Adab as-Salat The Disciplines of the Prayer Second Revised Edition
Chapter4
Some Exegesis Of The Blessed Sūrah Of At-Tawhīd
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Know that this noble sūrah is the lineage [nasab] of Allah, the Exalted, according to the noble hadīths, one
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of which is in the noble al-Kāfī, on the authority of Imām as-Sādiq ('a) who said: “The Jews inquired of the Messenger of Allah (s) and said: 'Tell us your Lord's lineage [nasab]. ' The Prophet remained three days giving no reply. Then it was revealed to him: 'Say: He is Allah, the One,' till the end. ” [1] Consequently, the human mind is incapable of understanding its facts, subtleties and secrets. Yet, though it is so, the share which the people of knowledge have of it, and what the hearts of the people of Allah know, cannot be understood by mere reasoning.
By the Beloved, this noble sūrah is one of the trusts which the heavens of the spirits, the lands of ghosts and the mountains of I-nesses, are incapable of carrying it. No one is fit to carry it other than the Perfect Man who has crossed the boundary of “the possible” and entered the realm of ecstasy. Nevertheless, there is the good news that would please the people of the End of the Time and offer safety to the people of knowledge.
There is a hadīth in the noble al-Kāfī, which says that, asked about at-Tawhīd, Imām 'Alī ibn Husayn ('a) said: “Allah, the Almighty and Exalted, knew that in the End of the Time there would be people of deep knowledge. Therefore, Allah, the Exalted, revealed the sūrah: 'Say: He is Allah, the One…' and some āyahs of the Sūrah al-Hadīd up to 'He knows what is in the breasts. ' Whoever
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wanted other than that would perish. ” [1]
From this noble hadīth one deduces that to comprehend these noble āyahs and this blessed sūrah is for the scrutinizers and the owners of deep insight. They contain the minute secrets of at-Tawhīd and knowledge. The delicate divine knowledge is descended by Allah upon the worthy. Those who have no share of the secrets of at-Tawhīd and divine knowledge, have no right to look into these āyahs. They have no right to interpret these āyahs according to the common and vulgar meanings which they know, and to which they confine them.
In the first noble āyahs of the blessed sūrah of al-Hadīd there are delicate things of at-Tawhīd, and great information of the secrets of divinity and abstraction, the like of which is unseen in the divine revelations, and the books of the people of knowledge and the owners of heart. Had there been nothing but these āyahs to confirm the truthfulness of the prophethood and the perfection of the religion of the Seal of the Prophets, they would have been sufficient for the people of insight and knowledge.
The highest evidence proving that this knowledge is beyond the capacity of man and out of the limits of human thought is that till the revelation of these noble āyahs and the like, of the knowledge contained in the Qur'an, such knowledge had not been precedented among mankind, and there was no way to those secrets.
Nowadays, there are the books and the writings of the great
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philosophers of the world, who took their knowledge from the source of divine inspiration the highest and best of them maybe the noble book called Ethology [Theologia], [1] by the great philosopher and celebrated wise man, Aristotle, to whom great philosophers, such as the Master Avicenna, the rare wonder of the time, humbly bowed.
Of the emanations of his mind was the logic and its rules, on which basis he was named “The First Teacher. ” Avicenna says that ever since this great scholar composed the rules of logic, no one has been able to object to even a single one of his rules or add to them. Despite what has been said, and although he had written that honorable book in order to prove the state of divinity, yet, could the whole of that noble book prove it as the noble āyah at the beginning of the Sūrah al- Hadīd could do, or even something near it with a scent of the great secret of monotheism? Has it anything like the saying of Allah, the Exalted:
“He is the First and the Last and the Manifest and the Hidden,” [2]
Or the noble saying: “And He is with you wheresoever you may be. ” [3]
Nowadays the deep thinkers and the people of insight and knowledge do know what secrets there are in these āyahs, and with what noble words and a great secret Allah, the Exalted, has honored and favored the people of the End of the Time!
Whoever refers to the
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knowledge of the religions of the world and to the knowledge common among the great philosophers of each religion, and compares them, in respect of the Beginning and the Return, with the knowledge of the upright religion of Islam and of the great philosophers of Islam and of the well-versed gnostic teachers of this ummah, will certainly admit that the source of the Islamic knowledge is the light of the Qur'an and the hadīths of the Seal of the Prophets and his Ahl al-Bayt ('a) , all of whom receive their knowledge from the light of the Qur'an. Only then will he realize that the philosophy and Gnosticism of Islam are not taken from the Greek, rather, they have no resemblance to theirs.
Yes, some of the philosophers of Islam did imitate the method of the Greek philosophers, such as the Master Shaykh Avicenna. Yet, the Shaykh's philosophy is not so prosperous in the market of the people of knowledge, and it has little value with them, as far as the knowledge about Divinity, the Beginning, and the Return is concerned.
In short, ascribing today's philosophy of the Islamic philosophers, and the great knowledge of the people of knowledge to the Greek philosophy denotes the ascribers' lack of information about the Islamic writings, such as the writings of the great Islamic philosopher, Sadr 'ul-Muta'allihīn (may his soul be sanctified) and his great tutor, Muhaqqiq Dāmād (may his soul be sanctified) , and his great student, Fayd Kashānī (may his soul
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be sanctified) , and the great student of Fayd, the great gnostic faithful, Qādī Sa'īd Qummī (may his soul be sanctified).
It also shows their ignorance of the knowledge of the Divine Book and the hadīths of the infallibles ('a) , and that is why they ascribed every philosophy to the Greek, and regarded the Islamic philosophers as the followers of the Greek philosophy.
We have related a part of the delicate points of the noble sūrah of at-Tawhīd and some hints about those noble āyahs in our book on explaining The Forty Hadīths. Furthermore, we also gave a brief explanation of this noble sūrah in our book The Secret of the Salāt. Relying on Allah, we give here another short explanation, and so we say:
If the bismillāh of this sūrah belongs to this surah as we supposed it so when explaining the blessed sūrah of al-Hamd it may be a hint at the fact that to explain the lineage [nasab] of Allah and the secrets of at-tawhīd through our selfishness and our own language is not possible. Actually, unless the sālik steps out of his veil, realizes the state of the Absolute Will and of the Holy Emanation and perishes in the Absolute Ipseity [huwiyyat], he will not be able to comprehend the secrets of at-tawhīd.
“Say” is a command from the Collective Oneness [hadrat-i ahadiyyat-i jam'] to the state of the big isthmus [barzakhiyyat-i kubrā] and the mirror of Collectivity [jam'] and distinctness [tafsīl]. That is, “Say,
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O Muhammad, mirror of the appearance of the Collective Oneness, in the state of essential proximity [tadallī-yi dhātī], or the sacred state of “even nearer”which can be a reference to the state of the Most Holy Emanation with a tongue self-perishing, and subsisting by Allah's subsistence: “He is Allah, the One. ”
Do know, O traveler on the road of knowledge and tawhīd, and ascender to the heights of transcendence and abstraction, that Allah's Sacred Essence, in itself, is innocent of external and internal manifestations, and of mark, form, attribute and name. The hands of the hopes of the people of knowledge are short of His Majesty's skirt, and the traveling legs of the people of heart are too slow to reach the threshold of His Holiness.
The ultimate knowledge of the Perfect Friends is “We knew you not,” and the end of the journey of the people of secrets is “We worshipped you not. ” [1] The head of the circle of the people of knowledge, the prince of the people of at-Tawhīd, Imām 'Alī ('a) , in this lofty stance says: “…the perfection of sincerity is to deny Him attributes. ” [2] And the leader of the people of sulūk, the master of the worshippers and the gnostics, at His mighty threshold says: “The attributes lost their way to you, and the descriptions fell into contradiction about you. ” [3]
The people of the scholarly sulūk and terms, call His Holy Essence “The Immune Ghayb” [ghayb-i masūn], “The Hidden Secret,” “The Wonderful Unknown,” ['anqā'-i
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mughrib] and “The Absolute Unknown” [majhūl-i mutlaq]. They say that His Essence would appear in no mirror without the veil of Names and Attributes, and would be manifested in no one of the creations nor in any one of the invisible and visible worlds. But according to
“Every day He is in a state,” [1]
There are, for His Holy Essence, Names, Attributes and states [affairs =shu'ūn] of “Beauty” and “Majesty. ” There are for Him Essential Names in the state of Oneness [ahādiyyat], which is the unseen state. They are to be called “the Essential Names,” and, by the individuation [ta'ayyun] of the Essential Names, He would be manifested through the Holy Emanation. From this manifestation in the apparel of the Essential Names, there would be the individuation [ta'ayyun] and the appearance [zuhūr] of the state of “Unity” [wāhidiyyat] and “Names and Attributes,” and the state of “Divinity. ”
So, it has become known that after the Holy Essence, as such, there are other three states and scenes: the state of the Unseen “Oneness” the state of the manifestation of “the Holiest Emanation,” which may be referred to by the word 'amā' in the noble Prophetic hadīths; [2] to the state of “Unity” [wāhidiyyat], which, according to the Collective Oneness [ahadiyyat-i jam'], is the state of the Greatest Name, and, according to the “distinct multiplicity” [kathrat-i tafsīlī], is the state of Names and Attributes. To go into the details of these states requires an expansion that is out of the capacity
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of these papers.
Having understood this preliminary, we say that “He” [huwa] may be a reference to the state of the “Most Holy Emanation,” which is the manifestation of the Essence in the individuation of the “Essential Names. ” “Allah” points to the state of the Collective Oneness [ahadiyyat-i jam'] of the Names, which is the Greatest Name. ”Ahad” (the One) is a reference to the state of the “Oneness” [ahadiyyat].
Therefore, the noble āyah intends to prove that these three states which, in the instance [maqām] of nominal multiplication, possess plurality [kathrat], actually possess utmost unity at the same time. The manifestation in the “Most Holy Emanation,” according to the state of appearance, is “Allah,” and according to the state of interiority [butūn], is the “One” [Ahad].
Perhaps “He” [huwa] points to the state of the Essence. And, as it is an invisible reference, it is actually a reference to the unknown. “Allah” and “Ahad” are references to the state of “Unity” [wāhidiyyat] and “Oneness” [ahadiyyat]. So, He introduces the Essence which is the Absolute Unknown through the Names of Essence, and the Names of the Unitary Attributes. In fact, it points to the fact that the Essence is invisible and the hands of hopes are short of reaching it, and that spending the life in thinking about Allah's Essence leads to going astray, and that what is known to the people of Allah and to the knowledge of those who know Allah, is related to the states of “Unity” [wāhidiyyat] and
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“Oneness” [ahadiyyat], the “Unity” being for the common people of Allah, whereas “Oneness” is for the special people of Allah.
