The dear apples of my eyes, honorable children of the martyrs, disabled of the war, prisoners of war and those missing in action- may God, the Exalted, always assist them, I heard your message. I convey my greetings and salutations to you. You are my pride and joy. And what honor is greater than the fact that in furthering our revolution we have great reserves such as you dear ones whose presence in the society in all the Islamic, revolutionary and popular scenes reminds one of the valor, self-sacrifices and sincerity of the liberal men through the blessings of their pure bloods the Islamic Revolution and Republic came to fruition. Through their martyrdom, self-sacrifices, acts of devotion and captivity, from the 15th of Khordad until now, the emblem of glory, freedom and nobility has remained with our movement. You are the truthful witnesses and the mementos of firm and strong wills and resolutions of the most exemplary sincere servants of God, whose levels of submission and devotion they proved in the Sacred Presence of God, the Exalted, through the offering of blood and life. In the arena of greater jihad against the self and the lesser jihad against the enemy, they epitomized the reality of victory of blood over the sword and the predominance of the human will over Satan. They did not sell the asset of their lives for a miserable price; they did not become playthings of the transient allurements of the world. With high aspiration, they entered a deal and transaction in which God was the buyer of their lives and granted them certain reward and recompense and made their lives eternal. This is the highest wish of the lovers and the ultimate act and hope of the mystics: “If only we were with Him.” Blessed are these martyrs as their joy of fellowship and neighborhood are with the eminent prophets, honorable saints and the martyrs at the advent of Islam! More blessed are they for being the recipients of the divine pleasure- “And greater acceptance from Allah!”(Quran, 9:27), while you and we, who are inheritors of that mission and products of that trust, have lagged behind.
My dear ones! I love you and treat you like my own children; I always pray for you. I kindly and fatherly advise you, my good and faithful children, to properly shoulder the burden of trust of your fathers, the legacy of their honor, way and mode of life; to observe piety, purity and chastity; to maintain discipline in life and all its stages; to seriously engage in your search for knowledge and learning and in utilizing your divinely endowed talents; not to lay down the arms of resistance against injustice, arrogance and oppression; to make friendship with the friends of God and enmity against the enemies of God as your motto; and not to keep aloof from the barefooted, downtrodden and helpless people to whose favor and service we own all our honor. The martyrs, disabled of the war, prisoners of war and those missing in action are from these same strata. I emphatically ask you, children of the martyrs, to behave with your bereaved mothers kindly and compassionately as “Paradise lies under the steps of mothers”. (Kanz al-Ammal, vol. 61, p. 164.)
My last word to you at this point is to maintain loyalty to the Islamic Republic, which is the fruit of the blood of your fathers. By preparing yourselves, exporting the revolution and conveying the message of blood of the martyrs, you should pave the ground for revolution of the world Reformer and the last inheritor and saint, the Promised savior (may my soul be sacrificed for him).
Time and again, I advise the honorable officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran to appreciate the value of these great divine favors; to give priority to these dear ones and those who have offered blood and struggled for the sake of Islam in the present conditions and the distant future and strongly shun seeking excuses, creating obstacles, putting barrier, and red tape that hinder their progress and that of the valiant nation of Iran.
May God grant us all the sincerity and opportunity to render service, and protect these precious gems from the temptations and insinuations of Satan. “Lo, my Lord is Nigh, Responsive.”(Quran, 11:16) May God's peace and mercy be upon you.
Rouhullah al-Mousawi al-Khomeini
Sahifeh, vol.20, Page: 32-33
Message, April 28, 1968