A Life Given for Iran

A Life Given for Iran

Life

is a human being’s sweetest possession;

but for a child of Iran

a day came

when life seemed

less precious than the homeland’s freedom.

He

sought his own future

in the smiles of children

who might never

know his name.

He burned like a candle

so that dawn

might arrive;

fell like a bridge

so that others

might cross the river of darkness.

This was not death;

it was life in its highest form.

Courage

is this;

the point at which a person

crosses the boundary of fear

and their name

in a nation’s memory

takes root.

From Ariobarzanes

to the children of Iran today,

centuries have passed;

but the mountain

still

repeats its guardians’ names

in the wind.

We,

with every breath

we take in the air of hope,

with every dream

we have for Iran’s tomorrow,

owe some part of it

to you.

You did not leave;

you began to flow

through this land’s veins.

And as long as Iran lives,

those who gave their lives for it

will never

die.

S. Rouzbeh