Statements of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in Meeting with the System's Officials

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 Muhammad, and upon his pure and chosen progeny, especially the Awaited One of God among the inhabitants of the earth. God, the Wise, says: "And if you ask forgiveness of your Lord and turn to Him, He will provide you with a good provision until an appointed time and will give every possessor of virtue his virtue."

This is an important council; these are important days. The month of Ramadan, with its blessings and with the divine table spread in it, is coming to an end. We, the officials of this great country, who have always hoped to be able to perform our duties well with divine assistance, are passing through this dear month; while we do not know how much we have benefited from this month and from God's mercy and grace during this month and on the nights of destiny. We cannot overlook this great goodness and great grace. Our work is heavy; our path is long; our duty is great; and these heavy duties cannot be fulfilled without divine assistance; therefore, we must take advantage of these opportunities. My main point today is about this matter.

God, the Exalted, repeatedly commands us in the Quran, including in this verse, to seek forgiveness and repentance towards God. Repentance means returning. This return is in both the realm of faith and in the realm of action and behavior. We have shortcomings; we must correct ourselves; and this is of primary importance. The blessed Surah Hud begins this way: "In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Alif Lam Ra. This is a Book whose verses have been perfected and then detailed from One Wise and All-Aware. Worship none but God; indeed, I am to you from Him a warner and a bearer of good tidings, and if you ask forgiveness of your Lord and turn to Him." This means that the Quranic mission primarily concerns the issue of monotheism; immediately, the return to God and seeking forgiveness from God is raised. This pertains to all classes, from the prophets to the lower ranks; however, the sin for which we seek forgiveness is one thing for us and something else for the pure and distinguished. "Do not compare the actions of the pure to your own." They also need to seek forgiveness; they too may have shortcomings; "the disgrace of the possible has never been separated from the two worlds, and God knows best"; they also need to ask for forgiveness and compensate for this deficiency and relative slowness with seeking forgiveness from God. As for us, we have not just one or two mistakes; we have various types of errors. This is our main point.

I would like to mention a narration here: "Close the doors of calamities with seeking forgiveness"; close the door of calamity through seeking forgiveness. In this verse we read, it says, "He will provide you with a good provision"; that is, a good benefit from life will be achieved through seeking forgiveness and repentance and asking for forgiveness from God, the Exalted.

In another narration, it says: "The best of supplications is seeking forgiveness"; of all supplications, seeking forgiveness from God, the Exalted, is the best. In the supplication of Sha'ban, it is mentioned: "O my God, I do not think You will reject me in a need for which I have spent my life seeking from You." What is this need? The need that he says he has spent his entire life seeking is the forgiveness of God.

Divine forgiveness means correcting mistakes; it means compensating for the blows we have inflicted upon ourselves and others. If humanity sincerely strives to correct its mistakes and evils, the path to God will be paved, and ultimately, humanity will have a good end. The problem with us humans is the neglect of our own mistakes, the neglect of the necessity of correction, and the neglect of implementing correction within ourselves. If these neglects are eliminated and if this determination arises, everything will be corrected. In the first stage - which is the preliminary stage and one of our greatest duties - we correct ourselves, which is fundamental; that is, all actions are a prerequisite for self-correction; all actions are a prerequisite for gaining God's pleasure from ourselves; "Take care of yourselves; it will not harm you if those who are astray do not guide you"; all efforts and struggles are to be able to please God with ourselves and to reach the perfection that has been intended for us in our creation.

The next stage is social repentance and social correction; we must correct the collective path and function within our capabilities; this is the clearest example of the impact of seeking forgiveness and the true concept and content of seeking forgiveness. This should not be considered difficult. If we intend, this task is easy, and we can do it. These nights in the noble supplication of Abu Hamzeh, you read: "And indeed, the one who is heading towards You is close in distance"; O Lord! The one who comes towards You has a short path. The main thing is determination, movement, and effort. "And You do not conceal Yourself from Your creatures except that their actions conceal them from You." We create distance between ourselves and God with our own hands and through our own mistakes. God does not have distance from us; the path is close. If you find success, this success is a sign of divine mercy. If you manage to bring forth a heartfelt seeking forgiveness and make a determination and take action, know that divine success and attention are upon you; they are attracting you and pulling you. God, in multiple instances, attributes repentance to Himself; "Then He turned to them so they might repent"; God repented so that humans would repent. What does repentance mean? It means attention and return. God turned His attention to you; this caused your heart to also incline towards God, the Exalted.

Until there is no attraction from the beloved, the efforts of the poor lover will not reach anywhere.

In this supplication of Abu Hamzeh al-Thumali, we say: "My knowledge, O my Master, is my guide to You, and my love for You is my intercessor to You, and I am confident in my guidance through Your guidance and I am settled in my intercession to Your intercession"; that You have guided me to Yourself, that You have established evidence for me, is a testimony that You are guiding me; You are pulling me and attracting me. If you see that the hands of our youth are raised towards the sky in mosques during the month of Ramadan and their voices of "forgiveness" fill the atmosphere of society, know that God's grace is upon this nation; it is divine attraction; it is a pull that God, the Exalted, has created because He wants to send His mercy. "O God, I ask You for the causes of Your mercy"; we seek from God, the Exalted, the causes of mercy. This prepares the grounds for mercy. God, the Exalted, wants His mercy and grace to encompass this nation.

We must seek forgiveness for three types of sins; these are relevant to us; we need them in our management tasks as well. Neglecting these has caused us great losses. There are three types of sins: one type of sin is that which is only oppression to oneself - the expression of oppression to oneself is abundant in the Quran and in hadith - it is a sin that the individual commits, and its direct effect returns to himself; the common individual sins.

The second type is a sin that the individual commits, but its direct effect reaches the people and others. This sin is heavier. This sin is also oppression to oneself; but because it involves transgression and violation of others, its difficulty is greater, and its remedy is harder; such as oppression, usurpation, trampling on the rights of people, trampling on the public rights of humans. This sin is more related to governments; this is the sin of managers; this is the sin of politicians; this is the sin of international figures; this is the sin of those whose one word, one signature, one dismissal, one appointment can affect families and sometimes a nation. Ordinary people usually do not have such sins; if they do, their scope is very weak; someone walks and, for example, intentionally kicks someone’s foot; it is to that extent. However, if you and I are to be afflicted by this type of sin, its scope is vast. As we said, one of our signatures, one of our judgments, one of our words, one of our evaluations, one of our gatherings and interactions in decision-making can directly affect many groups. This type of sin also has its own appropriate seeking forgiveness. The seeking forgiveness for the first type of sin is that a person sincerely asks God, the Exalted, for forgiveness; but the second type of sin cannot be resolved merely with seeking forgiveness; a person must correct it. The issue of correcting and fixing and addressing problems arises here.

The third type is the collective sins of nations. This is not about one person committing a mistake and a number of people being harmed; sometimes a nation or an influential group from a nation becomes afflicted by a sin. This sin also has its own seeking forgiveness. A nation sometimes remains silent for years in the face of a vice and oppression and shows no reaction; this is also a sin; it may even be a more difficult sin; this is the same "Indeed, God does not change what is with a people until they change what is within themselves"; this is the same sin that removes great blessings; this is the same sin that imposes severe calamities upon sinful groups and nations. A nation that stood in Tehran and watched a great jurist like Sheikh Fazlollah Nouri being hanged and did not speak up; they saw that he, despite being one of the founders and leaders of the Constitutional Revolution, was labeled anti-Constitutional for not aligning with the British and Western-oriented Constitutional movement - which even now some of our writers and speakers repeat this baseless and illogical lie - fifty years later, they faced the consequences: in this very city of Tehran, a constituent assembly was formed, and there they approved the transfer of the monarchy and government to Reza Shah. They were not a specific group of people; this was a national and public sin. "And beware of a trial that will not strike those who have wronged among you exclusively"; sometimes punishment does not only include those who committed a sin; the punishment is public; because it was a public movement; even if not all individuals directly participated in it. This very nation, on the day they came to the streets and shielded their chests against the tanks of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and were not afraid of death; that is, they changed the sinful patience and silence of fifty years, God, the Exalted, rewarded them; the oppressive government was overthrown, a popular government came to power; the disgraceful political dependency was eliminated, the movement for independence began, and God willing, it will continue and this nation, with divine success and their own efforts, will reach its ideals. This was because they moved. Therefore, the third type of sin also has a type of seeking forgiveness.

