Speech in Meeting with Various Segments of People on the Twenty-Third Day of the Blessed Month of Ramadan

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

Thanks be to God, Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our Master and Prophet, Abul-Qasim Muhammad, and upon his pure, chosen progeny, especially the remainder of God on earth.

Traveling a distance of eight farsakhs causes one's prayer during travel to be shortened and the fast to be lifted. Whether this eight farsakhs is traveled directly—approximately 44 or 45 kilometers—or as a round trip, meaning you go four farsakhs and return the same way or an equivalent distance. Everyone knows that if someone travels during the blessed month of Ramadan—under the conditions that apply—and covers this distance, fasting is lifted from them; according to Shia opinion, fasting while traveling is forbidden. Of course, the Sunnis do not consider fasting obligatory during travel, but they do not consider it forbidden either, and they say one can fast while traveling. Shia scholars believe that fasting while traveling is not permissible.

Now, if this travel is to be realized, it has conditions that are detailed in the treatises. One of the conditions I wanted to mention today is that one must leave the limit of tarakhkhus for the rules of travel to apply. Suppose you want to travel during the month of Ramadan from the city where you reside or where you intend to stay for ten days. As long as you have not left the limit of tarakhkhus, if you pray, you do not have the right to shorten it, nor do you have the right to break your fast. Once you pass the limit of tarakhkhus, the rules of travel will apply. The limit of tarakhkhus is when you reach a point where you can no longer see the city walls, and the city's silhouette is not visible.

Some people, when they want to travel during the day in Ramadan, for example, plan to travel at 8 AM, knowing that after traveling, their fast will be broken, they do not apply the rules of fasting to themselves from the morning, even though the journey has not yet started, or they have not left the limit of tarakhkhus, they apply the effects of travel! This is not correct. On the day you intend to travel, you are still fasting. After the morning call to prayer, you are fasting, and until the journey has started and you have not left the limit of tarakhkhus, you do not have the right to perform any of the invalidators.

One of the traits that hinders the path of human perfection and which we have been warned against in various expressions in the Quran and in the narrations and sayings of the Imams (peace be upon them) is the trait of arrogance and self-aggrandizement. This trait is very dangerous for human progress in spiritual ranks. The ultimate goal of all the commotions since the beginning of history—such as the coming of prophets, numerous struggles, the division of right and wrong, wars, battles, endurance of hardships, the great efforts of the people of truth, even the establishment of an Islamic government and the establishment of Islamic justice—is the perfection and advancement of humans and their closeness to God. Everything is a prelude to this; but arrogance is a state that, if it exists in someone, they become self-amazed, and when they consider themselves, their work, their knowledge, and their individual characteristics, they feel admiration and see themselves as great, beautiful, and desirable. Perhaps it can be said that the greatest obstacle and the worst pain and disease on the path of human perfection is seeing oneself as great, seeing oneself as pure and unblemished, seeing oneself as powerful and capable, and seeing oneself as superior to others.

One of the characteristics of arrogance is that a person sees themselves as greater than others. Arrogance does not mean this; this is one of the characteristics of arrogance. This is a very dangerous and strange thing. When one observes the verses of the Quran, one sees that much emphasis is placed on this trait—which is referred to by various names: istikbar, arrogance, self-aggrandizement—and the believing person who moves in the path of God is strongly warned against this characteristic.

For someone who sees themselves as powerful, arrogance makes no difference. This is a type of arrogance. A person feels powerful and rich and independent, or feels knowledgeable and wise, and everything presented to them, because they are very confident in their knowledge, they compare everything with their knowledge; whatever fits within the circle of their knowledge is correct; whatever does not fit within the circle of their knowledge, they will reject! This is also a branch of arrogance and one of its dangerous types. Even for those who are devoted to worship and asceticism and attention to God and spiritual effort, arrogance exists in their work and field. The same self-admiration that a devout and ascetic person finds in their worship is one of the branches of arrogance; seeing oneself as great, seeing oneself as pure, seeing oneself as superior to others.

If someone spends the Night of Qadr in supplication and prayer and crying and attention to God and prayer and seeking forgiveness and such, and then the next day, when they come among the people and see people busy with their work in the streets, they say in their heart: Oh poor people! What state were you in last night, and what state were we in; you were heedless! Meaning they consider themselves higher than others and think this way. Any of these, for human progress, is a deadly poison.

