The following is the full text of the speech delivered on June 7, 2016 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, at the annual Ramadan Quranic meeting. The meeting was held on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan in Imam Khomeini (r.a.) Hussainiyah.
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and greetings be upon our Master and Prophet, Ab-al-Qassem al-Mustafa Muhammad and upon his immaculate, pure and chosen household, especially the one remaining with Allah on earth
Welcome, I became very happy today and I really benefitted from your recitations. Thankfully, this blessed circle of reciting and establishing a close relationship with the Holy Quran has become wider on a daily basis thanks to the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Republic. Of course, today we are suffering from the loss of these dear individuals whose photos have been set up here [the qura who lost their lives in Mina during last year’s hajj ceremony]. I think that all of them were present here with us last year. Some of them recited the Holy Quran and we encouraged and approved of them.
I hope that Allah the Exalted will help them reach high positions of mercy and forgiveness in the shade of the Holy Quran and with the intercession of the Holy Quran, God willing. I hope that He will bestow patience upon their relatives, completes their half-finished hajj ceremony and approves of it in the best way possible.
The Holy Quran’s beauty does not only lie in its concepts and teachings. Its words are beautiful as well. It was these beautiful words that impressed and astonished those whose hearts had been locked up and who were not willing to understand, see, benefit from and accept Quranic concepts at the time they were sent down. Even such individuals were moved deeply in the face of the miraculous beauty of such words. They could not resist Quranic words. The Holy Quran’s words, rhythm, method and style are a miracle in their own right.
The Holy Quran is not a poem or a piece of prose. It is neither a poem nor a piece of prose, but it is as beautiful as the best poem and the best piece of prose. Sometimes, there is meter in some Quranic ayahs as well, but the beauty of the Holy Quran’s words does not only lie in poetic meter. Even when there is no meter, the beauty of its words attracts us. It is not correct to use the word “mesmerize”, but we can say that it steals one’s heart. The Holy Quran is like this.
Well, this beauty should be used as a tool. The Holy Quran’s goal was not to display beautiful words so much so that orators, eloquent personalities and poets would acknowledge its beauty, bow down before it and say that it is good and beautiful. This was not the only goal of the Holy Quran. Its goal is that we use this gate of beauty to reach that blessed and glorious garden of Quranic teachings. This is the goal. Quranic concepts and teachings are a thousand times more beautiful than Quranic words – I am saying this figure as a common figure in our daily speech, otherwise it might be thousands of times more beautiful because we are not capable of measuring its beauty exactly. Who will understand Quranic teachings? Those who contemplate on it, who open the gates of their heart and who let these truths in.
In every era and in every age, if a person who is involved in the affairs of life and for whom such affairs are important establishes such a close relationship with the Holy Quran, they will understand its miracle. Some individuals understand more and some less. And this understanding is more at certain times and less at other times.
In my opinion, if we entrust our hearts to spirituality and to the Holy Quran, we can understand the miracle of Quranic teachings and the miracle of the Holy Quran better than those who lived a thousand years ago: “Verily in this is a message for any that has a heart and understanding or who gives ear and earnestly witnesses the truth” [The Holy Quran, 50: 37]. In this complicated and stormy world, in this world that is full of complications – because of the existence of powers and scientific progress – when the Holy Quran enters the arena and when it speaks to us, then “Surely this Quran guides to that which is most upright” [The Holy Quran, 17: 9]. We feel that it really “Guides to that which is most upright and gives good news to the believers.”
Well, we really take spiritual joy from the bottom of our hearts when you good reciters recite the Holy Quran. I really enjoy your recitations, whether your individual or your collective recitations, and I really enjoyed the songs that were performed. I take two joys from such recitations: one is the joy that I take because of these recitations, voices and performances themselves and another is the joy that I take because of witnessing the growth of Quranic personalities on a daily basis. For this humble person, the second joy is more important than the first one. Twenty, thirty years ago, there was nothing like this. Before the Revolution, it was not at all the case that our youth, our middle-aged individuals, our children, and our teenagers take the path of the Holy Quran, of preserving the Holy Quran and of pursuing methods to recite it.
Well, the beauties that you created – and you should create as many beauties as you can: you should definitely do so – should become a door that leads to Quranic teachings. They should familiarize us with the Holy Quran and help up to establish a close relationship with it. You should not mistake the Holy Quran for singing. Singing is a different issue. Of course, in the present time, there are unfortunately some individuals among Egyptian qura who are reciters of the Holy Quran, but who sing it. There are such individuals. The qura of previous generations – the likes of Sheikh Mustafa Ismael, Sheikh Abdul-Fattah Sha’shayi and even Muhammad Raf’at – were great personalities who were musicians, but they recited the Holy Quran with a Quranic rhythm and melody. They did not allow it to be mixed with bar songs and such and such decadent music. Today, some individuals do not have such considerations. One can see this in their recitation. These beauties should help us get close to the Holy Quran. They should strengthen our relationship with the Holy Quran.
One of the tasks that is very good if it is carried out in the country is that we should have meetings with the purpose of reciting the Holy Quran. Of course, such meetings exist more or less. Before the Revolution, this existed in some ways, but after the Revolution, it has of course been better and it exists in a better way. However, it should be promoted. Before the Revolution, we had meetings to read the Holy Quran from start to finish. I myself used to hold such meetings in those years. I was present in such meetings, I participated in them and I saw them up close. I am not speaking about such meetings, however. The purpose of those meetings was to teach the Holy Quran. Individuals took turns reading the Holy Quran one by one and they used to learn it. What I mean by a meeting to recite the Holy Quran is that meetings should be organized in which individuals show their presence and the reciter of the Holy Quran sits and reads the Holy Quran for one hour – more or less – and the participants should only listen to the Holy Quran. They should come and listen to it.
