Thirst: A Novel of the Iran-Iraq War by Mahmoud Dowlatabadi

Author:Mahmoud Dowlatabadi [Dowlatabadi, Mahmoud]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-61219-301-4
Publisher: Melville House
Published: 2014-12-08T16:00:00+00:00

* Reference to a line from a poem by the 14th-century Persian poet Hafez: ‘My master said there were no errors in the act of creation / Praise be to his pure fault-concealing regard’. This is a philosopher’s response to his master’s optimistic view of the world and its creation.

† The Barmakids were an influential family from Balkh in Bactria who attained positions of great power under the Abbasid caliphs of Baghdad. Barmak’s son Khalid became vizier to the first Abbasid caliph, while Khalid’s son Yahya was a key confederate of Harun al-Rashid, the fifth caliph. In turn, Yahya’s son Fazl was made governor of the province of Khorasan (in modern Iran) and showed great benevolence in dealing with the people there. Yahya’s other son, Ja’far, was appointed head of the caliphal bodyguard and manager of the postal service, the mints, and the textile factory. Later Harun al-Rashid’s relationship with the Barmakids deteriorated due to unknown reasons and he had most of them arrested or killed. According to one legend Harun al-Rashid’s anger was caused by Ja’far’s secret marriage to the caliph’s sister, Abbasa (Encyclopaedia Iranica).

‡ Arabic, meaning ‘guard’. Mirharis means ‘head guard’.

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