Speech [On the plagues afflicting and deviations from the revolution]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

I congratulate the nation, the oppressed people of the world and you gentlemen who are a good example of this nation on the anniversary of the victory of Islamic Revolution and the Ten-Day-Dawn ceremonies. I implore God, the Most Blessed and Exalted to grant success to all in serving the servants of God, and perpetuating the victory. The principle of the perpetuation of this victory and revolution lies in one thing that seems to be on top of all affairs and that is, the government, the Majlis and those who are in the army and the Sepah (Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps) should all be of the middle and lower classes of society. The domination over countries and our country by aliens has been made possible by affluent individuals and those who held huge capitals or, power for their own protection and reputation. As long as the Majlis and government organizations are composed of middle and lower classes of people, it will not be possible for a big government, or a big power to disturb the order. The big powers would always compromise with one individual in every country who would act and operate to strengthen his own power and capital. They would conspire with this individual and plunder the nation or meet with the village chieftain to pillage the village. Never could big powers confront nations and if ever they had, they were never able to carry out their plans; so they never ventured to do so. Whenever they wanted to remove a government, a monarchy or a president who refused to act in accordance with their objectives, they would create another power to pit against him and destroyed that power by this power. The play was not in the hands of people, nor was it in the hands of the middle or lower classes.

Why they would act in such a way has one spiritual aspect and that is because man sees no limit in his inner nature; his aspirations are boundless; man's wishes know no boundary. When such is the case, if one is enslaved by these unstoppable aspirations and finds that a superpower fulfills one's wishes and material needs, power and supremacy over a nation, one is no longer concerned to work for the people, because one belongs to a well-off and powerful class. The lust for power and wealth and name and fame has no limit, no boundary. To retain one's power and the support enabling one to preserve one's power, one treats people in a way that places all the prestige and treasures of the nation at the disposal of that supporting power, retaining a meager share for oneself. Now you see that there are powers in the world in terms of wealth and property that if they divide their property among our 36 million population- if one of them divides his properties- the entire 36 million- population will become well-to-do and be elevated to their so-called class. One of them was like this. However, one who has such enormous wealth is greedier for worldly gains than a beggar in your locality; his avid desire for wealth is greater and has a greater craving for amassing wealth. To whatever extent one's property is increased, to that same extent one's greed will run up. However, one's power is increased, one's greed for power will rise.

If man is not refined, he uses that power for himself. When he employs that power for himself, the big governments, the superpowers that exist find such a powerful man and empower him more so that he would oppress people and plunder the treasures of a nation. Study the situation in the past 50 years or more when alien powers appointed Rida Khan, as they admitted in later years, and empowered him so much that he oppressed the entire nation, imposing his tyrannical government on them and stripping the people of everything. He was just one person. They colluded with that one person and accomplished their ends. Then they installed Muhammad-Rida with all his entourage. They consisted of the privileged and pleasure-seeking people and, borrowing their words, the high-class people. We should note, our nation should note, that when their parliament is composed of the middle class, one in which there are none of those pompous titles of dukes, lords and so on and, when in the government, there are none of those well-off individuals and so and so capitalists, when in the army we don't have those major generals and so and so who possessed unlimited lands and multi-story houses, this country will remain secure. The day when people notice some of you are moving from middle classes to higher social classes, and are after power or wealth, they should be aware and put such individuals aside. If people want this revolution to proceed successfully and accomplish its objectives, they should keep an eye on all those who make up the government on the president, and on parliament deputies, so that may not move from middle to upper or well-off classes.

Know that if the government, the people, the parliament, etc., are such, when a power wants to launch an attack on the country, it will confront 30 million people and cannot do anything. It will not be able to find one who is powerful and compel that powerful one to oppress the nation and plunder the people for it. History has been this way. As long as such individuals among the nation have not been found to reach the stage to gain financial or other powers and govern the people, superpowers cannot destroy and govern these nations. Finally, however, a superpower is able to meet one, two, or, five hundred persons whom it feeds to satisfaction and unleashes them to plunder the people, with it sitting behind and handling the major governmental affairs and entrusting the minor affairs to the indigenous people in the subject country. In principle, the oppression of nations originates from within themselves and the powerful ones among them. You should be thankful for having such a parliament in which there is no member from the well-off class, the class that if it divides its belongings among our nation, our people will become rich. You don't have such people now. In the government, too, you don't have such rich and powerful people. The government does not have such a power. The president does not have such a power to impose a devious thing on the nation. We don't have such a parliament that can approve of the government executing something devious. As long as this middle way is preserved, this republic is secure. There is no possibility for big powers to control such a government. With whom can they plot to stage a coup? With whom do they want to stage the coup? If they want to bring men from abroad, whom do they think they will be confronted with? They will be confronted with a nation all of whom are from the class that advanced the movement with power and dignity. They study the affairs and then take action. They are now planning to sow differences and amid this discord find an individual and empower him so that the country will grow weak gradually and people lose their morale and then offer the country to them. As long as our country is, thank God, purged of the high well-off class that used to hold the reins of affairs and as long as the affairs of our country are in the hands of the likes of our president, parliament speakers, prime ministers, ministers and deputies, rest assured that no foreign power can destroy this victory.

The day when you see that a deviation has crept into the Majlis, deviation in terms of seeking power and wealth among ministers and the president, it is the mark signaling that we might suffer defeat. Then you must prevent it. A president who wants to reign over the country, should be stopped by the people. A Majlis that wants to wield power and do what the former deputies did in the Majlis, should be prevented by the people. People should preserve Islam, the Islamic Republic, the government, the Majlis, the president and the like. They should protect them against, God forbid, taking an adverse course. There is a devil inside man trying to mislead him, so it is necessary for man to purify himself.

You, who want to serve the people, the government that wants to serve the people, the president and the like who want to serve these people should note that they are servants. They should believe in their heart that they want to serve the people. We are living in the Islamic Republic, the Islamic Republic that has been administered by the Noble Prophet, and the Commander of the Faithful (`a). We want such a government whose leader says his patched shoes are more valuable to him than being a ruler or ruling is less valuable than his patched shoes. «1»

You should bear this idea in your mind and people should also watch over you. The day when any one of you and us deviate from the path Islam has recommended, deviate from the original path, and the path of Prophets, the early signs of defeat of Islam will appear. As long as such a problem has not emerged, do not doubt that victory will stay. Of course, it should be for God.

You have come to this Majlis (parliament) for God. When a Majlis is an assembly which grants no special privilege (to its members) so that when you as a Majlis speaker or deputy or prime minister go to the bazaar, do not step aside and give way to you. You should give thanks that this mentality is no longer here. It is not such that when a deputy goes among people they should treat him in a different manner. All people are equal. When you have such a mentality, when you feel that you have no worldly privilege over another, you should give thanks and as a sign of gratitude serve the people, the injunctions of Islam and our benefactors. The people living downtown, the barefooted, as you put it, are our benefactors. If it had not been for them, we would have been in exile, in prison or in isolation. It was they who saved us from these problems and relieved all of us and propelled us to this position, which we presume to be of value. Take notice that you gentlemen were the ones who were in prison, in exile or in isolation and that these people came and relieved us of all these difficulties. If we serve them up to the end of our lives, we cannot compensate for their services. May God grant us success to be their servant and be successful in appreciating this favor. You see to which class those who are making self-sacrifices in the warfronts belong. If you find among all of them one who belongs to the gentlemen who have enormous capitals, or those who formerly enjoyed power, if you find one it will be right for you to ask us for a reward. But I am sure you will not. All are from this population. Those who are guarding you and the people who are guarding you and the people in cities and villages are from among this class. It is this class to whom we should hold ourselves indebted; we have been indebted to them from the beginning. They have no expectation; they never expect to gain what their desire is. You should be attentive to the fact that it was they who made you parliament deputies, minister or president. They are our benefactors. We should appreciate and serve our benefactors. It is they who are safeguarding this country and the Islamic establishment in this country. You gentlemen cannot go to streets and, shall I say, alleys and control the situation. You have a different job to do; you have a different duty to fulfill; they also have a different job to do. However, their job is such that they protect you as well. I hope that this morale remains in force in the nation. With the morale prevailing in our soldiers, pasdars (Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps) and those guarding this country- it is a very valuable morale and a spirit injecting love for martyrdom and exposing oneself to the claws of death to save Islam and the country, this country will not suffer damage. May God grant this morale and spirit to all. As long as this spirit is in force, rest assured that this country is insured and will never suffer any losses. May God grant all of you and all of us success to serve the people and to worship God. Serving the people is among the greatest acts of worship. May God relieve us of the evil of those who want to restore this country and the Muslims to isolation or subjugation to foreign powers. May God either correct or destroy them.

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