Statements on the 33rd Anniversary of Imam Khomeini's (may his soul be sanctified) Passing

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, chosen, and infallible progeny, especially the Awaited One among the inhabitants of the earth.

First, I extend my greetings and salutations to all the esteemed attendees, dear brothers, and dear sisters who have participated in this magnificent gathering; God willing, may you be successful. We have missed the Imam and this warm gathering that annually forms around the pure shrine of the Imam; we thank God that this session, this warm and meaningful gathering, has once again taken place this year. The esteemed Imam is the spirit of the Islamic Republic; if this spirit is taken away from the Islamic Republic and neglected, only a shadow will remain on the wall.

My discussion today is about aspects of the personality of our dear and esteemed Imam. Of course, in several past years, aspects of the Imam's personality have been discussed — we have spoken, others have spoken — but despite this, there are still many untold stories: Whatever I say about love, I will be ashamed when I come to love.

Many aspects of the personality of our esteemed Imam remain unknown. In fact, the current generation of the revolution, especially our youth, do not truly know the Imam, do not understand him, do not recognize the greatness of the Imam; they compare the Imam with individuals like myself; whereas the distance is vast, it is astronomical. The Imam was an exceptional personality in the true sense of the word.

Recognizing the Imam is important for the youth because it helps them manage the future of the country optimally; the Imam is not just the Imam of yesterday; he is also the Imam of today and the Imam of tomorrow. Our intelligent and young generation, which is to take on the national and revolutionary responsibilities of the second step of this revolution and manage the future of this country, needs a real software; in order to correctly navigate the path of the revolution, which will lead Iran and the Iranian nation to the highest peak, they need a reliable and comprehensive software that can assist them. This software, which can be an accelerator, a helper, and even transformative at times, consists of the lessons of the Imam; lessons that can be sought and found in both the words and actions of the Imam.

The first point that must be mentioned about the Imam is the issue of leading the greatest revolution in the history of revolutions, which I will explain later.

Why do we say the greatest revolution in the history of revolutions? In the history of revolutions, there are many small and large revolutions; among all of them, the most famous is the Great French Revolution in 1789 in the 18th century, and then the Soviet Revolution in 1917 in the 20th century; these two revolutions are the most famous large revolutions in the history of revolutions; however, the Islamic Revolution is greater than these two; why? There are various reasons, and I will refer to one fundamental and important point; and that is that these two revolutions, namely the French Revolution and the Soviet Revolution, were both victorious through the people, the people brought them to victory, but after the revolution was victorious, the people became irrelevant, they were sidelined; the people could not have a presence and participation in the continuation of this revolution that they themselves had created with their bodies, souls, and presence in the streets; what was the result? The result was that these two revolutions quickly deviated from their initial popular path. After about twelve or thirteen years from the Great French Revolution — a revolution that was formed against monarchy, against kingship — France again became a monarchy, Napoleon came to power, wore the crown, kingship returned; he was in power for almost fifteen years, then was ousted, and the same family that the French Revolution was against returned and took over the affairs of France; the Bourbon family; they came back again. When the people are not in the field, this is what happens. In the Soviet Revolution, it did not even last twelve years; the revolution was made by the people, but after a few short years, Stalin and his successors imposed such a tyranny, such a dictatorship on the Soviet countries — the countries that collectively formed the former Soviet Union — that the monarchies before them had not seen such tyranny; again, the people were irrelevant and became irrelevant; however, in the Islamic Republic, no.

The Islamic Revolution also triumphed with the presence of the people and with the bodies and souls of the people, but the people were not sidelined. Fifty days, that is, less than two months after the victory of the revolution, a nationwide referendum was held, and the people chose the system of government; authority was given to the people. The people chose the system of government, the "Islamic Republic" in a referendum, in a free election. About a year after the victory of the revolution, the first president was elected by the people; a few months later, the Islamic Consultative Assembly, that is, the legislative assembly was formed through the people's elections; from that day until today, which has been forty-three or four years, nearly fifty elections have taken place in this country; the people have entered, they have entered the field, they are present in the field, they choose and vote; the greatness of this revolution is this; the Imam was the leader of such a revolution.

