A hero
or only a four-footed beast loaded with few books ?
A guest is a gift of God

"Mehman habibe khodast". In Farsi it means "A guest is a gift of God ".The first time I heard this saying , I was only 7 year old . I was doing my homework which was very important to me as a student of elementary school .My father asked me to join him in dining room,because my uncle and his children had come to see us.

"I can't come . I am busy with my homework",I told so.

He put his big warm hand on my head and began to caress my long hair:"why do you prefer to do your homwork rather than to see your uncle?".It was a good question for me to show him I am no more a child: " Because I want to become a doctor in future" .His voice got a sad tone: " But you are going to become a four footed animal , carrying few books on your back if you are unable of making happy the hearts ".

Few years later reading our great poet ?Sheikh Saadi (1190-1283), I found my father's saying was a poem bythis grat poet:

However much science you may gain
          You are ignorant when there is no practice in you

neither a true learned nor an insightful scholar
          Only a four-footed beast loaded with few books

Unaware of what you are carrying on your back,
          Whether a load of firewood or a pack of books!

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was invited to America by Lee Bollinger who is assumed a true scholar, aware of the rules of etiquets, at least because he is Columbia University president, but he disrespected his guest,as if all his knowledge is on his back. In which part of this world, even in the primitive tribes ,welcoming words are so much bitter and belittling? Isn't it possible to critisize a president's views with addressing polite and reasonable words when he is invited as the representative of his nation? I 've heard some people have praised Lee Bollinger for his bravery in slaming Ahmadinejad and have called him a hero ,ignoring the fact that :" an anti dialogue demands an anti hero as its victim. ".The one who slams , closes indeed the window of dialogue to open the door for war.

Now we must ask: is really this unfriendly treatment under the influence of the U.S. press and politicians? One of American poets with whom I had an interview , told me he fears of replying to my political answers for , Bush's government , is not indifference to the writers who criticize him and his policy and deprive them of their rights for teaching or publishing or etc.... and when I asked another poet to interprete this saying ,she wrote:

" that poet's words point out how this current U.S. administration thrives on fear-based politics. It's very Orwellian, actually. In our "free" country, our emails and phone calls are tapped by our government. People are "disappeared"--only to be shipped to other countries where they are tortured. Guantanamo is a nightmare. In the name of "peace" our country bombs and kills. What happens, then, is that if our country of "free speech," people become afraid to dissent for fear of real or imagined reprisals."