Statements of the Supreme Leader in Meeting with National and Military Officials on the Occasion of Eid al-Ghadir

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

I also extend my congratulations on this blessed and great Eid to the dear nation of Iran, to you esteemed gentlemen present here, to the officials of the country, and to all those around the world who strive and yearn for the Guardianship of God.

Without a doubt, the day of 'Eid al-Ghadir' holds great importance. Our traditions state that the greatness of this day surpasses even that of 'Eid al-Fitr' and 'Eid al-Adha'. This does not diminish the significance of those two great Islamic Eids, but rather because this Eid contains a higher meaning. The importance of this Eid, which according to our traditions is the greatest of Eids, lies in the fact that it encompasses the subject of Guardianship. It might be said that the goal of all the efforts endured by the Holy Prophet and the great figures of religion and the divine prophets, peace be upon them, was the establishment of divine Guardianship. It is narrated from Imam Sadiq, peace be upon him, that in the context of the goal of jihad in the path of God, he stated: 'To bring people out from the worship of servants to the worship of God and from the guardianship of servants to the Guardianship of God.' The aim is to lead humans out of the guardianship of servants and slaves, in the broad sense of the word, and into the Guardianship of God. However, regarding Eid al-Ghadir, there is also the point that in the matter of Guardianship, there are two fundamental realms: one is the realm of the human soul, where a person can impose the divine will upon their own soul and bring their soul into the Guardianship of God. This is the first and fundamental step, and until this is achieved, the second step will not be realized.

The second aspect is to bring the living environment into the Guardianship of God, meaning that society moves with divine Guardianship. No guardianship of wealth, tribe, force, traditions, or wrong customs should be able to obstruct or challenge the Guardianship of God.

The point I mentioned, particularly present on this day, is that the person introduced on this day, namely the noble existence of the Commander of the Faithful, the Master of the Pious, peace be upon him, is an exemplary and distinguished figure in both realms of Guardianship. Both in the guardianship over his own soul and in restraining his own soul, which we mentioned is the main part, and in the model he demonstrated and established for Islamic governance and divine Guardianship, he is a historical example. Anyone who wishes to understand divine Guardianship will find the most complete example and model there. What should be presented to us as a lesson today, especially since our gathering mainly consists of those who, in some way, have responsibility and involvement in the Islamic Guardianship system, is that in these two realms of Guardianship, where our master and beloved Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon him, shone, and every word of his speech and every step of his actions can be a lesson for everyone, we should truly engage in effort and struggle.

One issue is the establishment of divine Guardianship in society. Of course, this Guardianship has many enemies in today's world who openly oppose it. It had enemies from the very first day; this is not specific to today. The reason is clear why the world opposes a society that wants to be governed based on divine authority and Guardianship. This has been discussed, and everything is almost clear.

Naturally, those who are considered the founders and pillars of such a system must strive to ensure that every hour of their work and effort brings them closer to that original model than the previous hours. This is the lesson of Ghadir for us, in the first degree.

I have mentioned this elsewhere before, that some people have said, 'After years have passed since the victory, the values of the revolution have gradually faded.' This statement, although it appears analytical, is in fact a kind of guidance from the enemy. It is true that some friends have repeated it unknowingly, but the enemy, who insists on this issue and continues to do so, actually wants to establish one thing in minds: that distancing from the origin of the revolution necessarily means the fading of revolutionary values.

Is this correct?! This is contrary to the logic of human perfection. This is contrary to the logic that necessitated the formation of the Islamic system, and we believe that this meaning is still necessary in the world and that over time, in many parts of the world, divine and Islamic governance will be established.

There are things that are characteristic of the time of the revolution's emergence, which will naturally weaken and may gradually disappear. They are not very important. When you meet an old friend or your beloved child returning from a journey, you naturally have intense emotional excitement at the beginning of the meeting. But these excitements gradually subside. However, this does not mean that your affection for that person, or your judgment of them, or the bond between you and them, gradually weakens, or that your paternal feelings diminish. Values and authenticity cannot gradually fade. On the contrary, values should gradually become more prominent, clearer, and more firmly established in minds.

Many were making noise at the beginning of the revolution; however, later, during the mid-revolution experiences, they could not keep up. Either they stepped aside themselves, or the revolution pushed them aside. What remains is 'And as for what benefits the people, it remains on the earth.' What is enduring, what does not become obsolete, what shows its essence and brilliance more day by day, are the Islamic and revolutionary truths and values.

Therefore, it should not be that some believe that as time passes, we should become more indifferent, less attentive, less diligent in preserving the values of the revolution, and less sensitive to their establishment in society. No, it is not like that; the opposite is true.

When we are, for example, engaged in the issues of war in society, certain things naturally attract us. But when we have leisure for self-building, internal development, and community-building, our commitment to the values of the revolution and Islam should be greater. The establishment of divine Guardianship in society, where the sweet taste of divine Guardianship has been experienced, should become clearer, more evident, deeper, and more enduring day by day; just as we can certainly say it was during the five-year rule of the Commander of the Faithful.

