In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
All praise is due to God, Lord of the Worlds, and may peace and greetings be upon our Master and our Prophet, Abul-Qasim al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his untainted, pure, immaculate Progeny, particularly the Remnant of God on earth.
Welcome my dear brothers and sisters. I would like to thank the esteemed Friday Prayer Leader [of Shiraz] for his concise, eloquent remarks and also our honorable [IRGC] commander for this truly beautiful, perfect piece of writing.
One of the distinctive features of our beloved country's civilization, which should always be emphasized, is that it’s been able to integrate religion, heroism, and art together. In many parts of the world, religion follows its own path — if it exists at all — art does its own thing, and heroism stands alone where it exists. The integration of these three elements in Islamic Iran is an interesting, fascinating phenomenon that didn’t just take form yesterday or today. This arises from the principles of Islam.
The Quran itself contains verses like: "But the faithful have a more ardent love for Allah" (2:165), "… whom He loves and who love Him" (5:54), "Let those who sell the life of this world for the Hereafter fight in the way of Allah; and whoever fights in the way of Allah, and then he is slain or he is victorious, We shall soon give him a great reward" (4:74), "Those who believe fight for the cause of Allah, and the unbelievers fight for the cause of Satan" (4:76), and "They are stern with the unbelievers but merciful to one another" (48:29). In other words, the Quran itself has integrated religion, divine law, great acts of heroism, and art together. The Quran itself is a work of art, a very sublime work [of art]. In addition, the Quran speaks of love, compassion, and similar concepts, which are depicted for the reader. This exists in our history.
Without exaggeration, I believe that perhaps the best point in our country where these three elements have been integrated and can be clearly observed is the Fars [Province] and [its capital] Shiraz. This is truly and fairly an accurate statement, regardless of whether someone else says it or if we say it. Shiraz is a place where these three elements intertwine and show themselves. From the time of Ahmad ibn Musa (pbuh) and the rest of the martyred descendants of the Imams who were in that province and city, to later periods, up to the present day and Martyr [Masoumeh] Karbasi who was martyred a few days ago, these three elements have been together accompanying each other throughout all these eras.
The most famous, beloved poet of our country, namely Hafez Shirazi, is someone who had memorized the Quran and who "recites the Quran with fourteen narrations." This poet, who was a mellifluous, clever Ghazal poet, had memorized the Quran with 14 narrations, with 14 different recitations. In the recitations that they recite, we have rarely seen a reciter who is proficient in the recitations of the seven renowned historical reciters, each of whom has two variations, resulting in a total of 14 recitations.
And then he [Hafez] says, "Everything I have is from the Quran." In other words, his poetry is from the Quran, his art is from the Quran, his knowledge is from the Quran, his mysticism is from the Quran, and his cleverness is from the Quran. Everything he has is from the Quran. What’s more beautiful than religion and art being combined and integrated together in this manner? In addition to these, there is also heroism. This includes a range of people from Ahmad ibn Musa to Abbas Doran, to the renowned martyrs, such as Martyr Morteza Javidi, Martyr Shirali Sultani, and now Ms. Masoumeh Karbasi too, and the rest of the great martyrs of the province. Some of them have been mentioned by our dear commander. Fifteen thousand martyrs, fifteen thousand role models, and fifteen thousand examples of martyrs in various fields.
The first armed confrontation with European colonialism was initiated by Imam Qoli Khan, the governor of Fars, who successfully expelled the Portuguese from Hormuz. The first soft war in our country's history was carried out by Mirza Shirazi in the tobacco boycott. It was a large war that was able to eliminate British economic dominance over our country. Gandhi also did something similar in India, but 30 years after Mirza Shirazi. So, the credit for the initiative of this unparalleled soft war belongs to Mirza Shirazi.
Mirza Mohammad Taqi Shirazi led the strongest Iraqi resistance against the domination of the British government over Iraq. The first coin of the Islamic government was minted by the late Sayyid Abdul Hussain Lari in Shiraz, Jahrom, and Lar. He minted coins and established an Islamic government. But it didn’t last very long, and he was unable to continue. Nonetheless, he took the initiative and made a start.
These are great honors. If we return to our own time, we see a mystic religious scholar and spiritual traveler like Martyr Dastgheib who was truly a demonstration of spirituality, purity, ethics, and jihad.
In 1962 and 1963 when we were in Qom and the uprising had just begun, we used to receive and listen to cassette tapes from the late Ayatollah Dastgheib in Shiraz. The late Haj Sheikh Baha’uddin Mahallati had started a meeting with other scholars in Shiraz. The spokesperson of this group was the late Ayatollah Dastgheib who held meetings, delivered speeches, and did such things apparently in the Grand Mosque of Shiraz. This continued until he was martyred. So, we have all sorts of martyrs. In every field, martyrs from this land and region have shown and made themselves stand out. These show the identity of Shiraz and Fars.
Those who thought they could turn Shiraz from a sanctuary of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt (pbut) and a center of religion and faith into a place of corruption with something as trivial as the Shiraz Art Festival were wrong. They were totally wrong! The great Mulla of Shiraz, Mulla Sadra (may God be pleased with him), was one of the most prominent philosophers in the world in our view. In one of his few remaining poems, he said: "In the battle of the two worlds, love is victorious / Even if all its soldiers are martyred" (qtd. in Reza Qoli Khan Hedayat, Tazkareh Riaz Al-Arefin, sect. 56).
This is from someone who was a cleric and a philosopher. That is, this spirit, this beautiful integration of religion, art, and heroism continues. The late Ayatollah Dastgheib was also a man of knowledge, poetry, and profound understanding. I witnessed this firsthand. This was the case with others as well. These are very important matters.
