Why Night Letters?!

The first question that you might have when you visit this blog, is why “Night Letters”?! Well, this title is a translation for the Persian word, Shabnameh, which was the title of my first Persian blog in 2001 and also my weekly column in most of the newspapers I worked for during my career in Iran as a journalist. But this name also has a history behind it.

A Shabnameh (literally “night letter”) is a pamphlet communicating warnings or direction, which are surreptitiously distributed and are found throughout the Persian world. An early 20th century example would be the Shabnameh that were distributed in Tehran following the Persian Constitutional Revolution, decrying the occupation of parts of Iranian territory by Russian troops and the changing of the legal examination laws. Also, it was used during several other political movements including the 1979 revolution in Iran.

I chose this name because I used to do most of my writing during the night after work hours. Also, I liked this name when I was learning about Iran’s past.

Usually a “night letter” or Shabnameh is an unsigned leaflet distributed secretly. But when I picked it, I just picked the name, not referring to this part of its meaning. From the start, every post or column that I wrote was signed with my name, and it was open to public. I kept it this way for a whole year of my career, even though it was risky.

I hope you got your answer about the name of this blog. You can always send me your feedback, and I would be happy to respond to your question or concerns.