Speech [Spiritual affinity among all the strata of the nation; sympathy toward the victims of the imposed war]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

I hope that this unity among people leads to a deep kinship among the souls which is what is important. Although it is good to organize seminars and it is also very important to invite people toward cooperation, these physical gatherings and seminars should eventually pave the way for unity of spirit, thought, and purpose. It is not enough that we and you get together for such gatherings but remain negligent toward the true purpose of Islam and obedience to the divine commandments for which all the divine prophets (`a) have been sent. All discussions should lead man toward spirituality and a unity of purpose and for the purpose of tawhid. It is simple to organize seminars and gatherings in which people from various strata of society like the clergy, the military personnel, and the members of Islamic associations get together but such gatherings are not enough to reach us to our destination. Attempts should be made during and following such gatherings to pursue and achieve the unity which is vital for an Islamic ummah and upon which all the prophets (`a) had laid great stress as per the divine commandments. Such a unity is simpler to achieve among the common masses of a nation as compared to the elite class because if man is left unbridled and is left untrained and unchecked, his spirit diminishes further as he advances in age and status and his spirit falls under the domination of the greatest shaytan which is the shaytan of the" carnal self". The youth are closer to the spiritual realm and their souls are comparatively pure. If they do not strive hard toward self-purification and if they ignore a divinely-inspired training of the soul, as they grow in age, they grow farther from the highest spiritual realm and their minds become more tarnished. Therefore, self-training should begin early in life and man should be trained right from early childhood; and even later on, no matter where he is, he should always be under the training of those who can guide him. Man needs to be trained right up to the end of his life. Prophets (`a) were also sent by God for guiding and training man. The very purpose of the books of all the prophets (`a) and especially the Holy Qur'an is to train mankind because it is only with the training of man that the world gets redeemed. The dangers that the human society face at the hands of uncouth human beings are worse than the dangers of any shaytan, beast, or any other creature. And the benefits that mankind can achieve at the hands of a divinely-trained man cannot be gained even through the angels or any other creature. The foundations of the world are based upon the training of man. Man is the essence of all beings and is the cream of the entire universe. divine prophets (`a) have come to convert this potentiality into reality so that man is transformed into a divinely being. This divinely being possesses all the lofty qualities of God and is the place of the manifestation of the sacred light of God.

Try to make sure that your meetings and seminars are based upon a spiritual purpose. Stay heedful to the guidance of the divine prophets (`a) in all walks of life. The very first sourah (chapter) of the Holy Qur'an begins with the words:" Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds"; «1» so we can see that the Qur'an refers to the word," Lord" (Rabb), Who is the Source of all human training right at the very onset. It is a divine obligation upon us to repeat this verse several times a day in our obligatory prayers and to pay attention to the fact that the issue of training and Lordship [ruboubiyyah] - the highest degree of which belongs exclusively to God Almighty- through Whom it descends subsequently upon the prophets (`a) and other people, is so important, that the name the" Lord of the worlds" [rabb al-`alamin] immediately follows the name, Allah. We read in this same chapter that the ultimate human training takes shape upon the Straight Path. «2» And the final destination of this Straight Path is Absolute Perfection and is Allah. We are commanded to seek the guidance of the prophets (`a) , the awliya' (divine guides and the friends of God), and other great people so that they can guide us on the Straight Path. It is obligatory on us to seek guidance from God Almighty on the Straight Path several times a day; inclining neither toward the left nor toward the right-" The path of those whom Thou hast favored; Not (the path) of those who earn Thine anger nor of those who go astray." «3» We should keep in mind that man is a creature who, if left to himself, can grow into the worst and the most corrupt being. And only if we take shelter under divine guidance and tread upon the Straight Path, can we reach the unimaginable; the Oceans of Majesty and Grandeur!

These seminars should provoke thought and contemplation in man and should foster unity of purpose or" Allah". If mankind unites under the name of" Allah" and eliminates all other false" idols" it will achieve all the sublime goals, whether it is in regards with this world and the human society or whether it is the higher goals of the hereafter.

It has been our experience in the past two or three years that whenever we did not maintain a united focus on God Almighty, even if some of us did so individually, we failed to achieve our goals and we fell under the oppression and the other pressures of the opportunists from all over the world who attacked us from all sides and forced us to spend some disastrous days under their clutches and the clutches of their stooges. The uprising of the Iranian nation was the outcome of a gradual unity after eliminating differences. It was only after achieving a unity of purpose and a unity in body and spirit in every part of the country- right from the villages to the capital city- that our people poured into the streets for the cause of Islam and God, and liberated themselves from the oppression of those who had been looting this country for years. And God Almighty, too, favored us and our entire nation- man, woman, old, and young- that poured out into the streets and jointly chanted the slogans of" Allahu akbar" [Allah is the Greatest] and" Down with the Oppressors" and demanded the establishment of Islam and an Islamic Republic which promises both freedom and independence, gained victory. We should take a memorable lesson from the national unity that led to this great achievement.

Do not forget that what earned us this victory with our empty hands was this unity of body and spirit and this unity of purpose and goal. These were the same people of twenty years ago who were helpless under the suppression of foreign hands and their internal agents! And it was this same lot of people who, with the Grace of God Almighty, got transformed into an invincible entity because of their overall unity of body and spirit. These were the same people who transformed from one state into another and attained a miraculous victory. A victory that was almost impossible to imagine, especially within such a short span of time and with the minimal effort as compared to its great results, and could be called nothing less than a miracle!

