Statements in Meeting with Members of the Organizing Committee for the First Anniversary of Imam Khomeini's Passing

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

At the outset, I sincerely thank all the dear brothers who participated in this great task—which for us has emotional, ideological, faith-based, revolutionary, and national dimensions—and who worked hard and offered services, especially our dear brother Mr. Ansari, upon whom the main burden rests. God willing, your actions will be pleasing to that pure and exalted soul and will be noticed by the Guardian of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for him). Whatever effort you put into this work is truly not excessive.

The anniversary and commemoration of the Imam is a strange thing. One does not know how to digest the anniversary of the Imam. Even though a year has passed since the events, it still seems to me an indigestible and unacceptable reality. The absence of the Imam is truly an inconsolable grief for which there is no consolation. When a person's child is martyred, although such matters are not comparable to the Imam's calamity, there is some solace. In truth, in the face of losing the Imam, we have nothing that could console us, nothing to say at least we have this in the face of this event. Of course, the grandeur and majesty of Islam in the events of his passing was a great achievement; but that achievement existed every day for Islam and Muslims during his lifetime. That man, with every breath he took, warmed and guided the world.

Truly, Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) was an extraordinary human being. The emergence and existence of this person with such dimensions is utterly inexplicable, except to say it was divine grace. The Almighty God, in order to bring about a turn in history and in the movement of the great caravan of humanity, had to reveal a hand from the unseen; this hand was revealed. If one examines the dimensions of the Imam's personality and existence, truly there is no explanation other than this.

The commemoration must, from all possible dimensions—those that are not possible, not at all—be a display of the Imam's personality and greatness, and apparently, it will be so. Your efforts are a duty you are performing, and you must do so; whatever you do is truly insufficient; but I believe that the Almighty God Himself manages and will manage the anniversary. These matters related to the Imam are in God's own hands. They cannot be calculated with human minds. This is how I understood it throughout his life and in the events after his passing.

Certainly, with these great preparations you have made—which I see all the country's organizations are involved; from Mr. Mirzadeh and the presidency to all the various institutions of the country present here—it is much less than what will be realized. That is, eight hundred thousand and seven hundred thousand and the like are not at all the scales of the Imam. Truly, God Himself will manage it and, God willing, will assist you as well. You are assisting in managing this organization, and God willing, God will reward you.

I would like to reiterate that efforts should be made for this ceremony to be comprehensive, God willing, a glimpse and image of the Imam; because the Imam truly had many diverse dimensions and was comprehensive and all-encompassing. In this one year, we have truly always had the Imam among us. Throughout this year, I do not recall a single day when the Imam was not present in our society. I hope that for hundreds of years in our country, it will remain so. All of us must strive for this, now that the Imam's body is not present—'their bodies are absent'—but the identity, thought, path, and heartfelt words of the Imam, which he expressed in a hundred languages, not just with political cries; but in it, there is political outcry, mystical poetry, smiles, frowns, and tears for a small incident, should remain in society.

A mother of a captive—I do not know if it was in Tabriz or elsewhere—told me that her child was a captive, and today news came that he was martyred. You go tell the Imam that it is a sacrifice for you, I am not upset. This woman had a very strange condition. I saw her breaking through the crowd and coming. They did not let her come; I said let her come, let me see what she says. She came and said this. I was very moved by this statement. When I came to the Imam, I forgot to say it at first; then when I came out, I remembered. I told one of the gentlemen who was there to tell the Imam, a sentence remained. He came to the inner courtyard door, and I went there too. When I told him the woman's words, the Imam showed such a face and was so moved and began to cry that I regretted saying it. This is truly very strange. We have given so many martyrs, is it a joke? Seventy-two of the revolution's heroes were sacrificed, but he stood like a mountain, as if nothing had happened; now in the face of a captive being killed, his face becomes tearful. What are these? I do not understand. One cannot describe this personality and this identity. The purpose is that your work should show all these aspects.

The heartfelt words of the Imam were what were expressed in these hundred languages; they were not expressed in this one language. It is wrong if someone thinks that the Imam's political vision can reveal the Imam's identity, words, and creed; it is much deeper than these words. Another person might cling to the Imam's mystical poetry and think that the Imam can be found there. No, the collection of these is the Imam.

If each of us wants to strive in every work, writing, speech, and including in this ceremony and in the future of the system, we must be able to complete the collection; because each of us in this collection is considered a drop and a part. Our collection forms a complex geometric shape with thousands of parallel and perpendicular lines and inclined with each other. Each of us is one of these lines. I am a line, you are a line, others are a line. Our total must be able to fully preserve that geometric shape; that is the main thing. In all these aspects, the perfection and completeness of the Imam and his collective state must be considered.

God willing, you will be successful and rewarded, and the blessed soul of the Imam will be pleased with you.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings