Statements of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in Meeting with Families of Martyrs and Veterans of Semnan Province

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 the Chosen Muhammad, and upon his pure and virtuous family, especially the Awaited One of God on earth. I extend my heartfelt greetings to all of you dear ones: dear youth, fathers and mothers, children of martyrs, beloved spouses of martyrs, and the patient mothers of our dear martyrs. This session and similar sessions in all travels are among the most exhilarating for me. The legacies of sacrifice and martyrdom; those who have tasted the drink of patience in the path of God; "And give good tidings to the patient, who, when disaster strikes them, say, 'Indeed we belong to God, and indeed to Him we will return.' Those are the ones upon whom are blessings from their Lord and mercy." In the Quran, one of the rarest expressions is this expression. Blessings and mercy of God be upon those patient ones who endure the painful calamity and face it with open hearts. A mother who has raised her dear bouquet over many years and brought it to fruition; a father who has nurtured the dreams of his child's youth in his heart throughout the difficult years of upbringing, suddenly learns that this youth has been martyred on the battlefield; he remains patient. The news of martyrdom reaches his beloved spouse; the companion of bitter and sweet times of life and the heart intertwined with this woman’s heart; these are very hard; very hard; but our people have endured these hardships with the most open faces and sweetest interactions. It is not an exaggeration to say that in no nation and in no war has the trial that our nation has faced occurred. The war itself is one story, the aftermath of the war - that is, the homes of the warriors, the homes of the martyrs, the homes of the disabled, and the disabled themselves - is another story; this second story is sometimes more painful than the first story. The patience of fathers, mothers, spouses, and children in the absence of their loved ones at the front is sometimes more difficult than the patience of the warrior himself under the enemy's gunfire. This patience has been demonstrated by the people. I have often sat and interacted with the fathers of martyrs, the mothers of martyrs, and the spouses of martyrs; I have heard astonishing stories and accounts from them during these meetings. You also know. In this faithful, zealous, and brave province of yours - this province is considered one of the top provinces in the country in terms of the relative number of warriors. These three thousand martyrs, compared to the population of the province and the number of those who have gone to the front for the sacred defense one or several times, rank among the highest among the provinces of the country - there are strange stories in this regard that you know better than I: That father who is at the front with his two sons, and both sons are martyred on the same day, asks the officials of the IRGC for the statistics and names of the martyrs; when they give him the names of the martyrs, he says, "These two are my sons;" he does not flinch. He only says, "I want to speak with their pure bodies;" and he is taken to the side of his two martyrs. This is like a legend; but it is reality. Those three teenagers who from Mahdi City make a pact that if any of them are martyred, the other two will intercede for them before God on the Day of Resurrection; three teenagers, and all three become martyrs; you know their names; you know their stories. These are among the unforgettable stories of history. These are not things that will fade from the memory of a nation. That brave youth who becomes disabled at the front; after becoming disabled, his participation and activity at the front is such that he is sometimes carried on shoulders and taken for identification; he becomes a martyr multiple times. We have two of these martyrs; the martyr Mahmoud Akhlaqi, whose picture is here; and martyr Shokatpour. They first became disabled; while being disabled, they went to the front and ultimately became martyrs. The families of three martyrs, the families of two martyrs; these are a great source of pride. If we did not have these achievements - all these achievements belong to the blood of these dear ones of yours: this national dignity, this scientific progress, this political independence, this survival of revolutionary ideals and the words of the Imam, all of which are things that are not easily attained by a nation, this steadfastness in this path, this daily progression in various fields from a weak, backward, and forgotten nation to a prominent nation on the international stage - again, these legacies and families of martyrs and the bravery and greatness they created will remain in history and be a source of pride. This independent Qaim Brigade, which was formed in 1986, participated in twenty-five offensive and defensive operations until the end of the war - almost over two and a half years. Is this a joke?! Twenty-five operations! The warriors of this province formed the Qaim Brigade in 1986, and before that, they were active in the form of the 17th Ali ibn Abi Talib Division and the Imam Reza (peace be upon him) Brigade from Semnan, Shahroud, Damghan, Garmsar, and throughout this province. They are preserved in their own right; but since this brigade was formed, it has participated in twenty-five offensive and defensive operations over almost two and a half years; this shows the value of a popular group; it shows the power of wills; it shows the patience of families. This Qaim Brigade played the most important role in the Mersad operation. I heard that the role of the Qaim Brigade in the Mersad operation was such that if it were not for them, the enemy might have advanced to Kermanshah. It was the Qaim Brigade that stood firm. These will remain in history. The support headquarters of the war in this province - which I also mentioned in my public speech yesterday related to the construction jihad - performed outstanding engineering and military work. What I have been informed is that they built twenty-five thousand kilometers of roads at the front; they built four thousand kilometers of trenches! Look at the numbers! It is reported that a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy was sitting behind the bulldozer steering it to build trenches; he was so small that he could not be seen behind the steering wheel! Sometimes he had to stand up from his seat to see in front of him; this boy built trenches until morning. Where are these youths? They are among you; they are among this nation. Where are these wills? They are the ones forming the general will of the Iranian nation and they will not disappear. Some have consoled themselves and said that the further you get from the revolution, the more the revolution will fade. They see that it has not happened. The wills that stand firm and declare that they are not afraid of the threats of the global arrogant superpower are these wills; they are these; and the youths who have come behind them. Today, our youth generation is facing every test like the youth generation of the battlefield. Some, upon seeing a disorder in a girl or boy in the street or in an environment, immediately judge that our youth generation has been lost; no, sir! We had that back then too. The youth generation is a faithful youth generation. It is in difficult tests that a nation can be recognized; a nation shows itself in difficult tests. The elites of a nation can show their impact on the fate of their country when difficult trials arise. One day - in September 1941 - several divisions from the east and several divisions from the west entered the country, and several airplanes appeared in the skies; the military forces of that day fled from their barracks! Not only did they not remain at the front, but those who were in the barracks also crawled into their homes and hid! One day, the same nation at two o'clock in the afternoon, the Imam announced that the people should go and liberate Paveh from the hands of the enemies; the late martyr Chamarani told me: As soon as the Imam's message spread over the walls, we who were besieged by the enemy felt that the enemy was about to be defeated. After a few hours, a flood of people set out towards Paveh. At four or five o'clock that same day, I was walking on the street towards the Imam's house; I saw that the situation was completely different. People were getting into cars in the streets and going from the IRGC centers and the centers related to sending to the fronts to the fronts. These are the same people; but the thought and content of the mind have changed; they have found ideals; they have become aware of their identity; they have recognized themselves. This is how it should continue. There are many prominent martyrs from this province. Some of their pictures have been installed here. Martyr Shahcheraghi, martyr Seyyed Kazem Mousavi - who is one of the martyrs of the Seventh of Tir - martyr Seyyed Kazem Kazemi, martyr Hassan Shokatpour, martyr Mahmoud Akhlaqi, martyr Hemmati - who was the commander of the Peykan boat - martyr Seyyed Ahmad Nabavi, martyr Hassan Arab Amiri, martyr Morteza Shadloo, and many other martyrs; the children of the prominent figures of this area and this collection: the child of Mr. Akhtari, the child of Mr. Nasiri; these have great value and importance. Your province is a province of great pride in this regard, and you should appreciate it. Dear youths should know that the identity of a nation and a people is determined by these things; these are what determine; these are what, if you build today, a good tomorrow is in your hands. Those who have reached a place in the world and nations that have gained greatness have done so in this way. Of course, most of those nations had no hope for their personal fate after the end of this apparent life; many of them had no hope for the future; but you do. "Indeed, God has purchased from the believers their lives and their properties in exchange for Paradise for them"; God Almighty trades this soul with Paradise. "So do not sell it for anything else"; do not sell this valuable human soul for anything but Paradise. The value of your soul is Paradise. Your soul has a value equal to Paradise. What is important for a human being is this; success in this world, a good outlook, and ultimately the outlook of divine pleasure and divine Paradise. This is achieved through striving, through patience, through piety and purity, and through tireless effort. In the face of the challenges created by the enemy, a person endures hardships; but the Quran tells us not to fear these hardships: "If you are harmed, then indeed they are harmed as you are harmed"; if you endure pain from the enemy's harm, the enemy also endures pains from your resistance, patience, and bravery; but with this difference: "And you hope for what they do not hope for"; the outlook for you is a bright outlook, but for the enemy, it is not. The issue of martyrdom and the issue of jihad in Islam is this: an effort that is beneficial from all sides, without loss; a sincere effort that gives meaning to human life; determines the direction of human movement; makes the outlook for the future of life as a nation a bright and shining outlook and makes the ultimate fate of a human being as an individual the divine pleasure; this is jihad and martyrdom in Islam; nothing can replace this. O Lord! Send down Your mercy and pleasure upon the pure souls of our martyrs. O Lord! Grant complete patience and abundant reward to the dear families of the martyrs. O Lord! Do not let our death be except in martyrdom in Your way. Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings.