FOREWORD
This issue of the Iqbal Review is dedicated to a great and happy occasion, the Coronation on the 26th of October 1967 of Their Imperial Majesties Mohammad Raza Pahlavi Shahanshah Arya Mehr and the Empress Farah Pahlavi of Iran. It is an occasion for rejoicing for all of us. The Shahanshah not only represents modern Iran and the remark-able progress it has made under his inspiring leadership ; he also stands as a living symbol of the common cultural heritage of Pakistan and Iran.
The modernisation of Iran began in real earnest with the Shahan-shah's father, Raza Shah Pahlavi. It was, however, the Shahanshah himself who led his country through The White Revolution. This comprised a series of measures introduced by the Shahanshah with the object of placing the economy of the country on a broader and more stable basis and accelerating the pace of education among the people. By far the most important and far-reaching of these measures was the formation of the Literacy Corps which consists of young men called up for national service who, in view of their educational background, are chosen, after the initial military training, to be the soldiers of literacy in the 55,000 or more villages of Iran. These young men teach children as well as adults. Among their duties is the construction of a school house in; each village with the help of the local population, and they are expected to build their own houses too. They are full of energy and enthusiasm and speak of their work with pride. Most of them wish to re-enlist after their period of compulsory service is over.
The Literacy Corps has already made a nation-wide impact in Iran. As a result of its activities, the percentage of literacy is rising fast. During four months from March 21 to June 21, 1966, the Literacy Corps helped to educate 400,053 children and 536,046 adults. Text-books, beautifully printed and illustrated, are published in large editions and are avidly sought after. Libraries, both public and private, are growing, and schools and colleges are multiplying fast.
The Shahanshah is personally interested in the emancipation and education of women even though his support for this cause, as also for the uplift of the landless peasants, has brought him the opposition and hostility of some of the extremist but powerful elements of society. He has faced grave personal risk on more than one occasion. But his eye is on his goal to which he has been marching breast-forward. He is a man with a mission and the mission is all that matters to the man.
The Shahanshah had donated his private fortune amounting to $130 million to the Pahlavi Foundation for administering hygienic, educational and social aid to the needy. It provides schools, hospitals, books and food to millions of people. He has also established the Kitab Khana-i-Pahlavi which is designed to house books or copies of books dealing with Iran published in any country or language of the world.
Iran now has a Ministry of Education and Training and another Ministry for Art and Culture. Both Ministries are in the charge of able Ministers and Civil Servants and it need hardly be added that the Shahanshah maintains a close and constant interest in their work and achievements.
It would be no exaggeration to say that, apart from the economic and social reform so noticeable in Iran, the phenomenal activity in evidence in the educational and cultural sphere would not have been possible without the personal lead that this young and enlightened monarch has given to his people. He is more than a national leader. Due to his personal interest important sessions of the UNESCO have been held in Iran. Last year there was a World Congress of Iranology in Tehran which was attended by scholars from all over the world.
Two years ago he set a unique example to the rest of the world by donating a sum equal to one day's defence expenditure of Iran to the cause of education, and this example still remains unique.
The Shahanshah is a great friend of Pakistan. The bonds of personal friendship between him and our President, Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan, under whose dynamic leadership Pakistan has made great strides in the field of economic development and hopes, among other things, to achieve universal literacy in ten years' time, are a happy augury not only for the future of our two countries and the R.C.D. but also for the world at large.
On the happy and auspicious occasion of the Coronation, the Iqbal Academy wishes to tender its heartiest felicitations to their Imperial Majesties and the people of Iran. This Academy, which has been set up by the Government of Pakistan by legislation and is devoted to the promotion of the study of the life and work of Iqbal, deems it a great privilege to have been able to bring out this special issue of the Iqbal Review. The Academy has also published two other books dedicated to the Coronation, namely, the Tadhkira-i-Shuara-i-Kashmir and the Tadhkira-i-Shuara-i-Punjab, a collection of biographies respectively of the Persian poets of Kashmir and the Punjab. Both the Punjab and Kashmir have been great centres of Persian literature and learning. Kashmir, in fact, was known as Iran-i-Saghir or `Little Iran' for the all-pervasiveinfluence of Iran in its arts and crafts, poetry and literature.
Iqbal himself was of Kashmiri origin, and his boundless love for Iran has expressed itself in more than one of his immortal couplets. Let us quote only one:
چون چراغ لالہ سوزم در خیابان شما
ای جوانان عجم جان من و جان شما
I burn like the lamp of the tulip in your garden;
May my life be yours, 0 brave men of Iran!
The Shahanshah has completed twenty-six years of a great and glorious reign. The Coronation Day falls on his forty-eighth birthday. We wish him many many happy returns May he live long and be of still greater service to his country and the world! May he have every happiness in life and every success in the great task that he has set himself!
MUMTAZ HASAN
