Statements at the Gathering of Affection with the Holy Quran

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 his pure and chosen progeny, especially the Awaited One among the inhabitants of the earth.

Welcome, you are very much appreciated. We were truly pleased today; thanks be to God, this blessed circle of affection with the Quran and its recitation is expanding day by day in our country, and this is a blessing of the revolution and the Islamic system. Of course, this year we are in mourning for those dear ones whose pictures are here (1) - I believe all of them were here last year, they were with us, some recited, we encouraged them, we affirmed them - we hope, God willing, that the Almighty God will grant these dear ones the highest ranks of His mercy and forgiveness in the proximity of the Quran, under the shadow of the Quran; may He grant patience to their survivors; and may He accept their incomplete pilgrimage in the best manner.

The beauty of the Quran is not only in its meanings and teachings; the words of the Quran are also beautiful. This verbal beauty caused those whose hearts were locked and closed to the Quran and were unwilling to understand, see, use, and accept the meanings of the Quran at the time of its revelation, to be helpless in the face of the miraculous beauty of these words; they could do nothing against it. The words of the Quran, the melody of the Quran, the style and manner of the Quran, are a miracle in themselves. The Quran is neither poetry nor prose; it is something that is neither poetry nor prose, yet possesses the beauty of the best poetry and the beauty of the best prose. There is sometimes a rhythm in some verses of the Quran, but the verbal beauty of the Quran is not dependent on rhythm; where there is no rhythm, the beauty and words of the Quran captivate the human heart; the expression 'bewitched' is not correct, but we must say it captivates the heart of man. This is how it is.

Well, this beauty should be used as a tool; the purpose of the Quran was not merely to present beautiful words so that eloquent speakers and poets would acknowledge it and be brought to their knees, compelled to say it is good, it is beautiful; that is not the only purpose; the purpose is that we, through this window of beauty, reach that blessed and magnificent garden of Quranic teachings; that is the goal. Whatever is beautiful in the words of the Quran is a thousand times - now I mention a thousand as a common figure; perhaps it is thousands of times, we are not capable of measuring - the meaning of the Quran and its teachings are more beautiful. Who understands this? The one who contemplates, opens the door of the heart, and lets these truths enter the heart. In every era, at any time, if a person who deals with life's issues and finds them important has such a close relationship with the Quran, they will realize the miracle of the Quran; some less, some more; in some times less, in some times more.

In my opinion, if we are people of heart, we can realize the miracle of Quranic teachings: 'For whoever has a heart or lends an ear while being present' (2); if we are people of heart, if we give our attentive ear to the Quran, today we can understand the miraculous nature of the Quran more than those who were a thousand years ago. In this complex world, in this stormy world, in this world filled with dilemmas - these powers, this scientific advancement - it is here that when the Quran enters the field, when it speaks, 'Indeed, this Quran guides to that which is most upright,' one feels that it truly 'guides to that which is most upright and gives glad tidings to the believers' (3).

Well, I enjoyed your recitations today - I truly derived spiritual pleasure from your readings; both individual recitations and collective readings, and the melodies that were performed - one truly derives heartfelt spiritual pleasure; and two pleasures: one pleasure from the recitations and sounds and performances themselves; and one pleasure - which for me is greater than the first pleasure - is the pleasure of witnessing the daily growth of Quranic individuals in the country. Twenty years ago, there was no news of this, thirty years ago there was no news of this, before the revolution, there was absolutely no news of our youth, our middle-aged, our children, our teenagers being on the path of the Quran, in the path of memorization, in the path of recitation methods.

Well, these beauties that you have created today - and you must create more of these as much as you can - should be a window towards the teachings of the Quran; they should familiarize us and make us accustomed to the Quran. Do not confuse the Quran with singing; singing is a different matter; of course, unfortunately, among Egyptian singers today, there are those who are Quran reciters but sing, they perform singing; they exist. Those reciters of previous generations - like Sheikh Mustafa Ismail, like Sheikh Abdul Fattah Shashai, even like Muhammad Rifat - all these greats were musicians but recited the Quran with the melody and tunes of the Quran; they did not allow it to be mixed with cabaret tunes and trivial music. Today, some do not have these considerations; one sees it in them. These beauties should bring us closer to the Quran; they should increase our affection for the Quran.

