Da (Mother) 138

The Memoirs of Seyyedeh Zahra Hoseyni

When I saw my stay in Tehran would drag on indefinitely, I raised the issue with the Martyrs Foundation. The Foundation wrote to the superintendent of the building, who put two rooms at our disposal. Habib was always annoyed by my constant need for things. He was even opposed to accepting gifts. He would say, “Be thankful for God allowing me to serve at the front.”

Da (Mother) 137

The Memoirs of Seyyedeh Zahra Hoseyni

The army would occasionally have women gather in one home for safety. Because of the threat posed by Hypocrites, they warned us to be more vigilant when we were alone or out and about. I had heard Hypocrites would monitor the movements of soldiers and took advantage of their absences to decapitate their wives and children.

Da (Mother) 136

The Memoirs of Seyyedeh Zahra Hoseyni

With me being in Abadan and my family far away in Tehran, what was happening to my little sister and brothers was a concern. I constantly worried about what were they up to. Who were their friends? I would call regularly to keep tabs on them, asking Hasan to tell me about Mansur and vice versa. I didn’t worry about Sa’id, who always had been a quiet, obedient child.

Da (Mother) 135

The Memoirs of Seyyedeh Zahra Hoseyni

The news was a real shock. It was unbelievable. The dark-faced boy with frizzy hair, whom I had known since childhood, was gone. I recalled the first time I saw Hoseyn and Abdollah working at Jannatabad. I didn’t think they’d be of any use, but they turned out to be more sympathetic to the grieving and worked harder than all the others. Hoseyn and I were about the same age.

Da (Mother) 134

The Memoirs of Seyyedeh Zahra Hoseyni

About to give birth, I naturally went to the Taleqani Hospital on the Abadan-Khorramshahr highway, but the operating rooms were reserved for wounded soldiers. The doctors advised me that under the circumstances it would be better if I went to a hospital in another city. It was September and I had Zeynab, Sa’id, and Hasan with me, as they had come to Abadan during the school summer vacation.

Da (Mother) 133

The Memoirs of Seyyedeh Zahra Hoseyni

With Khorramshahr liberated, I begged Habib to take me there as soon as he could. I desperately want to see my city, but they had yet to give permission to civilians to inspect the damage and take up residence. When Habib finally said, “Let’s go and see Khorramshahr,” I couldn’t contain myself. After almost two years, I was going home. I thirsted to see it, imagining it was the same old place I had known.

Da (Mother) 132

The Memoirs of Seyyedeh Zahra Hoseyni

Mrs. Musavi and Mrs. Eqbal Pur had gone to Ahvaz, but I was left homeless in Abadan. We found a place in Braym, a spacious neighborhood with a desert feel to it, where workers for Abadan radio and television had been housed. There were seventeen houses in all: eight pairs of attached duplex villas and one home larger than the others, apparently the residence of the network head.

Da (Mother) 131

The Memoirs of Seyyedeh Zahra Hoseyni

After spending a few hours with mother, I got up from the floor and was about to do my ablutions before evening prayer, when I overheard people talking about a family bereft of a father and a son, who now had just lost another loved one. They didn’t say the name. Dumbstruck, I stared at mother. I didn’t know how we would go on. How was I to break the news to her if it turned out to be one of us?

Da (Mother) 130

The Memoirs of Seyyedeh Zahra Hoseyni

I was hospitalized for about eight days, being injected twice a day with penicillin. Mohsen had no idea what had happened to me. I had told Habib I was coming to Abadan with Mohsen, but I wasn’t able to contact him for several days. Habib was responsible for a district in the city called Moharrezi.

Da (Mother) 129

The Memoirs of Seyyedeh Zahra Hoseyni

At the time we were in bad shape financially. The burden of supporting us as well as several other family members had fallen on Uncle Hoseyni’s shoulders. Meanwhile Jahan Ara had assigned several of the brothers from the army with the task of going to various cities and seeing to the martyr families.