ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Imam Khomeini, Ethics and Politics Ethics and Politics Relationship Politics has two faces—a smiling face that gives glad tidings of prosperity, power and authority, and a furious one that calls to mind power struggle, power worship, and injustice.

It is owing to this that politics is likened to Janus,[329] the first mythological king of Latium.[330] The gods had bestowed the king with such powers of clairvoyance that he would see the past and the future in unison. It is for this reason that they used to depict him as having two faces, portraying him as terrifying.

In reality, politics has also two facets and faces: On the one hand, it is after securing the objectives and demands of the citizens and is a powerful tool for the establishment of public order and welfare—this is the favourable face of politics. On the other hand, it is the means of rivalry, challenge, power struggle, dealing a blow to the enemy, and outstripping and outsmarting him—this gives a dreadful image of politics. In our culture the latter face of politics is better known.

Usually politics has been equated and associated with fraud, deception, and in slang, ‘chicanery’ [ pedar sūkhteh bāzī ]. A deeper analysis of this aspect of politics exists in Arabic and has taken the form of a proverb. It states, “To rule is mule-like (sterile)”[331] [ al-mulk ‘aqīm ]. It means that it show no mercy to anybody and recognizes no kinship and kinsmen. History is replete with this attitude to politics.

Nādirshāh[332] killed his own son merely because of a misunderstanding, and Shīraveyeh[333] murdered his own father Khusrūparvīz (Khosroe Parvez) in order to gain power.[334] Ferdowsī elegantly depicts the gloomy end of this unlucky king. After Shīraveyeh, who was himself a prisoner of his father, is released from the prison through the help of the soldiers, he dethrones his father, puts him behind bars, and goes in search of a person who would kill his father.

But he has nobody to help to murder the king as such a deed would be inauspicious. However, he finally finds the person who accepts to shoulder the heavy responsibility. يكى خنجرى تيز دادش چو آب بامد كُشنده سبک پرشتاب چون آن بدكنش رفت نزديک شاه ورا ديد پابند در پيشگاه بلرزيد خسرو چو او را بديد سرشكش ز مژگان به رخ برچكيد...