In the Quran, "repentance" is often accompanied by "correction"; "Except for those who repent and correct themselves," "Whoever repents and believes and does righteous deeds." In some places, the example of this correction is mentioned: "Indeed, those who conceal what We have revealed of the clear proofs"; in contrast to those who were concealers of truths, "Except for those who repent and correct themselves and clarify." Or "Except for those who repent and correct themselves and hold fast to God and dedicate their religion to God"; regarding those who were hypocritical and indecisive. It says that the repentance and correction of these is that they must make themselves sincere and devoted.

Therefore, correction is a prerequisite for repentance.

We must seek forgiveness. Our seeking forgiveness goes beyond the seeking forgiveness of our own individuals. I must go and seek forgiveness for myself, and you must seek forgiveness as well. In reality, it cannot be said that we are sinners; we are drowning in sin. There is so much negligence, so much violation, and so much fault in our personal actions; therefore, we must seek forgiveness. Seeking forgiveness also illuminates the heart and clarifies the mind and soul. This is our personal seeking forgiveness; it is between us and God; however, we also have collective seeking forgiveness; because the group that is sitting here are the officials of the country; they are the heads of the branches; they are the senior managers of the country. I have noted five main points; but since there is no time, I will not elaborate; I will just pass through.

One is the issue of differences. We must repent and seek forgiveness for our differences. Differences harm us. Sometimes differences arise by stirring up ethnic, religious, local, and political sentiments; sometimes by bringing intellectual differences to conflict. Intellectual differences may exist; there is no harm in that; but they should not lead to conflict. The reason we object to some who write misleading writings against the beliefs of the people, against the existing truths of society, and against the correct history is because of this; otherwise, we have no problem with free expression. I truly and broadly believe in freedom of expression; however, some statements do not belong in public sermons; they belong in specialized discussions. Yes, a few jurists should sit down, a few legal scholars should sit down, a few philosophers should sit down, a few sociologists should sit down to discuss the most fundamental issues and the principle of monotheism; one may reject, one may accept, one may argue; then it should be disseminated and presented before the eyes of the people; but this work should be done in specialized forums. The same goes for the foundations of the revolution; the same goes for the fundamental issues of the Islamic Republic system; discussions should take place in specialized assemblies. This intellectual movement that we have proposed is for this reason. Of course, universities and seminaries initially showed a good movement and responded; but practically, I do not observe anything in the scene. Scientific forums should be established and discussions should take place; but if one intends to express something that should be debated and argued in a specialized field to the general public, this is not freedom of expression. Of course, these are intellectual and political differences and the schism between the pillars of the governance of the system that should not lead to conflict. For several years, they have tried to do this; that is, to sow discord among the pillars of governance. It is evident that when there is conflict and disagreement among the main officials of the country, and they do not accept each other and are constantly thinking of harming one another, work does not progress. Fortunately, some officials wisely did not yield and did not allow it; otherwise, the enemy's plan was very extensive.

Today, the alignment of the three branches for the Iranian nation is an opportunity. Of course, some condemn this, which is wrong. That those in different branches, with the election and will of the people, move in a unified direction politically is not harmful; it is beneficial for the country. Of course, the arena is open, the work is transparent, and the people see. The critic criticizes fairly; the worth and capacity of individuals, efforts, and motivations become clear; this is not objectionable. Now an opportunity has arisen. Do not let this atmosphere of coordination be lost by raising unnecessary objections or by magnifying small matters. Be aware that there are malicious and ill-intentioned eyes and ears that want to create discord among aligned elements and prevent them from working. Be very cautious; both in the government, be cautious, and in the parliament, be cautious, and in the judiciary, be cautious, and in various political and media arenas, etc. Criticism, seeking reform, and demanding the people's demands are good; unreasonable fault-finding, magnifying, slandering, and baseless rumor-mongering are bad; these must be distinguished from one another. In my opinion, this is one of the things for which we must seek forgiveness for our past shortcomings in this area and not allow our negligence to continue.

Second, the issue of selfishness in the broadest sense. We must seek forgiveness for our selfishness. Selfishness is the opposite of God-seeking. A selfish heart is as far from God-seeking and God-worship as it is selfish and self-centered. This selfishness in the broadest sense includes unreasoned and fanatical support for oneself, for one's party, for one's faction, for one's relatives and dependents, and for one's close friends; this is wrong. Many of the differences that existed in our political society stemmed from this. I said years ago - perhaps twenty years ago - that the differences that manifest as left and right are like the tribal differences of ancient times. Let us not allow this state to continue; let us not allow these selfishnesses to infiltrate us and have an effect.

Third, neglecting the people and serving them. If we have had any negligence in this regard, we must seek refuge in God and repent. Let us not allow our hearts to become oblivious to the people; especially you officials who have been elected by the people with the slogans of "service to the people," "struggle against corruption," and "social justice" - whether in the parliament or in the government. We must not be oblivious to serving the people for a moment. Thanks to the discourse of justice and service and the struggle against corruption, this parliament and this government have been formed. The people's interest in these concepts has been significant; we cannot consider these concepts abstract and detached; these are real concepts; they exist in the field of life.

Justice must be defined in various programs. What pertains to justice and serving the economic and material affairs of the people exists in the fourth program; among them are strengthening the national currency, controlling inflation and price increases, reducing the gap and distance between the upper and lower deciles of society, and so on. These policies must be turned into programs; otherwise, the title of "justice" is an ideal goal. The policies that can lead us to justice and the programs that can realize these policies must be given attention. Of course, there are problems in the fourth program in this regard; these problems must also be resolved; the program must truly be realized according to the policies so that we can hope that with this program we will reach those policies.

The next point is neglecting the foundations of national power and the causes of the main pillars of national power. A nation, in order to reach spiritual happiness, to achieve freedom, and to reach the peaks of knowledge, needs to be strong and powerful; although those things themselves are also causes of power. A weak nation, a submissive nation, a dependent and follower nation, a nation that looks to the hands and mouths of others cannot reach the peaks of its ideals. National power must be secured. How is national power secured? Through knowledge and ethics. We have spoken a lot about knowledge; in this session, we will speak about ethics. In ethics, we must not fall short. Our Prophet is the teacher of ethics. The banner of moral refinement and perfection has been raised by the Prophet, and the mission of the Prophet has been declared. We must not fall behind in the field of ethics. Social behaviors, discipline, work ethic, law-abidingness, and the spirit of religiosity - which some unjust people have exposed the spirit of religiosity of our youth to assault and have plundered it in the name of baseless and illogical statements and in the name of freedom - are among the foundations of power.

We must not neglect the existing capabilities and capacities. One of the pillars of national power is that the officials of the country and the people believe that they can traverse these paths and accomplish these tasks; they should not feel helpless, powerless, and in a dead-end environment. This is something we must provide to the people; this is one of our duties; this is among the tasks that the government must perform. The causes of national power are among the tasks that pertain to the government, and the governmental institutions must carry them out. Of course, we should not have delusions of power. We should not assume what we cannot do through imagination and delusion; we should not neglect our real and true power.

And the last point I mention is neglecting the enemy. For all the times we have neglected the enemy and the enemy's plots, we must seek forgiveness and repent. This repentance means alerting ourselves, awakening ourselves, and means awareness and vigilance and opening our eyes. For a while, they created a commotion that you mention the enemy too much; you have a delusion of conspiracy; you think there is a conspiracy against you. Does neglecting the conspiracy eliminate the conspiracy? Today, everything has become clear and apparent. At the time when these words were spoken, perhaps some of the statements had not yet become public; but today they openly declare that there are conspiracies against the Islamic Republic, against our constitution, against our nation, and against our interests. By neglecting the conspiracy, one cannot escape from the conspiracy. We must become acquainted with the enmities and conspiracies intelligently and consciously and defend ourselves, our national interests, and our identity intelligently, consciously, and wisely.

Today, there are many issues in our region. It can be said that today the most sensitive point in the world is the Middle East. America has defined goals for itself in this region. The fundamental goal of America is within the framework of its domineering and imperialistic ambitions; this is not something they have chosen temporarily; no, they are pursuing empire and domination over the entire world. Within the framework of these goals, the issue of the Middle East becomes a sensitive region. They have plans for the Middle East, the Persian Gulf, and North Africa. Of course, having plans does not mean they will succeed; no, they have plans, they have made arrangements, they are preparing the grounds, and they do not reach their goals; just as they have not reached them. They did not succeed in Palestine, they did not succeed in Iraq; but they have plans for these places and other countries. They had plans for Iraq. America's goal in this region is that governments come to power in these countries that are completely subservient and obedient to America and do not pose any trouble for America. The current governments of the Middle East are not like that. Of course, many of them are obedient, but they cause trouble. If they want to have no trouble according to the American prescription, the way is to have a facade of democracy there; America must have control, and seemingly elected governments must be in power. Even the monarchies that exist today in the Middle East are not favored by America; because they know these will cause them trouble. Islamic and Arab governments must pay attention to this point. America has plans for Egypt; it has plans for Saudi Arabia; it has plans for Jordan; it has plans for the Persian Gulf countries as well. Its plans are not only for Lebanon and Syria and Iraq, so that the other Arab countries sit and watch as America thinks it will settle accounts with Syria and Lebanon; then it will be their turn. Of course, there is a great distance between America's desires and reality. The group that is currently in power in America makes decisions like drunken people; they do not understand what they are doing at all; they are far from many realities of the world. Even the prominent and skilled political analysts in America today say and write the same things. Their internet sites and their press are full of these statements; they say these people are leading America to the point of decline and collapse. The reality is just that. The existence of these people is perhaps God's revenge against America; but in any case, they have this program.

This region is such a region. We are in this region, a point where our national power and political power are recognized both in the region and at the global level, and by the political analysts of the world. They have accepted this. A large country, a prosperous country in an extremely sensitive point, with a large population, with united and agreed officials, with a talented and young nation; we have such a position. In this position, we must be vigilant; we must be aware of our surroundings; we must see the plots of the enemies; we must move intelligently, consciously, wisely, and courageously.

The fact that you see the uproar against the Islamic Republic is a sign of our power. Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) once said, if the Islamic Republic is nothing, why do they rally against it so much? If it has no significance, why do they go to such lengths to oppose it? This is a sign of the power of the Islamic Republic. Recently, they created a commotion over the President's position. Of course, this was not the first time; it was the umpteenth time. Once again, ten or eleven years ago, regarding the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, our President at that time made a statement; they created a commotion about why the President of Iran expressed happiness over the assassination of the Prime Minister of Israel! The first feeling that arises in a person is shame for humanity instead of the leaders of Europe and the West; they should be ashamed of humanity for being so under the influence of the Zionists; they should be ashamed of their own nations. Are there not governments in the world that do not recognize the legitimacy of other governments and deny their political identity? Are there not leaders of countries who secretly wish for the destruction of the leader of another country? This is not rare; they express it verbally, and it is constant. Where does such sensitivity arise? The influence of the Zionists over Western and European governments unfortunately creates such uproars. Then they took advantage of the opportunity and connected this to the issue of nuclear energy! The ignorant person who first made this statement and connected it to the nuclear energy issue did not understand that nuclear weapons are not for destroying governments and systems and regimes; systems and regimes are not destroyed by nuclear weapons; nuclear weapons can only destroy humans and lands. What destroys regimes is the power of resistance and the determination and struggle of nations; which this determination and struggle exists in Palestine and, by God's grace, will certainly lead to the downfall of the Zionist regime.

O Lord! By Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, we beseech You to grant us success in seeking forgiveness and repentance; illuminate our hearts with the light of repentance; diminish and shorten the evil of the enemies from the Islamic Ummah and all Muslim nations. O Lord! Make the dear nation of Iran more and more dear every day.

(One of my friends specifically requested that I emphasize to the managers about prayer. Regarding prayer, especially to the officials of education and universities, I say that they should pay attention to this matter. God willing, those responsible for establishing prayer will be able to easily implement their programs in the institutions. Good cooperation has been established with them, and after this, this cooperation should, God willing, increase day by day.)

O Lord! Unite our dear martyrs with the Prophet; increase the solidarity among the officials of the country day by day. O Lord! By the right of Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, grant the officials of the country in the three branches success and support in fulfilling their duties.

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