Statements in 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 Muhammad and his pure family, especially the remainder of God among the people.

I am very pleased, and I thank the Almighty God for granting me the opportunity today, at the dawn of the blessed month of Ramadan, to have this session with you dear ones who, thanks be to God, are illuminated by this light, are familiar with the Quran, and to visit you up close; I truly benefited and enjoyed from the recitations and programs that were performed today.

I would like to say a few words about the blessed month of Ramadan, a few words about the affection for the Quran and the Holy Word of God, and then I will share a few points regarding you artists of recitation.

Regarding the blessed month of Ramadan, it is said: "It is the month in which you have been invited to the banquet of God"; very well, you have been invited. Sometimes a person is invited somewhere, responds, goes to that gathering, and is hosted; at other times, we have been invited, but we do not make the effort to move and attend that gathering and be hosted; thus, this is in our hands. This month is the month of Ramadan, the month of the banquet, the month of the infinite expanse of divine mercy. Who is the one that will sit at this table and be hosted? That is the discussion. We must make the effort to enter this grand hall of hospitality and sit at this table. What is this banquet? Now, if all of you, God willing, enter this banquet in the best manner and are honored by the divine hospitality, what will the Almighty God give you? Divine hospitality consists of providing the opportunity for closeness to God; that is, there is nothing greater than this. The Almighty God has provided the opportunity for closeness to Himself in this month; if you enter this banquet, you will benefit from this hospitality. What is this opportunity? This opportunity is fasting; this opportunity is the endless reward for reciting the divine book, the recitation of the Quran; this opportunity is the multiplied reward for reconciling between people and similar matters that exist in the sermon of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family). Let us ask the Almighty God for these; let us ask that the Almighty God grants us the success to utilize these opportunities. Therefore, it is said: "So ask your Lord with sincere intentions and pure hearts that He may grant you success in fasting and reciting His book"; ask God for this.

Thanks be to God, most of you are young and have pure, radiant, and shining hearts that one truly envies you young people; you can utilize these opportunities in the best manner. Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him) in the 44th supplication of Sahifa Sajjadiyya, which is the supplication for entering the month of Ramadan, addresses God in this manner: "And help us in fasting by restraining our limbs from sins"; this kind of fasting; it became clear that fasting is not just abstaining from food and avoiding these outward actions; this is also part of the fasting that brings you closer to God in that manner: restraining limbs from divine sins; "and employing them in what pleases You"; of course, this supplication is a detailed one, and I recommend that those who have not read this supplication should read it; read this supplication and truly benefit from it; you have the capacity to utilize the words of Imam Sajjad in Sahifa Sajjadiyya in the best manner; it continues after a pause: "And that we may draw closer to You through pure deeds that purify us from sins and protect us from the faults we may initiate"; may the Almighty God purify us from our past and protect us in the future; let us appreciate the value of this month.

