Imam Khomeini, Ethics and Politics
Translator’s Foreword
The present volume is an English rendition of the 294-page Persian
book, Imām, Akhlāq, Siyāsat by Sayyid Hasan Islāmī (Tehran: The
Institute for Compilation and Publication of Imām Khomeinī’s Works,
Spring 2002/1381 AHS).
Unless otherwise stated, the translation of Qur’anic passages is based
on Marmaduke Pickthall’s The Meaning of the Glorious Qur’an: Text and
Explanatory Translation (Karachi: Taj Company, Ltd., 1984) while the
New International Version (NIV) of the Bible (Colorado: International
Bible Society, 1984) is chosen for the biblical passages. The
translation of quotations from the Nahj al-Balāghah is based on that
of Syed ‘Ali Raza (Qum: Foundation of Islamic Cultural Propagation in
the World, 1995). For the quotations from Imām Khomeinī’s Sharh-e
Chehel Hadīth, Mahliqā Qarā’ī and ‘Alī Qūlī Qarā’ī’s translation
[Forty Hadīths: An Exposition of Ethical and Mystical Traditions
(Tehran: The Institute for Compilation and Publication of Imām
Khomeinī’s Works, 2003)] is hereby adapted.
Footnotes with the signs, “[Trans.]” and “[Pub.]” are not that of the
author, and thus, not in the original Persian text, but provided by the
translator and publisher, respectively, to facilitate better
understanding for the English readers. For the preparation of the
latter’s notes, gratitude is due to Sayyed Sadeq Hosseyni of the
Research Unit, International Affairs Department of the Institute.
Personal thanks are due to friends and voluntary consultants on the
proper understanding of some dubious and equivocal lines: Majid Karimi,
Sayyed Solaiman Sadat and Mehdi Sarhaddi of the Institute’s Translation
Unit.
It needs mentioning that this project could not have been realized had
it not been for the patience and consideration of Wali Teymouri, the
translation supervisor and chief of the Translation Unit for giving an
ample grace period for me to render the last stroke of my pen.
The efforts of my better half, Leilali, in assisting me typesetting
this book and preparing its index, which is not extant in the original
Persian copy, deserve acknowledgment.
I am also indebted to the editor, ‘Abdul-Husayn Shirazi, who went
through the manuscript most meticulously, particularly with respect to
its integrity vis-à-vis the original Persian text, as well as to the
proper choice of equivalent words and expressions. Yet, any error that
may be detected in the text is mine.
Mansoor L. Limba
mlimba@diplomats.com
February 3, 2003
Dhū’l-Hijjah 1, 1424 AH
Bahman 12, 1381 AHS