What Did Zoroaster Say in the Dream of Ghader Abdollah?

The latest book by Ghader Abdollah, the Iranian-Dutch author, titled "Zoroaster Speaks," has been published in the Netherlands. Mr. Abdollah, who recently turned seventy, explains in an interview about this book and writing about prophets and historical figures in general. Who is Ghader Abdollah? Ghader Abdollah, who has primarily done his writing outside of Iran and in Dutch, is now recognized more as a Dutch writer than an Iranian or Persian-speaking one. Due to the translation of his works into various languages, Abdollah's works are more known to non-Persian speakers than to Persian readers. According to European media reports, his works are among the most read by Dutch authors within the Netherlands. This author, who is not originally Dutch, has managed to introduce Dutch literature beyond the borders of this country. The book "What Do the Kurds Say?" published under the pseudonym "Ghader Abdollah" after the revolution highlights the importance of introducing Dutch literature to the world, especially as this country desperately needs to promote its literature, with only about 25 million speakers of Dutch worldwide, and it has even been described as one of the "forgotten languages of the Nobel Prize in Literature." Hussein Sajadi Qaim-Maqami Farahani, now known as Ghader Abdollah, was born in 1954 in Arak and claims to be a descendant of Mirza Abolqasem Qaim-Maqam Farahani, the prime minister and writer of the Qajar era. Abdollah's father was a carpet restorer and deaf, and his father's disability made Abdollah's childhood difficult; however, this connection with a deaf father later influenced and strengthened his storytelling ability and his path to becoming a writer. He later drew inspiration from his father's life in a novel titled "Cuneiform," published in the Netherlands, where the protagonist is a deaf man whose life is narrated in contemporary Iran. This book is essentially a tribute from the author to his father. Abdollah immersed himself in literature from his teenage years and began writing before leaving Iran. He graduated in physics from Tehran University a year before the Iranian Revolution. During that time, he joined a leftist political party opposing the then-government and later opposed the Islamic Republic. In 1979, he published a book about Iranian Kurdistan titled "What Do the Kurds Say?" which is essentially a travelogue: "I did not know Kurdistan; I went to get to know it. The only thing I did was to immerse myself among the people, and what I have written now relates to my encounters with them. That's it." Abdollah chose the name "Ghader Abdollah" for this book, a combination of the names of two of his executed friends in Iran: one executed before the revolution and the other after. This name later remained for his other works, including those published outside Iran. After the revolution, he worked as a manager of a packaging factory while continuing his political activities. However, these activities led to his escape from Iran in 1985, nearly forty years ago. He was accepted as a political refugee in the Netherlands. Living in a foreign country is difficult for a migrant unfamiliar with the language, but Ghader Abdollah gradually adapted to his new life. He witnessed the marginalization of exiled Persian-speaking writers, especially during a time when the internet was not widespread, and over time, with great effort, he decided to write his works in Dutch to connect with his community. Abdollah's first book published abroad came out in 1993, and over the past three decades, he has published about thirty titles, some of which, especially those published in the 2000s, have seen outstanding sales. Abdollah's latest work is among those that discuss historical figures related to Iran. Mr. Abdollah, who has previously written books about the Prophet Muhammad and Rumi, a prominent Persian poet, explains why he turned to Zoroaster, saying, "The reason I wrote this book was Zoroaster himself; he wouldn't leave me alone, he kept appearing in all my books until one night he came to my dream." Abdollah recounts that one day he shared this dream with his publisher, who encouraged him to write a book about Zoroaster: "Zoroaster pushed me forward and said, 'Ghader Abdollah, write,' and I bowed my head and wrote." Iranians before Islam were Zoroastrians, but with the Arab invasion of Iran and the spread of Islam in the land, Zoroastrians faced repeated persecution and restrictions, and even now the Islamic Republic, despite recognizing this religion, imposes restrictions against various religions, especially in civil laws in Iran. However, Abdollah states that Zoroaster is part of Iranian identity, but Iranians, apart from researchers, only know the phrase "Good thoughts, good words, good deeds" about him and have no further information. This author believes that the significance of Zoroaster and other historical figures of Iran is better understood by an exiled Iranian: "When you leave the country and cannot return for years, migration changes the meaning of home for you. Home is no longer a building or an apple tree or neighbors; home becomes Zoroaster, Hafez, Rumi, and you take refuge in them." Abdollah previously wrote a book about the life of the Prophet Muhammad in Dutch, which is considered one of his successful books. In response to the question of what writing about prophets means to him, he states, "The book I wrote about Muhammad is not a religious book; I showed 'the human' and what good things Muhammad did as a 'human' and what things are not good." Mr. Abdollah also mentions that Zoroaster is a "global human," and he has tried to introduce this character to the world through the Dutch language. Nevertheless, he emphasizes that writing about Zoroaster has been writing about himself: "I reached ourselves through Zoroaster," as Zoroaster is like a mirror for Iranians. The Dutch publisher of "Zoroaster Speaks" has also written that "Anyone who reads it will look at the world with a different perspective forever."