Speech [Elaborating on the concept of" deprived" and" arrogant"]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

The Revolution was packed with many blessings, which were all delivered to us. We were separated from you tribal people and other tribal groups in Iran. They had done this on purpose. They had also separated us from the academicians and other citizens in this country. We were separated from the army and all those engaged in professional education. We were not allowed to come together and speak about our problems. We could not tell you what our problems were and you were unable to discuss your difficulties with us. Among the many blessings of this movement was the presentation of this opportunity to us to get together and talk about what is ailing us.

The gentleman spoke about the arrogant and the deprived. I feel it is incumbent upon me to give a description of who are the deprived and who are the arrogant. The arrogant are not solely the autocratic ruling kings and presidents or oppressive regimes. There is a general meaning for the term arrogant. One good example of the arrogant is those foreigners, who consider all other nations weak and therefore they subject them to aggression and oppression. Other examples are these very aggressive governments that have a very low opinion of their citizens, so they never cease violating their people's rights, the way you people, and we too, have been plagued for the past fifty and some years.

They consider the people weak and they looked down on our nation. Therefore, they would not stop violating our rights. Now, they have left this country, and God willing they would never come back again. Today, the Almighty God has blessed us with freedom and independence and we are being tested through many blissful blessings in order for us to prove our worthiness or otherwise. We are now free and independent. God has granted us such blessings to find out what we would do with this freedom and independence. The test is to make clear whether we would prove to be among the arrogant or the deprived. Anybody can be either among the arrogant or among the deprived. If I trample the rights of those, even if they may be no more than a few individuals, who work under me, and I regard them with contempt and consider them too small, that is considering one of God's creatures too small, I will be among the arrogant and they will be among the downtrodden. The connotation of the arrogant and the deprived would hold true here too. If you have a very low regard for those who work under you and violate their rights, God forbid, you would be considered among the arrogant too and the ones oppressed by you are regarded as among the deprived. We are being tested to display what is the true nature inside us. We are being tested so it may become known whether we can prove to be worthy of honor or disgrace. Now that we are free, we should use this God granted freedom in the service of the people and the Almighty God and not otherwise.

There is no difference between a seminary student such as myself, and these scholarly gentlemen, you esteemed tribal people, businessmen, military people and administrative employees. All of us and I mean every single one of us is being closely watched while we are going through this divine test. God's blessings are at times intended to test people so that the incompetent opportunists would engage in their evil deeds and reserve the lasting damnation for themselves. However, those who can prove themselves competent and honorable can secure the eternal divine blessings for themselves through their honorable deeds and their sincere service to their fellow citizens. This is an extremely difficult test designed for us by the Almighty God. We should be very, very careful to avoid failing this test. If we do fail in this God designed test, we may lose all the blessings the Almighty God has so far accorded us. That is, we may lose our freedom and independence once again. We may be punished in this very world if we act against the divine rules and use this freedom at our disposal to violate the rights of the oppressed. Of course, the punishment in this world may be a blessing in disguise for we may be spared the eternal damnation, as that kind of punishment may in no way be compared to anything else. We cannot even imagine what those punishments may be like. If we are in the wrong, oh God, if we are in the wrong, if we misuse this freedom to oppress the weak, even when the victim is no more than a single person, oh God do punish us in this world and spare us the eternal punishments.

My dear friends, I do know that tribal groups, wherever they may be found, at the borders anywhere, they do protect our borders and frontiers, and in other places, they prevent evil deeds. I am well aware that you were oppressed during the regime of the defunct Shah. We, too, were among the oppressed. The clergy, the businessmen and all the rest were oppressed, who was not for that matter? I do appreciate the true worth of the border dwelling citizens and tribal groups of our country. The deposed regime wanted subdued tribal people to pave the way for the foreigners. Well, those evil ones got what they deserved in this world, and later shall receive the eternal punishments, which shall be of the worst nature, as well. We are now being tested. We have been given the chance to be free. The Almighty God has favored us by setting us free from the shackles of colonialism and autocracy. Now that we are free, what are we supposed to do with this blessing? I hope we never turn out to be compared with Muhammad-Rida Khan! He deprived a whole nation of freedom. Should we deprive one small group of their freedom, we would be no better. Keep your eyes open and make sure you pay attention to such issues.

Today is the time for the divine test. You are powerful and mighty. You are young and brave. When I look at these brave young men, I am filled with honor. You young people now are the guardians of Islam. Not long ago, the country was in the stranglehold of the taghout. However, now your country is Islamic and you are under the blissful shadow of Islam. You, as guardians of Islam, must avoid anything that is contrary to Islam. Being a Revolutionary Guard does not boil down to safeguarding the borders of the country against foreign aggression, the term guard has many greater connotations. Every one of us is a guard to protect the others. I must suggest and tell you that today is the day of a great test, and you are expected to come out of this test with excellence. You should also remind me of this very warning. I must ask that you should conduct yourselves in absolute fairness toward the oppressed ones and your subordinates. Your conduct toward them should be exemplary. Be fair and just and expect the same of me. We are all responsible:" All of you are shepherds (supervisors) and all of you are responsible." «2» We are all like the shepherds so we are responsible to perform the job. As you are aware, a shepherd has great affection for his sheep that he cares for. He leads the sheep where there is good grass and good water to raise them. We, too, should feel the same way toward each other. God forbid the day, now that we have achieved our freedom, when one of us, who is in a higher position should behave arrogantly toward his friends who work below him and ignore their rights. Violating and trampling others' rights are those very things that have been forbidden in Islam.

We are all responsible and the Almighty God has subjected all of us and the whole Iranian nation to a great test. I see it incumbent upon all of us that we should come out of this test successfully. We would like you to safeguard the borders of this country, as the country belongs to you now. Until yesterday, the foreigners were in charge of this country. Today our country is an Islamic state, a country belonging to the Holy Prophet and belonging to the Imam of the Time, may God's peace be upon him. That is what makes this country sacred and therefore, we should all act as guards to protect it. Anybody can contribute his share. You brave armed young men must do your best to protect our borders as much as is in your capacity. We, too, in such positions we are holding, must also contribute our share. This land is your country. Now, you must show the same affection and compassion that you have for your family to your fellow citizens in this country, as they are all your brothers and the people of our nation are like brothers.

In the words of the Almighty God:" The believers are all brothers." «3» Brothers must act brotherly toward each other. I am sure you would not want any harm to come to your blood brother. You should feel the same toward other citizens as well and treat them as your own brothers. You should change your inside and bring out the best in yourselves. This world would eventually end for all us. It may be soon for me and your turn would come later. Nobody is immortal. What remains behind us is our good deeds and evil mischief. Your performance report must be brilliantly radiant with the light of Islam, and your compliance with the Islamic tenets in order for you to be blissfully happy. You would be happy in this world because you serve your people, your country, and your subordinates. In the hereafter, the reward shall definitely be much greater. As I already have another engagement, I should extend my respect to all you gentlemen and pray that God willing, all of you shall be happy. I pray to the Almighty God that all of us follow the right path. Peace be upon all of you.