Borunsi, Abdolhussain
Abdolhussain Borunsi was the commander of the 18th Javad al-Aemmah (as) Brigade of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Khorasan Province. He was martyred on March 14, 1985, in Operation Badr in Hoor al-Azim.
Abdolhussain Borunsi was born on August 25, 1942, in Golbouy village in Torbat-e Heydarieh County, Razavi Khorasan Province.[1] He completed only four years of primary school in his home village before dropping out after witnessing inappropriate behavior by male teachers toward female students. He then took up farming.[2]
In 1962, at the age of 20, Borunsi began his mandatory military service in Birjand and later continued it in Mashhad. During his service, he was assigned as an orderly in the home of one of the army officers, but he returned to the barracks because of the immodest dress of the household women. Despite being punished by his commander, he refused to go back.[3]
In 1968, at age 25, he married his cousin Masoumeh Sabok-khiz. They had eight children. When the Pahlavi regime’ s Land Reform program began, Borunsi could have benefited materially from the redistribution of landowners’ property to ordinary people. However, as he considered the forced seizure and redistribution contrary to Islamic law, he left the village for Mashhad.[4] After moving to Mashhad, Borunsi first worked in a dairy-products workshop, but quit when he discovered the owner was diluting milk with water and selling it to customers. He then took a job at a vegetable shop, but soon left that too and became a construction worker.[5]
As popular protests against the Pahlavi regime grew, Borunsi became more active. He regularly attended the lectures of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei at Karamat Mosque in Mashhad. Together with a group of young seminarians, he helped distribute leaflets containing Imam Khomeini’ s statements and the speeches of Ayatollah Khamenei, Ayatollah Seyyed Muhammad Hussaini Beheshti, and others in cities such as Birjand, Kashmar, Torbat-e Heydarieh, Fariman, and elsewhere across the province. During this period, he was arrested several times.[6]
After the victory of the Islamic Revolution, Borunsi joined the IRGC and was assigned to the security section of the Mashhad Revolutionary Prosecutor’ s Office.[7] When clashes broke out in western Iran, he was dispatched to Paveh and took part in the liberation of the city.[8]
From the very first days of the Iran-Iraq War, Borunsi, along with a group of volunteer forces from Khorasan, headed to the southern fronts.[9] Thanks to his competence, he rose quickly in the IRGC’ s combat organization. In Operation Fath al-Mubin, he served as battalion commander and was wounded in the waist.[10]
In spring 1982, with the formation of the 18th Javad al-Aemmah (as) Brigade of the Khorasan IRGC, Borunsi became commander of the Abdollah Battalion, widely known as the “ Borunsi Battalion”.[11] He served as deputy commander of the 18th Javad al-Aemmah (as) Brigade in operations Valfajr 3 and Valfajr 4.[12]
After the brigade’ s commander at the time was wounded, Borunsi was appointed commander on June 29, 1984. He led the brigade in operations Kheibar, Meimak, and Badr.[13]
Abdolhussain Borunsi was martyred on March 14, 1985, in Operation Badr in the Hoor al-Azim operational area, where his body was left.[14]
In May 2011, his body— together with those of twelve other martyrs of the eight-year Sacred Defense— was discovered east of the Tigris River.[15] After DNA testing confirmed his identity, he was buried in Mashhad on September 8, 2011, following a funeral procession.[16]
In part of his will, Borunsi wrote: “ Listen to the Holy Quran with attention. Draw close to it and let this divine book guide your life. Turn to the Quran for guidance, find strength in its words… and make it your role model so you are not led astray. ”[17]
What made Borunsi especially renowned among the fighters and ordinary people was his deep spirituality and his reliance on the Ahl al‑Bayt (as) to resolve problems. It is said that during one operation, when his men became trapped in a minefield, he performed a long prostration and beseeched Lady Fatimah Zahra (sa). When he rose, without any apparent material signs or indicators, he pointed out a safe path and led the entire force out of the minefield without a single casualty. Before Operation Badr, he told his comrades: “ Lady Fatimah Zahra (sa) has promised me that I will be martyred”. It was also well known within the Javad al-Aemmah (as) Brigade that “ Haji Borunsi said: ‘ If I am not martyred in this operation, I will doubt my own faith as a Muslim’ ”.[18]
The Supreme Leader of the Revolution has said of him: “ Martyr Abdolhussain Borunsi possessed many outstanding qualities; perhaps the most important among them were his simple way of living, his exemplary humbleness, and his complete avoidance of bureaucratic formalities and ostentation”.[19]
Several books about Abdolhussain Borunsi have been published, including Golbouy (Golbouy) by Setareh-ha Publications, Khakha-ye Narm-e Kooshk (The Soft Soils of Kooshk) by Mulk Azam Publications, Bargi az Yek Zendegi (A Page from a Life) by Sureh Mehr Publications, and Beravid Peydayash Konid (Go and Find Him) by Setareh-ha Publications. The film Be Kaboodi-ye Yas (Blue like the Jasmine) and the Osta Abdolhussain (Abdolhussain the Bricklayer) documentary also cover aspects of his life. His handwritten notes are preserved in the Khorasan Sacred Defense Museum.[20] The Shahid Borunsi Highway in District 9 of Mashhad was named in his honor.
References
- [1]. Seyadat Mousavi, Zahra, Bargi az yek Zendegi (A Page from a Life), Tehran, Sureh-ye Mehr, 1397, p. 8.
- [2]. Ibid., p. 8; Mahname-ye Shahed-e Yaran, Borunsi In-gune Borunsi Shod: Naql-qol-haei az Shahid Borunsi darbare-ye Khodash dar Goft-o Shenud ba Haj Seyyed Hashem Mousavi az Yaran-e Shahid (Borunsi Became Borunsi This Way: Quotations from Martyr Borunsi about Himself in an Interview with Haj Seyyed Hashem Mousavi), No. 94– 95, Mordad va Shahrivar 1392, p. 40.
