Despite being a man of few words and most of the time being calm and quiet, Imam Khomeini would at times narrate a joke in the midst of a lecture that would send those in attendance howling in laughter while he himself would remain silent and indifferent as if he had said nothing (funny). In particular, one day one of his erudite students who came from Iran’s (Turkish speaking) province of Azerbaijan, was very adamant and loud about his objections and questions and the Imam wanted to calm him down. Finally, the Imam used the Turkish term ‘Yokh’ (meaning ‘no’) at the end of his response sending both the Azeri student and the rest of those attending the class in peals of laughter while the Imam continued with his lecture without as much as a smile on his face!
Narrated by: Hujjat al-Islam wal Muslimeen Ali Davani
Taken from: Exclusive Memoirs from Imam Khomeini’s Life, vol. 6, p. 53