A Portrait of a Philosopher, Physician, Poet, and Inventor / A Price Must Be Paid on the Path of Justice

Mehdi Sedighi, the director of the documentary ‘Rabe”, told Mehr News Agency correspondent about the nature of this work: ‘Rabe” is about a historical period during the Qajar era, around 1285 AH (1868-1869 CE), and deals with the role of Ayatollah Mohammad Bagher Estahbanati, one of the prominent scholars of Fars province, who was in a way the standard-bearer of the constitutional movement in Fars province. This documentary focuses on the last few years of his life until his martyrdom.

He continued: Ayatollah Mohammad Bagher Estahbanati was forced into exile in Iraq for 20 years, where he was alongside Mirza-e Shirazi and was his student. During those days, Qavam al-Mulk’s tyranny over the people of Fars was immense, and these people were looking for a leader to improve the situation. Consequently, they asked Ayatollah Mohammad Bagher Estahbanati to return and bring order to this situation. As a result, he returned and put the fight against the corrupt rulers of Shiraz on his agenda. This was at a time when the constitutional movement was gaining strength in various cities of Iran.

The documentary filmmaker added: During that era, Mohammad Reza Qavam al-Mulk III could not tolerate this behavior and saw the Constitutional Revolution as a means to eliminate class differences and abolish the ruler-subject relationship, thus standing against it. The documentary explains how Qavam al-Mulk III was killed and subsequently Ayatollah Estahbanati was martyred; this is when the ‘Shahid Rabe” movement was formed by the constitutionalists, resulting in the appointment of a new ruler for Shiraz, which later led to the exile of Qavam al-Mulk’s sons.

A Narrative of the Unknown Martyr of the Constitutional Revolution

Sedighi, in response to the question of how the idea for producing this documentary came about, stated: The production of this documentary and addressing the life of Ayatollah Mohammad Bagher Estahbanati was suggested by the former Director General of Fars province, Mr. Qanei. Personally, before producing this work, I had no knowledge of Ayatollah Estahbanati, and essentially, he has been overlooked by the people of Shiraz. One of the reasons is that he is from Estahban and is known there, but is unknown to the people of Shiraz. Consequently, the production of such a work has taken a step towards introducing this figure to the people of Shiraz and Iran.

He explained the sources used for the production of this documentary: The biography book of Ayatollah Mohammad Bagher Estahbanati titled ‘Shahid Rabe” by Mohammad Javad Eslami was one of the most important sources for this work. In addition, the book ‘Fars in the Constitutional Movement’ by Masoud Shafiei-Sarvestani and similar sources were also considered by us. We had three researchers for the production of this work, and Mr. Shafiei-Sarvestani also accompanied us as a historical consultant for the project, reviewing all the data. Based on this, all historical documents and books written on this subject were considered by us, and everything was documented.

Sedighi emphasized the importance of making this documentary: The period of the Constitutional Revolution in Fars province was tumultuous, and Ayatollah Mohammad Bagher Estahbanati is a multifaceted personality who, in addition to religious studies, knows philosophy and medicine, and is a poet and even an inventor. He has inventions, some of which have been built and some are theoretical. On the other hand, despite these capacities, he is an overlooked figure, and it is essential to introduce such a person, who is among the luminaries of Fars province, to the people.

He continued: Representing the period of the Constitutional Revolution and the oppression of rulers and people seeking justice on one hand, and the scholars who are the leaders of this movement on the other, is an important event, and history always repeats itself.

Sedighi stated in response to the question about the biggest challenge in producing this documentary: The main challenge in making the documentary ‘Rabe” was the lack of archives. We were creating a period for which there was no film, and it narrated events 120 and sometimes 150 years ago, so we could not create an archival work and had to reconstruct it. However, the point is that reconstruction also requires a lot of cost and energy. Consequently, producing this 65-minute documentary, more than 90% of which is reconstruction, was a difficult task for which we are grateful to God that we succeeded.

The documentary filmmaker recalled: ‘Rabe” is a docudrama and reconstruction portrait documentary, and the work seeks to convey that a price must be paid and one must fight and strive on the path of justice.

Whoever is not with the Constitutional Revolution is complicit in oppression

He concluded: In this documentary, there are references to statements by Ayatollah Mohammad Bagher Estahbanati, most of which are brilliant and enduring. Statements that exist and have been written in history. At one point in this narrative, Qavam, as the antagonist, tells someone: ‘Constitutionalism means that you and I have no difference or privilege compared to a subject,’ and this shows that an oppressive ruler always seeks to keep the subjects down. On the other hand, Ayatollah Mohammad Bagher Estahbanati said about constitutionalism: ‘From today until the Day of Judgment, whoever is not with the Constitutional Revolution is involved in every oppression that occurs and is complicit in its sin.’ This sentence is one of his most important statements that highlights the difference in his thinking from the rulers of his time.

The documentary ‘Shahid Rabe” was produced at the Documentary House and is a product of Ouj Arts and Media Organization. The film crew includes: Director: Mehdi Sedighi, Producer: Vahid Nateghi, Writer: Ali Fotouhi, Director of Photography: Alireza Dehghani, Makeup Designer: Farshad Tandnevis, Sound Designer: Gisoo Azadroush, Production Manager: Alireza Hosseini, Script Supervisor: Fatemeh Akrami, Set Designer: Mohammad Hossein Jannati, Assistant Director and Planner: Vahid Mobasheri, Color and Light Correction: Amin Imanifar, Poster Designer: Arash Babakhodaverdi, Composer: Ghazal Raki, Assistant Director: Ali Golparvar, Financial Affairs: Haniyeh Rakhshandeh, Actors: Mostafa Mohseni Aref, Zavosh Taghvaei, Farhad Ershad, Saeed Javidnia, Ahmad Ziyani, Ahmad Moradi, Ata Eshna Ashar, Mohammad Reza Esmaeil Beig, Mohsen Shojaeipour, and Hadi Karimi.

The cinematic documentary ‘Rabe”, directed by Mehdi Sedighi, focusing on the life of Ayatollah Mohammad Bagher Estahbanati, one of the prominent figures of the Constitutional Revolution, was unveiled in Shiraz on Saturday, November 1, 2025.