Of course, this point that we have mentioned is one of the aspects of the greatness of the revolution; there are other aspects that completely differentiate this revolution, the Islamic Revolution, from other revolutions, one of which is the presence of spirituality in this revolution. In previous small and large revolutions, whether the two revolutions of France and Russia or the smaller revolutions that occurred in the 20th and 19th centuries, spirituality was absent; the spiritual aspect of humanity, which is one of the fundamental needs of humanity, was completely absent and neglected, and no one paid attention to it. The Islamic Revolution is a revolution that pays attention to both the material aspect of humanity and the spiritual aspect of humanity, has paid attention to it and has addressed it.

Well, the Imam (may God be pleased with him) was the leader of this revolution and the leader of the movement that led to this revolution. Now, what does "leader of the movement and revolution" mean? This is where the greatness of the work becomes evident. Of course, the revolution was brought to victory by the people; there is no doubt about that. If the people had not entered the field with their bodies and souls, with their presence, with their sacrifices, with their martyrdoms, the revolution would not have succeeded; the people brought the revolution to victory, but the powerful hand that could stir this ocean was whose hand? This is important. That powerful hand, that steel character, that assured heart, that Zulfiqar-like tongue that could bring millions of people from various strata into the field, keep them in the field, dispel despair and doubt from them, and teach them the direction of movement, was the esteemed Imam; he was the great Khomeini!

The Imam brought the people into the field, showed them the way, kept them in the field, dispelled despair and doubt from them. No one else in this country was capable of this task. We knew political figures, spiritual figures, many of them closely, some from afar; no one was able to carry this heavy burden and bring it to fruition. Exclusively, this task was the work of the esteemed Imam; he was the one who could do this.

The Imam, at various junctures, also specified the "field of struggle," taught the people where the field of struggle was; at various junctures, accordingly; during the movement in one way, during the bloody days of the victory of the revolution in another way. When the regime, in its last breaths, with the help of America, was thinking of establishing martial law in Tehran, sending the people back to their homes, and completely eliminating the roots of the work in the absence of the people, the Imam, with divine inspiration — truly with divine inspiration, which the Imam himself later said — told the people to come into the streets. Many revolutionary politicians at that hour opposed this action, saying it was dangerous for the people; the Imam said no, he announced that the people should come into the streets. This was determining the field of struggle; it became clear that at this hour, on this day, the struggle was for the people to come out of their homes into the streets; this is how he specified the field.

In the first months, the Imam specified the field of struggle. In the second month of the revolution, the field of struggle was to create a referendum and vote on the type of Islamic government and confront the counter-revolution.

At one point, the issue of Paveh; in the case of Paveh and the siege of revolutionary and Islamic forces, the Imam ordered everyone to go. I do not forget that hour and that evening; Tehran had taken on a strange scene; everyone was in the streets as if they wanted to go to Paveh, looking for cars, looking for means to set off towards Paveh as the Imam had said. He specified the field of struggle.

During the imposed war, in confronting Saddam, after accepting the resolution [similarly]. You can look at the Imam's statement regarding the acceptance of the resolution, you will see that the Imam had defined the people's responsibilities for after accepting the resolution; he had explained and articulated the field of struggle for after his departure.

Well, this is what leadership of the revolution means. Leadership of the revolution is a very profound and meaningful term regarding the esteemed Imam. Now, regarding the examination of the personality of this great leader, we can discuss his personal characteristics, and we can also talk about his school, which of course are lengthy and detailed discussions; I will try to briefly present some points in this regard.

Regarding personal characteristics, the esteemed Imam was truly an outstanding person; he was truly outstanding. His personal characteristics were such that collectively and all together, it was rare for them to exist in one personality, and I do not know of anyone; I mean, I truly do not know anyone in our history who possesses all these characteristics together.

