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Distributed May 31, 2004
Contact Mark Nickel



Text
The 236th Commencement
Shirin Ebadi: “Islam, Democracy and Human Rights”

Iranian lawyer and human rights activist Shirin Ebadi delivered the baccalaureate address to the Class of 2004 on Sunday, May 30, 2004, at 1:30 p.m. in the Meeting House of the First Baptist Church in America. She spoke in Farsi, with simultaneous translation.

This translation was prepared afterward by William O. Beeman, professor of anthropology and director of Middle East studies at Brown University. (See also news release 03-128)



Chancellor Stephen Robert, riāsat-e mohtaram-e dāneshgāh, Khanom-e Ruth Simmons, Provost Robert Zimmer, a’azā-ye mohtaram-e heyyat-e omanā, mehmānān-e arjomand, khanevādeh-(hā)-ye mohtaram-e dāneshjuyān, va dāneshjuyān-e aziz.


Chancellor Stephen Robert, respected university administrators, the honorable Ruth Simmons, Provost Robert Zimmer, respected members of the Corporation, honored guests, respected families, and dear students.


Bā’es-e eftekhār-e man-e ke dar daneshgāhi hastam ke dānesh-rā be hamrāhe ma’naviyyat be janvānān midehad.


It is an honor for me to be in a university which imparts knowledge alongside spiritual values to its young people.


Ba’es-e sarafrazi-e man e ke ‘a’zan’e ‘Islami-ra dar faza-ye kelisa mishenavam. Va in be-d-ān man’āst ke mā khodā-ye vāhedi dārim, va rāh-e mā yekist.


I feel honored to hear the Islamic call to prayer in a church. And the meaning of this is that we all have a unified God and our path is unified.


Besyār khoshhāl-am ke adiyān-e mokhtalef-rā dar kenār-e ham dar in kelisā mibinam.


I am very happy to see different religions side by side in this church.


Besyār khoshhāl-am ke honar-hā-ye tamaddon-hā-ye mokhtalef-rā dar in kelisā dar kenār-e ham mibinam.


I am very happy to see the arts of different civilizations side by side in this church.


Besyār moftakhār-am ke bein-e asātiri hastam ke be daneshjuyān-eshān yād dādand aqāyed-e digarān-ra ham tahammol konand.


I am honored that I am among teachers [lit. guiding stars] who have taught their students to tolerate the views of others.


Va be daneshjuyan-i ke farogh-e ta’sil hastand tabrik migam ham be monasebat-e payān yāftan-e darseshān, va hamin ke az yek chenin dāneshgāh-i farogh-e ta’sil shodand.


And I congratulate the university graduates on the occasion of the completion of their studies and that they have graduated from a university such as this.


Ammā farzandān-e man, daneshjuyān-e aziz, hame chāns-e shomārā nadarand.


But, my sons and daughters, [my] dear students, not everyone has your good fortune.


Hanuz hastand kesāni dar donyā ke be khāter-e tafsir-e yek kalame az Qur’ān hāzerand bejangand.


There are still [some] people in the world who, for the sake of the [narrow] interpretation of a single word from the Qur’an are ready to wage war.


Hanuz hastand kesāni ke be khāter-e yek satr az Engil va tafsir-e an hāzerand ensāni-rā beranjānand.


There are still [some] people who for the sake of one line from the [Christian] Bible and its [narrow] interpretation are ready to cause people to suffer.


Hanuz hastand Yahudiān-i ke chun faqat din-e xhodeshān-rā qabul darand, sāyerān-ra nemitavānand qabul konand.


There are still [some] Jewish people who, because they only accept their own religion, can not accept others.


Banabarin, man be shomā tabrik miguyam be monasebat-e in ke yād gerefte-id che gune hamdigar-ra tahammol konid.


Therefore, I congratulate you, because you have learned tolerance for each other.


Va so’āl-e assāsi in ast, ke agar adiyān-e mokhtalef, va farhang-ha-ye gunāgun dar kenar-e ham zendegi konand, che qava’edi bayesti hokumat bokone ke hame az in rāzi bāshand va etā’at konand?


And the essential question is this: If different religions and different cultures are to live side-by-side, what [kinds of] laws (lit. order) must be established []lit. rule] so that all will be satisfied with them, and obey them.


Dar javāb, mā mirasim be hoquq-e bashar, zirā, hoquq-e bashar ‘osāreh-ye farhang-hā va adiyān-e mokhtalef-e.


The answer we arrive at is: [universal] Human Rights; because [universal] Human Rights constitute the very essence of [all] different cultures, and [all] different religions.