However, regarding the affection for the Word of God; well, one of the blessed names of the Quran is "Dhikr" (remembrance). In the Quran, the term "Dhikr" is used several times, and it refers to the Quran; for example, "And this is a blessed remembrance which We have sent down" in Surah Al-Anbiya, where the Quran is introduced as "Dhikr", or "Indeed, We sent down the Dhikr, and indeed, We will preserve it" in Surah Al-Hijr, which is the same here and in several other places in the Quran—perhaps a total of four or five times or five or six times in the Quran—where the Quran is called "Dhikr"; why "Dhikr"? Dhikr means "remembrance"; what does it mean that "the Quran is Dhikr"? It means it is a reminder; the Quran reminds us. This is a form of exaggeration. In Arabic speech, when they want to exaggerate, they do not use the active participle in its form but use it in the form of the infinitive; they say "Zayd is just"; when they want to say: Zayd is very just, they say: Zayd is just; this is how it is. The Quran is Dhikr; it is the ultimate reminder and the ultimate reminding. This is the Quran. Well, "Dhikr" is a means of communication; Dhikr means remembrance; if you remember someone, you establish a connection with them, with anything; if you forget them, naturally, you will not establish a connection anymore; Dhikr is naturally a means of communication; if we want to have a connection with God, with paradise, with the high essence that the Almighty God has set for us and we can reach and actualize it, we must remember Him; if we forget, negligence will occur, and this negligence is what the Quran repeatedly warns us against, and we have been cautioned against this. On the Day of Resurrection, it will be said to the disbeliever and the deviant: "Indeed, you were in negligence of this, and We have lifted your veil"; this is from Surah Q, or in the blessed Surah Al-Anbiya, it is said: "Oh woe to us, we were indeed in negligence of this"; the disbeliever will say on the Day of Resurrection: "Oh woe to us; we were negligent." Negligence is a great calamity. Therefore, in one of the supplications related to the night prayers, it is stated: "O God, I seek refuge in You from laziness, old age, cowardice, miserliness, negligence, and hardness of heart"; we seek refuge in God from negligence. Well, then, "negligence" is the opposite of "Dhikr"; the Quran is also Dhikr. The more you become familiar with the Quran, the more remembrance there will be. And of course, "Dhikr" and "watchfulness" are almost synonymous or, in one sense, united; that same watchfulness that so many people of meaning and spirituality emphasize and say is the ladder of human ascension; being watchful of oneself. I believe in the statements of the late Akhund Mollah Hossein Quli Hamadani or one of his students, I once saw that they say without watchfulness, sometimes a state may occur for a person, but this state does not remain; if there was watchfulness, that spiritual state would also remain for the person. Therefore, the recitation of the Quran, the affection for the Quran has these characteristics.

Well, this is the speech of God; when we read the Quran, God is speaking to us. This speaking is not only related to the past and the events or Quranic stories; it relates to our current situation, which is being expressed in that language; this is so that we can find our way and sit at the conversation of God. And this is a great blessing that the Almighty God has given us. One blessing is that whenever we want, we can speak with God: "Without an intercessor"—which is in the noble supplication of Abu Hamzeh—whenever we intend, we can speak with the Almighty God; this is supplication; and whenever we intend, we can sit at the conversation of God. The timing is up to you; you are the ones determining the time to sit at the conversation of God and benefit; let us look at the recitation of the Quran with this perspective; let us see the Quran with this view.

And recitation must be repeated. I have repeatedly stated that recitation must be repeated; the Quran must be read from beginning to end and completed, then started again, from the beginning to the end, and continuously and successively, the Quran must be utilized.

And the Quran is the miracle of the Prophet. Well, this Prophet, who is the Seal of the Prophets (peace be upon him and his family), his religion is eternal, so his miracle must also be eternal. The religion of the Prophet is an eternal religion, and his miracle must be eternal; what does eternal mean? It means that you can find the necessary knowledge for your life from the Quran at any time from the long history until the time this religion is established, that is, forever, in any era, you can find the knowledge you need for your life; life means what? Life means the broad meaning of life: spiritual life, elevated divine life, material life, family, governance, social interactions, up to the connection with the Almighty God; that vast scene and the great expanse of human life are these. The Quran must be able to and can respond to your questions and guide you to the lofty divine knowledge regarding all these vast domains. The highest concepts related to human life can be introduced to us by the Quran, which, of course, is achieved through learning and understanding; do not forget this. Yes, most people—not all people—utilize the surface of the Quran, but utilizing the depths and the hidden aspects of the Quran can only be achieved through learning and understanding, which is stated in Nahj al-Balagha in Sermon 110: "And learn the Quran"; then, with a pause, it is stated: "And understand it"—understanding means deep learning, deep learning is called "understanding"—deep education regarding the Quran; for indeed, it is the spring of hearts; it is the spring of hearts. It refreshes the heart and gives bloom to the heart; this is how it is; and contemplation, learning, and understanding are necessary for that. Of course, the condition is the purification of the heart; we must purify our hearts, save ourselves from many of the heart's imports, which is much easier for you young people than for people like me; let me tell you; know that we have gone through your era, we have experienced it, we have the experience of our own era, which you do not have; this purification of the heart that I mention is much easier in your era than in our era; "None shall touch it except the purified"; we must purify the heart and touch the Quran.