People like us, ordinary people, suffer from common arrogance. Those who travel in spiritual ranks and see higher positions, they too, in whatever rank and status they may be, may suffer from arrogance and self-admiration and self-aggrandizement, which is a great danger for them. This is a danger for anyone at any level.

The first step in the path of God is to break oneself and see oneself as absolutely poor and destitute. That is, a person, in the midst of power and wealth and knowledge and enjoying advantages and positive characteristics and at the peak of possession and ability, truly—not as a formality—sees themselves in front of God as needy and destitute and small and insignificant. This is the spirit of human perfection that, of course, must be reached through practice.

I heard that the late Haj Mirza Javad Agha Tabrizi, who was one of the great saints and mystics and men of heart of his time, when he first entered Najaf for studies, although he was a student, he moved in the manner of nobles and aristocrats. A servant followed him, and he wore a valuable fur coat over his shoulders and wore fine clothes; because he was from a family of nobles and aristocrats, and his father was the merchant prince in Tabriz or from the family of the merchant prince. He was a student and a man of virtue and meaning, and after this righteous and faithful young man was blessed with success, he was guided to the house of the famous mystic of that era, the master of ethics and knowledge and monotheism, the late Akhund Mullah Hossein Quli Hamadani, who in his time in Najaf was the reference and refuge and qibla of the people of meaning and heart, and even the great ones would sit in his presence and benefit.

On the first day that the late Haj Mirza Javad Agha, with the appearance of a noble and distinguished student, went to the lesson of Akhund Mullah Hossein Quli Hamadani, when he wanted to enter the lesson gathering, Akhund Mullah Hossein Quli Hamadani called from there and said to sit right there—meaning right at the door, on the shoes. Haj Mirza Javad Agha sat right there. Of course, it offended him and he felt insulted; but this very thing and enduring this divine training and discipline advanced him. He continued the lesson sessions. He honored the master as was the master's due and attended his lesson gatherings. One day in the lesson gathering, he was sitting at the end of the gathering, and after the lesson was over, the late Akhund Mullah Hossein Quli Hamadani turned to Haj Mirza Javad Agha and said: Go and prepare this hookah for me and bring it! He got up, took the hookah outside; but how could he do such a thing?! A noble, a noble's son, in front of the crowd, with those fine clothes! See, this is how they trained righteous and great people. He took the hookah, gave it to his servant who was standing outside the door, and said: Prepare this hookah and bring it. He went and prepared the hookah and brought it to Mirza Javad Agha, and he brought the hookah into the gathering. Of course, even holding the hookah and bringing it into the gathering was an important and heavy task; but the late Akhund Mullah Hossein Quli said that I wanted you to prepare the hookah yourself, not to have your servant prepare it.

This breaks that intrusive, meddlesome self that causes human partnership in existence. This eliminates that self-importance and self-aggrandizement and considering oneself to have value and status in front of the truth and enters one into a path and leads to the levels of perfection that the late Mirza Javad Agha Maleki Tabrizi reached. During his lifetime, he was the qibla of the people of meaning, and today the grave of that great one is a place of attention for the people of inner meaning and spirituality. Therefore, the first step is to break the inner self of every human being, which if one does not constantly abase and humble and belittle with attention and admonition and discipline—such disciplines—it will grow within them and become a Pharaoh.

All the world's corruptions are due to the self-centeredness of human beings. All the injustices, all the discriminations, all the wars and bloodshed, all the unjust killings that occur in the world, all the actions that make life bitter for humanity and distance humans from their happiness, are due to this self-centeredness and inner Pharaoh that is within me and you. If we do not control it and do not bridle this wild horse that is within us, it will be very dangerous. Not only is it dangerous for the person themselves, but to the extent of each person's status and influence and existential radius, it is dangerous for the world outside of their existence and inner self. This self-centeredness that brings a person to ruin, to whatever extent a person has power to influence the outside world and reality, to that extent it will create corruption. For this reason, the Quran says: "Is there not in Hell a dwelling for the arrogant?" (39:60). Sins, corruptions, and misfortunes arise from arrogance. It is the arrogance of people that creates a world within themselves and also in the environment around them where Satan is dominant and in control.

