Statements in Meeting with Thousands of Ahlulbayt (AS) Eulogists and Poets

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 chosen progeny, especially the Awaited One on the earth.

I believe this session is sufficient up to this point; we have truly made the utmost use of poetry, content, praise, melody, and everything. First of all, I congratulate you on the blessed occasion of the birth of Fatimah al-Zahra (peace be upon her), and I beseech God, by the sanctity of Fatimah al-Zahra (peace be upon her), to increase our understanding of this great lady day by day; and also on the birth of her son, our esteemed Imam, who has well traversed the path of Fatimid jihad. Today is also the martyrdom anniversary of our dear Haj Qassem Soleimani, and God willing, may the divine favors bestowed upon the Prophet's family be granted to the soul of this dear one, a true follower of the Prophet's family, and may we be joined with him and benefit from his intercession.

I have prepared a discussion on the issue of "jihad of explanation"; why? Because this session consists of those who can be the pioneers of "jihad of explanation". The gathering of the eulogists of the Ahlulbayt and the admirers of the Ahlulbayt (peace be upon them) is a session of courageous explanation. My discussion today is this; now, as much as we can and as long as we have time.

Among the prominent and distinguished characteristics of Fatimah al-Zahra (peace be upon her), one of the most remarkable traits is her "jihad of explanation". She delivered two distinguished and renowned speeches, one of which is her famous sermon: "All praise is due to God for what He has bestowed, and thanks be to Him for what He has inspired" in the presence of the companions, which has been said to be among the best sermons of Nahj al-Balagha — those who are well-versed in eloquence and understanding have said this; it is filled with knowledge and truths — and the other is her sermon addressed to the women of the Muhajirin and Ansar: "I have become, by God, disdainful of your world, and I have become critical of your men"; these two sermons represent the "jihad of explanation" of Fatimah al-Zahra (peace be upon her) shortly after the Prophet's passing.

Regarding the sermon she delivered in the presence of the companions, the late Majlisi (may God be pleased with him) has mentioned various chains of narration; besides him, others have also presented credible and significant sources. Ibn Abi al-Hadid, when narrating this sermon, states that he does not cite it from Shia books and scholars, but rather from the sources of the Sunnis; he mentions from whom he narrates this sermon, and that person is trustworthy, detailing his characteristics. Among those to whom this sermon is narrated are, for instance, Lady Aisha; she is one of the narrators of the Fadak sermon of Fatimah al-Zahra. It has been narrated from Zayd ibn Ali (peace be upon him and his father) that he saw the elders of the family of Abu Talib narrating this sermon from their fathers, teaching it to their children, so that this sermon would remain in history; his statement is: "I saw the elders of the family of Abu Talib narrating it from their fathers and teaching it to their children"; this indicates the significance of this sermon. The intellectual order and strong logic in this sermon, in terms of content, is accompanied by verbal strength and elegant language, along with literary beauty. Imagine Fatimah al-Zahra (peace be upon her), an eighteen-year-old, twenty-year-old, at most twenty-five-year-old lady, with those tribulations, delivering a sermon that the great masters of eloquence receive with astonishment and regard.

In such a sermon with this wording and meaning, she articulates and clarifies truths that were not in people's minds or, if they were, had been neglected. There are many teachings in this sermon, including monotheism, prophethood, the issue of leadership and guardianship, and the issue of justice; this tradition was established by Fatimah al-Zahra (peace be upon her) after the Prophet, and her children and the Prophet's family followed her; the sermons of Amir al-Mu'minin, the sermon of Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) addressed to the scholars, which is an extraordinarily moving sermon — "O you who are the group of knowledge, you are a renowned group" — the sermon of Lady Zainab in Kufa, the sermon of Imam Sajjad in Sham, the sermon of Imam Sadiq in Arafat, which defines "Imamate" — "O people, indeed the Messenger of God was the Imam" — all of these are continuations of the tradition that Zahra al-Tahra established. This tradition of delivering sermons and explaining truths began here and continued as much as possible; in some places, it was not possible.

Then, following the Ahlulbayt, the distinguished and prominent eloquent followers of the Ahlulbayt also pursued this line, explaining truths through poetry; not by second-rate or mediocre poets, but by first-rate poets. These well-known poets whom you hear praising the Ahlulbayt are first-rate Arab poets of their time: Farazdaq was a first-rate poet in his time, Kumayt al-Asadi was a first-rate poet, Sayyid Hamiri was an outstanding first-rate poet. Dabil al-Khaza'i was a first-rate poet. Abul-Faraj al-Isfahani, when mentioning the biographies of these poets in his twenty-some-volume book "The Songs", when he reaches Sayyid Hamiri, because Sayyid Hamiri very clearly and explicitly mocked the opponents of the Ahlulbayt, he says, "I want to speak about this great poet — because he is truly great — but since he has made some remarks about certain companions, I will be cautious and will not say much; I will say a little; that 'little' is fifty pages; more than all the poets he has mentioned there!" This indicates the greatness of this poet to such an extent. These are the ones who explained the teachings of the Ahlulbayt; their work is not merely poetry, but the explanation of the teachings of the Ahlulbayt. All those I have mentioned and others — there are also other great poets, but these are the prominent ones — followed this path. This belongs to the historical period of the Imams (peace be upon them) and shortly after the Imams.

In our time, the greatest figure who engaged in "jihad of explanation" was Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified), and the greatest work accomplished through "jihad of explanation" was the work that our esteemed Imam did. Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) accomplished through "jihad of explanation" what others could neither do with any hard or soft tools, nor hoped to do; the Imam did this with words and logic; this is "jihad of explanation". From the very first day of the movement, he began to speak, until the day he came here to Behesht Zahra and said, "I will strike this government in the mouth and determine the government"; all of this was through "jihad of explanation". What did he accomplish with "jihad of explanation"? He eradicated the long-standing, disgraceful, dictatorial, hereditary monarchy and established the Islamic and religious democracy; this is the issue of "jihad of explanation", and its significance is this. Well, this is the lesson of Fatimah al-Zahra (peace be upon her) that continued over time and reached our esteemed Imam.

During the struggles of the clergy and the clerical movement, there were other currents that were trying, working, and making efforts, entering the field with weapons, but they could not accomplish anything; they were either suppressed or deviated. Explanation was the hallmark of the Islamic jihad and movement. In Tehran, I was sitting with a group of friends, and there was a young man from Mashhad — I knew him — who was connected to these armed Marxist groups; suddenly he entered the session for some work, and a conversation began between us and him, we talked a bit — these were at the time known as the "Jungle Group"; I am speaking of the years 47 or 48 — I said, "Well, you are doing these things, talk to the people; the people do not know who you are, what you are"; he replied, "Sir! These words belong to Islam, to Muslims!" They had no belief in "jihad of explanation"; they considered it to belong to Islam; he was right, it was ours, it was Islam. They had no real words to convince the hearts of the people, and thus they could not, they were defeated, subdued, and many of them deviated. However, the Imam took the path of explanation and brought it to this point. This path continues today.

What do I want to say? I want to say that today the burden of "jihad of explanation" is on your shoulders, O eulogists; today it is you who are continuing this thread initiated by Zahra al-Tahra. Be mindful of what eulogizing is. Eulogizing means continuing the work of those who throughout history, whether in the time of the Ahlulbayt were able to preserve the religion, the Shia, and the Shia movement, or in our time, who were able to change the world, transforming the country's system from "tyrannical" to "Islamic"; this thread is a continuation of the same guiding thread that they began; look at eulogizing with this perspective.

The art of eulogizing and the existence of a phenomenon called "Hosseini gatherings" — which centers around the eulogist and the preacher; the preacher alongside the eulogist — is among the most important parts of the soft power of the Islamic community. Soft power is more penetrating and effective than hard power. Why is it that the powerful of the world, like America, have atomic bombs, various advanced weapons, yet at the same time make the most significant investments in art, cinema, Hollywood, and advertisements? Why? Because cinema is soft power, storytelling and film are soft power; this is what makes an impact; hard power has immediate effects, then it disappears. Hard power means that America stays in Afghanistan for twenty years, spends billions, and in the end, is forced to flee from Afghanistan with the hatred of the people; this is hard power. Hard power means that America comes with full equipment, occupies all of Iraq, topples the Iraqi government, and then after about twenty years, today the most hated government in Iraq is the American government; this is hard power. However, soft power means that a group, seemingly in a minority but with spiritual influence, can draw the world's attention to themselves. Today, you see the oppressed Palestinians who do not have the means to defend themselves, have managed to draw the world's attention to themselves with their suffering, patience, and steadfastness; this means that the gap between hard power and soft power is so vast, and their impact is so different.

Well, my point is that the entire community responsible for praise and lamentation, that is, this community of eulogists, which is a part of the soft power of the Islamic community, must understand what it is and what it wants to do and what its duty is. Islamic teachings are among the contents of your work, the logic of the Quran is among the contents of your work, the teachings of the Ahlulbayt are among the contents of your work, the history of the Ahlulbayt is among the contents of your work, and the sufferings of the Ahlulbayt are also among the contents of your work; this entire collection must be presented in the best language and the best manner, with the same characteristics that you observe in the history of "jihad of explanation" in the past of Shia; this is the expectation. If there is a beautiful recitation of the Quran, a beautiful poem is recited with a pleasant voice and a good melody, and a correct and lofty content is disseminated through this pleasant voice and good melody, this has more influence than many of the hard powers of the world. The Islamic Republic has moved in this way over these forty-some years; the Islamic Republic has relied more on soft power than on hard power. Of course, you know that I believe in advanced weapons that meet the needs and capabilities of the enemies and pursue them, but my belief is that alongside that hard power and military capabilities, intellectual weapons, linguistic weapons, and strong logic must be widespread among us; this is our expectation. We expect from our poets, from our eulogists, from our sweet-voiced singers.

