Statements at the Graduation Ceremony of Students of Imam Hussein University (Peace be upon him)

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 Awaited One on the earth.

I am very pleased and grateful to God for the opportunity to once again be present in this luminous and hopeful gathering, in this very sensitive and important center. This field, this generation, this collection of youth, is one of the manifestations of the flourishing and vitality of our dear country. Essentially, the life of a nation and its flourishing depend on strengthening the components and elements of power within itself and utilizing them at the right time and place. What we observe today in this field is an example of this general principle.

I must offer an explanation in this regard; however, before elaborating on this matter, I would like to present a verse from the Holy Quran to you, my dear youth; this noble verse is from Surah Al-Imran, among the verses that discuss the relentless enemies of Islam and the Islamic community. There are several verses about the enemies filled with animosity and hatred towards Islam, Muslims, and the Prophet, which describe them. "Indeed, the enmity has appeared from their mouths, and what their hearts conceal is greater." After mentioning these characteristics of these enemies—whose traits align with those of the very enemies you face today and the Muslim nation of Iran—who truly embody the verse, "Indeed, the enmity has appeared from their mouths, and what their hearts conceal is greater"; or "If a good befalls you, it distresses them"—if you achieve an honor or success, they become deeply upset—and after these verses are mentioned, the Quran concludes by stating, "And if you are patient and God-conscious, their plot will not harm you at all." This is a law—a law of creation. Patience and piety ensure that this relentless enemy, this capsule of ugly hatred and animosity, with all the capabilities it has prepared for itself, cannot do anything against you; "they will not harm you at all"; meaning they cannot inflict any harm upon you; on the condition of what? On the condition of patience and piety. Today, I want to convey this in this meaningful and profound field to you, dear youth—who are truly the light of this nation. This lesson is not just for you; it is for the entire nation, for all the army, for all the armed forces, for all segments of society, especially for the officials and managers of the Islamic community; patience and piety.

What does patience mean? Patience means remaining in the field, not retreating from the field. Some flee from the field; some do not flee but gradually withdraw from the field; this is contrary to patience. Patience means to endure, to remain in the field, to stand firm. Patience means to keep your eyes on distant goals and horizons; to focus on distant objectives. Sometimes a person becomes pleased with a current success, becomes happy, sometimes becomes arrogant, and the dangerous part is that they become complacent; this is dangerous; it causes a person not to remain in the field. No, look at the distant goal, look at the summit; see what the true message of the revolution and the Islamic system is and what it wants to guide the Iranian nation and the Islamic community, and ultimately humanity towards; look towards that. The movement of the Islamic revolution requires such patience. Look at the early days of Islam, in those first decades when there was much hardship—especially during the time of the Prophet—people were patient, they stood firm, they resisted; the result was that despite the chaos and irregularities that occurred contrary to the true teachings of Islam, the peak of human civilization in the third and fourth centuries of Hijra belonged to the Muslim nation and Islamic countries. This is how it is; if we are patient, the distant horizons belong to us; if you stand firm today, future generations will reach that summit. They will reach the summit, but this is your art, this is your work. Of course, I hope that with God's grace, you young people today, this generation, will witness that day, and God willing, you will witness it. The revolution is rooted, it has a future, and it requires continuity. This is patience.

And piety; piety in its broad meaning has been addressed in this noble verse; both in the general sense of piety, meaning being cautious of oneself to avoid deviating from the straight path of Islamic law—which has been used in many places—and in the sense of being cautious and protective against the enemy, as indicated by the verses preceding this verse that discuss the enemies. Be vigilant; you are in the presence of the enemy. A person lives one way in wartime; when there is no war, they live another way. A person sits in a trench one way, rests one way, sleeps one way; in the comfortable room of their home, they live and sleep in another way. Know that you are in the presence of the enemy; we all must know this. Piety means being cautious of oneself in confronting the enemy, avoiding reliance on the enemy—do not trust the enemy—piety means being cautious of the enemy's deception and trickery; not only do not trust them, but also understand their tricks, know what they are doing, what schemes they are employing; be prepared, be vigilant; the enemy's tricks are not only military tricks. And piety also means exercising prudence; avoiding actions that are contrary to rules and rationality and avoiding slackness and negligence; this is the meaning of the noble verse. If you dear youth and the officials of military, security, economic matters, and others, primarily, and the rest of the people and the general Iranian nation, secondarily, apply that patience and this piety, "they will not harm you at all"; no blow, no harm can they inflict upon you; and with God's grace, this will indeed be the case.