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[1]: Usūl al-Kāfī, vol. 1, p. 122, “Book of at-Tawhīd,” ch. on “Lineage,” hadīth 1.
[1]: Usūl al-Kāfī, vol. 1, p. 125, “Book of at-Tawhīd,” ch. on “Prohibition of Talking on the Quality,” hadīth 4.
[1]: Dehkhudā's Lexicon, under the entry Aristotle, takes Theologia to be among the books written by Aristotle, and says: Theologia is a discourse about Divinity, explained by Porphyrius (Prophyry) of Tyre, and translated into Arabic by 'Abdul Masīh ibn 'Abdullāh the Nā'imī of Hims. Then Abū Yūsuf Ya'qūb ibn Ishāq al-Kindī corrected it for Ahmad ibn al-Mu'tasim. It was printed in Berlin in the year 1882. It was also printed in Iran in the margin of al-Qabasāt by Mirdāmād, in the year 1314 H. (Lunar year). And under the entry Theologia it says: Theologia is derived from Greek, meaning “theology. ” Mayāmīr is a book by Plotinus, who is known by the Muslims as ash-Shaykh al-Yūnānī (the Greek Oldman). This book covers the 4th to 6th book of the ”Enneades. ” Some of the ancients mistakenly ascribed this book to Aristotle. In the year of 1314 H. the book of Theologia, was printed in the margin of al-Qabasāt, by Abū 'l-Qasim ibn Ākhūnd Mullā Ridā Kamarbunī. The date of composing the book is mistakenly stated in Dehkhudā's Lexicon to be the date of its printing.
[2]: Sūrah al-Hadīd 57: 3
[3]: Ibid. 57: 4
[1]: This refers to a narrative quoted from the Messenger of Allah (s) , saying: “We knew You not as You should be known, and we worshipped You not as You should be worshipped. ” Mir'āt ul-'Uqūl, vol. 8, “Book of Faith and Disbelief,” ch. on “Thank-Giving,” p. 146.
[2]: Nahj al-Balāghah, edited by Fayd ul-Islām, Sermon 1.
[3]: As-Sahīfah as-Sajjadiyyah, Invocation 32.
[1]: Sūrah ar-Rahmān 55: 29.
[2]: When the Prophet (s) was asked, “Where was our Lord before creating the heavens and the earth? ” he said, “He was in the 'amā” [high]. ” Awāli al-La'ālī, vol. 1, p. 54, ch. 4, hadīth 79.
A Philosophic Note:
Do know that there are for Allah “Positive Attributes” [sifāt-i thubūtiyyah] and “Negative Attributes” [sifāt-i salbiyyah], as the philosophers believe. By the “Negative Attribute” they mean the negation of the negative, i. e. negation of imperfection. Some say that the “Positive Attributes” are the Attributes of “Beauty” [jamāl] and the “Negative Attributes” are the Attributes of “Majesty” [jalāl], and that “The Owner of Majesty and Generosity” includes all the Negative and the Positive Attributes. But this talk, in both stages, is contrary to certainty [tahqīq].
Now the first stage: The “Negative Attributes” are certainly not of the attributes, since concerning the Essence of Allah, there can be neither any negative nor negation of the negative. Allah, the Exalted, is not attributed with negative attributes, because attributing with negative attributes is a privative proposition [qadiyyat-i ma'dūlah], and forming a privative proposition is not allowed in respect of Allah, the Exalted, since it is modification of the possible aspects and it requires admission of composition [tarkīb] in the Holy Essence.
Rather, the negative attributes are through the simple absolute negation, which is a negation of the attribute, not a confirmation of the attribute of negating the negation. In other words, Allah, the Exalted, is deprived of all imperfections in a simple negation, not that the negation of imperfections be confirmed for Him by way of affirmation of privation [ījāb-i 'udūlī]. So, as
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a matter of fact, the attributes of purification [tanzīh] are not “attributes. ” Allah, the Exalted, is only attributed with the positive attributes.
As regards the second stage, the people of knowledge regard the “Attributes of Beauty” to be those which bring intimacy and affection. The “Attributes of Majesty” are those which bring fear, bewilderment and anxiety. So, whatever is affiliated to kindness and mercy is of the “Attributes of Beauty,” such as “Compassionate,” “Merciful,” “Tender,” “Affectionate,” “Lord,” and the like.
And that which belongs to sovereignty and grandeur is of the “Attributes of Majesty,” such as “Owner,” “King,” “Forceful,” “Avenger,” and the like, although in the inside of every Beauty there is a Majesty, too, because every beauty has, in the inside, bewilderment and anxiety, appearing in the heart with the secret of greatness and power, and, every majesty has, in the inside, mercy, and the heart feels, with it, intimacy inside. That is why as the heart naturally is attracted to beauty and the beautiful, it, at the same time, is attracted to power, greatness, the powerful, and the great. Therefore, both of these kinds of attributes are positive, not negative, attributes.
Now, as this subject has been understood, do know that although “Allah” is “The Greatest Name” and that the attributes of “Beauty” and “Majesty” are of its manifestations and are under its custody [hītah], yet sometimes it is used for the attributes of “Beauty” [jamāl] in opposition to the attributes of “Majesty” [jalāl], such that
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“divinity” [ilāhiyyat] and “godhead” [ulūhiyyat] categorically belong to the attributes of “Beauty,” particularly if they are thought to oppose the attribute of “Majesty. ”
In the noble āyah:
“Say: He is Allah, the One,” “the One”
May be a reference to one of the important attributes of “Majesty,” which is the state [maqām] of the perfect simplicity of the Holy Essence, while “Allah” is a reference to the Name of “Beauty. ” Thus, the lineage [nasab] of Allah, the Exalted, has been explained in this noble āyah, in respect of the states of “Oneness” [ahadiyyat], “Unity” [wāhidiyyat] and manifestation through “The Holiest Emanation” the three of which are [covering] all the divine affairs [shu'ūn] according to the first possibility which has already been referred to in the previous “Note. ”
In accordance with the possibility stated in this “Note,” the lineage [nasab] of Allah, the Exalted, is explained in accordance with the states of the Names of Beauty and Majesty, which encompass all the Names. And Allah is the Knower.
A Gnostic Note
Know that the words of every speaker are a demonstration of his self in accordance with the state of appearance. It is the emergence of his inner faculties on the mirror of words, in proportion to the capacity of the composition of words. If a heart becomes luminous and purged of the pollutions and evils of the world of nature, its words will also become luminous, or, rather, it becomes light itself, and the very luminosity of the heart is manifested in the clothing
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of words.
Concerning the Imāms of guidance it is said: “Your words are light. ” [1] It is also said: “He manifested in His talk to His servants. ” [2] In Nahj al-Balāghah it is said: “His words are but His act. ” [3] Action is the appearance of the doer's self [dhāt] without “words. ” If a heart becomes dark and polluted, its act and words will become dark and polluted, too: “A good word is like a good tree…;” [4] “And the likeness of a bad word is as a bad tree. ” [5]
The Holy Essence of Allah, the Most High, according to
“Every day He is in a state [sha'n],” [6]
Appears to the hearts of the prophets and the guardians [awliyā'] in the clothing of the Names and Attributes, and His manifestations differ in accordance with the differences of their hearts. Similarly, the heavenly Books, which descended upon their hearts by revelation through the Revelation Angel, Gabriel, are different according to the differences of these manifestations and of the Names which are the origins of them as the difference of the prophets and their Sharī'ahs is according to the kingdoms of the Names.
So, the more the Name is comprehensive and embracing, the more comprehensive and embracing its kingdom, its relevant prophethood and its revealed Book, and the more comprehensive and permanent its Sharī'ah. And, as the Seal of Prophethood, the Glorious Qur'an and the Islamic Sharī'ah are of the phenomena, or of the manifestations and appearances of the Collective State of the One and of
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the Greatest Name of Allah, consequently, they are the most comprehensive prophethood, Book and Sharī'ah, and the most all-inclusive ones, and nothing can be imagined more perfect and more honorable than them, and from the world of the unseen a knowledge loftier than that, or like it, would no longer come down to the expanse of nature.
That is, the last appearance of a scientific perfection, concerning religions, is this, and there is no possibility of the descension of a better one to this world. Hence, the very person of the Seal of the Messengers (s) is the most honored one of the beings and is the complete manifestation of the Greatest Name, and his prophethood is also the most possible complete one, and is the image of the Kingdom of the Greatest Name, which is everlasting and eternal, and the Book revealed to him is also from the stage of the unseen through the manifestation of the Greatest Name.
For this reason, this noble Book has its “oneness of collectivity and distinctness” [ahadiyyat-i jam'u tafsīl], and it is of “The Collective Words” [jawāmi'ul-kalim]. [1] The words of the Prophet himself were of the Collective Words, too. By saying that the Qur'an, or the Prophet's words, are Collective Words we do not mean to refer to their general instructions and collective principles although considering this, his hadīths are also collective and of the principles, as is known to the science of jurisprudence.
The Qur'an is collective because it is revealed for
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all the human classes, during all the stages of the human life, and it meets all the needs of the human race. The reality of this race is the same as the reality of the society, with all its stations, from the lowest earthly ones up to the highest spiritual, heavenly and mighty ones. Therefore, the individuals of this species in this low, mundane world are so different, and they are so diverse that the like of it is not seen in any other species.
It is this species that includes the completely wretched and the completely happy. It is this species in which there are some individuals who are lower than all kinds of animals, while there are some others who are more honored than all the favored angels. In short, as the individuals of this species are different in respect of their understanding and knowledge, the Qur'an has been revealed in such a way as to be benefited by everybody in accordance with the degree of the perfection or weakness of his understanding and knowledge.
For example, the noble āyah:
“Had there been in them [the heavens and the earth] any gods except Allah, they would have surely been in [a state of] disorder. ” [1]
As the common people, the people of letters, and the lexicographers understand, each a certain concept, the theologians understand something else, similarly the philosophers, men of wisdom understand a different meaning, as well as the gnostics and the godly men who benefit from it differently.
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The common people take it to be a speech addressed to them according to their own tastes. They say, for example, two kings cannot rule a single kingdom, or two chieftains in a tribe cause corruption, or two headmen in a village would lead to disputes and quarrels.
