On his way to migrating from Iraq and Kuwait’s refusal to accept him, the Imam stayed one more night in Baghdad and thus he was scheduled to fly to Paris the next morning—at 8 A.M. on Friday. It was now Thursday noon and we were seated in the presence of the Imam. Everybody was anxious and worried about the future events and situation but the Imam was extremely calm and resolute as if nothing had happened. In fact he comforted us as well. From Tehran too there were reports that the people were extremely unhappy and panicking and a large numbers of protest marches and demonstrations had taken place and that everybody was worried about the situation.
In that state of misery and shock that we all were going through in which the future was absolutely unpredictable I have still not forgotten this sentence of the Imam that he had stated: “I am abashed and indebted to the people. I feel humbled by this people. They are going through a lot of trouble for our sake and we are sitting here in total comfort!” wasn’t it quite astonishing that a person in that situation, driven from his homeland, driven from here and there without his fate being known—from the border to the airport; from Basra to Baghdad to God knows where—and not knowing what events were in store for him sees himself in total comfort and is deeply concerned for the people who are going through so much trouble for his sake.
Name of the narrator: Hujjat al-Islam wal Muslimeen Hassan Saqafi, Keeping Pace with the Sunlight, vol. 1, page 121
Title of the Book: Impressions and Memoirs about Imam Khomeini's Practical Behaviour, vol. 1, chapter two, pages 135 &136