"Birjand, the Jewel of the Desert" is an encyclopedia on the city in southwestern Khorasan Province.

Mohammadreza Behnia, who was born and brought up in Birjand, wrote the 848-page book. It describes the city and its prominent figures.

Behnia said that he spent 10 years writing the book. He mentioned a hadith (tradition) of the Prophet Mohammad (S) which states that love your of homeland is part of faith, he added, "If one does not love and have concern for his hometown, he has no interest in his country. Such a person has no land and is inclined to work for foreigners. We should love and try to rebuild our country. Small towns are the place to begin."

He said his book is the first comprehensive and detailed book on the history of Birjand. Speaking at an Iranology Congress held in Tehran, the chairman of the Iranology Foundation, Hassan Habibi, said, "If all researchers wrote such complete and comprehensive books about the different regions of Iran, Iranology would reach its zenith." Behnia said, "Some important works written on different regions, unfortunately, have never been published and were forgotten with the death of the writers due to financial problems."

He believes that associations should be set up in each city to support publishing.

Mohammadreza Behnia has a Ph.D. in agriculture and is a member of the academic boards of Aboureyhan Birouni Complex of Tehran University and Azad University.

He also wrote "Dry Farming Viticulture", "Saffron Cultivation", and "Cold Region Grains".

Behnia is now preparing a guide for an English dictionary of agricultural terms which the students of Tabriz University have recently compiled.