Manifestation of the Friend

With the People

part 8

There must be no inconvenience for the neighbors

Due to the presence of a large crowd and constant coming and going, the Imam emphasized that there should be no movement or behavior that would inconvenience the neighbors who were all Christians. In reality, the Imam was extremely careful and strict in relation to observance of the well-being and  relaxation  of  his  neighbors  lest  the  neighbors  be  bothered  and inconvenienced by the crowd or the stream of visitors to his residence. This observance and behavior resulted in all the residents of Neauphle le-Chateau and the neighborhood to become extremely sorrowful when the Imam wanted to return to Iran. For this reason a number of them gave the Imam a

quantity   of   the   soil   of   France   to   take   with   him   as   souvenir.

Apologize to the neighbors

After the departure from Paris and travel to Iran of the Imam became certain, the Imam instructed me to go the houses of the neighbors in Neauphle le-Chateau and to apologize to them on his behalf because of the inconvenience caused to them during the period of his residence. I together with Mr. Ishraqi and one or two others went to visit all the neighbors of that village and relayed the message of the Imam to them and apologized to them on behalf of the Imam.

Don’t do something so that you cannot be answerable to the people

Once there was a discussion in connection with matters of foreign policy that required some covert diplomatic actions. The Imam was consulted and he stated: “Do not do something by which you cannot be answerable to the

people.”‌ A person must be involved in policy implementation to understand the enormity of these words. From the start of the political life of the Imam until the end one could not find any contradiction in the matters that he would state from the past and the future and neither in his covert and overt decisions.

I apologize

The Imam was humble even in his conduct with protégés and those that were from very low academic and social standing. About eight years ago I was in the province of Azarbayjan in summer. The Imam summoned me on an important issue that pertained to Azarbayjan. After starting the discussion, he addressed me stating that: “I apologize to you for the trouble you have taken to come here.”‌ This statement had such a profound effect on me that my eyes were filled with tears.

This child is closer to the Court of God

The Imam loved the person that was closer to God. For example, he was very fond of children. When he would kiss his grandson ‘Ali, he would say:

Leave the child alone

One day I went with my son Hamed who was four years old to see the Imam. The Imam was seated in a room and a big gunny bag that was half-filled with paper and letters was placed at his side. The Imam would take out the letters one by one and read them. He put those that needed to be answered under the blanket so that later he would answer them while he kept keep aside the rest.

We greeted him and sat down. The Imam began to talk with Hamid. For example he asked him the name of his father or whether he knew my name. After a moment, Hamid started to play with the Imam. I asked for his permission to leave so that my child did not inconvenience him. The Imam said: Leave the child alone; if you have some work to do then you may leave.”‌ I did so. After about half an hour, I thought perhaps the child was inconveniencing the Imam and returned to take him away. I saw that he had placed his head on the knees of the Imam and his feet rested against the wall while he was talking with the Imam and was telling him to arrange the papers properly and keep them clean and so forth… while the Imam was smiling and enjoying every moment. I asked Hamed to come with me but he refused. I told the Imam: “Will you permit me to take him away.”‌ The Imam replied: “No, the child is not inconveniencing me; you can go.”‌

Source:

The Book "Manifestation of the Friend: A collection of memoirs about Imam Khomeini (R.A)"

Other Links:

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