Speech [A look into the achievements of the Islamic Revolution]

I seek refuge in God from the accursed Satan

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

One of the consequences of this movement is that we are seeing faces we would not see before. Due to the activities perpetrated by foreigners and their lackeys for a long period, we had been estranged from each other. People from all walks of life were distanced from one another. We, that is, the clergy, and you, that is, the noble physicians, have capabilities distinct from those of others.(As the narration goes), "There are only two kinds of knowledge: knowledge of the body and knowledge of religion." «1»

There exists a unity between the body and soul: the body is the shadow of the soul; the soul is the essence of the body; the body is the (physical) manifestation of the soul. These two entities together are one. They are not separate. In the same way that the human body and soul have unity, the physician of the body should be in unity with the physician of the soul. They should be united, but they separated us. We have been estranged from all the strata of the people. Either the clergy had been cast into the abyss of oblivion or had their image been tarnished. They made you fall from our favor and vice-versa. Foreign powers, with their cohorts and lackeys, had committed this kind of treachery against us for approximately three hundred years. Not only did they separate the universities from our theology schools, but also made them opposed to each other. They separated all the strata of the people from one another. They committed this great treason against the nation and us to shove us into these days of affliction.

Not only did they separate the various strata of people, but also the nations from one another in such a way that, for instance, now the Iranian nation does not have any ties with the Turkish nation. In principle, if Iranians were not opposed (to having ties with the Turks), neither did they agree with it; they were indifferent to such a relationship. So, if any difficulty had befallen our Turkish or Arab brothers, our Persian brothers would remain indifferent. Foreign( powers )and their lackeys had engendered this indifference in order to create discord; and if they failed in this machination, they made us negligent, that is, negligent of our own destiny and that of our brothers. From now on, we should seriously safeguard the vigilance that this nation has found so that it will be perpetuated.

For three hundred years, we have suffered the harmful effects of negligence. For fifty-odd years, men as old as I, or perhaps a bit younger, have suffered the painful torment meted out by this (Pahlavi) dynasty. And for twenty years or so, you, the youth have experienced and seen the same for yourselves

They depleted all our resources; likewise, our human resources, the most vital of all these resources, were decimated. They divested us of these human elements, which should take the reins of the country's destiny into their hands to make the country prosper spiritually and materially, and pushed the youth toward centers of corruption. They have transformed educational centers into a gathering place for prostitution. The cinema, which is an educational hub for everybody in the world, the radio and television, one of the educational centers for everyone and for people of all categories, and are apparatuses that should be utilized to educate the entire nation, have all been transformed into something else. Our cinemas were converted into prostitution centers. Similarly, you had seen for yourselves what kind of advertisement programs the radio and television would broadcast.

Those who have now joined the ranks of Islamic servants must be reformed. They are busy with activities that will help them edify themselves. Remnants of the depraved regime still lurk around them. Vestiges of corruption remain in our press, such as newspapers and magazines. These places must be reformed little by little. The corrupt morality that the regime had created among our youth, and which remains, has to be rectified. God knows what these centers of corruption did to our youth. They (regime) made everything accessible to make the youth neglectful of everything. The regime created prostitution centers and made them available to the youth for free.

They tempted the youngsters and lured them into these centers to render them negligent of their destiny.

I thank God for the fundamental development that has occurred in the nation during the last one or one and a half years. Our youth are now paying attention to current issues. They now have turned their attention away from those (corrupt) activities they used to be drawn to, and have shunned them. They have undergone such a spiritual development to which I cannot give a name; all we can say is that God's hand is in it. No human creature can bring about a spiritual change among all categories of people. I have said it repeatedly that an (ordinary) policeman used to go and control the entire bazaar (of Tehran) with just one order that everyone would obey. The bazaar people would not dare give themselves the right to even question him. Not that they had the right and would not use it; it was not the case at all. Their spiritual being had been so conditioned that they had to obey the rules without question! Our armed forces were as acquiescent. The people were made to obey like sheep! Obedience should be absolute: the king's command is God's command." God's command and the king's command are the same." This notion (of servility) had been inculcated in the minds of our children and made to take root from their childhood; and that too, for this Shah! However, within this last year or two, a change has taken place. The very same populace, which used to be terrified at the sight of a police officer, now attacked tanks and said everything it wanted to say against the Shah, and, finally, overthrew him. The same populace, which cowered with fear and terror at the sight of a high-ranking officer «2», clenched its fists, resisted all (powers) and flung them out (of the country) This development can never be anything but a divine one; it is no other than a divine decree. This is (the power of) faith. If there had not been faith (among the people),(the movement) could not have been (victorious). It necessitated faith. Faith in God had engendered this (victory). Faith in Islamic tenets accomplished this. The people cried out in unison that they wanted Islam. This was faith! The power of faith prevailed over all these powers for we had nothing. With kitchen knives and pieces of wood and other gadgets, people took to the streets and overcame tanks, cannons, machine-guns, and other (weapons).

The people declared that nothing could have an effect on them anymore! «3» And nothing really did, nor could, in the presence of faith.

Keep your faith, gentlemen! Keep your faith in God; keep your unity of expression; preserve this movement. Whatever we have (achieved) was through this faith and unity of expression. They (enemies of Islam) wanted to divest us of our faith and unity of expression. They made efforts to rob us of these two features, but the Exalted and Blessed God was with us and forestalled it. Instead, he caused a transformation to take place in a country and nation, which did not heed religious issues. God caused such a transformation that all the people now pay attention to those issues and have entered the arena (of struggle) with faith. In an instant, this nation, which was at war with itself, one city versus another, one district at odds with another within the same city, and one faction of youth against another, suddenly underwent a divine transformation and forged a cooperative unity. One of my friends said that in one demonstration in Tehran, he saw an old woman standing somewhere holding a bowl with money in it. He thought that perhaps she wanted to collect some money. He went toward her and asked what she was up to. She replied that because the bazaar was closed down and people needed to telephone, so, she thought she would take a bowl of coins for the people to use in case they did not have any small change to insert into the coin slot to make a call. Such sense of cooperation was engendered in all the people. Such sense of cooperation was created that when a crowd would take to the streets, people, in and out of their homes, would help it. This change came about through God's hand.

Rely upon God. If, God forbid, this faith and this reliance on God is taken away from us, our unity of expression will go with it. Then, God forbid, we will be faced with the same tribulations. Call on the people and invite them to take part in this referendum on an Islamic republic, that is, only an Islamic republic, not a word should be changed or tampered with, not a word added or a word deleted. Evil elements want to omit or add a word. Be careful of these (evil designs). Invite everyone (to vote for an Islamic republic).

I thank all the physicians of Iran, and, now that I am in Qum, I thank all the physicians of Qum and the hospitals (and their staff) for having the sense of responsibility and carrying out their responsibilities during this period of great tribulation. May God make you more acquainted with your responsibilities, as this itself is a great form of worship. May God grant you prosperity and health. God willing, your country will be rescued from the claws of foreign powers. May God keep you all.

May God's peace, mercy and blessings be upon you.