Now, let us return to those components of power, the elements of power. See, my dear ones! For nearly 57 years during the reign of the Pahlavis, the British and then the Americans truly ruled over this country; what does this mean? It means they brought the Shah, they took him away; they brought another Shah somewhere; governments were formed in this country according to their opinions and votes; the major policies of the country were planned according to the views of the British and Americans; for 57 years, the country was governed this way, and before that, in the late Qajar period, the situation was in another deplorable form, also under the influence of other disastrous factors. Well, it means that the nation was powerless during this time, they were spectators; sometimes they were not even spectators! If we asked someone from the people who the representative of your city was, they would not know, because they had not elected anyone; if we asked who was responsible for a certain ministry, they would not know; many times they did not even know the Prime Minister; the people were powerless, they were sidelined.

When the revolution occurred—now the factors of the revolution have a long analysis and interpretation—this bond was removed from the people's hands, this chain was broken. The people were captives, they were powerless, others were dominant; this domination was lifted from the Iranian nation, and the Iranian nation tasted independence and freedom. With the presence of the Iranian nation in the fields of revolution and the victory of this revolution, national self-confidence was born; the people of Iran realized that they were capable, they could influence the conditions of their country, and they could uproot the so-called 2500-year-old monarchy from the depths of the earth and throw it into the garbage; the people felt this, and this gave self-confidence to the Iranian nation. This national self-confidence was accompanied by the power of faith; we were not like some other countries that revolted, godless, without reliance, without spirituality, to get stuck halfway; faith sustained us, preserved us, guided us, and advanced us; this faith was a precious gem; it was a spirit in the body of this public movement; faith revived the spirit of hope in us; faith revived the spirit of sacrifice and selflessness in us. That a mother sends her three young sons, whom she has nurtured like flowers in her embrace, to the battlefield and proudly declares that she has done so, this was only possible with faith; that young man who insists, pleads, and cries to be taken to the battlefield, abandoning his comfortable life, could not have done so without faith. Faith stirred hope, selflessness, and action in the nation; the youth mobilized, the army was formed, jihad was established, the Basij was formed, public movements emerged, the armed forces revitalized their true presence in the field, service groups were established, construction groups were formed, scientific groups emerged, and scientific movement in the country was liberated, and the people, the elites, the active and striving elements tasted their independence and dignity; these are the components of national power; national power means this.

The meaning of national power is not that a person gives the country's money to a foreign country and buys its modern weapons and stores them in a warehouse, unable to properly utilize them; this is foolishness, this is not power. National power is not that a country from the other side of the world comes to support a government and a state, establishes a base there, and sucks the blood of the nation, doing whatever it wants in that country to supposedly preserve that cursed dynasty; these are not power, these are humiliation. Power is that a nation rises from within; it acquires knowledge, military capability, construction, progress, and international dignity for itself. These are the components of the Iranian nation's power; you have these today, you have the good ones, and you have the full capacity, with God's grace; these elements of power must be utilized appropriately and timely.

The army is one of the components of power; the army must be elevated and improved day by day. I see the reports from the brothers and am informed about them; good work is being done, but the army still has a lot of capacity and a lot of room for advancement; who should do this? You young people; this is your responsibility; prepare yourselves for advancing the army, so that you can promote this one component of power.

Some tell us, "Sir, do not exaggerate in describing the power of the Iranian nation"; I respond that we do not exaggerate, we state the reality. The greatest evidence of the power of the Iranian nation and the strength and might of the Iranian nation is that for forty years, one of the most ruthless and cruelest and vile powers in the world, namely the United States, has been engaged in sabotage and malice against the Iranian nation and has not been able to inflict any harm upon this nation and has not been able to do anything, and the Iranian nation has taken its own path and advanced and become stronger; this is a sign of the power of the Iranian nation. If the Iranian nation and the Islamic Republic were not powerful and strong, one-tenth of the efforts that the enemies make would have been enough to defeat this nation and take away their beloved system; the system has stood firm against them and has become stronger day by day.

