Shawwal 25,1386 AH
His Eminence `Imad al-A`lam wa Thiqat al-Islam Mr. Gerami, may his graces last:
Your noble missive was received and I hereby do apologize for the delay in responding. Due to my weakness and back pain toward the end of the blessed month of Ramadan, I stayed at home. This incidence was repeated, thus causing delay in my responding to your missive. I am saddened and anxious of the state of affairs in Iran in general and the situation in the Qum region in particular. I am also uncomfortable about the difficulties experienced by the scholars and theologians. However, what gives relief is that in the course of serving the faith, whatever difficulties come up are agreeable and whatever we have is a blessing from Islam and no matter how much we sacrifice, we still have not done justice to Islam. I hope that Almighty God with His comprehensive knowledge would compensate for our deficiencies. I hope you will recover from your leg pain before then.
It goes without saying that the scholars should do their best in keeping the theological school running. Whatever Almighty God has destined is for our own good and such pressures should not disappoint the clergy in reaching their objectives. I pray to Almighty God for success and confirmation of all.
As to the issue of the remote cities that you had mentioned, let us hope that Almighty God will arrange for the situation in such a way that we find the power for such a success. I hope for your benevolent prayers. May peace be upon you.
Rouhullah al-Mousawi al-Khomeini