Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Mehdy's Graduation Speech


*My apologies for the short removal of this post. 
This was the speech Mehdy would have given at graduation, had he been able to attend. What he was prepared to read to the graduating class was everything Mehdy Hazheer stood for, and it's saturated with the essence of imense love Mehdy had for his friends, his school, his family, the world, and God. I hope wherever he is now, he's seen the golden city. 

The Gardener

          Friends and family, brother and sisters, peers and faculty; I have the incredible honor
to come and speak to you on this remarkable day, a truly momentous occasion, on the matter of our seeming rite of passage into college and ultimately, independence. Before I start, I would like to thank my parents for being fabulous in so many different ways and for not having kicked me out of the house. I appreciate their wonderful kindness. Raleigh Charter, you’ve been amazing and  you have constructively challenged me to elevate myself, to appreciate diversity, and to serve others valiantly. And most of all, I would like to thank God, the Beloved for every good in our world. The mistakes have only been ours. So thank God for being...God.
            And so, we sit here, celebrating what will be a memorable moment of our lives, rejoicing that high school, that our initial years of education are finally over. We’re with our families and our friends; we are shedding some indelible tears on this inevitable movement towards tomorrow. And to describe this in one word, "Wow!" What a time we live in now. The thing is though, that if you listen closely enough, in the background, you, I...we can hear the spiritual gunfire. If we focus, between the cracks of our privileged lives, we can see an oncoming darkness that will try to cover and in a sense, suffocate the hopes and dreams, the passions and love of our youth, of our lives. This 'gunfire', this pervasive complacency, this widespread acceptable apathy, can become my downfall and the downfall of enriched students and people like you. The seeds of inspiration will have no possibility of surviving under this blanket of numbness that may come over us, penetrating our fertile hearts through various means, forcing us to succumb to a sense of mediocrity. Notice that in history, it's youth in general, that initiates revolutions, that topples dictatorships, that drives a society forward to further paradigm shifts. It was the sacrifices of youth in Tunisia that ignited the youth of Egypt into widespread social demonstrations. It was the heroic demands of youth in Egypt that inspired the oppressed youth in Bahrain and Syria to stand up against decades of corrupt tyranny. It was through the struggle of youth in the Middle East that the Libyan people woke up from their freakish nightmare and strived and are striving towards a golden future.

            That golden future is what we need to constantly be conscious of, struggling towards, and I want to relay to you today an experience of mine, a personal one and possibly a Life of Pi kind of story. I had once known a great man, a family man, a Godly man. His name was Ehsan. And Ehsan was a member of the community, and oddly enough, a part of me. I didn’t think much of him at the time, nor did I think he thought much of me. We were strangers to one another, but incredibly enough, we were mysteriously linked.
          And at some point in time--this is going to sound fuzzy and possibly silly--but at some point in time, Ehsan had a dream. And what a dream it was. Please don’t ask me how I came to know this dream, or how I became aware of it, what path I took to see it, because honestly, I don't know. This dream stupefied me, astonished me; it truly perplexed me. And it came, the words, the vision, it came to him, and I believe it came to me. In his dream, there was a golden city of human perfection, a spiritual utopia, one where the possibility of crime and corruption was present, but no one dared to lower themselves because they were conscious of their transcendent identities, their community, and their God. There were riches, wealth, but it was not of the material kind but rather of the spiritual and intellectual one. In this beautiful world, there was only a lower-case "I" to describe the self, and people strove to make their needs their only wants rather than all their wants their needs. And at the risk of this seeming very "radly hippie," it was a world of peace, love, and Unity. A world, to us, of  impossibility, foolishness, and pure fantasy.             As this dream progressed, Ehsan walked through the divine streets of gardens that blossomed life, on third avenue where the daffodils sung and were kissed by lips of the magnificent, cherished Sun. The city was full of men and women, children and elder, but there were only two categories of people who lived in this golden city: there were dancers who read and there were scholars who danced. Ehsan followed the trails where lovers bicycled their way through and found at the dead center of the massive Golden city was a humble hut with a small olive tree to the side. I watched, through Ehsan's eyes, as Ehsan carefully entered the hut with humility before the awesomeness of everything.
            And he found, or we found, in the center, on a mat, in meditation, a middle-aged woman, who seemed to emit an alluring light from a recent birth she had. Her name was Marium. She cordially invited us in, and gave us a seat on the patted mats that were against the sides of the hut. Ehsan stared for a while, unable to really grasp any of it, and she recognized, I mean she always seemed to know, that we were stuck. She then, with a smile, reached for her pouch, and from it, she took out a seed. She looked up at us, with a slightly different smile, one which saw opportunity, and she held that seed a foot away from her face, displaying it optimistically to us, and she said "The pensive light awaits awakening. Plant this seed in your spiritual ruins and let Atlantis come alive. Achieve Atlantis,  and then allow it to spread. Golden cities will grow into a Golden world and eventually into a Golden universe." And with that, all of it became a waterfall. A moment in evaporation. And all I know now is that I received a seed of inspiration and at same time, a new friend: Ehsan.
            That seed, I planted it, and Ehsan became the gardener. He was no longer an acquaintance, but rather, he was me. And I him. We were one. And he became the embodiment of my passion to enrich myself with the immense amount of opportunities available in my world. He was the one who, in order to nourish that seed, strived at Raleigh Charter these past four years. And his essence is not something unique to me, but rather, is found commonly within each of us. It's his essence that we continue to find enlightened within each of us at Raleigh Charter, and it is those inner, at least partial, enlightenments, that have empowered Raleigh Charter to achieve an environment where intellectual curiosity is fostered and encouraged by not only teachers and parents, but by students as well. And we will receive those seeds constantly from Marium, with her continual urgency regarding the need to transform our world into Atlantis, but we need to translate those seeds into Golden cities. Friends, classmates, be awakened and awaken others. Achieve your inner Ehsan. Thank you, and I hope you all have a wonderful day and eventually all of you will realize success.  

21 comments:

  1. What a beautiful speech!

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  2. Even after his death, this speech still reaches out to people. He was a great guy.

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  3. This was such a beautiful speech also,it really touched my soul.I did not know Mehdu but i know his speech will touch so many lives.My sympathy goes out to the family and friends.Sometimes we no not why things happen like they do,but god always knows best.

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  4. Thank you, Mehdy, for teaching me how important it is to strive for that intellect. May God bless your soul, and send you to the gate of heaven. I'll miss you my dear friend.

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  5. We were deeply saddened to hear the loss of such a bright young man. May the peace which comes from the memories of love shared, comfort the family and friends now and in the days ahead.

    May the comfort of God help those in grief during this difficult times.

    As an Afghan Boy the loss of Mehdy was a great loss to the future of Afghanistan.

    Sakhi R. Faryabi
    United Nations Association of Afghanistan

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  6. It's like he knew that his day was coming...

    Mashallah, his speech was amazing, it is of no surprise that the person who wrote this was going to Harvard.

    We really did lose something great when he died.

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  7. I didn't even know Mehdi, but after reading so much about him, and reading this speech by him, it's so difficult not to love him. In his lifetime, I do not think he ever thought that so many people could be touched by his presence and moved by his words. It takes a truly loving person to make such a big difference in the lives of so many people. He loved humanity. He served it well. He loved God. And now, he is with Him. May Allah grant you the highest levels of Jannah, Mehdy...

    Ma Salama.

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  8. This was such a beautiful speech also,it really touched my soul.Even I didn't know or haven't seen Mehdi Jan, but We all know he is in a great place now but I feel bad why we are losing those kind of great young people. He was a great example for our kids and a wonderful teacher for our kids but unfortunately we don't have him anymore.we will all miss him terribly, because he was a wonderful human being. The affection is obvious the way everyone reacted to his loss. We can't believe he's gone. Losing any young person is the worst thing that can happen in life. We will be thinking of his throughout the season.”May Allah grant you the highest levels of Behesht.

    FARZANA HAFIZ
    From Virginia
    June,10,2011

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  9. mehdy u are the best and everyone knows that u r up with god u must be really happy u got ur wish. u always said i only love my god and i want to go and be with him. may allah grant u the highest levels of jennah

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  10. Simply, amanzing speech! Mehdy jan- what happened is just unimaginable and unbelievable, but only God knows what's the best....knowing you & your family, I think this world was not good enough for you so God invite you to the enternal life, where is more meaningful agenda than in here..you are missed exteremly & no one can take your place in here, BUT we have no choice other than just pray for you and wait up for our turn....May all your dreams come true and you enjoy a peaceful life there...God bless.

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  11. subhanallah, the way he lived his life will continue and continue to inspire all those who knew him as well as those who didnt. we go about our lives seeking nothing but the love ad pleasure of this world and what Mehdy showed us in this speech was to seek the love of "the beloved" - GOD. unfortunately this tragic loss made me realise this, that above all nothing is more important than GOD, that indeed, together through unity, love, respect for one another, and the Ehsan within each and every one of us can we achieve this golden city.... but i am sure, without a doubt that the golden city that Brother Mehdy strived for and succeeded in finding is in heaven with the beloved and almighty Allah. i pray, to inshallah (god willing)see each and everyone of us regardlss of religion or race, to find the courage to find the ehsan within us and reach this golden city. thank you for posting this here :)

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  12. Mehdy wrote such an amazing, well written speech, it was so in depth. It inspired so many people. It is very sad that he is not with us anymore. I am so sorry for the family's loss.

    Jabar

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  13. I didn't know Mehdy, but I'm touched by his loving heart. This is a very beautiful speach. May his soul rest in peace. May Allah bring comfort to his loving family.

    Kimy

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  14. Inna lillahi wa inna ilahi raji`oun..May Allah SWT grant him the highest place in Jennah..Amin Ya Rabb.. ~ Beautiful speech masha Allah :) May His Soul Rest In Peace.. Ws

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  15. I am in awe of this young man's spiritual depth and insight. Few at his age can really fathom these secrets of the heart. RIP Mehdy Jaan.

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  16. It never ceases to amaze me that the ones that are taken away too soon are so the ones we need to retain on this earth ...

    Mehdy was wise far beyond his scant 18 yrs. spent here.

    He was sent for but a brief while to teach us something many may not even comprehend. I comprehend it well and know this: It's not simply education that made his all so wise and all knowing being, it's his old soul coming through to educate others.

    May all of those lucky enough to know him carry on his message, BE THE CHANGE the world so needs.

    Allow all hate to cease to exist, love all life, including the animals that must live amongst us ~ end the suffering of all.

    Prayers and peace to the hearts of those he loved and those that loved him.

    We never realize what we have until it somehow is taken from us. Or we may know it to some degree, but the full realization comes when God calls them home.

    Honor him, because Mehdy was special. His spirit has wings and there is no telling where they will take him now.

    Lisa Marie Cross
    Palm Springs, CA

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  17. Mehdy,
    may allah place you in jannatul firdoss. What a soul searching speech. thanks.

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  18. Being an 18 year old young man myself, this Speech touched me like no other. I had to shed some tears reading this, knowing that Mehdy is no longer with us.
    InshAllah you are in a better place, may your soul rest in eternal bliss.
    Ameen Ameen

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  19. Mashallah Mehdy! Your speech was amazing. You have been on my mind ever since the incident. I can't stop thinking about our wonderful friendship we had. I miss you man. Visit me soon inshallah. Your always in my thoughts and prayer. I love you brother.

    Then again, I was thinking to myself how short this life is and how its not worth a single penny. I try to balance myself with the spiritual side and the worldly side. I know I can not live peacefully with only one. I have to have both on my shoulder. Giving time for God and school. It has to be balanced. I shouldn't waste my time for girls no more and for foolish acts. I need to focus on earning a successful education and a ticket to paradise. Inshallah, with the help of God, I will achieve both., but most importantly that ticket. I will then come and visit you and we can have a cup of tea.

    I Love you, Islamically of course. :)

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  20. Mehdy jan i can only say so much to say how great you are, yesterday was your 1 year anniversary for your death and it was a sad night. We miss you greatly you will always be in our hearts i knew you not well but when i had the chance to be with you i felt like a something with inner and outer beauty too was there we miss you

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