A narration is conveyed by the late Allameh Tabatabai (may God be pleased with him), I liked to share this with you; this narration is from Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him), which the late Tabatabai says: it is one of the most distinguished and finest narrations of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them). It was asked of him: Do you have anything from the revelation besides this Quran that we currently have? He said: No, by the One who split the seed and created the soul; the Imam says that no, I swear by God, we do not have anything beyond this; except that God grants a servant understanding of His book; the Persian translation of this, in our common language, is: Yes, if the Almighty God opens the way, we can delve into this very thing that exists, then many things will be at our disposal. The late Allameh Tabatabai says that these statements of Amir al-Mu'minin regarding monotheism, regarding divine knowledge, which he describes as one of the wonders of Amir al-Mu'minin—when you look at Nahj al-Balagha, this is truly, as he says, one of the wonders—are all derived from the Quran; from this narration, it is understood that all this high and excellent knowledge, for understanding which ordinary minds are not sufficient, and one must think, learn, and study to understand, all this knowledge has been derived by Amir al-Mu'minin from the Quran; this is how the Quran is. This deep ocean is like this.

Now, I will share a few sentences and a few points regarding the matters related to recitation for the group, which is your valuable work.

First of all, thanks be to God, our country is one of the prominent and exemplary countries in terms of good reciters. I mean, in the Islamic world, perhaps besides Egypt, which now has a certain advantage in this regard, I do not think other countries have this many distinguished and good reciters and accurate readers that, thanks be to God, exist in our country. This is due to the blessings of the Islamic Republic. Where were we, and where have we reached! At the beginning of the revolution, our effort and concern were that our reciters knew where to read, where to connect, where to pause, where to stop; that is, it was at this level, and those were the few reciters that existed. Today, thanks be to God, when one looks, they see numerous and many reciters. I am familiar with the recitation radio, thanks be to God, I often listen when I have free time; there are so many good recitations on this radio and sometimes on television—which I have less opportunity to watch—that one truly thanks God; many times when I hear the recitation, I thank God.

Today, many of our reciters are above many [of the reciters]. Now, I am not saying "all"; you have not yet reached those distinguished ones who are there. You must work; this is also one of the points that I will mention in parentheses: you who read well and accurately and excite the listener, do not think the work is finished; whenever a person thinks they have reached the end line, there is nothing beyond this, that is the point of human downfall; I say the same to poets, to writers, to students. You must move forward; you must continue to advance and improve, and there is still room for improvement; it is not that you think everything is finished now. However, what we have today is honestly pride-inducing; I mean, what we have today in terms of quantity and quality, we do not find in any other place except for the one I mentioned. Even many of our current reciters are better than some of those whom we have invited and brought here, we have paid them money, we have listened to their recitations, and a thousand people have shouted "Allah Allah" at their reading, which was unnecessary! Sometimes they read poorly, but the crowd says "Allah"; he understands that this crowd does not understand the good and bad of the recitation, so he does not even try to read well anymore. I have seen this; some of the reciters in Egypt who have read well, when they came here, their reading was not commendable! This is important; now you who are facing the listeners, you must give them these reminders, although now it has been a while since we have had such guests. Thanks be to God, our reciters are good reciters.

Now, from this group that read today, I look and see that the recitations I listened to were very good! Mr. Nazarian had a recitation from Surah Al-Qasas—the same part that Mustafa Ismail read—was very, very good; or Mr. Moghadami had a recitation from Surah Hud that was very good, honestly very distinguished; this Mr. Hamid also has very good recitations. Some of the friends who read here today—many others are the same; now since I do not see the people and do not know their names, I will not mention who they are; [only] these few who recited here, I mentioned—are much better than many of those who have come here and are referred to as masters—master so-and-so—who read much better, and thanks be to God, this is one of our honors. This is the first point.

The second point is that recitation in a group is an art, a sacred art. This art, which is among the highest sacred arts, must be in the service of remembrance and in the service of invitation. The Quran is Dhikr; your recitation must be in the service of Dhikr; you must recite in such a way that I, the listener, become reminded, and I remember God, the Day of Resurrection, and the higher worlds; more than the person being reminded, the listener must be reminded by your recitation; you must keep this in mind in your recitation, and you must seek this. Let us be careful that peripheral matters, some self-displays—which we are human, we are weak, in our actions there are some self-displays, now I do not want to overly focus on the minor ones—do not dominate; that state of self-display should not dominate over the state of reminder and the reminding and invitation to God in this recitation that you perform. You should not look at this only as an art; some of the non-Iranian Quran readers, when one looks at them, they look at this [work] only as an art; no, this is not just an art; this is a means of inviting to God; you must look at it in this way. It should be such that "And when His verses are recited to them, it increases them in faith"; when you read the Quran, my faith must increase; the faith of your listeners must increase. A part of this is your responsibility, and you must perform this work; to a large extent, it is the responsibility of the reciter.

