Statements of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a meeting with youth, professors, teachers, and students of universities in Hamadan province

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

This session is truly a very sweet and beautiful gathering for me; among the dearest youth from one of the oldest cities in Iran, inheritors of a historical legacy of science, politics, pride, and fame. I meet with youth in all my travels; this is while the youth are also present in other public sessions. On the first day I arrived, in that vast crowd at the stadium, most of the young people were there; perhaps many of you were present there as well. In my meetings with the Basij forces, with the families of martyrs, and with others, many of the faces or most of them were young; but I particularly wish to have a dedicated meeting with the youth - especially the student youth, both girls and boys - which, thanks be to God, took place today. This is not only due to the things that need to be said to the youth; but also because paying attention to the younger generation, speaking with the youth, and face-to-face interaction with the best generations of our country - who fortunately today are in the majority - should become a norm, a culture, and a common practice for all those who can engage and speak.

In our session, fortunately, respected professors, esteemed university presidents, and officials from education and dear teachers are present; I express my respect and admiration to all of them.

Before I speak, let me say one thing: the matters that our dear ones have mentioned here are mostly the words of our hearts as well; these are things that have occupied my mind and, consequently, my movement and activity for years; we have progressed together and have worked; but effort is necessary. These are our words, and I truly must tell all these dear ones that, dear friend! You speak from our hearts. Valuing students, the issue of employment, the issue of marriage, matters related to scientific research, attention to the hardware and software aspects of universities, honoring the people of knowledge - whether students or professors - are the things we are pursuing, and I am very happy and thank God that I see these words have today become a common discourse. These are no longer just our words; you are telling us. I am glad that our dear youth stands here and advises me on the issue of discovering talents across the country. Or when you young people tell us about pursuing justice or meritocracy, when the feedback of these words is measured in the public space of society, our assessment of the progress of the country's issues will be a different evaluation. We have made progress; these are the reasons for progress. One of the dear ones here apologized to me for only mentioning weaknesses and not pointing out positive aspects. I want to tell this dear one and the rest of the youth and most of you that the positive point is you yourselves; there is no need to say it. Just the fact that our youth comes here with this level of understanding and these signs of enlightenment and speaks with us is the greatest positive point. I thank and praise God for placing me in a time where I live among so many good people, with so many bright hearts, and with so many fortunate and blessed youth. My shoulders are also under the heavy burden of responsibility; of course, this brings concern for me, but it also brings gratitude before God Almighty.

Today, as I was preparing to come here, a point came to my mind; I thought it would not be bad to share it with you; and that is that my first trip to Hamadan in the 1960s was actually to participate in a meeting related to youth. I had not come to Hamadan until that time. This Mr. Aghamohammadi - who is here now - was then a young man of perhaps twenty years. He came to Tehran and found me; I happened to be in Tehran at that time. He said we are a group of young people in Hamadan, you should come and give a speech for us. Now, who introduced me to him, I do not know. I asked where to go when I come to Hamadan; I was given an address and told to come here. I went on the specified day. They didn’t even give us money for the taxi fare! I bought a bus ticket. It was evening when I set off. It took about five or six hours to reach Hamadan. It was night. I had the address in my hand and started to inquire. I was directed to a street that branched off from a square; the same square that has five or six streets around it. We entered an alley where Mr. Seyyed Kazem Akrami lived; the same Mr. Akrami who was a minister and representative and is now, thank God, a university professor in Tehran. He was also young, although older than Mr. Aghamohammadi. He was a simple teacher in Hamadan. They were waiting for me. It turned out that our place of reception that night was Mr. Akrami's house. The next day, they took me to a small mosque where about twenty or thirty young students were present. When this dear student spoke here, I remembered that meeting and that scene vividly. They were of the same age as him. They had set up chairs, and I went and had an engaging and attractive discussion with them. I spoke for a little over an hour. When I stood up to leave, these young people would not let me go; they said we must sit and talk more. Since the prayer congregation was to be held in the prayer hall and the imam was supposed to come, they hurriedly gathered the tables and benches and took me to the small room above the prayer hall. I lost track of time; I started talking with these young people for a while. This was the beginning of my acquaintance with Hamadan. A few of those young people whom I know today are among the prominent and active figures of our dear country and the Islamic Republic system. Of course, Hamadan at that time did not have as many young people as today. The number of people I met that day would not have amounted to one-thousandth of the youth population of Hamadan today. Thousands of young people were moving aimlessly in the streets; studying aimlessly; engaging in activities aimlessly; they were completely caught up in the monotony of daily life. Hamadan was still known as the abode of the faithful. In other cities, the youth as a whole - except for a few exceptions - were caught up in indifference, aimlessness, and a lack of understanding of the future; like a machine into which raw material is poured and a product comes out the other side.

Our country and our great nation, especially our youth class at that time, were generally - only exceptions were outside this - in a state of negligence. Among these negligent people, there were also pious and devout individuals, as well as irreligious and careless people; there were also those who were not sinful, pure young people; but in the general negligence, all the youth were together. The greatest thing that the Islamic movement in Iran did was to awaken us Iranians from the sleep of negligence, indifference, and disregard for the future. Saadi in Golestan - in the second or third story of the first chapter - mentions a group of thieves; he says they wanted to attack individuals; but "the first enemy that attacked them was sleep"; before the external enemy came, an enemy from within overcame them; that enemy was sleep. We were asleep, our revolution awakened us. When I recall the three thousand and one hundred years of Hamadan's history, I feel proud. Hamadan is also my home. For a city to stand for three thousand and one hundred years, one feels a sense of pride; but this is one aspect of the matter. The other aspect is that in these three thousand and one hundred years of Iranian history - of which Hamadan is a symbol - have we, the people of Iran, governed our destiny as the divine prophets and divine religions and the divine mission have asked of humanity? Have we found ourselves? Have we designed our future? The best periods of this long and ancient history are those periods when a capable dictator king was in power; he made decisions for us; he designed our future; he expanded the country. The Iranian nation, as a nation and a collective, did not have the opportunity or time before the victory of the Islamic Revolution to define a vision for itself; to choose that vision; to plan for that vision and to move towards that vision. Until we define a vision for ourselves, no proper work will be done - it will all be monotony - after we define it, if we do not plan, work without a plan will not reach fruition. After we plan, if we do not strive, do not move, do not engage our minds and bodies, and do not set out, we will not reach our destination; these are necessary.

Sometimes the discussion is about an individual; he decides to get up; he wills to move, and he moves; but sometimes the discussion is about a nation; a nation must move; a nation must set out; a nation must choose; this is where the work becomes complex and difficult. The revolution gave us the ability to break through the historical stone wall and to free ourselves from this stone framework and enclosure. The revolution did not stop there; rather, it presented us with a model, and that is the Islamic Republic; "Republic" and "Islamic".

The fact that we today speak of religious democracy is nothing but the translation of the Islamic Republic. Today some people, in an exaggerated and sometimes very unfair manner, speak of democracy. Democracy is not something that has historical precedence in Iran - it has not existed at all - this truth and this concept were defined and realized with the Islamic Republic in the country. Of course, the scope of democracy can be expanded, its quality can be improved, and anything can be enhanced - there is no doubt about that - but we should not be unfair to the Islamic Republic. The Islamic Republic was presented to us by the revolution. We understood two valid things: one is that the people must decide, choose, and move; this is the republic. The other is that the goals and ideals of this choice and this movement must be defined for us by Islam. It could have been something other than Islam. What else is there in the world? Do you think the goals and ideals of the liberal democracies of the world are defined by thinkers, humanitarians, and those who care for humanity? Or are they defined by the rulers of governments and global powers; the cartels, trusts, capitalists, and today more than anyone, the Zionists? Of course, it is entirely conceivable and we are seeing today that these do not define the true ideals for the people. I said yesterday or the day before in one of the meetings, and I say it to you now: today, global propaganda is deceiving humanity. They talk about human rights, while for the rulers of today's world, human rights are not an issue. They talk about democracy, while the followers of the liberal democracies of today's world are certainly not democratic. Now, sometimes in a country, people with hope elect some of their followers with seventy or eighty percent; that is another discussion; but today in countries where the liberal democracy has taken root - like the democracies of Europe and America - democracy in the true sense of the word does not exist; yet they talk about democracy and even invade Iraq and Afghanistan for this democracy! How brazen they are. They are deceiving humanity.

In these circumstances, we are a nation that, firstly, is situated at a very sensitive point. If we were in West Africa or in a remote corner of the world, or in the center of the Islamic world, there would not be as much sensitivity towards us. Secondly, in terms of natural resources, we are a very rich land. In addition to oil and gas - whose presence in Iran is decisive, and I presented this with statistics in a gathering of the system's officials a few months ago - today we have several times more than our share of the world's main metallic materials, relative to our population and the area of the world. We have about one-hundredth of the world's population and one-hundredth of the habitable area of the world; but in those four main metals, the share of Iranians is about three percent, four percent, five percent; that is, several times our share of the population and area of the world. We have agricultural resources; we have good water - of course, the whole country is not abundant in water; but in some areas, our share of water is very high - we have a large consumer market. Today, the products of the world are looking at the consumer market; we are a large market in this regard; we have about seventy million people. We have brilliant talents. This position attracts every greedy exploitative power in the world. The British first came to Iran in the name of oil; but they did not know that there were so many other riches in Iran. Then the Americans came and settled here.

Today, their hands have been cut off from Iran. In addition to their hands being cut off, we, the Iranian nation, have shown that we are determined to continue the path of independence and reliance on ourselves, and the path of not being intimidated by the threats of great powers, and we have a firm belief that we can do it. As a responsible person - who is the target of the first hostilities of the enemy - and as someone who has extensive knowledge of the country; that is, both of the resources, the threats, and the enmities of the enemies; when I look, I see that we can do it. This inference is not emotional; it has been studied and calculated. We can realize the twenty-year vision document - which was approved and communicated to the agencies a few months ago - during this period; this has been expert-reviewed and studied.

You dear youth should study this vision document. If someone does not pay attention, they might think that individuals sat down and wrote an essay; but no, know that it is not an essay. Every word of this vision - I emphasize - has been calculated. The fact that we said we want to be the first country in the region in these characteristics in twenty years and have these indicators - which are mentioned in the two-page vision document - every word of these has been reviewed, calculated, and studied. We can; however, this ability has conditions.

Look, my dear ones! All of you are like my children. I love each and every one of you dear youth from the bottom of my heart and believe that any work that needs to be done in this country must be done by you. Of course, every work has its own mechanisms. I want the matter to be made clear to you sincerely. We believe that this vision is achievable; but we must plan and find the path of movement. The one who is the agent and executor of this work is the younger generation. When I say we can, it has a precise Islamic Quranic analysis. We have something in Islam and in religious expressions called destiny, something called decree, which together is referred to as qada and qadr. We believe in qada and qadr; both qadr is true, and qada is true. Some people think that if a person believes in qada and qadr, he cannot consider the will and choice of a human being to be effective; this is a misunderstanding of the meaning of qada and qadr. No, we fully believe in qada and qadr and the right of human choice; these are complementary to each other. I will explain this to you in a few sentences.

Qadr or destiny means measuring and determining size; that is, specifying the laws of the universe, and understanding the causes and effects and their relationships. A person who drinks poison has a destiny of death. The effect of poison on the digestive system and blood circulation and vital factors of a person is that it destroys and kills him. A person who throws himself from a height has a destiny of being crushed and broken. A person who gets up from here and decides to go to the peak of Alvand, when he moves, his destiny is to reach the peak of Alvand. God Almighty has created the causes and factors, and has attached effects and consequences to these causes and factors.

Do you choose the factor that leads to a result or not? If you choose, the destiny that follows this choice becomes qada. Qada means judgment; it means certainty. In the meaning of qada, there is necessity and certainty. Sometimes you do not choose; suppose you arrive at a crossroads. Around the square I mentioned, there are several streets. The destiny of someone who moves from the first street is to reach a certain point. The destiny of someone who moves from the second street is to reach another point. The destiny of someone who moves from the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth streets is to reach the points to which these streets lead. If you decide not to go down any of these streets, will these destinies be realized for you? No, you have chosen not to reach these goals; therefore, you will not reach. If you choose the first street and decide and put your energy into it and go, your destiny is to reach that goal. Your qada - that is, your certain judgment - is to reach that goal. What can turn any destiny into qada is your will. The destiny is outlined; however, this destiny does not have certainty for you; it is you who, with your will, effort, and action, give that destiny certainty.

You must also accept and endure the results and consequences of this action. If we reach a crossroads, one path leads us to our destination; another path leads us to a quagmire or a dangerous point; these two destinies are in front of you. You must choose one of these two destinies. If you choose the first path and do not get tired and discouraged along the way, and your will does not waver and your physical strength does not run out, your qada is to reach that place. If, on the contrary, you choose the second path, and along the way you do not come to your senses, do not become aware, do not repent, do not turn back from this path and continue it, of course, your destiny is to reach that quagmire and dangerous point. It is you who choose. Of course, there is also a spiritual factor here that I will later refer to and emphasize.

Today in Iran, we have two kinds of paths in front of us: one path is to give up and become tired; as some people with pens - who many of them are likely paid pens; that is, they are paid to write these things - write, speak, and lecture in such a way that their meaning is this: O Iranian people! O youth generation! You are wasting your time confronting the arrogant powers of the world and showing resilience and steadfastness; you cannot do it. If you want to achieve nuclear energy, if you want to continue the enrichment cycle, if you want scientific capabilities to be made available to you, if you want newspapers, radios, and the intelligence services of the world not to conspire against you, go and submit to America or - to put it more accurately - submit to the global arrogant order; go and kiss the threshold. Of course, these are a very small number; but unfortunately, they exist. They are trying to convey that for Iranians, the way to reduce trouble and concern is to submit. What does submission mean? It means that you should hand over this geographical position, these climatic advantages, these cultural capabilities, this ancient legacy, and this immense human wealth that exists in this country to those who are never satisfied with any limit in their world plundering and greed.

Another path is that no, the Iranian nation has committed no sin except that it wants to live with its own thought, will, choice, and identity; to define its own ideals and to move towards those ideals with its own feet and strength.

