Hawzah News Agency (Tehran, Iran) - Here are some excerpts of Ayatollah Khamenei's narration:

Recite Sha'aban's prayers to make your hearts tender

Look at The Whispered Prayer (Munajat) of Sha’baniyah. One day I asked Imam Khomeini (ra) which supplications he likes and enjoys more. He said, “Supplication of Kumail and the Sha’baniyah supplication.” Actually they are both recommended for the month of Sha’ban. As you may know, Dua Kumail was originally recommended for recitation on the eve of the 15th day of Sha’ban. Sha’baniyah supplication, which has been narrated from the Imams (as), is also recommended for the month of Sha’ban. The tone of these two supplications are very similar. They are both romantic. In the Sha’baniyah supplication we read, “if You (God) decide to send me to hell, I shall declare to its inhabitants that I love You.” And in the Kumail supplication it reads, “if You leave me with speech, I will lament for You from the midst of the fire's inhabitants with lamentation of the hopeful: I will cry to You with the cries of those crying for help; I will weep to You with the weeping of the bereft.”

We should establish a bond with these prayers and make our hearts tender. The heart is an amazing thing: For humans it (the heart) sometimes becomes a means towards reaching the highest levels of heaven and the climax of spirituality. Sometimes, it is the other way around, it turns into a heavy stone that clings to their feet, forcing him or her to fall deep, downward into an ocean or valley; it can drown or crush a human. If you attach your heart to money, lust, power or the like, the attachment becomes a heavy stone; it’s not a heart any longer.

October 4, 2004

Sha'aban is an opportunity to prepare ourselves for the divine feast

Maybe in the month of Sha’aban—with what we have reserved from the [blessings of the] month—we can recite the enthusiastic, touching, and meaningful supplications with our hearts present, not just repeating the words. Perhaps we can talk to God indeed, from the bottom of our hearts, through the words of that supplication. If this is achieved, God willing, we can be prepared to step into the month of Ramadan; we can get ready to attend the divine feast and earn the qualifications of entering the climax of the blessed month through the Lalylatul Qadr [The Night of Ordainment].

You, dear brothers, are amongst the best of those who can benefit from this divine feast, which is massively available during Sha’aban and Ramadan. This is because, on this field, the one who tries the most, the one who reserves more purity and sincerity for himself, the one who makes more efforts while expecting the least in return, is the most successful and the closest [to God]. He will be closer to the place where divine light shines.

Statements made during a meeting with the Judiciary officials; January 13, 1993