Friend

He was very impatient. His sadness was clear in his expression. I asked him, “Has something happened?!” Ibrahim answered with sadness, “Last night we went for reconnaissance with the forces. On the way back, right next to the enemy’s position, Mashallah Azizi[1] went on a mine and was martyred. The Iraqis shot at us. We were forced to move back.” I finally understood the cause of his sadness. When it became dark, Ibrahim moved out. He came back in the middle of the night, and he was happy and cheerful! He was shouting constantly, “Medic… Medic… come quickly. Mashallah is still alive!” All of the forces were happy. We put him in an ambulance. But Ibrahim was sitting in a corner and thinking! I sat next to him. I asked in surprise, “What are you thinking about?!” He paused a little bit and said, “Mashallah fell down in the middle of the mine field, close to the Iraqi’s trenches. But when I went to get him, he wasn’t there. I found him a little bit farther away. He was out of the enemy’s sight in a safe place! He was sitting waiting for me.” “I had lost a lot of blood from my foot. I was numb. The Iraqis were sure that I was not alive. I had a strange feeling. I was just whispering under my breath, ‘Ya Sahib al-Zaman (a.j.) Adrikni.’ (O “Owner of the Time,” help me.) It had become dark. A handsome, radiant young man came to me. I opened my eyes with difficulty. He picked me up slowly. He came out of the mine field. He put me down on the ground in a safe corner; slowly and calmly. I didn’t feel any pain! That man talked with me for a long time. Then he said, ‘Someone will come and rescue you. He is our friend!’ After a few seconds Ibrahim came, with his everlasting strength. He put me on his shoulders and started walking. That beautiful, luminous man introduced Ibrahim as his friend. How blessed he is.” Mashallah had written these things in his notebook in the Gilan Gharb front. Mashallah was in the region for several years. He was one of the sincere and virtuous teachers of Gilan Gharb, who was bravely present in the war fronts and all of the war operations from the first days of the war until the last day of the war. After the war ended, he joined his martyred friends in a driving accident.

[1] The honorable, disabled veteran Mashallah Azizi (the person on the left in the picture) was one of the sincere and virtuous teachers in Gilan Gharb. A detailed description of the story of how he became disabled has been published in the book “Vesal” by the Martyr Hadi Group.