The silver Zulfiqar, a recreation of the sword used by Imam Ali in Shia tradition, hangs on the wall of Shahid's apartment. It was a gift from his close friend Naveed, a Pakistani man he met years ago at a mosque in New York. The sword bears an inscription from a famous Pakistani poem that combines Persian and Arabic: "King of men, Lion of God, Strength of the Lord. There is no hero but Ali, and no sword but Zulfiqar." To him, it represents both his faith and the friendships he built in New York.
Shahid has often felt caught between his Iranian and American identities. Unlike Iranian immigrants who left after the Shah was deposed, he left in 1988, following the Iran-Iraq War. Because of that, he often felt out of place within parts of New York's Iranian diaspora, where opposition to the IRGC did not reflect his own views.
At mosques he met Arabs, Afghans, Pakistanis, and others who shared the same religious traditions despite coming from different countries. When I asked whether he considers himself American, he said no. American intervention and sanctions in Iran have strangled the country for decades, and he sees their effects. But when I asked if he feels like a New Yorker, he answered with a proud yes. Like the inscription on the sword that blends cultures, New York reminds him that people can form new identities over common ground despite coming from different backgrounds, and what emerges is something new, but also still holds the weight of their own individual histories.

– Ariba Hassan

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