That Day Every Enlightened Heart and Soul Was Grief-Stricken

20/03/2008

All Muslims who were familiar with the Revolution and its ups and downs were stricken with grief everywhere. There was nowhere left on earth in which one could find hearts not filled with the sorrow of this great event and men and women not bereft over this irrevocable loss. The whole Iran turned into a house of mourning. In every town and village, houses overflowed with sorrowful whimpers that filled all alleys, squares and streets with sadness. Nobody could silently endure this sorrow, from the heroes of battlefields to stoic mothers and fathers - who had not been rendered helpless and sorrowful by the loss of their young sons - to great men of science, mysticism and politics, and to every member of this most honorable nation. They all mourned this big tragedy. They raised their cries in sorrow or distressfully beat their chests and heads. The tragedy of Imam's loss was as great as his personality. Nobody could possibly recognize the extent of this great tragedy except God and His saints. When great hearts writhe, when great men become confused, when the air is filled with restlessness of millions of people, the situation could be depicted neither in writing nor speech. How could I possibly depict it, I who was only a fidgety drop in the turbulent ocean of those days? Time lost its unique possession, and the earth swallowed up the unique gem. The great standard-bearer of Islam left this world after a holy life spent promoting Islam.

* Message issued by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution on the occasion of the first anniversary of Imam Khomeini's (RA) demise, May 31, 1389, published in Hadith-e Wilayat, vol. 4, p. 238

^{* Source: http://english.khamenei.ir}