Dr. Ibrahim Bani Ahmed was one of the 12 people who was in the same elementary school with the Shah in 1307.
One of the students of Master Bani Ahmad says as follows (quoted in context):
The master had an old staff in his hand. He looked more and spoke less. He even used to say it in the classroom
You say, I hear.
He jokingly called the students by the names of animals! He used to tell me
Tell me about humanity today, lizard
One day I asked the teacher why you call the students by the names of animals.
He said it’s hard to be human!
During the last days of the Pahlavi reign, one morning I went to the door of the master’s house. It was the beginning of January 1357.
The professor had a cold.
He invited me to his house.
He poured tea for me. He was watching the roaring and shouting of the protesting people from the window and only shed tears.
The professor had been living alone for many years. His wife had died and his children lived abroad.
I became a teacher hours ago.
When saying goodbye, the teacher came to see me off at the door of their apartment.
I asked them not to come. I said, I will go myself, you are not feeling well, please rest.
I will never forget the last lesson the teacher gave me.
The teacher told me:
If you are indifferent to the love of others, you will never see love from anyone. It is not my duty to send you away, it is my habit of life.
I said: What are you doing with this cane?
He pointed his cane at me and said:
I relied on this cane for many years and the king relied on his people.
He never wanted to believe that his support was on an ungrateful nation!
The Shah is leaving Iran, but a nation that has not learned to respond to love will never see love from anyone again. We will go with the wind.
After all these years, I realized how beautifully and intelligently that wise man predicted the future of this nation.
*Yes, we, the nation, have gone astray.*.
The teacher explained:
“On the day when I was supposed to go to France to continue my studies, the Minister of Science said that first you should all go to Saad Abad Palace so that *Reza Shah* can see you and talk to you, then you will leave.
They bought suits for all of us. I was my foot!
Everyone had shoes on their feet and no one had worn shoes until then!
They bought shoes for everyone.
We put on our suits, took off our shoes and went to Saad Abad Palace to see Reza Shah. There were 40 of us.
Reza Shah made a short speech and said: “Try to be Iranian and stay Iranian wherever you go.” Go back to Iran and you should build the future of Iran. “.
I went to France.
I studied with great difficulty. It was the period of World War II and the government sent us money with difficulty. Sometimes we didn’t have money for two months.
Finally, the war ended and I also finished my studies at the university.
On the day that I became the first student of the university and General “Dogol” was supposed to give the badge of “Legion of Donor” to the first students, I put on the shoes that Reza Shah had bought for me and I still kept them as a souvenir and went to the Elysee Palace.
When General Dogal put the badge on the chest of my coat, I didn’t want to forget that if it wasn’t for Reza Shah, I, the Iranian, would still be *silver* on my feet!”
From the page of Mansoura Pirnia
Archive of History and Archeology of Iran
Those who bit the hand that gave them bread, are condemned to kiss the feet that kick them!