First, he was pure and pious; the Imam was a personality in the true sense of the word, God-conscious and pious.

Secondly, he was a person of spirituality and mystical states; he was a person of spirituality, a person of mystical states, a person who cried at dawn. The late Haj Ahmad Agha told me that in the dawns when the Imam rises and cries in prayer and supplication, the ordinary handkerchief he has is not sufficient, so we provide him with a towel; a towel for drying his tears! He was of these spiritualities.

He had a delicate soul; the Imam's spiritual books, such as Adab al-Salat, like the explanation of the Hadith of the [Soldiers] of Reason and Ignorance, were written by the Imam almost in his youth or early middle age — around forty years old; he was like this from his youth.

The Imam combined epic and mysticism; he was both an epic-maker and possessed knowledge and spirituality.

In terms of ethics, he was truly courageous; it has been narrated from the Imam — I have not heard this — that the Imam said, "By God, I have never been afraid"; however, what I saw and heard from the Imam was that once I was discussing a certain issue with the Imam — there was a problem, I was explaining it to him and had a suggestion — in the course of the conversation, I told him, "You do not do this because you are afraid ..."; I wanted to say he was afraid that a certain problem would arise; as soon as I said afraid, he said, "I am not afraid of anything!" This was his characteristic. I did not mean to say, "You are cowardly"; this is a common expression meaning "You are cautious that this event does not happen"; however, when I used the word fear, he said, "I am not afraid of anything." He was courageous in the true sense of the word.

He possessed wisdom and rationality, was a person of calculation; he did not act without calculation and did not take action without it; he calculated; and when he reached a conclusion in this calculation, he executed it with complete decisiveness, and there was no doubt or hesitation in his actions.

He never despaired; all these events in the early years of the revolution — these martyrdoms, collective martyrdoms, various incidents — did not at all have an effect on the Imam's heart that would cause him to despair. He was truly a person of sincerity, he was honest; he was honest with God, he was honest with the people. He adhered to his promises and commitments. Upon entering Tehran in 1979, on the twelfth of Bahman 1979, in a speech he delivered in this very Behesht Zahra, he said, "I will appoint a government"; four days later, he appointed a government. During these four days, the Revolutionary Council was convened, we went there. Apparently, he had instructed some members of the Revolutionary Council, such as Martyr Motahhari and Martyr Beheshti and others, to find someone, but they had not yet acted; the Imam was upset, he reprimanded them for not acting; this was how he was. He was very organized and punctual; we have seen many instances of this in his life. He was truly a person of reliance; he believed in God's promise and had confidence in God's promise. وَ مَن یَتَوَکَّل عَلَی اللَهِ فَهُوَ حَسبُه; he was the true embodiment of this phrase. He was a fighter; I will explain later what it means to be a "fighter." Among these characteristics, the Imam had many other outstanding characteristics; these were the personal characteristics of the Imam.

But regarding the school, principles, and goals. If we want to summarize the foundation of the Imam's school of struggle and revolution in one sentence, we must say that the foundation of all his activities was "standing up for God"; the goal was standing up for God; the same that he wrote in his famous notes during his youth in the notebook of the late Hojjat al-Islam Wal Muslimeen Sayyid Ali Muhammad Waziri Yazdi (may God have mercy on him): "Say, I only advise you to stand up for God, two by two and individually"; standing up for God, which has a very solid Quranic root. Standing up for God is expressed in this verse of Surah Saba — قُل اِنَّمآ اَعِظُکُم — or "قوموا لِلّهِ قانِتین" in Surah Al-Baqarah, or in another verse in Surah Al-Muddathir at the beginning of the mission: يا أَيُّهَا المُدَّثِّر* قُم فَاَنذِر; standing up for God means this. Now, this "standing up for God" may take different forms in each era.

"Standing up for God" is not always the same, but in all of these, the goal of "standing up for God" is one thing more than anything else, and that is the establishment of truth and the establishment of justice and equity and the promotion of spirituality; in all eras, this is the case; that is, the establishment of truth. "Standing up for God" in one era takes the form of such a struggle, in another era takes the form of scientific work, in another era takes the form of political movement, but in all of these, the goal of "standing up for God" must be the establishment of truth, this is one; the establishment of justice and equity is the second; and the promotion of spirituality is the third; these are the goals. I have noted the noble verses of the Quran, you can refer to "Al-Mu'jam," in the material "Qama" it becomes clear what this standing is for. For example, "لِیَقومَ النّاسُ بِالقِسط," which all the coming and going of prophets and the sending of messengers and the sending down of books is for this purpose: "لِیَقومَ النّاسُ بِالقِسط"; this is one verse. Or in the verse of Surah An-Nisa: وَ اَن تَقوموا لِلیَتامیٰ بِالقِسط, or in the verse of Surah Ar-Rahman: وَ اَقیمُوا الوَزنَ بِالقِسط, or in Surah Ash-Shura: اَقیمُوا الدّین, or in Surah Al-Ma'idah: حَتّی تُقیمُوا التَّوراتَ وَ الاِنجیل, and in many places in the Quran: اَقیمُوا الصَّلوة, and other instances where "standing up for God" must lead to the establishment of these matters; the goal of "standing up for God" is this.

Well, now we said the Imam was a fighter; this means the Imam's constant presence in the field of "standing up for God." The Imam was truly vigilant about "standing up for God." The establishment of truth and justice was naturally the Imam's goal; well, how can this goal be realized? The establishment of truth and justice was the Imam's goal, but can truth and justice be established under the roof of the miserable Pahlavi regime or any dependent regime? Certainly not; so the next goal becomes that a person must break this roof. The Imam was pursuing this movement to remove the miserable roof of the Pahlavi regime from over the heads of this nation, to eliminate it and to prepare the field for their movement and uprising and progress: "Let us break the ceiling of the sky and propose a new plan"; both affirmation and negation; first negating that tyrannical regime, then affirming a desirable political space that would advance the people. Well, this movement of the Imam was in negation and affirmation.

In the great movement of the Imam, there were several prominent points: first, he had no fear. The Imam was not afraid, he did not flatter; he was straightforward, he had a clear tongue; this was during the movement; whether in Qom or in Najaf, he spoke to the people, constantly explaining and guiding them. Truly, his tongue was a decisive Zulfiqar that this great man advanced this work in this way; he was straightforward.

He trusted the people; one of the important characteristics of the Imam was his trust in the people from the very first day. There were those who wanted to fight, but they said the people would not follow us; but the Imam, no, from the very first day believed that if we enter the field, the people will come. At the beginning of the movement, in 1961, in Qom, in a speech after class, he pointed with his hand and said that if we say to the people or want to ask the people — a phrase like this — the people will fill this desert.

This was in 1961 when many people did not know the Imam, had not even heard his name; he had this kind of trust in the people and believed in them. He recognized the efforts of the people, led the movement in the true sense, kept hearts warm with his warm breath, did not let us despair, did not let us hesitate; the people were not in a vacuum of the Imam's opinions. Well; this relates to the negation period, the period of struggle against the tyrannical regime.

And as for the affirmation period, the period of establishing the Islamic Republic — which is very important, the Imam's movement in the period of establishing the Islamic Republic — the Imam's effort was, the Imam's roadmap was to separate the new plan from the degenerate past of the country, to completely separate the future from the past; the Imam's effort was this. How could he separate this future? In such a way that the plan he proposed for governing the country would not fall under the culture, civilization, and vocabulary of the West. The Imam insisted that this plan, the plan of the Islamic Republic, should not fall under what is called "republic" or "democracy" in the West. Therefore, I stated last year in the speech on this day that "republic" belongs to Islam, "republic" is not borrowed from the West, it pertains to Islam itself. The reason the Imam emphasizes the people's vote so much is due to his understanding of the issue of Islam. Therefore, the Imam was determined to separate the Islamic Republic from the two ideologies that were prevalent in the world at that time, namely capitalist liberal democracy and dictatorial communist regimes; thus, one of the fundamental slogans of the Imam was the slogan "Neither East nor West"; neither communism nor liberalism; neither that capitalist regime in the economy and the unrestrained and unplanned freedoms in the West, nor the oppression and tyranny that existed in Eastern regimes; the Imam did not accept either of these two; neither East nor West; he proposed a completely different model for the Islamic Republic, entirely distinct from them.

In the Imam's model, dualities harmonized and aligned with each other; these dualities that have always been attempted to be placed in opposition to each other, in the Imam's model were harmonized; both spirituality — religious spirituality — and the people's vote; both spirituality and the people's vote; it has always been attempted to place these two in opposition to each other, but they did not stand in opposition; the Imam placed them alongside each other.

The implementation of divine laws alongside the observance of public interests and necessities. The Expediency Council was established by the Imam; some think I established it; no, I was the president, the Imam wrote to me and established this session for determining expediency; Islamic laws are implemented, but the necessities of time and public interests must also be observed; the meaning of expediency is this; expediency is not for individuals.

The issue of considering the situation of the weak and insisting on economic justice — especially economic justice — alongside wealth production; both wealth production is permissible, and justice must certainly be observed in the country, and the situation of the weak must be taken into account; both negation of oppression and negation of subjugation, oppression acceptance. As a government, as a state towards other governments, towards other nations, we neither oppress nor accept oppression; we neither bully nor submit to bullying; we strengthen both knowledge and science and the economy of the country, and we also strengthen the defense of the country; that is, it is not the case that we only think about the economy and neglect the defense and security of the country; the opposite is also true. Both national cohesion and unity must be observed, and the diversity of opinions and various political tendencies must be recognized; this is another duality. Both piety and purity of officials are necessary, and expertise and competence of officials are also necessary; commitment and specialization must go hand in hand. You see, these are dualities that some tried to place in opposition to each other at the beginning of the revolution or before the revolution; the Imam harmonized these dualities, placed them alongside each other. These are the characteristics of the Imam's school.

Well, here you may ask a question; you may ask how much this school that the Imam designed was realized during his time or after him? This is an important question; this is a question that may be asked of us in the world. The answer I give is based on knowledge and precision regarding the realities of the country; my answer is that I say we have achieved great successes in all these headings; if someone denies the successes, they are certainly being unfair; in all of these, both in the field of democracy, in the field of scientific advancements, in the field of diplomatic issues, in the field of the country's position in the world, in the field of economics, in the field of public services, we have made significant progress.

Of course, we have not been without failures; we have had both progress and weaknesses and failures. Here too, the Imam has wisely guided us; in this regard too, the Imam's guidance is our support. In the last year of his life, the Imam addressed the children of martyrs; the Imam said this: "Your report card is tied to your efforts and struggles"; whatever you strive for, whatever you struggle for, you will reap the rewards. The continuation of the Imam's statement is: "Living in today's world is living in a school of will"; it is dependent on will. Wherever the nation and the officials enter the field with strong will, there is success; wherever the wills weaken, efforts diminish, there is backwardness. Yes, we have backwardness, we also have progress; this pertains to us. We were there, we were the officials, various effective members of society who acted well in one place, success was achieved there; in another place, we fell short, we were lazy, we did not perform well, naturally, we fell behind; this cannot be denied at all. The school is correct, the plan is correct, the path is correct; the traveler must walk correctly. Wherever we walked correctly, we progressed; wherever we fell short and were lazy, we fell behind; there are many examples of this in these years; both during the Imam's time and after the Imam's passing until today.

Of course, the role of the enemy's enmity should not be overlooked. The broad front of the enemy entered the field from the very beginning of the revolution.

