In the name of God, the most Merciful, the Compassionate

Dear sons and daughters, the students,

Peace, God's mercy and blessings be upon you,

It gives me pleasure at this time, while you are attending your classes, on this blessed day, to extend to every student, male or female, my greetings, love and feeling of pride in you and what you represent for the homeland. You are its wealth on which we depend to build Jordan, the model, the homeland of freedom, equality and respect for human rights.

On this occasion, I would like to assure you, dear sons and daughters, that knowledge is a message of honor that sharpens your will, enhances your talent and innovation and illuminates your path of continuous endeavor towards your aspiration to achieve the prosperity of your homeland, God willing.

Dear sons and daughters, the students,

We assure you that, as you are the center of our interest and concern, we are committed to continuing the modernization and development of education, to elevate it and establish the conditions that will allow you to excel and innovate, and to providing you with all the means of modern knowledge that would enrich your experiences, stimulate and release your capacities and innovativeness. Because we are aware that knowledge would be incomplete without supporting the role of teachers, male and female, who constitute the pillar of the educational process, we have directed the government - through the Ministry of Education - to support and train teachers, to avail them of modern technology and to provide for them with means to live decent life they are entitled to and that is worthy of their status and givin

My sons and daughters, the students,

The world, especially the Arab Muslim world, is witnessing offensive, horrendous attacks from extremists and terrorists, particularly from those who claim to do so in the name of Islam. They distort the image of Islam and spread devastation around the world. And thus we are emphasizing that the school is the basic pillar in spreading awareness of the essence of our great religion, Islam, and the truth about it; Islam that gave mankind the enlightened principles of justice, moderation, respect and acceptance of the other and that rejected closed-mindedness and fanaticism. Muslim schools all through history were minarets of knowledge that gave the world the cream of an elite corps of scientists and intellectuals who were pioneers in the renaissance of human society. And within the framework of our concept of Islam, the religion of right, justice and equality, we released last year the Amman Message to emphasize the true message of Islam that is built on the principles of tolerance, moderation, coexistence, openness, dialogue, renouncing violence and terrorism and standing up to the extremists' false allegations and precepts.

Once again, I greet you wherever you are -- in the villages, badia, camps or cities -- and I am sure that our march to build modern Jordan will be successful, building on our established strong faith in your awareness and your true belonging to your homeland. I wish all of you and all of your teachers, male and female, success in all that you aspire to in the field of useful knowledge.

Peace, God's mercy and blessings be upon you.

Abdullah II bin al-Hussein
Amman,
15 Rajab 1426 Hijri
20 August 2005