In the Name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our Master, Prophet Muhammad, and upon his Pure Progeny, particularly the remaining Vestige of God on earth.
I would like to welcome everyone. The beginning of these kinds of meetings is usually in our own hands, but [only] God knows when they will end [attendees laugh]!
The meeting today has been very good. I have truly and honestly benefited from it. The radiance and blessings from the existence of Hazrat Fatimah Zahra – Sayyidat-un Nisaa, Siqqiqat-ut Kubraa – has filled the atmosphere here. Thank God!
The love, devotion, and enthusiasm in your pure hearts for the mother of the noble Imams will surely have fundamental effects in all the things that are ahead of us in our lives – in our personal affairs, in public affairs, and in the future of this country.
Being among you elegists and eulogists who recite for the Household of the Prophet (pbut), and who are truly proud to be those who praise these noble human beings – “The one who praises the sun praises himself” [from a poem by Molana Jalal-e-Din Mohammad Rumi] – I would like to first of all remind you of the great honor you have. Be proud of this position that you have and I want you to try and prepare this readiness in yourselves and in your audience to hear these elegies about these holy lights as much as possible.
I would like to say just a few words about the subject of elegies today. Elegies are a part of our heritage. It is the heritage of the Shia. Yes, we do not know whether Kumit, De’bil and Sayyid al-Himyari, for example, recited their elegies with melodies or not, but they would write and recite poetry and circulate the teachings of the Prophet’s Household. You elegists have come and turned this into a complex art.
Today’s elegies and eulogies are a form of hybrid art, it is art, or in other words, it is beautiful. Art is something beautiful after all. It is both beautiful and it creates beauty. You have combined several arts together, the sum of which results in an elegy or a eulogy. A good voice, this is the first [art]. The next art is good poetry, that’s the second. And a good melody, that’s the third one.
Of course, each one of these has certain characteristics, conditions, and limits, some of which I will address. In addition, you need a good theme and good content. Because having a good poem is one thing, but it is another thing to have good content. A poem may be very good, but it may lack rich content. Or it might not have the right content. There might be a problem with the content. We have these sorts of poems, in addition to very good poems, where the poetry is good, but the content has flaws. I have written down a poem by Saib [Tabrizi] so that I can read it for you. He said:
“Even if you tell me, ‘You shall not see Me,’ I will not despair like Moses did..."
When [God] turned to Prophet Moses [on Mount Sinai] and said, “You shall not see Me,” [Prophet Moses] let it go. [But in this poem], he says, “I will not despair.”
“Even if you tell me, ‘You shall not see Me,’ I will not despair like Moses did,
I know the sweet language of my love”
It was a nice poem, but it’s incorrect! He is implying that the Almighty God, God’s divine being, is being coy when He says, “You shall not see Me”.
No, “You shall not see Me” means “You shall not see Me!” God does not exaggerate when He says something. The poem is very beautiful, but the meaning is incorrect!
So, we have two things here: one is a good poem and the other is a good meaning, and good content. You need to keep all of this in mind.
Having said that, I believe we have been holding these kinds of meetings for 40 years now [and] when I look at these now compared to previous years, the work that is being done is much more advanced and better in terms of the types of elegies and poetry that is recited. There is no doubt about this.
However, I would like to draw your attention to some matters. Well, this is a form of hybrid art. What you are doing is a form of hybrid art, and art is beauty. We know this from our religious texts, our religious texts including the Quran, Nahjul Balaghah, Sahifah Sajjadiyah, and many of our supplications.
Regarding the Holy Quran, [Imam Ali (pbuh)] states, “It has a wonderful appearance.” “Wonderful” does not imply that it is just ‘beautiful’, it is stunningly beautiful! It has a wonderful appearance. That is how the Quran is. It is second to none in terms of its beauty and art.
Almost all of the best Arabic poems, the sweetest and most beautiful and eloquent Arabic poems belong to the Age of Ignorance. Those [poets] were alive when the Quran was revealed, [but] none of them were able to find even a minute fault in the Quran or say that they could recite anything similar to it.
It has been stated in numerous places in the Quran, “then bring a chapter like it” (Quran 2:23). They were not able to produce even one verse similar to the verses of the Holy Quran.
Nahjul Balaghah possesses the utmost magnificence, logic, and beauty. The same applies to Sahifah Sajjadiyah, the Abu Hamza Thumali Supplication, Imam Hussain’s Supplication on the Day of Arafah, and various other supplications. They are all incredibly beautiful.
Your art is a continuation of that art. This art can be said to be comprehensive when all its parts are beautiful. It is not enough for just its appearance to be beautiful. The content must also be beautiful. “It [the Quran] has a wonderful appearance, and inside it is deep [in meaning]” (Nahjul Balaghah, Sermon 18).