Some think we forced the enemies to be hostile; no, the essence of the Islamic Republic, which opposes oppression, naturally makes the oppressor oppose it. Do you not say we oppose global arrogance, we oppose oppression? Very well, anyone who is arrogant, anyone who is oppressive, any government that has these reprehensible traits in it will become your enemy; this is the Islamic Republic. You say we are people of spirituality; those who are hostile to the spirituality of the people will oppose you. The Islamic Republic says we oppose immorality; those who are accustomed to immorality, who pursue immorality and cannot separate themselves from immorality, will naturally oppose the Islamic Republic; this is a natural thing. The front of the enemy and enmities should not be overlooked.

Of course, this enmity had various types; in the days leading up to the victory of the revolution, the Americans sent their general to Tehran for a coup, which, thank God, failed and returned disappointed. In many other matters, the Americans and enemies were also disappointed and failed; this distancing of the Imam, the serious distancing of the Imam from the Westerners naturally created enemies; he did not allow them to interfere. They took the Palestinian embassy, the Palestinian office that is [held] by the usurper, from him and gave it to the Palestinians who own Palestine; well, this naturally creates enmity; this is anger.

Our youth should pay attention to this: the Westerners plundered the world for three centuries; three centuries! They plundered the world. From East Asia, from Indonesia, from the Philippines, from Nepal, from the Indian subcontinent to Central Asia and Western Asia and to North Africa, parts of Western Africa and to all of Black Africa; the Westerners plundered these for three centuries; they did not stop there, they also laid their hands on South America, they plundered that too; the continent of America! The continent of America also had owners, had a civilization, had nations; they created disasters with various tricks — all of which are specified in accurate histories; read books, God willing, you will understand these truths more closely — murder, plunder, mass killings, torture, pressure, enslavement, slavery; these are the actions of the Westerners. In these three centuries, while the Westerners were engaged in such crimes, their intellectuals and thinkers were discovering and establishing the law of human rights for the world! This means that the contradiction between action and speech, this hypocrisy of the Westerners is evident. In action, they were like this, in speech, they were like that; European countries, and then America, in the true sense of the word, committed various crimes all over the world. Well, these are the masterpieces of Western civilization; these are the masterpieces of Western civilization!

The Imam knew these things well, he understood them well. One of the fundamental issues that the Imam insisted on was creating a distance and establishing a boundary between Islamic thought and lifestyle and the Islamic system with Western systems, which is one of the Imam's main issues.

One of the great advantages of the Imam was that he acquainted the nation with the concept of resistance. Nations often find themselves in situations where they want to do something, but they lack the power of resistance; when pressure is applied, they retreat. The Imam raised the Iranian nation in this way, strengthened them in this way: he injected resistance and steadfastness into this nation; therefore, the Iranian nation today is a completely resilient and strong nation.

Thanks be to God! This is also one of the blessings of the esteemed Imam, and the title "resistance" has now entered the political literature of the world; this resistance that the Imam taught the Iranian nation and all of us is now one of the prominent words in the political literature of the world.

I want to mention an important point regarding the enemies' greed, the enemies' plots, the enemies' conspiracies, and the disturbed dreams that the enemies have for the Iranian nation; this point has two parts; one is that today the most important hope of the enemies for striking the country is to rely on popular protests. Their hope is that perhaps they can, through psychological operations, through internet activities and cyberspace and various types of these, with money, with mercenary breeding, set the people against the Islamic system and the Islamic Republic; this is the first part of this matter, of this point; the second part is that this enemy calculation, in this matter, like many of the enemies' calculations, is wrong. At the beginning of the revolution, they promised that the Islamic Republic would not last more than six months and would fall; then, when this six months passed, they extended it to six more months, saying six months more! More than eighty-six months have passed since those six months; the Islamic Republic, which was once a slender sapling, has become a towering and deep-rooted tree, becoming stronger and more powerful day by day. Their calculation was wrong there, and it is wrong here. This calculation is wrong, just like their calculations regarding the issue of the imposed war; they helped Saddam thinking that within a few days they would topple the Islamic Republic; they helped the coup plotters hoping they could do something; all of these were calculations made by the Americans and Westerners, and all were wrong. Today, this calculation is also wrong, thinking they can set the Iranian nation against the Islamic system, they can place an agent against the Islamic Republic, knowing that the Islamic Republic places great importance on that agent, and that is the people.