Why should Iran be classified among the so-called developing countries - that is, underdeveloped? "Developing" is a flattering term; it means backward and underdeveloped. Is our mind, talent, and intellectual power less than those who are now two hundred years ahead in the world of science? You see that it is not less. They are two hundred years ahead of us scientifically; this is the sin of the kings; the sin of the dictatorial system; the sin of the filthy dynasties that ruled this country; the sin of the Pahlavi dynasty. The very feeling that I and you have today and that should have prevailed in this country was once crushed and suffocated. Why was it suffocated? Because the leaders of this country were the puppets of those powers that did not want this country to move and grow like this; they did not want to lose this source of free and abundant wealth. If the owner of the house is awake, the thief cannot gather the belongings of the house in front of his eyes and take them away. Either the owner must be put to sleep, or his hands and feet must be bound; otherwise, if he is awake, his hands are free and he has power, will a thief be allowed? Those who wanted Iranians to be asleep, have their hands bound, and not make any movement towards owning their natural resources placed those who were in charge of this country. The British placed Reza Khan; the Americans placed Mohammad Reza in this country through a collaboration. For over fifty years, they kept this country in the brightest global opportunities waiting and stagnant. Not only politically and security-wise, but also culturally, they kept us backward. When I say cultural invasion, some people think I mean, for example, a boy growing his hair long. They think I am against hair that is long to this extent. The issue of cultural invasion is not like that. Of course, immorality and corruption are one of the branches of cultural invasion; but the larger cultural invasion is that they injected into the Iranian mind and belief over many years that you cannot; you must follow the West and Europe. They do not let us believe in ourselves. Now, if you have a scientific theory in the humanities, in the natural sciences, in physics, and in mathematics, and it contradicts the prevailing and written theories of the world, some will stand up and say your economic argument contradicts the theory of so-and-so; your psychological argument contradicts the theory of so-and-so. That is, the way believers have faith in the Quran and the words of God and divine revelation, they have as much or more faith in the opinions of a certain European scientist! The interesting thing is that those outdated theories become obsolete and new theories come in their place; but they hold on to those theories from fifty years ago as a sacred text and a religion! For decades, Popper's theories in political and social fields have become obsolete and many books have been written against his theories in Europe; but in recent years, some people have emerged who, claiming philosophical understanding, have started to promote Popper's theories! For many years, the theories dominating the economic centers of the world have become obsolete, and new ideas have emerged; but some still look at those old theories when they want to design an economy! These have two flaws: one is that they are imitators, the second is that they are unaware of new developments; they have kept the foreign text that has been taught to them like a sacred book in their hearts and today give it to our youth. Our country is the cradle of philosophy, but they refer to others for understanding philosophy!

I know about the Islamic period of Hamadan; I do not have accurate information about the period before Islam; that is, no one has accurate information. In the Islamic period, at the time when Ibn Sina was creating and writing the best theories in philosophy, medicine, geometry, mathematics, and other sciences and arts in this city - I mentioned this point in the presence of the students and scholars of Hamadan - in our philosophical and foundational books, we refer to a person named "the Hamadani Man." This Hamadani Man has a rejected theory regarding natural universals; it is a discussion in logic and philosophy, and it is discussed in the foundations on occasion. When Ibn Sina comes to Hamadan and encounters this man, he says about him: "He was a very old man and possessed many virtues." From what he says about him, it is clear that this man had knowledge in geometry, philosophy, and logic a thousand years ago. A thousand years ago, that is, in the fourth century Hijri; that is, the tenth century AD. When is the tenth century? It is the heart of the so-called Middle Ages of the world. The Middle Ages you have heard of pertains to Europe, not Iran. The day when in Europe the Middle Ages were a symbol of darkness and ignorance, in Hamadan, there was Ibn Sina and the Hamadani Man; after a while, there was Rashid al-Din Fazlullah; there was Baba Taher; there were great scholars and scientists, whose biographies I have briefly mentioned in various sessions over these days. This is our scientific and cultural legacy. Why should we believe that we cannot? Yes, they did not let us progress. The reality is that we are two hundred years behind the world of science; but the meaning of reaching the borders of knowledge is not that we should follow the same path that Europeans have taken over two hundred years, and then reach the point they have reached today; no, these words are not; we will find shortcuts. We will snatch knowledge from the hands of Europeans. We are not ashamed of learning. Islam says the world is upheld by several groups; one of them is those who, when they do not know, seek to learn; they are not ashamed of learning. We learn the knowledge that today is the product of human thought and intellect; what we do not know, we learn with complete willingness and we respect our teachers. We do not disrespect anyone who teaches us knowledge; but acquiring knowledge from another should not mean that the student must remain a student forever; no, today we are students, tomorrow we will become their teachers; just as they were once our students, but now they have become our teachers. The Westerners learned knowledge from us. Look at the book by Pierre Rousseau - "History of Sciences" - it says: four or five centuries ago, a merchant in one of the European countries went to a teacher and said I want my son to study; which school should I send him to? The teacher replies: if you are satisfied with just the four basic operations - addition, multiplication, subtraction, and division - you can send him to any of the schools in our country or other European countries; but if you need anything beyond that, you must send him to Andalusia or to Muslim regions. This is what Pierre Rousseau writes; this is not my statement. The Crusades helped them learn from us. The migration of their scholars to these regions helped them learn from us. The migration of our scholars to their regions and the transfer of our books to them helped them learn from us. One day they learned from us and were our students, then they became our teachers; now we are learning from them and becoming their students and then we will become their teachers. So the generation of scholars and researchers in our country should know; today if scientific superiority lies with the West, in the not-so-distant future, with your effort and will, something can be done so that tomorrow they learn from you.

