(Umm al‑Qura, Issue 1764, 8 Shawwal 1378 AH / 17 April 1959)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
My beloved people,
I praise Almighty God before you, and I ask Him to accept our fasting and our prayers, and to bless for us this day of breaking the fast and all our days.
God has granted us the grace to spend these blessed ten days in the Sacred House of God, enjoying its nearness and circumambulating it, asking Him to grant us and you forgiveness and acceptance.
On this occasion, I share with you the joy of this blessed Eid, which we pray God will make a feast of goodness and happiness for this country in particular and for all Muslims in general.
My beloved people,
The bond that unites ruler and ruled is a firm and unbreakable tie, founded upon religion and adherence to the Book of God and the Sunnah of His Prophet, peace be upon him. Its essence is that the strong among us shall be held weak until the right is taken from him, and the weak shall be held strong until the right is restored to him. This is what God and His Messenger have commanded, and by God’s help we shall continue upon it.
My beloved people,
You know the extent of my concern for your welfare, for elevating your standing, and for honoring your country. I exert all my effort toward this end. I share in your hopes and your pains, and I regard your elders as fathers, your middle‑aged as brothers, and your young as sons. I strive with all my ability to secure what benefits you in your faith and your worldly life. I stay awake so that you may sleep, and I labor so that you may find comfort.
Three matters compel me to this:
First: My duty toward you as your guardian.
Second: What I have witnessed of your sincere affection, genuine love, and loyal devotion on all occasions.
Third: That my highest aim in governance is to lead you to the heights of glory and honor, so that our nation may stand among the advanced nations in the dignity of our homeland and the standard of our living—always in accordance with our noble Shari‘ah, whose foundations we all strive to strengthen. We act upon His saying, exalted be He: “Say: Who has forbidden the adornment of God which He has brought forth for His servants, and the good things of provision?” Rejecting superficialities and trivialities that noble character and Islamic dignity refuse.
“Nations are built upon morals; if their morals vanish, they vanish.”
Let us not forget that this land is the focus of the world’s attention; from it the Islamic call emerged, and within it stand the Sacred Kaaba and the birthplace of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.
I praise God and thank Him for what He has bestowed upon this blessed land and upon the Kingdom as a whole—of harmony among its people, ease in their affairs, and the tranquility and serenity that prevail within it. This is only by God’s grace and favor, then by our adherence to His Book and the Sunnah of His Prophet, and our application of them in both great and small matters. It is also by the sincerity of intention that God knows from us in private and in public: “Actions are but by intentions, and every person shall have only what he intended.”
I ask Almighty God to show me in you what brings me joy, to make us all rightly guided guides for others, and to set aright our land and our people.
You have from us our warmest greetings and peace.