TEHRAN – Mahmud Hakimi, an Iranian writer of religious stories for young adults, has said that godliness and people’s leaning toward God will enjoy an increase in the post-coronavirus world.

“At first, we should pray that this disease may diminish; this virus has been disastrous both for us and the world, and I believe a wave of godliness will begin in the world after the disease is stamped out,” he told the Persian service of ISNA on Thursday.  

Hakimi said, “One of the honors of life is that I have been writing religious stories and articles for the magazine ‘Lessons from the School of Islam’ since 1968.” 

He also said that at present, children have more time to read books and asked parents to encourage their children to read.

“I wrote the 21-volume ‘The Story of Civilization - The Life of Humanity’ for young adults, which they like reading,” he said.

“However, the adults didn’t welcome the version I wrote for them. The adults do not like reading, but I hope the home quarantine will make them read books,” he added.

Hakimi, 76, is currently working on the Nahj ul-Balagha, a collection of the sermons, letters and short sayings of Imam Ali (AS), to write a book for young adults.

He has so far published over 140 books, including “Personality Traits of Imam Mahdi (AS)”, “An Approach to Contemporary World History - The Crisis of Our Time”, and “The Basics of Literature for Children and Young Adults: Focus on Religious Literature”.

Photo: Writer Mahmud Hakimi in an undated photo.

MMS/YAW