Wish you a more than ever Happy Nowruz!

Salutations to all those who are leaving autumn behind them, greetings to the lovers of spring,

I pay my due respect to the community of the deprived who sees their concerns and anxieties renewed with the arrival of a New Year; I pay my respect to the community of Iranians who struggle; I bow before the pained and aggrieved for whom the arrival of Nowruz bears no beauty or freshness; I praise all the weakened who did not see the results of their endeavors during the past year, and are entering the new year of (1397) in total despair and frustration.

May Nowruz (the New Year) hear the cries and grievances coming out of the hearts of the moaners, for whom the calendar does not bear any notes of happiness; may the blossoms see the tears of the poor and how it is strangely falling down on their faces from the corners of their eyes; The greens are refreshing and revitalizing – but for whom? What kind of a spring can there be for those who live under threats, are prosecuted and persecuted? What kind of a celebration can they have? What kind of a Nowruz awaits them?!

The Iranian society is entangled in the worsening of the situation for earning their livelihoods; families live in turmoil – they do not know what tomorrow will bring for them! The new generation sees no hope in what education will bring, nor do they have a motivation for enjoying themselves; the oppressed Iranian people truly need God’s help in order to overcome all these difficulties and hardships. Oh Lord, please provide these people with a Nowruz that will renew their lives, that will provide them with revival, with happiness, joy and pleasure. Oh Lord, just as you awaken the nature, trees and flowers and plants that were in hibernation and you revive them, please provide these oppressed and distressed people, who live in despair and have nowhere to turn to for relief, with a real life, so that they can find a way out of their present routine, and can stay safe from immediate illnesses; save them from heart attacks, cancers, contagious diseases and incurable illnesses. What is the point of Nowruz for them when there is conflict in their homes? When there is separation? When there is tension? When there is hypocrisy? When there is fighting? What is the point of Nowruz if the economy is cause for apprehension, and when no one is motivated to do anything? Oh Lord, please give a gift to these long lines of debtors, to the hearts of Iranians who are weary about what tomorrow and the future will bring for them! Please give them some relief and comfort, as no one was able to hold their hand, to respond to their cries and groans; no reformer was able to hold their arm and lift them up, no savior came to hold them in its kind arms and embrace them. Oh Lord, these are your servants, don’t turn away from them, please give them what they deserve to have. With the hopes of seeing better days,

Adieu.