Gratitude? ... No! - 2002-07-04

Gratitude? ... No! - 2002-07-04 I do not bow to the standing of 'friend' If you rise, perhaps I will rise again. 'Simin Behbahani' We have learned that one must love to have a 'friend', and we have also learned that gratitude is not worthy of the dignity and high status of a 'friend'. To express gratitude to this scattered gathering, to all these present-absent, from kings to beggars, from thousands of friends and companions, who from all corners of the world, from Kish Island to Australia, and from Japan to the southernmost point of Africa, showered their flowers of affection upon us in these most difficult moments, and watered these flowers with the torrential rain of their love, is disrespectful, and we do not do that. One cannot respond to the ocean with a drop, nor to the galaxy with a speck, and the heartbeat of the heart is not to be expressed in words, but only in the heartbeat itself, which is appropriate and necessary. Thus, these lines are not for the sake of gratitude, but to reaffirm our unique friendship and bond, which undoubtedly will not suffer from the winds and rains and the passage of time, inscribed on this page. Unfortunate is the one who does not love and has no 'friend'. We love you, each one of you. Marim and Fereydoun Farah Andouz.