So, had there been two gods in the world there would have been corruption, disputes and litigation. But as there is one God, this difference of the heavens and the earth and their systematic order are preserved. So, the Manager of the world is One. The theologians use this as mutual antagonistic demonstration, while the philosophers and the wise men use it for establishing a decisive reasoning argument based on: “The one does not issue but the one, and the one is not issued but by the one. ” [1]
The people of knowledge [ahl-i ma'rifat] get to recognize Unity, in a different way through it, by way of knowing that the world is the mirror of appearance [zuhūr] and the place of manifestation of the Haqq (Allah) ; and so on, which makes it too lengthy to expand on each of those ways.
Now that this introduction is understood, you may know that the noble sūrah of “Say: He, Allah, is One” is, like the other parts of the Qur'an, of “Collective Words,” and, being so, every one makes use of it in a way.
The men of letters and of form take “He” to be a pronoun of state, and “Allah”
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to be a proper noun, and ”ahad” to mean “the One,” or an exaggeration of “Oneness,” i. e. Allah is One, or He has no partner in Divinity, or
“There is nothing like Him,” [1]
or in the divinity and Essential Eternity He has no partner, or His Acts are One, that is, all of them are based on practicality and benevolence, with no benefit for Himself. Allah is as-Samad, i. e. He is the Great Master who is sought by the people for their wants to be fulfilled, or He is as-Samad, meaning that He has no inside, and, being such, nothing can be born of Him, nor can He be born of anything, and no one is like Him or comparable to Him.
This is a statement on the part of the common people intended to counter the disbelievers who had many gods, all of which had possible attributes. The Messenger of Allah (s) was ordered to tell them that his God was different from theirs, and His attributes are those which have been mentioned.
That was the explanation of this sūrah in a traditional and common way, and suitable for one group, and it is not incompatible with this fact that there may be another meaning or other scrupulous meanings, as we have already mentioned some of them.
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[1]: 'Uyūnu Akhbār ar-Ridā, vo1. 2, p. 277, quoted from the invocation of ”Al-Jāmi'ah al-Kabīrah. ”
[2]: Bihār al-Anwār, vol. 89, p. 107.
[3]: Nahj al-Balāghah, edited by Fayd ul-Islām, p. 737, sermon 228.
[4]: Derived from Sūrah Ibrāhīm 14: 24.
[5]: No reference
[6]: Sūrah ar-Rahmān 55: 29.
[1]: It is a reference to a Prophetic hadīth, saying: “I have been given the Collective Words. ” Al-Khisāl, ch. 5, hadīth 56.
[1]: Sūrah al-Anbiyā' 21: 22
[1]: A philosophic principle. Al-Ishārāt wat-Tanbīhāt, (explained by Khājah Nasīr) , vol. 3, p. 122. Al-Asfār al-Arba'ah, vol. 2, p. 204, ch. 13
[1]: Sūrah ash-Shūrā 42: 11
A Philosophic Explanation
It is possible that for the blessed sūrah of “at-Tawhīd” which was revealed for the deep thinkers of the end of the Time there may be a wise explanation
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based on theological criteria and philosophic proofs. This explanation has been revealed to me by the great gnostic Shaykh Shāhābādī (May he live longer). [1]
So, “He” [huwa] is a reference to mere existence and absolute Ipseity [huwiyyat] a fact which proves, in the blessed sūrah, six lofty philosophic subjects:
First: The state of “Divinity” [ulūhiyyat], which is the state of containing all perfections, and the “Collective Oneness” [ahādiyyat-i jam'] of “Beauty” and “Majesty,” as in the relevant states of philosophic findings it has been proved that pure existence and absolute Ipseity are pure perfection, otherwise it would not be pure existence, either. As explaining these subjects require lengthy expansion and further preliminary steps, I suffice myself with the above-mentioned hints.
Second: The state of “Oneness” [ahadiyyat], which is a reference to complete intellectual, external and existential essential simplicity, and to being above all intellectual compositions, whether genus and differentia, or matter and mental image, or external, whether matter and external image or measured parts. The evidence proving this subject is the same proof of pure existence and absolute Ipseity, because if the “pure” [sirf] is not one in itself, it will by necessity quit its being pure and part with its identity [dhātiyyat].
Third: The state of “being the One sought for help” [samadiyyat] which points to negation of quiddity [māhiyyat]. Having no inside and being not empty also point to having no quiddity and no possible imperfection, for in all the possible beings,
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their essential degree which is their inside is empty. But as the Holy Essence is the pure existence and absolute Ipseity, He has no possible shortcoming, whose origin is quiddity, since quiddity is extracted from the existential limit, and its conventional status is derived from the existential individuation, whereas the pure existent is free from limit and individuation [ta'ayyun], because every limited is a fixed [muqayyad] identity [huwiyyat] and a mixed existence. It is not absolute nor pure.
Fourth: Nothing separates from Him, because the separation of something form something denotes materiality, or even measured parts, which is contrary to absolute identity [huwiyyatv] and pure existence. The existence of the caused from the cause does not happen, however, by way of separation, but by way of manifestation, appearance, consequence and issue. And it happens in such a way that nothing is reduced from the cause, and nothing is added to the cause by its return to it.
Fifth: He (Allah) has separated from nothing, which, besides the formerly stated depravity, is contrary to pure existence and absolute identity, as otherwise it would necessitate that there should be something prior to the pure existence, while high philosophy has already proved that “purity” [sirf] is the most ancient, and that individuation comes later than the absolute.
Sixth: Having no match and no equal, and negating His resemblance and like, which is proved by the proof that the pure existence has no repetition. So, no dual absolute identity can be imagined, and the
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absolute and the limited are neither equals nor matches.
To each of these subjects there are preliminaries and principles which cannot be explained in these few papers.
An Illuminative Wisdom
Know that this blessed sūrah, so brief as it is, includes all the Divine Affairs [shu'ūn] and the stages of praising and glorification. In fact, it is the correlation between Allah, the Exalted, and whatever can be put into the mould of words and the construction of expressions, such as: “He, Allah, is One” which covers all the Attributes of Perfection, as well as the Positive Attributes.
And from the word “as-Samad” up to the end of the sūrah, the words cover the “Attributes of purity” and denote negation of shortcomings. Furthermore, the sūrah proves being out of “the two limits”: ta'tīl (devesting Allah of all Attributes) , and tashbīh (assimilation) , both of which are going beyond the limit of moderation and the reality of at-tawhīd.
The first noble āyah refers to the negation of ta'tīl, and other parts of the sūrah refer to the negation of tashbīh. It also includes the Essence as it is, and the state of “Oneness” [ahadiyyat], which is the manifestation by the Names of Essence, and the state of “Unity” [wāhidiyyat], which is the manifestation by the Names of Attributes, a suitable explanation of which has already been related.
Completion
Shaykh as-Sadūq (may Allah be pleased with him) quotes Abū 'l-Bukhtarī, Wahab ibn Wahab al-Qurashī, quoting Imam as-Sādiq ('a) , quoting his great father, Imām al-Bāqir ('a) , that in
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Allah's saying: “Say: He, Allah, is One,” “Say” means: “Make known what We revealed to you and informed you about it by the constructed letters recited to you, so that he may be guided by them whoever lends his ears and sees.
“Huwa” (He) is a pronoun of indication referring to the third person, in which “hā'” [ﻫ] denotes an affirmed concept, and the “waw” [و] refers to what is absent from the senses, unlike “hādhā” [this] which refers to what is present before the senses. This pointing to the absent is because the disbelievers pointed to their gods by the pronoun indicating a thing present and perceivable.
They said: “These are our gods, who are tangible and perceivable by the eyes. So, you too, Muhammad, point out to your god that we may see him and understand him, so that we may not feel bewildered about him. ” Hence, Allah sent down that: “Say, He,” in which the “hā'” [ﻫ] confirms what is affirmed, and the “waw” [و] points out to what is absent from sight and other senses, for Allah is the Most High, or rather, He is the Conceiver of the eyes and the Creator of the senses. ” [1]
Imām al-Bāqir ('a) said: “Allah is a Worshipped Diety about whom the creatures are perplexed as unable to understand His truth and how He is. The Arabs, when confused about someone and lack concrete knowledge about him, say: Aliha-r-rajul (The man became a deity). They also say: Walaha when
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they try to take refuge in something from a frightening thing, while al-ilāh denotes that which is covered from the human senses. ”
He also said: “Ahad means the One, and Ahad and wāhid both have the same meaning, which is the One Who is unique and has no match. At-tawhīd means the acknowledgement of monotheism, that is, uniqueness. One is a heterogeneous [mutabayyin] which does not issue from anything and does not unite with anything. Thus, it is said that the number is formed of the one, while the one is not a number, as it is not called a number, but two is a number.
So, the meaning of Allah's saying: “Allāhu ahad” is that the Worshipped, Whom the human beings are confusedly incapable of understanding and of getting comprehensive knowledge about Him, is Unique in divinity and far above the creatures' attributes. ” [1]
Imām al-Bāqir ('a) has also said: “My father Zayn 'ul-'Ābidīn ('a) told me, quoting his father al-Husayn ibn 'Alī ('a) , that as-Samad is that which has no inside, and as-Samad is the one whose mastery has reached its maximum, and as-Samad is the one who neither eats nor drinks, and as-Samad is the one who does not sleep, and as-Samad is a permanent that has always been and will always be. ”
Imām al-Bāqir ('a) said that Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah used to say: “As-Samad is that which is self-existent and self-sufficient. ” Someone else said: “As- Samad is above becoming and decaying. As-Samad is that which does not
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change. ”
Imām al-Bāqir ('a) further said: “As-Samad is the commanding chief above whom there is no commander to bid and forbid. ” He said: ”'Alī ibn al-Husayn, Zayn 'ul-'Ābidīn ('a) , asked about as-Samad, said: “As-Samad is the One who has no partner, and preserving of nothing is difficult or heavy for Him, and nothing is concealed from Him. ” [1]
Wahab ibn Wahab al-Qurashī says that Zayd ibn 'Alī said: “As-Samad is the One Who when desires a thing, He says to it 'Be,' and there it is. As-Samad is the One Who innovates the things, then creates them in forms unlike each other, or similar to each other, and in pairs, while He alone is the One Who has no antonym, no shape, no equal and no likeness. ” [2]
Wahab ibn Wahab further quotes 'Alī ibn al-Husayn ('a) explaining as-Samad. He also reports Imām al-Bāqir's explanations concerning the secrets of the letters of as-Samad. He says that Imām al-Bāqir ('a) said: “Had I found bearers for the knowledge which Allah has bestowed upon me, I would have spread knowledge about at-Tawhīd, Islam, faith, religion, and the laws out of as-Samad.
