Reflections on a Leader's Last Days

The last time I saw him was when I heard Sayyid before his martyrdom, because of

the security conditions, it was six months before the martyrdom. That was the last time.

And the last contact was even weeks, two or three weeks

before the last contact. They were two consecutive days.

I was asking him, saying, since I live in the south and there have been

many airstrikes around us, I told him, can a person truly attain the tranquil

soul?

It is something difficult. Now I see how much my soul commands evil.

How much my soul wants to follow desires. How much

my soul is immersed in worldly life. I mean, is the tranquil soul merely

a theoretical matter, or can one truly attain it

in practice? He began by saying that

a person can certainly attain the tranquil soul.

He repeated what he had said. As the listener, you feel that this is a person

who has reached that stage and is speaking to you from there.

I mean, it is like asking someone for directions now when he

has not gone there, obviously, instead of being

guides you to the way precisely. But someone who has already arrived there and is

there, completely at ease, guides you to the way.

So the last days of His Eminence Sayyid were marked by reassurance and calm.

Even if you notice and go back to his last speeches, despite the major events,

from the next day to Sayyid Mohsen's martyrdom, to al-Fadil's martyrdom,

these matters, his speeches were not those speeches

full of vigor and enthusiasm, with anger in them

and so on.

It did not take up much space in this speech as it had before.

There was more calm,

more reassurance. He was heading toward this aspect, the aspect of acceptance, even when

he said, "See you at martyrdom. See you."

He said, "See you with the victory of blood over the sword."

This was preparation for the days ahead, that what was going to happen to us would

be a victory of blood over the sword. Blood would be shed.

So, His Eminence, in his final hours,

when he was martyred on Friday. On Monday. Black Monday.

We call it the twenty-third of September. Like a few days ago, I mean.

Two days ago. This was the day the war broke out

in full force against Lebanon. That day, the Sayyid parted from his mother.

السيد عن الوالدة.

He went to the operations headquarters, and she parted

from him because Dahieh was being bombed, and there was no longer any way around it.

And he wanted to go

on an operation because the war had broken out, the war had begun.

At that point,

his mother said something to him along the lines of, "We may never see you again," or

something like that. I heard the Sayyid tell her at that moment, "No,

we're parting here, and we won't

meet again."

He knew clearly that he was going to be martyred.

Those were his final days.

May God reward you. May God sanctify.

May God have mercy on them all. Al-Fatiha for the souls

of the scholars and martyrs, especially

those from our community.

In their memory and at their resting places, the two martyred Sayyids,

Professor Hassan Nasrallah, Salah Shams al-Din, and their fellow

martyred brothers,

martyred brothers,

the great ones.