Statements of His Eminence on the Occasion of the Day of the Guardian in the Presence of Thousands of Members of the Revolutionary Guards and Special Units of the Law Enforcement Forces

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

I also sincerely congratulate this great day and this blessed festival to all the freedom-seekers of the world, to all the seekers of truth and free men and those with courageous spirits, especially to the great nation of Iran and the brave youth of this land and the children of the Quran; that is, the dear guardians of the revolution and to you, dear attendees.

This name, 'Day of the Guardian,' which coincides with the birth of Hussein ibn Ali (peace be upon him), carries implications and symbols and imposes responsibilities on that group which today can rightfully say, 'I am a guardian and I follow the path of Hussein ibn Ali (peace be upon him).' To correctly understand these points, these implications, and these responsibilities, we must delve deeply into the event of Hussein ibn Ali (peace be upon him) and examine it carefully. Many have risen in the world, had leadership, and were killed. Among them, there were not few from the descendants of the prophets and the Imams. But the Master of Martyrs is a unique individual. The event of Karbala is a unique event. The martyrs of Karbala have a unique position. Why? The answer to this 'why' must be sought in the nature of the event; and it is the same that teaches us all lessons, perhaps especially you dear guardians.

One characteristic is that the movement of Hussein ibn Ali was a purely sincere movement without any ulterior motives, for God and religion and the reform of the Muslim community. This is the first characteristic, which is very important. When Hussein ibn Ali (peace be upon him) said, 'I did not rise as an insolent or arrogant oppressor or corrupter,' it is not for show; it is not for self-display; it is not for seeking something for oneself; it is not a display. There is not an iota of oppression or corruption in this movement. 'I only rose to seek reform in the nation of my grandfather.' This is a very important point. Only: nothing else! That pure intention and that sun-like mind are not clouded by any other purpose or intention. The Holy Quran, when speaking to Muslims at the beginning of Islam, says, 'And do not be like those who came out of their homes boastfully and to be seen by people.' And here Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) says, 'I did not rise as an insolent or arrogant.'

There are two lines; two currents. There, the Quran says: 'Do not be like those who moved out of arrogance and selfishness and self-worship.' That is, what is absent in that type of movement is sincerity. That is, in the corrupt line of movement, only 'self' and only 'I' are present. 'And to be seen by people.' He adorned himself, mounted a valuable horse, adorned himself with jewels, recited boastful verses, and went out. To where? To the battlefield. Incidentally, the battlefield is also a place where this person and dozens like him will be destroyed. The departure of such a person is like this. Only the self exists in him.

This is one side. The best example on the opposite side is Hussein ibn Ali (peace be upon him), in whom there is no selfishness, no self, no personal or tribal or group interests. This is the first characteristic of the movement of Hussein ibn Ali (peace be upon him). In the work we do, the more sincerity there is in you and me, the more valuable that work becomes. The further we move away from the pole of sincerity, the closer we get to the pole of selfishness and self-interest and working for oneself and thinking of oneself and personal and tribal interests and the like, which is another spectrum. Between that absolute sincerity and absolute selfishness, there is a vast field. The closer we get from there to this side, the less valuable our work becomes; its blessing decreases; its permanence also decreases. This is the property of this matter. The more impurity there is in this substance, the sooner it spoils. If it is pure, it never spoils. Now, if we want to give an example in tangible terms, if this alloy is one hundred percent gold, it is not perishable; it does not rust. But to the extent that copper and iron and other low-value materials are inside this alloy, its corruption and destruction increase. This is a general rule.

This is in tangible terms. But in spiritual matters, these balances are much more precise. We do not understand according to material and ordinary vision. But those who are spiritual and insightful understand. The critic of this matter, the assayer and jeweler of this affair, is Almighty God. 'For the critic is discerning.' If there is a needle's worth of impurity in our work, to that extent, that work becomes less valuable, and God reduces its permanence.