But how can I find bearers of such knowledge, while my grandfather, Amīr al-Mu'minīn, could find none to carry his knowledge, such that he used to painfully sigh and tell his followers, on the minbar (pulpit): 'Ask me before you miss me. Behind the ribs of my bosom is a great knowledge. Alas! That I can find no
carriers for it. ” [1]
--------------------
[1]: Refer to footnote 97
[1]: At-Tawhīd, p. 88, ch. on “Commentary on: “Say, He, Allah, is One,” hadīth 1.
[1]: Ibid. , hadīth 2.
[1]: Ibid. , hadīth 3
[2]: Ibid. , hadīth 4
[1]: Ibid. , hadīth 6
Conclusion
In concluding this chapter, we relate some noble hadīths concerning the merits of this blessed sūrah, as they are too many to be all contained in these few pages.
The noble al-Kāfī quoting Imām al-Bāqir, says: “Whoever recites 'Say: He, Allah, is One' once, will be blessed. Whoever recites it twice, he and his family will be blessed. Whoever recites it thrice, he, his family and his neighbors will be blessed. Whoever recites it twelve times, Allah will build for him twelve palaces in Paradise, such that the keepers [hafazah] say: 'Take us to the palaces of our brother so-and-so to see them. '
Whoever recites it a hundred times, Allah will forgive his sins for twenty-five years, except [sins concerning] blood and property. Whoever recites it four hundred times, his will be the rewards of four hundred martyrs, the horses of all of whom were killed and their blood shed. Whoever recites it a thousand times in a day and a night, will not die unless he sees his seat in Paradise, or it is shown to him. ” [2]
In the same noble al-Kāfī, on the authority of Imām al-Bāqir ('a) it is said that the Messenger of Allah (s) said: “Whoever recites 'Say: He, Allah, is One' a hundred times on his going to bed, Allah will forgive his sins of fifty years. ” [3]
Imām as-Sādiq ('a) is quoted to have said that his father said: “[The sūrah of] 'Say: He, Allah, is One' is one-third of the
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Qur'an, and [the sūrah of] 'Say: O you, disbelievers' is a quarter of the Qur'an. ” [1]
He also is quoted to have said that the Messenger of Allah (s) performed the salāt over [the body of] Sa'd ibn Ma'ādh, then said: “Seventy thousand angels, including Gabriel, came down and performed the salāt over Sa'd's body. I asked Gabriel: 'What for did Sa'd deserve that you performed the salāt over him? ” He said: 'Because he used to recite: 'Say: He, Allah, is One', standing, sitting, riding, walking on foot, in coming and going. ” [2]
Wasa'il ash-Shī'ah, quoting al-Majālis wa Ma'āniy al-Akhbār, on the authority of Imām as-Sādiq ('a) , says that the Imām has quoted his great fathers on the authority of Salmān (al-Fārsī may Allah be pleased with him) that he heard the Messenger of Allah (s) say: “Whoever recites [the sūrah of] 'Say: He, Allah, is One' once will be as if he has recited one-third of the Qur'an. Whoever recites it twice, he will be as if he has recited two-thirds of the Qur'an. And whoever recites it three times, he will be as if he has completed reciting the Qur'an. ” [3]
In Thawāb al-A'māl it is said: “If a Friday [a week] passes over somebody without his reciting [the sūrah of] 'Say: He, Allah, is One,' and he dies, he dies on the religion of Abū Lahab. ” [4]
In al-Mustadrak there are many lengthy hadīths relating the merits of this noble sūrah. For further information refer to it and to
the Wasā'il. [1] And praise is for Allah.
--------------------
[2]: Usūl al-Kāfī, vol. 4, p. 425, “Book of the Merit of the Qur'an,” ch. on “The Merit of the Qur'an,” hadīth 1.
[3]: Ibid. , hadīth 4
[1]: Ibid. , hadīth 7
[2]: Ibid. , hadīth 13
[3]: Wasā'il ash-Shī'ah, vol. 4, p. 868, “Book of the Salāt,” chs. on “Reciting the Qur'an,” ch. 31, hadīth 5. Ma'āniy al-Akhbār, p. 234, ch. on “The Meaning of Salmān's Saying. ”
[4]: Thawāb al-A'māl, p. 156, “The Reward of Reciting 'Say: He, Allah, is One,' hadīth 2. ”
[1]: Wasā'il ash-Shī'ah, vol. 4, pp. 866 and 870, “Book of the Salāt,” sec. on “Reciting the Qur'an,” chs. 31 and 33; Mustadrak al-Wasā'il, “Book of the Salat,” sec. on “Reciting the Qur'an,” chs. 24 and 26.
Some Comments On The Blessed Sūrah Of Al-Qadr As Much As They Suit These Papers
point
He, the Exalted, says: “We revealed it on the night of al-Qadr. ” Lofty matters are there in this noble āyah, to refer to some of which is not without advantage.
The first matter is that this āyah and many of noble āyahs ascribe the revelation of the Qur'an to the Sacred Essence of Allah Himself, as He says:
“We have revealed it in a blessed night,” [2]
“We have revealed the Reminder and we will be its guardian,” [3]
And similar noble āyahs. In some other āyahs it is ascribed to Gabriel, the Faithful Spirit, as He says:
“The Faithful Spirit descended with it. ” [4]
The literalist scholars in these instances say that this is metaphorical, similar to:
“…O Hāmān! Build for me a tower…” [5]
Ascribing the revelation, for example, to Allah is because His Sacred Essence was the cause and the one, who commanded it to be revealed, or the ascription of the revelation to Allah is real, and as the Faithful Spirit is the means, it is metaphorically ascribed to him. This is because they regard ascribing Allah's act to the creatures to be like ascribing a creature's act to another creature.
Thus, the tasks of Izrael and Gabriel are ascribed to Allah, the Exalted, as the task of Hāmān is ascribed to Pharaoh, and the tasks of the builders and the constructors to Hāmān. But this is an analogy that is completely false and differential. Comprehending ascribing (a
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creature's) creation to Allah and the act of a creature to the Creator is among the important branches of theology and philosophy, through which a lot of problems are solved, including fatalism and free will, of which this matter is a branch.
It must be noted that it has been proved and confirmed in the high sciences that all the House of Realization and phases of existence are the image [sūrat] of the Holy Emanation, which is the luminous manifestation of Allah. As the Luminous Relation [idāfa-i ishrāqiyyah] is mere relation and pure dependence [faqr] its individuations and images are mere relations, too, having neither identity [haythiyyat] nor independence of their own.
In another expression, the whole House of Realization is, essentially, attributively and actually, vanished in Allah, because if a being was independent in a personal affair of his, whether in the existential identity or in any of its other affairs, he would be out of the limits of possibility, and would be changed into essential necessity, which is an obvious falsity.
If this divine grace is implanted in the heart and the heart tastes it as it deserves, a secret of Qadar (fate, predestination) will be exposed to him, and a delicate aspect of the truth of “a matter between two matters” (amr-un bayn al-amrayn) will be disclosed to him.
So, the effects and the acts of perfection can be attributed to the creature as they similarly can be attributed to Allah, without resorting to metaphor on
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either side, and this is realized in the view of Unity [wahdat] and multiplicity [kathrat] and joining between the two matters. But, the one who is in mere multiplicity [kathrat] and veiled off Unity, ascribes the act to the creature, heedless of Allah, as we, the veiled, are.
The one in whose heart Unity [wahdat] is manifested, will be veiled against the creatures, and will ascribe all acts to Allah, while the gnostic researcher joins between “Unity” and “multiplicity. ” At the same time of attributing the act to Allah, without resorting to the blemish of metaphor, he also attributes it to the creature, without the blemish of metaphor. The noble āyah:
“…And you threw not when you did throw, but Allah threw,” [1]
In which, while confirming the throwing, negates it, and while negating the throwing, confirms it, is a reference to the way of the great gnostics and their strict faithful method. Our referring to the acts and effects of perfection, excluding the shortcomings, was because the shortcomings' recourse is to the privations, which are of the individuations [ta'ayyunāt] of existence, and are not attributed to Allah, except accidentally [bil'arad]. Going into the details of this subject is not possible in these papers.
Now that this introduction has been understood, the attribution of “revelation” [tanzīl] to Allah and Gabriel, and the “bringing to life” [ihyā'] to Seraphiel and Allah, and the “bringing death” [imātah] to Izrael and the angels in charge of the souls and to Allah, can
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also be easily understood. There are many references to this matter in the noble Qur'an.
It is part of the Qur'an's Knowledge [ma'ārif] of which there was no trace in the books of the wise men and the philosophers before this Glorious Book, and the human family is indebted to the gift of this Divine Book in this respect, like other divine, Qur'anic Knowledge [ma'ārif].
The second matter is the use of the plural pronoun: “We revealed. ” The point here is to aggrandize the state of Allah, the Exalted, as the revealer of this noble Book. It may be that this plurality refers to a nominal plurality denoting that Allah, the Exalted, with all the affairs of His Names and Attributes, is the originator of this noble Book.
For this reason, this noble Book is the image of the Collective Oneness of all the Names and Attributes, and is the introducer of the Holy state [maqām] of Allah in all affairs [shu'ūn] and manifestations. In other words, this luminous Book is the image of the Greatest Name, as is the Perfect Man, or rather, the truth of these two, in the Unseen [hadrat-i ghayb], is the same, while in the world of separation they separate in respect of the image, although in respect of concept they do not separate.
This is a meaning of: “They would not separate until they come to me at the Pool. ” [1] As Allah with the hands of Majesty and Beauty fermented the clay of the
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First Man, the Perfect Man, with the hands of Beauty and Majesty, revealed the Complete Book, the Comprehensive Qur'an.
Probably it is for this reason that it was called the Qur'an, because the state of Oneness [ahadiyyat] is the Union of Unity and multiplicity, [jam'-i wahdat wa kathrat], and it is for this reason that this Book can neither be abrogated nor ruptured, because the Greatest Name and its manifestations are eternal and everlasting, and all Sharī'ahs call to this Muhammadan Sharī'ah and guardianship [wilāyah].
It is probable that as it is said: “We revealed,” on the same basis:
“We offered the trust…” [1]
Is said in the first person plural, since “the trust,” according to its inside, is the truth of guardianship, and, according to its outside, is the Sharī'ah, Islam, Qur'an or the salāt.
