I seek refuge in God from the accursed Satan
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
A comparison of the Shah with the Pharaoh
The talks were revolving around this first principle which the Iranian nation had demanded. The Iranian nation is making a few demands the first of which is for this man (the Shah) to bow out, for this dynasty to step down from power. They (the advocates of the regime) have resorted to many excuses which I have mentioned before. Among these excuses, one is similar to that resorted to by Pharaoh. After the chastisement descended upon him and he realized that he was drowning, Pharaoh said that he now believed in that which the Children of Israel had found faith in:" I believe in Him in whom the Children of Israel believe." In response it was said to him:" Ah now!- But a little while before, wast thou in rebellion!- And thou didst mischief (and violence)!" «1» Now, he (the Shah) too, after twenty-odd years, twenty-seven years during which he committed so many betrayals and crimes, now that the punishment has come- a punishment which is manifested in the clenched fists and cries of the Iranian people, he is repenting. I've already mentioned that what had happened was a divine issue and not a human one. The Iranian people have stood against all the power that the regime and its supporters have and against all other powers. With bare hands, the people have clenched their fists and have been heedless of the military government and the support rendered to the regime by the US and the USSR. All the people everywhere around the country are crying out:" We do not want him. Death to this Shah! Death to this dynasty!" He stands before the nation and repents now that he sees himself drowning, now that waves of protest have risen in Iran, a wave of rejection for his rule, a wave negating the monarchy of Muhammad Rida Khan and his dynasty. Now, he is saying:" So far, what I've committed have been mistakes, but from now on these mistakes will not happen again." He is now appealing to the grand and great Muslim scholars:" I've repented now! Come and save me!" The gist of his plea is:" Save me, save the country!" But his ulterior motive is to save himself alone. He has employed this trick before the nation (in the past), before people of different walks of life, the youth and others, always concluding his speech with:" Let's think of what we can do for the country. It is good if we think of our country."
This situation reminds one of the Pharaoh's stories, though with one difference: After Pharaoh realized that he was drowning, he said:" I believe in the God in whom the Children of Israel believe." «2» But it was said to him:" No, everything's over. You have committed sins and rebelled. You have enslaved the Children of Israel and sowed seeds of oppression; you have transgressed. And now that you see the punishment has come and that you will be drowned, you are confessing your sins? Now that the( divine )chastisement is revealed before your eyes you are saying you have repented?" This repentance is like the repentance of one who dies and sees the punishment of hell and then repents. This cannot be called repentance. It is not the principle of repentance at all.
The Shah, too, after seeing the revealed punishment and what God has decreed through the nation's hand, and after seeing the nation's rejection of him and its resistance to machine-guns with fists, now that he realizes he is drowning and sees the punishment revealed before his eyes, now he admits he has committed mistakes and swears that he will not make mistakes from now on.
Deceitfulness of the Shah
But the difference between his repentance and that of Pharaoh's is that he( the Shah )declares his repentance, on the one hand, and installs a military government, on the other. He has resorted to both. At least, Pharaoh did not do the same thing again, he said he had repented and he did not wield a club in his hand while pronouncing his repentance. The wolf's (the Shah's) repentance is worse because when the wolf said he had repented, he sought the assistance of the great Islamic scholars and grand Ayatullahs and other classes of the nation, but at the same time he appointed someone to kill the people.
Shah's order for killing
All these massacres are perpetrated upon his orders. Do not ever believe in those who say that these atrocities are committed by agents, or the prime minister, or the security organization. They are all his lackeys. All of these crimes are committed to save the Shah who is, at times, aware (of such atrocities) and at other times unaware. No one moves a finger in murdering, countering the people and shooting them unless he has orders from him. He himself directly orders (these massacres). There are also people who say they have witnessed that one of those who opened fire on the people on Black Friday was the Shah himself who did it from a helicopter. I, myself, cannot confirm it, but some of his own men who had gone to England quoted the Shah as saying that he himself had been the actual performer, not the commander (of this massacre). But what is certain is the fact that none of these incidents happened without his approval. That is, if there have been massacres- and you have to attach the term" massacre" to them- in Tabriz, Isfahan, Shiraz, whatever city you name, they all took place upon his command.
Shah guarded by hooligans
Throughout history one can never find something similar to what has happened and is happening in Iran and such savagery being perpetrated by a ruler like the Shah. Never has it happened throughout history that people are killed daily in various parts of an Islamic country through different means: at times by the armed forces, and at others by armed kolis, as they themselves say; and on other occasions by unleashing a killer bandit who was one of the tribal chieftains. «3» It is said that the Shah has let him loose and laid great sums of money at his disposal to gather forces and attack the people. Never has it happened in history that one, who claims to be the king and who would shout out eulogies in his own praise just the day before yesterday employing all the newspapers, radio, everything and everyone to glorify him, would now resort to kolis to save himself, seeking shelter under their clubs to save him from the revolting people and hiring (these bandits) to deliver him from the rage of the nation. But they cannot save him and the nation does not take heed of such moves anymore.