You start the recitation with seeking refuge; this seeking refuge must be genuine. With this seeking refuge, truly seek refuge in God from the evil of Satan: "So when you recite the Quran, seek refuge in God from the accursed Satan" which is in Surah Al-Nahl. If this recitation is done with seeking refuge, it will not be subjected to satanic purposes. This is another point.

Another point is the engineering of recitation. This is something I have wanted to say to some of the reciters who recited before us several times, but I have not had the opportunity. One of the things you must consider as a reciter is the engineering of recitation; you must engineer your recitation in your mind beforehand. Of course, these will gradually become instinctive and normal for a person, but at the beginning, for a long time, it will certainly require attention.

What does engineering mean? There are several types of engineering: one is selecting the appropriate tone for each section. For example, suppose that not all tones are suitable for the tone of a story, or not all tones are suitable for verses warning of punishment; some tones are suitable, and some are not; you must find the tone appropriate for that content. Some Egyptian reciters are truly and honestly at a high level in this work, knowing with what tone to read these [verses]; if it is a warning, if it is a threat, if it is a glad tidings, if it is a promise of paradise, if it is a story, each of these requires a specific tone; you must engineer it.

Another engineering is the engineering of lowering and raising your voice; when to raise your voice, when to lower it; this is important. Some people raise their voices unnecessarily, where it is not appropriate to raise the voice at all. You must discern where to raise your voice and read with a loud tone, and where to read softly. Of course, in some recitations that one hears from famous reciters, there are, so to speak, some lowering and raising that are now specific to them, and their repetition does not seem very appropriate to us; you must discern for yourself, pay attention to where to raise your voice, where to read softly.

One is the quality of delivery; the quality of delivery is also very important. I will now give an example: the recitation of Surah Fatir by Abdul Fattah Shashai—who is truly an extraordinary reciter—when he reaches this noble verse: "O mankind, you are the needy to God". You know that Arab listeners seek a long breath. When a reciter recites with a long breath, they like it and encourage it and say Allah Allah, and they do not like a short breath very much. Abdul Fattah has a short breath, but he reads this "O mankind, you are the needy to God" with a tone that turns the gathering upside down! In my opinion, listen to this recitation; it turns the gathering upside down; he reads it with such an appropriate tone. Keep this appropriate tone in mind. This is one engineering.

Another engineering exists, and that is the quality of recitation that can visualize the event in front of the listener; that is, to read in such a way that you, who are listening, feel as if you are seeing the event; in this regard, the master is undoubtedly Sheikh Mustafa Ismail, who is extraordinary in this regard. In those noble verses of Surah Al-Qasas, where it says: "And he found, besides them, two women who were driving [their flocks]. He said: What is your situation? They said: We cannot water [our flocks] until the shepherds return; and our father is a very old man. So he watered for them, then turned to the shade and said: My Lord, indeed I am in need of whatever good You would send down to me. Then one of the two women came to him walking bashfully"; he reads these in such a way that you feel as if this girl is coming and feeling shy, which this shyness stems from emotions; they went to their father, talked about this young man, and said very well, go and tell him to come. He reads "Then one of the two women came to him walking bashfully" several times. Or for example, in Surah Al-Naml, "Which of you will bring me her throne before they come to me in submission?" A powerful jinn said: "I will bring it to you before you rise from your place"; he repeats this "I will bring it to you" from the tongue of this jinn in such a way that you feel as if you are seeing this jinn with a certain arrogance saying I will bring it for you, before you rise from your place. Then it is said: "The one who had knowledge from the Book said: I will bring it to you before your glance returns to you"; that is, the other one slapped the jinn, saying before you blink, I will have it ready, and he did. He reads this in such a way that you feel as if this event is happening; this is also a kind of engineering. In summary, the recitation of the reciter must have an effect; you must recite in such a way that it creates an impact on your listener and becomes a source of effect. "Indeed, you warn only those who follow the reminder and fear the Most Merciful in the unseen"; following must occur with your reading; with your recitation, following must be established. These were a few points that I mentioned.

