Statements in Meeting with Families of the Martyrs of the Seventh of Tir and Mecca and Various Other Segments of the People

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

Indeed, we belong to God, and to Him do we indeed return.

These days are days of great calamities for the Iranian nation. What calamities befell this brave, self-sacrificing, and oppressed nation in past years, such as the calamity of losing the esteemed martyrs of the Seventh of Tir; those dear ones who each were distinguished figures in the revolution, and a personality like the oppressed martyr, the late Ayatollah Beheshti (may God's mercy be upon him) was among them, who was truly the leader of the martyrs of the Islamic Revolution and the eye and light of this revolution and this nation, and what about the oppressed martyrs and the blood-stained doves of the divine sanctuary in Mecca, which these days again remind us of their oppression and calamity. These are memories of the past that are, of course, unforgettable.

These days, too, the great calamity of the earthquake—this difficult divine test—has befallen the Iranian nation, which truly will not erase the grief of the children, women, men, and pure souls lost in this incident, the homes that were destroyed, and the dreams that were shattered. The calamity of the earthquake is truly a great calamity. In a moment, tens of thousands of people were killed, tens of thousands of families were bereaved, and countless people became homeless. How many individuals lost brothers, sisters, parents, children, and loved ones in this calamity. These are divine calamities. These are the bitter events of life. These are events that affect human emotions, burn hearts, bring sorrow to people, and wound feelings.

Almost all humans are alike in this regard, that such events wound their hearts and emotions and affect them; but humans differ in their understanding of these events. Everyone sees the earthquake, feels its bitterness, and touches the calamity with their own being; but many do not understand the event correctly, do not learn from it, do not benefit from it, and do not use it; but some do benefit from the event and learn from it. The bitterness is there for them too; but this bitterness is different from that bitterness. Such events are poison and venom for some; but for others, they are bitter medicine. In both cases, there is bitterness; but some understand the event in such a way and deal with it in such a way that it becomes a deadly poison for them. Others understand and deal with this event in such a way that it becomes a healing medicine for them; although it is still bitter.

Islam teaches us what these events are. Or rather, Islam teaches us how to behave with such events and how to face them. It makes no difference, whether it is natural bitter events—like earthquakes, floods, and the like—or bitter events caused by humans—like wars, massacres, and killings—events are events. Islam views all these events with one perspective. "And We did not send any prophet to a town except that We seized its people with adversity and hardship": We confront all those who were addressed by the divine mission and upon whom the burden of responsibility was placed with such events. Both with events like war—events caused by humans—and with natural events, like famines, deaths, and the like. Why? "So that they might humble themselves." These events should bring a person closer to God and make their heart attentive to God. In the verse of Surah Al-An'am, God Almighty also addresses the Holy Prophet, saying that before you, all these nations and peoples to whom religion was revealed and upon whom responsibility was placed faced such events.

These events are tests and trials. A test does not mean an examination for God to know us; or an examination for us to know ourselves—none of these. Rather, a test is passing through a stage and facing a heavy burden. A test is a pass in a path. Either you will pass through this pass, or you will remain behind it; there is no other state. The calamities of the world are like heavy burdens placed on your shoulders. Either you will lift this burden—this burden will not break your back—or you will remain under this burden and become helpless. There is no other state. God Almighty places tests in the path of individuals and nations so that these nations lift these burdens, pass through these passes, and thereby reach high positions and be placed in their rightful and suitable place. Look at events with this perspective.

When an earthquake occurs for a country and a nation, how will this nation deal with this event? Either all the people of the nation will pass through this difficult pass and drink this bitter medicine, or they will remain behind this pass. This is decisive. If you pass through this pass safely, you are the winner and will reach the destination. If you, who are afflicted by the calamity, can be patient; turn your heart to God; ask God for reward; make the calamity bearable on your soul and heart with the remembrance and mention of God; if you, whose home and dwelling have been destroyed in this incident, can strive to rebuild this home with dignity and honor; set life in motion; learn a lesson from this incident; take necessary precautions; you have passed through this pass safely.

If you, the nation—where this incident has occurred among you—can cooperate and collaborate, show kindness and compassion, use your wealth and physical strength, rush to help your fellow humans with order, discipline, speed, agility, and sacrifice, and make the calamity bearable for the afflicted, you have passed through this pass safely. If this incident causes us to learn a lesson, equip ourselves, learn and apply methods of dealing with natural events; we have passed through this pass safely, learned from it, and benefited.

