In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Knowledge of Allah as the lofty objective of the prophets
"O the Transformer of the hearts and insights! O the Interchanger of the nights and days! O the Changer of the states and conditions! Change our condition to a better one."
O God! In this new year change us from the state wherein we are. We are fettered by our carnal desires; only You can save us.
O God! Let not these remarkable victories that have been secured for us, our nation and for Islam negatively affect our hearts, make us proud and deviate us from the path of the prophets (`a). I hope that this new year will be auspicious for all Muslim nations, particularly the oppressed nation of Iran that has been suffering for many years. Just as You changed the spirit of our beloved combatants who are present in the warfronts and will have a stroger presence in the future, change also our spirit in such a way that it earns Your pleasure.
All the objectives of prophets are summed up in a single term and that is" knowledge of Allah". All other steps are preliminary. If there were invitation to righteous deeds, if there were invitation to self-purification, if there were invitation to gnosis, all of these were meant for the removal of the veil from the natural disposition of all human beings so that man could attain the knowledge of God. This is the lofty objective. The prophets did not want to have wars; they did not want to have other than this invitation. Invitation to occupy a country and invitation to these things have never been in their mind. If in these victories that, thank God, have been astoundingly achieved, we do not deviate from the way of the prophets, this New Year is auspicious for us and we are victorious. But if, God forbid, these things make us arrogant, make us attached to the world, make us think of developing the country and ruling over people, then we have no difference with the superpowers. In fact, we will be lagging behind them. They clearly say that:" We want to take control of the world." They say," All our interests must be preserved even to the extent of trampling upon countries." We do not say so; we consider ourselves followers of Islam. If, God forbid, we cherish in our hearts to gain more power, to gain more prestige for ourselves, to rule over people, and to accumulate more wealth, we will be even worse than them, because in our case hypocrisy has also crept in.
Appreciation and commending the combatant youth
I should appreciate the youth and the different classes of people joining the warfronts from across the country for long time. They were transformed. Their prayer, which we recite in New Year, has been heard to some extent. Their state of morale is something else; something different from what we have. They go to the battlefield; they go to killing theater; they rush to the verge of death with such smiling face and strong heart. If one sees any of them, one will realize that they are different from us. We implore God to transform us like them. We should thank them. We should pray for them; I do pray for them. It is our obligation to pray for these youth of ours, these travelers to Karbala', these guards, the Army, all the armed forces, the Basij, and all. They are protecting Islam and in this New Year I hope astounding victory will be theirs; Islam will be strengthened. God willing, in this year the enemy's ruse will return to them, just as God Almighty has so far done it. We should extend all thanks to His Sacred Presence.
Paying respect to the noble families of martyrs, disabled of the war and prisoners of war
I thank all the families of martyrs, the disabled of the war those missing in action, the captives, and those who suffered for this country and in this war. Thank God, they suffered for God who will reward them. Yet, we have also the duty to pray for them and to congratulate them for having such youth, such purified youth whom they have raised. They have such strong hearts to send their youth to the warfronts. Instead of the possibility that once, God forbid, the youth became martyrs, we thank them, we pray for them and we beseech God to grant them fortitude and recompense, to make this year and this New Year auspicious for them. We implore God to change our hearts. We should understand for what purpose we came to the world, what we are supposed to do and how we should depart from this world. It should not be an animal death. It should not be in such a way that we amass sins and be disgraced there.
May God approve us and everybody and make us all true humans. Islam has come to mold humans. All the prophets came for this mission, i. e. to let man understand that which is in his inner essence and that is the divine natural disposition, which is attention to God and everything that is related to Him. May He grant us a bit of gnosis so as to understand this. We have to understand who we are, what the world is and what status it has in relation to God, the Exalted. It is easy to say what everything is but to understand it is problematic. We have to understand which point prophets wanted from us and who the prophets themselves were. In spite of the station that they had, they used to express inability. That is also the truth of the matter. For, magnificence of God is beyond these issues. I hope that these combatants of ours and all these armed forces would be united. They should have one direction as they do; they should fortify the warfronts. They should annihilate this evil that happened for the Muslims, for the nation of Iraq, and for our nation. As what they themselves want, our combatants want to perform the job without any delay. God willing, they will achieve victory. O God! Make them victorious. Make us triumphant in our jihad against the self. Make everybody triumphant in the jihad against the self. Familiarize us with our duties. Familiarize us with our obligations to this nation. Accept our service to the nation, which is actually service to Thee. Protect our religion and our world. Make this year auspicious to all strata of our nation. O God! Turn the hearts of those who are opposing this republic; Thou art the Transformer of the hearts. Transform them to become true humans. Enlighten those who are sitting idly while the youth are multiplying in the warfronts. Transform the hearts of those who are either merrymaking or indifferent into wholesome hearts. Remove these veils from our eyes. Make us succeed in not being sluggish in pursuing divine issues. May our hearts be enlightened to the light of Your knowledge. May the heart of the entire nation of ours be enlightened to the light of Your knowledge. O God! Show the things as they are.
May God's peace, mercy and blessings be upon you.