Statements by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in Meeting with the President and Cabinet

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

We are very grateful for the useful and profound statements of Mr. Ahmadinejad. It is a good occasion to renew the memory of these two dear and esteemed martyrs; Martyr Rajai and Martyr Bahonar. It is true that these two individuals were truly symbols of committed and devoted statesmen of the Islamic Republic. We hope, God willing, that the Almighty God treats them with His mercy, forgiveness, and endless grace, and grants us success to be able to, God willing, move in the same path and direction.

The beginning of the new government coincides with the blessed days of Rajab and Sha'ban and the days and nights of remembrance, mention, and humility. This is a very important occasion; do not underestimate these and start in the name of God and with the remembrance of God. Establish that in all moments and conditions, and in the opportunity that the Almighty God has given you, do not disconnect yourselves, your hearts, and your actions from the Almighty God. Connection with God guarantees the correctness of action and steadfastness on the path. If we want to move correctly on this road, we must not be misled by the fleeting appearances and must move directly towards the goal; certainly, in this work, the remembrance of God, reliance on God, and constant connection to God are necessary; this should be our constant instruction. What the poet says, "Blessed are those who are always in prayer," does not mean that they are always sitting or standing facing the Qibla or bowing and prostrating; it means the spirit of prayer, remembrance, and the mention of God. We must always be in the remembrance of God. In every decision, in every action, in every word we speak - which is not the word of an ordinary person; its effects are very wide - in every choice we make, in every attraction, in every repulsion, we must consider the divine criterion. The criterion is that personal desires and interests should not interfere. If personal interests and desires interfere, it is not divine. If these do not interfere, the main and major factor will be the fulfillment of duty and the performance of obligation; this is divine. Always remember this.

The new work you have started is fundamentally different from your previous services. All of you - except for a few who were engaged in service in the previous government - were previously engaged in services; those services are valuable; however, this new work has a different nature; this work is collective; and it is in a vast national scope. Therefore, this collection is doing a job. It is essential to always be aware of this truth that your works, although they have various types, are all essentially one work; its manifestation is the Cabinet of Ministers that you gather around. The guide and, in the expression that I repeat, the guiding police of these twenty-some paths is the respected President who creates coordination so that this large unitary work can be accomplished; and that large unitary work is the advancement and elevation of the country towards the goals we have outlined for ourselves, which are the goals of the Islamic Revolution, and more specifically, what is outlined in the twenty-year vision document. For this great work, value every moment of this time. You have four years, that is about 1450 days. Every day that passes, one of these numbers is removed, and the total approaches zero. Every single day is a treasure. These 1450 days are a wide horizon and scope. A lot can be done in this relatively long time. Amir Kabir, who is a lasting figure in our history and has indeed done great works, had a government that lasted three years; that is, one year less than the time you are supposed to be engaged in this responsibility; but this work was so important, great, and serious that history does not forget Amir Kabir; otherwise, before he came to the head of the premiership, and after he was exiled to Kashan, there is nothing left in his file; it is just these three years. Therefore, these four years are not a short time; it is a long span. From now on, as you start and look towards the lofty horizons ahead of you, you can accomplish all tasks. A day will come when you look ahead and see that there is no opportunity left; for example, three months or six months remain. In those three months and six months, serious work cannot be done anymore; except for the continuation and bringing these works to fruition. Think from now on and consider every day a treasure; that is, not a single day should be wasted. It should not be that we say there are four years; God willing, we will get to work in due time; no, from this very first day and first hour, you must start working seriously. Because I know your intentions are good and divine, and you have entered this matter to serve, I am confident that if you maintain this intention for yourselves, the Almighty God will assist you. Of course, know that preserving a blessing is much more difficult than acquiring a blessing. The Quran says: "Indeed, those who say, 'Our Lord is Allah,' and then remain steadfast." Just saying "Our Lord is Allah" is not enough; "and then remain steadfast" is also necessary; then "the angels descend upon them." Steadfastness is the foundation of work; otherwise, a weak person like me can lift a heavy weight and hold it for a moment; but cannot keep it up; it will fall. The strong and capable worker is the one who can keep this heavy weight in his hand for the necessary time. Many of us have good intentions and enter with good intentions; but we cannot maintain this intention; this intention encounters obstacles along the way; it wears down and weakens, and sometimes a strong opposing attraction draws the heart - where the place of intention is - towards itself; at one point, you look and see that the intention has completely changed; the intention has become something else; then the person's path changes.

