1- I have an image in my mind from a movie or TV series where two old Mongol men are galloping through the desert on their horses. They have been searching for someone or something for years and have dedicated their lives to finding it. In the last scene of the game between these two old Mongols, one of them realizes that old age and weariness prevent them from continuing their journey and that their deteriorating body will not help them continue their search. He turns to his friend and says: A Mongol is born on a horse and dies on a horse. He looks at his friend with tired and haggard eyes, blinks, and gives his horse a shout, and gallops across the desert towards the horizon. He goes and goes and goes until he disappears.
The last sentence of the old Mongol has been hacked into my mind since my childhood, just as Baba Gave Water and Baba Gave Bread from the first grade.

2- What stands out more than anything in the life of the first Shiite Imam, Ali (AS), is worship. The comprehensiveness of Ali's attributes lies in the comprehensiveness of his worship. Ali loves worship. A loving, conscious, sincere, and continuous worship. Finally, according to the testimony of history, he is struck in the altar of worship and rushes to the God. "Ali died with prayer between his lips."

3- As a teenager, I had a list of the myths of my life, such as Rustam, Arash, Zeus, Al Pacino, Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, Hermes, Takhti, Aphrodite, Muhammad Ali, Hercules, Fardin, Behrouz, Nasser, Bruce Lee, even my father, and many other names, each of which entered my life, thoughts, and vocabulary in some way. When I emerged from adolescence and innocence, my list became smaller and the names were a handful, until today when the common denominator of my true myths is death. A death that is the same as their life. My myths have lived death. Their death and life are in the same direction. They end as they live. In a way, they are an example of "everything that is sought is immediate." For example, now martyr Dr. Mustafa Chamran is on my list. A stubborn and self-made character, a character who, despite his scientific image and abundant knowledge, chooses the path of struggle and struggle. A character who has a pen in one hand and a weapon in the other, but in my mind, his weapon is heavier than the pen. I could never imagine any death for him other than martyrdom. He was always in search of the noblest kind of death, whether with the pen or with struggle, and in the end he became what he was seeking. I even have Morteza Avini on my list, or even Tayyeb Haj Rezaei, or even legendary legends whose death was in line with their way of life.

4- I got to know Soheil Mahmoudi from years ago by watching TV. Perhaps the most vivid image I have of him on TV was his reports from the Hajj trip, after I got to know him on the program “With the Caravan of Poetry and Music.” But you have to see Soheil Mahmoudi up close and hang out with him to know what a genius he is. The greatest event in my life was meeting Soheil Mahmoudi face to face. I never thought that one day this same cyberspace, which is so notoriously mentioned and filtered under any pretext, would reduce the distances to such an extent and make me eager to sit in his classroom and discuss with him! Getting to know Soheil is not getting to know a person, it is getting to know a world of goodness. It is getting to know a large group of Soheil’s friends, each of whom has conquered the peaks of literature and art. Soheil, while being serious about Iranian poetry and literature, is the connecting link for many artists in the visual, musical, and contemporary calligraphy fields. It is as if Soheil came to connect. I have always learned from Soheil. The least of which was poetry and the best of which was the religion of lightness, chivalry, and tolerance.

5- In 2014, on the eve of Soheil Mahmoudi's birth, Ostad Mushfeq Kashani, a valuable and renowned poet, passed away from this world. A high-ranking poet whose ritual poems I had been acquainted with in religious assemblies and circles since childhood. A melodious lyricist who, with his passing, took a place in my heart next to my myths. Passing as if living is the common pattern of all my myths today. A poet who left us poetically in a night of poetry.
The passing of Ostad Mushfeq is a strange tragedy. The point of connection between two parallel worlds. Right on the night when the earth was happy about Soheil's arrival, the sky was eager to embrace Ostad Mushfeq. One of those poetic couplets that I have read many times in both the poetry of Master Mushfiq and the poetry of Soheil.

I have always learned from Soheil, just like this latest realization and revision of my list of myths. I have also learned that it is possible to have a great pain in your heart but give a smile and hope to others.

Happy birthday, dear Soheil

January 28, 1396