The following is the full text of a public address delivered on September 3, 2007 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Leader of the Islamic Revolution to a group of young elites.
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent the Merciful
This meeting was very useful and enjoyable. It was really enjoyable to listen to you dear youth - who are indeed like my own children - talk about the points brought up in this gathering. And I am thankful to Allah the Exalted for this increasing and widespread self-awareness among the youth of this country. The points that you discussed here - concerning the humanities, moral education, the relationship between science and industry, or providing opportunities for talented people and elites - have always been among my long-held aspirations. I have referred to the same points over the past years demanding their realization, and I see today that they have turned into a public demand.
I would like to thank you all. I also express my appreciation to those who organized this national gathering. I agree with most of the points you raised here. I believe in those points and, as Dr. Vaezzadeh said, these and the other points brought up in the gathering have all been noted down. They must be considered one by one, and they must be, and will be, put into practice.
Various factors may slightly delay the realization of these aspirations. But you must know that this scientific movement, this dynamism, blossoming, and growth cannot be stopped. By Allah's favor, this movement, which is independent of individuals, will continue. This movement has already started in this country, and this self-awareness has been engendered. By Allah's grace, it will reach its goals.
I think this meeting seeks to achieve two goals. First, it pursues a symbolic goal at a national and public level. We want to convince public opinion throughout the country that this scientific movement is a serious one. Our government officials are seriously pursuing this goal and want it to be realized. They have a high regard for knowledge, for those who seek knowledge, and for scientific elites. That is the meaning of our symbolic movement and gathering here. The second goal is to put further stress upon the fact that government officials working in different sectors must pursue this [public] demand. In the macro policies concerning executive affairs, scientific growth and progress of the country must be put high on agenda. Hopefully, these two goals have been realized.
As you discussed most of the important things, I would only like to add a couple of points. Although this is not a new point, I must say that the scientific movement is of paramount importance to our country. It is an absolute necessity. That is because knowledge brings about power, glory, and security for nations - I will briefly explain this point later on. Another reason is that this duty has been neglected for a century, a period of time that could have potentially been used in the best possible way. From the mid Qajar era, in which the global scientific and industrial movement was at its peak of flourishment - that is, from the middle part of the 19th century - science emerged in the form of colonialism. Being equipped with science, the west had started to colonize the world. From that day on, which marked the beginning of our vigilance, the great responsibility for scientific progress of the country was neglected for a number of reasons.
Science is an absolute necessity. You know this well, but I would like to point out that a country, which has no access to science, cannot expect to have glory, independence, identity, security, and well-being. That is the way of the world. Knowledge brings about power. There a sentence in Nahj al-Balagha that is very instructive: "Knowledge is grandeur." [Speaking in Arabic]. "Knowledge is power. Anyone who gains this power can rule and anyone who does not obtain it will be ruled." [Speaking in Arabic]. Anyone who gains this power can rule and triumph over the others. Anyone with no access to this power will be overpowered. Others will defeat and rule them.
The Iranian nation felt this reality in its bones for a long period of time. We were defeated and bullied. They took control of our resources. They deprived our nation of well-being. The last century of the history of this nation is full of bitterness and hardships. And we are now suffering from the consequences. That is while we were the first to start this quest for knowledge. The Revolution helped transform this state of affairs. It turned a new page. Today, the political and international grandeur that our country enjoys is rarely found elsewhere in the world. That is something that even our enemies attest to. Our nation has awakened. Our people are courageous. Our country enjoys an identity now.
However, we have to face the consequences. That is, those who gained knowledge 100 or 200 years earlier than we did, those who moved ahead of us and gained access to the blessings of knowledge are still bullying us. Nuclear energy, scientific capabilities, and nuclear technology are a case in point. They bully us: "You are not allowed to have nuclear technology. We do not trust you." Look who's talking! Those who do not 'trust' us caused two world wars in 20 years. Through these wars, Europeans set fire to the world.
Those who say they do not trust us use military power whenever they can. Iraq is a contemporary case in point. The case of Palestine is older and more painful. What happened in Afghanistan, Kosovo, and Hiroshima, to name but a few, are other examples.
Those who have caused the majors crimes in the industrial era, accuse the Iranian nation which has never been observed to attack. This is especially true of the post-Revolution era. Our country has not attacked neighboring and non-neighboring countries. I am talking about the government of the Islamic Republic. I do not intend to defend the previous governments. Our country has never initiated a war by firing a single bullet at a neighbor. Everyone accepts this. They say they do not trust us. That is bullying. Some countries- like some North African countries- may panic when they frown at them. Some countries load all their facilities unto a ship and let the bullies take them away.
