In the Name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful
Salam Alaykum and may God’s mercy be upon you. I am very grateful to God, the Exalted, for giving me this opportunity to meet with you dear youth today as I have in previous years and to benefit from your warm presence and pure, enlightened hearts.
May peace be upon Hussain, upon Ali bin al-Hussain, upon the children of Hussain and upon the companions of Hussain, those who laid down their lives for Hussain.
The 40 day period from Ashura to Arbaeen is one of the most important periods in the history of Islam. The day of Ashura is the peak of importance, and these 40 days between Ashura and Arbaeen are similar to the day of Ashura. If the day of Ashura is the peak of endeavor accompanied by sacrifice – the sacrifice of one’s life, loved ones, children and companions - then these 40 days are the peak of endeavor accompanied by clarification, disclosure and explanation. If it had not been for those 40 days and if it had not been for the great movement of Zainab al-Kubra (peace be upon her), Hazrat Umm al-Kulthum and Hazrat Sajjad (peace be upon him), perhaps the phrase “to liberate your servants from ignorance and from being left to wander in the dark” would not have been realized. It was this great movement and the extraordinary patience of the Holy Prophet’s Household led by Zainab al-Kubra (peace be upon her) and Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him) that were able to make the event of Karbala immortal. Their clarification was complementary to that sacrifice in the true sense of the word.
I am using these introductory sentences to say that you dear youth and students, who are literally the apple of the eye of the nation and the hope for the future of the country, must attach importance to the issue of clarification. There are many truths that need to be explained. Clarification neutralizes the enemy’s misleading plot, which is pouring toward the Iranian nation from hundreds of directions. The enemy’s plot and move is aimed at influencing public opinion, and this is one of the large goals of the enemies of Iran, Islam and the Islamic Revolution, and they wish to put the minds of the people, in particular the youth, in doubt.
As a duty, each of you should shed light on your surroundings like a lamp. Fortunately today, the field is open for the dissemination of ideas. The internet, in addition to the problems it may create, also has great blessings. You can promote right, correct thoughts and answer questions. You can provide answers to ambiguities in this public space by making use of this opportunity. And you can engage in struggle on the path of God in the true sense of the word. Of course, the main principle in this regard is that one must follow an ethical approach in doing so. What some people do in the internet, in the press, in journals and in various other places - confronting the public with abusive language, slander, deception and lies - should be strongly avoided. Truths should be promoted with strong logic, solid speech, and complete rationality, along with human emotion and morality. Today we all have to move in this arena. Each of us is responsible in a different way.
I hope that God, the Exalted, will make all of you successful. Our youth today, praise God, are equipped with ideas, rationality and abundant awareness, and they can make great endeavors in these areas. You should prepare yourselves, increase this preparedness and then enter the field - the field of clarification and disclosure. This is the path that Zainab al-Kubra (peace be upon her) took during those 40 days. The greatness of those 40 days is due to what that honorable Lady, Hazrat Sajjad (peace be upon him) and the others around them did as they endured many hardships. If we speak in the language of elegies, in fact Zainab al-Kubra came and delivered a report to Imam Hussain on the day of Arbaeen saying that they did such and such things, we did such and such, we went like this, we endured such and such hardships, and we gave such and such explanations and clarifications.
I hope that God, the Exalted, will make you all successful. The path of Imam Hussain is a blessed path, it is a sweet, successful path. It is a path that definitely gives results. God willing, you will be able to be inspired by Hussain’s movement and Hussain’s teachings and bring this country to the peak of spiritual and material felicity in the true sense of the word. This is the way. This is the path. The right way is to move in the light of the guidance of Hussain, the Imams (peace be upon them), the Qur’an and the Holy Prophet’s Household.
God willing, you will be successful and God will grant you success. May He accept this mourning ceremony. May God bless these pure tears and these enlightened, sincere hearts by His grace. God willing, He will help us to benefit from the blessing of the existence of you, the youth, and He will decorate this country with your struggles and reasonable moves.
I am glad that I was able to meet with you. I ask God, the Exalted, to grant His paradise to the immaculate soul of Imam (Khomeini), to the pure souls of the martyrs, to the soul of our dear martyr - Martyr Soleimani and his companions - and to the soul of Mr. Hassanzadeh, the valuable scholar who recently passed away.
May God’s greetings, mercy and blessings be upon you.