Manifestation of the Friend

With the People

part 11

I shall stay with you

My father was the bodyguard of Aqa Mustafa (father of the Imam) and naturally our family also resided in the vicinity of the house of Aqa Mustafa. My mother delivers a child who dies immediately after birth. The paternal aunt of the Imam tells my father that she had heard that his child had died in infancy. Moreover, because the mother of Ruhollah (the Imam) could not breastfeed him, it would be an act of spiritual reward if Khavar breastfeeds him and saves the life of the child. My father tells her that he must take the permission of his wife and returns home and says to his wife Khavar that: “Khavar! Aqa’a sister says that if you don’t allow the milk in your breasts to dry and agree to breast feed Ruhollah, you will earn a great spiritual reward.”‌ My mother laughs and says: “Yes in that case my breasts shall not burn in the fire of hell.”‌ Then my father goes and tells the paternal aunt of the Imam about her agreement. Immediately they bring the cradle of Aqa Ruhollah to our house. When they bring Aqa Ruhollah, my mother got up and went and washed her breasts, recited the Surahs ‘Fatihah’ and ‘Tawhid’, kisses his face and begins to breastfeed him.

 Ruhollah was breastfed for two years. After two years when his breastfeeding was stopped and he was taken to his own home, yet he would still be drawn towards my mother. My mother would laugh and my father would say: “Dear Ruhollah, now that you are not being breastfed, why don’t you go back to your house?”‌ He replied: “I shall stay with you.”‌

Of the most difficult nights in the life of the Imam

The night when they shifted the Imam to a solitary confinement cell in the prison, the agents of the Shah’s regime would torture the Imam mentally by torturing an inmate in the cell facing his. His cries and sobs rent the air. The Imam made a divine covenant so that they would stop torturing that inmate. Later he stated to me that: “That night was the most difficult night of my life.”‌

He was full of affection

The Imam was a world of affection. His look was so full of affection and consoling that whenever we would be faced with unhappiness or problem, we would involuntarily go to meet with him. When he would respond to our greeting I can say with certainty that we would forget all our problems.

The Imam is intensely emotional

The Imam is intensely emotional. For example when he was in the city of Najaf, and sometimes my sisters would visit us there, when it was time for them to return to Iran, I could never bring myself to stand in the courtyard to see the Imam bid them farewell””I would simply leave the scene. My late brother would also say the same thing that I could simply not see the moment when they bid farewell. Because the Imam was so emotionally attached to his children, they could not bear to see it. However, the intense affection and emotion did not have the least impact on his decision-making or in his work.

If somebody was to fall sick

The Imam had an intense affection for his wife, children, grandchildren and even his acquaintances. Even if one of the members of his staff was taken ill, he would constantly enquire about his health; advise treatment and visiting the physician and regularly enquire about his condition and would enjoin visits to the hospital.

One day Haj Ahmad Aqa had gone somewhere and was reading the Imam’s message while the Imam was listening to his speech on the radio. Before the message he had said that on that day he was not in good health. The Imam inquired about his health and why he had fallen ill.

The Imam was enquiring about you

When  Ayatollah  Khatami,  my  father-in-law  died,  I  went  to  Yazd  to participate in the mourning ceremonies. My mother would constantly tell me that the Imam was very eager to know about me and was unhappy that I was

away and wanted to see me and express his condolences so that my soul became calm. When I reached Tehran, he immediately called and sent a message that Zahra should go immediately as he wanted to see her. This was very remarkable for me that the Imam despite all the problems was still concerned  about  his  family  and  wanted  to  offer  condolences  to  his grandchild. The Imam was never indifferent to any affair.

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Manifestation of the Friend: With the People (part 1)

Manifestation of the Friend: With the People (part 2)