Break the borders of knowledge. When I say software movement, my expectation from you youth and professors is this. Produce knowledge. Go to the borders of knowledge. Think. Work. With work and effort, it is possible to cross the borders that knowledge has today; in some fields sooner and in others later. Technology is the same. Knowledge must be directed towards technology. Technology is also a very important and high stage. In technology, we can also advance; just as we have.

It is good for you to know that in some very sensitive scientific sectors of our country, works have been done that have not yet been done in the world. In the technology of producing stem cells, which I mentioned some time ago, a group of young people like you who are in Tehran are active. They have made efforts and learned from others; they have also thought, invested intellectually, and managed to obtain the key to producing, freezing, preserving, and planting insulin-producing stem cells. Today, for the first time in Iran, they have produced insulin-producing stem cells that have not yet been produced in the world. So being a student does not mean remaining a student forever; if you strive, you will see that they will be forced to learn from you. Secondly, being a student in knowledge does not mean imitating in culture; this is a very important point. In the Qajar era, the first signs and examples of Western culture entered the country. The Iranian aristocrats of that day, who were the first groups to establish contact with Europeans, learned not knowledge first; they learned their habits, behaviors, and ways of socializing. This erroneous line was drawn from that point. Some think that because the Westerners have superiority in science, we must learn their culture, beliefs, and social and political manners; this is a mistake. If a teacher teaches you in class and is a very good teacher and you like him, must you necessarily choose the color of your clothes the same as he prefers? If this teacher has a bad habit, must you learn this bad habit from him? Suppose the teacher, while teaching, picks his nose; you learn the knowledge from him, why do you learn this behavior from him? The Westerners have many wrong and ugly behaviors; why should we learn these behaviors from them? That man, who was captivated by the Western knowledge, said: we must become Western from head to toe. Why? We are Iranians and we must remain Iranians. We are Muslims and we must remain Muslims. They have more knowledge than us; well, we go and learn their knowledge; why should we learn their habits, culture, behaviors, and social and political manners; what is the logic behind this? Just because they have to wear a tie for some reason - which of course we do not say why you wear a tie; the tie belongs to them - must we also imitate them? What is our logic for this? Why should we imitate their clothing, behavior, manners, speech, and even accent? Sometimes I see on television that our reporter from a certain point in the world is reporting in Persian and the matter is related to Iran; but he speaks Persian in such a way that it sounds like an Englishman is speaking Persian! This is a weakness of spirit and a feeling of inferiority; why should I feel inferior because I am Iranian? I am proud of my language; I am proud of my culture; I am proud of my homeland and country and my past; why should I imitate them? I have no reason to imitate them. Their knowledge is greater; very well, we learn their knowledge and if it has a cost, we pay it. They have also learned that knowledge should be exchanged for money. Today, the most important thing for Westerners is money. In Islam, it is not like that. In Islam, knowledge has inherent dignity. From their perspective, knowledge is valued for its convertibility to money. We take advantage of their situation and buy their knowledge from them; we pay the cost; but we do not imitate anyone and we should not. This is my message to you youth. Of course, saying these words is easy, but acting on them is not that easy; the difficulty of our work is this.

The responsible agencies of the country, the government agencies, various organizations, lawmakers, universities, scientific and academic managements, and education must all work hard. We have found the path; we know we must go this way and reach this high peak, we must work. Of course, it is hard; it requires sweating, it requires fatigue, some weak-willed people in the middle of the road feel tired and turn back; but the majority will go. We must go this way; this is a difficult task - it is not easy - but we can do this difficult task and, God willing, we will.

I will mention two points and conclude my remarks. I referred to the issue of cultural imitation. Of course, cultural imitation is a very big danger, but this should not be misunderstood with the fact that I am against fashion and diversity and transformation in lifestyles; no, if fashion and modernity are not excessive, if they are not based on childish competition and rivalry, there is no harm. Clothing, behavior, and appearance change, and there is no obstacle; but be careful that the compass of this modernity does not point towards Europe; that is bad. If the fashion designers in Europe and America in magazines that present fashions have designed a certain type of clothing for their men or women, should we imitate that here in Hamadan or Tehran or Mashhad? That is bad. Design for yourselves and create for yourselves.

During my presidency, I raised the issue of national clothing in the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council and said let us create a national dress; after all, our national dress is not this suit and tie. Of course, I am not against suits; I myself may sometimes wear a jacket in the mountains or other places; there is no problem; but after all, this is not our national dress. Arabs have their national dress, Indians have their national dress, Indonesians have their national dress, various Eastern countries have their national dresses, Africans have their national dresses, and in international gatherings, everyone wears their national dress; they take pride in it. We saw a president somewhere whose national dress was a skirt! A great man wore a skirt! His legs were bare! A skirt that was almost knee-length, and he felt no sense of inferiority. He participated in that session with complete pride; he came and went and sat down. This is his national dress; there is no problem. Arabs proudly wear their national dress - long shirts and headscarves - and it may seem illogical to me and you; but it is their dress and they love it. What is our dress as Iranians? You do not know what our dress is. Of course, I am not saying that the design of this dress must necessarily go back to the clothing of five hundred years ago; not at all. I am saying sit down and design a dress for yourselves. Of course, I do not ask this of you now; I raised this in the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council. That day we assigned a government section and said go after this work. They did some preliminary work, but they did not take it anywhere; our presidency term ended! I want to say that if you want to style your hair, if you want to wear clothes, if you want to change your walking style, do it; but do it yourselves; do not learn from others.

In Western countries, and more than anywhere else in America, about three or four decades ago, a group of young people, due to dissatisfaction with social conditions, engaged in movements that, of course, continue to this day. In our time, the epitome of these individuals was the Beatles, who appeared with strange hairstyles and a type of music similar to the pop music that is now common in the world. After the revolution, I went to Algeria. Our car was passing through the street. At one point, I saw a young man who had shaved half of his head and left the other half. No matter how much I looked, I saw that this hairstyle had no beauty. It was clear that he was imitating someone. In Algeria, the industrial pressure and the pressure of production tools on people's lives is not as much as a young person would feel the emotions that he would feel in America or England or elsewhere; but because he saw that they did it, he did it too. I am against these things and do not want our youth to move like this and for our boys and girls to always have their eyes on them.

The second point I want to mention is this: we said in the matter of choosing the path of destiny that the choice is yours - there is no doubt about that - but the role of divine guidance and assistance must always be considered. Sometimes you get tired of doing something, you ask God Almighty for strength, and God gives you strength and you set out. Sometimes you encounter difficulties in a choice, you ask God Almighty for guidance and assistance, and God guides you. There is also one who, in that situation, does not ask God for strength, and he does not receive strength; he does not ask for guidance from God, and he does not receive guidance. The Lord of the Universe has told us to ask from Him; ask for guidance, ask for help, ask for success. This is why I particularly tell the youth to strengthen their relationship with God and recognize the role of prayer and supplication. The meaning of prayer is not that you ask God and sit down and do not think; no, ask God, so that while you move, He helps you in your movement. Ask God, so that when you choose, He helps you in making the right choice. Ask God, so that if the scene is difficult and indistinguishable, He helps you in discernment.

O Lord! Bestow Your mercy, guidance, assistance, grace, and favor upon each and every one of the attendees of this session.

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