The Iranian nation is, and has been, resisting. This resistance is not limited to a single case. We have put up this resistance on tens of other occasions. The nuclear issue is special only in that it has received great public attention. There have been tens of other occasions since the Revolution when we have stood up to international bullying and frowning. They have realized that we will not give in. But this bullying will continue. Why all this bullying? That is because the opposing camp is equipped with science. There are many lessons in that for the youth.
A government like the US that has not heard of morality, spirituality, and international rights considers itself entitled to such international bulling simply because it has access to knowledge and has managed to turn this knowledge into useful technologies. "Anyone who gains it rules." [Speaking in Arabic]. Anyone who has knowledge can rule others. "And anyone who does not find it is ruled." [Speaking in Arabic]. If you do not have knowledge, you will be conquered. That is where the need [for science] comes up. If a human being is interested in himself, his identity, family, children, future, progeny, nationality, country, and national and religious identity, he can never disregard this issue. That is the reason why I have been emphasizing and following up the scientific movement for years.
Science, scientific progress, and acquisition of knowledge are our national priority. Of course as I will explain, knowledge is not restricted to experimental sciences. All types of knowledge must be pursued simultaneously, and that is something that our country can handle. To summarize the first point, I would conclude that you - who represent the great number of elites living in this country - can play an essential role in gaining national power and reconstruction of the country and its future.
The second point is that our country is above average in terms of its potentiality to produce elites and in terms of its number of elites. This must be taken into account. Several years ago in a meeting with government officials in this Hussayniah, I pointed out that our country enjoys one percent of the geographical area of the world, one percent of the entire land throughout the world which has been developed. Our population is 70 million, which comprises approximately one percent of the world population. In a fair situation, we should have enjoyed, on average, only one percent of the natural resources of the world. But we currently enjoy more than one percent of the most important natural resources. We have more than two, three, and four percent of all global resources of such fundamental metals and alloys as steel, copper, lead, and many other ores. The case of oil resources speaks for itself. We are the second in the oil-rich Middle East and Persian Gulf area in terms of our oil resources. We have the second largest gas reserves in the world. Our country enjoys several times more than the average share of natural resources.
Now I would like to make another point: we have the same advantage regarding manpower. That is to say, our country enjoys more than one percent of the total number of elites living in different parts of the world. I cannot provide you with exact figures because the number of elites has not been calculated yet. I hope we will, by Allah's favor, gain access to the data in the future. However, the figures that I cited with regard to natural resources have already been estimated. Although we have no reliable data regarding our manpower, there is some evidence to suggest that we enjoy more than one percent of global elite manpower. This idea has been further strengthened by what I have heard from those experienced people who have researched universities across the world. I have heard many people say that the number of Iranian elites in top world universities is two or three times more than the number of elites from other countries.
To be fair, the late Dr. Chamran was an Iranian scientist in the real sense of the word. His knowledge may have been overshadowed by his military activities, sincere efforts, selflessness, and martyrdom, but he had graduated from top US universities. He told me that the center in which he used to study was home to elites from other countries as well but that Iranian students outnumbered others in most departments of that university as well as other universities. He said that Iranian students were more outstanding compared with other students. Of course, he was only one of the people who told me that. I have heard the same thing from many other people, and I have received numerous reports that point to the same thing. Therefore, we are unlikely to suffer from a lack of qualified manpower in the future.
Our history shows the same fact. Unfortunately, we have been cut off from our past. Our youth are not familiar with our history of science. This is one of our weaknesses. Of course I have made some recommendations in this regard. I have demanded that they adopt appropriate measures with regard to the history of science in Iran. They are working on it and their efforts have so far produced fairly positive results. By God's favor, we will make even greater achievements in the future.
Throughout the past centuries we have always enjoyed a large number of prominent scholars. Only in recent centuries, due to incompetent kings and various civil wars, we have had fewer prominent figures. Otherwise our nation has offered prominent figures to the world in various eras and in various fields.
During the fourth and fifth centuries on the hijri calendar (the tenth and eleventh centuries AD), that is the medieval era in Europe, we had Avicenna and Muhammad ibn Zakaria al-Razi. The medieval period was an era of complete ignorance and when Europeans look back on the past, they assume that the whole world suffered from medieval ignorance. They have distorted history and unfortunately their history has been translated and published in our country. The medieval era in Europe was the embodiment of total darkness and ignorance whereas in those days we had al-Farabi and Avicenna. There was a world of difference between us.
Once in a meeting with the youth, I raised some points about the progress that Muslims made in those times which I had extracted from George Sarton's ‘Introduction to the History of Science' and the history of other fields of science, all written by European authors. I do not exactly remember the name of the authors now.
Therefore, we do not have a shortage of skilled manpower today and by God's favor we will not suffer from such shortage in the future. The number of elites must increase on a day-to-day basis. We must identify elites.