Your congress must show this to the country and ensure its lasting impact. You must show that for a civilized, knowledgeable, progressive nation, the integration of religiousness, heroism, and artistry is what is important — these three qualities together. Art should serve religion, religion should be accompanied by heroism, and heroism should drive the progress of the nation. These are the things that matter.
This is what needs to be the result of your congress. This needs to be shown. Whether you pursue this with books, poetry, songs, or plays, this goal needs to be achieved. You must show this. This is what our nation needs. Today, just as it was during the time of those despicable people of the Pahlavi era, there are those who want to separate art from spirituality. They want to separate art from heroism. Sometimes they wish to take these in opposing directions. Even today, there are those among us within the walls of our beloved, valuable country who are remnants and leftovers of that system. So you must ensure that these [three dimensions] exist.
One of my strong recommendations that I have noted here is to monitor the impact of the congress, since your goal is to be influential. Well then, monitor and observe how this congress, which you have worked so hard to bring about, influences public opinion and the behavior of your young people over the course of a year, for example.
How many of your young people have improved in their dedication to religion, going to mosques, intellectual pursuits, thinking process, book reading, looking at matters correctly, and their movements? This needs to be monitored. Find a way to do this. You can do this, but it isn’t an easy task. This monitoring should not be interpreted as spying, snooping, or anything like that. It shouldn’t go in that direction or lead to such a path. A correct perspective and accurate judgment must prevail.
A desire to serve is one of the outcomes of this congress. You must see how much the desire to serve has increased among the youth in their intellectual services, jihadi services, and their participation in the various fields of service. This includes [participating in] jihadi camps, Basij Sazandegi [Construction] Organization, and tours of war zones to see the results of the efforts of our dear commanders, soldiers, and Basij members during the Sacred Defense. Assess how much the desire for these things has increased. If you see that no progress has been made, return to your own work and see where the problem lies. Why has it not been able to have an impact? [On the other hand], if you see that progress has been made, see what factor contributed to this progress and strengthen it. What is the factor that has been able to motivate and push these young people to move forward?
Our youth today need to know about our country’s proud past, especially the events of the past few decades surrounding the time of the Revolution. We are weak when it comes to narrating events. For example, are our youth properly acquainted with and do they know about the various dimensions involving the seizure of the US Spy Den? Are they aware of the true origins of the 8-year [Iran-Iraq] war? If someone asks, "Why did we fight for eight years and lose so many young people?" do they know the answer? Do they know what led to that war? These things must be narrated. They must be narrated properly. Fortunately, I can see that some good work is being done in this regard. I try to read some of the books, writings, and some of the works as much as time allows. So that was about that matter.
Today, we are in the middle of fundamental, critical issues in the region. The issues related to West Asia, Lebanon, Gaza, and the West Bank are writing history. Each of these events could be a starting point for a development or a historic movement in one direction. If there hadn’t been people like Martyr Sinwar who fought to the end, the region’s destiny would have been one way. But since such people exist, it has turned out a different way. If there hadn’t been distinguished figures like Martyr Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah who combined jihad, wisdom, courage, self-sacrifice, and selflessness and put these to use, the movement would have been one way. But since such people exist, the movement has turned out a different way. These are very important matters.
What has taken place so far is a major defeat, and not just for the Zionist regime but also for Western civilization, Western culture, and Western claims. They have suffered a major defeat. The Zionist regime has suffered a defeat because they thought they could easily abolish and destroy Resistance groups. Today, you can see that they have martyred over 50,000 defenseless civilians as well as several of the outstanding leaders of the Resistance, but the Resistance Front remains unshaken. The Resistance Front continues to fight with the same strength and the same determination today. Isn’t this a defeat [for the Zionist regime]? It’s the worst defeat.
They have spent all this money; the US has put in a great amount of effort with all its power; many European [countries] have followed suit; they have committed all these crimes making their visage so dark, ugly, and hated throughout the world that people even hold demonstrations against them in the streets of the US, and they have demonstrated against them in US universities. At the same time, the Resistance groups still exist. Hamas, [Palestinian Islamic] Jihad, Hezbollah, the people and youth of the West Bank who are fighting still exist, and other places where the Resistance continues to fight all still exist. This is a massive defeat. It’s the biggest defeat [for the Zionist regime].
But that’s not all. The defeat of "Western culture" is even more significant. The West has shown that during these many years or centuries when they have spoken of people’s rights, human rights, and such, they have only been lying. [This war] has shown and proven this. In other words, ten thousand children have been killed. Is this some kind of joke? Children are a symbol of innocence, a symbol of tenderness, and a fundamental point that stirs human emotions. Israel has killed ten thousand of these innocent children with two-ton bombs and all sorts of weapons, and the West hasn’t even raised its eyebrow at this. Western politicians have disgraced themselves. Western policies have been exposed, and they have failed. This is a major defeat. No one talk about "Western civilization" anymore! This is what Western civilization truly is.
This is Western civilization that doesn’t matter if it takes money from its own people using various excuses and send it to kill small, innocent children, to destroy families, to martyr ten thousand children, and to orphan thousands of children. That’s Western culture. If anyone criticizes Western culture and unambiguously discredits it, no one should reprimand them by saying, "Hey, you shouldn't say that." No, this is Western culture. This is Western civilization. This is the product of it. This is the greatest defeat the West has faced.
The Zionist regime is backed by a front of evil. A front of evil has lined up to back the Zionist regime, and the Resistance Front is confronting that front of evil. The Resistance Front is standing firmly before that front of evil. With God’s grace, the Resistance Front will be the victors.
May God’s greetings and mercy be upon you.
