Statements in Meeting with a Group of Eulogists from Across the Country

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

We congratulate you on this great day, this historic and unforgettable day in history; the birth of the pure Zahra - which, thanks be to God, coincides with the birth of our beloved leader, our Imam, our guide (may God's grace and mercy be upon him) - to all of you dear brothers, dear sisters, eulogists of the Ahl al-Bayt and admirers of the prominent virtues of the greatest of God's creations.

The knowledge of the Ahl al-Bayt and devotion to the Ahl al-Bayt is a great blessing. If we spend our entire lives in gratitude for this great blessing, that God Almighty did not blind our eyes and render us incapable of understanding the truth, that we were able to see these radiant and illuminating lights to the extent of our capacity, to understand them, to love and cherish them, and not to be heedless of them, it is truly insufficient. May God's mercy be upon those fathers, mothers, ancestors, pioneers, and leaders who opened this brilliant window towards these suns of spirituality for us; who recited the whispers of love for the Ahl al-Bayt from the beginning of our lives, from our childhood, from our cradle, and quenched our hearts with the love of these great ones. O God! Deepen and strengthen this love, this knowledge in our hearts and souls day by day; do not take this blessing from us for a moment.

This is another blessing that a person becomes a eulogist and admirer of these figures. Sometimes a person sees a truth, recognizes it; but sometimes this knowledge, this love is expressed and disseminated in the form of poetry, in the form of prose. This is another blessing that God has bestowed upon the eulogists and speakers of this path; this should also be appreciated. This open praise is, in fact, the praise of the eulogist himself:

The eulogist of the sun is the eulogist of himself Whose two eyes are bright and untroubled.

When a person praises a light, a beauty, he is, in fact, praising himself; because he proves that he is a connoisseur of beauty; he proves that his eyes see, understand, and comprehend. Moreover, disseminating these virtues and spiritualities among the people helps in the education of individuals. People can reach high ranks and superior positions by recognizing role models and taking guidance from following these role models. If you move in this path, you have done a great deed.

Make your intentions sincere for God; this is the essence of the matter. If our intention in this speaking, in this praise and glorification, is for God, with the aim of enlightening hearts, polishing minds, and a person expresses and articulates this, then this becomes one of the soldiers of God; "And to God belong the soldiers of the heavens and the earth." One of God's soldiers is the one who, with his tongue, with his expression, with his nature, with his taste, spreads these truths; he becomes a soldier of God. If the intention was otherwise, then no. What is greater than jihad? It was said: if someone steps into the battlefield for a material goal, he is neither a warrior, nor if he is killed, is he a martyr; even though he has entered the battlefield. If we enter these fields for material goals - let alone, God forbid, for base goals - it does not only lead to our elevation and growth, but it also leads to decline and downfall. This is not specific to eulogizing; the same applies to speaking, becoming a scholar, becoming a jurist, becoming a scientist. What gives spirit to our actions is our intention; "Indeed, actions are judged by intentions"; it is intentions that give value to actions.

Well, if the intention is to be for God, then you must look and see which expression, which mention of a merit, which statement of a virtue guides your audience; this is the point that I have always repeated over these continuous years - perhaps for twenty-some years we have had this gathering with eulogists and the nightingales of this garden - I have always emphasized. See what you read, what you say, so that your audience becomes illuminated by the light of Fatimah al-Zahra (peace be upon her). There are some things that saying them does not create any opening or any enlightenment in the mind of your listener, does not bring any joy to the soul of your audience; do not say these. Say those things that soften hearts, humble them, and encourage them to follow Fatimah al-Zahra (peace be upon her). Say those things that can motivate your audience to tread the path that that great one walked, to encourage them. These require thought, they require education; the work is not easy.

Today, fortunately, the community of eulogists forms a large population across the country. The work of a eulogist is to use art to express the truth. Standing there, with a pleasant voice and a beautiful melody, reciting a poem - both poetry is art, and melody is art, and voice is art - with several arts, a person can express a truth, which can have a multiplied impact on the mind of the audience present in the assembly; this is a very great blessing, a very great opportunity. The community of eulogists has, thanks be to God, been growing day by day, and the people accept, are eager, and welcome it - this is also true - so everything is prepared. If the time of this session is spent on something else, if these few arts - the art of poetry, the art of voice, the art of melody - are consumed in something that has no benefit for your audience, this becomes a loss. Therefore, the work of eulogizing is a difficult task. It is not that we can say now that our voice is good, let’s memorize a few poems - now that, thanks be to God, the eulogists read from paper! In the past, it was a shame for a eulogist to take out a paper from his pocket and read from it; they used to recite long poems of fifty or sixty verses by heart; of course, now it is not necessary, reading from paper is not a fault - let’s take a poem from a speaker, read it with a pleasant voice; this is not the issue. You must look, see, and evaluate. This is a matter related to our dear eulogists.