If you see that some have said "Our Lord is Allah," but today they are facing the idol temple instead of the Kaaba; they gave a good slogan, but today they are moving 180 degrees in the opposite direction of that slogan, the reason is this; they could not maintain it. Why could they not maintain it? Because along the way, attractions arise.

You must have heard that someone intended to practice austerity for forty days; but on the second day, the fifth day, the twentieth day, suddenly satanic factors began to intervene; a woman with a certain appearance entered, food with a certain shape was placed in front of him; money was offered to him in that form; thus he could not hold himself; therefore, he surrendered, and the efforts of those twenty or thirty days he had previously made were nullified. These may be realities; but if they are not realities, their symbolic meaning is instructive for us.

One point regarding the Islamic government: One of the good slogans that Mr. President repeated both during the election period and afterwards is the issue of the Islamic government. I referred to this topic in Friday prayers. We need to elaborate more on this concept. The Islamic system was established after the Islamic Revolution. A revolutionary uprising and revolutionary movement could have taken place, but a non-Islamic system could have been established. This has happened in many places; it was the same in Algeria. In Algeria, the movement was Islamic. The base of the movement and the leaders of the movement were Muslims; but after the movement succeeded, those who had no belief in the foundations of Islamic thought came to power. The same things were happening here. On the days of 21, 22, and 23 of Bahman, these things were happening. I was closely aware of some of these actions; they were moving to impose what they called a workers' movement and a workers' action on this general movement and to realize the formula that is common in the rise of socialist systems in the world - that is, the revolution of the working class - and then a few people would come to power; however, they had not accounted for Imam; that is, they had not seen this indestructible and invincible gem in their calculations; therefore, they suffered a severe blow. Even on the third day after the victory of the revolution, they came in front of Imam's house in the Alavi School and protested, raising so-called socialist and workers' demands. But the Islamic system was established.

What does the Islamic system mean? It means that the source of legislation and the criterion and standard for execution and the pillars of decision-making in the country were determined; the pillars of government - the executive branch, the legislative branch, leadership, the judiciary, and other pillars - were arranged, and the constitution came and established all of these; thus, the fundamental foundations were laid. This Islamic system is not just a form; it has content; that is, actions must be taken in the reality of people's lives. The realization of these realities in people's lives requires men and elements who are faithful and committed to it - who also possess the necessary qualities and characteristics - this becomes the Islamic government. The Islamic government includes all the officials of the Islamic system; not just the executive branch; that is, the rulers and public servants. They must align their orientations and social behaviors and their individual behaviors and their relationship with the people with Islamic criteria so that they can achieve those goals. Then they must place those orientations in their view and quickly move towards those orientations; this becomes the Islamic government.

From the very beginning, efforts to establish the Islamic government began. Some say you want to establish the Islamic government after 27 years? No, the effort and action to establish the Islamic government started from day one; however, it has had ups and downs; it has made progress and regressed; in some places, we have been successful, and at times we have not been successful. Some of us stumbled along the way; some of us became hesitant about the original goal; some of us could not hold ourselves; we became attached to tyrannical behaviors.

It is not enough for us to be called the Islamic government; otherwise, before us, several other Islamic Republic governments existed in our region and Africa and elsewhere, and there still are. Before the revolution, a government was formed somewhere that we joked about and called the American Islamic Republic of such and such place! That government was also called the Islamic Republic. Therefore, it is not enough for us to be called the Islamic government; our actions and orientations must be Islamic. If there is a disruption in these, the continuous and progressive movement that is necessary for the Islamic government to take shape completely will be disrupted, and naturally, the work will be delayed. Of course, the complete Islamic government in the true sense of the word will be established in the time of the complete human; God willing. Blessed are those who witness that day. All of us are imperfect humans. We want, to the extent of our ability and effort, to bring the collection of government officials - of which we are also a part - to a point that conforms to the standards of the Islamic Republic. We want to bring ourselves closer to the standards. If a government comes and says my goal is to realize this, it is a very blessed and good thing.

Four or five years ago, I mentioned this matter here in the Hosseiniyeh with the collection of officials; I said the Islamic Revolution, the Islamic system, the Islamic government, and then the Islamic country. If our government becomes Islamic, then our country will become Islamic. If you and I cannot bring ourselves to the standards in our interactions, in our behaviors, in our pursuit of wealth, in our struggles, what expectations can we have from that student, from that market youth, from that element in the lower ranks of government, from that worker, from that villager, from that urbanite to act Islamically? Why do we unjustly blame the people? We should not blame them. If there is a shortcoming, we must blame ourselves; "blame yourselves."

First, we become Islamic; when we become Islamic, "be callers to the people without your tongues"; then our actions will make people true Muslims and the country will become Islamic; both the Islamic laws and regulations, and the Islamic execution, and the statesmen are Islamic, and the people will become Islamic morally in accordance with the state of the statesmen. Of course, Satan does not die; Satan is alive. There are always some people, currents, and groups that will submit to Satan; however, the overall shape will become Islamic.

The meaning of the slogan of the Islamic government is that we want to bring individual actions, behavior with people, behavior among ourselves, and behavior with international systems and the system of domination of today's world closer to Islamic criteria and standards. This slogan is very valuable; God willing, remain committed to this slogan and make this effort more serious, less harmful, and more real; because it will be a significant step towards achieving those goals; and as I mentioned, achieving those goals requires its men. Of course, when we say "men," it does not mean "men" in the constitution; it includes women as well; that is, it requires its people and elements and officials. As the poet says, they should have those two hundred man bones to be able to carry this hundred man burden.

The second point: One of the slogans of this government is justice. Justice was certainly the axis of the revolution; there is no doubt about it. No government has ever come from the beginning and explicitly said I do not want to act according to justice; but I must thank Mr. Ahmadinejad that he has done something new; he has placed the axis of justice as a slogan in the center; this was a very significant act. When he was campaigning, I told my family members that even if Mr. Ahmadinejad does not get votes, he has done this great service to the revolution by raising the slogan of justice; he did not allow this slogan to be forgotten as a tradition. This slogan was raised and attracted minds. Fortunately, the people understood, wanted, liked, and voted. This is an important act. Therefore, the justice-centeredness of this government is a significant statement; proposing this slogan as the axis of the government's movement is a new act; it is a transformation; remain committed to this.

A lot has been done for the realization of justice. Since the beginning of the revolution, all activities that have been done for the benefit of the deprived classes; that is, bringing welfare facilities, educational facilities, and health facilities to the farthest points of the country - which is truly so much that it cannot be counted - have been in the direction of justice. Truly and fairly, this service has transformed the situation. Those who saw the situation of the deprived classes in the previous period can understand. I myself have been in deprived areas and have seen the deprived places in that period; now I have gone many times and have seen it up close; it has truly transformed. All these massive infrastructures that are for public use, all of these are helping justice; there is no doubt about it; however, the value of justice should not gradually be forgotten as a second-degree value in comparison to other values; this danger has existed in our system. Other values are also very important; for example, the value of progress and development, the value of construction, the value of freedom and popular sovereignty. Raising the value of justice does not mean negating these; but when we emphasize these values and the issue of justice and negation of discrimination and attention to the needs of the deprived classes in society becomes less prominent, it is a great danger; but with the justice-centeredness of a government, this danger is eliminated or weakened.

What is justice? Justice, in appearance, is a simple concept, and everyone says it and repeats it; however, in terms of instances and in practice, achieving justice is very difficult; the same point that Amir al-Mu'minin has said about truth: "Truth is the widest of things in description and the narrowest in distribution." The same is true for justice; because justice is also truth and they are not separate at all. In a sense, truth is the same as justice; justice is the same as truth; it is easy to describe, but in practice, achieving justice is difficult; even recognizing the instances of justice and the examples of justice can sometimes be very difficult; where is justice, where is injustice. I do not want to define justice now. General and major definitions of justice have been made; equitable distribution of resources and such statements, which are correct and require precision and scrutiny; that is, you must really see what justice is in each of your sectors and how it is achieved.

I want to mention this point that if we want justice to be realized in its true sense in society, it is closely intertwined with two other concepts; one is the concept of rationality; the other is spirituality. If justice is separated from rationality and spirituality, the justice you are seeking will not exist; it will not be justice at all. Rationality is necessary because if reason and intellect are not employed in identifying instances of justice, a person will fall into misguidance and error; he thinks that some things are justice, while they are not; and he sometimes does not see things that are justice. Therefore, rationality and calculation are one of the necessary conditions for achieving justice.

