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the swelling, surging revolution of the iranian muslim nation has an essentially specific culture which is based on and has flourished because of adherence to the monotheistic school of thought, the qur'an, ahlul-bait (a.s.) and other islamic theology. the nation of iran has revolutionized in order to revive and expand that culture. one of the bases of this goal among the youth and other interested citizens (people) is the establishment of public scientific research centers wherein the means of study and research of islamic science and culture are made available. amir-ul-mu'mineen ali(a.s.) public library and religious scientific research center in isfahan is one of these centers, which, from its earliest days of establishment, in addition to achieving this aim, has continuously had a share, as far as possible,in the publication of the works of some shi`ah scholars from iran as well as others in the world. the subject matter of these useful books were different. it commenced with the publication of an outstanding islamic work on the subject of imamate. this work was comprised of two books containing some chosen materials from 56 separate treatises composed by the leading traditionists of the sunnite school of thought about imam mahdi, allah's remaining emissary, and offered to the esteemed clerical class and all those interested in science and knowledge. since then, this institute has published thirty one other valuable religious, scientific research works in arabic and farsi. when these publications were distributed in different parts of the world, as one factor, together with the reflection of the social, cultural and religions revolution of iran, they introduced this country as the `heart ' of the islamic world. therefore, those who love islam and the qur'an and are interested in the school of thought of ahlul-bait (a.s.) communicated with this scientific research center from a variety of nationalities, races, and colours all over the world by way of letters, fax messages, and telephone calls to demand that this beloved message, i.e., the qur'an and islamic theology, which is the ideal of the truth-seekers of the world, be published in their own languages. ` the commentary of the qur'an in english ' was included among the demands of many people. hence, the founder of the islamic republic of iran, the sage, the grand leader of the revolution, and the master of the affairs of muslims, the late honorable ayatullah-il-`uzma al-imam khomeini (s.a.), was informed of the immediate circumstance. he responded: "this idea ought to be put to action as soon as possible. the translation of the commentary of the holy qur'an in english, as well as in other possible languages, should be made available to the knowledgable ones and lovers of islam and the qur'an." he even continued by saying: " there is much to be done and so little time." imam khomeini (r.) was a man of knowledge, interested in study and research, a learned clergyman, a high ranking philosopher, and a grand unique politician who had attained his nourishment from the pure fountain of monotheism,the qur'an, and ahlul-bait's (a.s.) doctrine. he was truly a lover of islam and the qur'an and a genuine follower of ahlul-bait's (a.s.) knowledge and teachings. the magnificence of his thought and his sincerity to the qur'an and ahlul-bait (a.s.) is apparent in his statements contained in ` the last message ' which is his last politico-divine will and testament. in this remaining work of his, after a notable explanation about the well-known holy tradition from the prophet (p.b.u.h.) who said: " i leave behind me two weighty (very worthy and important) things: the book of allah (i.e. the qur'an) and my progeny, my ahlul-bait. never, never will these two get separated from each other until they meet me at the haud of kauthar (the pond of abundance). ..." imam khomeini adds: " we are honored and our beloved nation, which is totally committed to islam and qur'an, is honored that it wants to liberate the truths of the qur'an, which from end-to-end calls for the unity of muslims and the entire humanity, from graveyards and cemeteries and present it as the greatest prescription for liberation from the chains which are wrapped around the hands, feet, hearts, and minds of human beings and drag them towards non-existence and destruction, slavery and subjugation to the taqootis. we are honored that we are the followers of a madhab (school of religious law) whose founder, on allah's direction, was allah's prophet and ameer ul- mu'meneen 'ali ibn abi talib, this servant of allah who was himself liberated from all chains and was designated, in turn, as the liberator of mankind from all chains of slavery (to other than allah). we are honored that nahjul balagha, which after the qur'an is the greatest prescription for spiritual and material life, is the highest book for the liberation of mankind, and its spiritual and political prescriptions are the most valuable for liberation, is authored by our ma'soom imam. we are honored that the ma'soom imams from 'ali ibn abi talib to the liberator of mankind (a.s.) who with the power of allah is alive and supervises all affairs, are our imams. we are honored that the supplications, which are called the ascending qur'an are from our ma'soom imams. we are honored that the intimate prayers of sha'banieya, the supplications of 'arafat of hossein ibn 'ali, saheefa sajjaddiya (this psalms of ale mohammad), and saheefa fatimah (which is an allah-inspired book to zahraye mardieya) are from us. we are honored that baqir ul 'ulum, who is the highest personality of history and no one, other than allah ta'ala and the prophet (s.a.w.a.w.s.) and the ma'soom imams, has been or will ever be able to understand his station is from us. and we are honored that our madhab is ja'afari and that our fiqh which is an infinite sea (of knowledge) is one of his (imam sadiq a.s.) contributions. and we are proud of all ma'soom imams (a.s.) and we are committed to following them. we are honored that our ma'soom imams (a.s.) lived in prisons and exile because they tried to raise the status of the deen of islam and implement the (teachings) of the holy qur'an, one of whose dimensions is the formation of the just government, and finally became martyrs in attempts to irradicate oppressive governments and taqootis of their own time. today we are honored that we want to implement the ideals of the qur'an and sunnah. for the sake of this magnanimous end, our people selflessly sacrifice their lives, properties, and loved ones in the way of allah. we are honored that our women, young and old, big and small, weak and strong, are present and work, side by side or even better than our men, in raising the status of islam and achieving the ideals of islam in cultural, economic, and military fields. ..." hence, according to our islamic religious and social duty, we took action towards the publication of the english version of the commentary of the qur'an. after three years of effort and endeavour on the part of all who were involved in the completing of this work, the first print of the first and second volumes of this commentary consisting of the thirtieth part (juz') of the holy qur'an entitled: ` an enlightening commentary into the light of the holy qur'an ' was urgently distributed throughout the world. these two volumes were so ardently and well received by the thirsty readers that over the following one and a half years we had to reprint them four times and, as a result, fortunately it happened that this religious research center has been honoured to happily welcome more than four thousand letters received from various addresses all over the world, including those in european countries, different states of america, and many sites in asia, africa and australia. the people of these locales, those busy in universities, research centers, and other similar institutes, or even in prisons, whose letters are all available in this library, frequently asked for these commentary books. they liked them very much and appreciated them abundantly, so much so that we cannot evaluate its depth or extent. now, by the might and strength of allah, this most recent volume is presented to the lovers of monotheism, the qur'an, and the islamic theology hoping that it will be favourably accepted by allah, the merciful, and also be specifically regarded by his remaining emissary, the expected mahdi (may allah hasten his glad advent) and, finally, be received by his true deputies, i.e., the grand ` maraji` taqlid ' (sources of imitation) especially the great leader of the revolution and master of muslims' affairs at the present time: ayatullah-il-uzma sayyid ali khaminehee.
--------------------------------------------------------------- sayyid kamal faghih imani researcher & founder of the scientific and religious research center amir-ul-mu'mineen ali (a.s.) public library isfahan, islamic republic of iran