A Reflection by Mehdi Jamshidi
Faculty Member of the Culture Research Group, Research Institute for Islamic Culture and Thought
- The devastating fires engulfing America, turning the works of its technical civilization to ashes, carry a silent message—one that American media avoids hearing or conveying. While America may seem geographically distant, its influence has long reached across the globe, fueling countless wars and igniting flames far from its own borders. America has never fought wars on its soil; rather, it has orchestrated conflicts in distant lands to maintain its own security. By exporting war and bloodshed elsewhere, America sought to shield its borders from the chaos it unleashed on others.
But now, nature’s hidden hand has emerged, revealing a fierce and vengeful face to America. The world is neither blind nor deaf to oppression, and it does not silently witness injustice. Instead, nature manifests its wrath as an instrument of divine justice, shattering the arrogance of unchecked power. The once-boastful and unrestrained America now finds itself besieged, bearing witness to the consequences of its actions within its own geography—experiencing the very torment and suffering it inflicted on others. Existence is purposeful and governed by divine laws of action and reaction. As the saying goes, “Not a grain of dust is lost in this vast desert.” America, which sowed the wind yesterday, now reaps the storm; it inflicted wounds in the past and now burns in its own fire.
- We have not forgotten Gaza—a land perpetually soaked in war, fire, blood, grief, death, bombing, and displacement. The cries of Gaza’s people and children, and the blood of its martyrs, now resound and ensnare America. Nature, as one of God’s soldiers, does not always require the faithful to unsheathe their swords against the oppressors; at times, nature itself intervenes as a tool of divine punishment, embodying the wrath and dominance of God. These natural disasters are not random or coincidental; rather, they are manifestations of divine reaction to the savage and oppressive actions of the arrogant.
Nature operates within the realm of divine will and serves as a means of reckoning. While America’s geography seemed distant from the wars it provoked and ignited, this calamity demonstrates that unexpected and terrifying responses can arise from unforeseen quarters. Confident in its internal security, America supported the Zionists, who daily take lives, destroy homes, and create misery in Gaza. But suddenly, the hand of divine wrath emerges through nature, perhaps offering a moment of reflection and admonishment. If the oppressed Palestinians suffer from the bitter cold of displacement or the searing pain of bullets, America now faces its own story of ashen cities and destruction, illustrating that no one can escape the consequences of their actions.
- In America, it is not just the homes that burn; the very façade of America’s power and grandeur is also going up in flames. The once-dominant and defiant America now flounders in the face of nature, exposing its weakness and helplessness to the world. All those claims of supremacy and exceptionalism—visually magnified through Hollywood—have gone up in smoke. America, impotent before nature’s wrath, cannot suppress the outcry of its failures.
Power must be sought within national borders, not in supporting Zionists against the refugees of Gaza. Gaza burns and is consumed, but America too must taste the flames, ashes, destruction, and displacement within itself. The mythical image of America now reveals itself in the field and test of reality: an America that is helpless, powerless, and desperate, unable to confront the wrath of nature. It can only display fear, panic, and passivity in the face of nature’s advancing fury. This helplessness, incapacity, urgency, and distress is the true face of America. America must be understood here and now, not behind the veil of Hollywood cinema. That cinematic veil is embellished, theatrical, superficial, and imaginary, while this scene is real, tangible, external, and unaltered. That symbolic, hollow, and fabricated power exists only in the world of media images, deceiving and seducing those lost in illusions and fantasies. Indeed, the veil of deception has been torn, and the true, tangible face has been revealed.
Now, eyes must be opened to clearly and vividly see the helplessness and urgency, not before a powerful, equipped human force but in the face of an enraged and wrathful nature. What went up in smoke over these past days wasn’t merely luxurious homes, but also the apparent grandeur and power of America, plundered by calamity. After three days, America’s failure to control a natural fire, coupled with its passivity, fear, retreat, and turmoil, exposed and disgraced it. The claims of media, cinema, and politics have all faded, and nature has shown that America is not what it portrays itself to be.
The crafted facades, makeup, and embellishments are no longer believable, and the global audience no longer holds faith in America’s superiority. Sometimes, fire serves the truth, burning away imaginary and delusional images, leaving us with pure, unadulterated reality. In these past few days, we have seen America’s weakness, confusion, incapability, and powerlessness. We realized that all its claims, boasts, bluffs, and arrogance are merely to deceive the world. Behind the veil, there is nothing but desperation, helplessness, and incapacity. Those images have burned, leaving behind ashes that illuminate the truth.
- In the mirror of these ashes, one can witness the decline of America. The once-mighty superpower has reached the end of its narrative and can no longer use the illusions of images and words to sell its nonexistent authority or impose submission. Before our very eyes, the superpower falters in the face of reality, unable to escape this nightmare.
Los Angeles has become a ghost town, and the mass of homeless and displaced people lays bare the end of America’s fantastical story of hegemony. The ashes have a voice, revealing the hidden secrets of America’s vulnerabilities. The nation is collapsing from within, at a time when the world is awakening to its fragility.