Why do the Americans make this mistake? Because they have advisors who are treacherous Iranians who give them advice. These treacherous advisors, well, they betray their own country, but in reality, they also betray the Americans; why? Because they give them advice without accurate information; those unfortunate ones act according to the advice of these people, and they fail. One of their statements, one of their pieces of advice is that "You should count on the Iranian nation to confront the Islamic system and the Islamic Republic; the Iranian nation has become disillusioned with religion, with the Islamic system, with spirituality; you can count on these people, they will stand against the Islamic system"; these ignorant and treacherous advisors — treacherous to both sides — tell this to their American masters; they pay money, and they analyze this according to this, they say it in their Senate discussions, they repeat it in various places, and inside, a few naive people — fortunately, a very small number — accept it;

Sometimes we hear in internet writings or in media and newspapers that they express opinions that yes, the people have become disillusioned with spirituality, disillusioned with religion; we hear these here inside as well. Well, this is one of those completely wrong calculations; today, the people's inclination towards the revolution and towards religion is certainly greater than at the very beginning of the revolution. If someone wants to understand the people's inclination towards the revolution and struggles and efforts, they should look at the million-strong funeral of Martyr Qassem Soleimani. The dismembered body of Martyr Soleimani was escorted by millions of people; a revolutionary individual, a fighter and struggler who had put his life on the line for the Islamic Republic; the people honored and respected him in this way; this is one example; there are many other examples; [for instance] the scholars. The late Ayatollah Safi Golpaygani was a religious authority, a jurist; you see what a massive movement the people showed in the funeral of this man. The late Ayatollah Bahjat, a mystic and spiritual jurist; in his funeral, in his farewell to paradise, the people of Qom filled Qom with emotions; people came from various places to Qom for the funeral. You tell me, among the prominent figures of the country, from politicians, artists, athletes, and other personalities, who is there that when they pass away, the people show such feelings for them? What does this signify? Does this signify the people's disillusionment with spirituality? Does this signify the people's disillusionment with religion and jihad and resistance? Their analyses are like this; they analyze in this way.

You see in this very song that has been broadcast these days, which expresses devotion to the Guardian of the Age, the Awaited One (may God hasten his reappearance and may our souls be sacrificed for him) and greetings to the Awaited One, what the people are doing; what enthusiasm, what companionship, what devotion! Old, young, teenagers, children, men, women, all across the country, in Tehran in one way, in Mashhad in another way, in Isfahan in another way, in Yazd in another way, in different cities in different ways; what does this indicate? Does this indicate the people's turning away from religion? Or the opposite. At the beginning of the revolution, we did not have these things; at the beginning of the revolution, we did not have the rush of young students towards the centers of retreat; we did not have these massive religious gatherings; today, these exist; no, they have made a mistake regarding the Iranian nation. Or the rallies of the twenty-second of Bahman; for 43 years, on the twenty-second of Bahman and on Quds Day, the people have rallied with this magnitude! Is this evidence of the people's turning away from the revolution? This is evidence of the people's loyalty, this is evidence of the people's resistance, this is evidence of the people's steadfastness, this is evidence of the impact of the Imam's lessons on this great and noble nation.

In conclusion, I want to offer a few recommendations to the activists in the revolutionary, social, political, and economic arenas; active individuals, both the youth and others, I want to present a few recommendations.

One recommendation is that do not let the counter-revolution and the enemy erase the identity of your revolution; do not let them misrepresent the truth of the revolution, show it incorrectly; this is an important recommendation; intelligent and wise youth should think about this.

