Jalal Al-e Ahmad

Jalal al-Din Sadat al-Ahmad, known as Jalal Al-e Ahmad is the intellectual writer and translator and one of the prominent members of Tudeh Party who had actively and continuously presence in press scene. He owns the book of "a dirt in miqat" or "Khasi dar miqat" and he is the husband of Simin Daneshvar.

- Biography

Jalal al-Din Sadat al-Ahmad, known as Jalal Al-e Ahmad is the son of Seyyed Ahmad Hosseini Taleghani. He was born in Sayed Nasruddin Al-Din neighborhood which is one of the old neighborhoods in Tehran. He was born in 1302 after seven girls and he was the ninth child and second son of the family's father. His father was in clerical garb and thus, Jalal spent his childhood in a religious environment. His father did his best to make a successor for his place and mosque.

- Education

At the end of primary school, Jalal started his secondary school, but his father did not like his child's education in public schools and he expected that these lessons distract his child from religion and the reality. He opposed. He said: "I finished my primary school, he did not let me continue anymore and said, go to bazaar and work to make successor from me and I went to bazaar. But Darolfonoon also had opened evening classes and I enrolled my name and I did not said to my father."
After finishing high school, his father was sent him to Najaf with his elder brother Mohammad Taghi to study religious sciences. Of course, he went to this trip with the aim of continue his education in Beirut, but he remained in Najaf. The trip did not last a few months longer and Jalal returned to Iran.
In the "three-year record", he explained his trip to Iraq: "It was the summer of 1322. In the midst of war and the presence of foreign troops and their horrendous commuting of "UKCC" and sparrow which were in all roads so that ammunition reach Stalingrad from Khorramshahr. With the aim of continue my education in Beirut which was the last nose tip of my young mind and I was going to Najaf in the way of Khorramshahr and then, Basreh and after that Baghdad and etc. But, I stayed in Najaf to be my brother’s guest. After three months I went to Kermanshah from Khaneghin road. I was hank from my father and brother.
Al-Ahmad was graduated from the Higher College in the field of Persian literature and he continued his education in PhD but at the end of its continuing education, he canceled his education and in his own words "he was healed from that disease (being a doctor)".

- After returning from Najaf

After returning from the trip, the traces of doubt and lack of faith to the religion was seen in him which had negative reactions from his family.
Al-Ahmad in 1323 joined the Tudeh Party of Iran and practically left the religious thinking. The most passionate during puberty, in which skepticism was the necessity of that period of life, was escalation of leftist of Tudeh Party and youth movements toward revolutionary slogans and conflicts of the Second World War which changed the think of Al-Ahmad.
All these factors combined to with man with a tie and American suit from a young man with onyx ring with and shaved head and hand.
In 1324, by publishing the story of "pilgrimage" in the Journal of words, he stepped into the world of writing and in the same year, this story was published. With a few short stories in the collection of "visiting". Al-Ahmed in March 1324 traveled to Abadan for the opening of the Tudeh Party and the unions affiliated to the party: "I settled in Abadan. Fifteen day. It was 1324, during the New Year and I had a mission to open the Tudeh Party and affiliated unions and the first meeting was held in Ahwaz in a Balcony in a street side."
Due to the continued activities in the Tudeh Party, he accepted some responsibilities. In this regard, he says: "In the Tudeh Party, I became member of the Party Committee of Tehran and then, congressional representative within four years and in the early 25, I was commissioned to open "People monthly magazine" under the supervision of Tabari that I published 18 numbers of it. I even the director of the publishing house for six months."

- Employment in education

He was hired in educational system in 1326. In the same year he left the Tudeh Party led by Khalil Maleki and 10 other people. They criticized the party leadership and its policies and they could not accept that an Iranian party be a puppet of the foreign country. At this year, they wrote their mass resignation along with a group of his allies.

- Jalal’s activity

In 1326, the book of "The suffering that we tolerate" was published which was a collection of 10 stories and in the next year, "Setar" was published. After these years, Al-Ahmad turned to translation. During this period, he translated "Jude" and "Camus", "Sartre" and "Dostoevsky" and in the same period he married to Dr. Simin Daneshvar.
"Unwanted Woman," also belongs to this year.
Al-Ahmad also performed actively in the press and in magazines and newspapers.
The interesting point of Al-Ahmad’s life is his continuing his life.
If the author's literary life compared to other contemporary writers, this case can be observed.
In the ultimate life, with a tired and bored spirit of the material thinking, Jalal found a spiritual bridge between him and his God.

- Connection of Jalal with Imam Khomeini

Jalal Al-e Ahmad was one of the personalities who admired Imam Khomeini much more than other scholars and the reason was the excessive bravery and courage of Imam.

- Features of his works

Generally, Al-Ahmad’s prose is short, effective in ultimate briefness and brevity. Al Ahmad had an unparalleled courage in breaking some rules of the Persian grammar and literary and this feature culminates in his letters.
Most of his writings is in such a way that the reader can think that the writer is now sat against him\her and expresses his speech and if the reader be not familiar with his prose and realize the beginning and ending the text, he or she will be confused.
Hence, unfamiliarity with Al-Ahmad’s style are sometimes forced to inevitably read a statement more than a few times.

- Art works

Jalal Al-e Ahmad's works in general can be classified into five categories or topics:
Stories - observation and travel - Articles - Translation - diaries and letters.

Stories:

1. Visiting 1324

It was first consisted of ten short stories. In the seventh printing, it had twelve short stories. The young Jalal criticizes the social and ethnic beliefs in this collection with a superficial view and humorous prose.

2. The suffering that we tolerate 1326

It is a collection of seven short stories which goes towards integrity and maturity in these two years. In this collection, new imagery made Al-Ahmad’s language visual.

3. Setar 1327

It is a collection of thirteen short stories. Setar’s story space is full of failure of oppressed segments of society.

4. Unwanted woman 1331

It contains an introduction and nine short stories. Before Jalal, Sadegh Choobak and Bozorg Alavi used women characters in their own stories. The women of this story is different and contrasting segments.

5. The story of hives 1337

It is the first relatively long story of Jalal with a traditional start. This story has expressed the political failure of party from 1329 to 1331.

6. The school principal 1337

This story relatively long story is the cultural memory of al-Ahmad. In this case, he said:
"The idea of private thinking and quick emotional perceptions of a very small area but very effective from the culture and school."
School principal is like a report from the relations of people in a school and the relations of school with the society. Al-Ahmed is full of confidence in school principal. Pen does not shake in his hand and it is like that his ideas have found their final form in a certain context. In spite of developing this thinking, Jalal has believed the failure, thus, he looked for a quiet corner.

7. Noun Va-Al Ghalam 1340

It is a long historical novel that the events are related to the early Safavid state. The language in this novel is relatively old.

8. The Curse of the Earth 1346

It is a rural novel that reflects the currents of "land reform".

9. The five story 1350

It was printed 2 years after Al-Ahmad’s death.

 

10. The forty original parrots (with Simin Daneshvar) 1351
It is a collection of six short stories from "Tooti Nameh" which is written with a new writing.

11. A stone on a grave in 1360

It is a short novel and the last story that Al-Ahmad has written. The subject was having no child.

- Observations and travelogues:

Orazan 1333, Khark Island, Orphan Pearl of the Persian Gulf 1339, a trip to the province of Azrael printed in 1363, Russian expedition in 1369,, travel to America and Europe that are not printed yet.

- Scholarly articles and books:

Reports 1325, the Tudeh party at a two-way, seven articles 1333, three other articles 1341, West sickness in the form of book 1341, the three-year record in 1341, hasty Assessment 1342, a well and two pits in 1356, in the service betrayal of the intellectuals 1356, talks 1346.

- Translation

Illegitimate mourning from Arabic 1322, Muhammad by the end of wrote by Casanova the French writer in 1326, Gambler of Dostoevsky 1327, Alien wrote by Albert Camus 1328 (With Ali Asghar Khabarzadeh), Misunderstanding of Albert Camus in 1329, Dirty hands of Jean-Paul Sartre in 1331, Return from the Soviet in 1333 by André Gide, The Fruits of the Earth by Jude in 1334 (with Parviz Dariush), Crossing the line of Ernst Jünger in 1346 (the Dr. Mahmoud Hooman), Thirst and hunger in 1351 a play of Eugene Ionesco; about fifty pages of this book was translated by Jalal Al-Ahmad that premature death prevents him to finish it. After Al-Ahmad, Dr. Manouchehr Hezarkhani translated the rest of the book.

- Diaries and letters:

Letters of Jalal Ahmad (Volume I 1364) were printed by the efforts of Ali Dehbashi that includes his letters to his close and far friends.

- Travel to occupied territories

In the era of the Pahlavi, Jalal Al Ahmad traveled to the occupied territories and he wrote the story of his journey in a book called "Journey to the province Azrael".

- Death

This powerful author who always thought about truth and escaped of counsel moved into the house in the forest at the end of his life. Jalal Al-e Ahmad, the powerful writer and brave artist suddenly died on the evening of the seventeenth of September 1348 at the age of forty-six.