They were not the only ones; inside the country, it was the same. I must tell you that three opposing currents emerged from the very first day of the revolution against the Islamic revolution and the movement of our great Imam: one current was the so-called liberal inclined towards the West and America, attached to America and the West; another current was the armed communists who did not shy away from anything and did not refrain from anything; a third current was the Mojahedin, who had an Islamic appearance but a core of malice and lack of identity, who even went under the banner of the infamous Saddam and stood there and utilized him. These were the three fundamental currents in this country; all three currents were defeated and crushed by the Islamic revolution, and now they are using flattery towards the powers, with espionage and providing services to governments like France, Britain, and America, under their shadow. There was also, of course, a reactionary and retrogressive internal current that also stood against the revolution and the movement of the revolution in another way and caused disturbances, but they were not very noteworthy, and the nation passed by them; the obstructive current of retrogression and reactionaryism. The Islamic Republic, with the help of the nation, with the initiative and power of the youth of this nation, was able to force those foreign enemies and these internal enemies to retreat, and they not only could not harm the Islamic Republic but could not prevent its progress.

My dear ones, my youth! Today you are faced with an Islamic Republic that has changed dramatically from the day you were born in this republic; the movement, the facilities, the capabilities, the experiences, the functions have advanced and risen significantly, and God willing, spirituality among our youth will also progress in this way, and certainly in an important and significant gathering, this spirituality exists.

One reason for the power of the Islamic Republic is the very alliances that America forms in the region. If America could carry out its intended actions against the Islamic Republic, it would not need to form alliances with these notorious, reactionary countries in the region and seek their help and ask for assistance in creating chaos and insecurity; this indicates this [power]. Of course, their enmities, the enmity of America, has increased day by day, and the hatred of the Iranian nation towards America has also increased day by day.

I must tell you that today the enemy's plan, after being disappointed with all other actions, is to create a rift between the Islamic Republic and the dear Iranian nation. This is their folly; they do not know that the Islamic Republic is nothing but the Iranian nation; they cannot be separated. The Islamic system is not a bureaucratic system separate from the people sitting in palaces and castles; it is a system formed by the people themselves, relying on the masses and the faith of the people and the love and emotions of the people; this is the Islamic system; how do they intend to separate it from the people? Of course, six other presidents before this person also attempted this, and all of them exited the field and could not achieve this evil goal. The economic pressures [they impose] primarily affect the people, hoping to wear them down, to exhaust them. With God's grace and power, we will strengthen our bond with the people more and more every day; we will maintain our unity that breaks the enemy; we will strengthen the motivated and action-oriented faithful youth more than ever before, with God's grace. The zealous and motivated youth of the country should know that the enemy is an enemy of their independence, an enemy of their dignity, an enemy of their progress, an enemy of their presence in the fields of science and politics; the enemy of the Iranian nation, in essence, is an enemy of the dignity, independence, progress, and elevation of this nation. The enemy will not abandon its malice as long as it can, but it must be firmly believed that from this malice, it will gain no results, provided that the Iranian nation, just as it has recognized the path with God's grace and guidance until today, continues to follow this path with strength, and that path is one of steadfastness and patience and piety, accompanied by vigilance, prudence, and national unity.

Some prescribe another remedy, saying we should surrender so that the enemy does not plot against us; they do not know that the cost of surrendering is far greater than the cost of resisting and standing firm. Yes, standing firm may have a cost, but it has very great achievements that are worth hundreds of times that cost for nations; however, surrendering to a relentless, obstinate, and wicked enemy brings nothing but trampling, humiliation, and loss of identity; everyone must know this. This is the unwavering law of the Lord, which states: "So do not weaken and call for peace when you are superior, and God is with you, and He will not deprive you of your deeds." Do not become weak, do not call for reconciliation with the enemy; the Almighty God has placed you above, and you are superior, "and He will not deprive you"—meaning "He will not diminish you"—the Almighty God will not withhold from you in return for the struggles you have made; He will fully reward you for this struggle.

One last point I would like to mention. What we should know regarding the enemy has been briefly stated, but we must also be vigilant about our own actions; all of us! From the young to the old, from ordinary people to officials; and especially officials must be cautious of negligence, heedlessness, laziness, elitism, arrogance towards the masses, and reliance on a temporary position of authority; if it becomes this way, the Almighty God will continue to bestow His blessings upon you, just as He has granted to the Iranian nation until today. And the day when the Iranian nation can reach a position where the enemies do not even dare to conceive of a military, economic, security, or political attack against it will, God willing, not be far off, and you dear youth will witness that day with God's grace.

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