Almighty God is a discerning critic. The work of Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) is one of those works in which there is not a needle's worth of impurity. Therefore, you see that this pure substance has remained until now and will remain forever. Who would have believed that after this group was killed in that desert, their bodies were buried there, so much propaganda was made against them, they were scattered like that, and after their martyrdom, Medina was set on fire, the story of Harrah, which happened the following year, and this garden was turned upside down and its flowers scattered, anyone would still smell the rosewater from this garden?! With which material rule does it make sense that a petal from that garden remains in this world of nature?! But you see that as time has passed, the fragrance of that garden has spread more throughout the world. There are those who do not accept that the Prophet is his grandfather and that Hussein ibn Ali follows his path; but they accept Hussein! They do not accept his father Ali, but they accept him! They do not accept God - the God of Hussein ibn Ali - but they bow their heads in reverence before Hussein ibn Ali! This is the result of that sincerity. In our great revolution, too, the essence of sincerity has made it enduring; the same pure metal that Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) was the manifestation of.

Now you return to your memories and recall those deserts, those heats, those fears and terrors of the battlefield, that constant danger, those cold snowy peaks, those sieges, that lack of forces that you were boiling for a number of forces, that lack of equipment that you ran so much for a gun and a mortar, and imagine the feeling of those days in your mind. Then you understand why so many conspiracies have been made against this revolution and still are; yet this tree stands firm.

It is this essence that has preserved it. The sincerity of the Imam and this nation, and especially the sincerity of the warriors who were present in the battlefields, and you are among the best and among the complete examples of it. This is a point and a line that all of us must constantly pay attention to, and I am more in need of attention to this point than you.

Another point, which is also very important in the collection of the movement of Hussein ibn Ali (peace be upon him) and, considering our current situation, in a sense, returns to the strength of the power of sincerity, is that in no event of the bloody events of early Islam was there as much loneliness and isolation as in the event of Karbala. This is the history of Islam. Anyone who wants can look. I have examined: no event is like the event of Karbala; whether in the wars of early Islam and the wars of the Prophet or in the wars of the Commander of the Faithful. In those cases, after all, there was a government, there was a state, people were present; soldiers from among this population went to the battlefield, and behind them were the prayers of mothers, the wishes of sisters, the praise of onlookers, the encouragement of a great leader like the Prophet or the Commander of the Faithful. They went to sacrifice their lives in front of the Prophet. This is not a difficult task. How many of our youth were willing to sacrifice their lives for a message from the Imam! How many of us now wish for a gesture of kindness from our absent guardian and to sacrifice our lives!

When a person sees his leader in front of his eyes and all that encouragement is behind him, and it is also clear that they are fighting to win and defeat the enemy, they fight with the hope of victory. Such a war, compared to what we see in the event of Ashura, is not a difficult war. Of course, there were other events that were also relatively lonely events. Like the events of the Imamzadehs; like the Hassaniyoun in the time of the Imams (peace be upon them). But they all knew that behind them were Imams like Imam Sadiq, like Imam Musa ibn Ja'far, and like Imam Reza (peace be upon them) who were their leaders and masters and were watching and present; they took care of them and their families. Imam Sadiq, according to the narration, said: 'Go and fight these corrupt rulers and struggle 'and I will take care of the expenses of their families.' There was a large Shia community. They praised them. They admired them. After all, they had some encouragement from outside the battlefield. But in the event of Karbala, the essence of the matter and the core of Islam, which everyone accepted, that is, Hussein ibn Ali himself, is within the event and is supposed to be martyred, and he himself knows this, and his close companions also know. They have no hope anywhere in this vast world and this wide Islamic country. They are utterly lonely. The great ones of the Islamic world at that time were those who were not saddened by the killing of Hussein ibn Ali because they considered him harmful to their world! Some who were saddened did not care much about this matter. Like Abdullah Ja'far and Abdullah Abbas. That is, there was no hope outside this sorrowful and grief-filled battlefield. And whatever hope there was, was summarized in this gathering, and this gathering had given their hearts to martyrdom. After being killed, according to apparent standards, no one would recite a Fatiha for them. Yazid was dominant everywhere. Even their women were taken captive, and their children were not spared. Sacrifice in this field is very difficult. 'No day is like your day, O Aba Abdullah.' If that faith and that sincerity and that divine light did not shine in the existence of Hussein ibn Ali to warm that small group of believers, such an event would not have been possible. See how great this event is!

