The Perfumed Corpses

Every third video on Youtube is dedicated to analysing the war between the Epstein-Zionist forces and Iran. Influencers-turned-journalists-turned military pundits share their opinions on who they think won this round of the war, and what will happen after the flimsy ceasefire falls apart.

But all of this is pointless. Iran cannot lose this war. Not ‘will not’ or ‘should not’. They cannot, and a poem from four decades ago — amidst the crucible of the Iran-Iraq war — will tell you why.

In 1980, Saddam Hussein launched an invasion of Iran, boasting to reporters that in the following week he would answer their questions in Tehran. The real goal, however, was annexing Khuzestan and gaining access to the Persian Gulf. He sought to achieve this with the financial and military support of the collective West and the Gulf countries, all of whom turned a blind eye as he used chemical weapons on Iranian civilians. Sounds familiar.

But Saddam Hussein made a crucial blunder: the nation he attacked was Iran, an ancient civilization boasting an intelligent and fiercely proud population. Now add to it a popular revolution inspired by religious fervour and imbued with the martyrdom ethos of Shi’ism. What you get is a people who do not see death as defeat, but as the final hurdle to overcome before they can be reunited with their Beloved.

All of this is palpable in the resistance poetry that emerged in this period, which combined motifs from Shi’ism, Persian mystical poetry, and the brutality of war. Below is a subtitled excerpt from a documentary that depicts this truth in a poignant manner. I urge you to watch it closely. The faces of the young men. The poetry they recite. The tears they shed before they farewell each other and head to the battlefront.

The poem recited by Sadegh Ahangaran in the above video (minute 4:40-6:40) is among the most famous of the resistance poetry genre. I have translated a few more parts of it below so you can get a fuller picture of how it weaves different threads together:

O army of the Lord of the Age, be ready
For this brutal battle bereft of safety, be ready
O soldiers who wield your lives in hand!
For the day of bravery, get ready
O army of the Spirit of God, the time
for valour draws nigh, get ready
All hearts are frenzied in their yearning to meet Husayn
The lovers of Karbala have shrouded this plain
A new tumult rages in the warriors hearts
Like a mountain, firm and mighty, be ready
For the sake of attaining honour
Tie the band of courage 'round my head
For the sake of my meeting with God,
perfume my corpse with fragrant scents

The fusion of the Shi’i martyrdom ethos grounded in the tragedy of Karbala, zealous love for the homeland, absolute brotherhood, and the absence of fear. In such a worldview, there is either victory or martyrdom. Loss does not exist.