When Imam Khomeini was teaching in Qum’s Salmasi Mosque, in those days a new pulpit had been placed just then.
One day on the insistence of the seminary students, the Imam went to the top of the pulpit but declined to give a lecture.
Iinstead, the Imam began to sermonize and stated:
“When the great Mirza (renowned Iranian theologian who issued the fatwa of ban on tobacco) would go to the pulpit, his body would tremble and he would weep and shed tears.”
Right then the Imam’s body began to tremble too and he was overcome with emotion as well.
He then remarked: “This seat is the place of the Prophet (pbuh) and (Imam) Ali ('a). We stand nowhere in front of them.”
Narrated by: Hujjat al-Islam wal Muslimeen Sheikholeslam
Taken from: Impressions from Imam Khomeini’s Memoirs, vol. 5, chap. 7, pp. 121 & 122.