In the Presence of Great Men

It was the first year of the war. I came on leave. We were going from Sar Asiab Square to Khorasan Square on a motorcycle. Ibrahim was sitting on the back of the motorcycle. We passed by a street when suddenly Ibrahim said, “Amir, stop!” I quickly stopped at the side of the street and asked in surprise, “What has happened?!” Ibrahim said, “Nothing. If you have time, let’s go visit a servant of God!” I said, “Ok, I don’t have anything special to do.” We entered a house with Ibrahim. He said “Ya Allah”[1] a few times, and we entered a room. A few people were sitting there. An old man wearing a black cloak was sitting at the head of the gathering. Ibrahim and I said hello and sat in a corner of the room. The man’s talk with one of the young men who was present finished. He turned to us and said with a smile on his face, “Mr. Ibrahim, have you lost your way? I am surprised to see you here!” Ibrahim was sitting with his head down. He said politely, “I am sorry sir. We don’t have much time to be able to come and visit you.” From their talk together, I realized he knew Ibrahim very well. The man spoke with the others a little. When they had left, he faced Ibrahim and said in a modest tone of voice, “Mr. Ibrahim, counsel us some!” Ibrahim turned red from embarrassment. He raised his head and said, “Sir, for God’s sake, do not embarrass me. Please do not talk like this.” Then he said, “We have come to visit you. God willing, we will come to the weekly meeting.” Then we got up, said goodbye, and left. On the way I said, “Dear Ibram, you should have given this man some counsel. You didn’t need to turn red and yellow!” He angrily jumped into the middle of my words and said, “What are you saying dear Amir? Did you recognize this man at all?!” I said, “No. Who was he?!” He told me, “This man is one of those who are dear to God, but many people don’t know this. He is Haj Mirza Ismail Dulabi.” Many years passed before people came to know Mr. Dulabi. When I later read the book “Tubaye Mohabbat”[2] I realized what great words he had said to Ibrahim. One of the important missions in the west of the country finished. After the necessary coordination, most of the forces went to visit Hazrat Imam Khomeini (r.a.). Although Ibrahim had been in that operation, he didn’t come to Tehran! I went and asked him, “Why didn’t you go?!” He said, “It is not possible for all of the forces to empty the front. A few people have to stay behind.” I asked him, “You really didn’t go for that reason?!” He paused a little bit and said, “We don’t want a leader in order to see and watch him. We want a leader to obey him.” Then he continued, “If I wasn’t able to see my leader, it is not important! What is important is that I obey his command and that my leader be satisfied with me.” Ibrahim was very sensitive about “Velayat Faqih.”[3] He had strange ideas about the Imam (r.a.). He said, “Among the old and new great men and scholars, no one had the dare and bravery of the Imam.” Whenever a message from the Imam (r.a.) was broadcasted, he would listen carefully and say, “If we want this world and the hereafter, we must act upon the words of the Imam.” Ibrahim, from the time when he was very young, was in contact with most of the local clergy. When the religious scholar Allameh Ja’fari lived in our neighborhood, he benefited from him very much. He considered the Martyr Beheshti and the Martyr Motahhari to be complete models for the younger generation. 

[1] “O God.” When a person wishes to enter a house, he says this in order to announce his presence to the host.

[2] The book “Tubaye Mohabbat” is the biography of Mr. Dulabi.

[3] The Guardianship of the Jurisprudent.