The inside of the Quran is deep and full of meaning. Now, we do not expect ourselves, I do not expect you to presume that you can produce something similar to it, no, [but] this is what we should have in mind. That is, the appearance should be beautiful and the core needs to be filled with meaning and be logical.
The same goes for melody. I had particularly planned to talk about this with you dear elegists and eulogists. A song has meaning. It conveys a meaning. So, you may perform a song that does not even have any words – for example, some people produce music from their throat, or some may use instruments to create music. It has no words, but it has meaning. It conveys a meaning. That is how music is. Some songs inspire courage. [For example], the song that he [referring to Haj Sadiq Ahangaran in attendance, famous elegist of the Sacred Defense era] was singing, “O Army of Saheb Zaman! Be prepared! Be prepared!” Even if the song hadn’t had any lyrics, the tone of the song is one that inspires being prepared.
Some songs bring depression. They make people depressed. They discourage people. They are different. Some songs lead people toward sins. Many of the songs that are set to instrumental music are like this. Each of these songs has some music at the start of it that inspires the singer with the song. These songs are often not appropriate. We need to be careful about the poems we recite, the songs we sing, and the elegies we read – whether they are about a tragedy, or when we beat our chests, or whether it is a song sung in praise. We need to make sure we do not combine them with these things. This is an important point to note. I urge you to pay attention to this.
Therefore, the content must be good. The structure of the poem should be good. The framework, body, and appearance of the poem must be good. This will raise your audience’s level of thinking. If you put the best topics in a weak poem and read it, its effect will be greatly reduced. Allow your audience’s mind to become accustomed to rich literature. This will help the intellectual growth of society.
In a similar meeting a few years ago, I referred to some of Saib’s ghazals, which were not ghazals on love. They were ghazals on wisdom, and they were filled with wisdom. Its poetry is extremely rich and beautiful. [It is good] to look for these poems and read them. Thankfully, some poets write some very good poems in this field.
In addition to gaining understanding in elegies, there is also a stirring of emotions. This is also an important point. There is gaining understanding. This means that you are teaching people with the poem you are reciting. Many of the things we learn are from the elegies that elegists recite, things that we have already told others many times in a simple language. But when the elegist or eulogist recites the same thing with a good voice and a good melody, it is as though we are hearing, understanding, and learning something new. It increases people’s understanding - of course, as a continuation of a program after a sermon. An elegy is not the same as a sermon, it has a different nature and reality, it gives understanding and stirs emotions
We must not underestimate the emotional factor. One characteristic that we as Shia have, is that emotions are embedded in our teachings and imparting understanding from the beginning to the end. There is an accumulation of emotions. This is less in others, our lamentations, elegies, supplications and ziyarats are filled with emotions, they stir emotions.
Of course, the presence of emotions is not beneficial in the absence of reasoning. The good thing about imparting understanding in the Shia texts is that, in addition to stirring emotions, it also gives people a depth of understanding. This is a feature that I have not seen in the non-Shia. That is, as far as I know, I have not seen it. Of course, each one of the different religions – Islamic and non-Islamic – have certain things in them, but the peak may be seen in the Shia.
I was once looking at the common supplications that exist among the non-Shia Muslims, which have been mentioned in detail in one of Al-Zamakhshari’s books. I saw that, for example, if we place ten lines of Imam Hussain’s supplication for the Day of Arafah or Supplication 47 of Sahifah Sajjadiyah next to those supplications, we will see these ten lines have more content and greater spirit than all those supplications have together.
Well, these emotional states have also aided the country in sensitive times – one being during the Holy Defense. During the Holy Defense, it was the elegists, the poets, these good poets who were truly able to prepare the atmosphere for that great epic event. I have read this verse of a poem many times in this regard:
“We warm the lovers with the sharpness of our words,
We strike the butterfly, like the flame of a candle does”
This describes your situation: “We strike the butterfly, like the flame of a candle does.”
Elegies played a great role in preparing the hearts and increasing the spirituality of the environment when sending the members of the Basij and others to the frontlines, on the nights of military operations, during the military drills at dawn during the burial and funeral processions of the martyrs, in mosques and in Hussainiyahs, on the battlefield and everywhere else.
The holiness that was prevalent in the regions where the Holy Defense was going on was unprecedented and has never occurred anywhere in the world at any time in history, apart from the early days of Islam. A major part of it was related to the elegies, and another part of it was related to other factors. It has been the same in the years after the war and up until today. Elegies have played a great role in various situations – during the sedition in 1388 [2009], on the 9th of Dey [of that year], and on various other occasions.