When we say rationality and calculation, do not immediately think that rationality and calculation mean conservatism, rationalism, and being subject to reason. Being wise and using intellect is different from conservatism. A conservative is a supporter of the status quo; he is afraid of any transformation; he cannot tolerate any change and transformation and fears transformation; but rationality is not like that; rational calculation sometimes becomes the source of significant transformations. Our great Islamic Revolution was born from a rationality. It was not that people came to the streets without any calculation and could overthrow such a regime; rational calculations and rational work and intellectual work had been done. Over the years - in today's common expression - a discourse of truth-seeking, justice-seeking, and freedom-seeking had emerged among the people and culminated in employing the forces of the people and bringing them to the field of great jihad and confronting that enemy and defeating that enemy. Therefore, rationality sometimes becomes the source of such significant transformations. The same is true now. Now in our system, there are some transformations that are the result of a rational and precise and meticulous view of the current situation and the state of the world. I observe this in various matters. The state of being asleep and submitting to what is happening in the general political and economic flow of the world and surrendering to it is a great danger for our society, and if someone understands correctly and thinks, he understands that he must change this situation with a movement and transformation; both in economic matters and in political matters. Therefore, rationality is different from conservatism. Do not confuse rational calculation with conservative calculation; these are two different things.

As soon as we say calculation and rationality, some say be careful, do not make a mistake, observe reason; do not say something that will cause such a thing in the world; do not do something that will cause the world to align against you. These are conservative rationalities; I do not believe in this at all. Therefore, if you want to implement justice correctly, you need rational calculation and to employ intellect and knowledge in various sectors to understand what can establish justice and the balance that we consider the foundation of the earth and time based on that divine balance, and its manifestation in our lives is social justice.

If we separate justice from spirituality - that is, justice that is not accompanied by spirituality - this will also not be justice. Justice that is not accompanied by spirituality and attention to the spiritual horizons of existence and the universe will turn into hypocrisy, lies, deviation, superficiality, and artificiality; like the communist systems whose slogan was justice. We said justice and freedom; but freedom was not part of their slogans at all. In all the countries where communist movements were realized in some form - revolution or coup - justice was the axis of their slogans; but the reality of their lives absolutely did not indicate justice; it was exactly against justice. Some came to power in the name of the workers, who were the same aristocratic class of tyrannical regimes and had no difference from them. The lives of the leaders of Marxist countries were like this. I had seen the situation of the lower classes in some socialist countries during my presidency; what is called justice and the concept that justice has absolutely did not exist there. A new aristocratic class existed there that had come to power based on their specific party and political criteria and enjoyed all the resources; while the people lived in poverty and misery. This situation was even seen in some of their first-rate countries. Therefore, this kind of justice-seeking will be unsustainable and will deviate from its correct path and will be hypocritical and false.

Justice must be accompanied by spirituality; that is, you must seek justice for God and divine reward; in this case, you can confront and resist the enemies of justice. Of course, spirituality without a tendency towards justice is one-dimensional. Some are spiritual but have no regard for justice; this cannot be. Islam does not have spirituality without regard to social issues and the fate of humans; "Whoever wakes up and does not care about the affairs of Muslims is not a Muslim." A spiritual person who cooperates with oppression, cooperates with tyranny, cooperates with a tyrannical and dominating system, what kind of spirituality is this? We cannot understand this kind of spirituality. Therefore, spirituality and justice are intertwined.

This point regarding justice should also be mentioned that some say justice means distributing poverty. No, those who discuss justice do not mean distributing poverty at all; rather, they mean the equitable distribution of existing resources. Those who say justice is distributing poverty, the essence and spirit of their words is that do not seek justice; rather, seek wealth production so that what is distributed is wealth. Seeking wealth production without regard to justice becomes what we observe today in capitalist countries. In the richest country in the world - that is, America - there are those who die from hunger and from cold and heat; these are not slogans; they are realities that we observe. There are those who strive for years for a three or four-room apartment, and because they do not reach it, they commit treason to obtain these facilities.

