A characteristic of Haj Ahmad Aqa[1] was that during the eleven-year leadership of Imam Khomeini after the Islamic Revolution, he frequently traveled all around Iran, particularly to deprived areas, anonymously. Due to his busy schedule in Tehran and sensitivity of his tasks and considering his eagerness being near Imam all the time, he kept these trips very short and in all cases he was anonymous.
He sometimes dressed as a Basiji[2] or Pasdar[3] and traveled with his friends to deprived areas and when returned, he reported the results to Imam. There are letters remained in which he reports the issues and problems of people to Imam, the same as he himself had seen or heard in person. Haj Ahmad Aqa was very unpretentious. Wherever he was present, any newcomer would feel his simplicity in the first place. He deliberately insisted to put away formalities so that people can easily speak in his presence. We were ashamed of his nobleness and graciousness.
In the workplace, many times it happened that we complained about things and sometimes we became gloomy, but he solved all the problems with his unique decency and even there are notes that he graciously and humbly officially had written: "I do apologize!" This is while we were at fault and we were wrong.
It is just the son of Imam who is capable of such dignified manners. He never ordered anything as domineering. In the workplace, he himself prepared tea and carried out his personal issues by himself, and there was a friendly environment in the office. From the time that he got to know Imam and chose his path in life, he promised to be near Imam his whole life. Taking his worthwhile life into consideration, one can see that from then on he always followed and fulfilled his promise.
The relationship between Imam and Haj Ahmad Aqa was beyond the relationship of a father and son, it was rather a relationship between a disciple and the master. He considered Imam as a divine sign and he used to say "my life acquires meaning by being beside Imam and by working with him. In fact, he was indeed happy that he worked beside Imam and that tried to fulfill the aims of a man who had revived the religion of Allah. Even in the period before the Islamic Revolution victory, in his correspondences, Haj Ahmad Aqa signed his letters (e.g. a 1965 letter) as Your Humble Son, Ahmad such letters are currently available. The life of Haj Ahmad Aqa was both a spiritual journey and being among people, and while he was unique, he preferred to be anonymous. In the last two to three years of his life, especially in 1994, Haj Ahmad Aqa was in a introspective thoughtful mood.
When I met him privately, I felt he is preparing himself to leave. His sort of talks at that time reinforced this feeling in me especially his rising tendency towards mystical poetry of mystic poets like Hafiz, Sa'di and of course poems of Imam that he frequently whispered, reiterated and interpreted. It was an unknown, inexpressible feeling and I can only say that it was obvious that he had heard the call to rejoin to Allah.
[1] Sayyid Ahmad Khomeini, 2nd son of Imam Khomeini [2] a Paramilitary Volunteer Officer [3] a Revolutionary Guard Officer