exclamation meaning, O My Great God!] He took off all the king's clothes. Half of the king's shirt was covered in blood so that its whiteness has fully disappeared. I saw the Shah's scar accurately. It was as if Fate's own hand had had sealed it so that if someone had wanted to point his gun in the most precise manner and carefully shoot at the king's heart, surely he could not have been able to do so. The king's naked body was brought down the stairs and put on that terrazzo the water carriers washed. It was very very white and fat and proportionate. His beard was also shaved on this same day in this same place by Haaj Heydar, the king's personal beard shaver, before going to visit the shrine of Hazrat e Abdol-Azim. The sight of the king's red and bloodshod scar against that pure white spotless body was immeasurably painful.

That cleric who once wished to let him stand by the king's path was now standing with his shoes very near the king's head. He had stuck his robe under his arm to prevent defilement and desecration of his clothes by the splashes and was ordering the water carriers to pour while he himself was saying in a loud voice, "For the right side." Haaj Heydar the shaver rolled the king's body from right to left and one of the water carriers poured another Bulgar bucket of water. 

In short, they washed the Commanding King of Protected Provinces of Iran as if a beggar was being washed for burial according to the Prophet's (PBUH) Law and Command. Stranger than this the fact that he did not have any rights to all his claimed possessions even to something the worth of a shroud. They brought Azad-ol-Molk's shroud and wrapped him in it…"God is the only powerful king and He is the live one who never dies ..." [from the Holy Qoran].