But if, God forbid, an incident like an earthquake causes us to become hopeless, to be left behind in work, not to help our fellow humans, not to learn a lesson from the incident, to look to others for help, to sit and wait for others to work for us—whether others from our own country or others from other parts of the world—if this incident gives us and the afflicted laziness, cowardice, and lack of necessary movement, we have suffered from this incident and this incident has ended to our detriment. Some nations make a ladder for ascent and elevation from bitter events. Some nations even stumble and fall in sweet events. These are all lessons. This is the lesson that Islam gives us.

Events imposed by humans are the same. If our nation, in the face of an incident like the incident of the Seventh of Tir, or the disastrous incident of Mecca, lost heart, lost itself, became hopeless, regretful, and intimidated, it would certainly have lost, and that incident would have become a deadly poison. But when a nation, in the face of the incident of the Seventh of Tir, shows courage, awareness, and bravery; its eloquent tongue exposes the enemy; its powerful arm brings the enemy to its knees; strengthens the foundation of the system and brings cohesion among the nation, this nation is the winner. And our nation, in all these events, has shown that it is of the type that God has willed and desired. Bravo to this nation!

In those bitter events—in the incident of war, in the incident of the Seventh of Tir, in the incident of Mecca and the bloody Friday—and in various other events, our nation showed that it did not become humiliated in the face of the incident; rather, it rode the incident, used the incident as a lesson, recognized its enemy, and understood how far global arrogance and vile hypocrisy are opposed and hostile to Islam, the Quran, and Islamic governance. Our nation, in various events over these eleven years, without exception, stood firm and showed manliness, demonstrated awareness, and turned the incident to its advantage.

This earthquake incident is the same. Now our people are showing and proving that this incident cannot humble and humiliate them; they have humiliated the incident. It is true that in this incident, many wounds were inflicted on our hearts; it is true that dear ones were lost and countless families were bereaved; but the movement of the Iranian nation, the strong and decisive presence of the nation's forces in the ranks of cooperation and assistance to the afflicted, is a lesson for other nations and shows the greatness of our nation.

The same forces that were mobilized in the battlefield—those same families, those same youths, those same men and women—are mobilized today as well. Today, in this vast area of the earthquake and the affected region, they are the ones who have rushed to help their fellow humans. I thank each and every one of our people. I deeply and sincerely thank each and every one who rushed to help the afflicted in this incident.

Of course, this incident was so great that it attracted the world's attention. Today, a great wave of human emotions has arisen throughout the world, among the people, human associations, and popular organizations. The people of Muslim countries in Asia and other places have spontaneously felt responsible to rush to help their dear Muslim brothers in this incident. Many governments—both European and Asian—have rushed to help the Iranian nation in this incident and have embodied the sense of greatness that exists in the hearts of people, governments, and statesmen for the Iranian nation.

You, the Iranian nation, have created great respect for yourselves in the hearts of all the people of the world over these eleven years. A nation with such greatness, such courage, and such independence living is no joke. By God, even your enemies admit to your greatness in their hearts. When this great, brave, and heroic nation faces such a bitter and great incident in this way, the world is shaken, and governments and nations appear on the scene of assistance, for which we thank all of them.

Of course, the assistance that comes from around the world to the Iranian nation is a small part compared to what our own nation and government have done and will do. It is you who must turn this destruction into prosperity. It is you who must once again create a more vibrant life in these areas and heal the wounds of the afflicted. The humanitarian assistance of others is, in fact, a symbolic movement and an expression of devotion to the Iranian nation.

We hope that God Almighty will make this great nation more resilient in the face of these events than before. You, dear nation, have truly become resilient in the eleven-year events. Therefore, in this very incident, the presence of our forces, this organized organization, this rapid movement, this aid and cooperation—which must continue—is astonishing to foreign observers.

Aid to the earthquake-stricken areas should not be cut off. Of course, the type of aid is different. In the early days, saving lives, filling stomachs, and meeting urgent needs are the issues. As time passes, the needs and requirements of those people take on other, more diverse, more humane, and more complex forms, and the government and nation must continue these aids.