The third point that must be raised is that we want to build a scientifically developed country but the dear youth must note that our goal is not to westernize it. These two must not be confused. Westerners enjoy a high level of scientific progress, but their scientific progress is contaminated by other things, which we avoid. We loathe being westernized. We only seek science. The current knowledge of the so-called advanced countries is dangerous for humanity. Westerners have used science to make wars, encourage violence, and advertise prostitution and sex. They have also used it for supplying drugs, invading and colonizing other nations, and spilling blood. We loathe such science. We do not want to be scientists as such. We seek to use science as a means to serve humanity, justice, peace, and security. That is what we seek. Islam has advised us to pursue such science.
In those days when Islamic countries, particularly our Islamic country, outdid Europeans in science, we did not colonize or suppress any nation. We did not humiliate any nation. Islam seeks science as well as faith, the Quran and Sunnah, moral education, morality, and spirituality. I really enjoyed listening to the girl who read the following saying from Shabaniah prayers in her speech: "Oh God, bestow upon me a heart whose zeal makes it closer to You. And bestow upon me a tongue whose dhikr rises towards You. And bestow upon me an eye whose insight makes it close to You." [Speaking in Arabic]. A Muslim scientist pursues these goals: Being close to God, spirituality, sincerity, and purity. This is the way that science - an abundant supply and an effective means for protecting humanity - becomes efficient. Only in this way does science become an efficient tool for ensuring people's safety, and keeping justice and peace among men and human societies. We pursue such a goal. Set yourself such a goal.
Note how those who hold political positions, based on an immoral system called capitalism, state their viewpoints. That is the way western governments behave. Now America is the leading western power. Science is used as a tool to gain power, which is based on capitalists' cartels and trusts. Westerners use science to make weapons and to spy on other nations. They also use science to steal others' ideas and to cause commotion throughout the world. Note how the heads of these countries who propagate such destructive science state their viewpoints. You have certainly noticed how unbearable, violent and arrogant the speech of America's president was some days ago. This arrogance will further suck them into the mire. But today, you must know - I am telling you now dear youth - that you will see the day when this civilization, which is established on a shaky foundation, will sink deep into the mire. It is currently sinking little by little and finally it will disappear forever. I will not see that day, but you definitely will. There is no doubt that this foolish and absurd arrogance is one of the factors that will finally lead to their collapse. They will certainly collapse. What they say is just hot air, but in fact they are in trouble. They themselves are not aware of this collapse. Only their wise men - who have been raising the alarm for years - know this. However, their warning has fallen on deaf ears. Indeed they are drunk. [Speaking in Arabic].
They are drunk in two ways: First, they blindly follow their instincts and second, they suffer from a raging thirst for power. One can hardly bring those who are drunk in one way into their senses, let alone when they are drunk in two ways. Only God knows what will happen if, for instance, they both drink alcohol - that sickening substance - and take ecstasy tablets. They have consumed both! Now the two-edged sword of science is in their hands. We must bring them down by clever maneuvers. By God's favor, we will bring them down.
You should note that we don't pursue science in the same way as western countries do. We pursue a kind of science which leads us to God, spirituality, humanity and paradise. Dear youth, your hearts are pure. Although I am speaking about such matters, it is your hearts, in fact, which must be prepared to embrace them. It is you who have the dynamism and the ability to tread this path.
The fourth point is that part of the duty, in regard to elites, must be shouldered by the government and part of it is to be shouldered by elites. The government's duty was summarized by Dr. Vaezzadeh, our honorable vice-president. The points he raised are the government's duties, which must be carried out. By God's favor, I will put further stress on them and will vigorously pursue the matter. Fortunately, these duties are what the government plans to do. As you mentioned, elites should be engaged in the Elite Institution and various other centers. This must be realized and of course, to a great extent, it has already been realized. The gentlemen who run the Elite Institution and this scientific community are among our young elites. They are not much older than you are and they have thankfully taken up important positions. In fact they have even been promoted to vice presidency and they have established scientific communities and the Elite Institution. It is you, young elites, who are doing these glorious deeds. Keep up the good work.
Now I would like to draw your attention to some points. Before that let me tell you that although I am addressing you who have attended this meeting, all elites throughout the country must listen. That is because you are not our only elites in the country. There are thousands of elites in this country who must, of course, be identified.
First of all, I want to warn you against arrogance. Those young elites, who talked here in the meeting referred to the same issue. Arrogance, self-importance, and unreasonable expectations are negative qualities and will be harmful to you. You are the children raised in this big home - that is, your country - and you are an inseparable part of this nation. Your parents spent their youth creating this nation to provide comfort for you. Therefore, they deserve to be treated kindly. Make sure nobody treats your elders in a domineering way, insult them, and ignore them. You should also make sure nobody imposes any constraints on our country by force. Of course as I said, the government's duties are clear as the duties of those capable individuals who work for private sectors. You must also do your share of the work.