The third matter is a brief about the revelation of the Qur'an. It is of the delicacies [latāyif] of divine sciences [ma'ārif] and of the secrets of religious facts that only few can scientifically get some information about them, except the perfect godly men, at the head of whom is the very person of the Seal of the Prophets (s) , and then, with his assistance, the others of the godly men and the people of knowledge.
No other one can, by way of intellectual intuition, know this divine delicacy [latīfah], because this truth cannot be discerned except by attaining to the world of inspiration and getting out of the limits of the worlds of
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possibility. We shall, in this stage, refer to this truth by way of hints and expressive allegories.
It must be noted that the hearts which travel to Allah by way of spiritual sulūk and internal journey, and migrate from the dark station of the self and from the house of I-ness and selfishness, are, generally, divided into two groups.
First, those who, after finishing their travel to Allah, death overtakes them, and they remain in the state of attraction, annihilation and death. The reward of this group is with Allah, and it is Allah. They are the beloved who perish under the “domes [qibāb] of Allah. ” No one knows them, and they have connection to nobody. They know none but Allah: “My friends are under My domes, no one knows them other than Me. ” [1]
The second group is those who, having completed their journey to Allah and in Allah, became fit to return to themselves and be subject to a state of sobriety and intelligence. They are those whose aptitude, according to the manifestation by the Holiest Emanation, which is the secret of qadr, has been predetermined, and they have been chosen for perfecting the servants and engendering prosperity in the regions.
Having communicated with His knowledge [hadrat-i 'ilmiyyah] and returned to real entities, they disclosed the journey of the entities and their communication [ittisāl] with His Holiness [hadrat-i quds], and their travel to Allah and to happiness, receiving the honorable robe [khal'at] of prophethood. This disclosure [kashf] is
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a divine revelation [wahy], before descending to the world of Gabrielic revelation.
After turning from this world towards the descending worlds, they disclose what is in the High Pens and Holy Tablets, in proportion to their comprehension of knowledge and growth of perfection, which belong to the Names [hadarāt-i asmā'iyyah]. The difference of Sharī'ahs and prophethoods, or rather all differences, stem from there.
In this stage it sometimes happens that the Unseen Truth and the Holy Secret, proved in His Knowledge [hadrat-i 'ilmiyyah] and the High Pens and Tablets, descend, by way of the unseen of their souls and the secret of their honorable spirits, by means of the Angel of Revelation, Gabriel, into their blessed hearts.
Sometimes Gabriel appears in an “ideal image” [tamaththul-i mithālī] in the “Ideal” [hadrat-i mithāl] to them, and sometimes he takes a “worldly image,” appearing from the hidden place [makān] of the Unseen, by that truth to the scene of the world of visibility, bringing down that divine delicacy [latīfah].
The receiver [sāhib] of the revelation, in each of the emergences [nasha'āt], understands and discerns in a certain way: in a way in His Knowledge [hadrat-i 'ilmiyyah], and in different ways in the entities [hadrat-i a'yān], in the Pens [hadarāt-i aqlām] in the Tablets [hadrat-i alwāh] in the “Ideal” [hadrat-i mithāl], in the Common Sense, and in the absolute visibilities [shahādāt].
These are the seven stages of descension, which may be related to the hadīth that the Qur'an has descended on “seven
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letters,” [1] which does not contradict the hadīth: “The Qur'an is one, revealed from the One,” [2] as is known. This state, however, requires to be expanded upon, but not here.
The fourth matter concerns the secret of the third person singular pronoun “it” [hā] in “We revealed it. ” As is known, the Qur'an has passed, before being descended to this emergence [nash'ah] through stages and entities [kaynūnat]. Its first stage was its entity in the Knowledge [kaynūnat-i 'ilmiyyah] in the Unseen by the speaking of His Essence and by His Self-Arguing [muqāri'at-i dhātiyyah] by way of the “Collective Oneness” [ahādiyyat-i jam'].
And the said pronoun may be a reference to that state, as, in order to show that precept, He used the third person pronoun, as if to say that this very Qur'an which was revealed on “the night of qadr” is the same scholarly Qur'an, in the unseen secret hidden in the emergence of Knowledge [nash'at-i 'ilmiyyah], and which was descended from those stages, in one of which it was united with the Essence and was of the manifestations of the Names.
This apparent truth is that divine secret, and this Book, which has appeared in the uniform of words and expressions, in the stage of Essence is in the image of the Essential manifestations, and, in the stage of Action, is the very manifestation of Act, as the Commander of the Believers ('Alī) ('a) said: “His words are His act. ” [3]
The fifth matter concerns “the night of
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qadr,” about which there are many discussions and uncountable pieces of information, which have been expanded upon by the great scholars (may Allah be - Page456 - Adab as-Salat The Disciplines of the Prayer Second Revised Edition
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[2]: Sūrah ad-Dukhān 44: 3
[3]: Sūrah al-Hijr 15: 9
[4]: Sūrah ash-Shu'arā' 26: 193
[5]: Sūrah Ghāfir 40: 36
[1]: Sūrah al-Anfā1 8: 17
[1]: “The Book of Allah and my 'it rat (progeny) will not be separated from each other until they come to me at the Pool (of Kawthar). ” This is a part of a well-known and successively related hadīth called Hadīth ath-Thaqalayn. Usul al-Kāfī, vol. 1, page 299, “The Book of Divine Proof,” ch. “Concerning What Allah and His Messenger Imposed of Being with the Imāms ('a) ,” hadīth 6; vol. 4, p. 141, “The Book of Faith and Disbelief,” ch. “Concerning the Least by which a Servant may be a Believer,” hadīth 1.
[1]: Sūrah al-Ahzāb 33: 72
[1]: Ihyā'u 'Ulūm 'ud-Dīn, vol. 4, p. 256. A Divine utterance. In some editions it is ”qibābī” (my domes) and in some other it is ”qibā'ī” (my cloak).
[1]: Bihār al-Anwār, vol. 89, p. 83.
[2]: Usūl al-Kāfī, vol. 4, p. 438, “The Book of the Merits of the Qur'an,” ch. “The Rarities,” hadīth 12.
[3]: Nahj al-Balāghah, edited by Fayd ul-Islām, p. 737, sermon 228.
pleased with them) according to their diverse ways and methods. In these pages we shall briefly relate some of them. As to the matters that they did not mention, we shall refer to them within our relating other matters.
As regards the naming of “the night of qadr,” the scholars have different opinions. Some say that as it is honorable and great, and as the Qur'an is great, brought down (in it) by a great angel, to a great Messenger, for a great ummah, it was called “Laylat 'ul-Qadr” (the Night of Majesty).
Some say that it is called “the Night of Measure” because the affairs, the life-terms and the provisions of the people are “measured” in that very night.
Some say that as the angels on that night are so numerous (in the earth) that it is as if the earth is strictly “measured” for them, it is called al-Qadr, and that is like:
“And he whose provision is measured. ” [1]
These are some of the opinions concerning this subject. About each of them there have been researches, a hint at which is not without advantage.
As to the first opinion, i. e. that night being honorable and great, know that many things are said in this respect, to the effect that, as regards time and place in general, some are honorable and some are not,
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some are lucky and some are unlucky. But is this a natural and intrinsic characteristic of time and place, or is it because happy and unhappy events happen in them, and, consequently they are so described?
Although this is not a noble and important topic, and to expand upon it is not advantageous, yet, we shall briefly refer to it. What gives priority to the first possibility is that some narratives and āyahs which apparently regard time and place either honorable or unlucky, confirm this to be intrinsic, not a characteristic belonging to the particular condition. So, as there is no rational objection, they can be taken according to their apparent meanings.
What gives priority to the second possibility is that the truth of time and place is a single one, or even their entity (personality) is one, too. Such being the case, it will not be possible that a single person can be divided and be different in status [hukm]. Therefore, it is inevitable to take what is said about time and place as lucky or unlucky as caused by the events and happenings taking place in them.
But this is not provable, because although time is a single entity, yet, as it gradually expands and is measurable; there can be no objection that some part of it is different in status and effect from another part. There is no evidence that a person, whoever he may be, cannot enjoy two statuses and two effects, rather the contrary is apparent.
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For example, the human beings, although every one of them is a single person, yet, there are many differences in their corporeal features, like the skin, the brain and the heart, as these are more delicate and honored than the other organs. Similarly, some of the internal and external powers are more honorable than others. This is because man, in this world, is not apparently known as having a complete unity, though single in person. But as apparently he is known of multiplicity, he can have different statuses.
The priority of the first possibility is not, however, an agreeably correct one, because this opinion is based, for example, on “the originality of appearance” [isalāt uz-zuhūr] and “the originality of the truth,” [isalāt ul-haqīqah], whereas methodically it is known that “the originality of the truth” and “the originality of appearance” are used when there is a doubt in the objective for the purpose of making sure of the objective, not that they should confirm the objective after that it had already been known. So, consider. [1]
Therefore, both aspects are possible, but the second aspect seems preferable. Consequently, “the night of qadr” was described as “the honored night” because it was the night of the meeting of the Sealing Prophet, the night on which the real lover reached his Beloved. In the former discussions it was noted that the descension of the angels and the revelation was after the annihilation and the real proximity. From many narratives and noble āyahs it
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can be gathered that the luckiness and unluckiness of times and places are because of the events which take place in them. This can be realized by referring to them, although some of them also denote their intrinsic honor.
The other possibility for naming “the night of qadr” is because the affairs of the days of the year are measured on that night. So, know that the truth of “Fate” [qadā] and “Destiny” (Divine Decree = qadar) , its quality and its stages of appearance, are of the greatest and noblest divine knowledge, and it is because of their extreme exactness and nicety that deeply thinking about them is not allowed for the human race as it causes bewilderment and straying.
Therefore, this truth is to be regarded of the religious secrets and the deposits of Prophethood, and one is to refrain from conducting scrutinizing research about it. We refer here only to a subject suiting this stage. That is, although the measurement of the affairs has been estimated from the very beginning in the knowledge of Allah, the Exalted, and it is not of the gradual matters in respect of the pure state of the divine knowledge, then, what does ”taqdīr” in every year and in a particular night mean?
Know that “Fate” and “Divine Decree” are of degrees, and according to those degrees and emergences [nasha'āt] they differ in their status. The first degree is the facts that are judged (evaluated) and measured in His Knowledge by the manifestation
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in “The Holiest Emanation” in the wake of the appearance of the Names and Attributes. Afterwards, by the High Pens and in the High Tablets, according to the appearance, and by the manifestation of the Act, they are ordained and confirmed.
