This is My Father
By: Nijood Nouri Jaffar
“I am not an author, and I do not even pretend to be one,
but he is my father; therefore, I wrote”.
He is one of the distinguished figures of the golden generation of Iraq,
for he is lore and a mark in the life of those who knew him or read about him.
Oh, what a knowledge and legacy he left behind for us and for many generations to come.
Thank God’s favour Nouri Jaffar is my father.
I recall my father’s biography,
I ponder over his life and read about his knowledge to delve into
his human attributes and his rich philosophical thought.
This kindles the questioning of who influenced him
and who he himself did influence?
The answer to both is scholars and thinkers from the entire world who appeared throughout his writings.
I asked him one day: “Why do you keep reading and writing now that you are a pronounced scientist?”
He answered smiling: “I am not a scientist; I am rather a scholar.”
“A scholar” was an attribute he always preferred to describe himself.
He would withdraw in a corner with a book most of the time.
He used to be a thinker permanently thirsty for knowledge,
until the last day of his life.
Knowledge, to him, was like a sea of which he could never have enough, standing there on its side.
I contemplate my father’s biography to delve deep into
his human attributes and his hidden thought;
yet, I have not reached their depths.
I find myself indulging into his life, as if he were there with me,
and wonder for such a man who faced all kinds of life challenges with a smile
to leave an impression and a track for those who knew him personally,
or those who read of him or about him, or even heard of him.
Ever since I knew him, I saw no companion for him other than the book.
His path was that of knowledge.
His pen competed with his thought,
while his thought vied with his pen.
The journey of his life fascinated me
for all that he had accomplished despite all the challenges.
I admired his stamina.
The method of his personality was that of broad-minded interlocution.
The lines of his writings reflected deep connotations, likewise.
From the time of his departure on,
I have been thinking of rendering him a tribute,
which I claim would keep his memory alive,
for his memory has been perpetuated by others.
Still, it is a promise I made myself,
the purpose of which is to publicize his knowledge.
I shall do my best and make every effort I can to put his biography together
and offer it as a gift and a tribute to my father.
I kept my promise, as I present this site today,
a tribute to his figure and an attempt to publicize his rich knowledge.
It is not out of “every daughter is an admirer of her father”,
and he is “my” father,
but it is out of his scientific and personal worth.
I do it, and my actions speak of my astonishment
of the path of my life with him,
as I go through the pages of his life history
and in between the lines of his writings;
he has been a symbol of giving and sacrifice for us, his offspring.
I have never thought, as I recall my memories with him,
that he had such a deep imprint and influence upon me.
This is my father.
He preoccupied me with his figure and his upbringing of me;
factors that he had implanted in me and of which my personality grew.
He permeates me with his spiritual communication in every bearing,
to be my model in life admittedly.
I ask God to have mercy upon him and upon my mother
and every giver like them.