" Change "

To the one who understood his task and his purpose.

To the one who looked at the road ahead, and understood that it was

a difficult journey.

To the one who did not make light of those difficulties,

but, on the contrary, made them manifest and visible.

To the one who makes the lonely feel they are not alone,

who satisfies those who hunger and thirst for justice, who makes the

oppressor feel as bad as the oppressed.

To the one who always keeps his door open,

his ears listening, his hands working, his feet walking.

To the one who embodies the verses of another Persian poet,

and when he says: Not even seven thousand years of joy are worth seven

days of sadness.

To the one who is here tonight, may he be one with all of us,

may his example multiply, may he still have difficult days ahead,

so that he can do whatever he needs to do,

so that the next generations will not have to strive

for what has already been accomplished.

And may he walk slowly,

because his peace is the peace of change,

and change, real change, always takes time.