Before extending my greetings for this Eid, I would like to thank the Iranian nation for its good presence in the scenes, especially in the elections. In spite of the fact that all were trying not to have peaceful elections as they deserved, thank God, they were held as such. May God make the blessed Eid auspicious for all.
What I would like to talk is about an item in this sermon that the Noble Messenger has delivered in the month of Ramadan. One sentence from him is this: "God has made you all as His guests; has invited you to a banquet; you are guests of God in the blessed month; the Host is God while His creatures are the guests." Of course, this banquet for the perfect awliya', devotees of God is not as what we imagine, or that our hands would access Him. We have to assess and see what this banquet has been and to what extend we have attended to this banquet. Although the entire universe is under the divine mercy and everything is His mercy and His mercy to everything is bountiful, the door of banquet is another door of His mercy; invitation to the banquet is another matter.
This banquet is all about abandonment; abandonment of desires such as for foods, drinks, and other things that human desire requires. God has invited us; that you enter the banquet hall. This banquet is nothing except abandonment; abandonment of carnal desires, abandonment of egotisms, abandonment of selves; abandonment of egoism. All these are in the banquet hall and we have to evaluate and see whether we entered the banquet hall, or we did not enter at all; whether they offered us access to the banquet hall, or not; whether we take benefit from the divine banquet, or not. Of course, the account of the persons like me is with kiram al-katibin. But I would like to acquire you, gentlemen, and anyone who would receive these words, particularly the young people: Have you entered to this banquet hall? Did you make use of it? Did you not pay attention to the desires, especially the emotional desires? Or, you just remind like me?
The youth should be aware that during the prime of youth they can reform themselves. The older the human being becomes the more his yearning for the world will be. The youth are nearer to heaven. The more one advances in age, the more one distances from God by worldly things. Bear in mind that only if you properly made an exit from the banquet then you have Eid and feast. Eid belongs to anyone who were admitted in this banquet and made use of it. Just as one is supposed to abandon the apparent desires, one has to control over his the inner desires, which constitute the greatest hindrance for man along the way. All these corruptions in the world are due to the fact that they have not been admitted in the banquet, or if ever they have been admitted they have not made use of it. It is addressed to all; all of you are invited to the banquet of Allah; you are all guests of God and it is the banquet of abandonment. If there is a speck of carnal desire in man, it means that one has not been admitted in the banquet, or in case of being admitted, he has not made use of it. All these hues and cries you witness in the world mean that they have not benefited from this banquet; they have not been admitted in this banquet; they have not accepted the invitation of God.
Exert effort to accept this invitation; for them to admit you there and once you were admitted, the problems will be resolved. The fact that our problems are not resolved means that we have not been admitted in the banquet of God. We have not entered the month of Ramadan at all. We made an abandonment of eating and drinking but what is supposed to be done has not been done. If the carnal desires would permit, in fact the man's natural disposition [fitrah] is divine; the natural disposition [fitrah] of Allah. All will focus on him; however, it is this attention to the world, which is a secondary and crooked attention that prevents those issues that are supposed to be dealt with. If you observe war and dispute in the world and among you is, God forbid, also an exemplary arena of which, you should know that you were not admitted; you did not comprehend the month of Ramadan. He has made the month of Ramadan approach you: "The month of Allah is approaching you." But you refused it; you returned it.
Sahifeh, vol. 21, Page: 44-45
Speech, May 17, 1988