Statements in the Presence of the Disabled Veterans, Martyrs, and Families of Martyrs of Fars Province

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Thanks be to God, the Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our master and prophet, Abu al-Qasim al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his pure and virtuous family, especially the remainder of God among the inhabitants of the earth.

Although there are countless remarkable events in the incidents of the revolution, from the beginning of the great movement of the Iranian nation that culminated in the Islamic Revolution to the victory of the revolution and from the victory of the revolution to today, throughout the period of struggle and revolution, astonishing and unparalleled events continuously draw attention; however, among these astonishing events, the issue of martyrdom has an exceptional characteristic.

Everything related to the luminous existence of the martyr is astonishing. His motivation for moving towards jihad — that in this material world, amidst all these colorful and attractive motivations, a youth rises, stands up for God, and moves towards the battlefield of struggle — this itself is astonishing; after that, his efforts, putting himself in danger in the battlefields, his outstanding deeds in the fields, the bravery and courage that each line of it can serve as a lasting and luminous model, is also astonishing; and after that, reaching an overwhelming desire and removing the veils and material barriers to see the face of the beloved — which was always manifested in the actions of the martyrs, in the words of the martyrs, and in the days close to martyrdom, and there are numerous accounts in this regard — this is also one of the wonders. Among these dear martyrs of yours from Shiraz and Fars, I read in a will where the martyr says: "I am restless, restless! There is a fire in my heart that has made me impatient; I find no peace in anything else but in meeting You; O God, my beloved!" This is the word of a youth! This is the same thing that a seeker and a mystic, after years of struggle and years of asceticism, may reach; but a blossoming youth, in the battlefield and in the field of jihad, is so favored by divine grace that he traverses this hundred-year journey in a single night, and this feeling of restlessness and longing receives a suitable response from the Lord. This longing itself is a grace from God and the attraction of the Almighty. This is a great wonder.

And then there is the blood of the martyr. The family of the martyr, the mother of the martyr, the father of the martyr, the wife and children of the martyr, the brothers and sisters and relatives and friends of the martyr — if this youth had died a normal death, they would have torn their garments and not remained patient — in the face of the blood of this martyr, they showed such patience, composure, tranquility, and steadfastness that one remains astonished. The mother of two martyrs said to me: "I buried my children myself, I placed them in the ground, and my hand did not tremble!" The father of several martyrs said: "If I had several times more children, I would have been willing to give them in the way of God!" What element is this? What essence is this? What shining light is this that God has placed in the heart of the event of martyrdom that illuminates this dark world? For eight years, the Iranian nation was accompanied by this shining light in the hearts of men and women. And God assisted; God helped.

The martyrs were pioneers and vanguards, and the second front was the families of the martyrs and other veterans. They moved forward, removed obstacles from the path, and were able to transform a nation that had been accustomed to lethargy and submission to tyrants for several centuries into this lively, proud, and dignified nation with strong and resolute determination. This was accomplished by our martyrs; this was accomplished by our warriors; this was accomplished by our veterans; this was accomplished by the steadfastness of our freed prisoners in the enemy's prisons; this was accomplished by you, the families of the martyrs. Your right over Iran and Iranians remains forever, and the history of Iran must acknowledge the rights of the families of the martyrs.

More than fourteen thousand five hundred martyrs from Fars Province and the city of Shiraz! Is this a joke? Shiraz, which the colonial policies had decided to turn into a symbol of immorality and disregard for religious principles and values; Shiraz, where they wished for nothing but the manifestations of depraved animalistic behavior and where there would be no news of religious authenticity. They planned for this; they took action. But the response of the people of Shiraz and the people of Fars, and your slap in the face to the enemy, was fourteen thousand five hundred martyrs, more than thirty-four thousand veterans, and more than two thousand five hundred freed prisoners. Peace be upon you! God's mercy be upon you!

Shiraz was the sanctuary of great Imams; in no other part of the country are there as many shrines of Imams as in Fars. The meaning of this statement is that from wherever the Imams and the children of the infallibles fled from the oppression of the caliphs or moved in hope of the people's assistance, they turned towards the city of Shiraz or other cities of Fars. The spirituality that a personality like the late Ayatollah Dastgheib represented was derived from this family and from this inexhaustible center of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them). This shows the depth of religious motivation. This luminosity creates and nurtures a personality like martyr Dastgheib, and the warm breath of that dear martyr makes so many hearts of young seekers enamored with spirituality; the hearts of the youth who went to the battlefields from the very first days.

Yesterday, I told the military personnel stationed in Shiraz: At the beginning of the revolution and the early days of the imposed war, during a time when the front lines were troubled from all sides and most of Khorramshahr was under the boots of the occupiers, I went to the region of Abadan and this part of Khorramshahr; a group of radiant, enthusiastic, sincere youths had come there with primitive weapons to fight; I asked: Where did you come from? They said: From Shiraz. Throughout the period of the imposed war, the children of Fars Province — whether in the Fajr Division, or in the Al-Mahdi Division, or in the army units stationed in Shiraz, many of whose personnel are from Shiraz or the cities of Fars Province — their presence was impactful and evident. This warm breath that brought so many youths into the field to defend Islam, defend national independence, defend the country, and defend the greatest event in our history — namely, the Islamic Revolution — was the warm breath of great men like the late Ayatollah martyr Dastgheib and others, and behind all of them, stronger than all, was the warm breath of the Imam. This is one of the very prominent wonders of our revolution!

My dear ones! Today, many years have passed since that time. Many of you youths did not see and did not experience the Sacred Defense; some have only a vague memory of it. The passage of time distances events from a person moment by moment. Some events are forgotten, like a weak wave created by throwing a stone into a pool of water — there is a wave, but as time passes, it becomes weaker and weaker, and not a minute passes before there is no news of that wave — but some events are the opposite, and the passage of time does not weaken or diminish them, but rather makes them more prominent. One example of this is the event of Ashura.

On the day of Ashura, no one understood what happened. The greatness of that event, the greatness of the struggle of the beloved grandson of the Prophet and his companions and relatives, as well as the greatness of the tragedy of the killing of the Prophet's children and those trampled upon, was not clear to anyone. Most of those who were there did not understand. Those who were on the enemy's front were so intoxicated and so oblivious and so alienated from themselves that they did not understand what happened! The intoxicated of the world, intoxicated by pride, lust, and anger, and the intoxicated of animality, do not understand what is happening in the realm of humanity; yes, Zainab understood well, Sakina understood well, those oppressed women and girls understood well what happened; this was on the day of Ashura. But every day that passed after Ashura — the twelfth day in Kufa, a few weeks later in Sham, a few weeks later in Medina, and shortly thereafter in the entire Islamic world — this event rapidly revealed its greatness and importance. Not even two years had passed since this event when that Pharaoh-like tyrant who was the cause of this event fell from the earth and was destroyed, and it was not long before that family was also annihilated. Another family from Banu Umayyah came to power; a few decades later, that family was also dissolved and destroyed. The Islamic world became increasingly closer, more attached, and more eager for the school of Ahl al-Bayt, and this event was able to establish the foundations of Islamic belief and the Islamic school throughout history. If it were not for the event of Karbala, we would not have much knowledge of the foundations and principles of Islam today, and perhaps we would only hear a name of Islam. This sacred blood and this great event not only did not diminish, did not fade, did not weaken, but rather became stronger, more prominent, and more impactful day by day; this is a prominent example.

Your revolution and the martyrdom of your martyrs are also of the same kind. At first, it was a seismic event; many analyzed: it is an earthquake, it will pass and be forgotten! But it did not happen that way; it turned out to be the opposite. Today, in the depths of the hearts of Muslim nations, the concepts of the Islamic Revolution are increasingly penetrating; this is not my statement, but the product of analyses by those who are the fiercest enemies of the Iranian nation and the Islamic Revolution! They say; they testify. What you see is that they threaten and shout against the Iranian nation because of this analysis; they are afraid! They see that this event did not extinguish; they see that this wave did not diminish and is continuously becoming more prominent and deeper; hence, they are afraid.

One day they thought that the revolution in this country was over; the reason was that a few ignorant and oblivious people either said: The revolution is over, or said: Do not mention the names of the martyrs anymore, or said: The Imam should be placed in the museum of history and such statements! Those fools who wanted to derive a correct analysis for their policies from these statements believed it; they thought the revolution was over. Today, when one looks, they see the signs of despair from that analysis in their words and analyses. They feel apprehensive about the Iranian nation, the greatness of Iran, the independence of Iran, and the talents of Iranian youth.

Why is the scientific progress of a nation and a country considered threatening by some groups in the world? Why?! Because they are monopolists; because they are dominators; because they have regarded Iran as prey. They wanted to swallow this country with its resources and its outstanding geographical position all at once. The awakening of the Iranian nation, the awakening of the Iranian youth, and the talent and brilliance of the scientific progress of Iranian youth do not allow that. Therefore, your technological progress, your nuclear energy, and your other scientific advancements anger them. Yes, if the Iranian nation were indifferent and the Iranian youth were thoughtless — not pursuing knowledge, not pursuing work, not pursuing production, and not pursuing innovation, and just passing time in pleasure and indulgence — they would be happy. That is what they want; they do not want Shiraz to be a center of scientific advancement — which I said, your Shiraz is at the forefront of cities and provinces in terms of industrial advancement, and in some scientific fields, your youth and men and women have gained fame in the world — they do not want that. They do not want our university, our seminary, our laboratory, and our production environment to be thriving. They want the mixing of boys and girls and sexual promiscuity and negligence and indulgence to dominate the lives of the people; that is what they want. You acted contrary to this; the reason for the anger of America and the Zionists and all this propaganda is this.

Some say: O Sir! Why do you provoke the enmity of America? Well, if we do not want to provoke the enmity of America, we must sleep, stop working and striving, and forget our honors! Then America will be grateful to us; that is America. Is the Iranian nation satisfied with this?! They are not enemies with us because a certain official in the country has said a certain thing or because our policy has moved in a certain way; no, they are enemies because of the awakening of the Iranian nation. Wherever there is a center of awakening, it becomes a more important target for the enemies of this nation. You look and see that wherever awakening radiates from and the awareness and readiness of the youth of the nation are more evident and shining, they are more hostile to that place. They are hostile to the families of the martyrs.

Thanks be to God, the families of the martyrs of Shiraz are like this; see what motivation and what sense of pride has overshadowed this atmosphere! This is how it should be; take pride. It is truly a source of pride for a person to give his dear one and his youth in the way of God and to know that he has pleased the Almighty with this act; "Patience and expectation of reward"; he should consider it before God. He should know that this dear one who was given in the way of God was a bastion raised against the onslaught of the enemies to the dignity and independence of this nation. Each of your martyrs is a bastion; this is a source of pride; the veterans are the same. The veterans are also living martyrs; you dear veterans are like the martyrs; the martyr has also endured the same blow that the veteran has endured; his destiny was to fly and depart, while the destiny of this one is to remain for now. The families of the martyrs, the father and mother of the martyr, the wife of the martyr, the children of the martyr, the brothers and sisters and relatives of the martyr, the fathers and sisters and wives of the veterans should take pride.

One of the things I always feel is respect for the wives of the veterans. Some of these dear women accepted and embraced this veteran with his disability; well done! Some of them married a handsome youth, and suddenly saw him turn into a disabled person and a veteran; they accepted and welcomed him; well done! The wives of the veterans are very valuable. The wives of the martyrs — who raised dear youths — are very valuable. I have seen in the biographies of the martyrs of Shiraz that several children of the martyrs of Shiraz and Fars Province have achieved high academic and research ranks. How is this achieved?! Through the struggle of that mother, that wife of the martyr, that lioness, and that jihad in the way of God; her jihad is this: "Goodness in marriage"; goodness in marriage means preserving the honor of the husband; preserving the personality of the husband; this is goodness in marriage; one example of this is that the husband went in the way of God; they should raise his children and chicks in such a way that they feel proud and continue the path of the martyr.

My final message to you is: Dear ones! If the martyrs are dear — and they are the dearest — if they are precious to us — and they are the most precious — honoring them means that we should continue their path and pursue their goals. Following their path means that we must keep in mind and pursue the goals of the Islamic Republic and the Islamic values — these solid foundations and these manifest indicators that can elevate this nation to the peak of worldly and otherworldly honor — men and women are equal in this regard; the sons and daughters of martyrs, the brothers and sisters of martyrs, and those who are related to the martyr are equal in this regard. The closer you are to the martyr, the greater your honor and the heavier your responsibility. The country belongs to you; the country belongs to the youth; the future belongs to you. Those who went, went and opened the paths; we who remain must move forward from these opened paths. Otherwise, if they open the way and we sit idly by and watch, this is ingratitude and ungratefulness. Gratitude towards the martyrs is that when they opened the way, we should move forward from this path. This is our duty today, and the Iranian nation fulfills this duty, and the officials of the country, thanks be to God, are committed and devoted to this duty, and the Islamic slogans and the foundations and principles of Islam are the primary flags and slogans for them. God willing, this nation, with this determination, with this spirit, with this youth, and with these shining torches that have been ignited from the blood of the martyrs and illuminated the atmosphere, will be able to reach its highest and farthest aspirations.

O Lord! Bestow Your mercy and forgiveness upon the martyrs. O Lord! Bestow Your mercy, grace, and favor upon the families of the martyrs. O Lord! Unite us with the martyrs. O Lord! Do not let our death be except in martyrdom in Your way. O Lord! Make the prayers of the great Imam, the prayers of the martyrs, the prayers of martyr Dastgheib, and above all, the prayer of the Awaited Imam (may our souls be sacrificed for him) encompass us.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings.