Borunsi

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Borunsi, originally titled in Persian as خاک‌های نرم کوشک (Soft Soil Palace), is a memoir about Abd-al-Hussain Borunsi, the commander of the 18th Brigade of Javadolaemeh in the Iran-Iraq War. The book is a collection of memories from Borunsi’s wife and friends, written by Saeed A’kef. The Persian edition was first published in 2004 by Mulk A’zam Publications, with translations by Muhammad Borumandi helping it reach a wider audience. Since its first edition, Borunsi has been reprinted more than 200 times and is one of Iran’s best-selling books.

Borunsi was born in 1942 in a village in Khorasan. He worked in construction while studying religious texts. He was imprisoned and tortured by SAVAK for his resistance to the Pahlavi regime. He was killed on March 14, 1985, in the Iran-Iraq War, while commanding the 18th Brigade. His body was left on the battlefield and was recovered in 2011; he was buried in Mashhad on the anniversary of Fatimah bint Muhammad.

The book is regarded as a Sacred Defense work in Iran because it tells Borunsi’s life through the memories of his wife and friends. It presents 70 short narratives about his character, each accompanied by a photo. It was published privately, as state publications at the time were wary of such war books. The work has been translated into Urdu, Arabic, Turkish, and English; the Arabic edition reportedly sold one million copies in its first year, though some translations were allegedly stolen or distributed illegally. Borunsi was also showcased at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2011.