Da (Mother) 83

The Memoirs of Seyyedeh Zahra Hoseyni

With the passage of time, the need for first-aid people at the front became clearer to me. In the beginning I had heard that some boys had died on account of needing some minor surgery. But one of the frontline soldiers told me a story, and then I knew I could no longer stand quietly by. He said, “One of the boys defending the city was hit in the stomach by shrapnel, causing his intestines to fall out.

Da (Mother) 82

The Memoirs of Seyyedeh Zahra Hoseyni

I don’t remember what day it was, but it was around 11:00 a.m., and I was busy sweeping the mosque with the long-handled wicker brooms they had recently brought. They were always telling us the mosque was the house of God and to let it get dirty would be a sin. We took up the carpets in the prayer room and swept everywhere.

Da (Mother) 81

The Memoirs of Seyyedeh Zahra Hoseyni

Ever since I started working in the clinic, whenever there was nothing to do, I would go to the new place where meals were being prepared. They had transferred the kitchen at the Congregational Mosque to a bank compound. To get there I walked toward the Shatt. The glass building was located on the corner of an alley, on the left side of the road just before Ferdowsi Avenue.

Da (Mother) 80

The Memoirs of Seyyedeh Zahra Hoseyni

The first place we went was the Mosaddeq Hospital. It was deserted. It had been hit once or twice during the heavy bombardment of the bridge and the municipality. When I entered, it seemed abandoned. I tried to find Abdollah, and they told me they were no longer admitting patients and were about to move the ones already there.

Da (Mother) 79

The Memoirs of Seyyedeh Zahra Hoseyni

Delivering messages was the major’s almost daily task. I had seen him around. He was a military man around thirty or so with fatigue written all over his wheatish face. There was a nobility and seriousness about him that invited people’s respect. Ordinarily he started each day with enthusiastic pep talks to the troops, calling on them to listen to Imam Khomeini and resist the enemy.

Da (Mother) 78

The Memoirs of Seyyedeh Zahra Hoseyni

Sheikh Sharif Qonuti, the same priest who had given his cloak to Maryam Amjadi, was the only one who thought it was necessary for women to be in the city, as they were vital to getting things done behind the lines. The day after we left the mosque to set up the clinic, another message came demanding women evacuate.

Da (Mother) 77

The Memoirs of Seyyedeh Zahra Hoseyni

Then he ran toward the hospital and dove into some box trees behind a metal railing. The soldier, whose name was Abdol Reza, made me angry. He and his friend Nemat were at father’s burial. They came by Jannatabad often. Although they were friends and came from the same town, Abdol Reza and Nemat could not have been more different.

Da (Mother) 76

The Memoirs of Seyyedeh Zahra Hoseyni

After the death of Ali, almost all my memories faded. Thoughts of Ali occupied my mind so much that my attention to other things dwindled to nothing. Time and space collapsed for me. I went on working out of habit. This is why my memory of many things is not that reliable. Time erased many of the events. I was like a sleeper who awakes from a dream with a start and only remembers a few things about it.

Da (Mother) 75

The Memoirs of Seyyedeh Zahra Hoseyni

A weight had been lifted and the fires raging in me had cooled somewhat. I was certain that had Zeynab not done what she had, I would have gone mad. She was a true comfort to me. Even mother couldn’t have improved on what Zeynab had done for me. Mother needed someone to lean on herself. I was certain she didn’t understand me. I was sure the news of Ali’s passing would so upset mother she’d

Da (Mother) 74

The Memoirs of Seyyedeh Zahra Hoseyni

It was the morning of October 5, 1980. I went with Hoseyn Eidi and Abdollah Mo’avi to the Congregational Mosque. We got some bread and cheese and returned to Jannatabad. On the way we were passing Islamic Republic Lane when I had the idea of looking in at Darya Bod Rasayi School. I said to Hoseyn and Abdollah, “Let’s visit the place and see what’s happening.” They agreed and we turned into the lane.