We do not want to judge other periods. During the rule of the Commander of the Faithful, which is true divine governance, it is undoubtedly the case that values become more prominent day by day, and what supports this is the meaning we mentioned, most evident in the Commander of the Faithful, which is the establishment of divine Guardianship in his noble soul. That is, the complete servitude of the Commander of the Faithful before God, the sincerity of the Commander of the Faithful in all his efforts and actions for God. This is what we must learn from the Commander of the Faithful. This does not mean that we should reach that level, which no one can reach, but it means that everyone in the Islamic Republic system, wherever they are working, should never lose this practice and forget it, and strive to do everything for God; accept every responsibility for God, and every action that emanates from them should be for God.

This, of course, is not an easy task. We cannot easily bring ourselves to these levels. But we must strive. With effort, it can be achieved. In our own time, the person whose sincerity dominated his being, all his actions and movements, as far as we understood and knew, was our great Imam. Of course, between our Imam and the Commander of the Faithful, the distance is from earth to sky. The great Imam himself always said that where can we compare or even imagine the lofty status of Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon him, with anyone! This is self-evident. But a person who strives, practices, and disciplines themselves to ensure their efforts are for God, see what effects it can have!

The work that the Imam was able to accomplish in this period of history, I think, has no precedent in the history after Islam, with such greatness and dimensions, anywhere. There were many reformers, many speakers of truth, many Mojahedin in the path of God; but the person who was able to create this great movement and transformation in the world, in the name of God, in the name of religion, in the name of spiritual and divine values, in a world filled with material motivations, was him. We do not know anyone else besides him. This was due to his sincerity. He acted for the sake of God and spoke for the sake of God. When what a person says and does, and accepts responsibility for, is for God, tasks become easy for them. Because it is for God, the self of the person does not influence or interfere in it. Personal motivations do not have a presence in that spectrum and field. Therefore, accepting responsibility is easy, relinquishing responsibility is easy, taking action is easy, saying what must be said is easy, not saying what must not be said is easy, making decisions is easy, drinking the cup of poison is easy, confronting the whole world is easy, facing superpowers is easy.

What makes matters difficult is our self, our desires, our wants, our material calculations. If it is like this, what will happen? What harm will come? What will we miss? When 'I' is not involved, 'self' is not involved, 'person' is not involved, 'desire' is not involved, and everything is for God, all great tasks become easy. If you want to look at the bright page of this great and brilliant experience, look at the life of the Commander of the Faithful. The day he had to let go and discard like a date pit from his mouth, he did so. When he felt obliged, for duty, not for anything else, he went to it and accepted it. He felt obliged. For the preservation of religion and for confronting the enemies of religion, he spent almost his entire caliphate in war. If it were a matter of personal desires and considerations, he would have acted differently. There were no personal considerations. Even when he wanted to sacrifice his life for this goal and purpose, he did so easily.

This is the clear scene that history has depicted from the life of the Commander of the Faithful before us. This is why this personality has always been viewed with greatness throughout history. Do not think that the love for the Commander of the Faithful is exclusive to the Shiites. It is not so. In the Islamic world, the Commander of the Faithful is beloved in hearts, and everyone loves him. Everyone accepts him, except for unhealthy individuals, who are few and rare. Even outside the Islamic world, those who know him love him. This is because he was able to fully establish the divine Guardianship and will over his own being, his own soul in the first degree, and then in the living environment and in the realm of governance.

Today, we are moving for this, and our goal is this. Let no one be mistaken in understanding the goal of Islamic governance and system! The goal is this. Only the tools have changed from the time of the Commander of the Faithful; the methods have changed; the world has changed; many intermediaries have changed; but the goals have not changed. Even then, the goal of the Commander of the Faithful was to make society the realm of divine will, the highest manifestation of which is justice. Here, we should not deceive ourselves. A divine society is one in which there is justice. Otherwise, a society in which there is no justice; where there are deep class divides; where a large group of people are deprived for the unjust benefits of others, this society is not Islamic. This society is not Alawite. We must strive to reach that society.

Let us also say this from this side: some should not immediately find a point and say, 'Then this government and this system are not Islamic!' The complete example of the Islamic system is what the Commander of the Faithful has depicted, and we have heard and recognized from that great figure. The logical example is that system which moves towards that complete example. Just as in the time of the Commander of the Faithful, what existed was a movement towards that complete example. The Commander of the Faithful himself was the complete example. But that society and system could not be designated as the complete example. There were still many disorders. However, if the governance of that great figure had continued, it would have reached there.

We must strive to bring ourselves closer to that model. We must strive to bring the Islamic system closer to that complete example. This is our duty. As long as you move in the path of this duty, none of the world's powers, neither America nor others, will be able to overcome and prevail over you. They may strike, harass, and be mischievous—these exist. From the enemy, one cannot expect love and kindness! However, they will not be able to dominate and prevail over you, and they cannot stop you from your movement towards perfection. They will not rise above you. 'And you will be superior.'

We hope that the pure prayers of the Guardian of the Age, may our souls be sacrificed for him, will help us all to move in this path, and may God include the pure soul of our great Imam, who led us into this path, and the pure souls of the martyrs, who kept this path open, in His grace and mercy.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings