WILAYAH NEWS VOICE OF THE GLOBAL AWAKENING
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**The Martyrs Are the People of Presence and Encounter**
Those who most deeply sense these lofty meanings, long for such exalted stations, and constantly aspire to them are the individuals who yearn for martyrdom on the frontlines of war and in the arenas of struggle. Their hearts are attached to nothing but God, the Ever‑Living who never perishes.
Striving in the path of God (jihad) signifies presence, as opposed to absence and loss. It means that a person becomes present in the divine presence by choice and will. In his love for God, the struggler reaches such a level of longing and passionate yearning to meet the Beloved that he sees this world only as a prison, a restraint, and a barrier preventing him from attaining absolute happiness. Thus, he lifts the veil of the material body from the face of the soul and its eternal life.
When the martyr realizes that God surrounds him, is always with him, and is closer to him than his own self, he does not hesitate to offer his entire being in His path. The martyr is one who has understood the secrets of life. He has witnessed this world with the eye of truth and recognized that it is an abode of deception and a town whose people are unjust. He does not forget the Hereafter, which is the abode of true life:
“And this worldly life is nothing but amusement and play; indeed, the abode of the Hereafter—that is the real life, if only they knew.”
For him, death becomes a wish, because it is the gateway to that true life. This world becomes merely a field of constant striving for the meeting with the Beloved. He desires death in pursuit of the Hereafter and sees this world as a veil and a barrier preventing him from reaching his ultimate goal. Therefore, he chooses the fastest and shortest path to meet God and attain His pleasure. And what path is faster to God’s pleasure than sacrificing one’s life, plunging into the depths of struggle, and being killed in His path? That is the ultimate hope of the lovers and the highest aim of the seekers.
Thus the martyrs hold their lofty station with God—and with none other. They are alive in His care with the true life, receiving limitless provision and unending bounty:
“And the martyrs with their Lord shall have their reward and their light.”
“Do not think of those who are killed in the way of God as dead; rather, they are alive with their Lord, receiving provision.”
For them there is no meaning to fear or grief. A person grieves only over what is lost and perishes, yet their hearts are attached to the Ever‑Living who neither fades nor dies. Therefore fear and sorrow never approach them; rather they are:
“Rejoicing in what God has granted them of His bounty, and receiving good news about those who have not yet joined them from behind them—that there will be no fear upon them, nor will they grieve.”
The martyrs embodied in their lives all the meanings of sacrifice, loyalty, patience, courage, truthfulness, sincerity, love, and annihilation in the Beloved. Thus they attained what they sought:
“And whoever obeys God and the Messenger will be among those whom God has blessed: the prophets, the truthful, the martyrs, and the righteous—and what excellent companions they are.”
For this reason, the day of celebration for Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) was the day when God would grant him martyrdom in His path:
“Our day of joy and happiness is the day we are relieved from this polluted world filled with pain, suffering, and affliction. Our feast and our happy day is martyrdom.”