I am repeating these things for you, so that as elegists you can understand your position, what you are doing, and what you are capable of doing. This is my intention, thank God, there are many of you as well.
When we used to have these meetings in the beginning, only about a hundred or two hundred people would attend. Today, there are thousands of people across the country who are engaged in the work of reciting elegies and are mastering various techniques for attracting their audiences. This is a great phenomenon that is taking place in the country and we need to take advantage of it.
Who should use this opportunity? I am not saying that it should be used by me, government officials, or by this person, or that person. I am saying it should be used by the country, by the system, and by the Revolution. The Revolution must make use of this opportunity. The Revolution needs to progress, it needs to make changes on a daily basis.
You can play a role in this, that is what I am trying to say. You need to spread awareness in the country about the fight against tyrants, oppressors, the arrogant powers, and corruption. The problem with what we are doing in most places is that we direct people, we give advice, and we provide reasons and rationalize, but these things aren’t effective. Why? Because the public atmosphere is not in accordance with what we had intended.
I have on numerous occasions insisted on the work that needs to be done in building culture. What you can do is to focus on culture-building. Sometimes we may need the country to stand up to the enemy or retaliate, at other times the country needs to pursue knowledge and science, and sometimes it may be necessary to create an environment for thinking and reflection.
We need to prepare the environment for these. I have already talked about the subject of family and raising children. You can play a far greater role than the Ministry of Health and the like in this field. You can give people encouragement, insight, and hope. As you can see, one of the enemy’s most important tactics today is to create despair. Where? At the core of the country’s existence – that is, in the youth. It uses all kinds of methods and tricks to create despair in their minds. What you can do is to do the exact opposite. You can give hope. You can work on guiding thoughts and actions, but there is a condition.
If you wish to have the honor of doing these things, the first and foremost condition is that you be concerned about guiding people. An elegist should be concerned with guiding his audience [rather than] earning money, fame, social status, and such things. Now, I am not saying that you should forget about these things completely. We are not like that, we are weak human beings, and we cannot forget about ourselves completely. Nonetheless, you need to give [such matters] less attention. Your main concern should be to guide people. When you memorize a poem or write a poem down to recite it later, when you accept an invitation to recite at a gathering, or when you sit before an audience, all you should think about is that you want to guide your audience. That is the first condition. The second condition is enlightenment:
“How can a being become a creator
if it is not derived from the Creator?”
If a person lacks solid, fundamental wisdom within himself, it is unlikely that he will be able to bring enlightenment to others. We need to develop ourselves. You are young. You have the patience and the time. Study and read books – books on both poetry and prose. Read the books written by Martyr Motahari. Read books on morals as well as the books of hadith and books of tafsir. We have good books of tafsir, even if you are not fluent in Arabic, there are very good Farsi books on tafsir today that are easily accessible to everyone.
Another condition is that you need to keep yourselves updated. The situation in the world is changing on a daily basis. Be up-to-date, and keep an analysis of [the world’s] events in your mind and in your thinking. My friends! Today, we are either facing an important turning point in history or we are moving inside the heart of an important turning point in history. The latter is probably a more accurate description. The world is changing, major changes are taking place. Significant, major changes cannot be understood in a week, a month, or a year. Such things take place gradually. You need to be well aware of what is taking place in the world and what is happening inside the country.
For example, consider recent events. I would like to say something about the recent events [in Iran]. In the recent events, the enemy’s plot was comprehensive, [but] their calculations were wrong. This is important. The enemy’s plot had no faults, however the calculations they had made for implementing these plots were wrong. When we say that the enemy’s plot was comprehensive, we are saying all the major factors that a [world] power can use to disrupt and destroy a country, all of these elements, were used. All of them. They lined up all these elements.
There was an economic factor. Of course, the economic situation of the country was not in a good state, it is not good. People’s problems with the costs of living prepared the background for them to use this factor. [Other factors included] security factors, infiltrations, and espionage teams from all sides. There was an uproar of Iranophobia in the world. They began promoting Iranophobia in different forms in the months leading up to the unrest, using the propaganda tools of the enemies – the US, the Zionists and Global Arrogance in general. Iranophobia, this is another factor. It is an element used for destroying.
Rallying support from certain individuals inside the country began a while ago as well. And this is another important factor. They provoked unrest using various motives in the country, including ethnic, religious, political, and personal motives, [deciding to betray the country because of petty things such as:] “why didn’t you greet me properly” or “why didn’t you give me such and such position”? They sought to use and prepare these individuals to collaborate with them.
