Some Words from Martyr General Qasem Soleimani

The seeds of self-sacrifice must be sown in society

We need to look and see what seeds are we sowing in our society and how we educate our young people in our universities. Dear professor, if our future society is devoid of devoted and zealous youth, no matter how wealthy it may be, this society will succumb to every attack, every movement, and greed. It is, thus, our national duty and our human duty to promote the spirit and culture of devotion and sacrifice in our society. How can anyone not love the martyrs?

How could one accept that someone puts his life in danger for me, my home and my honor, my peace and comfort, and my position, and I hate him and do not love him? The seeds of self-sacrifice must be sown among all those who are the cultural elites of our society and hundreds of thousands of our youth and teenagers are trained by them. The seeds of sacrifice and self-sacrifice must be sown so that the future of this nation will be of value.

My good brother, if you do not want to be in pain, be in pain!

Excerpts from Martyr Soleimani’s letter to Martyr Hossein Pourjafari

Dear Hossein, it is only on the day of judgment that the truth of the value of one’s deeds is revealed and how beautiful it is when everyone is astonished and you are happy and smiling. You will receive the reward for this tiredness when your family and relatives need you and turn to you.

May God Almighty give you the reward of martyrdom to you my good brother for your jihad. I promise you that if I have any respect and honor (on that day), I will not enter heaven without you.

Dear Hossein, do not allow any other love to overcome the love of God Almighty and any other pleasure to overcome the pleasure of God Almighty under any circumstances. My good brother, if you do not want to be in pain, be in pain! The pain that makes the coolness of your being into scorching heat, the pain that makes the warmth of one’s being defeat the inner cold. My dear brother, not all pains are real pain and not all wings are real wing. There many pains that cure real pain. Entrust yourself to Him and consider his satisfaction as grace, blessing.

Excerpts from Martyr Soleimani’s Speeches on Different Occasions

One of the most important things that have an effect on the purification of society is the attitude and code of conduct of its and managers. If a manager’s thoughts and behavior are reflected in his actions, i.e., they are the practical manifestation of the principles he states, then they would be effective. If I speak about something in public but do the opposite in private, I can never be effective.

A society, which is devoid of self-sacrifice is a lifeless society. Self-sacrifice does not merely apply to giving one’s life, rather self-sacrifice finds meaning and value in all levels of society in various dimensions, which gives true meaning to the concept of society.

The main cause of America’s failures in our region is the lack of wise leadership and being ruled by ignorant leaders. The main factor of the success of our nation during these 40 years and the great progress that has made today’s Iran the center and the main pole of the Islamic world, is its leadership. The same Iranian nation was there 50-60 years ago. It was there during the Qajar era, it was there at the beginning of the Pahlavi period, but because there was no Imam Khomeini, this nation could not succeed.

The role of a manager is higher than that of a speaker on the pulpit. If a manager becomes God-oriented, he is not selfish, he forgets himself. He considers himself a servant of the nation. That is the reason that Imam Khomeini (ra) said: “Do not call him a leader, it is better to call me a servant. He did not exaggerate by making such a statement. This was what Imam (ra) expected from the management of an Islamic society.

The code of conduct of a manager has an effect on society. In one way, a manager is the leader of a community. A governor is not an ordinary person, the respected Friday prayer leader is not an ordinary person, the commander of the corps is not an ordinary person, the chief of the police force is not an ordinary person. They have effects on society. Their management is the same as the management of the sacred defense. How was Martyr Bakri was martyred? Where did he become a martyr? How many people were martyred by his side? Well, when the approach to management is like this, the entire society will become like the society we had during the sacred defense, and spiritually will spread in it. How can I, as a commander, be devoid of spirituality and expect society to have spirituality?

Leadership is not just confined to the top leader. We all have a leadership role in our community and if we want our society to become a resilient society, the condition is that managers must be compatible with such an ideal society.

It has been narrated that if someone has not participated in jihad and dies, he will die in one of the branches of hypocrisy. And when asked how is it possible the response was that: “Well, jihad may not be available to everyone but man must keep this feeling alive in his being.” In one of the supplications, we address Imam Husain (as) and say we wish we were in Karbala and helped you. By making such a statement we really preserve this truth in our being. Brothers, Jihad is very important. It is the quality that polishes the human soul.

If a nation lacks an intelligent leader, a wise, insightful, knowledgeable, and pious leader, it is bound to fail. Why did the Islamic awakening in the Arab countries not succeed? The people of Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, etc. came on the scene, it was an Islamic awakening, but why could this Islamic awakening not turn into another Islamic revolution? The main reason was that the masses were miles ahead of their leaders. In other words, the nations lacked leadership. Why did the Muslim Brotherhood collapse in Egypt? They had a government, they established a government, and they formed a parliament. But why did Egypt not succeed? It was due to lack of effective Leadership. If a nation lacks this factor, it will fail to succeed even if it has a world of wealth at its disposal.

The factors that make a person build his personality are the ideals and goals he defines for himself. They include desire and willpower. Desire and willpower are two important factors that constantly affect the human personality. The root of one’s endurance or hesitation goes back to these two factors. If one’s desires and ideals are limited to the worldly ones they would hold him trapped in worldly affairs. However, if his wishes and ideals are transcendental they will elevate his soul and this is very important for human personality.

Human willpower is a function of human attachments, which plays a pivotal role in willpower. If you want to understand human beings and gauge the strength of their willpower, you have to look at their worldly attachments and see if the level of their attachments is high or limited Attachment to transcendental subjects elevates man. If you look at the lives and personalities of influential people, you will see that quality. If you see a person like Imam Khomeini (ra) could make the impossible possible, it is because he had no worldly attachments. The Imam’s desires and ideals were not worldly and low in essence and that is what made him succeed.