I sincerely thank the esteemed government of the Islamic Republic for its prompt action in this incident, the Red Crescent of the Islamic Republic, the armed forces, various agencies—which moved well and arrived on time—and the people. Truly, what is observed today is reminiscent of the great presence and general mobilization of the people during the days of the imposed war.

This revolution, because it is in the name of God, always faces devils. Because it believes in supporting the oppressed and the downtrodden, it is always grappling with bullies, tyrants, and arrogant powers. Because you move for human values, there are always those who oppose human values who are dissatisfied with you. You must be resilient. You must be spiritually and mentally equipped.

This nation holds a great flag in its hand. This flag that you have raised has awakened the world. See what is happening today in Palestine. See what is happening in North Africa. See how Islam is reclaiming its rights and gaining its rightful place in Islamic societies. You did these things.

In the face of the culture of disbelief and arrogance, Muslims were raised weak, feeling weak. In places where today millions of Muslims have been able to gain a share and a right in governments, before the Islamic Revolution, no one dared to speak of Islam. In these Islamic countries where today their Friday and congregational prayer leaders create organizations and mosques flourish and become centers of activity, until yesterday, mosques belonged to a handful of retired old men. Today, those mosques are places for the youth and centers of movements. You did this. It was your movement and your great leader—that divine man—that accomplished this.

That is why the enemies of Islam are angry with you. "And never will the Jews or the Christians approve of you until you follow their religion." Until you abandon Islam, the enemies of Islam are opposed to you. However, the point here is that the enemy wants to say that if I am opposed to someone, they must be eliminated! They had made weak nations believe this. Now the opposite is being proven, and it is becoming clear that anyone who is opposed to Islam must go. Islam has opened its place in the world and will open it even more. Before your revolution, in some countries where today the people have raised the flag of Islam, no one dared to say in public that I am a Muslim, or to perform Muslim acts and pray; but today their cries of "Allahu Akbar" fill the space of those countries.

Global arrogance, whether it wants to or not; America, whether it wants to or not; Zionism, whether it wants to or not, Islam has awakened anew, and this great hero of centuries has risen again in the middle of the scene. There is nothing the enemies of Islam can do. The most they can do is, out of their spite and hatred, to shed the blood of Muslims in the divine sanctuary. What more can they do? The most they can do is to prevent a nation that is today the most passionate of Muslim nations in remembrance and name of God from visiting the House of God; as they have done. Yes, our hearts are full because of being deprived of visiting the House of God. Our hearts are broken, and our throats are choked with grief. But this very act of the enemies of Islam and their agents and mercenaries will again lead to the greatness of Islam, and the oppression of the Iranian nation will become more apparent, and it is this oppression that proves our righteousness.

The place of Iranians is empty in the House of God and during the Hajj; but their memory is not absent in the rituals of Hajj. Those who learned the slogan "Allahu Akbar" and disavowal of the polytheists and the unity of the Islamic Ummah from you a few years ago are repeating those same slogans today. This is the role of the Iranian nation. This nation must strengthen itself, its spirit, heart, and will day by day. These earthquake events and the like can be a means of strengthening the will of you, the great nation.

Once again, I offer condolences to the afflicted of this great earthquake incident and ask them to be patient, to rely on God, and to account for God. If they are patient, God will give them a great reward and recompense. You people also continue these aids in the most complete and perfect form, and the government of the Islamic Republic, as it has, thanks be to God, acted excellently in planning, aid, speed of action, and organization until today, God willing, will continue to act in the same way. Be careful, there should not be devils in these areas, in the affected areas, who show their various wickedness in various ways, such as robbery, theft, harassment, and weakening of morale among the people. The esteemed judiciary should be prepared to punish and discipline those who might take advantage of others' calamities for their own benefit in these areas and prevent them from taking such actions.

I thank all of you brothers and sisters who are present here; the survivors of the esteemed martyrs of the Seventh of Tir, the survivors of the martyrs, captives, missing persons, and disabled from various cities, brothers who have gathered to commemorate the memory of the martyrs of Mecca and the bloody Friday, brothers from the Propagation Organization, brothers from the Abuzar Mosque, dear brothers from the judiciary, and the rest of the groups and organizations. I hope that God Almighty will include all of you in His mercy, grace, and success.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings