Being with the Dead is an ethnographic and philosophical study of grief, memory, and the enduring ethical bonds between five paraplegic Iranian veterans of the Iran-Iraq War (1980–88) and their childhood friends who died in combat. Permanently paralyzed and living with the lasting effects of trauma, the veterans cultivate ongoing relationships with the departed through devotional practices including Qurʾānic recitation, whispered prayers, and Persian mystical poetry. These sonic acts create an intimate space in which the dead appear as a 'blissful-strange' presence – at once consoling and unsettling. Drawing on ethnographic research, the text traces how the veterans' relationships with the dead evolve alongside political upheavals in Iran, prompting new reflections on martyrdom, sacrifice, and the afterlife. Bringing Islamic philosophy into conversation with anthropology, sound studies, and disability studies, this book rethinks grief as an ongoing ethical relationship in which the dead remain active members of the moral community.