Nesbiyat-e farhangi nemitavonad bahāne-i bāshad berāye naghz-e hoquq-e bashar. Kasāni ke be nesbiat-e farhangi estenād mikonand, dar haqiqat motehājerāni zur-gu hastand. Che bar māhiat-e diktatori-ye khod māski az farhang zadeh va mikhāhand hoquq-e mardom-rā zir-e pā begozarand.


[Therefore] Cultural relativism cannot be an excuse for the negation of [universal] Human Rights. Persons who justify their actions with a doctrine of cultural relativism, are in truth purveyors of oppression. They hide behind a mask of culture, while wishing to trample on human rights.


Va sokhani digar dāram bā dāneshjuyan, farzandān-e azizam. Tahsil-e dānesh hargez tamāmi nadārad. Nemitavān ghenā’at kard, va dar pei-ye afsāyesh-e ān bar nayāmad. Dānesh dar surati kār-āmad-tar khāhad shod ke be hamrāh-e ta’aqol be kār gerefteh shavad. Va mohemmtarin asl dar ta’aqol, porsesh ast. Porsesh mohemmtarin kelid-e ta’āli-ye ensān-hā-st.


But I have another matter to take up with my dear students, my sons and daughters. The pursuit of knowledge is never ending. One cannot be satisfied; one can never cease the search for its increase. Knowledge will become more effective when it is combined with the active application of intellect. And the most important principle of intellect is questioning. Questioning is the most important key to the improvement of humankind.


Hame chiz o hame kas-ra dar mā’aveh-ye so’āl-e khod qarār dehid. Be javāb-hā ke qablan be so’ālāt-e shomā dādeh shodeh qāneh nashavid. Farāmush nakonid, dāneshmandān-e emruzi farzandān-e vaqe-i-ye Decartes hastand, ke bar jomleh-ye ma’aruf-e khod, ya’ani „Shak mikonam, pas hastam“ dar tarikh-e falsafeh māndegar shod. Shak konid, dar hameh chiz shak konid.


Place a question mark after everything and everyone. Do not be satisfied with the answers that have already been given to your questions. Do not forget that today’s wise thinkers are the true children of Decartes, whose famous pronouncement (which might have been interpreted as saying) “I doubt, therefore I am” has remained in the history of philosophy. Remain skeptical! Remain skeptical about everything!


Dar akhbāri ke be shomā mirasad, shak konid. Akhbār-e siyāsi-ra, faqat va faqat az tāriq-e yek kanāl qābul nakonid. Behtarin rāh-e shoste-shu-ye maghz-hā akhbār-ist ke pakhsh va mantaqel mishavad. Mā agar maghz-e khodrā dar ekhtiār-e in geruh yā ān geruh, in hezb yā ān hezb, in idiolozhi yā ān idiolozhi, in mazhab yā ān mazhab qarār dehem, mosāllamān be tadrij dochār-e baliye mishavim ke be ān shoste-shu-ye maghzi miguyand. Tafakor va ta’aqol-e mā hedāyat mishavad bedune ān ke khod khabar dāshte bāshim..


Be skeptical of the news that reaches you. Do not accept political information from one source and one source only. The news media provide the best way to brainwash [the people]. If we place our brains under the control of this group or that group, this party or that party, this ideology or that ideology, this religion or that religion, it is certain that we will gradually find ourselves being brainwashed. Our thoughts and faculties of reason will be shaped [lit. led] without our awareness.


Tamām-e sokhan-hā-ye mardom-e mokhtalef-ra beshenavid. Sepas, bā aql-e khod-rā besanjid, tā bedonid ke dar donyā che migozarad, va āyā donyā mitavonest bar madār-e digari becharkhad.


Listen to all of the ideas [lit. words] of diverse people. Then with your own faculties of reason, ponder them deeply, until you know what is taking place in the world, and whether the world could revolve with a different orientation.


Fāje’eh-ye yazdāh-e Septāmbr farāmush shodani nist va besyār dardnāk hast. Man yek bār-e digar be bāzmāndegān-e yāzdah-e Septāmbr e’elām-e hamdardi mikonam. Ammā be yād āvarim ke bozorgtarin va mohemmtarin hāmi-ye taleban, mota’asefane dowlat-e āmerikā bud. Emruze dar asl, jahāni be sar mibārim, va mota’asefāne jahāni shodan, jang o solh ham jahāni kardeh. Bedun-e ān ke dar gir-e jangi bāshid, yek shabe motevajeh mishavid ke avaqeb-e an dām-angir-e shomā hast.


The tragedy of the eleventh of September is unforgettable and most painful. Again, I wish to express my sympathy to the survivors of September 11th. But we must remember that the largest and most important supporter of the Taliban was the government of America. Today this has become an international concern, and unfortunately by becoming internationalized, it has made matters of war and peace also an international concern. Without becoming directly involved in war, one day you will understand that it has resulted in your being caught up by it.


Sāl-ha qabl dar khavar-e miyāneh siyāsat-e āmerikā hemāyat az hokumat-e gheir-e demokrātik bud, va dah sāl-e bad, ide’i bi gonāh dar Espāniā koshte shodand. ān-hā be dast-e terrorist-ha-i koshte shodand, ke ruzi az ān-hā hemāyat shodeh bud. Va in chānin ast, ke sarnevesht-e bashariat bā ham gireh mikhorad. Komak kardan be hokumat-hā-ye gheir-e demokrātik mānand-e in ast ke aslehe-hā-rā bar ru-ye khod gerefteh va shelik konid.


Years ago in the Middle East, American politics protected anti-democratic governments, and ten years later, a number of innocent persons in Spain were killed. They were killed by terrorists, who had at an earlier time been protected by them [the United States]. And this event is such that the future of humanity has become entangled in it. Aiding anti-democratic governments is equivalent to taking a gun in one’s own hand and firing.


Va su-ye digar, demokrasi yek hādeseh nist ke yek shab ettefāq. Demokrasi yek poroseh-ye tārikhist ke seil-e takammoli-ye ān bāyad tei shavad. Agar keshvāri māde’i-ye delsuzi berāye demokrasi dar keshvar-e ’estebdād-zadeh-ist, haq nadārad be bahāne-ye ’estegrār-e demokrasi hamleh-ye nezāmi bekonad. Balke bāyad az majrā’-ye sāzemān-e mellal-e mottahed keshvar-e mottejāvez-rā vā dār be ehterām be demokrasi va hoquq-e bashar konad. Va dar an surat ast ke mobārezeh berāye democrasi mashrui’at yāfteh va qābel-e defā’ ast.


Moreover, democracy is not an event that takes place overnight. Democracy is an historical process, which must follow an evolutionary path. If a privileged nation has concerns about the [lack of] democracy in an[other] oppressed nation, the first nation has no right to launch a military attack on the second nation using the excuse that it is trying to promulgate democracy. Rather, the first nation should, under the leadership of the United Nations, bring the second, oppressed nation to respect democracy and [universal] human rights. And in this manner the struggle for democracy may begin and be worthy of defense.


Man az koshte shodan-e sarbāzān-e Āmerikā dar ’Arāq amiqan mott’asef-am. Amā akhbār ke az shiveh-ye raftār bā zendāniyān dar ’Arāq niz sharm-āvar ast. Man az khodam so’āl mikonam tamadon-e Āmerikā’i va jāme’i-ye madani-ye Āmerika chunin raftāri-rā che guneh tojih mikonad. Yād-emān bāshad ke e’elāmieh-ye jahāni hoquq-e bashar bā hemāyat-e gostardeh-ye Khānom-e Roosevelt be tasvib rasid. Zahāmat-e in zan-e āmerikā’i dar tārikh be yād māndeh nist. Nām-e Khānom-e Roosevelt dar kenār-e e’elāmiyeh-ye jahāni-ye hoquq-e bashar sabz shodeh. Va aknun siyasat madāran Amerika’i, farzandān-e in zan, bābat-e tasmimāti ke gerefteh-and, bāyad az ruh-e bozorg-e mādar-e khod, khānom-e Roosevelt, puzesh betalaband.


I am deeply sorry for the killing of American soldiers in Iraq. However, the news of the treatment of prisoners in Iraq is shameful. I ask myself, how American civilization and the law-abiding people of America can make sense of such behavior. We should remember that the ratification of the proclamation of universal human rights took place under the broad sponsorship of Mrs. [Eleanor] Roosevelt. Mrs. Roosevelt’s name grew in stature alongside the proclamation of universal human rights. And now American politicians, the children of this woman, should apologize to the spirit of that great mother, because of the decisions that they have made.


Man har now jangi-rā, che be manzur-e keshvār goshā’i, va che bar assās-e e’eteqādat-e dini mahkum mikonam. Va e’eteqād dāram ke demokrasi va hoquq-e bashar-rā be hamrāh-e bomb bar sar-e mardom nemitavān rikht.


I condemn every kind of war, whether undertaken with the purpose of territorial expansion or because of religious conviction. And I am certain that democracy and human rights are not compatible with bombs dropped on people’s heads.


Va aknun bā farzandān-am sokhani dāram. Nasl-e pedarān-e shomā, mota’asefāneh, in jang-e ‘Arāq-rā shoru’ kardand. Va hālā shomā pāidār vafādāri-e khod-rā be solh dar sarāsar-e jahān e’elam konid. Va hamrāh bā man tekrar konid: Long Live Peace!


And now I have something to say to my sons and daughters. Your parents’ generation, unfortunately, began this war in Iraq. And now you must declare your dedication to peace throughout the world. And, along with me, repeat: Long Live Peace!

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