One more point regarding the issue of the differences in recitations. Some of the Egyptian reciters whom we invited and who came over these past few years were committed to reading various types of recitations. Now, since I am not very knowledgeable, I cannot definitively say that they also read the rare recitations. We have fourteen recitations, in addition to several rare recitations. I suspect that even some of them were committed to reading the various recitations in their recitations; in my opinion, this has no merit, there is no "Dhikr" in this, there is no invitation in this. Yes, I do not reject reading the differences in recitation, but limitedly. The recitation of Warsh is important in that it is prevalent in North Africa and in the western Islamic world. Warsh lived for many years in Egypt—both Warsh and Qalon lived in Egypt for many years—so Warsh's recitation is known in Egypt and in North Africa and in Tunisia and similar places. Quran copies according to Warsh's recitation and according to Qalon's recitation have been printed there, which have been sent to us; I have seen. This is Warsh's recitation. Therefore, reading Warsh's recitation is not problematic, as it is one of the prevalent recitations; although not to the extent of Hafs's recitation, but it is still prevalent. This is good. The recitation of Hamzah, which our young man read a bit today, is good in that the pauses in Hamzah's recitation between the silent letter and the hamzah are beautiful. In this regard, reading it sometimes is not objectionable in our view. If they read these two recitations, it is not bad; however, reading the various differences in recitations and different forms in one word and similar things, in our opinion, is not very necessary; that is, what is expected from you—which is remembrance and invitation and reminders and similar things—does not truly and honestly fulfill.

Another point I have noted to mention. In the field of Quranic activities, many good works have been done; however, these are not enough; we need more efforts. One of the suggestions that was made to us and is a correct action, and I present it, and each of you can do it, is that mosques in a locality—now for example in Tehran, mosques in a certain section of Tehran that have three, four, or five mosques—each of these should be a Quranic base and have connections with each other; they should go to each other's gatherings, and they should come to this session; they should compete with each other; this is different from the usual competitions that the Endowments and others organize; such activities should take place; this is the best encouragement for young people and teenagers to enter the realm of Quran recitation; we need this.

Our youth must enter the field of Quran recitation, especially memorizing the Quran, as we need many memorizers; I mentioned this several years ago; efforts have been made, but we are still far from that point. If you want to provide those ten million, the way is for our teenagers to enter the realm of the Quran; when a teenager enters, memorization becomes easier; the way is for this to happen in mosques; each mosque should become a Quranic base; mosques in this locality should have connections with each other, cooperate; their teachers should introduce them to each other; they should go to them. We had this work in Mashhad; both in the Karamat Mosque and in the Imam Hasan Mojtaba Mosque. May God have mercy on the late Mr. Mokhtari, a very good reciter from Mashhad, and also Mr. Agha Morteza Fatemi, who is among the best in Mashhad [and still, thank God, is considered one of the best reciters in the country]; I had invited these two, I had requested them, they managed this session for years in the Karamat Mosque; in the Imam Hasan Mosque, where we were—these two mosques that I frequently visited—these two would come and recite. And this connection between mosques with each other and the connection of reciters and listeners of reciters and students of reciters with each other is one of these opportunities that, God willing, can serve this work. It is also good to mention the name of the late Mr. Moulai (may God have mercy on him), who also has a great right over the recitation of the Quran in Tehran and has made great efforts; the late Ghafari and other brothers who were in this gathering in previous years and are not among us this year; may God elevate the ranks of all of them.

O Lord! Through Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, make us among the people of the Quran; make us familiar with the Quran; keep us alive with the Quran; let us die with the Quran; resurrect us with the Quran. O Lord! Awaken and revive the Quranic knowledge in our hearts. O Lord! May our teachers, those who guided us to this path, guided us, taught us the affection for the Quran, be encompassed by Your mercy; unite our great Imam, our dear martyrs with the Prophet; and keep us steadfast on their path.

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