One of Shahīd Shahriyārī’s students
October 27th, 2016
Teaching was very important to him. On one occasion, the Tuesday and the Thursday before our class with him (which was held on Wednesdays) fell on holidays. We wanted to cancel the Wednesday class [so that we could have a four day weekend. I was designated to represent the class in broaching the subject with the professor. I asked him to allow us not to come to class on Wednesday. He became truly annoyed. He said, “What kind of talk is this?? Students must attend their classes!” I deeply regretted putting the request to him. I said, “Professor, I was acting as a representative of the class.” He responded firmly, “Be so kind as not to make such representations in the future.”