Letter [to Ethical-mystical testament]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
"Praise be to God, the Creator of the Universe. He other than whom there is no compassionate and no merciful but Him is worshipped and asked for help except Him and none is praised save Him. There is no Lord and sustainer but Him. He is the Guide to the straight path, and there is no guide and preceptor save Him, and no insight except by Him. He is the Beginning and the End, the Apparent and the Unseen. Greetings be upon the Master of Messengers and the preceptor of all- whose advent was from the invisible world to the world of intuition and who accomplished the circle and returned it to its beginning- and upon his chaste descendants, who themselves are the treasuries of God's secret, the gems of God's wisdom and guides for all, save God."
This is the testament of a helpless old man, who has spent his entire life of some 90 years in the whirlpool of deviation and natural pleasure and is now striding his last few days toward the abyss of hell and has no hope of rescue, «1» but is not despaired of the divine grace and mercy and is hopeful of none save Him. He sees himself so helpless in the twists of formal sciences that are all argumental babblings that none but God can keep track of his sins.
This last will is addressed to a young man, who is hoped to be able to find a way to God by His grace and guidance and with the help of the holy guides (`a) and rid himself of the quagmire in which his father is bogged down.
My dear son Ahmad, may God's praise be unto you, look through these papers:" Heed the words uttered and not the one who utters them." «2» All that I say to you, although I am devoid of them, I hope they can serve as warning to you. Know that the world of being including the invisible, the celestial kingdom and above and below, none of them has any being, knowledge, power, and excellence by itself. Everything is from Him, the Exalted and Glorified. It is He Who has all the reigns in His Hands, from preexistence to eternity. He is the Absolute, the Eternal. Never mind these hollow and empty creatures and never count on them nor put your trust in them for expecting favors from anyone except God is polytheism and fear of other than Him paganism.
My son, while you enjoy the blessing of youth, act to reform yourself for you will lose all things in old age. One of the tricks of Satan, perhaps his greatest, to which your father has been afflicted, unless God's mercy comes to his aid, is `gradation'. «3» During young days the inner Satan, the staunchest enemy of the young, prevents one from thinking about one's self-purification and promises, saying that there is plenty of time, that youth is the period of enjoyment and each hour and minute that passes one faces, this gradation of false promises until one's youth is behind him and when one's young age is about to expire; Satan promises one false enjoyments in old age and during old age this satanic temptation does not leave one. One is further promised of last moment repentance and at the departure of this life, Satan misrepresents the Lord as the most hated being, one who has taken from man his favorite worldly life on earth. This is the condition of those in whom the light of primordial nature has died out. There are people whom the worldly whirlpool has kept from thinking about self-purification and the pride of this world has overpowered them. I have personally seen such individuals in the pseudo-scientist class, some of whom are still alive and regard religions as empty and void.
My son, take care; none of us can be sure of not falling in this satanic trap. My dear! Recite the prayers of the noble infallible Imams (`a) and see how they term their goodnesses as evil and regard themselves as deserving divine punishment; they think of nothing except God's mercy. Men of this world and the gluttonous clerics misinterpret these prayers because they have not known Almighty Allah.
My son, the problem is bigger than what we imagine. Those who have annihilated themselves in the realm of God and see nothing but Him, at that state, there is no spoken word, no thought and no ego; these holy prayers have been issued in a state of ecstasy before «4» or after «5» annihilation when they see themselves present in His court and are beyond the reach of all except the pure saints. Now, let me discuss what is not meant for individuals like me and take up anything that for you, my son, may have a ray of hope that by God's glory and help you might attain it from His saints. That thing is," Set your face in devotion to the true faith on which the nature of all beings is based" «6» That is the nature of monotheism which is the nature of all beings. That which receives attention and is pursued by all whether in pursuit of sciences and knowledge, excellence and virtues, religious learnings and their like or in passion and carnal desires or attention to things like idols in places of worship, worldly and otherworldly beloveds, the apparent or imaginary and moral and external things like love of women, children, tribe, worldly heads like kings, generals, emirs or of the world to come such as theologians, learned men, mystics, saints and prophets such attention is attention to Absolute Oneness. No movement occurs except for Him and union with Him. No step is taken except towards Him, the Absolute Perfection. And now, the likes of us, in the dark veils some above others, all pains, troubles and sufferings emanate from these veils and the first step, which is a prelude to the removal of these veils, is that we realize we are in veils and gradually move out of this natural torpidity and inebriation that has engulfed all of our beings from secret and covert to latent and apparent. This is the wakefulness that some peripatetics consider as the first step of the journey. Rather, this awakening is prelude to embarking on the journey and removing all the veils of darkness and is followed by the light of attainment of the first stage of monotheism. If we move forward by the control of reason that also says the same thing- absolute perfection is all perfection otherwise it will not be absolute. No perfection and beauty may appear in things other than God, for otherwise it would be polytheism, if not atheism.
My dear, you must first move forward by the steps of knowledge limpingly and this being any knowledge is the grand veil. On the entry to this veil, you will become aware of its removal. Let us move together toward conscience for it may open a road. Every human being, rather every being loves perfection by nature and for this reason, it is impossible for your primordial nature to settle for any knowledge it may acquire as it demands for more if it observes that higher things exist; it will seek them by its primordial nature and will despise that knowledge if it sees defects or limitations in it. That to which the primordial nature is attracted, is the state of perfection, not imperfection. Therefore, if an able person is mindful of his power, his attention is aimed at perfection of that power, not at its deficiency.
As such, the powerful seeks higher powers without being aware of them. Absolute power is absolute being and all and the entire orbit of realization is a manifestation of that Absolute Being and whatever you face, you face Him while you are veiled and are not aware of it. If by the stride of conscience you understand and realize this much, you will never pay attention to anything except the Absolute. This is a treasure that renders man needless of other than Him. Whatever comes to one s from the Absolute Beloved and anything withdrawn from one is withdrawn by the absolute Beloved. When you enjoy the criticisms or fault-findings of the enemies you do so because it is from the Beloved, not from the enemies. You care for no position except the station of the Absolute Perfection.
My dear son, I now want to speak with my imperfect tongue and pen. You and all know that you are in a ruling system that by the grace of divine power and the prayers and affirmation of Imam Mahdi (may our souls be sacrificed for the dust of his step) and the support of the revolutionary nation of Iran, may my soul be sacrificed for everyone of them who have rejected and overthrown all satanic powers which in the disorder of monarchy for over a thousand years oppressed and suppressed the people, killed many and tortured others throughout the years and deprived many of their rights, many of whom are still abroad or at home. Even now, such tyrannical groups especially the world-mongering America have supporters among the nations that are their captives. They are negligent of the power of Islam and are attracted to the power of such agents as the USA and have, in support of it drawn swords against the Republic (Iran) and its leaders, and are waiting to see its overthrow. The interests of the West is in danger and the mighty Islam is the only power that has posed this danger, the same with the Eastern atheist block who opposes any voice raised in opposition to its power and has half of the world in its grasp, and senses grave danger from the powerful Islam and they have supporters within and without the country who, in line with their master, show animosity to the great Islam, the Islamic Republic and its authorities, and think of erasing its effects. In such conditions they expect to shake hands with the Islamic Republic and say in Arabic, welcome as they rise to eulogize the Islamic Republic and its officials. It is natural to corrupt human thoughts to remove the obstacle from the path by any means, and in addition to military, economic, and judicial means there is another remarkable means and that is, cultural dimension. The decadent Western and Eastern cultures, with the tremendous means at their disposal, broadcasting lies and false rumors and calumnies around the clock, attack the Islamic culture and its laws at every opportunity and call its authorities old reactionaries lacking political acumen, and do not consider Islamic law sufficient for the modern period saying that the laws that are 1,400 years old are not capable of administering modern public affairs, that the world has modern innovations that past ages did not have, and some nominal Muslims have reiterated this point. In this environment such extensive plots must be resisted according to the divine Islamic culture. The dedicated writers, speakers and artists must, with the aid of the clergy who are well-versed in the Islamic jurisprudence, the Qur'an and divine decrees, which are for all ages, with correct jurisprudential action deduce from the Qur'an, the tradition of the Prophet (s) and narrations, which are replete with divine learning and traditional jurisprudence, and present them to the world and not mind the criticism of the deviants and court-clerics. The deviators must be made to understand that if their tricks and ruses, God forbid, get some place and harm the Islamic Republic that seeks to renew the historical Islam, then Islam will be slapped so vehemently by the East and the West and their affiliates that we shall observe a worse-than-monarchia tyrannical system and corruption. And, now it is time to make a will and counsel to my son Ahmad on some points.
My son, although you are not involved in any occupation and position held by the leaders of the country- may God assist them all- these devastating slaps that you receive are because you are my son and per culture of the East and West, I and whoever is close to me, especially you who are closer to me than anyone else, should be subjected to abuses and all sorts of calumny. In fact, your guilt is that you are my son and this is no small guilt to them. To be sure, they must utter things beyond and above these and they shall utter and you must be expecting and prepared. However, if you have faith in God and trust His boundless wisdom and mercy you should regard these slaps and false accusations and the endless injuries as gifts from the Friend for suppression of egoism and as divine tests to purify His true servants. Thus, tolerate the slaps and thank God, beg for more such favors.
My son, you have asked me several times not to say anything that exonerates you from all charges and accusations leveled at you. You have the expediency of Islam and the Islamic Republic in saying so. However, if in this paper I say things about you against your will is because I want to perform my divine duty and defend a person who has been charged with so many accusations for my sake.
I swear to the overpowering, omnipresent and avenging God that from the day Ahmad has been administering my affair in the exterior annex of my house until this moment that I write these lines he has taken no step and used no pen against my words or my written texts and has used strange scruple and tried not to deviate even a word or letter from what I have said or written. If even a single letter had to be added or deleted for correction purposes, he has done so only with my permission. In my written and oral statements I have given permission to Ahmad as well as some of the employees in my office and those in charge of the media to advise me if any necessary correction was to be made. Ahmad has been and is aware of this and so far he has not deleted a word without first referring to me" and God is the witness to all this."
O God, although I do not want to say or write a word about my kith and kin that would smack of eulogy, You know that remaining silent against accusations is a sin. I have not seen the least deviation from the friends who work in my office. They have been with me many years and among them is Mr. Sani`i. «7» Because of relation with me he has received considerable harm. I ask God to grant them due rewards.
And lastly, let me say that so far Ahmad has not spent a penny from the Public Treasury and I cover his expenses from my own personal assets.
O God, forgive us, sinful servants, and do not withhold from us Your boundless mercy. We know we do not deserve this, but we are still your servants. O God, protect and preserve this Islamic Republic and its officials and combatants under the shield of Your mercy and grant abundant mercy to our martyrs and those missing action and their families, return the prisoners of war and the those missing in action to their homeland for the sake of Muhammad (s) and his progeny and the pure and rightful Imams (`a).
Rouhullah al-Mousawi al-Khomeini
Rabi` ath-Thani 27,1408 AH