Book Review

Pak-Setan (Clean-Seeker)

Eighteen stories from the servants and pilgrims of Arba’in from the Indian subcontinent in Sistan and Baluchestan

Mahdiyeh Palizban
Translated by Mandana Karimi

2025-12-11

Pakistan, by Ehsan Qaidi Vanani, is a collection of eighteen field stories by ten authors about pilgrims from the Indian subcontinent; pilgrims who reach Iran from the borders of Mirjaveh and Rimdan to take a breather in the processions that have been organized for several years and continue their journey towards the Arba’in[1] pilgrimage. These stories are full of the hospitality of the people of Sistan and Baluchestan.

Pakistan, the second most populous Muslim country, is best known for news of terrorist groups, sectarian conflict, drugs and fuel smuggling; a country that was founded 77 years ago with the idea of ​​Allama Iqbal Lahori and the leadership of Muhammad Ali Jinnah by separating from India.

In recent years, Shiites in this country have been under various pressures as a religious minority and have always been exposed to threats, pressure, and killings. These pressures have continued even in religious rituals such as the Arba’in pilgrimage. This pilgrimage is accompanied by great suffering and hardship for Pakistani Shiites; from the threat of attacks by Takfiri groups, which of course has been reduced in recent years with the army escort, to the very long wait at the border with Iran to enter Iran. Pakistani Shiites see Iran as more than a neighbor and consider it the country of the Ahl al-Bayt.

In recent years, Iranian authorities have tried to better host these pilgrims. Reception and accommodation facilities have been arranged for pilgrims in Iranian border cities, and every year many people volunteer to serve Arba’in pilgrims, and the doors of the local people are also open to pilgrims. Over time, this hosting has become an important and valuable ritual in the region and has had a profound impact on the activities and daily lives of the people.

In addition to providing amenities for pilgrims, attention has also been paid to recording events related to this presence, and narrators have written numerous reports of this religious, cultural, and social event. The book Pak-Setan (Clean-Seeker) is one of them, and it has provided narratives of this presence to those interested.

The narrators and subjects are mostly women, and the emotional expression of memories has created lasting moments; of course, it has created real images of people who, in many cases, do not have an objective image for Iranians.

The narratives are sometimes moving and affecting, and even the suffering endured by the pilgrims sometimes seems unbelievable. The broad empathy shown by their neighboring peoples in Iran is unparalleled; there are not a few Sunni hosts among them.

The lack of credibility of the narratives is not due to the exaggeration of the narrators, but due to the special and sometimes unimaginable interest and devotion of the Shiites of Pakistan to the Ahl al-Bayt (AS) and the difficulties of this spiritual journey; conditions that are unfamiliar to us Iranians.

Of course, the compiler of the work has tried to present a coherent and fluent prose, and has succeeded.

The narratives remain in describing the atmosphere and feelings of those moments and have rarely entered into political and larger issues. The audience of the book is immersed in the devotion of these pilgrims to Aba Abdullah (AS)[2] and the impact of this devotion on their lives.

The book lacks images; if there were, it would have been a great help for the audience's mind in more accurately picturing the atmosphere of the narratives.

The book Pak-Setan (Clean-Seeker) has 164 pages and is printed in a paperback at a price of 200 thousand Tomans, and was published in 1404 (2025) by Surah Mehr Publications.