Bakhtiyar Ali
196
detailed journey into the
treacherous and bizarre
events that thwarted the
construction of a mythical
district in our city, which
could have made this
ugly
and
un-majestic
municipality home to one
of the new wonders of
the world. To comprehend
the precise, profound and
genuine reasons for the
collapse of this project,
we need to examine the
details because, contrary
to the proverb that
says ‘the Devil is in the
detail’, we believe that
generalisations are the
Devil’s work: it is the angel
who pays attention to the
detail.
A LETTER BEFORE DEATH
- MARCH 1974 -
But what happened to
Mullah Gharib-i Hajar?
Before he died in one of
the hospitals in Urmia,
Iran,
Mullah
Hajar
entrusted a long letter and
a handful of documents to
an acquaintance, begging
him to stop at nothing
to deliver them to one
Bahman Nasser. Mullah
Hajar appears to have
waged a lengthy battle to
keep death at bay while
he tried to write the letter
the way he wanted. When
he finished, he spent
several hours gazing out
the window at a huddle of
sad doves in a tree, quietly
took off his glasses and
surrendered his soul to
the angels with untimely
and extraordinary delight.
The mullah’s friends and
followers were greatly
saddened by his death,