''Payman'' ( Persian: ''Promise'') was a cultural and political magazine in Iran. It was one of the periodicals which was published and edited by Iranian religious reformist Ahmad Kasravi in the period 1933–1942.

History and profile

The first issue of ''Payman'' appeared in December 1933. The title of the magazine was a reference to another magazine with the same name in which Ziya Gökalp, an Ottoman nationalist intellectual, published articles at the beginning of the 20th century. Kasravi's close ally Reza Soltanzadeh was the editor of ''Payman''. Nearly all the articles published in the magazine were written by Kasravi. ''Payman'' came out biweekly during the first six months. Then it was published on a monthly basis and became the official organ of the political party, Azadegan, in 1941 when Kasravi founded the party. In the first seven years the subtitle of ''Payman'' was ''gozaresh-e sharq va gharb'' (Persian: ''Account of East and West''). Then it was changed to ''dar bareh-ye shenakhtan-e jahan'' (Persian: ''On Knowing the World'') and ''gozaresh-e jahan'' (Persian: ''World Report''). ''Payman'' folded in 1942 and was succeeded by '' Parcham''.

Content

Kasravi's writings in ''Payman'' outlined his general

ideology An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied pri ...

. His articles mostly contained a critical approach towards the Europeanization of Iran and the alienation of Iranian people from their own customs and traditions. Kasravi also criticized

Iranian poets Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

, Sufis and

materialism Materialism is a form of philosophical monism which holds matter to be the fundamental substance in nature, and all things, including mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. According to philosophical materiali ...

in his writings. Other topics which he attacked in the magazine included

superstitions A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly applied to beliefs and ...

in Shiism and

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

. His lecture delivered at the Literary Society was serialized in ''Payman'' in two parts. After the publication of the first part Prime Minister Mohammad Ali Foroughi ordered the next issue of the magazine to be censored which would cover its second part. Although the next issue was published, it did not feature the remaining part of Kasravi's lecture. In addition, ''Payman'' contained a column on international politics.

Legacy

A collection of Kasravi's writings published in ''Payman'' was printed as a book in 1965. The Chicago Persian Microfilms Project initiated by the University of Chicago in 1985 archived the issues of ''Payman''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Payman 1933 establishments in Iran 1942 disestablishments in Iran Ahmad Kasravi Censorship in Iran Defunct magazines published in Iran Defunct political magazines Magazines established in 1933 Magazines disestablished in 1942 Monthly magazines published in Iran Persian-language magazines Biweekly magazines