Two or three years ago, a high-ranking CIA member was arrested for spying for the former Soviet Union and its successor Russia. In an interview with him - which we read in a publication - they asked him why he did this? He said I wanted to have a three-room villa, but I saw that with this salary and income, it was not possible; I had to go serve the Soviets; with the enmity and rivalry that existed between the two countries at that time. When seeking wealth production is separated from a justice-centered view, it leads to situations where in a society, those who are smarter and more intelligent suddenly acquire vast and immense wealth; while there are many who live ordinary lives with longing, and some live very hard and difficult lives.

Therefore, saying that we should not raise the issue of justice, but rather raise the issue of wealth production; and we use the excuse that after producing wealth, we will turn to justice, this will not work. Justice means that the resources available in the country should be distributed equitably and wisely - not equitably without calculation - and we should strive to increase these resources so that more people can benefit from them; not that a specific class and a specific group benefit more. This was one of the duties of the Islamic government that you raised its slogan; you did very well; pursue it; be committed to this; and this is the foundation of your work.

Truly make justice the axis of all your planning and see how it can be achieved in various sectors. In this regard, especially the management and planning organization has a very significant role, and then the financial and economic sectors of the government and the service sectors and other sectors.

Another essential duty of the Islamic government is the expansion of knowledge and awareness; because the Islamic government will not reach anywhere without the expansion of knowledge and awareness. The expansion of free thought is also important. Truly, people must be able to think in a free environment. Freedom of expression is a function of freedom of thought. When there is freedom of thought, naturally, there is also freedom of expression. The main thing is freedom of thought so that people can think freely. In a non-free intellectual environment, there will be no possibility for growth. For thought, for knowledge, for the vast fields of human progress, there will be no place at all. Wherever we have made progress in theological and philosophical discussions, it has been in the shadow of debate and contention and the existence of opposition. The problem we have always had with cultural sectors is that they do not act correctly in their role as an Islamic government in the intellectual battlefield. There must be an intellectual battlefield; however, the intellectual battlefield should not be such that we, as Saadi says, unleash the dog and bind the stone; take the weapon from the hands of the people of truth and the people of the thought we consider to be true; but leave the hands of the people of falsehood open to bring any calamity they want upon our youth; no, let him speak, you also speak and inject thought into society. We have learned from experience that where the voice of truth comes to the field with its necessary logic and adornment, no speech can withstand and resist it.

The fight against corruption is another very important duty. I have spoken so much about the fight against corruption in public and private discussions that I think it is repetitive. Of course, thanks be to God, the pillars in this government also pay full attention to this issue.

The next point is to ensure national dignity. If a nation feels dignity, it will progress and flourish; but if it is humiliated, its talents will be stifled. National dignity and what is today called national pride - although the term "pride" is not very eloquent considering its literal meaning, but it is common - must be strengthened in the nation so that it feels dignity and capability. What constitutes the dignity of a nation is like the great intellectual, cultural, and scientific heritage placed before their eyes; their prominent personalities, their bright past, their high talents.

The struggle against domination is also one of the duties of the Islamic government. The system of domination is a system that falls like a heavy burden on the body of human society - and it has fallen - and destroys and annihilates it. This system of domination has two sides; the dominator and the dominated. We must fight against this system. Its struggle is not with the sword; its struggle is with intellect, with professional political work, and with courage in the necessary and appropriate fields.

The Islamic government also has enemies. The Islamic government has two categories of enemies; one category consists of known enemies. All the dominators and dictators of the world are obviously enemies of the Islamic government; because the Islamic government opposes the principle of domination and dictatorship. There are those who do not believe in religion or the entry of religion into the realm of life - so-called secularists - these are also opposed to the Islamic government; they say the economy should be separated from religion, politics should be separated from religion, social life should be separated from religion, and public movements and activities should be separated from religion. The oppositions also take place across a wide spectrum; from being opposed, to opposing, to making serious oppositions. The international affluent - that is, the great wealthy of the world who want to control oil and major global resources and are making maximum scientific and practical efforts for this - are also among the external enemies of the Islamic government. I mentioned that enemies do not necessarily act in hostility; some of them are enemies, some express their enmity in the form of opposition and protest, and some enter the field and engage in conflict. Therefore, there are various types of enmity, and each must be dealt with in a certain way.

The second category of enemies is internal; that is, the pests, diseases, and microbes. Our death is more due to the fact that someone else comes to kill us than it is due to the fact that a conflict arises within ourselves. Most of our deaths are caused by a virus, microbe, disease, and rebellious cell that causes cancer; it is less due to someone coming to kill a person. The Islamic government is the same; it must be careful of its internal enemies; these are its pests.

Let me mention one or two of these pests. One of its pests is neglecting and deviating from the path; one of its pests is that we thicken religious literature; without having a corresponding action. This leads us to hypocrisy and also encourages hypocrisy among the people. I have no objection to strengthening religious literature; but it must have a counterpart. More than we act Islamically in our behavior, we should not present ourselves in our language and expression and manifestations. Giving more importance to form than to content is one of the pests.

The content must be made Islamic. If we want to truly become Islamic, we must create a transformation in our management. One of the good statements of our President in the electoral campaign - which I believe attracted many people - was the transformation in management. Who should carry out this transformation in management? We ourselves must carry it out. The first step in transformation is that our behavior, the quality of our work, our appointments and dismissals, the application of our management, the charm we exert, the flexibility we show, the way we interact with the classes we address and refer to ourselves must be Islamic.

Of course, what I said about thickening religious literature without a counterpart is one of the pests; do not confuse it with the actions that some are pursuing here and there to remove Islamic flags and symbols from among the people; no, I do not say this. We must not weaken Islamic symbols at all. "And whoever honors the symbols of Allah, indeed, it is from the piety of hearts"; the basis of symbols is to show and present and keep them in front of the eyes. Symbols must not be weakened at all. Some, in the name of not being hypocritical and not wanting to show off, remove Islamic symbols and Islamic signs and Islamic appearances and Islamic behaviors and Islamic flags from their lives and the lives of the people; no, I absolutely do not recommend this; rather, on the contrary, I recommend that you be committed to keeping these. However, if we are to wash the prayer rug, we should really pray on that prayer rug; otherwise, a person washes the prayer rug and does not pray on it and puts it aside, it is of no benefit.

Also, do not pay too much attention to those who say you are reactionary and acting like the Taliban; there are always such words and they have been said and continue to be said. We fundamentally oppose any movement or tendency of the Taliban type. They are fundamentally opposed to reason; they are reactionary. In fact, those who stand against the committed and devoted faction are, in a sense, closer to reactionism and Talibanism; because they also have reactionary attitudes towards Western teachings and lessons. Whatever the West says, it must be executed one hundred percent; is this not reactionism? This is reactionism. Moreover, they do not convey the new words of the West to us; they bring the outdated and obsolete words of the nineteenth century and present them in society; whether in politics, ethics, religious tendencies, the form of government, or economics, they stand reactionarily and fanatically; this is more like Talibanism. The essence of Talibanism is reactionism. Reactionism and distance from rationality manifest in this way. We recommend rationality. The Quran has fundamentally been based on rationality from the very beginning.

Another point I want to make is that you should make your service delivery noticeable. Sometimes governments have made investments that have not been very large; but people have seen their effects before their eyes. Sometimes we invest several times that amount, and it is said here and there that such and such an amount was invested from the foreign currency reserve fund; but no effect is observed in people's lives. Strive to ensure that your service delivery has a counterpart; that is, truly, in all sectors and in all ministries, a transformation in service delivery should occur.

Alongside this, consider the system of accountability as a necessity for yourselves. Truly, a minister in his area of work, the managers of ministries in their areas of work, and each of their deputies in their areas of work must be accountable. That is, they must be accountable both for any mistakes made and for the necessary work that should have been done but has not been done. In many cases, no wrongdoing has occurred; but it has been wrong that many necessary works should have been done but have not been done. Not working to the necessary extent is also a type of violation.

Another recommendation is collective and balanced work. Among the things we have always recommended over these years and have not been implemented, and until the end, government officials have complained to us about, is the lack of cooperation in various sectors and in sensitive areas; for example, our economic sectors with our foreign ministry. Foreign ministers - whether during Mr. Dr. Velayati's time or Mr. Dr. Kharrazi's time - have always complained to me that we have a political problem with such and such a country, which can be solved with an economic action and calculation; but our hands are empty. At one point, we see that our economic sector has done an economic action that our ambassador and foreign ministry are completely unaware of; if we had been aware, we could have solved our political problem through it. The respected foreign ministers I mentioned have repeatedly said that sometimes the officials of the economic sectors abroad make deals that our ambassador and foreign ministry are completely unaware of. Such actions are uncoordinated. As I mentioned at the beginning, your work is one work; you are all building different parts of a building; one is laying bricks, one is putting up the roof beams, one is making the clay, one is bringing water. Each of you is doing a job so that this place can be built. If your works are unbalanced, what comes out will not be good.

