Across the dinner table an old acquaintance, an Iranian by profession, was boasting: “They are all ready to die for the Revolution!” His face was flushed with excitement, as he obviously included himself in the ominous “they,” but was too modest to admit it. I immediately thought of Hegel—of his definition of the state. I do not remember how I reacted then, but it is most likely that I threw in something mature and wise, by asking a ponderous question: “But, are they willing to live for the Revolution?” It is almost certain that my question was accompanied by a fixed stare through and beyond an empty wine bottle that separated us. Actually, I was thinking about the thin line that binds the readiness to die and the readiness to kill for such a lofty cause, once the life of others had become as insignificant as one’s own, at best. Hegel had obviously neglected to consider this moment of the state: identification as indifference to life in general.

Addendum I (November 19, 1988)

Several years ago I bumped into the Iranian fellow at Harvard Square. I had a feeling he found it difficult to place me, but he recognized me immediately. It was obvious that he was not happy to see me. He told me unwillingly that he had just returned from Iran. Then he fell silent and stared at me in discomfort. He looked wasted. His eyes were empty. His jaw was limp. When I asked him about his experience in Iran, he became rather irritated: “I don’t want to talk about it!” Before I could calm him down, he muttered a few words of farewell and disappeared in the crowd.

Addendum II (October 11, 2001)

In today’s Daily Mail Adel Darwish writes about the mind of a Muslim fundamentalist. Judging from his name, he may know what he is talking about. In his article, he quotes Tariq bin Ziyad’s warning to his infidel enemies: “I am coming to you with people whose love of death equals your love of life.” This is the same Tariq who in the Seventh Century conquered Spain, and after whom Gibraltar (Jabal al Tariq in Arabic) was named. According to Darwish, such attitudes are deeply ingrained in the Muslim world ever since the Caliphs. Whence my story, no doubt.