Persian → English transcript

A heartfelt letter by Seyyed Mohammad Baqer Hosseini Khamenei,

Son of Zahra Haddad-Adel,

Daughter-in-law of the Leader, [and child of] the martyr of the Ummah,

And wife of [the son of] the Supreme Leader,

Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei,

Addressing his honorable mother, he reads:

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

May my father and mother be sacrificed for you,

O Aba Abdillah,

It is hard to know where to begin, and I do not have the strength.

I let go of the pen so it may speak for itself,

And blacken this white sheet of paper,

Black, just like my clothes these days,

And the sky of my heart, which will remain black until the end of my life,

In mourning for you.

Since the ninth of Esfand, our lives, like many others, changed.

I was at school when the war started,

And in philosophy class.

With the start of the war, I thought my classes were suspended,

But I was unaware that I had to attend another class.

Even today, as I write this letter,

I am still present in that very same class,

And I hope that, just as since childhood

You used to help me with my studies,

Help me today as well in this test class, for I am in need.

During these days of war, I thought a lot.

What did you do that God gave you such a reward?

I looked at the short time I lived by your side,

especially these last nine days.

With the books I had read about the martyrs

and the meetings during the martyrdom commemoration days,

I realized a lot.

You knew Heaven Street and the Ascension of Martyrs well.

This is not just my opinion,

but something I also realized when speaking with others.

As a dear friend once said,

you went to all the funeral ceremonies of the martyrs.

I myself witnessed your state several times

and your spiritual connection with the martyrs in those funerals.

Of course, you did not keep this feeling to yourself,

and you made every effort to share

this pure spiritual pleasure with others, especially

your children at school.

This effort to bond with the martyrs

was not limited to Heaven Street and the Ascension of Martyrs

and other streets of Tehran.

Another example of it is the Rahian-e Noor tour.

The camp that for nearly a decade

always kept you busy,

from cross-border meetings

to attending the memorials.

You yourself always used to say,

"Get everything you have from the martyrs:

good children,

good descendants,

and a good end in life."

And I bear witness

that you received your martyrdom from the martyrs.

How much you regretted that

in the last year, you and the school children

could not go to Rahian-e Noor.

I remember you saying,

"It's a pity that the children were deprived,"

and whenever the conversation turned to this,

a strange feeling of grief and sadness

would appear in you.

From the new festivals

to the Rahian camp.

But at the same time,

when you spent all your time

on school programs,

all your attention was on home and family.

And I can write so much on this subject

that these few pages

briefly turned into a book.

I will search again:

How did this life eventually

end in martyrdom?

Perhaps it was because of that honesty and connection

with the dear God.

I bear witness that you

were honest with your God.

And I truly

felt this honesty with all my being.

When I search to find

why you became a martyr,

I reach this prominent trait of yours,

which many have witnessed,

and that was, my mother,

towards those around you,

you were not indifferent.

How fondly I remember...

When the Al-Aqsa Flood operations

had just begun,

in those days, Enghelab Square and Palestine Square

were full of demonstrations

condemning the crimes in Gaza.

I remember that whatever march took place,

you would definitely participate.

And you would tell me,

"Even if we occupy just one pixel of the camera frame

in support of Gaza,

we must do it."

Sometimes I didn't feel like going,

and you would go by yourself.

And sometimes, a few days in advance,

you would keep telling me

to arrange my plans

so we could go together.

Sometimes, even if you couldn't go yourself,

you would make arrangements for others.

Time and space are limited

to express it.

As the martyred Haj Qasem Soleimani

so beautifully said,

"The condition for becoming a martyr

is to live like a martyr."

Dear mother.

Although your grief was heavy for me,

however,

what broke my back

was the martyrdom of Agha Joon,

or rather, the martyred leader of the nation,

the one for whom you always prayed,

and said

that in the shrine of Imam Reza,

you prioritized his needs over your own.

Now you,

alongside that great man of history,

among the righteous,

are praying for this resilient nation,

hoping that

your ultimate fate will be mine.

Your child,

Seyyed Mohammad Baqer Hosseini Khamenei,

Khordad 1405