Statements at the Meeting with Members of the Central Headquarters of the National Congress of Martyrs of Sabzevar and Nishapur

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

Thanks be to God, the Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our master Muhammad and his pure family, especially the Remaining One of God on the earth.

First, I extend my warm welcome to the dear brothers and sisters who have traveled this long distance from Nishapur and Sabzevar to be here, illuminating this Hussainiyah with their warm breath and loving hearts. I sincerely thank the two dear brothers, the commanders of the IRGC in the two cities of Sabzevar and Nishapur. Both gentlemen spoke very well, and what is necessary to be addressed in such gatherings was included in their statements, which makes one happy to see that, thanks be to God, this intellectual and mental grasp exists among these brothers. I have noted two or three points that I would like to share with you.

The first point is to express gratitude to those involved in organizing these valuable gatherings; this is a very important matter. My belief is that the work you are doing, namely organizing these gatherings, is itself a great jihad. This work you are doing is jihad; appreciate this effort. This is the same jihad that prevented the sacred blood shed in Karbala from being trampled upon; this is the same jihad. This is the same jihad that has kept alive the thousand-year services of the great figures of Islam, the great figures of religion, and the great figures of Shi'ism until today. If individuals like you did not strive, there would be those who had the motivation to erase these from history, throughout all eras; there have been those in the past, and there are those today who have the motivation to prevent these signs of spiritual greatness from remaining alive among nations, to diminish and eliminate them. You have often heard that they tried to destroy Karbala, to leave no trace of it, no land, no place of martyrdom, no memory of the martyrs. Such individuals exist today as well; today, there are those whose interests and benefits lie in ensuring that no memory of the struggles remains, that no memory of all these efforts remains, that no memory of the pure blood shed remains. The arrogant powers today do not agree that the names of our martyrs, the memories of our martyrs, be seen atop the tall flags of honor of this country.

You are striving against this wicked and malicious movement; this is jihad. Those who strive in the path of truth find their first enemies among those who are at the head of falsehood; they do not want to allow these individuals to succeed, they do not want to allow any memory or name of them to remain. The essence of martyrdom is to attract hearts. The martyrdom of a young man outside of religion compels him to go serve the late Mr. Alavi and become a Muslim, a Shi'ite, and then go to the front and attain martyrdom; this is the art of martyrdom. The martyrdom of a young man, the martyrdom of a friend, the martyrdom of a companion illuminates the atmosphere with the light of martyrdom, attracts hearts; this is contrary to the interests of the arrogant powers, contrary to the interests of the people of falsehood; hence, they struggle against it. Some individuals also engage in such actions from within. You are engaged in jihad, thus you stand against them.

Preserving the memory of the martyr is jihad; preserving the memory of the martyr-nurturer is jihad. Who is the martyr-nurturer? The father, the mother, the teacher, the spouse, a good friend; these are the martyr-nurturers, and honoring their memory is jihad. Remembering those who supported this jihad during the Sacred Defense or after it until today is jihad; remembering that lady who in the village of 'Sad Kharv' or elsewhere bakes bread for the combatants in her home is jihad; keeping her memory alive is itself a jihad. These memories must be preserved.

These memories must be kept; how should they be preserved? Well, friends have mentioned books, writings, wall inscriptions, and similar things; all of these are good, but strive to make them a reality, strive to place art in the service of this work. These events can be subjects for painting, for novel writing, for poetry, for creating attractive films that can be used in cinema, in popular performances, in various arts; these are things that must be done; these are important tasks. Now you have organized this gathering in these two great and important cities; continue its follow-ups; do not let this jihad remain half-finished; it is a great task. Well, this is our first point, that you yourselves must appreciate this work properly and do everything possible with strength, taste, diligence, perseverance, and unity of word, God willing.

The second point I have noted to share is the virtue of Nishapur and Sabzevar; one of our great duties is to introduce the identities of our cities to our youth; this work is not being done as it should be; before the revolution, this work was almost zero and close to zero. I have repeatedly come to Sabzevar and Nishapur, stayed, given speeches, and been familiar with the people; at that time, these discussions were not present, and no importance was given to the glorious and magnificent past of these cities. Nishapur and Sabzevar are two treasures; treasures of the history of Islam and our Islamic civilization and our Iranian civilization. They are two treasures that must be preserved, they must be introduced. Now, in the reports of the gentlemen, it was mentioned that an encyclopedia of these cities should be prepared; yes, it should be prepared, it should be recognized. The youth of Nishapur, the youth of Sabzevar must know what truths, what beauties, what glory and greatness they inherit in terms of spirituality, knowledge, and history; our youth must know this to feel their identity, to feel their personality. It is not that we look at them as two old settlements or two old and historical cities; no, these — both Nishapur and Sabzevar — are two honest and objective narrators of our Islamic civilization; they are narrators of civilization, narrators of culture. And not just narrators in words; they are objective narrators, tangible and visible narrators. From Fazl ibn Shadhan Nishaburi to a thousand years later, [that is, the time of] Haj Mullah Hadi Sabzevari, see how this thousand-year gap is filled with shining stars. When we look at this gap, it is filled with memories; memories of civilization, memories of greatness. Between Fazl ibn Shadhan and Haj Mullah Hadi and between Attar Nishaburi and Hamid Sabzevari, see how beautiful this balance and equilibrium is. There is about a seven-hundred-year gap between these two men; both worked for Islam, worked for knowledge, worked for the future of the nation, worked to elevate the mental concepts of the Iranian nation, and strived.

Now I will mention two or four names, [but] there are hundreds, even thousands of such individuals in the history of these two cities; these must be recognized, these must be introduced. Others do not have history; they create history for themselves; false histories. You observe, even on our television, it shows that a certain country that has no glorious and valuable history creates serial stories, 100 episodes, 150 episodes; they create history for themselves, create wisdom for themselves, create governance for themselves; we have it, [but] we do not remember.

The commentary on the book of Lam'ah al-Dimashqiyyah is a textbook for our students today. In fact, the book of Lam'ah was written at the request of the Sabzevari people. The Sabzevari people wrote a letter to the first martyr (the author of Lam'ah al-Dimashqiyyah) in Sham during the time of the Sardarans, saying: Sir, we have formed a government; please come and stay here. The martyr said: I cannot come, but I will send you this book. Lam'ah was indeed created by the people of Khorasan. Today, the commentary on this book, after five or six hundred years, is among our textbooks; are these trivial matters? Are these small matters? These are the identities of your cities. Our youth must know these identities. This is our statement regarding your cities.

Of course, I spoke about these two cities [but] the rest of the cities of Iran, throughout the country, are more or less the same; of course, most cities, not all; many cities in our country have similar backgrounds, similar honors, similar valuable histories. Now, since I am from Khorasan and am familiar with these two cities, I emphasize these; otherwise, it is the same everywhere, and this meaning exists. Revive these; this is the identity of your city.

The next point is regarding the virtue of our martyrs, which here, the language truly falls short. Truly, if one wants to speak about the martyrs, their language falls short of expressing the greatness and value of the martyrs; their words, their conduct, their behavior, their wills are lessons. Their wills are truly lessons. Imam recommended in a public speech that you should read the wills of the martyrs. It is truly worth reading. Here is a passionate, devoted young man from Sabzevar, martyr Nasser Baghaani, who has a will. He is a young man around twenty years old. It is worth reading his will ten times, twenty times! I have read it repeatedly; he is a young man. Martyr Noor Ali Shoushtari, a middle-aged man who spent his life in jihad and sacrifice for the sake of God, also has a will; it is full of wisdom. A few lines from this will, one sees that it is truly complete wisdom. Well, I knew martyr Shoushtari closely; in ordinary interactions, one does not guess that such depth exists in this person's character, but it does.

These wills are lessons; they become models. Describing the martyrs for someone like me is truly impossible; they are much higher, superior, and more delicate and luminous than we can properly describe and express, but we must set them as models. All of these are models; the martyrs are models.

Now martyr Shoushtari is one way, martyr Borounsi is another way, martyr Baghaani is another way, martyr Hamid Reza Aldaghi — whose martyrdom shook the public opinion of the country — is another way; all of these are models. Each in a different way, each from a different angle, can serve as a model for us. Now, of course, I mentioned the names of three or four martyrs; Sabzevar and Nishapur together have about 4,500 martyrs, each of whom can be counted as a Borounsi, as a Baghaani; each of them has a separate story, a separate issue; one feels ashamed to mention their names.

Well, thanks be to God, the narrative of the martyrs' memories is a movement that has started in the country and must be strengthened; it must be written more and better with complete artistry, so that these books are read by the youth, everyone reads them, God willing, and benefits from them.

We hope, God willing, that the Almighty God will gather us with them; that He will make us followers of them; that He will not deprive us of their intercession; that He will please the pure spirit of these martyrs and the pure spirit of Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified), who initiated this movement, God willing, and gather him with the Prophet.

Once again, I thank all of you for coming here, for organizing these gatherings; I ask God for your success, and I convey my warm and sincere greetings to the people of Sabzevar and Nishapur through you.

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