TEHRAN – Hojjatoleslam Ali Shirazi has published a book revealing his memories of a 40-year-long close friendship with Lieutenant-General Qassem Soleimani.

In the book entitled “The Hajji Qassem Whom I Know: Narratives about a 40-Year Friendship”, Shirazi recounts numerous stories from the long friendship, which began in 1982 when Shiraz joined the volunteers in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war in Hamidieh, a town located in near Ahvaz.

He met Soleimani, the then commander of the Sarallah Brigade, when he was delivering a speech for his soldiers. Suddenly, he felt a deep affection for Soleimani.

In 1986, Soleimani assigned him the task of disseminating Islamic teachings in his division. As the friendship continued, Shirazi was appointed as the representative of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in the Quds Force, the overseas arm of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), which was commanded by Soleimani until his martyrdom on January 3, 2020.

Shirazi accompanied Soleimani on many of the military operations he carried out in his mission to fight against the ISIS terrorist group.

In one of the chapters, Shirazi writes about one of their joint meetings with the Leader.

“When we were leaving the Leader’s house, I told him [Soleimani] ‘Put yourself forward as a candidate in the presidential election’.”         

“He said, ‘Tell people what I say to you; I’m a candidate for martyrdom; a candidate for a bullet, not a presidential candidate’.”

The book has been published by Khate Moqaddam, a publishing house that released Shirazi’s previous book “Characteristics of the School of Martyr Soleimani” in November 2020.

“To explain about the school of Martyr Soleimani, we need to know the school of Islam first,” Shirazi wrote in a preface to the book.

“Next, we should go after the school of the Prophet Muhammad (S) and the Imams, and learn more about the school of Imam Hussein (AS). At this time, the characteristics of the school of Imam Khomeini should be clarified, and with the knowledge about the school of Imam Khomeini, the characteristics of the school of Martyr Soleimani will be explained,” he added.

Photo: A copy of Hojjatoleslam Ali Shirazi’s book “The Hajji Qassem Whom I Know”.

MMS/YAW