You know that we have sincerity towards you eulogists, we love you, we value your work; however, I have always had this great condition with eulogists; most of you are young, you are in the place of our children; this is a paternal advice, God willing, follow it: good poetry, profound poetry, and of course beautiful poetry. The art of poetry itself also has an effect. When the poetry is good, when the structure of the poetry, the words of the poetry are good - good poetry, with good content - its impact is even greater; in addition to raising the level of people's minds and thoughts.

Look at the community, see what the community needs? These are not things that today are hidden from you young people - who, thanks be to God, are educated, understanding, and insightful. Today, our people, thanks be to God, have a high level of thought, our nation has intellectual maturity; you, the community of eulogists, are the same. You know what the people need. Today, people need faith, ethics, firm belief, insight, understanding of the world, and understanding of the hereafter; we all need these. That which you say about Fatimah al-Zahra (peace be upon her) entering the Day of Resurrection, the atmosphere of the Day of Resurrection being influenced by the greatness of the Prophet's daughter, we must understand the Day of Resurrection, we must understand the hereafter, we must know the majesty of God's glory on the Day of Resurrection; these require knowledge, these require awareness; the Quran is full of statements that show us these meanings, and the narrations are the same. Express these with the language of poetry, with the same art that you possess.

You know that the beginning of any work is very difficult. Once the work starts, it becomes easier. For a Prophet to bring forth someone like Ammar from a community that is ignorant, fanatical, devoid of ethics, and afflicted with various corruptions, to create someone like Abu Dharr, is this an easy task? What did the Prophet do? What was this heavy gear that could set this engine in motion? Look at the Meccan verses; primarily, the mention of the Day of Resurrection, the mention of divine punishment, frightening the disbelievers and the blind and the deaf with divine wrath; these were what gave the first jolt to the people. We must not neglect this point. Intercession has its place, love has its place, and guardianship has its place; but God Almighty has both mercy and wrath. We must remember God's wrath; first for ourselves, then for the people. This is what shakes our hearts, this is what pulls us out from the depths of ignorance and materialism and afflictions; these are among our needs. We must understand the world, we must understand the hereafter, we must understand our duties, we must understand jihad.

Today, our nation is a newly born nation in a troubled world, with a new creation, with a different form, with a different structure, with new dimensions of existence. In a world where all factors have been mobilized to distance hearts and people from spirituality and are striving and continue to strive, a nation has been born with a foundation of faith; is this a small thing? This shines like a diamond. There is no need for us to adorn it; it shines like the sun. We have such a nation. Both spirituality, worldly awareness, the adornment of knowledge, political efforts, correct propaganda work, self-construction, community construction, reaching economic foundations, and reaching moral foundations; all of these are among our tasks. Look and see what you can do in these various and diverse areas; how much awareness you can provide. Our poets should be aware of these points, our speakers should be aware of these points, our eulogists should be the same; see what happens.

If we correctly recognize and utilize the resources we have, our nation and the Muslims will be the most self-sufficient of God's creatures. Prayer is one of these resources. We recite prayer, we pass by it heedlessly; it is like a person afflicted with food poverty, lacking vitamins, lacking protein, in need of essential materials, who comes across a box full of all these materials he needs; then he just smells it and puts it aside! Well, open it, eat it, use it, send energy to your body; do you just smell it and leave it aside?! Now, those who do not pay any attention at all, nothing. We treat prayer the same way, we just smell it and put it aside! Every word of prayer is a lesson, every word of prayer is a state; if we appreciate it. Fasting is the same, almsgiving is the same, jihad is the same, the teachings of religion are the same; your eulogizing is the same. Your eulogizing can be nourishing word by word, sentence by sentence; it can help the audience grow. Well, this was a discussion related to eulogizing.

Another discussion is related to Fatimah al-Zahra (peace be upon her). I truly, not as a formality, not as a statement that has been repeated thousands of times, I am truly incapable; the tongue is incapable, the heart is incapable, the mind is incapable of defining and praising this lofty status; this human being, this young girl, this multitude of virtues, this brilliance, this grandeur and greatness; that someone like the Prophet, when Fatimah al-Zahra entered upon him, "he stood up for her"; not only did he stand up, but he stood up and went towards her. Sometimes someone enters a room, you stand up in respect; sometimes someone enters a room, you eagerly go towards them. Are these trivial matters? This is not a matter of father-child relationship. The Prophet of God honors Fatimah al-Zahra in this way; he declares her satisfaction as his satisfaction, his satisfaction as God's satisfaction; her displeasure as his displeasure, his displeasure as God's displeasure; these are the ranks of Fatimah al-Zahra. That life with Amir al-Mu'minin, that upbringing of those children. Well, can we, like us, speak about this great one?

Despite all this, this great one is a role model; that is the point. Our Imams (peace be upon them) who undoubtedly rank above the angels and the closest to God, did not live, did not speak, did not act in a way that is beyond our reach; no. As the late Allameh Tabatabai said, it is like someone standing on the peak of a mountain, calling to the people, "Come here"; calling them towards himself, towards the peak, towards the summit. They do not sit in ivory towers and glass rooms, inaccessible to anyone; no, they say, "Come, come." The way is this; we must follow the Imams; their lives are our model. Yes, "But you cannot do that"; we cannot move like them; we do not have the merit for this, we do not have the endurance for this; but we can set the path they walked as the direction of our lives; we can set this as our goal and move in this direction.

The third point relates to today's occasion; the Day of Woman. Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) in a statement addressed to women said: that you accepted the day of the birth of Fatimah al-Zahra (peace be upon her) as the Day of Woman, this creates responsibility and obligation for you. Your day, the Day of Woman, the Day of Mother, the Day of Fatimah al-Zahra (peace be upon her); what does this mean? This is a symbolic movement; this act is symbolic. Its meaning is that women must move in this path; greatness and exaltation and high status for women are in this path; a path that has piety, chastity, knowledge, eloquence, standing firm in various fields that require standing firm, upbringing of children, family life; all the adornments and moral virtues are in it; women must move in this direction.

Fortunately, the women of our community are truly and fairly not only in our revolution, but have been the same from the past; our religious women have been among the pioneers in various fields and in all matters. Before the onset of the intense struggles of the Constitutional Revolution, women were in the field. At one point, the struggles of the Constitutional Revolution were calm; then they intensified, and everyone entered. At a time when not everyone had entered, and in fact only a few scholars and elites were pursuing these matters, women rose up, formed a gathering, came here and blocked the path of the ruler and leader of the time, who fled from them and hid in his palace! They went over there, the guards of the government beat them. At that time, they entered the field with chador and chachlor. Most of you have probably never seen a chachlor. The chador and chachlor and the face veil were the type of Islamic-Iranian hijab. With that state, they entered this field. Now, some think that a woman cannot enter various social and political fields unless she is not hijabless and not immoral. In our own revolution, in some parts of the country, women organized gatherings earlier than men, moved in the streets, and resisted; we have definite information about this. During the revolution, it was the same, in various struggles after the victory of the revolution, it was the same, in the imposed war, it was the same.

I have often said this; in visiting the families of martyrs, I often found the mothers of martyrs to be braver and more resilient than the fathers of martyrs. Can the love of a mother be compared to the love of a father? The delicate spirit of a woman, especially towards her beloved child, nurtures him, raises him like a bouquet of flowers, then agrees that he goes to the battlefield and reaches martyrdom; then, so that the Islamic Republic does not make the enemy happy, she does not even cry over his corpse! I have repeatedly told these families of martyrs to cry; why do you not cry? Crying is not a fault. They did not cry, they said they were afraid the Islamic Republic would make the enemy happy. "Do not say woman, the creator of men is time." Our women are like this; they have passed a good test.

Of course, a person is exposed to harm; men are exposed to harm, women are exposed to harm, youth are exposed to harm, the elderly are exposed to harm; scholars, the ignorant, everyone is exposed to harm; "And the sincere are in great danger." Where are the sincere now? We all fall under this standard. Even if we reach the standard, even if we become sincere, we are still "in great danger"! Well, we must be vigilant. The enemies of our world, the enemies of our hereafter, the enemies of our dignity, the enemies of the Islamic Republic system, exploit our weaknesses; from our lust, from our anger, from our desire for power, from our inclination to show off and display; we must be vigilant. Dear women must also be vigilant, young girls must also be vigilant.

This life passes; its pleasures and hardships all pass in the blink of an eye. You do not understand this correctly in your youth. A person in youth thinks the world is stable, it is stationary, it is always like this; when you reach our age, you look back and see how quickly the world passes; you blink, and it is gone. Well, on the other side: "And indeed, the Hereafter is the true life"; life and existence are there. "That is what God gives glad tidings to His servants" - which was read today in the noble verses - the divine glad tidings are there. Both for there, and for preserving the dignity of the country and the advancement of the country, women must take care of the situation of hijab, the situation of chastity, the situation of commitment and adherence; this is a duty. Showing off and displaying is a moment, and its negative effects on the country, on society, on ethics, even on politics, are destructive and lasting; while observing chastity, observing the legal limits in the behavior and movements of women, if it has any hardship, it is a short hardship, but its effects are deep and lasting. Women must take great care of the issue of hijab, the issue of chastity; it is their duty, it is their honor, it is their identity.

Hijab is the source of dignity and freedom for women; contrary to the foolish and superficial propaganda of materialists, it is not a source of bondage for women. By removing their hijabs, by exposing what God Almighty and nature have asked to be concealed, women diminish themselves, they belittle themselves, they devalue themselves. Hijab is dignity, it is composure, it is the value of women, it is the weight of their reputation and respect; this must be greatly appreciated and we must thank Islam for the issue of hijab; this is among God's blessings.

In any case, there is much discussion in these areas. We hope that God Almighty grants you and us success so that we can fulfill our duties. God willing, if we are alive next year and can participate in your gathering, the community of eulogists will feel that they have taken significant steps in the direction mentioned.

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