In this soft power, there are two important indicators that must be taken into account; that is, you should measure your work against these two indicators: one is the ability to inspire and create movement, and the other is the correct direction and precision; [that is] the targeting must be precise. You see, one of the things we have also emphasized in our missiles and have succeeded in achieving is precision in targeting; that is, it targets a point two thousand kilometers away, and it lands exactly at that point; it is not ten meters this way or ten meters that way. In the work you want to do, you must target in this way. Keep these two indicators in mind: one is to see how much power your presentation has to inspire, how much it can shake hearts, how much it can create movement, and the second is how precise it is; precision in movement is very important. Sometimes we want to do something good, we say something, we do not pay attention to the specifics of this statement, [thus] at a time when the Islamic world needs unity, we create division, we create rifts; this is a lack of precision. I insist that there should be precision in understanding and conveying religious teachings. Fortunately, today many of our dear eulogists are from educated backgrounds, have studied, have gone through academic stages, understand Arabic, and many of them are familiar with the Quran and the narrations. Today, it is like this; our eulogist community is not like it was in our youth. The eulogist community is a refined and elevated community; our expectation is that they convey the teachings accurately, correctly, with the very excellent tools of praise and lamentation, to the other side; this is our expectation.

Become familiar with the books of hadith, become accustomed to them. Become familiar with Nahj al-Balagha. Nahj al-Balagha is a sea of knowledge. When you look at the sermons of Nahj al-Balagha, especially some of the sermons, they are filled with teachings that a single word can expand, and it can move a nation. Become familiar with Sahifa Sajjadiyya. The format of Sahifa Sajjadiyya is that of supplication; in content, it is also supplication and entreaty, but alongside that, it is filled with religious teachings. Sahifa Sajjadiyya is a remarkable phenomenon in the school of the Ahlulbayt. You observe that Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him) prays for the border guards; he has a specific prayer for the border guards. Who were the border guards at that time? They were the soldiers of Bani Umayyah; he prays for them. A border guard is a border guard; he is preserving the borders of the Islamic country, whoever he is. He prays for the border guard. These are lessons for us.

The border of the Islamic world today is in Gaza; the pulse of the Islamic world today beats in Gaza. They stand against the world of disbelief, the world of tyranny, the world of global arrogance, against America; their opponent is not just the Zionist regime. The President of the United States explicitly states, "I am a Zionist!" He is right; the same malice that exists in the Zionists also exists in him; the same vile goals that exist in them also exist in him. [The people of Gaza] stand against these. We must know what we should do. One of the characteristics of a Mujahid of explanation is to know what he should explain today; he must recognize his current issue. Today, you must explain Gaza, today you must explain the enmities against the Islamic system. Various forms of enmity against the Islamic system are being carried out, executed; now, in terms of military and armament actions, they do not see it as beneficial for themselves, but in terms of soft power — not only America, but also its followers and opponents of Islam — they make films, spread false propaganda against Islam and the Islamic system. You must stand firm.

We have elections ahead; a number of people do not want these elections to take place as befits this nation; they are trying to discourage the people, to make the people distrustful, to pretend that elections are of no benefit, have no impact; against these, "jihad of explanation" must stand firm, it must express the truth against these. There are those who want to weaken the people's presence in the administration of the country — which proves the realization of religious democracy in the country — so that the words of our esteemed Imam become false; their goal is to portray God's promise as contrary to reality. This movement is hostile; against this hostile movement, efforts must be made. Anyone who opposes the elections has opposed the Islamic Republic, has opposed Islam. Elections are a duty. This is one of the tasks; today, feeling a duty towards the elections is one of the critical tasks of the Mujahid community in "jihad of explanation".

Those who make the people distrustful of the system, who make the people hopeless about the future, [as a result] a point of strength that sometimes exists in the system becomes a point of weakness. One of the strengths of the system is the fight against corruption; as soon as a corruption appears somewhere and the government and judicial officials and others begin to act against it — which is a point of strength, the fight against corruption — a number of people emerge from the other side saying, "Look, corruption exists!" Well, yes, corruption exists; what is a point of weakness is that corruption is tolerated, that assistance is given to corruption; if corruption is fought against, this becomes a point of strength. They try to turn this point of strength into a point of weakness; against these, we must stand firm. Our esteemed Imam did not consider any caution; in some places, we were cautious, the Imam was not cautious, he clearly and openly expressed the truth, what he needed to convey; he named individuals, he named movements and groups, so that the people would be enlightened; and in this way, he was able to establish the foundations of the system as solid foundations that, thanks be to God, have risen for over forty years and will continue to rise.

The Iranian nation loves Islam; the Iranian nation loves independence, national dignity; the Iranian nation detests following and obeying the powers; it shames them that, like in the era of tyranny, the Americans and other powers want to boast over this nation and command it; the Iranian nation does not tolerate these things, and that is why they stand by the Islamic Republic; because the slogan of the Islamic Republic is the slogan of national dignity, national independence, and national progress; these are the slogans of the Islamic Republic; the nation is interested in these, and this path is the path of God. What is the path of God and where the servants of God move, no power can push it back. Continue the valuable jihad of explanation with strength and power, God willing, and pass on these precious legacies to the next generation. If the youth feel that their duty towards their predecessors is multiplied, day by day, God willing, we will witness more progress.

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