[There were also] elements of widespread propaganda, such as the television and satellite channels, social media, and the internet. These are all factors that the enemy had lined up. As a person who views, monitors, and understands these issues - in my heart, I thought "how well has the enemy engineered this" It was well-engineered. They had prepared everything in the right places and in the right amounts. [So], why didn’t they succeed? Because one of the enemy’s bases, the calculations it had made, was wrong.
Yes, the things they did were all very important and effective, and they do have an impact on certain countries. However, they were unsuccessful here. This is because the calculations they had made about Islamic Iran were wrong. I will give two or three examples of the enemy’s miscalculations. I have briefly mentioned some of these in my previous talks.
They imagined that because of the economic problems that exist, the Iranian nation would cooperate with the enemy’s plots of subversion [regime change] and separatism. [This] is a calculation. Their calculation was wrong. They imagined that by using foul language and insults they would be able to take the country’s officials out of the picture and make them assume a passive role. Some people become passive when they hear foul language and insults. Their calculation was wrong. They thought they could create differences of opinion among the country’s high-level officials by using temptations and creating commotions. [They hoped that] one side would say, “Let’s do such and such a thing,” and the other side would say, “No.” They wanted to sow discord.
This is a problem that exists in the US. It exists in the Zionist regime. It exists in some other countries too. These differences prevent them from getting big things done. They imagined they could create such differences. This was part of their calculations, [but] this calculation was wrong.
They imagined that by using the petrodollars of a mercenary country of the US,
they could weaken the Islamic Republic’s determination. They were wrong, because the will and determination of the Islamic Republic was stronger and more adamant than all their elements of power. Their calculations were wrong.
They imagined that by inciting some mercenary elements to seek asylum in another country and by encouraging them to smear their own country, our youth would become discouraged in this way. They were wrong. Some went there, became refugees, and they also smeared Iran, but no one paid any attention to them.
This was part of the enemy’s calculations. Their calculations were wrong. The enemy has been doing everything it can against the Islamic Republic for the past 40 years, but because their calculations have been wrong, they have failed up until now. They failed in Iran’s recent unrest, and they will continue to fail in the future if they make any further attempts.
So, that was about the enemy. But we too should be careful ourselves! We should not become proud. We should not become negligent. We must not be neglectful.
We should not say, “Alright, it’s all over now.” We should not retreat from the field. We must stay active in the field.
We must remember that which is holding the nation is hope and unity, unity among the people. Yes, there are different tastes and opinions in different cases. But [despite this], there is still a consensus among the people about Islam, the system, and about the Revolution. We must not lose this consensus.
We must not contribute to ethnic and religious differences or the provocation of the feelings of one group against another. Anyone who takes a step to harm the unity of the nation has worked for the enemy, they have worked according to the enemy’s plot, and they have played in the enemy’s team. Everyone needs to take note of this, whether you are a preacher, an elegist, a cleric, a university professor, a writer, or a poet, whoever you are.
We must not underestimate the enemy. The enemy exists. The day when you become so strong that the enemy loses all hope will be the day when you can feel tranquil and find peace of mind. We must work to make ourselves stronger. My emphasis, repeating, and insisting that the country should become strong is because of this. We must make the enemy lose hope.
Thank God, with spirituality, with God’s help, and with His guidance, the nation is serving the Revolution. It is behind the Revolution and the government, and the people are helping. We have good elements. We have very productive, useful institutions. The effects of the Revolution are becoming more apparent outside the country’s borders every day as well.
Another point that I wanted to mention, which I have just remembered, is about combining elegies with anthems. This has recently become a common practice, and this is very good. Some great songs have been sung. [For example], the song “[Salaam] Farmandeh” was a good song. You saw how this song was translated and sung again in other places. In some countries – of course, this was not reported in the news, but I was informed about this – they repeated the same thing that the children had sung here. They repeated this song in their countries in the original Farsi language, and even though they did not know Farsi, they sang the original version. These are factors that can aid in increasing the authority of the country.
Of course, when you enter this field – and all of you are thankfully active in this field – a number of people will show their admiration, but some will become your enemies. The arrogant powers will become your enemy, and the agents of the arrogant powers will become your enemy. They will disrupt your work and act against you. Well, let them, this enmity is something that will always be there. That which will prove what you are made of and will show your final outcome is your perseverance, steadfastness, and trust in God.
It is said [in a poem], “My rivals seek support from each other after killing me,
[but] O heart-warming love, I seek support from you.”
Well, it is noon [prayer time] now. God willing, God will help all of you to be successful. I will definitely pray for all of you. Please pray for me as well.
O, Lord! By Muhammad and the progeny of Muhammad (pbuh), I ask you to bestow Your blessings on all of us and on this nation by the blessed name of Lady Fatimah Zahra (pbuh).
May God’s greetings, mercy, and blessings be upon you.
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