In this blessed Surah Naml, I was contemplating. The story of the Prophet Solomon (peace be upon him) mentioned in this Surah is very strange. Almost all the events revolve around this axis. The Surah begins with the story of Moses and ends with Pharaoh—mentioning the arrogance and self-aggrandizement of Pharaoh. That is, a person becomes so proud of their apparent power and honor that a world is created from them like the one created from Pharaoh. Immediately, it enters the stories of Solomon and David: "And We certainly gave David and Solomon knowledge" (27:15). God Almighty gave them knowledge and kingdom and power; to the extent that Solomon addressed the people around him and said: "And we have been given of all things" (27:16). All the facilities necessary for a unique power were granted by God Almighty to Solomon. The kingdom of Solomon, the government of Solomon, is the result of the centuries-long efforts of the Israelites; that is, the truth, the same truth that Moses presented to Pharaoh. That word of monotheism that was pursued for many years among the Israelites, the manifestation of the government of this truth and the word of monotheism is the government of David and after him, the government of the Prophet Solomon, which is a strange government.

The entire story of Solomon, from beginning to end—almost as much as God Almighty mentions in this Surah—revolves around this point that this powerful, great human being who not only had the keys to material and ordinary and usual power, but also had the keys to spiritual power and also the keys to unusual and extraordinary power, and had an unparalleled power that no one before Solomon and after Solomon reached such a government and power; at the peak of this power, this human being is humble and submissive before the Lord of the worlds: "An excellent servant, indeed he was one repeatedly turning back [to Allah]" (38:30). In several verses of the Quran—whether in Surah Naml, or in Surah Saba, or in Surah Sad, or in Surah Baqarah—God Almighty mentions Solomon and describes him as "awwab" and a servant who humbles himself for God and returns to God and entrusts all his affairs to God.

In this part of the story of Solomon that is mentioned in Surah Naml, it is the same. First, it starts with the story of the ants: "Until, when they came upon the valley of the ants, an ant said, 'O ants, enter your dwellings that you not be crushed by Solomon and his soldiers while they perceive not'" (27:18). The speech of an ant to the ants is that "while they do not perceive." That is, the soldiers of Solomon, while they do not know and do not understand and are not aware, do not trample you. The Prophet Solomon understands these words. This is divine power. Now, how does this prophet understand the waves emitted by ants that are a means of communication between one ant and other ants and are incomprehensible and undetectable to humans? This is among the divine powers that "We were taught the language of birds" (27:16). The Prophet Solomon understands the speech of birds and comprehends the characteristics of the speech of birds. These are things that the more science advances and reveals characteristics of birds and animals and plants to us, the more understandable and acceptable they become.

There was a time when each of these words was presented, the materialistic mind of people and even scholars rejected it. Approximately a hundred years ago, there were commentators and intellectuals with completely materialistic thoughts and denial of spirituality in India and Egypt who were familiar and acquainted with the nineteenth-century European thoughts. Whenever they saw anything of this kind, they interpreted it in another way; while there is no need for this. The advancement of knowledge has proven many things of this kind to us that can be understood. They have claimed that they have understood them and they are comprehensible! In any case, the explicit, articulate Quran leaves no room for doubt, and we accept it, and this meaning is understandable to us.

After that great power hears the speech of the ant, "he smiled, laughing at its words" (27:19): he smiles at the words of the ant! This is a very sweet and symbolic thing. The ant is a symbol of weakness and smallness and insignificance, and Solomon is a symbol of human power and greatness. There is no greater than this. In response to the taunting words of the most insignificant creatures, he does not become angry and does not seek retaliation. This is a very strange spirit. Of course, such spirits are conceivable in a prophet; but for ordinary humans, such forbearance and spiritual capacity are not possible.

There is a point in these stories related to the Prophet Solomon that is emphasized in the Holy Quran and is noteworthy. That point is also in this context. I mentioned that this section related to Solomon in this Surah seems to revolve entirely around this issue; that is, showing how powerful humans can be humble and submissive before God Almighty, not see themselves, not consider their status and self-importance, be nothing before God, and how this is a source of human perfection. It has been tried to show this.

When Solomon became aware of the existence of the kingdom of the Queen of Sheba—Bilqis—he sent a message saying, "Do not exalt yourselves against me but come to me in submission" (27:31). That is, this divine superior power eliminates all pharaonic and personal and satanic powers and makes everyone submit before God Almighty. The city of Sheba was approximately a place in Yemen or near North Africa, although its exact location is disputed. Solomon sends a message to Bilqis that you must submit to the Solomonic power. Bilqis sends a gift to Solomon; but Solomon rejects their gift. It shows that the issue is not a matter of financial exchanges and transactions; it is a matter of faith and submission before God.

When Bilqis entered the area of Solomon's power and approached his palace, Solomon ordered that a palace and a grand hall made of glass be constructed; because extraordinary power was at Solomon's disposal: "They made for him what he willed of elevated chambers, statues" (34:13). A grand palace or hall made of glass was constructed. When Bilqis wanted to enter that area, due to the transparency of these glasses, she thought they were water. And because she had to enter—they had said she must enter—she lifted her dress so it would not get wet. When she lifted her dress, Solomon said to her: "Indeed, it is a palace [made] smooth with glass" (27:44): these are not water, they are glass. Go, you do not need to lift your dress!

Here, this Solomonic greatness—which had gathered knowledge and power and honor and wealth and everything and placed it at his disposal—suddenly broke the pride of Bilqis and removed the main obstacle to her Islam and submission and faith. After all, she was also a king and a powerful person. When powerful people confront each other, they exhibit more arrogance and nurture and develop their pharaonic spirit and rebellious self; it is a confrontation after all. In the position of confrontation, the pharaonic characteristic of a person becomes more apparent. With this situation, it was not possible for Bilqis to believe. Even if she believed, it would have been a superficial belief and a belief out of fear. Why? Because the state of sovereignty and power and majesty in her inner self did not allow her to believe. When she faced this greatness—a greatness that in the peak of power and complexity was gathered in a human being; but at the same time, this human being considered himself a servant of God—suddenly that glass of self-admiration and pride within Bilqis was shattered; "She said, 'My Lord, indeed I have wronged myself'" (27:44). After seeing this great sign, it was here that Bilqis opened her tongue to supplication to the Lord and said: My Lord! I have wronged myself. "And I submitted with Solomon" (27:44). She truly submitted; that is, the obstacle was removed.

Here too, God Almighty shows that as long as a person is captive to the spell of arrogance and majesty and inner majesty, it is impossible for them to believe. When this spell is broken, their belief becomes easy. This is the great Quranic and Islamic lesson. All the problems that have arisen in the world have arisen because of these majesties. Those who have power in the world today—great, hollow powers, powers that are nothing—today they are powerful; but tomorrow they are brought to ruin. Today they are a king; but two days later, a week later, they are a helpless and powerless being who cannot even defend their own life! How full of such events is history. What kind of power is this? What kind of majesty is this that a person boasts and prides themselves on? The rich who rely on their wealth are unaware that this is not wealth and independence. This is the same state mentioned in the noble Surah Alaq: "Indeed, man transgresses because he sees himself self-sufficient" (96:6-7). When a person transgresses, it is because they see themselves as rich, find themselves rich, and feel independent. The cause of transgression is this.

There are many who have a lot of money and wealth and resources, but they do not feel independent and do not rely on this wealth and consider themselves dependent on God. This person will not transgress. The Prophet Solomon—who had all the wealth of the world at his disposal—is the perfect manifestation of such a thing. Divine governments throughout history and each of the prophets and saints who reached government have been like this. The wealth and resources of society were at their disposal, but they separated themselves from it; like the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) who also had personal wealth and constantly acquired and gave charity. The wealth of society and the public treasury were also at his disposal, he could use whatever he wanted; but he separated himself from this wealth and riches.

What is dangerous for a person is this feeling of self-sufficiency and independence and power and reliance on one's own knowledge. The Holy Quran narrates the story of Qarun and says, when he was advised, he replied: "I was only given it because of knowledge I have" (28:78): I acquired this wealth through knowledge and it belongs to me. This pride, boasting, arrogance, reliance on what is in a person and is a small and insignificant thing and a person considers it something and imagines it to be a lot, is the greatest calamity.

In the Islamic Republic, all segments, whether those who have responsibilities in the Islamic Republic system—which of course for them, the duty is heavier and more immediate and more obligatory—or ordinary people in society who do not carry a position and office and apparent job and status, if they try to create this one characteristic—humility, removing the spirit of arrogance and superiority and exaltation, which causes transgression—in themselves, many problems will be solved and society will truly become Islamic. We must do these things; what are we waiting for? That feeling and whisper that exists within me and you, constantly telling us that we are above others, our words are more acceptable than others, our status is higher than others; this causes corruption and discord and the breaking of everything in the Islamic system; this must be eliminated. If we eliminate this satanic trait in ourselves and in the society, brotherhood and cooperation will be created and day by day, better and more unity will be created and society will achieve its divine and Islamic healing.

