Imam Khomeini had overcome all negative traits such as selfishness, egotism and pretentiousness, which normally make an ordinary person baffled and wondering. When the Imam’s book titled Tahrir al-Wasilah was printed for the first time in the holy city of Najaf, the Arabic phrase زعیم الحوزات العلمیه standing for His Eminence was mentioned on its back cover–the title which was formerly used for the late Ayatollah Khoei. When the Imam saw the aforesaid title on the back cover of his book, he asked for the relevant person and told him: “Under whose order did you do so?” The Imam then gave him an ultimatum, saying: “If this phrase is not removed from the book, I will order all the books be thrown into the (river) Tigris.”
Narrated by: Hujjat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen Sayyid Hamid Rouhani
Taken from: Exclusive Memoirs from Imam Khomeini’s Life, vol. 6, p. 159