Therefore, another characteristic of this event is its loneliness. That is why I have repeatedly said that the martyrs of our time are comparable to the martyrs of Badr, to the martyrs of Hunayn, to the martyrs of Uhud, to the martyrs of Siffin, to the martyrs of Jamal, and they are higher than many of them; but not with the martyrs of Karbala! No one is comparable to the martyrs of Karbala. Not today, not yesterday, not from the beginning of Islam, and not until the time that Almighty God knows and wills. Those martyrs are exceptional; and no other example can be found for Ali Akbar and Habib ibn Mazahir.

This is the event of Hussein ibn Ali; my dear ones! This is the firm and solid foundation that has kept Islam in the world for over thirteen hundred years, despite all the enmity. Do you think if that martyrdom, that pure blood, and that great event did not exist, Islam would remain?! Certainly, know that Islam would not remain. Certainly, know that it would be destroyed in the storm of events. It might have remained as a historical religion, with a few low-minded followers, in a corner or corners of the world; but Islam would not remain alive. Only the name and memory of Islam might remain. But today you see that Islam, after fourteen hundred years, is alive in the world. Islam is constructive. Today, Islam is fertile in the world. Today, Islam has attracted nations as the brightest and most luminous hope. All of this is due to the blessing of the same event of Karbala and the self-sacrifice of Hussein ibn Ali (peace be upon him). Now Almighty God has willed that the first experience of Quranic governance after the era of Hussein ibn Ali, that is, the Islamic Republic system, comes into existence. That is, after that event, whatever has been done has been a prelude to your today. The efforts of all the scholars, all the thinkers, all the philosophers, all the theologians, all the struggles and efforts and all these wars, have preserved Islam and prepared the conditions, so that today a government based on the sovereignty of divine and Quranic values comes into existence. Fortune and luck were with you and the Iranian nation that Almighty God placed this burden on their shoulders for the first time. Of course, when we say 'fortune,' it does not mean coincidence. Almighty God does not give this high fortune to anyone for free and in vain. The Iranian nation did many things; and Almighty God finally gave it to them. Of course, these sacrifices, efforts, sincerity, and hardships are not finished either. Do not think that if a few simple-minded, poor, naive babblers sit in a corner of the world and say 'today or tomorrow the work of the Islamic Republic will be finished,' it will be accomplished! No! This foundation is not finished.

You and I will finish. Individuals, in no way, are permanent. The best are those who remain good until they die. Some do not remain good until the end. We have all kinds. Individuals are subject to affliction and destruction; but the foundation is permanent. This Islamic movement, this revival of Islam, has roots in centuries. It is rooted in ten centuries of effort and struggle. It relies on Islam. That is why you see today that the arrogant and Zionist propaganda in the world tries to show the face of the Islamic Republic and the people of Iran and us and everyone ugly, yet the inclination of people towards Islam, everywhere in the Islamic world, is more than five and ten years ago. Look at Islamic countries and Muslims who are in non-Islamic worlds in the minority! See the hardships of arrogance towards Muslims! These hardships are not for nothing. If they were like a corpse in the hands of the washer, they would not be subjected to hardship.

What I want to say is that this element of loneliness in this movement has made our revolution similar to the movement of Hussein ibn Ali to this extent. This loneliness should not frighten you or cause you to panic. The peak of loneliness was traversed by Hussein ibn Ali and his companions, the great ones for whom we beat our chests and shed tears and love them more than our own children, and its benefit was that today Islam is alive; and the event of Karbala is alive not only in a small piece of land but in a vast area of the human environment today. Karbala is everywhere: in literature, in culture, in traditions, in beliefs, and among hearts. Those who do not bow before God bow before the greatness of Hussein ibn Ali! That loneliness has this result today. That was the peak of loneliness. Today, too, you are lonely in the world. The Iranian nation is lonely and oppressed in the world today. Being lonely and oppressed does not mean being weak. We are very strong today. Believe with confidence that no Muslim nation today is as strong as the Muslim nation of Iran. None; whether small or large, whether their population is a hundred million. The strength and power of the Iranian nation are at their peak today. The government of Iran is the same. The government is very strong; very dear; very much in the attention of the world's powerful. Yet, this strong and capable nation and government, which are in control of their affairs, are lonely and oppressed. We are lonely in the world today. No power in the world supports us.

