Video: "A Voice From Prison": Poem dedicated to imprisoned Baha'i leaders

A poem from the heart - to the seven imprisoned former Bahá'í leaders of Iran.

Voice From Prison is a poem dedicated to the seven Baha'i leaders of Iran, who are currently imprisoned and who faced the anniversary of their arrest on Thursday 14 May 2009, along with new and extremely grave accusations, after spending a year in jail without formal charges or access to their lawyer, Shirin Ebadi.

"Despite their obvious innocence and the call by many for their immediate release, these seven men and women have been in legal limbo for a year now, against all international human rights standards," said Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations.

In Persian:

"Moreover, their families have recently been told of a possible new charge - 'the spreading of corruption on earth,' which goes by the term 'Mofsede fel-Arz' in Persian and carries the threat of death under the penal code of the Islamic Republic of Iran," said Ms. Dugal.

"The sequence of events surrounding their detention exposes a shameless travesty of justice. Notwithstanding their having been subjected to intensive interrogations, it took a full seven months before they were given even a single pretext for their detention. On February 10, 2009, the Iranian Student News Agency quoted Tehran deputy prosecutor Hassan Haddad as having said that the investigation of these individuals was complete and that 'the case will be sent to the revolutionary court next week' and that these Baha'is are accused of 'espionage for Israel, insulting religious sanctities and propaganda against the Islamic Republic.' The international protest expressed by governments and civil society was immediate and widespread, causing the Iranian authorities to review their approach.

"Now a new wrongful accusation reportedly has been added some three months after the investigation was supposed to have concluded. The charge of being spreaders of corruption was used against the Baha'is who were executed in the years immediately following the Islamic revolution. That it may now be resorted to in this case is a further demonstration that the authorities have no basis for any allegation against these seven individuals, other than blatant religious persecution. This action against the Baha'i leadership reflects the government's sharply increased persecution of the entire Iranian Baha'i community of more than 300,000 members.





Poem & Music: Written & read by Mrs Shahla Ghotbi-Nabilzadeh Video by Sabbynur

A Voice From Prison (Text in Persian)

خواهي اگر شادم كني

آه .... دلتنگم و
يك چيز مرا شاد كند
كه تو ابلاغ كني حرف خدا
وبگويي كه چرا در بندم
سخن از صلح بگو با دنيا
سخن از عشق بها
كه به او دلبندم
سخن از يك وطن و
وحدت انسانها يش
علت خلقت ما انسانها
عشق خداست
مهر او, عهد و پيمانهايش
گوشه اين تاريك
زندگي جز لغت عشق ندارد مفهوم
ور نه هر لهظه به بام زندان
سايه اي هست سايه اي شوم
گوشه اين تاريك
عشق معناي جديدي دارد
رنگ قشنگي دارد
رنگ زندان
با همه تيرگي و بد رنگي
چون براي يار است
چون بنام يار است
ساز و آهنگ قشنگي دارد
گاه از درد نمي خوابم من
سينه از بغض نفس كم دارد
چشمها قطره شبنم دارد
شايد اين درد ز عشق است
كه پروانه شوم
پر و بالي بزنم آتش و
ديوانه شوم
باز دلتنگم و
يك چيز دلم شاد كند
كه تو ابلاغ كني
لازمه صلح جهان
و بگويي كه به آشفتگي
وضع جهان,نگرانيم,نگران
عشق بر عالم و بر انسانها
درس اين مكتب و اين راه بود
آنكه جز صلح و صفا راه رود
اي دريغا كه در اين
غافله گمراه بود
از تو خواهم كه
بجاي من و همراهانم
پيك شادي برساني
به همه پير و جوان
و مرا شاد كني
با كلامي از حق
باز مرا ياد كني
با بشارات خدا
خلق خدا شاد كني
وچنين باز مرا ياد كني
قلب بشكسته من شاد كني
+ + + + + + +
11/August/2008
(Shahla Ghotbi-Nabilzadeh)