The next recommendation: do not let the memory of the Imam fade in society. As I said, the Imam is the spirit of this revolution; do not let them diminish the memory of the Imam, do not let them distort the Imam.

The next recommendation: do not let the forces of retrogression infiltrate and settle in the country. What does "retrogression" mean? When we say "retrogression," some people's minds go to someone wearing a cap; no, a retrogressive person is one who, in politics and lifestyle, follows the politics and lifestyle of the West; this is retrogression. This situation existed in our country; during the corrupt and dependent rule of the Pahlavis, the Western lifestyle was in the country; the revolution came and pushed it back; anyone who returns to it is retrogressive. It is possible that this retrogressive person wears a T-shirt and jeans and a bow tie and French cologne, but he is retrogressive. Anyone who moves towards Western lifestyle and culture is retrogressive. Do not let your country move towards retrogression; do not let retrogression settle and infiltrate the body of the country.

The next recommendation: expose the lies and deception and psychological warfare of the enemy. There was a time during the Imam's era when there was neither the internet nor satellites in this way; at that time, the Imam said that the enemy fights you with the pen; with the pen. The Imam was aware. Today, the discussion is not about the pen; today, the discussion is about cyberspace, about satellites; it is psychological warfare; it is widespread and omnipresent psychological warfare. Do not let the enemy's psychological warfare affect the country. Look! Now I will mention a small example of psychological warfare. They steal our oil in the shores of Greece, they steal our oil — they stole our oil — then the brave self-sacrificers of the Islamic Republic compensate and seize the enemy's oil tanker, and in their widespread and comprehensive media propaganda, they accuse Iran of theft! Who is the thief? You stole our oil; we took it back; taking back stolen property is not theft. You are the thieves. The Americans instruct the Greek government, and the Greek government acts, stealing our oil. Well, these are psychological warfare; confront this psychological warfare — there are many such incidents happening every day.

The next recommendation: utilize the people's faith capital for producing good deeds. The people are believers, the people have faith; this faith can produce good deeds; you can do this; the Imam was a master of this work; the Imam was a master of utilizing the people's faith for producing good deeds.

The next recommendation: do not let anyone pretend that the country has reached a dead end. Right now, in cyberspace, there are those whose job is just this — whether they do it out of negligence or are paid, I do not know — they want to pretend that the country has reached a dead end; no, the country does not reach a dead end. This also happened during the Imam's time. At that time, there were also those who wrote in their newspapers that the country had reached a dead end; the Imam said no, you have reached a dead end; the Islamic Republic does not reach a dead end. He said you have reached a dead end; this is indeed the case. Do not let them discourage the people.

The next recommendation: the Imam, in some cases, would admonish the executors in private or public; sometimes openly, sometimes in private meetings; but in some cases, he would also express gratitude explicitly. We have many instances where the Imam explicitly expressed gratitude to the officials of the country — either to one person or to a group of officials — my recommendation is this, today, when the enemy is trying to destroy revolutionary officials, the duty of gratitude is a heavy responsibility; gratitude must be expressed to the officials. When one sees that in the case of Abadan, a minister goes day and night for that work, he stands there, this is a very important task; when the respected president or his deputy go to meet with the victims of the incident, comfort them, bring peace to their hearts, these are very valuable; gratitude must be expressed for these. Of course, those responsible for the sabotage must also be punished; both in this case of Abadan and in any other case, those who are responsible for sabotage must certainly be punished.

O Lord! We beseech You by the pure souls of our dear martyrs and by the pure soul of the Imam to make us among the followers of the path of truth and the truth of the Islamic Republic. O Lord! We ask You to keep our steps and the steps of our nation steadfast on this path.

I heard, I was informed that today during the speech of Mr. Haj Hassan Khomeini, some made noise; I oppose this action, I do not agree with this type of destruction and noise-making; I am against it; let everyone know this. We hope that God Almighty guides us all to the right path.

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