Statements at the Meeting with the Organizers of the Martyrs' Congress of Zanjan Province

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

Thanks be to God, the Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our master Muhammad and his pure family, especially the Awaited One on earth.

First, I welcome all of you dear brothers and sisters, especially the families of the martyrs who are present here; the esteemed mother of three martyrs and all those involved in this significant commemoration. I thank you and am truly grateful to all of you for starting and carrying out this valuable work, and God willing, may you continue and bring it to completion. Please convey my sincere greetings to the friends who have sent their regards, both the youth and the members of the committees.

The honors of Zanjan are not few; Zanjan has been a center of great honor throughout history, both scientifically and practically; in religious sciences — in jurisprudence, philosophy, and mysticism — and in social fields, with prominent figures of various inclinations, all for God and in the way of God; such as Akhund Mollaqorbanali and others like him. Zanjan is truly a distinguished and outstanding center. In modern sciences, our renowned nuclear martyr, Martyr Shahriari, is a proud son of Zanjan. Therefore, the honors of Zanjan are numerous; the martyrs are at the forefront of Zanjan's honors. I will say a word about the martyrs and a word about your work and this great commemoration.

Regarding the martyrs; indeed, the martyrs are the chosen ones; they are the chosen ones of the Almighty God. The martyrs have chosen the right path, and God has chosen them to reach their destination. The value of the martyrs, according to our material calculations, is an inestimable value. The martyrs have won in the greatest trade of the world: "O you who have believed, shall I guide you to a transaction that will save you from a painful punishment? You believe in Allah and His Messenger and strive in the cause of Allah with your wealth and your lives..." (Quran, Surah As-Saff, 10-11); the great winners in this trade are our martyrs. Or "Indeed, Allah has purchased from the believers their lives and their properties in exchange for that they will have Paradise" (Quran, Surah At-Tawbah, 111); what could be greater than this?

There is a point here that must be considered by all of us, and that is that martyrdom is the peak, and a peak has no meaning without a base. Every peak has a base; many of us aspire to reach that peak; [well,] we must pass through the base, we must find the path on the slope of that peak and go along that path to reach the peak; otherwise, reaching the peak without passing through the base is impossible. What is this base and this path? It is sincerity, it is selflessness, it is truthfulness, it is spirituality, it is striving, it is sacrifice, it is attention to God, it is working for the people, it is striving for justice, it is striving for the establishment of the rule of religion; these are what determine the path, and if you follow this path, you may reach the peak. The one who reaches the peak must go from here and move along these paths. Spirituality must not be forgotten.

I read somewhere that Martyr Shahriari worked late into the night on a complex scientific issue and could not solve it. His student recounts — this was written in that book — that the martyr worked a lot, and when he could not solve the issue, he said, "Let’s go to the university mosque — I think it was Shahid Beheshti University" — we went into the mosque, prayed two rak'ahs with focus and attention, and after the prayer, he said, "I understood; the Almighty God showed me the solution"; he got up and solved the issue. This is spirituality; this is the way of God. When a person makes this movement, advances along this path, then reaching the peak becomes possible, it becomes easier; we do not say it becomes certain, but it becomes possible. Without moving along this path, reaching the peak is not feasible.

As for you, the organizers of this conference and commemoration; first, know that this work is a great good deed, it is an important task that is being carried out. This commemoration of the martyrs and the activities surrounding this matter should not be considered an ordinary and routine task; no, this is truly a great good deed that you are performing. [And of course] it is a duty that is not yet complete. As was mentioned in the remarks of our brother, it is not the case that now several years have passed and some cities and provinces have held commemorations and the matter is over; no, it has just begun. With the passage of several years since the Sacred Defense, the great commemoration of the martyrs has begun and will continue, and it must continue.

You must be innovative. Of course, the works that have been mentioned as having been done are all among the best works; both writing books, producing films, and the services that are carried out around this work in memory of the martyrs and in the name of the martyrs are all good works. I also saw the books and the signs that you had prepared; they were good. Of course, I did not read the books, but the titles were good and correct.

In addition to these works, other works must also be carried out. Among these works are sociological and psychological analyses and inferences based on these memoirs, considering the powerful presence of religion; this is very important. Why do some want to ignore this? In the reports from friends, I read that some of these martyrs were the only sons of their families; that this mother and this father are ready to send this only son to a field where he may not return, what does this stem from? This can only stem from a view towards religion, towards divine satisfaction, towards divine reward, and towards religious duty. This young man who moves like this and goes to face these great dangers, he has a religious motivation. The presence of this powerful element must be analyzed and studied sociologically and psychologically in the country; [it must] be worked on.

Or some of the things that exist in the margins of these self-sacrifices and acts of devotion: [for example] the biographies of the fathers and mothers; this is very important; how were these fathers' feelings, their motivations? Or the wives; that is, the wife who lives comfortably next to her beloved young man, how does she overlook him and agree to his going and endure his absence and then his martyrdom? All of these feelings, their states, all of these are worthy of analysis.

Or the services that have been carried out around this work. One of the things that I cannot claim precisely, but in my opinion, it may be said to be among the specialties of our country and our war, is the services that have been carried out in homes and in women's and community centers and the like. Imagine in homes, they prepared food, made compote, provided war rations, baked bread and sent it; these are extraordinary things; these men and women, with what motivations, with what determination did they do this? Recently, I read a book called "The Pond of Blood" — of course, I had seen it in Ahvaz; I personally observed the place where they washed the bloody clothes of the warriors and the bloody sheets of the hospitals and the warriors; I saw it — that this book details these things; one is truly astonished; one feels ashamed in the face of all this service that these women provided over several years and the hardships they endured; these are things that are worth mentioning.

Or the funerals; one of the overlooked things that has not been paid attention to until now and must definitely be considered is the funerals of the martyrs during the war and even now; even now, when sometimes the bones of a martyr are brought into a city, what kind of funeral takes place! During the war, every few days in these cities — in Zanjan and elsewhere — massive funerals were held, people would come, poets would recite poetry, elegies would be composed, they would beat their chests, in the name of the martyrs, in memory of the martyrs; these do not exist anywhere else in the world, these are extraordinary things, these are memorable things, these must be recorded and preserved.

Another issue is the naming of streets and alleys in cities; cities must be adorned with the names of martyrs, in memory of the martyrs; city councils in different cities must know whose names will honor this city. What greater honor for a city, for a street, for an alley, than to have the name of a great martyr, the name of a self-sacrificing human being placed upon it; these are things that must be pursued. Follow up and pursue these matters. You have taken the first step by forming these works and this conference and commemoration and its side activities, and continue these matters.

God willing, may the Almighty God bestow the blessings of the martyrs upon our nation. May the pure souls of the martyrs be gathered with the Prophet, and God willing, may the effects of these struggles — which are the victory of the Iranian nation — be seen soon; just as we are seeing that, thankfully, in these years, the Iranian nation has always moved towards victory. God willing, these problems will also be resolved. What exists today as livelihood, economic problems, and the like, God willing, with divine grace and the efforts of the officials and the efforts of people like you will be resolved. May God grant you rewards, and may the great Imam, who laid this path before us, be gathered with the Prophet; and may the pure souls of the martyrs be pleased with us.

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