7Berkeh – Raheleh Bahador: During the first day of the illegal invasion of the United States and the regime of Israel on February 28th, 2026 to Iran, an elementary school called “Shajareh-Tayebeh” in Minab, in Hormozgan Province, was bombed in an air raid and 168 students were killed innocently, while engaged with learning in their classes.
Sadeq Rahmani, the well-known poet from Gerash, has composed these Rubaeis (quatrains) in the memory of these students as a condolence to the mournful people of Minab and all Iranians who would never forget this inhuman, heart-rending tragedy.
Read Sadeq Rahmani’s profile here; and see his page on Wikipedia here. Read the Persian version of the quatrains here.
1
In the alley of wind, rang the voice of crying
In the middle of the yard, the child fainted
The hand that smelled the scent of fish stew,[1]
On the painting notebook, was scattered
2
The girl’s throat, cut by the razor’s kisses
And those chaste, chaste trees moan
Bunches of roses were shut to stone
On the soil, hundred of mirrors torn to pieces
3
Smiled the flag of Iran in your laughter
Your name is a bird, like a martyr
The moment that you talked of the doves[2]
Flight on your shoulders grew, on above’s
4
Suddenly the sky vanished and the heaven
The story disappeared and the poem
And no hands to hold the other hands
The cry disappeared in the mouth, alas!
5
The girl and her pencil case were lost
Have not you seen my laughter, oh, folks?
My head is dizzying with the earth,
like a roof fan of the class third
6
The cloud drizzled on the soil, as it toed
The sun over the soil with your eyes shone
Your smile at your classmate’s face,
Splashed on the soil with a rapid pace
[1] Fish stew is a popular local dish in Minab and other southern cities in Iran, made of fish, fragrant vegetables, tamarind, etc.
[2] Dove is the symbol of the martyr in the Islamic Republic culture.
