In His Most Exalted Name
Eve of Dhou'l-Hijjah 18,1397 AH
His Venerable Eminence, `Imad al-A`lam wa Thiqat al-Islam Aqa Shaykh Sadiq Khalkhali, may his favors last long:
I have received with thanks your esteemed letter expressing your sympathies and manifestation of kind sentiments on this tragedy. May God give us all the good fortune to be of service. I cannot forget your kindness; in fact, your role in this sacred movement. The trouble you have taken at crucial junctures in dangerous situations can never be forgotten. As this has been for the pleasure of the Almighty and for serving Islam, you will, God willing, be honored in the Holy Presence of the God, the Exalted. It is hoped that God will grant you and us maximum success in serving Truth and the glorious tenets of Islam. The gentlemen must excuse me in case I have been negligent at times in answering their letters. Weak, ailing and beset with anxieties, I am impatiently counting the days. I request you to convey my thanks and appreciation to all the savants and theology teachers of the seminary that have shown their kindness. I hope that they will not forget me in their benevolent prayers for my salvation. May God's peace and mercy be upon you.
Rouhullah al-Mousawi al-Khomeini