The season of fall has hit every town; humane values are trodden underfoot; respect for humankind and universal values is nowhere to be seen…. We may be abandoned by both our friends and enemies; we may even be stabbed in the back by the least likely assailant. But even if the circumstances are so inauspicious, the roar of our enemies overpowers the voices of all others, and the disloyalty of our friends leaves us all alone, we still should not surrender or bow. Relying on our faith and hope, we should stand upright and race like a thoroughbred that never slows down.

No matter if the calamities and fears spread on a massive scale and we are surrounded by cries of pain that reach the heavens; even if all corners of the world echo the growl of tyrants and pitch-dark despair covers the most animate and purest souls; even if our homes are destroyed, the moon sets, the sun burns out, hearts and eyes are blinded in darkness; … no matter what happens, we must do our duty and stand our ground without changing the way we are. We must strive to be a source of power for everyone to seek refuge in, a source of light and hope to revive all the torches that have almost died away.

To halt the downward spiral of humanity into vengeance and hate, we must act with tolerance and love. We need faithful and loving hearts devoted to the worldly – and other-worldly – happiness of humanity. … we need a generation of faith and revival. A generation that is not confined to the calculations of today, but one that considers tomorrow and the days beyond. A generation that is as much the children of today with their actions as they are bound to eternity and to the reckoning of a very long future.

Love is a universal language that ad­dresses the human spirit without words. It is a magical source of power that enchants hearts, and that no one, not even savage spirits, can resist.

Love, like a mother’s warm embrace and its magic like keys that can open any door, is a splendid fountain that fills our hearts with the essence of all creation and eternal beauty. As we feel the river of affection flowing from this pure fountain, our emotions rise and our spirits soar; breaking through the ceiling of our ego, we attain a sense of eternal exhilaration.

At a time when the cruel and the oppressive are praised, the innocent are pushed around, and our hopes are shaken, we must still assert the power of love.

To the degree that we can equip our­selves with love, respect, and understand­ing, society will change, and so will the color of things and events. True human values will emerge, and the countless benefits we gain by being “the hon­ored creature” will be preserved and not squandered. All the beauties that arise from belief and culture but lost in history, will be revived and restored; in fact, they will be ours again, allowing us to relive the life we once knew and taste infinite and timeless pleasures and delights, all at once. If only we, too, could awaken to this faith and the deep love therein, as the first believers did...

Only those who overflow with love will be able to build the happy and enlightened world of the future. Those who strive to enlighten others, those who seek happiness for them and extend them a helping hand have such an enlightened spirit that they are like guardian angels. They struggle with the disasters that befall society, they stand up to storms, and they hurry to put out fires.

Let us no longer consider ourselves to be a drop destined to dry and vanish. Instead, let us unite as one cascading river, flowing toward the ocean of eternity. We all are human: we have the genes of Adam, and our essence shares the truth of Ahmad. Then, let us stand against all evil and cry out to the universe that we are God’s vicegerents on Earth, and we are the candidates of eternity. Come let us make the angels envy our privilege once more. Let us walk together in our way toward God. Hand in hand, heart in heart.