- [3]. Ibid.; Ibid.
- [4]. Seyadat Mousavi, Zahra, Ibid., p. 8; Mahname-ye Shahed-e Yaran, Moraqebatha-ye Vizhei ke Shahid Borunsi az Khodash Mikard: Shahid Borunsi dar Qamat-e yek Hamsar dar Goft-o Shenud ba Hajieh Khanom Masoumeh Sabok-khiz Hamsar-e Shahid (Special Observations and Practices that Martyr Borunsi Used to Follow: Borunsi as a Husband in an Interview with His Wife, Masoumeh Sabok-khiz), Ibid., p. 9; Mehrdad, Seyyed Ali-Reza, Golbouy (Golbouy), Kongere-ye Bozorgdasht-e Sardaran va 23000 Shahid-e Ostan-e Khorasan, 1380, Pp. 183– 186.
- [5]. Mahname-ye Shahed-e Yaran, Moraqebatha-ye Vizhei ke Shahid Borunsi az Khodash Mikard: Shahid Borunsi dar Qamat-e yek Hamsar dar Goft-o Shenud ba Hajieh Khanom Masoumeh Sabok-khiz Hamsar-e Shahid (Special Observations and Practices that Martyr Borunsi Used to Follow: Borunsi as a Husband in an Interview with His Wife, Masoumeh Sabok-khiz), Ibid., p. 10.
- [6]. Ibid., Pp. 11– 13; Mehrdad, Seyyed Ali-Reza, Ibid., Pp. 30– 38.
- [7]. Mehrdad, Seyyed Ali-Reza, Ibid., p. 41.
- [8]. Mahname-ye Shahed-e Yaran, Moraqebatha-ye Vizhei ke Shahid Borunsi az Khodash Mikard: Shahid Borunsi dar Qamat-e yek Hamsar dar Goft-o Shenud ba Hajieh Khanom Masoumeh Sabok-khiz Hamsar-e Shahid (Special Observations and Practices that Martyr Borunsi Used to Follow: Borunsi as a Husband in an Interview with His Wife, Masoumeh Sabok-khiz), Ibid., p. 14.
- [9]. Mahname-ye Shahed-e Yaran, Be Arezuyash Resid: Shahid Borunsi dar Ayene-ye Kalam-e Moattar-e Sardar Shahid Nourali Shoushtari (He Reached His Wish: Borunsi Through the Moving Words of Martyr Commander Nourali Shoushtari), Ibid., p. 4.
- [10]. Sait-e Daneshnameh-ye Eslami, https://wiki.ahlolbait.com/
- [11]. Mahname-ye Shahed-e Yaran, Ostad Abdolhussain; Anchenan ke Bud: Chisti-ye Shakhsiyat va Rah-e Shahid Borunsi dar Goft-o Shenud ba Sardar Seyyed Ba Sardar Sartip Dovom‑e Bazneshaste Pasdar Seyyed Kazem Kazem Hussaini-far, az Yaran-e Shahid (Abdolhussain the Bricklayer — As He Was: The Personality and Views of Martyr Borunsi, in Conversation with Ret. Brigadier General Seyyed Kazem Hussaini‑far, One of Borunsi’ s Companions), Ibid., p. 31; Ba Eshq Pay-e Kar Amade Bud: Sireh-ye Shahid Borunsi dar Goft-o Shenud-e Shahed-e Yaran ba Sardar Abbas Shamlou, Farmandeh-ye Shahid Borunsi (He Took up the Cause Eagerly: Shahid Borunsi’ s Life; The Shahed-e Yaran Interview with Abbas Shamlou, Martyr Borunsi’ s Commander), Pp. 37– 38.
- [12]. Sait-e Daneshnameh-ye Eslami, Ibid.
- [13]. Ibid.; Mahname-ye Shahed-e Yaran, Hamvare Khaki va Foroutan Bud: Simay-e Shahid Borunsi dar Goft-o Shenud-e Shahed‑e Yaran ba Sarhang‑e Bazneshaste Pasdar Haj Hamid Khalkhal (He Was Always Humble and Modest: Shahid Borunsi’ s Personality in the Shahed‑e Yaran Interview with Ret. Colonel Haj Hamid Khalkhal), Ibid., p. 69.
- [14]. Sait-e Daneshnameh-ye Eslami, Ibid.
- [15]. Rouznameh-ye Keyhan (Keyhan Newspaper), No. 19911, 6 Ordibehesht 1390, p. 3.
- [16]. Ibid., No. 19917, 13 Ordibehesht 1390, p. 2.
- [17]. Mahname-ye Shahed-e Yaran, Bannay-e Aref (The Mystic Bricklayer), Ibid., p. 1.
- [18]. Mahname-ye Shahed-e Yaran, Goft Hazrat Zahra (sa) be Ou Qol-e Shahadat Dade Ast: Revayat-e Rahimpour Azghadi az Sardar-e Fatemi-ye Jebhe-ye Haq (He Said Lady Fatimah (sa) Has Promised Him Martyrdom: Rahimpour Azghadi’ s Account of the Fatemi Commander of the Battle of Truth Against Falsehood), Ibid., p. 25.
- [19]. Sait-e Khabargozari-e Defa Muqaddas, https://defapress.ir/; Sait-e Daneshnameh-ye Eslami, https://wiki.ahlolbait.com/
- [20]. Sait-e Tarikh-e Shafahi, https://www.oral-history.ir/?page=post&id=2583
