Speech [The need to combine knowledge with action]

You started from scratch and have come up to here, thanks to God You began from a state of suffocation and reached the stage of freedom. I am hopeful that you will reach the end, the final stage of humanity; that is, infinity. I hope that you will become well informed and will also be the conveyers of knowledge. Just as your profession is noble and respectable, your responsibility is also great. You first have to build up your own characters before those of others. Building your characters is that you ought to better yourselves in all the dimensions that man possesses and for the nurturing of which the prophets had come. The aspect of knowledge in all its dimensions; the moral aspect in all its dimensions; the edification of the self and liberating the self from worldly attachments, such liberation being the source of all perfections while material attachments are the bane of mankind. The attention and attachment of the self to material things precludes one from the caravan of humanity, while the severance of material attachments and turning to God, the Blessed and Exalted, takes one to the station of humanity. The prophets had come for these two reasons: to free man from his worldly attachments, and to tie him firmly to the seat of divinity.

Some of you learned gentlemen that are attired in the clock of learning, and the others- most of them- who will be so dressed, God willing, here to pass these stages. Knowledge alone has no effect; rather, it is sometimes harmful. Action without knowledge is fruitless. Knowledge and action are the two wings that take man to the station of humanity. Knowledge in all events and action- sensual, physical, mental- take man to the degree of humanity. It is hoped that, during the course of your education, you gentlemen pay attention to this matter of freeing yourself of worldly attachments in the madrasahs. All the troubles of mankind arise from these attachments. Had it not been for these worldly attachments and the attention and attachment to the world, we would not have had these troubles of the last fifty years and more; almost sixty years. Because of Muhammad Rida Pahlavi's attachment to the world, his inner self could not understand anything but the world which was the source of all these evils befalling the nation and all these misfortunes of his. Because of their attachment to the world by which their inner selves could not perceive anything other than the world, his friends, who were devils themselves- because of this very attachment- were the source of all the misfortunes that ensued for the nation and, worse, for themselves. They ruined the nation and all that it had as well. And they also ruined themselves.

While the prophets used to administer the world and the countries- of which we have a worthy example in Islam with history showing that most of the populated regions had been conquered within approximately half a century- they had no worldly attachments. In Islam, conquests are not for the sake of conquering countries. They are for the purpose of enabling human beings to attain perfection. Islamic conquests are different from those of other regimes. Their conquest; the conquests made by regimes is for the sake of the world, whereas those made by prophets was for God, and to make the people heedful of God. They wanted to bring the people, who were the captives of materialism, the self and Satan, under the influence of themselves and their school, and to bring them from the party of Satan into Hizbullah (the Party of God):" Allah is the Protecting Friend of those who believe. He bringeth them out of darkness into light. As for those who disbelieve, their patrons are false deities. They bring them out of light into darkness." «1» These two; these are the two aspects, the two fronts: the taghout's front and God's front. God, the Blessed and Exalted, bring those people, who are of His party, who are heedful of Him and have faith in Him, out from all darkness- all of it- and takes them into light. That light is the light of God Himself. This is the light-" Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth" «2»- that takes them out of all darkness- that is, whatever which is not divine- and takes them into light. The taghout takes the people out of light and into darkness:" Layer upon layer of darkness." «3» These are the two paths: the path of the prophets and the path of the taghout. The path of the prophets is that of God. God is the Guardian, God is the Doer. Man is trained by God, whereas the path of the taghout is that of Satan as Satan is man's teacher.

My dear people! Be particular about entering the army of God. Merely learning your lessons does not make one enter God's army. Mere knowledge- especially about legal and official matters- does not take one to the level of humanity. These should be there; however, one should be heedful of the Unseen alongside them. Study for the sake of God. Starting from scratch, I hope that you will proceed to infinite knowledge. Continue until you reach that stage where you see nobody apart from God. Observe everything through Him; consider everybody as His manifestation. If people are trained like this, they will become divine. A divine person does not consider war and might; he does not care about war and conflict. All the wars and conflicts take place because of worldly considerations. The wars of Islam were fought to bring the people from darkness into light. The Islamic wars are different from those of other regimes. The latter take people from one darkness into another! From darkness to darkness! The prophets wanted to take the people out of darkness into light.

May God assist all of you. I thank you dear ones who have come here from afar in this heat and have been inconvenienced in this cramped house. I am happy to be with you and to see your faces. I am delighted to see your bright faces. May God place you among the active `ulama' and mujahids «4» of Islam. May God lead you out of darkness and into light.

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