Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei, Leader of the Islamic Revolution, issued the message on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Hazrat Zainab al-Kubra (peace be upon her) and National Nurses Day, extending his congratulations to the Iranian nation, dedicated women, and the nursing community.
The full text of Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei’s message is as follows:
In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
The fifth of Jumada al-Awwal each year commemorates the blessed birth of a woman who grew up under the love, guidance, and companionship of the Five Infallibles (peace and blessings be upon them), the noblest of all God’s creation. Over more than fifty years, Hazrat Zainab al-Kubra (peace be upon her) developed within this luminous school of guidance, displaying such a rich array of virtues and noble qualities that she has always been a source of admiration, praise, and pride for the friends of God. The pinnacle of her brilliance was manifested in the epic of Ashura: on the one hand, through her boundless compassion, goodwill, and patient care for the oppressed in the plains of Karbala; and on the other, through her embodiment of some of the highest expressions of steadfastness and courage.
The history of Iran’s Islamic movement and revolution has, from its very beginning, been filled with examples of the Zainab-inspired presence of Iranian women and girls. This presence reached remarkable proportions, both in quality and quantity, during the unprecedented national awakening that unfolded in the Third Sacred Defense. Today, Zainab-inspired women in Islamic Iran, through their strong presence in various arenas, particularly on the streets of cities and villages, are at the forefront of demonstrating resistance in practice behind the front lines of the hard war. The tyrants of our time, who constantly seek to inflict suffering, pain, and repression on this nation, find themselves unable to confront this vast force.
The people of a land devoted to the Ahl al-Bayt (peace and blessings be upon them) have rightly designated the birth anniversary of Hazrat Zainab al-Kubra as a day to honor nurses, recognizing her compassion, solidarity with those in pain, and selfless devotion to their care. Many of these moral qualities and human values are evident among the hardworking and invaluable members of the nursing profession.
Like certain other professions, including physicians, teachers and educators, clerics, and rescue workers, nursing plays a life-restoring and hope-inspiring role. Nurses are sometimes regarded as angels of mercy because, when confronted with the irritability and distress of those who are suffering, they help bring patients peace, hope, recovery, and treatment, thereby becoming a means through which divine mercy is bestowed.
Unlike physicians, however, nurses’ role in caring for patients requires a sustained, continuous, and patient presence. The impact of this presence extends beyond physical care: it can ease psychological and emotional suffering and, in many cases, prevent despair from taking hold. In this way, compassionate nursing care accomplishes what physicians alone may be unable to achieve.
At a time when the malign network of global arrogance spares no effort to inflict various forms of injustice and crime on free and resistant nations, particularly the Iranian nation, and seeks to impose suffering on the great people of Iran by creating various restrictions on medical treatment and medicines, attention to nurses and the strengthening of the nursing community are of particular importance. Preserving and improving nurses’ knowledge, skills, capabilities, well-being, motivation, and dignity—especially among those who have dedicated themselves to serving in public institutions—can have a significant impact on the physical and psychological health and security of society.
It is therefore expected that officials in the health sector, continuing their commitment to public service, will make these important matters a priority.
I extend my congratulations on these two occasions to our dear nation, the dedicated and determined women of our Islamic homeland, and, in particular, my brothers and sisters in the nursing profession.
In conclusion, I pray for divine mercy for the innocent and selfless martyrs of the nursing community, especially the nurses martyred in the Second and Third Imposed Wars and the unrest of Dey 1404 (January 2026). I hope that, through the prayers of our Master, may God hasten his reappearance, Almighty God will grant the Iranian nation ever-greater dignity and strength, along with all that befits those who follow the school of Hazrat Zainab (peace be upon her).
Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei
October 16, 2026