No changes and alterations may happen in these degrees. The inevitable and unchangeable decrees [qadā] are the abstract facts happening in the entities [hadarāt- i a'yān] and in the emergence [nash'ah] of His Knowledge and descending to the abstract Pens and Tablets. Afterwards, the facts appear in isthmus [barzakhiyyah] and ideal [mithāliyyah] images in other Tablets and in a lower world, which is the world of “the distinct imagination” [khiyāl-i munfasil] and “the universal imagination” [khiyāl 'ul-kull] the world which, according to the method of the illuminationist philosophers, is called “The World of the Suspended Ideas” ['ālam-i muthul-i mu'allaqah].
In such a world changes and differences are possible to happen, or actually they do happen. After that, the evaluations [taqdīrāt] and measurings take place by means of the angels in charge of the world of nature. In this Tablet of Fate there are continual changes and alterations, or rather it is, in itself, a flowing form and a passing, gradual fact.
In this lawh (Tablet) the facts can be strong or weak, and the movements may be swift, slow, accelerated or decreased. Nevertheless, the “near-to-Allah” [yalillāhī] aspect, the unseen aspect, of these very things which is the aspect of tadallī (suspension) to Allah, and it is the form of the appearance
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of the “Spread Emanation” [fayd-i munbasit] and the “Extended Shade” [zill-i mamdūd], and the truth of Allah's “Active Knowledge” there can occur in it no change or alteration.
In short, all the changes, alterations, additions to the lives, and measuring (the peoples') provisions are, as the philosophers believe, in the lawh of “the qadr of knowledge” [qadr-i 'ilmī], which is “the world of ideas” while to the writer, they are in the lawh of “the qadr of objectivity” [qadr-i 'aynī], which is the very place of the measurements done by the angels in charge of it.
Therefore, there is no objection [māni'] that, as “the night of qadr” is the night of full attention of the “perfect guardian” [walīyy-i kāmil] and of the appearance of his heavenly sovereignty, changes and alterations may happen in it, in the world of nature through the honorable person of the “perfect guardian” and the Imām of each era and the pole [qutb] of the time who, in our time, is “Allah's Remainder” [baqiyyatullāh] in the worlds (earths, lands = aradīn) , our Master, Patron, Imām, and Guide, the Proof, the son of al-Hasan al-'Askarī, may our souls be ransom for his coming.
So, he may accelerate or slow any individual part of nature that he desires, and enlarge or straiten any provision he wills. And this will is that of the Haqq, and is the shadow and the rays of the Eternal Will and follows the Divine commands, as the angels of Allah,
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too, can do (change) nothing by themselves. Every act (change = tasarruf) , rather every particle of existence, is of Allah and of His unseen grace [latīfah]:
“So keep straight as you are commanded. ” [1]
As to what has been said concerning the other possibility of naming “the night of qadr,” i. e. it was so called because the earth seems too much narrow with the throng of the angels on that night, this point is a far-fetched one, despite the fact that Khalīl ibn Ahmad, [2] the wonder of the time, may Allah's pleasure be upon him, says that what can be discussed is that the angels are not of the kind of the world of nature and matter, so what does it mean to say that the earth seemed narrow?
However, such matters have been related in some noble narrations, like the case of the funeral procession of Sa'd ibn Mu'ādh, [3] may Allah be pleased with him, or the angels' spreading their wings for the students of knowledge. [4] This is when the angels appear in the assimilation [tamaththul] of “Ideal Images,” descending from the unseen world to the “World of Ideals” ['ālam-i mithāl] and narrowing the dominion of the earth, or it is probably their worldly assimilation in the kingdom of the earth, although this still cannot be seen by the natural animal eyes. However, the narrowing is on the basis of “Ideal” [mithāliyyah] or “worldly” [mulkiyyah] assimilation.
The second matter concerns the truth of “the night of qadr. ” Know that every spiritual
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grace has a reality, and for every worldly form there is a heavenly and unseen interior. People of knowledge say that the stages of the descension of the truth of the existence, in respect of the setting of the sun of the truth in the horizon of individuations, are “nights,” whereas the stages of ascension, in respect of the rising of the sun of the truth in the horizons of individuations, are “days. ” Hence, the honor and the unluckiness of the “days” and the “nights” are, accordingly, clearly known.
According to another aspect, the arch of descension is the Muhammadan “Night of Qadr. ” and the arch of ascension is the Ahmadian “Resurrection Day,” because these two arches are the extension of the light of the “Expanded Emanation” [fayd-i munbasit], which is “the Muhammadan Truth” [haqīqat-i muhammadiyyah], and all the individuations [ta'ayyunāt] are of the First Individuation of “the Greatest Name. ”
So, from the point of view of Unity [wahdat], the world is the “Night of Qadr” and the “Day of Resurrection,” and it is no more than a single night and day, which is the entire House of Realization, the Muhammadan “Night of Qadr” and the Ahmadan “Day of Resurrection. ” The one who is assured of this truth will always be in the “Night of Qadr” and in the “Day of Resurrection,” and these two become united.
From the point of view of multiplicity, there will be nights and days. Some nights have qadr (greatness, dignity) and some have
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not. Among all the nights, the Ahmadan constitution [bunyah], the Muhammadan individuation (s) into whose horizon has set the light of the truth of existence, with all the affairs, Names and Attributes, and with full luminosity and entire truth is the absolute night of qadr, as the Muhammadan day is the absolute Day of Resurrection. Other days and nights are limited ones. The Qur'an's revelation [nuzūl] to this noble constitution [bunyah] and pure heart is the revelation [nuzūl] in the “night of qadr. ” So, the Qur'an was revealed both in full in “the night of qadr,” by way of complete and absolute disclosure, and in parts along twenty-three years in “the night of qadr. ”
The gnostic Shaykh, the Shāhābādī [1] (may he live longer) , used to say that the Muhammadan period is “the Night of Qadr,” that is, all the periods of existence are the Muhammadan period, or it is because in this period the perfect Muhammadan poles, the infallible guiding Imāms ('a) , are “the nights of qadr. ” What proves our suggested possibility concerning the truth of “the night of qadr” is the lengthy noble hadīth which is quoted in al-Burhān Exegesis from the noble al- Kāfī, in which it is said that when a Christian asked Imām Mūsā ibn Ja'far about the hidden explanation of
“Hā Mīm! (I swear) By the explaining Book. We revealed it on a blessed night Surely We are ever warning. There in every wise affair is made distinct,” [2]
He replied: As to “Hā Mīm,” it is
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[1]: Sūrah at-Talāq 65: 7
[1]: It demands consideration because this allegation can be claimed here from another aspect, and it is that the appearance in ascribing a predicate to a proposition is that the proposition itself has the same status and it is the proposition in complete, as the Shaykh, our teacher in the conventional sciences used, concerning generalization [itlāq], to call this statement, without needing preliminaries, to prove the generalization.
[1]: Sūrah Hūd 11: 112
[2]: Khalīl ibn Ahmad ibn 'Umar ibn Tamīm, Abū 'Abdur-Rahmān al-Bāhilī, al-Basrī, the grammarian and prosodist, born in the year 100 or 105 AH in al-Basrah, and died in 160, 170 or 175 AH. He was a famous linguist and a writer. He discovered the meters of poetry. He was an Imāmī and, as some say, he was a companion of Imām Ja'far as-Sādiq ('a) and quoted him in his narrations. He wrote many books on diverse arts, including Zubdat 'ul-'Arūd (the Gist of Prosody) , al-'Ayn, a book on Imamate, al-Īqā' (rhythm) , an-Nu'm (tone or softness) , al-Jumal (syntax) , ash-Shawāhid (ancient verses as evidences) , an-Nuqāt wash-Shikl (dots and form) , and a book on the meanings of the alphabetic letters. For further information bibliographies and books on rijāl such as A'yān ash-Shī'ah, vol. 30, p. 50, may be consulted.
[3]: Furū' al-Kāfī, vol. 3, p. 236, the “Book of Funerals,”ch. on “Questioning in the Grave,” hadīth 6.
[4]: This concept is referred to Imām as-Sādiq ('a) through several channels in Ma'ālim al-Usūl, p. 7.
[1]: Refer to footnote 97
[2]: Sūrah ad-Dukhān 44: 1-4. Al-Burhān Exegesis, vol. 4, p. 158.
Muhammad (s) “The explaining Book' is Amīr al-Mu'minīn 'Alī ('a) , and “the night” is Fātimah ('a). ” [1]
In another narrative it is said that “the ten nights” are interpreted to be the pure Imāms from al-Hasan to al-Hasan. [2] This is one of the degrees of “the night of qadr” to which Imām Mūsā ibn Ja'far referred, testifying that “the night of qadr” was the entire Muhammadan period.
In Al-Burhān Exegesis there is a narrative from Imām al-Bāqir ('a). Being a noble hadīth referring to several pieces of information, disclosing important secrets, we, owing to its blessedness, relate it in full:
The author (may Allah have mercy upon him) , quoting Shaykh Abu Ja'far at-Tūsī, from his men, from 'Abdullāh ibn 'Ajlān as-Sakūnī, said: “I heard Abu Ja'far ('a) say: The house of 'Alī and Fātimah is the room of the Messenger of Allah (s) , and the roof of their house is the 'Arsh of the Lord of the worlds. And at the bottom of their house there is an uncovered opening to the 'Arsh, the mi'rāj of revelation; and the angels bring down revelation upon them in the morning and in the evening and every hour and twinkle of an eye.
The angels are in ceaseless groups, some descending and some ascending. And Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, disclosed to Ibrāhīm the heavens till he saw the 'Arsh and He increased his seeing power. And Allah increased the seeing power of Muhammad, 'Alī, Fātimah, al-Hasan and
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al-Husayn ('a). They used to see the 'Arsh and they found no roof over their houses except the 'Arsh. Their houses were roofed with the 'Arsh of the Beneficent, and the ascensions of the angels and the Spirit in them, with the permission of their Lord, for every affair in peace. 'I said: “for every affair'. ” He said: 'In every affair. ' I said: 'Is that revelation? ' He said: 'Yes'. ” [1]
Contemplating on this noble hadīth will open doors of knowledge in the face of the deserving people and discloses parts of the truth of guardianship and of the hidden inside of “the night of qadr. ”
The third matter: Know that as “the night of qadr” has a truth and an inside, as it has been mentioned, it also has a form and an appearance, or even appearances in the world of nature. But as appearances can differ in respect of their shortcomings and perfections, from the narratives and hadīths about specifying “the night of qadr” can be deduced that all the noble nights specified in those narratives are of the appearances of “the night of qadr,” except that they differ from one another in respect of their honor and perfection of appearance, while that noble night, which is the full appearance of “the night of qadr,” the night of the complete joining [wasl] and the perfect attainment [wusūl] of the Last Prophet, is hidden in the whole year, in the blessed month of Ramadān, in its last ten (nights) or in the “three
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nights. ”
The narratives of the Elite [khāssah] and the public ['āmmah] also differ. The Elite narrate, with uncertainty, that it is on the nights of the nineteenth, twenty-first and twenty-third (of Ramadān) , and sometimes they waver between the night of the twenty-first and the twenty-third.
