Statements in Meeting with a Group of Severely Disabled Veterans

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

We are very happy that, thanks be to God, we have once again had the opportunity to meet with a group of you dear ones; although it is not enough. Some of these dear veterans told me that they have been waiting for this meeting for twenty years, thirty years; I said we are truly ashamed that you have waited twenty years for such a trivial matter; but our capabilities and shortcomings and such issues are like this; that is, a person does not have more ability than this; otherwise, if we could, we would have liked to be with you much more than this.

Firstly, your efforts and your rewards before God the Exalted are both preserved and, God willing, are increasing day by day; because your work is not completely finished; gradually this trial and this test is upon you, unlike the martyrs. The martyrs were hit by a shell, shot by a bullet, and went to paradise, they flew to paradise, their work was finished; but you are not; every day that passes, every hour that passes, you have a suffering, you have a problem, although you have accepted that problem and God the Exalted knows in your hearts that you are patient; but every minute, every hour, every day of this patience of yours is an additional reward; therefore, it is accurate to say that the reward of the veterans is increasing day by day. The longer you live, the more your reward increases. In the narrations, we have that sometimes a person gives something - a dirham or, for example, a small amount of money - in the way of God, and God the Exalted returns it to him on the Day of Judgment like Mount Uhud; your work is like this; you have given a limb, accepted a deprivation which is, of course, very great and very important and has a lot of reward, but this reward is continuously increasing and growing. Thank God for this increase in reward.

Secondly, you who are veterans, you are currently in a struggle, right now with your very veteran status, you are actually engaged in jihad; how? I do not mean cultural jihad; I do not mean that you should give a speech somewhere or say something or do something or give charity or provide education - well, these are preserved in their own place; these are jihad - but just the fact that you are sitting in a wheelchair or lying on a bed or moving with the deprivation of sight or hand or foot, is a struggle; why? Because it demonstrates the great trial and hardship of this nation in a difficult era. You are actually like a picture, like a tableau, showing the war and the Sacred Defense to all those who see you; you are an image of that great trial of the Iranian nation and the great test of the Iranian nation; thus, your presence and your very existence is a struggle, a statement, and a propaganda. Looking at you indicates the crimes of those powers that supported and defended the Saddam regime; looking at you reflects the greatness and nobility of that Imam and that revolutionary who was able to train you like this and send you to the battlefields; looking at you narrates part of the history of this Iranian nation; therefore, the veteran, with their very existence and presence among the people, announces certain truths even if they do not say a word, even if they do not participate in any ceremony as a propagandist or as an explainer; your very existence indicates truths; historical truths, epistemological truths, political truths, international truths; this is how it is. This itself has a reward before God the Exalted; this is also the next point.

The third point relates to the women who receive you and bear your suffering. Yes, as this gentleman expressed in his beautiful poem, these women are truly self-sacrificing; this is self-sacrifice, a great self-sacrifice; their service has a very high value. The suffering of caring for the sick is not less than the suffering of the illness itself. That a person receives a veteran with their problems, with their physical limitations, takes care of them, listens to their words, does not become impatient in the face of the natural impatience that a veteran may have, has a very high reward before God the Exalted. I can say to the women - the wives of you veterans - that God the Exalted gives you good tidings for the greatness of this work you are doing; this is truly a jihad and an epic; this is also a point.

The last point is that both you dear veterans, and the women, and your children and relatives, and those who have a role in receiving you, should strive to preserve this great spiritual wealth. Know that sometimes, through our negligence, the great treasures that are in our possession are lost. If we become negligent, if we do not pay attention, if we do not act according to this spiritual and divine status, what we have in our possession as this spiritual wealth will be lost; we must be careful. May God grant us all the success to be able to preserve these divine gifts - some of which are material gifts, some are spiritual gifts - God willing, and be grateful for them.

I once again welcome you dear brothers and sisters for this meeting today and your coming to the Hosseiniyeh, and I thank you, and I ask God the Exalted for the joy of your hearts and the progress of your affairs and the fulfillment of your needs and desires. May God the Exalted, God willing, grant you children and make your lives sweet, and grant you long lives along with complete healing, God willing.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings.