Hawzah News Agency –The following is the full text of the speech delivered on January 1, 2022, by Imam Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with the family members of Martyr Haj Qasem Soleimani and the officials of the Martyr Soleimani Commemoration Conference.

In the Name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful

Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds, and peace and greetings be upon our Master, Muhammad, and his pure household, particularly the remnant of God on earth.

The martyrdom of Soleimani is an international matter

May God’s mercy and paradise be bestowed upon our dear martyr whose martyrdom turned into a national and international matter in the world of Islam. Well, this is the second anniversary for him and people are doing many things in commemorating him. Later on, I will expand on the things people are doing. In fact, we are only following what the people are doing. Our meeting and our statements are actually a continuation of the innovative moves being made by the people throughout the country.

Truthfulness and sincerity, two symbols of Martyr Soleimani’s school of thought

I previously spoke of the Soleimani school of thought. Martyr Soleimani turned into a school of thought or it was so from the beginning. Praise God, I have seen that many books have been published about this school of thought, books that I hadn’t seen before. If we want to briefly explain what we call “The Soleimani School of Thought,” we should say that it is summarized in truthfulness and sincerity.

These two words are actually the title, symbols and emblems of Martyr Soleimani’s school of thought. Truthfulness is what we can see in the holy verse, “Of the believers are men who are true to the covenant which they made with Allah.” [Holy Qur’an, 33:23] I will expand on this later. Sincerity too has been mentioned in numerous verses in the Qur’an, including, “Say: ‘Verily, I am commanded that I should serve Allah, being sincere to Him in obedience.’” [Holy Qur’an, 39:11] These two verses from the Qur’an formed the basis of Martyr Soleimani’s movement.

The martyrdom of General Soleimani was proof against the enemies

Both the life and martyrdom of this man was imbued with blessings. When reading a Ziyarat and saying hello to the Imams (peace be upon them), we read, “God seized your life at His will. And by doing so, He proved the propriety of your cause against the enemies.” This means he took your life as this is in the hands of God, but this seizure of life proved your cause against your enemies and the enemies of God. The same is true of this martyrdom. Well, lives are in the hands of God. Everyone leaves this life and everyone does so in a different way. Martyr Soleimani too left this life, but the details of his martyrdom proved the legitimacy of his cause against the enemies and to all onlookers.

The signs and meaning of truthfulness:

Enduring tribulations on the path of God

Well, what does “Of the believers are men who are true to the covenant which they made with Allah” mean? It means being truthful in one’s treatment of one’s goals, one’s covenant with God and one’s ideals. This is the problem we have. In many cases, our problem is that our feet tremble when it comes to being truthful in our moves and our treatment of the ideals of Islam and the Revolution. But this man worked honestly throughout his life in the real sense of the word as far as we saw and knew him in his life. This was true during the Sacred Defense, after that and when he took on the responsibility of the Quds Force. “Working honestly” means tolerating the tribulations of struggling on the path of ideals.

Loyalty to Islam and the Revolution

He was loyal to Islam and the Revolution. He remained loyal to Islam and the Revolution with all his heart and soul. He remained true to his covenant with God and Imam Khomeini. He remained loyal to his duty toward the Iranian nation and the Islamic nation with complete conscientiousness in his actions and all his being. He did his duty toward the Iranian nation and his duty toward the Islamic nation.

Some people try to create a dichotomy between the Iranian nation and the Islamic nation. The root of this was started by the enemies and it is they who are doing this. Some people negligently follow the same line. Inside the country too, we sometimes see the people who are working for the Islamic nation stop looking at and paying attention to the Iranian nation and vice versa. But our dear martyr, Martyr Soleimani, proved that a person can be the one in the country who cares the most about his own nation and the most about the Islamic nation. He is the one who cared the most about his own nation and the most about the Islamic nation at the same time.

Signs that prove Martyr Soleimani cared the most about his nation and the Islamic nation

He cared the most about his nation. How do we know this? We know this from his burial ceremony. Since the time of the Revolution, which has been a time of great rallies and gatherings, what other example do we have of large gatherings of the people similar to the burial ceremony of Martyr Soleimani in which tens of millions of people participated? Who were the people who participated in that ceremony? They were the whole nation. Well, a nation could not have been shown using delusions, the nation was an existing [outside] reality. Tens of millions of people came to that man’s funeral ceremony after his martyrdom. So, he cared the most about his nation.

He also cared the most about the Islamic nation. Over the past two years, his name and memory have been gathering more and more importance in the world of Islam. The name and memory of Martyr Soleimani is repeatedly being mentioned in the world of Islam and this is increasing. People can clearly see this. He was truly a manifestation of truthfulness, “Of the believers are men who are true to the covenant which they made with Allah.”

His untiring efforts

From what we observed of his work from up close, he was truly a manifestation of diligence and untiring work. After returning from trips to different countries, he would send me reports. When I would read those reports, I would be surprised at the massive amount of work that had been done over the course of a few days. I have kept a copy of some of these reports for myself and have written on them, “I am keeping these so that they may be seen in the future so that it will become clear how much work this man has done.” I have copies of two or three such reports. Such was his untiring work.

Courage and acumen

And he worked courageously. His work was not regular work. It required courage and bravery accompanied by rationality. It required both courage and rationality and these both existed in this man at an admirable level. He was a man of acumen. He knew both the enemy and their resources. It was not such that Marty Soleimani did not know what the enemy’s resources were - resources which the enemy could exploit and with which it could strike. So he was completely aware of the enemy’s resources, but at the same time, he would enter the field with complete courage and strength. He was not afraid of the enemy and he would design strategies intelligently.

I said this several times among the high-ranking officials of the country, both in the presence of Martyr Soleimani himself and in his absence, that he did things wisely. On the one hand, he was courageous – everyone is talking about his courageous acts and deeds. Furthermore, he would do things very intelligently. He was very meticulous. This is truthfulness, “Of the believers are men who are true to the covenant which they made with Allah.”

Martyr Soleimani’s sincerity

As for his sincerity, if there is no sincerity, one’s work will be devoid of blessings. When one’s work is blessed, this is a result of sincerity. How can we tell he had sincerity? It was obvious since he would shun being seen. He was not after being seen in any way. He would avoid being seen, but things have turned out in such a way that the entire world is seeing him. The whole world is seeing him.

He would work because of God and he was free of pretentious behavior and boasting. The first worldly reward that God, the Exalted, bestowed on him for his sincerity after his death was his burial ceremony in which tens of millions of people participated. That burial ceremony was his first worldly reward for his sincerity, and of course there is his reward in the Hereafter. The popularity of Martyr Soleimani’s name, personality and memory was his worldly reward. Over the past two years, Martyr Soleimani’s name has been repeated and written by various individuals thousands and thousands of times. This year too, people themselves have organized commemoration ceremonies for him. But as I said, I will get to this topic. These are due to the sincerity of that dear martyr.

Martyr Soleimani is a role model for the youth of the Islamic world

Martyr Soleimani became a role model. An outstanding reality is that Martyr Soleimani has become a role model. Today, many of the youth in the Islamic world and particularly in the region - the information that I have is related to the region – are thirsty for the emergence of heroes such as Martyr Soleimani. They are thirsty today for such heroes. The more the memory of Martyr Soleimani is promoted, the thirstier and more enthusiastic they become for the presence of such heroes in their own countries. In our region today, Martyr Soleimani is a symbol of hope, self-confidence and courage. He is the secret to resistance and victory. These things are in the hands of God, not in the hands of anyone else. The likes of people such as us cannot accomplish such things no matter what strategy we use. Such things are done by God Himself.

