Speech [Bi`that, the purpose and outcome of the bi`that, and our responsibility toward it]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

I felicitate all the Muslims and the combatant nation of Iran and the respected residents of Tabriz on the anniversary of the bi`that of the Noble Messenger (s) and pray to God Almighty to grant everyone the success of obeying this holy soul!

I would like to say a few words on bi`that, its purpose, its outcome, and on our responsibility in this regard.

The purpose of the bi`that is as it has been mentioned by God Almighty in the Qur'anic chapter," Congregation", that says:" He is Who hath sent among the unlettered ones a messenger of their own, to recite onto them His revelations and to make them grow, and to teach them the Scripture and Wisdom, though heretofore they were indeed in error manifest." «1» So the purpose of the bi`that has been defined in this noble verse. God Almighty says that He is the God who has sent to mankind, a messenger from among themselves, with the purpose of attaining the above-mentioned goals. The Qur'an contains divine words and the purpose of the bi`that is to bring down this Great Book (for us) to recite and ponder upon this grand divine sign. Even though the entire universe is a sign of God Almighty, the Noble Qur'an is the essence of the entire creation and all that needs to be accomplished through the bi'that. The Noble Qur'an is like a grand dining cloth, spread out through the Messenger of God (s) for all mankind, for each person to pick from it according to his own capacity. This Book and this grand dining cloth has been sent for all mankind- the common man, the scholar, the philosopher, the gnostic, the jurist- from the East to the West and from the time of its Revelation until the Day of Resurrection, to employ to the best use. In other words, even though this is a Book that has been descended from the Unseen for the benefit of humankind in the material world, and although it has descended from the height down to a position in which we can benefit from it, it contains matters that everyone- the common man, the gnostic, and others- can make use of, while at the same time, containing matters that are exclusively for great scholars, philosophers, gnostics, the prophets, and saints. Some of the verses in this Book can be understood by none save the divine saints and" friends "[awliya'] of God Almighty except through the means of the interpretations presented by such people, and that too, only to the extent of the capacity of each individual. There are matters that can only benefit the great gnostics of Islam and there are certain matters that can only benefit the philosophers and sages and there are certain matters that can benefit great jurists and this Book serves as a general dining cloth from which all these various groups can reap benefits. This Holy Book contains political, social, cultural, military, civil, as well as other matters. The purpose of the descent of this Book and the purpose of the bi`that of the Noble Prophet (s) is to make this Book available to one and all, so that everyone can benefit from it according to the capacity of his own being and intellect. Alas! Neither has mankind and nor have the Islamic scholars been able to tap the potential of this Book to its fullest. Everyone should employ his mind and intellect to be able to benefit from this Book to the best of its and our own capacity. The Qur'an has been sent for the benefit of all strata, each to the extent of its own aptitude. However, it does also contain certain verses that can be understood by none but the Noble Messenger and the ones who have been tutored by him and it is only through them that we can gain access to their true meanings. There are yet many verses whose meanings are accessible to everyone and we can all employ our minds for gaining welfare both in this world and the hereafter through this Holy Book. Thus, one of the purposes of the bi`that was to descend the Qur'an from the unseen that was hitherto unknown and unseen and lay only within Divine Knowledge and was in the hidden realms of the unseen, through this grand being, who underwent great trial and because of his pure monotheistic nature and through the connection that he has with the unseen, could bring down this Book from the unseen realm through various stages, until it has reached the stage of physical manifestation, and has appeared in the form of words. And these words can be understood by all of us and all of us can benefit from their meanings to the extent of our personal capacity. So this has been one of the purposes of this Book and the bi`that through which the Divine Messenger (s) was appointed to Prophethood so that he could recite and interpret the Qur'an and the divine verses for all of mankind.

A part of the (above-mentioned) verse could possibly be implying on the effect that recitation and pondering upon the Book can have on self-purification and the imparting of wisdom which is also from this Book. Thus, the purpose of the bi`that is the descent of Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an; and the purpose of recitation and pondering upon the Qur'an is to guide man to attain self-purification and the purification of the souls from the darkness that is present within them so that man's soul and mind gains the preparedness for understanding the Book and its Wisdom. So, the purpose is self-purification for the understanding of this Book and its Wisdom. Not every soul can perceive this Light that has descended from the unseen and has now become manifest. It is not possible to gain knowledge and wisdom from this Book without self-purification. The soul has to become freed from all pollution and the greatest pollution is the pollution of the carnal soul of man and its caprice. Until the time the soul is veiled in the darkness of I-ness, it can never perceive the Qur'an, which in its own words is" Light". The veiled ones and those who are covered in thick veils cannot truly comprehend this Book even if they think they do. Unless man emerges out from the extremely dark veil of his I-ness and till the time he is entangled in the caprice and egotism of his carnal soul and till the time he is caught up in all the stuff that he has fabricated within his own soul, he cannot gain the preparedness for the reflection of this Light because of the varying veils of darkness. For those who wish to understand the Qur'an and its real contents, and not just its miniature descended manifestation, and for those who wish to soar with the proper understanding of each of its verses and gain proximity to the Exalted Source of Light,(it is important to know that) you will never be able to succeed unless the veils are removed." Your (illusory) I-ness veils you from your own true `self'" «2» and it, thus, needs to be removed from in-between so that you can perceive this Light in its reality, with which capacity man has been created. Thus, one of the purposes of the bi`that is that this Book and its Wisdom be perceived by man after self-purification.

Prophetic Traditions and history inform us that the very first verse that was revealed to the Noble Prophet (s) was:" Read: In the name of thy Lord!" «3» As per narrations, this is the first verse that Jibril revealed to the Prophet (s). In other words, the Prophet (s) was invited to" read" and to" gain knowledge" right from the very beginning. This same chapter also says:" Nay, but verily man is rebellious; That he thinketh himself independent!" «4» And this is the very first chapter of Revelation. It indicates that rebelliousness is the foremost thing (that needs to be tackled by man) and calls for a study of the Book and its Wisdom as well as self-purification. The nature of man is such that the moment he becomes wealthy he gets rebellious. His rebelliousness is commensurate with his level of wealth. If he acquires knowledge, he gets rebellious to the extent of his knowledge. If he gains lofty positions, he gets rebellious to the extent of his position. If God Almighty refers to Fir`awn (the Pharaoh) as a" rebel" [taghi], it is because he had acquired power and status and since he lacked the desire for divine servitude, this power had made him rebellious. The more man amasses worldly possessions without self-purification, the more it adds to his rebelliousness. The burden of all the amassed wealth, posts, positions, and other such worldly things creates problems for man in this world and more so in the hereafter. The purpose of the bi`that is to salvage us from such rebellion and to enable us to purify ourselves and our souls and to save us from this darkness. If everyone can succeed in self-purification, the world will turn into a light like the light of the Qur'an and the Light of Divine Manifestation. All the differences between mankind, among the rulers, and among the mighty are rooted in the rebelliousness of the carnal self. It stems as soon as man attains a certain position and because he is not content with what he has achieved the rebelliousness of his carnal self turns into aggressiveness. This in turn brings about differences. Irrespective of the depth of its manifestation, rebelliousness is rebelliousness all the same, whether it is at the lowest stage or at the highest one. The differences between the residents of a certain village are also rooted in the same rebelliousness, albeit at a lower level. And the higher one reaches, the deeper is the level of rebelliousness. When Fir`awn turned rebellious, he declared:" I (Pharaoh) am your Lord and the Highest!" «5» All of us are prone to such behavior and it was not exclusive to Fir`awn. If (the carnal soul of) man is left unharnessed, he is bound to claim:" I am your Lord and the Highest!" The purpose of the bi`that is to harness this defiant and rebellious soul and to purify it.

All differences among mankind are because of a lack of self-purification. The purpose of the bi`that is to purify man's soul and to grant him the knowledge of the Qur'an and its wisdom. If man attains self-purification, there will be no inclination toward rebellion. The one who has purified himself reaches awareness of his innate poverty. On the other hand, when man focuses on his ego and believes himself to be high and mighty, this egotism leads him to rebellion. All the differences that arise between people for the sake of worldly things stem from the rebellious carnal self. And this is the problem that mankind faces because of the caprice of the carnal soul. If man attains self-purification and if his soul is well-trained, all differences will disappear. Even if all the divine prophets (`a) had to gather in one city or country, no differences would ever arise between them because they have attained self-purification and have consequently acquired knowledge and wisdom. All our problems are because of lack of self-purification and training. People have attained knowledge and education but they have not trained the" self". Their power of thinking has deepened but they have not trained the" self". Even the Mongols did not inflict upon mankind the kind of menace inflicted by the corrupt scholars! The purpose of the bi`that is (to invite man to) self-purification. The purpose of sending divine prophets (`a) is (to invite man to) self-purification, followed by the acquisition of knowledge. If people who have not purified and trained the" self" and have not liberated themselves from the clutches of the inner shaytan, enter the world of tawhid, divine knowledge, philosophy, jurisprudence, politics, etcetera, mankind faces great threat at their hands. Those who desire to train others in this world should first have purified and trained their own" self". And even those who wish to rule over others without turning rebellious and evil first need to purify themselves. The purpose of the bi`that is to purify everyone.

It is more important for statesmen, rulers, presidents, and government officials to strive toward self-purification than the common man. If an ordinary man has to turn rebellious, it would be only to a limited extent. If an ordinary person in the marketplace or a village turns rebellious, he will only succeed in dragging a small number of others to corruption. But if a recognized scholar or a recognized ruler or a recognized official had to turn rebellious, he could drag an entire country or even many countries to corruption. All this rebellion that drags countries toward destruction is because its ruler has not attained self-purification. You could draw a comparison between the case of someone like Saddam and an ordinary person. No matter how rebellious an ordinary person may turn, he can only drag either his own family or a limited number of others to destruction. Now see what can happen if someone like Saddam turns rebellious. This rebellion has dragged two countries and maybe the entire region into destruction. If such rebellion takes hold of the presidents of the powerful countries or say the President of America, his rebellion will drag many countries to destruction. The great wars that took place in this world, like the two world wars, were because of the presence of rebelliousness among the higher levels. It was because the high officials had not attained self-purification that they became rebellious and dragged a large number of other countries to destruction. If the Head of the Soviet Union turns rebellious, his rebelliousness will not remain limited but will instead drag many other countries to destruction.

If the authorities of a country, the higher as well as the lower ones, wish to steer their country toward welfare and peace, they should start from the top. It is never possible to establish peace and harmony from the lower levels. The authorities should begin by fostering peace and harmony among themselves. Peace and harmony among them will ensure peace and harmony for the nation. And if there is, God forbid, rebellion among them, their rebelliousness will destroy the country. All those who consider themselves to be the well-wishers of Islam and the country, and believe that Islam can ensure the salvation of all mankind, should pay more attention to the teachings of Islam that say:" Nay, but verily man is rebellious; That he thinketh himself independent!" Those who regard the bi`that as a divine act and believe that its purpose is to guide all creation, should pay attention to its purpose as defined by God Almighty, Who says:" to recite onto them His revelations and to make them grow, and to teach them the Scripture and Wisdom." Self-purification has been ordained so that Divine Light can manifest in man. You will continue to be faced with the danger of rebellion of the self unless you attain self-purification. Gaining knowledge is dangerous without self-purification; more dangerous than anything else. Posts and positions are dangerous for you before you attain self-purification and can bring destruction upon you in this world and in the hereafter. Try to keep in mind the true purpose of the bi`that right from today which is the anniversary of the grand bi`that and this great divine blessing on mankind. The purpose of the bi`that was to purify the soul of man and the soul gets purified when it gets rid of selfishness, egotism, lust for power, and greed for other worldly things and replaces it with (pure love for) God Almighty. The purpose of the bi`that is to let God rule over the hearts and the society. Unless the upper rungs purify themselves, we cannot expect to see any rectification within this country and the other countries. Those who see the benefit of this Revolution and support it and consider it as a national movement and want it to bear fruit should foster peace and harmony in this country, at all cost. And this peace and harmony has to flow down from the top. The lower rungs will never achieve peace and harmony as long as there is lack of it within the upper rungs. And if the upper rungs do not attain self-purification, love for God, and seek escape from the clutches of egotism, and as long as egotism has replaced self-purification, there will never be peace and harmony even among the upper rungs, no matter how much they may try to foster it.

It is obligatory upon all of us to seek self-purification. The purpose of the bi`that is self-purification. Without self-purification, everything that an individual attains veils him (from God). It is obligatory upon all of us to purify our souls so that we can avail of the Divine Light and the light of Qur'an. However, self-purification is of greater importance for the statesmen than it is for people like us. If we do not get self-purified, we will cause limited destruction or only destroy ourselves. If the statesmen do not work on self-purification and do not free themselves from the clutches of egotism, they can bring destruction to their own country as well as other countries.

I thank all my dear brothers from Azerbaijan and Tabriz for coming all the way to gather at this humble place. I have great hopes in you people of Azerbaijan and Tabriz. I am hopeful that you will foster peace and harmony among yourselves, purify yourselves, and strive for Islam and for the achievement of Islamic goals. Islam is for everyone and all of us should reap benefits from it.

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