Discovering Meaning Instead of Storytelling; A Fresh Look at the Narrative of Imam’s Life

According to the correspondent of Iran Book News Agency (IBNA), a review session for the book “Rouhollah, a Documentary Narrative of the Life of Imam Khomeini (RA)” by Hadi Hakimian, titled “Challenges of Coexistence between Documentary and Fiction,” was held by the Revayat-e Sura Cultural and Artistic Institute on Tuesday, December 24, 2025, at the meeting hall of the Persistence Literature Think Tank. In this session, Morteza Qazi, Hadi Hakimian, and Javad Kalateh Arabi delivered speeches and shared insights about the book.

At the beginning of the session, the program secretary, Morteza Qazi, presented an overview of his remarks and said: “The issue of the challenges of coexistence between documentary and fiction has been our concern for several years, and we have pursued it in various fields. A pact was made between me and Mohammad Khani to hold specialized sessions in this area. We moved away from theoretical discussions and focused entirely on examples and books. These sessions are not in the form of conventional book reviews but rather an excuse to discuss specialized topics in the field of documentary fiction.”

He added: “A phenomenon has emerged that forms a path between documentary and fiction. How a documentary can be made more beautiful by using fictional elements. We want to examine the book from this perspective: has it succeeded in blending documentary and fiction? My next question for Javad Kalateh Arabi is: what is this book? Is it a documentary narrative? What has happened in this book, and how successful has it been?”

Imam and the Revolution Belong to All People

The next speaker, the book’s author Hadi Hakimian, spoke about the efforts and hardships he faced in writing this book and points related to it. He said: “The reason I went for this book was not a commissioned work but my personal interest. The image often presented of Imam is that he supposedly started his political struggles from 1963, and had no activities before that.”

Hakimian said: “I accidentally saw a document from the 1950s, a letter from Imam to one of the clerics encouraging people to participate in the 17th round of elections during Mosaddegh’s premiership, hoping that worthy individuals might enter the parliament. This letter was not even in Sahifeh Imam and is presented for the first time in this very book, Rouhollah. It had occurred to me to write a historical article about political and social activities before the 1960s, but the note-taking became so extensive due to active research that it turned into a book. I first suggested it to friends at Hoze Honari (Art Bureau), who initially welcomed it, but it wasn’t pursued until I presented this project to the Shahrestan-e Adab Institute. Overall, the work of studying, note-taking, and writing the book took 6 years.”

He further added: “Many works have been written about the life of Imam Khomeini (RA), most of which are good works, but they all share one common point: most of them are research-based. I wanted to write a work with a general appeal because the Imam and the Revolution belong to all people. My writings are mostly fictional, and my priority was history, but I tried to use fictional elements. I wrote this book in such a way that everyone, from housewives to students, market traders, and final-year high school students, can read it. I was concerned about how the feedback would be. I knew very well that both supporters and opponents would react. Even a critic asked me why I used the term ‘Ayatollah’ instead of ‘Imam’ in a certain place, to which I explained that I described him based on the historical context when he was not yet referred to as Imam. I didn’t realize the dimensions of Imam’s personality were so vast, and part of the shortcomings of the work resulted from my inexperience. The difference between this book and others lies in addressing the time period of the Imam. Most books cover up to the 22nd of Bahman (February 11, 1979) and do not narrate what happened after, but in this book, I have dedicated two chapters to the post-revolution period.”

Faint Ethical Considerations

Javad Kalateh Arabi, the critic and final speaker of the program, shared his views and said: “The book ‘Rouhollah’ reached me in June before the Leader’s commendation. I was supposed to read this book and write something about it before the commendation. My first encounter with Imam Khomeini was eighteen years ago, related to a book I wrote about his letter to Gorbachev. I was also going to write an article, but the notes for this project became too many and were published as a book. In fact, when I flipped through ‘Rouhollah,’ I couldn’t read it because I am more interested in documentary narratives. Of course, I also read novels, but I am not keen on reading a work whose nature is not clear. I decided not to read the book, considering some parts and passages related to fictional sections. In my opinion, as stated in the book’s title, this work is a documentary narrative of Imam’s life, and the short introduction about the discussion of story and story-like elements can be disregarded.”

He continued: “Hakimian put in immense effort in researching this work and truly observed points that can be found in few other books. Many works written about the Imam lack these aspects and have paid less attention to this great personality who brought about a massive political event in a corner of the world, whose effects are seen today in various parts of the world. This prominent political figure also had special epistemological approaches that remained hidden under the shadow of Imam’s political facet. In my opinion, Hakimian has succeeded in presenting a comprehensive image of Imam above all else. However, perhaps it would have been better if the ethical aspect of Imam’s personality had been emphasized more, as his ethical considerations in the details of his own life and those around him are less seen in this book; nevertheless, the work has managed to show Imam as a multi-dimensional individual.”

The critic concluded: “The book’s title is correct, and the book is a documentary. We can completely disregard the occasional, relevant or irrelevant passages about Imam’s personality that have been fictionalized and presented as a story in this book. If we overlook those very few parts and Chapter Five, which presents a story, the rest of the book usually begins with a fictional narrative in the early chapters and then enters a documentary space with a specific method, and sometimes the book moves towards being a research work. In my opinion, the label ‘story’ given to this book is very minimal, even sometimes just phrases. The Imam’s personality in this book is introduced through the events that are happening, progressing step by step, and has nothing to do with fiction. As an ordinary reader, I believe the author has not framed a story but discovered meaning. If I were to advise on writing this book, I would recommend removing the fictional sections, but at the same time, the text is very fluent and good.”