My second word of advice to you, dear youth, is that you should develop a national and historical role for yourselves, not just a personal role. When someone, a talented person, defines a personal role for themselves, accumulating wealth and gaining fame and respect will be their goals. Those will be their ultimate goals. When they reach these goals, nothing else will matter to them. They will have no motivation to continue. However, when people develop a national and historical role for themselves, they will strive for more desirable goals. You must have the past and the future of this country in mind to see how you can enhance the future prospects of this nation and to see what role you can play in this regard. You must set yourselves such a lofty goal and pursue it vigorously. You must set your sights high.
My third word of advice is that you must have high aspirations. I have referred to the same point several times in gatherings with the youth and elites. By high aspirations I do not mean replicating particular technologies, which others have created and the technologies which we have usually bought and imported. Although this kind of work is worth the effort, it is not what we aspire to achieve. You must set yourselves the goal of helping the nation play a leading role in science so that other nations are always forced to refer to our scientific innovation. Once I said in a gathering with young elites that you must make so much progress that in the future, hopefully in forty or fifty years, all scientists will have to learn Persian to read your works which will be written in Persian. Then they will have to learn Persian if they want to have access to the latest scientific innovations. Just as you have to learn a particular language in order to have access to a particular scientific field and find the related reference book, so they will have to learn your language.
You must help your country achieve such progress. You have the capability to realize this aspiration as was the case in the past. Europeans used to either translate Iranian scientist's books into their own languages or learn Persian in order to gain a clear understanding of them. I want would like to tell you that Avicenna's book ‘The Cannon of Medicine' was rendered into Persian ten or fifteen years ago when I was president. I took the matter further and appointed some managers who soon informed me that a gifted and adroit Kurdish translator rendered it into Persian which is available today of course. Avicenna wrote ‘The Cannon of Medicine' in Arabic. It had not been rendered into Persian until then whereas it had been rendered into French several hundred years ago. That is to say, those who needed the book had it translated. This is what I mean by a leading role in science. That is to say, they will be obliged to translate your books or learn your language. You must pursue such a goal and have such an aspiration. You must aspire to achieve scientific progress and extend the boundaries of science. I have more to say in this regard, of course, but because there is no more time left, I have to discuss the last point.
We must formulate a detailed plan for our scientific progress. I referred to the same matter last year in a similar gathering. They are dealing with the matter at hand in the High Counsel of Cultural Revolution, but it should be pursued more and more vigorously. We must know what a detailed plan for scientific progress is. We must specify what scientific fields - and to what extent - fit where in this plan. We should not act like a body builder who only builds up his arm muscles while his legs, chest and shoulders remain thin. It is no use for an athlete to build up, for instance, his chest muscles but not strengthen his other muscles. All muscles should be strengthened together.
Some of these dear youth talked about the humanities. We are far ahead of the rest of the world in some branches of humanities. Indeed we are far ahead of those countries which are regarded as pre-eminent in such fields. Why should we not pursue them more vigorously? We have a broad background in some branches of humanities such as, philosophy, history, and the arts. Although there are some of them which have originated from the west, if we examine the issue more closely, we will see that the essence of those branches (philosophy for instance) including rationality and empiricism has its roots in Iranian and Islamic thought. Superstitious Europe alone could not have formulated biology, economics, management, and psychology in its present form. In fact the empiricism which was brought into the western world and led to such a transformation comes from the east, particularly from our Islamic country, Iran. Anyway, we have to improve in those branches in which we have fallen behind. We must foster innovation and we must avoid translation because translation will do us considerable harm.
Therefore, the comprehensive plan for scientific progress is essential. Things like the significance of different scientific fields, the number and gender of students and the kind of institutes in which they should be engaged, must be defined. We must know what we want to do. Although we have already started dealing with such issues, we should pursue them more vigorously. The issue of putting research and innovations into practice, as addressed by some of the youth in this meeting, is among the things that I am mainly concerned with. We may conduct research on a particular subject and may achieve fairly positive results, but altogether it may not bring about decisive effects on the country's long-term growth and progress. That is to say, it may not turn into national wealth. We must be able to turn science into national wealth. It requires considerable effort and careful arrangement. Along with these prerequisites, there is an important point which is included in the detailed plan for scientific progress: We must successfully complete the process of technological and scientific innovation. This process is indeed like a chain. Sometimes there is a broken link in this chain but out of it there may appear a high level of creation and as a result science can help us reach all our goals.
The very essence of all these things is your zeal, your high aspirations, and the efforts of the officials on the ground. I hope that God will help us and by his favor this process will be accelerated if you make real effort. As we see today, the process of scientific advance has already been put into practice and hopefully it will bring about positive results in the future.
I am very glad that I have met you today in this gathering and I hope that this meeting, by God's favor, will help the government and nation achieve their goals.
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings