Statements of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in Meeting with Quran Reciters

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

First of all, I must say to these dear reciters and reciters of the Quran: May God make your breaths pure; God willing.

Today, we enjoyed these recitations and these sweet and pleasant melodies of the Quran, which, thanks be to God, our youth are progressing better, more attractively, and more sweetly day by day. Both of these two young boys who recited, as well as the groups that sang together, were very good; and our dear reciters, every year when one hears these recitations, one feels that the caravan of Quran recitation and Quranic melodies has advanced beyond what it was in the past. If we compare it with previous eras—before the Revolution—having come from zero, rather below zero, thanks be to God, we have reached high degrees; this is a great source of joy for us.

There are two or three issues here that I would like to mention: one issue is that we might think that reciting the Quran and being close to the Quran and promoting the Quran means just this. This is a major misunderstanding that we must not fall into. I have great faith in these recitations. Previously, in some of these sessions, I explained the reason for this belief, and I do not want to repeat it. I truly regard our good reciters and proficient and expert reciters as precious; however, all of this is a prelude; a prelude for the dominance of the Quranic cultural atmosphere in the minds of our society. That is, you, the young Muslim, both men and women, and Muslim children must become familiar with the Quran. You must read the Quran in the true sense of being addressed by God, reflect upon it, and learn from it. The next stage is action; however, I am discussing the stage before action: learning the Quran, understanding the teachings of the Quran, reflecting on the verses of the Quran and the Quranic words.

These words that you observe are the very things that God, the Exalted, has granted to humanity as the last spiritual treasure of divine revelation. These are what must guide humanity to the paths of happiness, success, and salvation until the end of this world; they are full of teachings; these must be understood.

Unfortunately, we have a linguistic barrier, a lexical barrier; this is our deficiency. This means the deficiency of non-Arab nations. Those whose language is Arabic, just as the reciter recites, those who are seated, even if not completely, understand it. The expression of the Quran is eloquent and very high, and not everyone understands the details of this expression. To draw a comparison, it is like reading Saadi's Golestan in a gathering. Well, Golestan is eloquent Persian, and people understand it; however, only the literati, those with taste and high understanding grasp its subtleties and details. Now, multiply this by thousands. The Quran is like this. The subtleties and nuances and details may not be understood by an ordinary Arabic-speaking listener, but ultimately they understand the meaning of these words; hence their hearts soften; thus, when they hear the recitation of the Quran, they shed tears; because they comprehend the divine admonition. This is a barrier we have, and it is solvable. Let no one think, what can we do, it cannot be done; no, this is completely solvable. Many Quranic words and terms have been repeated in our common Persian language, and we understand them. I used to have Quran sessions in Mashhad, we would sit like this, and sometimes I would speak to the youth of that day—they are, of course, the old men of today—and I would tell them the same thing; I would give examples, for instance, suppose: "And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, and give good tidings to the patient." If you look at this noble verse, of the words in this verse, what a Persian speaker does not understand is only two or three; otherwise, the rest of the words are understood. Now, for example, "We will surely test you" must be explained to them, but they know what "something" means. You yourself use "something" and "things". You know what "fear" is, you know what "hunger" is, you know what "loss" is, you know what "wealth" is, you know what "lives" is, you know what "fruits" is. These are not things that a Persian speaker does not understand. Therefore, understanding the verses of the Quran, understanding the connections and combinations of words, and being familiar with the Quran and referring to translations is not difficult.

Fortunately, today there are many good translations. In those days when we spoke, there was not even a good translation of the Quran that people could use and be assured of its meaning. Today, thanks be to God, one sees many good translations available. Refer to these translations; let people refer to them, and then they will understand. So this is one issue that must be resolved; that is, they must understand the meaning of the verses.

The second issue is that when our reciter and reciter recites and acquires these beautiful tones and good melodies and reads, they might think that their work is only this combination of melodies and the expression of these words with a pleasant voice and good melody. This is also one of the issues that, if it arises, is detrimental. Our reciter, when reciting the Quran, must recite it in such a way that it seems as if they are bringing down the Quran to the heart of the audience; this is how you must read the Quran. Of course, these famous Egyptian reciters are not all like this; some of them are like this; some of them are not; however, you should not concern yourself with them. You must recite the Quran in such a way that these Quranic concepts and the noble verses of the Quran seem to be descending upon the heart of the audience; matching the melodies with the meanings, and using the melody to highlight the meaning and content of the verse. The most important art of these melodies and Quranic tunes is that they can help to highlight that content and embed it in the mind of the audience. Therefore, our reciter must pay attention to these points.

Of course, we have spoken a lot about Quranic music, Quranic melodies, Quranic tones, pauses, and cuts in recitation; now, thanks be to God, I see that these things are frequently repeated in the minds and expressions of the people of the Quran. Or the attention to translation, which I see, thanks be to God, many of these reciters pay attention to translations and consider the points, which we do not want to repeat; however, this point is very important that the reciter of the Quran intends for this word to have an impact on the mind of the audience; that is, you want to shake our hearts. The goal should not be to praise the reader, but the goal should be that the reader shakes our hearts with this recitation; especially with these verses that today, as I was looking, I saw that most of the verses that friends recited—perhaps coincidentally—were verses of monotheism. If you read these verses as I said, the listener's heart will be shaken. This recitation of yours has the effect of a book of monotheistic reasoning. This is the effect of good recitation.

The third issue is that during the blessed month of Ramadan, which is the month of Quran recitation and the month of the descent of the Quran and the month of sessions, and we have this session and many sessions in mosques and various gatherings, when Ramadan ends, we should not close the Quran, kiss it, and put it aside. This must not happen. We must not separate the Quran from ourselves. We must always be connected and familiar with the Quran. Now, it is narrated that every day at least read fifty verses of the Quran. This is one of the criteria. If you cannot, read ten verses of the Quran daily; do not say I read Surah Al-Fatiha and these few verses of Surah Al-Fatiha with a few verses of Surah Al-Ikhlas—one rak'at—becomes the same ten verses that someone says. No, besides the Quran that you read in prayer—whether it is a recommended prayer or an obligatory prayer—open the Quran, sit down, with presence of heart, read ten verses, twenty verses, fifty verses, a hundred verses. Read the Quran for reflection and understanding and benefit. One way of reading the Quran is to take the surface of the Quran and read it to the end. This type, we do not want to say has no effect at all. Of course, I used to say it has no effect at all, then I reconsidered. It cannot be said to have no effect at all, but its effect compared to the effect expected from reciting the Quran is like nothing; it is close to nothing.

One recitation is that of those who read the verse, but—this is for people like us—they read to find a point to say in a certain sermon, in a certain speech, in a certain gathering, in a certain assembly. This is not a flaw; however, this type is not what we are obliged to do.

One recitation is that a person sits like a listener at the speech of God, the Exalted. God, the Exalted, is speaking to you. It is as if a dear one, a great one, has sent you a letter. You take the letter and read it. Why do you read it? To see what they have written for you. Read the Quran like this. This is the letter of God, the Exalted. The most trustworthy tongues and hearts have taken this Quran from God, the Exalted, and delivered it to you. Let us benefit from it; therefore, it is narrated that when you read a surah, your intention should not be to reach the end of the surah; your intention should be to understand the Quran; even if you do not reach the end of the surah, to the middle of the surah, to the middle of a part, to the middle of a section, and do not complete it; reflect and ponder. Read the Quran in this way. If someone becomes familiar with the Quran, they will not detach from the Quran. If we become familiar with the Quran, we will truly not detach from the Quran.

The last point, which is again a repetition, and we have repeatedly mentioned this, is the memorization of the Quran. Memorizing the Quran is a great blessing. These young people and adolescents should appreciate the age of memorization. You are at an age where you can memorize and keep it in your mind. We can also memorize; at our ages, it is possible; however, it does not last long; it quickly fades from our minds. It is not that it cannot be memorized at the ages of people like me; why? People older than us—meaning those aged seventy-five, eighty—can memorize. I heard that the late Ayatollah Khoei memorized the Quran in these last years of his life. This is very important; an eighty-year-old man memorizing the Quran! It can be memorized, but it does not last; it fades from the mind. If you memorize the Quran during your youth, especially in your adolescence; that is, from the age of those young people who recited for us here or older than them, this is a treasure and reserve for you. And the possibility of reflecting on the Quran that is memorized in a person is much greater than the possibility of reflecting for someone who is not a memorizer of the Quran. Sometimes a person looks at a verse in the Quran as if they have never recited this verse; however, for someone who has memorized, such a thing does not happen. We hope that God, the Exalted, makes what we have said and heard penetrate into our hearts, God willing.

O Lord! Keep us alive with the Quran and let us die with the Quran. O Lord! Gather us with the Quran; let us benefit from the Quranic teachings and the high knowledge contained in the Quran. O Lord! Revive our hearts with the Quran; illuminate them with the Quran. O Lord! Make us true guardians of the Quran; make our society a Quranic society. O Lord! Bestow your grace and mercy upon these reciters of the Quran and those interested in the Quran and the teachers of the Quran—who, thanks be to God, are also in our session. O Lord! Increase the scope of the influence of the Quran— for which our dear teachers have strived—day by day; make the heart of the holy Imam of the Age pleased with us. Make the heart of our dear Imam, the pure spirit of our dear Imam, and the pure souls of the martyrs who fought for the Quran pleased with us.

May God have mercy on whoever recites Al-Fatiha with the prayers.