Therefore, we should not undermine this great national display which reflects the slogans of" Allah is the Greatest"," freedom"," independence', and" Islamic Republic" all over the country and it should remain as a lesson for us and should be handed over to our following generations so that no alien powers can ever gain domination over us. This is important for you, and especially so for our statesmen, who should never forget that the key to our success or our victory has been this unity of purpose and goal. They should bear in mind that whatever posts and positions they have acquired today are because this nation rose up and united together and declared," Freedom, independence, and an Islamic Republic"! Everyone had the same single purpose. All individuals had forgotten themselves in that phase and no one thought of any selfish goals and everyone had their attention fixed upon a common purpose. Our people did not care if they were unable to get even a piece of bread all through the day. They were least concerned about things like hunger and lack of other means. They were so engrossed in a singleness of purpose that they did not even care if they lost their children because this is what it is like to be" dead" to the self and to live for a divine purpose. What happened as a consequence was that you migrated from your individual" self" and connected with God. You forgot your" self" which is a pre-requisite for the perfection of man. You should all bear in mind, and especially our statesmen should keep in mind that as long as one is lost in his own self, he is not worthy of being called" man" and it is only when one forgets his own" self" and enters into the grand purpose of humanity does he become the" great man". This applies to all beings and all men. This is the ultimate purpose of creation and this is the ultimate purpose for which all the divine messengers (`a) were sent.

My brothers and my beloveds! Please keep in mind that we are facing a very sensitive phase. Today, all the world powers have mobilized their might against us and we are surrounded by internal and external conspiracies. All of you and our entire nation know that if they want freedom and independence they will need to forego all their personal goals- even if it is temporarily- until all these conspiracies come to an end. Everyone needs to focus on a single goal. And those who are at the top of affairs are more responsible; and all of us, too, are responsible.

I want to bring a certain point to your notice. You all know how our youth are sacrificing themselves at our warfronts and how many of them we have lost and how many war-disabled people we are left with and how many families, now scattered all over the country, have been rendered homeless by our enemies. There is not a single city that has been spared of this plight. Keeping in mind all these disasters that we are faced with, which God willing will eventually bring greatness to this nation, I request all those of you who wish to have New Year celebrations to either forego them or to at least minimize them. It will not be fair, if at the time when so many families have been aggrieved and have lost their youth but are still standing up boldly, that they should be left grieving on their own while the rest are celebrating. Humanity, Islam, and human justice demand that we should not do anything to hurt the sentiments of the mothers, the fathers, and the sisters who have lost their youth. Those who wish to hold lavish celebrations for New Year- something that would probably have been appropriate under different circumstances- should stop for a moment and think about how they would feel if their neighbors would have been celebrating joyously when they had just lost a young member in the family. You should know that your brothers are bereaved and have lost their young ones and are facing difficulties. No matter how brave they are, do not forget that they are after all, facing the loss of a young one! Do keep in mind that you have lost fifty youth all around your city and that many families are in bereavement and if in such conditions you go shopping for lavish celebrations it would not be appropriate considering your humanity, your Islam, your human dignity and your brotherliness. I request you all to have your celebrations on a lower key, and instead of buying unnecessary things for your children, to help the disabled people who are lying in the hospitals and the homeless ones who have lost everything and who are in desperate need for help. Prove true to your claims of brotherhood and your conscience. Remember that even if you do ultimately go on a luxurious vacation for a few days and have a good time, it will finally come to an end; but the effect that such vacations and such lavish New Year celebrations will have on the hearts of the bereaved mothers, will probably linger on. And do not forget that Allah Almighty cares for those hearts! I request Allah Almighty to make us aware of our responsibilities. I pray to Him to grant us a unity of purpose.

I, once again, request and recommend the army, the gendarmerie, the revolutionary guards, the ethnics, and the other armed forces, who are all the children of Islam and who are all making committed sacrifices, to remain aligned among themselves. If each one of you wants to work independently in the war, it will only delay our achievement of victory. However, if all of you remain aligned and under a single commandership, and if you all look at yourselves as the soldiers of Islam, victory will come in much sooner. There are no rifts today between our nation and the army and the revolutionary guards and this is how it should remain. It is most inappropriate at this point of time in our country to make distinctions among yourselves as being revolutionary guards, gendarmes, or soldiers. We should all consider ourselves as the soldiers of Islam and should remain in complete alignment. As you can well see all throughout our country, men, women, youth, as well as the elderly men and women are jointly serving you and the other armed forces. Everyone wants to ensure the comfort of the army, the revolutionary guards, and the other armed forces so that they can serve the country in peace. All of you who are putting your lives at risk at the warfronts and who are striving for the cause of God, should stay united and aligned for the sake of God in the same manner that these women, and men, and the young and the old are working jointly at the warfronts, in complete alignment. Know that they are not different from you and are all part of you.

I pray to Allah Almighty for the health and prosperity of the entire nation as well as all the nations and all those who are serving the cause of Islam. May you emerge victorious from this war that all of you are involved in and may God Almighty support all of you!

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