Difference between Shah's and Pharaoh's repentance
The difference between him and Pharaoh is that when the latter said he had repented, he ceased drawing his sword on the people. But this man (the Shah) calls upon the `ulama' and people, announcing:" I've made mistakes. Now, I put them behind me and repent." Yet, even as he says this, he still resorts to these ploys and imposes the military government in spite of all principles and laws. He has also unleashed the armed forces as well as some tribes upon the people. Of course, the tribes do not listen so much to these men. Some tribesmen have already called on the `ulama' announcing their agreement (with the Islamic cause).
Have you (the Shah) come to repent while you are still inebriated! And with this kind of repentance!! After twenty-odd years of treason and betrayal of the nation of Islam, leaving your past treacheries un-atoned for and your crimes uncompensated, you have now come before the `ulama' saying you've repented! This is worse than Pharaoh's repentance! You should pay for these crimes. If you could compensate for all the crimes you have committed over these twenty-odd years, if you could return to the national coffers the money you have poured into the US's pocket, if you could tear down the bases you have established in our country for American interests, if you could bring back to life all those you have murdered, then you could say you have really repented. But with all the crimes you have committed, with all of them recorded in history- and we have all seen what you have done so far and what you are doing to the nation- your repentance is not accepted. It is said that that wretched man «4» has said on the radio and TV that he would kill everybody! It has been relayed that he has said such words. Well, yes, these are the kinds of men the regime's advocates are. But God willing, they will not succeed (Audience responds with" God willing").
The irreparable crimes of Shah
Once, a certain person (the Shah) abused the `ulama' calling them impure beasts that people should avoid. He spoke of the `ulama' this way:" Keep away from them as you would avoid impure animals." «5» Also, one day, he said that they (the clergy) were like worms wriggling in filth; «6» and on another day, he would come, stand and address them (by titles such as) grand Ayatullah, marja' «7» so and so, or the great `ulama' while holding a baton in his other hand! Who will ever believe his words?! Well, if he wants to repent before the nation and its `ulama', he should at least make a repentance that appears acceptable. Is he so ignorant as to believe the people will accept his repentance just like that? It will not be acceptable even to a child! Well, now that he wants to repent, he should say it and then step down. You (the Shah) can assume that you can save your body." This day shall We save thee in thy body" «8» But you cannot save your own self. You can no longer save yourself. If you claim to have repented and you are truly repentant, then draw your sword no longer! While you are saying you are repentant, lift the martial law. Dissolve the military government, do not let it continue. Tell the people to appoint someone to form the government so that they would believe you have repented. But even then, it will still be unacceptable.
The repentance of him who did all sorts of ignominy and then repents at the end of his life will not be accepted! What logic is there in this? Repentance depends on certain conditions. God does not accept just anybody's repentance, especially that of someone who had oppressed the people for twenty years or so, after which he told the people that he had repented and had pardoned political prisoners- the political prisoner who had spent ten years of his life behind bars, who went into prison while he was still young and now comes out an ageing man; whose beard was then black and now it's grey when he comes out; whose body was then healthy and fit when he entered and now he comes out of the dark dungeons an ailing man after spending his life behind bars for ten years, fifteen years, some more and others less. I know one of these young men, he is now here, and I have known him from the past. I had previously spent time with him. At the time (before his imprisonment), when he would hold my hand, it would be buried in his. He was so strong; I could feel his strength whenever he would hold my hand in his. But now, when we shake hands, (I feel that) he has become an infirm man.
You (the Shah) have imprisoned people for ten years, some for fifteen years; you have made the young old, you have sickened the healthy- shouldn't these acts be compensated for? Now, you are saying you are pardoning them? The hell you are! What right did you have to take (their freedom) away in the first place that you are now pardoning them? Pardon is for someone who has committed a crime. What crime have they committed that you have imprisoned them? You have wasted fifteen years of their lives! Now, you claim that you are pardoning them? You have pardoned them? What the hell do you think you are doing! What sense is there to your pardoning them? Why did you imprison them in the first place? Now, you want to pardon them? You made a wrong move from the very beginning. Their arrest was not right that they should be pardoned now. They were not guilty to be pardoned by you. What was their crime? Their only crime has been to utter a word (against you) when they felt you had become dangerous (for the country). It has been relayed that some of these men who suffered several years of imprisonment were charged with the crime of having attended to the needs of the families of those imprisoned by you and not letting them fall into hardships. The crime of some of these prisoners- whom you call political criminals- has been their protest at your cruelty and your all-pervasive despotism, and their questioning you as to why you have enslaved the people like this. Regarding your betrayals, they ask you why you have given all that we have to America. Those who raise such questions say:" Give us freedom, we want independence, we want our country to belong to us. We do not want our country to be owned by foreigners. We want to be free. We want a free press; we want our radio and media to be free." Is asking for such things a crime that you arrested them, imprisoned them and prevented them from leading a life of freedom? Now, that you have destroyed their youth, destroyed their health, you release them and call it" pardoning"?
Worthlessness of Shah's repentance
It is useless even if you repent. Repentance has certain criteria. Does God, the Almighty accept one's repentance just like that? God will not accept repentance before the rights of the people (which you have taken away) are returned to them. Do you have the power to give the people back their rights?! Do you have the power to give that person back his ten years of youth which had been wasted in prison? Do you have that power so that you can repent now? What sense is there to your repentance? You cannot repent. Your repentance does not merit acceptance by God, the Blessed and Supreme. Yours is a repentance concerning the rights of the people. God does not forgive men for trampling upon the rights of the people. You cannot ever compensate for even one of the things you have done to those you have tortured, whose feet you have sawed off, burned, and dipped in boiling oil; those whom you have tortured with an electric current as they lay on metal sheets and whom you have broiled alive. If you can atone for even one of these, then you may say that you have been wrong and may ask the people's forgiveness.
But will you not commit the same mistakes? Are you now honest in your claim? Assuming that we forget the past, are you sincere? Are you telling the truth? Are you not going to commit the same mistakes? Or, is it merely words and empty talk?" Ah now- But a little while before, wast thou in rebellion!- and thou didst mischief (and violence)!" «9» You are of the corrupters! You are corrupt; you are a vitiated creature; you are a vicious man; you have embroiled a whole country in a mess; you have destroyed a nation. These crimes are no jest. You have squandered all the potentials of this country. You have wasted its youth who are one of the country's resources. You have laid all these to waste. And now, you come forth and say that you have made a mistake?
The logic of some people sometimes amazes me and their statements sound a bit bizarre. A man whom I don't know composed a seven- or eight-page letter; first he introduced himself saying that he was the son of so and so and at the end, he wrote:" We will not be able to find a Shah better than this one [Laughter from the audience]! How can a human being write such statements? He asked us to:" Come and join this gentleman in one unified cry; where can we ever find anyone better than him (the Shah)!" How dim-witted can a person be to utter such words!
To reign, not to rule!
Anyway, this repentance is one of the gimmicks they have now resorted to, but is not accepted, either. The nation will no longer fall for such words. How can that old woman and old man, how can that mother and father who used to dine with their four or five children around a table spread, and who have now lost their youth- one night all six of them were dining together and the next time, they were but two sitting down for a meal- how can they accept your repentance and apology? Will mere apology suffice? You simply come forth, apologize and then, we, the clergy, the laity, the intellectuals as well as the non-intellectuals too come and declare:" Well, let him reign but not rule; let him stay and reign as the king! Will everything be all right then? Is that all? What answer can we give to that old woman (who has lost her son)? What can we say to that father who was here a few days ago and whose sons have been killed? What can we tell them? They will accuse us of compromising with this man (the Shah) who has killed their youth and thrown away their lives. Why should he be allowed to reign, sit on top and give audience on this or that feast during which some will come and greet him and eulogize him for having made such and such great achievement, for having protected everything, for being a supporter of Islam and for being the" Shadow of God on earth," and so on and so forth? What balderdash is this?! This is nothing but a betrayal of a nation, of a country and of Islam! (You are) a person who changed the Islamic calendar (to the imperial calendar) and showed no shame; the way you have vilified the prophet of Islam is not a petty and trivial matter! And then you immediately deny it and say:" I've been wrong; I have repented!" Will these words serve any purpose?
Rising for the sake of God
Praise be to God, the people have now made a determined stand. We hope that this steadfastness will not waver; and the important thing is to direct our attention toward God. All of you, all of us, all the nation should dedicate themselves to God, the Blessed and the Most High. Our uprising should be divine, with no deviation.
" Say: I do admonish you to do one thing, to rise up for God; it may be in pairs, or it may be singly." «10» God willing this movement will be a godly one with no deviation, for, God forbid, deviation will bring defeat. If it is divine, then it will be victorious, God willing. All of you must take note of the fact that the goal is a divine goal. Rise up for the sake of God and the deliverance of a people who are the slaves of God and you can rest assured that you will succeed in that situation.
Responding to the malicious propaganda
You who are residing abroad are duty bound, we are all duty bound, it is incumbent upon you to extend a helping hand to Iran in any capacity. Anyone who can, should propagate the cause so that the people here will understand what the Iranian nation wants and what they are crying out for and so that they will not heed the words of some journalists whose palms have been greased: shall I say, some of those propagandists who campaign against the revolution. The nation of Iran is shouting it wants freedom; it is shouting it wants independence. It is screaming for freedom and that wicked creature is saying he has granted freedom! And that it is because he has granted freedom that the people have now raised their voices in protest! One nation has risen up; all have risen up, not just one single person but everybody, even within the military, the same thing holds true. Rest assured that on the day this man goes away, the heart of the military will beat with the nation; «11» it can't be otherwise; they always send us messages.
We implore God, the Blessed and the Exalted, to grant this nation victory, so we can serve this society. We are all duty bound to perform our duties before the Blessed and Exalted God and the Muslim nation and utilize the power we possess in the path of God, the Blessed and Exalted, to rescue the servants of God Almighty, the Gracious, and emancipate the oppressed. I implore God, the Blessed, the Exalted, to grant all of you success.