Relationship between Imam Khomeini and Ayatollah Khoei

Once ayatollah Khoei gave Sayyid Ahmad Fahri an ‘aba (cloak) so that he can give it to Imam Khomeini as a gift. When Sayyid Fahri presented the ‘aba to Imam Khomeini, Imam said: I am very glad that you have continued to preserve a connection with him (Ayatollah Khoei).

Regarding the relationship between ayatollah Khoei and Ayatollah Khomeini, I (ayatollah Sayyid Shubeyri Zanjani) will mention a few points:

1) I heard this story from my father, and not from anyone else, who said that when Aqa Khoei came to Qum and visited Aqa Khomeini, we also went to visit him (Aqa Khoei) as he was known as the transcriber of the lessons of Aqa Nāʾīnī. This incident took place before our (Shubeyri Zanjani’s) time, although at our time Aqa Khoei also visited Qum once and we went to visit him.

2) I heard that when Aqa Khomeini was exiled to Iraq, he went to Kadhmayn and either telegraphed or telephoned Aqa Khoei telling him that I have arrived.

3) Another incident that I have heard and it is certain and accepted, is that, in Najaf when Aqa Khoei had already visited Aqa Khomeini once, he (Aqa Khoei) decided to go visit him again. The Najafis criticized Aqa Khoei saying that you are weakening the position of Najaf through these visits, you have seen him before and there is no need to visit him again. Aqa Khoei did not pay any heed to them and went to visit Aqa Khomeini numerous times.

4) When Aqa Mustafa (son of Imam Khomeini) passed away, Aqa Khoei is the one who performed the prayers on his body.

5) Once Aqa Khoei gave Aqa Sayyid Ahmad Fahri an ‘aba (cloak) so that he can give it to Aqa Khomeini as a gift. When Aqa Fahri presented the ‘aba to Aqa Khomeini, Aqa Khomeini said: I am very glad that you have continued to preserve a connection with him (Aqa Khoei). Aqa Khomeini showed his appreciation through this manner. He also said: If the person who gave this gift was not Aqa Khoei, I would have given this same ‘aba to you as a gift. However, since he gifted it to me, I will preserve it for myself. Then he goes inside himself or asks someone to grab an ‘aba from inside, and gifts it to Aqa Fahri.

6) I believe I heard from Husayn Aqa – the son of the deceased Aqa Mustafa – that: Initially when Aqa Khomeini was in Najaf, his residence was really hot and it would cause him hardship. When Aqa Khoei once entered the house of Aqa Khomeini, he looked around the residence and requested a construction worker to – for example – renovate a certain place or change a certain other area of the house so that the air in the house doesn’t remain hot. The construction workers did exactly what Aqa Khoei asked them to do, and the issue of the warm air inside the house was solved. Aqa Khoei was well-versed in architecture.

7) I have heard this incident from numerous people: Someone (whose name I will not mention) came to Aqa Khomeini once and complained about Aqa Haieri Shirazi – the previous Imam of Jum’ah of Shiraz – and said: He is a promoter of Khoei! Aqa Khomieni was really displeased with his words and got angry with the person questioning him why he had disrespected Aqa Khoei. Then he said: He is Ayatullah Khoei and he is from the greats.

This is a translation from the third volume of the book titled Jurayee az Darya [A Drop from the Sea], page 672-673  by Ali Imran– which possesses a collection of small talks given by Ayatollah Sayyid Shubeyri Zanjani on various stories from the lives of scholars. The article frist published in iqraonline