The next point is attention to simple living. One of the good slogans of Mr. Ahmadinejad is the issue of simple living. This slogan is very important; it should not be underestimated. There is a time when we have a kind of aristocratic movement in our personal lives between ourselves and God; if it is forbidden, it is forbidden; if it is disliked, it is disliked; if it is permissible, it is permissible; but there is a time when we give a display of aristocracy in front of the people; this is no longer permissible or disliked; it is all forbidden; because it teaches aristocracy to: firstly, our subordinates, secondly, the general public are encouraged to this behavior. We must not encourage the people to this behavior. There may be wealthy people in society who waste money - of course, this is a bad thing, but it is their own business - but our wastefulness is firstly not from our pockets, it is from the public treasury; secondly, our wastefulness encourages others to waste. Truly, "people are on the religion of their kings." Kings here do not mean monarchs that we say we do not have kings; no, you are the kings; "people are on our religion."

In one of the histories, I read that when Walid ibn Abd al-Malik became caliph, because he was very fond of collecting wealth and jewels and valuable objects, when people in the streets and markets met each other, their conversations were like this: Sir! Did you buy that dress? Sir! That gem was brought by such and such a person, did you buy it? That is, people were all talking about buying and selling ornaments and such things. After Walid, Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik became caliph. He was fond of building and loved construction and building very much. This historian says that when people came to the mosque for prayer, one would say: Sir! Did you finish your construction work at home? Another would say: Sir! Did you buy that house or land? Another would say: Sir! Did you add those two rooms? Their conversations were all like this. After these two, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz came. He was a man of worship. The historian says that when the people of the streets and markets met, one would say: Sir! Did you really recite the prayer of the month of Rajab yesterday? Another would say: Did you read those two rak'ahs of prayer? Therefore, our behavior has a compelling effect on the behavior of the people. Simple living is a very good thing.

Dear brothers and sisters! Your burden is heavy and your work is difficult. If you act well, your reward will be doubled; but if, God forbid, you act poorly, your accountability will also be doubled. In order to be able to traverse this path healthily and to spend the 1450 days ahead of you well, you must connect yourselves to God. Do not forget to read the Quran every day. Every day, definitely read the Quran; as much as you can. Those who understand the translation of the Quran should look at the translation with contemplation. Those who do not understand the translation of the Quran should place a good translated Quran - which, thanks be to God, we have many - next to them and look at its translation. You may spend ten minutes and read one or two pages; but read every day; make this a definite practice for yourselves. Mark it, and read from where you left off the next day. As much as you can, pay attention to prayer and remembrance and supplication in prayer and to the supererogatory prayers. The Almighty God says to the Prophet: "Stand at night except for a little. Half of it or a little less than that. Or add to it and recite the Quran in a measured tone. Indeed, We will cast upon you a weighty word." That is, stay awake half the night, or two-thirds of the night, and worship - which is for the Prophet; it is very difficult for you and me to say these things for ourselves - why? "Indeed, We will cast upon you a weighty word"; We want to convey a heavy word to you; we want to say something great to you; therefore, you must prepare yourself. A heavy burden requires spiritual readiness; this spiritual readiness does not come easily. That we say go and purify your heart, yes, the basis is that purifying the heart is essential; but purifying the heart comes only through prayer, through intercession, through attention, and through remembrance.

If someone thinks that he can purify the heart and soul without these, he is greatly mistaken. The heart of a person is purified through the weeping of midnight, through reading the Quran with contemplation and precision, through reading the supplications of Sahifa Sajjadiyya; otherwise, it is not that we say go and purify your heart; whatever you did, you did.

May God, God willing, make these words effective first in my heart so that we may become a little better; then, God willing, make them effective in your hearts, dear friends and brothers and sisters. May God, God willing, be pleased with you and may you be able to act according to your divine duties during this time and be happy and pleased at the end of this period.

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