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Bakhtiyar Ali
204
an appetite inappropriate
to the soul of a shy man
whose lifetime had been
defined by modesty, he
filled countless pages with
tales of unreal, passionate
nights in which two thirsty
bodies andwild spiritsmet.
Sometimes he apologised
for speaking in a particular
way; other times, he
completely forgot he was
talking about Bahman’s
mother. He forgot he was
speaking about a woman
whomBahman had seen as
pure, and without desire.
At no point did the
mullah refer to a direct
relationship
between
Baharbanu and himself.
He lived in his fantasies,
fell in love in his fantasies
and slept with Baharbanu
in his fantasies. It is a story
the men and women of
this country have lived for
many thousands of years.
For thousands of years,
the women and men of
this country have slept
together in fantasy, have
liked each other from
afar, have fallen secretly
in love without revealing
their love to one another,
like a hunter and a deer,
neither wanting the other
to know the secret of
their heart. Century after
century, stifled fantasies
have piled up in the alleys
and streets, in the rooms
and on the verandas of
this country. Century by
century, this restraint
and self-censorship have
become
a
profound
and
secret
science,
producing its own sages
and scientists; century
by century, our alleyways
have become a theatre for
our imagination while the
prayer mats and prayer
niches of this homeland
became the platform for
such sighs and moans