This is very efficient. Sometimes, this even exerts more influence than the time when we ourselves read the Holy Quran. There are some individuals who understand Quranic words – the meaning of Quranic words. Of course, we non-Arabs are unlucky that our mother tongue is not Arabic. Arabs’ language is the same as the language of the Holy Quran. When a qari stresses a sentence and when he repeats it two, three, five times, all of them know what he is saying.
If we want to make a crude comparison, this is like the sentences from Gulistan of Saadi that all of us are familiar with. For example, “Why should those whose record is clear be afraid of judgment?” When they read this to us, everyone understands it and everyone listens. Now, Quranic sentences are a thousand times wiser both in terms of quantity and quality. When a qari reads them, the Arab audience understands them, but a non-Arab audience might and might not understand them. First of all, we should try to learn the language of the Holy Quran. We should familiarize ourselves with the language of the Holy Quran. This is a very good advantage if we gain it in society.
In our Constitution and in the laws that were passed in the beginning of the Revolution, it has been stressed that we should learn the Arabic language which is the language of the Holy Quran. Those who do not or cannot have this opportunity, very well, they can open the Holy Quran in front of them and look at the translation if they do not understand its meaning and listen to the qari when he recites the Holy Quran. In this meeting of ours, qura usually recite the Holy Quran for 10, 12 minutes. However, in those meetings, they should recite it for as long as 45 minutes, one hour. And it should be one, two individuals who recite it in a good voice and by adopting the methods that exist for beautiful and artistic recitation.
This is one of the things that will promote Quranic teachings in the country: Quranic meetings, meetings for the sake of the Holy Quran only. Such meetings are like the ceremonies that we hold to show our love of the Holy Prophet’s (s.w.a.) household (a.s.), such as elegies and celebrations for the Imams (a.s.). One of “the two precious things” is Ahlul Bayt and another is the Holy Quran [referring to the Holy Prophet’s (s.w.a.) Thaqalayn hadith: “I leave among you two precious things: the Book of Allah the All-Mighty and the Ahlul Bayt”].
So, you should hold meetings for the Holy Quran. This is one of the tasks that will increase the rate of Quranic growth in the country and will familiarize the people with the Holy Quran if it is carried out and promoted by Allah’s favor and if you men of the Holy Quran show determination and organize such meetings. It is your duty to do so.
And my dear ones, you should know that today, the world needs the Holy Quran whether it accepts and acknowledges it or not. Today, the world suffers from a void of identity, ideology and faith. A faithless individual is like an empty fruit. This is the reason why you see that the rate of murder and crime is increasing in western countries on a daily basis. This is one of the reasons. When you see that the rate of suicide is increasing, this is one of the reasons.
Humanity no longer has any food to satiate the minds, hearts and souls of individuals. Of course, they fabricate certain things, but this is not accepted by the hearts of peoples. However, the Holy Quran can do so. If only one drop of the Holy Quran – not the entire Holy Quran, only one drop of it – is sent to people with a proper language, then hearts will be attracted to it. We ourselves are experiencing and witnessing this today. Today, humanity needs the Holy Quran.
The Holy Quran can do whatever it wants in today’s world. It can work and move forward. And powers, superpowers, atomic bombs, the Zionist regime and the like cannot do a damn thing. The important point is that we should strengthen our bases of faith and the Holy Quran on a daily basis, that we learn the language to share the Holy Quran with others and that we convey Quranic teachings. This works like a strong medicine. When you pour one drop of it in a glass and give it to a person, he takes it and it works. However, if you pour five drops instead of one, it might fail to work and he might not be able to digest it. So, the proper language should be found. However, we should satiate ourselves and our hearts and souls and we should fill ourselves with Quranic teachings first. We ourselves need this very much.
The blessings of the Holy Quran are not confined to the things that I expressed with my incomplete explanations. The blessings of the Holy Quran are endless blessings. There is dignity, power, progress, material welfare, spiritual transcendence, development of one’s mind and one’s belief, joy and tranquility of one’s soul in and with the Holy Quran. There is tranquility and peace of mind in the Holy Quran: “Allah sent down His tranquility to His Messenger and to the believers, and made them stick close to the command of self-restraint, and well were they entitled to it and worthy of it” [The Holy Quran, 48: 26]. When that religious tranquility and religious peace appears, piety increases: “It is He Who sent down tranquility into the hearts of the Believers, that they may add faith to their faith.” This tranquility and peace of mind increases our faith on a daily basis.
Faith in what? Faith in God and in divine power. And it says afterwards: “for to Allah belong the forces of the heavens and the earth” [The Holy Quran, 48: 4]. Everything is in God’s hands. Everything is God’s army. Elsewhere, it says, “And none can know the forces of Your Lord, except He” [The Holy Quran, 74: 31]. No one other than Him can count the number of His forces. This is the Holy Quran: an extraordinary and infinite power that we should able to benefit from within the scope of our capacity, God willing.
In any case, I hope that God will preserve you. I Hope that He will preserve you youth. I hope that God will help you to stay with us, God willing. I hope that You are protected by Him, that you stand up for the Holy Quran and that you live and die in a Quranic manner.
Greetings be upon you and Allah’s mercy and blessings
