Agha Bozorg and a Birthday Wish

One summer when we had all gone to Agha Bozorg’s garden house, we decided to celebrate my birthday there. I was so happy on the day. The children in the family had come too. When it was time to blow out the candles, everyone said, “Make a wish and blow!” I closed my eyes, made my wish silently, then blew out the candles. A little later Agha Bozorg came over. “Do you want your wish to come true?” “Yes.” “Then say your wish out loud to yourself, with your eyes open, so your ears and heart can hear it clearly. That way it stops being a wish and becomes a goal you can work toward. Then you’ll pursue it and reach it.” He was right. My wish that day was to get into university. Instead of leaving it to wishes or luck in the exam room, I made it my goal. I took on the university entrance exam and studied the subject I loved. Do you know what Agha Bozorg would say if he were here today? He would say, “Don’t close your eyes and quietly wish in your hearts for a life in a free Iran. Open your eyes and shout it, so you can hear it with your ears and feel it in your skin and bones. Believe in it and work to reach it. Turn the wish for Iran’s freedom into conviction and a road toward freedom by crying, ‘Long live the Shah’ and ‘I would give my life for Iran!’” The work is done. Long live Iran. Long live the Shah.