Of course, this does not mean that all powers are lined up against us; no. Our enemies should not be happy that 'all powers are against them.' Even if it were so, it would not matter. We have experienced that too. But today, it is not that all the governments or powers of the world are lined up against us. Many feel that their worldly interests and benefits, according to their material criteria, are not to line up against the Iranian nation. But no one helps this nation or supports it. The most powerful arrogant powers in the world are enemies of this nation and oppose it. They oppress it and ignore its rights. They slander it and do not mention its good deeds and magnify its bad deeds, if there is a speck, into a mountain. This is the oppression and loneliness of the Iranian nation. But this oppression and loneliness should make you stronger. I say: this is a blessing from God. There were countries and governments that were supposedly revolutionary, and one of the powerful powers of that day, which was the Soviet Union of that day, supported them. If we were like that, know that our nation and government would become corrupt. The fact that you see today, thanks be to God, our nation and government have remained healthy, is because of this. Not that there is no corruption among the people or among the officials. But the structure is healthy. The composition is healthy. The main points are healthy. The sensitive members are healthy.

This is a very great blessing. This is due to being alone. Due to not relying on anyone other than God. In prayers, we have 'O refuge of those who have no refuge, O helper of those who have no helper, O fortress of those who have no fortress.' And how beautiful it is, how sweet it is that a person has no help; so that he can say 'O helper of those who have no helper.' The sweetest words are these. If someone helps us, we cannot say: 'O helper of those who have no helper'; O help of those who have no help! If we had hope in anything other than God, we could not say with enthusiasm: 'O hope of those who have no hope'; O hope of those who have no hope in anyone other than you! Now that we have no hope in any power, in any government, in any intelligence agency, in any military agency, in any political agency, in any general assembly, and have seen nothing but harm and sting from them, we can speak with Almighty God, with our God, with our Master, with our Beloved, with sincerity and purity and say: 'O hope of those who have no hope'; our hope is in you. And this is what gives strength to a nation. The Imam was like this. That iron man whom the East and West of the world united against and did not frown, at midnight, cried so much before Almighty God that his close ones told me that when the Imam cries at night, a handkerchief is not enough to wipe his tears; the Imam wipes his eyes with a towel! This strength is from those strengths.

My dear ones! Create this strength in yourselves as much as you can. This nation, in this way, becomes invulnerable. This revolution, in this way, becomes resistant to blows, so that nothing works against it. The enemy, of course, is busy with its work. Today, the enemy, even without words, with methods and with smiles that it gives to weak-willed individuals, wants to make them forget that this system stands against the power of arrogance.

There are two lines: one line is the line of Islam and the Quran and divine values and spirituality; the peak of which is the Islamic Republic and officials of this system, who stand under this heavy burden with power and without fear and consideration, and are happy and do not frown; one line is all the devils of the world, all the wicked of the world and the collection of the world's baseness, which stands on the other side. If someone has power, where should it be spent? This is a line-up. If someone has a tongue, has the power of initiative, where should it be spent? If someone inside the camp of truth, or outside the camp of truth, sees that such a struggle with falsehood and baseness is happening, sees that a point has not been considered and, supposedly, a mistake, an error, and even a sin has occurred, and starts fighting with this camp, do you think he is justified? Is this not wasting divine power in the way of ingratitude for God's blessing?! Those who weaken the camp of truth under some pretext, weaken the officials, weaken the government, weaken the president, weaken the judiciary, and weaken the parliament, are they not ungrateful for God's blessing?! Are they not worthy of divine reproach?! People of our time must be very vigilant. Do not forget the line. Do not mistake the front.

Today is blessed for everyone and, God willing, more blessed for you dear guardians, and it should be blessed. We hope that under the attention of the Guardian of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for him), all of you and all of us will be granted success, be able to fulfill our duties in relation to this great Islamic phenomenon of our time, and perform our duties, and strive to make ourselves more like Hussein ibn Ali (peace be upon him) and the companions of that great one.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings