Speech [Uniqueness of the Iranian Revolution; the necessity of self-training and safeguarding the movement]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Of course, on the one hand, I am touched for these martyrs who sacrificed their lives in the path of Islam and I extend my condolences to their families and relatives and I pray for the Blessed and Exalted God's mercy for the martyrs, and patience and reward for their families. On the other hand, I take pride in such youth that we have who resemble the youth at the advent of Islam. If you refer to the history of the advent of Islam, you will see what sacrifices they had done and how much they had been in a pinch and in trouble. As an example, you will see how they shared a piece of date by one putting it in his mouth and after just tasting its sweetness, he would then pass it to his friend and things like that, for there wasn't anything in the work with them. They served Islam with utmost courage and power, and left Islam with us as a heritage. We, too, are responsible to protect this great heritage and sacrifice ourselves for it. They who were martyred fulfilled their service, and attained their prosperity as the reward for their service. And it is hoped that we will either be victorious or get martyred in the path of Islam and may Almighty God protect you all. And now all of us- the disciplinary forces or the nation, the women or the brothers- we are all duty-bound to protect this trust that is from God: This trust is Islam and the Qur'an.

We are heirs to such things as Islam, the Qur'an, this Islamic country and other Muslim countries, which regretfully were under pressure during many long years, and the plunderers from the West and the East had put them under pressure. We inherited all those plus a certain agitations that always exist after any revolution. These agitations cannot be avoided. There has been no revolution that was not followed by such problems.

And I should say that Iran's revolution has been a revolution that has had no equal in some aspects: first, all of the left and right wicked forces were against this revolution and had extended their supports. Many of the Muslim governments gave their support. We were empty-handed but they had everything, and- thanks to God- the power of Islam linked all the people together and linked the disciplinary force to the nation. This victory was gained as a result of that despite the will of those who thought it was not possible. One thing that they thought impossible did happen in our favor.

The spiritual changes that occurred in the nation serve as an example. In my opinion, this spiritual transformation that- thanks to God- has occurred in our society and is developing and I hope we can help everyone to reach his further development; this spiritual transformation is more important than the victory itself, for it is a spiritual victory. The spiritual victory- an aspect that has been achieved- is more important than the military triumph and material triumph. Now I am witnessed to our youth- either those of the disciplinary force or the ordinary youth and Revolutionary Guards and even the traders from bazaar- come to me again and again- just this very day- and wish (to be martyred); they say to me," You pray for us to become martyred." This kind of morale, this revolutionary morale that has appeared in the nation, is a divine miracle. A human cannot change a nation as such. There is an invisible hand in the work and I hope that the same invisible hand will grand us the final victory. And I hope for these rotten roots, that are busy on the sidelines, to be suppressed, God willing, and I am sure they will. The country will be purified and it will be yours; you yourselves must protect it.

And you seek to protect Islam as you do your country. Also protect yourselves, spiritual protection, that is. In other words, build yourselves up if you want to improve and if you want everything of yours to be Islamic, God willing; and if you want your victories to be similar to the ones of the early Islamic period. Let your accomplishment also build you up in the same way that the soldiers of the early period of Islam did; in addition to their soldierly duty, they performed the formal duties of Islam in their fullest sense. While they were drawing their swords and killed the enemies of Islam, they behaved among themselves in a friendly and brotherly manner. This is compatible with the command of the Holy Qur'an, which explains the characteristics of the believers during the early period of Islam who were merciful among themselves:" They are mercifully among themselves". «1» They behave each other with kindness; but when it comes to the infidels," They are hard against the disbelievers." «2» When Hadrat Amir faced the army of Mu`awiyah, who were worse than infidels or the Kharijites who were even worse; he treated them with dire harshness. Even after he noticed that they were not receptive to guidance, he would advise his own army not to be the first to start a war, even if they were right. He said," Let them start the war" and when they started and even sometimes one or two (of his men) were killed, he would authorize a fight to the end of their suppression. He suppressed the Kharijites in such a way that only a few of them could escape; it was the same Kharijites who later plotted against and martyred Hadrat Amir. Islam treats every walk of life with utmost kindness and utmost mercy. And its mercy is the guidance that wants all strata of world society to gain prosperity; however it reacts to the conspirers with harshness and that should be so. And as for you who are considered the soldiers of Islam and I hope for your names to be listed in the scroll of Imam of the Time (`a); that should be your case. The pattern should be the one Islam has set: for you to be friends with yourselves and friendly and merciful to all the strata, and contrarily, to be strong, determined and suppressive against the enemy.

May Almighty God, by His will, help all of you and make all of us the servants of Islam, and to grant patience and reward to the bereaved families of all these martyrs, and drench them in His showers of mercy.

[After hearing the statements of one of the present pilots, Imam Khomeini stated:]

"Kindly give all of them my greetings and tell them that today is a day for all of our forces to be deployed to protect the country that we have now laid our hands on and, God willing, has gotten rid of the evil of the insurgents. And I hope the insurgents will not be able to return."

There's a matter that is a divine duty for all of us: any person who realizes that his existence is beneficial in a place and he can be of service, should serve. This is a duty that everyone should act upon today. All of us should act according to this duty. We are all duty-bound and obliged to protect this movement now in wherever you feel you can serve. Now, if the gentlemen say that your presence is useful there (in a certain place) and request for you to go there, you should go there. And I hope you will succeed and do your duty- which is the very divine duty- successfully. And I pray for all of you and am a servant to all of you. May Almighty God protect you all.