One of the very good things that should be done in the country - of course, it exists to some extent, it was somewhat present before the revolution; after the revolution, it is certainly better and exists in a better form, but it should become widespread - is that we should have Quran recitation sessions. Before the revolution, we had Quran study sessions; I myself used to hold several such sessions at that time and had attended and participated in them; that is not the purpose; those sessions were for teaching the Quran; they would read one by one, they would learn. The purpose of the Quran recitation session is to form a gathering, for individuals to attend, for a Quran reciter to sit there for an hour - less or more - to recite the Quran; the listeners should come there just to listen to the Quran. This is very effective. This has more impact than one's own reading in some cases. Some understand the meanings of the Quran, they understand the meanings of these words. We, of course - non-Arabs - have the misfortune of having a language that is not the language of the Quran; Arabs have the language of the Quran; when a reciter emphasizes a sentence and repeats it two, three, four, or five times, they all understand what he is saying. If we want to make a flawed analogy, suppose we have sentences from Saadi's Golestan, for example, in our minds; for instance, when they say, 'The one whose account is pure has no fear of reckoning,' everyone understands, they listen. The Quranic sentences, which are thousands of times more wise - both in quantity and quality - when the reciter reads them, the Arab listener understands this; [however] the non-Arab listener may understand, may not understand. Let us first try to familiarize ourselves with the language of the Quran; let us get acquainted with the language of the Quran; this is one of the advantages that if we can secure this in our society [it would be good]; this has been emphasized in our constitution and in the initial laws of the revolution, it has been stressed that we must learn the Arabic language - which is the language of the Quran. Those who do not have this opportunity now or cannot, very well, let them open the Quran in front of them, let the reciter start reciting the Quran - now our reciters here recite for about ten or twelve minutes, there they should recite for an hour; one hour, three-quarters of an hour, one or two people should recite the Quran, perform it, with a pleasant voice, with these beautiful recitation methods - and the attendees should be present, open the Quran, if they do not understand its meaning, they should look at the translation and listen to what he [is reciting]. This is one of the things that develops the teachings of the Quran in the country: Quran sessions; a session for the Quran. Just as we hold sessions for the love of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) - a mourning session or a celebration for the Imams (peace be upon them) - one of the two weights is the Ahl al-Bayt, the other weight is the Quran; hold a session for the Quran. This is one of the things that, God willing, if it is carried out and becomes widespread, and you Quranic individuals - this work is your work - strive to form such gatherings, it will accelerate the growth of the Quranic movement in the country and will familiarize the people.

And know, my dear ones! Today the world is in need of the Quran; whether it acknowledges it or not. Today the world is in an identity void, in a mental void, in a faith void; a faithless person is like a rotten fruit, empty from within. The reason you see murder and crime increasing day by day in Western countries is one of the reasons; the reason you see suicides increasing is one of the reasons. Humanity no longer has any commodity to satisfy the minds and hearts of people. They say, they weave, but it does not find acceptance in the hearts of people. Why the Quran? If a drop of the drops of the Quran - not the entire Quran, [just] a drop of the drops of the Quran - is sent with a suitable expression for today, hearts will be attracted; we ourselves are experiencing this, we are seeing it; today humanity is in need of the Quran.

And the Quran can be effective in today's world; it can work, it can advance. The powers and superpowers and atomic bombs and the Zionist regime and the like can do nothing; the important thing is that we must strengthen our Quranic faith foundations day by day, and learn the language of transmitting the Quran and convey the meanings of the Quran; like a strengthening medicine that you pour a drop of it into a glass and give it to someone to drink and benefit from it; [but] if you pour five drops instead of one drop, it may harm and they may not be able to digest it; we must find the appropriate language; however, we must saturate ourselves, saturate our hearts, saturate our souls, and fill ourselves with Quranic teachings; we ourselves are also very in need.

The blessings of the Quran in these things that I have expressed with my limited words are not limited; the blessings of the Quran are endless. In the Quran and with the Quran, there is dignity, there is power, there is progress, there is material welfare, there is spiritual elevation, there is the expansion of thought and belief, there is joy and tranquility of the soul; tranquility and peace of the soul; 'Then God sent down His tranquility upon His Messenger and upon the believers and bound them with the word of piety, and they were more deserving of it and worthy of it' (4). When that religious tranquility and that religious peace comes, piety increases: 'He it is who sent down tranquility into the hearts of the believers that they might increase in faith along with their faith' (5); this tranquility and peace causes a person's faith to increase day by day; faith in what? Faith in God, faith in divine power; it follows: 'And to God belong the armies of the heavens and the earth' (6); everything is in God's hands, everything is God's army. In another place [it says]: 'And none knows the armies of your Lord except Him' (7); no one but Him is capable of counting the divine armies. This is the Quran: an extraordinary and endless power that we must, to the extent of our capacity, be able to use, God willing.

In any case, we hope that God preserves you, preserves you young people; may God grant you young people to us, God willing, be protected and stand by the Quran, and God willing, live Quranically and leave this world Quranically.

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