“Martyr” Soleimani is more dangerous for his enemies than “General” Soleimani

Someone once said that “Martyr” Soleimani is more dangerous for his enemies than “General” Soleimani. He understood correctly. This is really the case. Those who martyred Martyr Soleimani, dear Martyr Abu-Mahdi and their comrades two years ago thought the case was over. The enemies thought by assassinating them, everything was over. But you should look at what condition they are in today. Look at the situation of the US. They fled from Afghanistan in that way. And in Iraq, they were forced to pretend that they had intended to withdraw their forces – of course, our Iraqi brothers should pursue this matter vigilantly. They were forced to announce that from now on, they will only play an “advisory” role. In other words, they are acknowledging that they will not and cannot have a military presence there anymore. You should also look at the status of the US in Yemen and Lebanon.

The progress of the Resistance Front in the region is thanks to Martyr Soleimani’s blood

The anti-arrogance movement and the Resistance movement in the region are moving forward in a stronger, more dynamic and more hopeful way than two years ago. In Syria, the enemies are faced with a dead end. The enemies in Syria have no hope for the future. These are blessings from that dear, innocent blood.

How Martyr Soleimani behaved with the families of martyrs

Martyr Soleimani was quoted as saying – he said this in one of his speeches – that a person who lives the life of a martyr will finally become one. And this is how he really lived. He truly lived the life of a martyr. I have been reading a book about some of the characteristics of this martyr. One of his old friends has written a book entitled, “The Soleimani I know.” I think the title was something like that.

Interesting stories have been written in this book. For example, he has written, “The grandchild of one of his martyred friends was going to be operated on. He went to the hospital and waited for the operation to finish. The mother of that child said, ‘Well, the operation is over. Haj Aqa, you can go attend to your affairs now.’ He answered, “No, your father, the grandfather of this child, went and was martyred in place of me. Now, I have to wait here in place of him.’ Thus, he waited until the child regained consciousness. He left when he was sure the child was alright.” [The Leader became emotional and cried while telling this story.] This is how he behaved with the families of the martyrs.

But his behavior was different when dealing with the malicious and the corrupt. Inside the country one way and outside the country another way. For instance, in the southern part of the country – in Jiroft, Kerman – the things he did in those years were amazing. The strength he showed and the decisive, forceful moves he made were such that when he would enter an area and the enemy would become aware of his presence, his mere presence would ruin the enemy’s morale!

The Arrogant Powers fear of Martyr Soleimani’s name, even in the internet

Today too, the Arrogant Powers are intimidated by his name and memory. Notice how they are treating his name in the internet – you probably have more information than me in this regard. This is another alert and even more of a signal for us and for the officials in charge of matters related to the internet in the country for them to understand what they should do in order to prevent the enemy from doing whatever he wants in the internet wherever he wants. Well, the internet that exists in the world today is in the hands of the Arrogant Powers. They are even afraid of his name and they are terrified of there being more people like him. This is what a role model is. They are afraid more people will be like him.

Martyr Soleimani will live on forever

In any case, Martyr Soleimani is eternal and will live on forever. Those who martyred him – Trump and the likes – belong in the dustbin of history. They will be among the forgotten ones in the trash can of history, but he will live on forever. A martyr is like this. His enemies will disappear, but of course, after having received retribution in this world for their crime, God willing.

I hope all of you – his honorable family, his friends and colleagues and Mr. Qaani, who is working and moving forward very well, praise God – will follow and move forward on this path, God willing. God, the Exalted, has promised victory to us, “Allah indeed defends those who have faith.” [Holy Qur’an, 22:38] He has promised to defend those who believe. Well, we are moving on the path of the divine will and divine goals, and the nation is working for Islam. This is the promise of defense, and there is another promise about assistance, “Allah will surely help those who help His cause.” [Holy Qur’an, 22:40] And in another verse it is stated, “If you help Allah, He will help you, and make your feet steady.” [Holy Qur’an, 47:7]

I hope that all of you will be successful, God willing. The activities that this woman spoke about [Zeynab Soleimani, the daughter of Martyr Soleimani] are good activities. I hope all these activities will continue in the best way, God willing.

May God’s greetings, mercy and blessings be upon you.