The Commander of the Faithful (peace and blessings be upon him) in the noble book Nahj al-Balagha, regarding the trait of arrogance and in the position of treating and removing it, has expressed amazing things and precious words have been narrated from that great one, and his life was also a manifestation of this servitude for God and in the path of God. Perhaps the opposite point of that arrogance and superiority and exaltation in a person is servitude and submission and complete humility before God, which involves accepting divine commands and submission before God.

This is the characteristic of the divine saints and the holy existence of the Commander of the Faithful (peace and blessings be upon him) was adorned with this characteristic more than anyone else. The existence of that great one, from the beginning of life and from the beginning of struggles in the path of Islam, until the time when the Prophet of God (peace be upon him) was present in society and also after the Prophet's passing, until the time when government and caliphate were in the hands of that great one and also during the caliphate and government of that great one, while fighting against the tyrants and arrogant powers and arrogant powers of the political scene, he also fought against that arrogant spirit that is within humans. His personal actions were like this. In the existence of that great one, humility and submission and humility before the Lord was something strange and exceptional and he created this state in others as well.

We hope that God Almighty, by the blessing of the noble verses of the Quran and the words of the Master of the Pious (peace and blessings be upon him) in these days that belong to that great one, grants us all the success to be able to take steps in the path of divine servitude and make ourselves worthy servants of God.

We ask You, O God, and we call upon You by Your great, greatest, most honorable, most glorious, most generous name, O Allah, O Allah, O Allah. O Allah, O Praiseworthy, by the right of Muhammad, and O Exalted, by the right of Ali, and O Creator, by the right of Fatimah, and O Benefactor, by the right of Hasan, and O Ancient of Goodness, by the right of Husayn.

O Lord! By Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, grant us all the success to be trained for Your servitude. O Lord! Break our inner idol. O Lord! Truly make our rebellious self Your servant; bestow Your grace and mercy upon us. O Lord! By Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, we beseech You, make us true followers of Muhammad and the family of Muhammad. O Lord! Uproot the vile and undesirable traits that distance us from You and veil us and close the path of perfection to us. O Lord! Make us act upon what we say and what we know. O Lord! By Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, we beseech You, in these blessed days and in this blessed month of Ramadan, bestow Your special grace and mercy upon our sincere Muslim nation; grant them victory over their enemies; humiliate and defeat their enemies. O Lord! By Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, unite the pure soul of our dear and great Imam with the pure souls of Muhammad and the family of Muhammad. O Lord! Elevate and improve his ranks with You day by day. O Lord! By Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, from this nation, from these gatherings, from each of us, bestow grace and mercy and a gift to the soul of that great one. O Lord! By Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, unite our esteemed martyrs with the martyrs of early Islam; include the families of the martyrs in Your mercy and blessings and grace. O Lord! By Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, we beseech You, bestow Your blessings and bounties upon our society; resolve the problems; cut off the visible and hidden hands of the enemy; make us more kind and closer to each other and make us fully act upon Your commands. O Lord! Fully realize the noble and dear Quran in our society; make our morals Quranic morals. O Lord! Forgive our deceased; forgive our parents. O Lord! Forgive us; include us in Your mercy and forgiveness. O Lord! If in the past days of this month, You have not included us in Your forgiveness and pardon, in the remaining days of this month, include us in Your forgiveness and pardon. O Lord! By Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, make the holy heart of the Guardian of the Age pleased and satisfied with us; include us in the prayers and satisfaction of that great one; make us among the helpers of that great one—in his presence and in his absence. O Lord! Grant us the success of martyrdom in Your path.

May God have mercy on those who recite the Fatiha.

1) Zumar: 60

2) Naml: 15

3) Naml: 16

4) Sad: 30

5) Naml: 18

6) Same

7) Naml: 16

8) Naml: 19

9) Naml: 31

10) Saba: 13

11) Naml: 44

12) Naml: 44

13) Same

14) Alaq: 6 and 7

15) Qasas: 78