Shihāb ibn 'Abdu Rabbih says: I asked Imām Ja'far as-Sādiq ('a) to tell me about “the Night of Qadr. ” He said: “the night of the twenty-first and the night of the twenty-third. ” [1]
'Abdul Wāhid ibn al-Mukhtār al-Ansārī says: “I asked Imām al-Bāqir ('a) about 'the night of qadr. ' He said: 'it is on two nights: the night of the twenty-third and the night of the twenty-first,' I said: 'Name only one of them. 'He said: 'What if you do something on the two nights of which one is 'the Night of Qadr? ' ” [2]
Hassān ibn Abū 'Alī says: “I asked Imām as-Sādiq ('a) about 'the Night of Qadr'. He said: “Get it on the nineteenth, twenty-first and twenty-third. ” [3]
The devotee and pious “Sayyid” (may Allah be pleased with him) in Iqbāl says: “Know that it is the night of the twenty-third of the month of Ramadān. There are explicit narratives that it is 'the Night of Qadr' by revelation and declaration. Of that I relate, on my authority up to Sufyān ibn as-Sit (or as-Simt) who said: “I asked Imām Ja'far as-Sādiq ('a) to tell me which was 'the Night of Qadr' exactly. ” He said: “The night of the twenty-third. ” Another is to
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narrate, on my authority up to Zurārah, quoting 'Abdul Wāhid ibn al-Mukhtār al-Ansārī, who said: “I asked Imām al-Bāqir ('a) about 'the Night of Qadr. '
He said: “By Allah I tell you with no ambiguity, it is the first night of the last seven nights. ” Zurārah was further quoted to have said that the month which the Imām mentioned had twenty-nine days. [1] [2] After that other narratives are related to the effect that “the Night of Qadr” is the night of the twenty-third (of Ramadān) , such as the case of Juhanī, [3] which is well known.
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[1]: Usūl al-Kāfī, vol. 2, p. 326, the “Book of the Proof,” ch. on “The Birth of the Prophet (s) , hadīth 4.
[2]: Al-Burhān Exegesis, vol. 4, ”Sūrah al-Fajr,” hadīth 1, p. 457.
[1]: Al-Burhān Exegesis, vol. 4, ”Surah al-Qadr,” hadīth 25, p. 487
[1]: Majma' ul-Bayān, vol. 10, p. 519; Nūr ath-Thaqalayn, vol. 5, p. 628, ”Sūrah al-Qadr,” hadīth 71
[2]: Bihār al-Anwār, vol. 95, p. 149.
[3]: Majma' ul-Bayān, vol. 10, p. 519; Wasā'il ash-Shī'ah, vol. 7, p. 263, “Book of Fasting,” ch. 32, hadīth 21.
[1]: Iqbāl al-A'māl, p. 206.
[2]:
[3]: Ibid. , p. 207
A Gnostic Note
As it has been said in respect of the two previously explained blessed sūrahs, it is more obvious that the bismillāh of each sūrah belongs to it. Therefore, in the blessed sūrah of al-Qadr it means: “We revealed the noble Qur'anic truth, the Sacred Divine Grace [latīfah], in the Name of Allah, which is the 'Collective Truth of the Names' and the Greatest Name of the Lord, individuated by the absolute mercy of Rahmān and Rahīm, on the Muhammadan night of qadr. ”
That is, the appearance of the Qur'an follows the “Collective Appearance” [zuhūr-i jam'ī] of the Divinity and the “Contraction” [qabd] and “Expansion” [bast] of “Mercifulness” [rahīmiyyat) and “Beneficence” [rahmāniyyat]. Rather, the truth of the Qur'an is the state of the appearance of the Greatest Name of Allah through the appearance of the “Beneficence” and the “Mercifulness,” and is the “collector of the union and distinctness” [jāmi'-i jam'u tafsīl).
Consequently, this noble Book is
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“Qur'an” and “Furqān” (distinguisher) , similar to the spirituality of the Seal of the Prophets and his sacred state of guardianship, which are also ”Qur'an” and ”Furqān” and the state of the “Oneness of Collectivity and Distinctness” [ahadiyyat-i jam' wa tafsīl].
So, it seems that the Sacred Essence, according to this possibility, says: “We have with the manifestation of the state of the Greatest Name, which is the state of the “Oneness of Collectivity and Distinctness” [ahadiyyat-i jam' wa tafsīl], with the appearance of the mercy of the Beneficent and the Merciful revealed the Qur'an on the Muhammadan night of qadr.
And as in the world of distinction [farq], or rather, the distinction of distinction, there was a distinction [furqāniyyat] between the two “Qur'ans,” i. e. , the revealed and written Qur'an, and the Qur'an revealed to him, that is, the “Divine Book” and the “Muhammadan truth,” we united between the two Qur'ans and joined the two Furqāns in the night of union [wisāl], and on this consideration, this night was called 'the night of qadr,' but its actual meritorious status, as it is, cannot be recognized by anybody except by the very Seal of the Prophets (s) , who is the owner of 'the night of qadr' in person, as well as his infallible successors, who are its owner, too, through him. ”
Completion
Some Narratives Concerning the Merits of “the Night of Qadr”
Among them are those narrated by the knower of Allah, Sayyid ibn Tāwūs (may Allah be pleased with him) in his
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noble Book Iqbāl al-A'māl. He says: “I found in the book, called Yawāqīt, by Abū 'l-Fadl ibn Muhammad al-Hirawī, some narratives on the merits of “the night of qadr. ” Then he quotes from it a narrative from the Messenger of Allah (s) as to have said: “Moses said: 'O Allah! I desire your proximity. ' Allah said: 'My proximity is for the one who keeps awake on 'the night of qadr. ' He said: 'O Allah! I wish for your mercy. '
Allah said: 'My mercy is for the one who shows mercy to the poor on `the night of qadr. ' He said: 'O Allah! I want to cross the Sirāt [the (Right) Path]'. He said: 'That is for the one who gives out a sadaqah on 'the night of qadr. ' He said: 'O Allah. ' I want of the trees and fruits of Paradise. ' Allah said: 'They are for the one who glorifies (Me) on 'the night of qadr. ' He said: 'I want to be delivered. ' Allah said: 'From the Fire? ' 'Yes,' he said. Allah said: 'It is for the one who asks forgiveness on 'the night of qadr. ' He said: 'O Allah! I ask for your pleasure. ' Allah said: 'I would be pleased with the one who performs two rak'ahs of salāt on 'the night of qadr'. ”
The same book, quoting the Messenger of Allah (s) , also says: “The doors of the heaven are opened on 'the night of qadr. No servant may perform the salāt on it unless Allah, the Exalted, writes down
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for him, for every sajdah a tree in Paradise, such that if a horseman rides under its shadow for a hundred years he will not finish it, for every rak'ah (or rukū') a house, in Paradise, made of quartzes, rubbies, chrysolites and pearls, for every āyah a paradisiac crown, for every glorifying one of the precious birds, for every sitting one of the paradisiac degrees, for every tashahhud a paradasiac room and for every taslīm a garment from paradise.
And when the column of dawn bursts out, Allah will grant him (in Paradise) sociable women (wives) whose bosoms bulge out from behind the dress, educated and good-behaving maids, eternal boys, noble birds, fragrant flowers, flowing rivers, pleasing graces, gifts, presents, coats of honor, wonders and whatever the heart desires and pleases the eye, in which you will eternally live. ”
Quoting Imām al-Bāqir ('a) , the same book says: “Whoever remains in 'the night of qadr' awake, his sins will be forgiven, even if as many as the stars of the sky, and as heavy as the mountains or the weight of the seas. ” [1] The narratives about its merits are too many to be included in these papers.
His saying: “And how do you know what the night of qadr is! ” is a construction intended to denote honoring, tributing and paying homage to the greatness of the subject and the truth, especially when considering the addresser and the addressee. Although the addresser is Allah, the Exalted, and the addressee is the Messenger
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of Allah (s) , yet, the subject is sometimes so glorious that it is impossible to contain it with the construction of words and expressions.
It is as if He says, “You know not how great the truth of the night of qadr is! ” It cannot be explained in arranged words and letters, as they are incapable of containing it. Therefore, He just used “How” [mā] to denote that greatness, trying not to describe it, only saying that “the night of qadr is better than a thousand months,” that is, He introduces it by referring to its characteristics and effects, since telling its truth is not possible.
Hence, one may well guess that the truth of the night of qadr and its inside are different from its external form, though its external form is great and important, too, but not to the extent of addressing the Messenger of Allah, the absolute guardian and the informed of all worlds, in this way.
If you say: On the basis of the said possibility that the inside of “the night of qadr” is the very truth and constitution of the Messenger of Allah (s) , in which the sun of truth, in all its affairs, is hidden, then the objection will be higher, because it will not be possible to tell him: “How do you know what 'the night of qadr,' which is your own visible form, is? ”
I will say: This subject has a secret. This delicate point has an
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inner meaning
“For him who has heart or gives ear and is a witness. ” [1]
Know, dear, that in the inside of the real “night of qadr,” i. e. , the constitution and the visible form, or the immutable essence of Muhammad ['ayn-i thābit-i muhammadī] (s) , there is manifested the Greatest Name and the Divine Collective Oneness.
Therefore, as long as the traveling-to-Allah servant, that is, the Sealing Messenger (s) , is still inside his own veil, he will not be able to witness that inside and truth, as the same was said about Moses, the son of 'Imrān, ('a) in the Glorious Qur'an:
“You will never see me,” [2]
Despite the fact that Moses witnessed the manifestation in Essence or in Attributes, as in: “When his Lord manifested (His glory) to the mountain, He made it crumble to dust, and Moses fell down in a swoon,” [3] or in the great noble invocation of Simāt, as is quite obvious. There is also the note: “O Moses, as long as you are in your Mūsawiyan veil and in your concealment [ihtijāb], you will have no chance of witnessing.
Witnessing the Beauty of the Beautiful is possible for the one who has come out of himself, because having come out of himself, he would see with the Haqq's eye, and the Haqq's eye would be seeing the Haqq. So, the manifestation of the Greatest Name, which is the perfect form of “the night of qadr,” cannot be seen through one's concealment [ihtijāb]. Therefore, this expression is, according
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to the mentioned verification, correct and fitting.
If you say: “the night of qadr is the very Ahmadan constitution in view of the fact that in him the sun of the truth is hidden, not the sun itself” that the said justification may be correct.
I will say: “According to the people of insight, the thing-ness of a thing depends on its form of perfection, and that the things with reasons, [asbāb] especially divine reason [sabab], their truth cannot be recognized without recognizing their reasons.
In view of the people of knowledge, the correlation between the outside and the inside, manifestation and the manifesting, is not like that of two separate matters, because a truth may sometimes have an external manifestation, and sometimes an internal manifestation, as the well-known gnostic says:
We are non-existents showing existence, you are the Absolute Being and our existence.
As the gnostic Rūmī says, this talk has no end and it is better to forgo it.
His saying: “The night of qadr is better than a thousand months. ” If we note the worldly appearance of the external form of the night of qadr, we realize that its goodness is more than a thousand months which have no night of qadr in them, or the night of qadr and the acts of devotional worship on it are better than thousand months in which the Israelites used to carry their weapons and fight for the sake of Allah, or the night
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of qadr is better than the thousand months of the rule of the Umayyads (may Allah curse them) , as is stated in the noble narratives. [1]
If we note the truth of the night of qadr, “a thousand months” may be an allusion to all beings, as “a thousand” is a complete number, and by “months” the kinds are intended. That is, the respected Muhammadan constitution, who is the perfect man, is better than the thousand kinds which cover all beings, as has been said by some people of Gnosticism. [2]
Another possibility occurs to the writer, that is, the night of qadr may be a hint at the manifestation of the Greatest Name, i. e. , the complete Muhammadan (s) mirror, and “a thousand months” may be the manifestations of the other Names. And, as Allah, the Exalted has one thousand and one Names, and as one Name is especially hidden in the unseen world, similarly, the night of qadr is hidden, too, and the night of qadr of the Muhammadan constitution is also a hidden name. Thus, this especially hidden name is known to nobody except to the sacred essence of the Sealing Messenger (s).
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[1]: Bihār al-Anwār, vol. 98, p. 168.
[1]: Sūrah Qāf 50: 37.
[2]: Sūrah al-A'rāf 7: 143
[3]: Ibid.
[1]: Bihār al-Anwār, vol. 94, p. 8, quoting Majālis-i Shaykh, the Tafsīr of 'Alī ibn Ibrāhīm, p. 732; Al-Burhān Exegesis, vol. 4, p. 486; Rawdat al-Kāfī, hadīth 280, p. 222
[2]: Reference unknown.
A Gnostic Note
It must be noted that as the perfect guardian, the Seal of the Prophets (s) , is the night of qadr because of the interiority [butūn] of the Greatest Name in him and the occultation [ihtijāb] of the Haqq with all affairs in him, likewise he is the day of qadr, too, since
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the appearance of the sun of the truth and the projection of the all-embracing Name appear from the horizon of his individuation. Similarly, the “Day of Resurrection” is his person, too.
In short, that sacred essence is the day and night of qadr and the Day of Resurrection is the day of qadr, too. Therefore, the point that, out of all phenomena, the “month” is referred to, and from this complete and sacred phenomenon it is referred to “the night,” is, perhaps, because the beginning of the months and years is the day and night, like the “one” which is the beginning of the numbers.
That master [sarwar] in the inside [bātin] of the truth, the Greatest Name, is the beginning of the other names; and, in his individuation [ta'ayyun] and immutable essence ['ayn-i thābit], he is the root (origin = asl) of the “Good Tree” [shajarat-i tayyibah] and the beginning of the individuations [ta'ayyunāt]. Consider, so that you may know, and seize the opportunity!
His saying: “The angels and the Spirit descend in it, by the permission of their Lord, for every affair. ” In this noble āyah there are points, to some of which we shall refer briefly.
The first point is about the ranks of the angels of Allah, the Exalted, and their reality in general. Know that there are differences among the traditionists and researchers concerning the angels whether they are abstract or corporeal. All the philosophers and researchers, and many of the juristic researchers,
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believe in their abstraction and in the abstraction of the rational soul, which they prove by strong evidences.
There are also many noble narratives and āyahs from which (their) abstraction can be understood, as the traditionist and researcher, our master Muhammad Taqī Majlisī, the great father of the late Majlisī, says, in Sharh 'ul-Faqīh, commenting on some relevant narratives, that they confirm the abstraction of the rational sou1. [1]
On the other hand, some of the great traditionists believe in their non-abstraction. Their utmost proof is that to believe in their abstraction is contrary to religion, and they add that there is no abstract except the Sacred Essence of Allah, the Exalted.
This, however, is a very weak argument, because their most attention is probably directed to only two points: the first is the case of the temporal contingency [hudūth-i zamānī] of the world, as they think that the existence of an abstract other than Allah contradicts it. The second point is the case of the free will of Allah, the Exalted, in His acts, as they think that this contradicts the abstraction of the world of intelligence and the angels of Allah, the Exalted.
Both these cases are of the insane [ma'nūnah] affairs within the High Sciences. The non-contradiction of such cases with an abstract being is quite obvious. Even to believe in the non-abstraction of the rational souls, the world of intelligence and the angels of Allah is contrary to many divine affairs and true beliefs, which cannot be explained
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for the time being. The temporal contingency of the worlds, as is interpreted by this group, is contrary to the principle of the temporal contingency, besides being in opposition to many divine rules, too.
To the writer, the truth, which agrees with reason ['aql] and tradition [naql], is that the angels of Allah are of different types. Many of them are abstracts and many are intermediate [barzakhī] corporeal:
“No one knows the host of your Lord save Him. ” [1]
As to their types, according to their general division, it is said that the heavenly beings are of two types: Type one has nothing to do with the corporeal world, belonging to neither incarnation [hulūl] nor management [tadbīr]. The other type belongs to one of the said two aspects.
The first type consists of two groups.
The first groups are those who are called “the Passionate [muhayyimah] Angels. ” They are those who are infatuated with the Beauty of the Beautiful, absorbed in the Essence of His Majesty, unaware of all other creatures, paying no attention to other beings.
Among the friends of Allah [awliyā'ullāh] there is a group like them. While we are indulged in the dark sea of nature, and are completely unaware of the unseen world and the Essence of His Majesty, despite the fact that He is apparent by His Essence [bi' dh-dhāt] and that every appearance is a reflection of His Appearance, they are unaware of the world and of whatever is in it, and are engaged
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only in the Haqq and His Beautiful Beauty. A narrative says that Allah has some creatures who know nothing of His creating Adam and Iblīs. [1]
The second group are those whom Allah, the Exalted, has made the means of the mercy of His Being. They are the beginning of the series of the beings and the goal of their longings. They are called ahl al-jabarūt (the Owners of Power) , and their chief and leader is “the Greatest Spirit. ” It may be that “The angels and the Spirit descend,” is a reference to this group of the angels of Allah. Describing him as “the Spirit,” though he is an angel, is a hint at his greatness, as is in the noble āyah:
“On the day when the angels and the Spirit stand arrayed. ” [2]
From a point of view, the Spirit is called “the Highest Pen” [qalam-i a'lā], as it is said: “The first that Allah created was the Pen. ” [3] According to another point of view, it is called “the First Intellect” ['aql-i awwal], as it is also said: “The first that Allah created was the Intellect. ” [4] Some others take “The Spirit” to be Gabriel. Some philosophers consider Gabriel to be the last of the Cherubic angels; some call him “The Holy Spirit;” and they regard the “Spirit” to be the first of the Cherubic angels.
The noble narratives also state that “the Spirit” is greater than Gabriel. The noble al-Kāfi, quotes Abu Basīr, who said: “I asked Abū 'Abdullāh, as-Sādiq, ('a) about the
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words of Allah, the Exalted”
'They will ask you concerning the Spirit. Say: The Spirit is of the bidding of my Lord' (Sūrah al-Isrā' 17: 85).
He said: ' (It is) a creature [khalq] greater than Gabriel and Michael. It was with the Messenger of Allah (s) , it is with the Imāms ('a) , and it is from the heavenly kingdom'. ” [1] Some narratives say that the Spirit is not of the angels, it is greater than them. [2]
Probably “The Spirit” has two meanings in terms of the Qur'an and the Traditions, as it has its meanings in other terms. A Spirit is of the angels' type, since it was said to be of “the heavenly kingdom. ” Another Spirit is that of the holy men [awliyā'], which is not of the angels, but greater than them.
Therefore, the Spirit in the noble sūrah of al-Qadr may refer to “the Faithful Spirit” [rūh al-amīn] or “the Greatest Spirit,” because the sūrah was revealed on “the night of qadr. ” In the noble āyah:
“They will ask you about the Spirit,” [3]
The reference may be to the spirit of the human beings, which, in its perfect degree, is greater than Gabriel and other angels. It is of “the World of Command” ['ālam-i amr], and sometimes combined with His “Will” [mashiyyat], which is absolute command.
Another group of the angels of Allah are those who are in charge of the corporeal beings and of managing them. These are of so many types and uncountable
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kinds, because for every being, high or low, celestial or terrestial, there is a heavenly aspect [wijhah] through which it is connected to the world of the angels and the host [junūd] of Allah, the Exalted, as Allah refers to the heavenly domain of the things in the noble āyah:
“Therefore, glory be to Him in whose hand is the dominion of all things, and to Him you shall be brought back. ” [1]
The Messenger of Allah (s) , concerning the host of the angels, say (as it has been narrated): “The heaven clamored, and it had the right to do so, as there was no place for a foot without there being an angel bowing or kneeling down. ” [2] Noble narratives speak much of the multitude of the angels and their numerous ranks. [3]
The second point concerns the descent of the angels upon the waliyy al-amr (the legal guardian).
Know that the Greatest Spirit is the greatest creature among the angels of Allah, i. e. it is placed in the first rank of the angels of Allah, and is the greatest and most honorable of all. The immaterial (abstract) angels of Allah, confined to the world of power ['ālam-i jabarūt], would not forsake their states, as for them ascending and descending, as done by the material bodies, is impossible, because the immaterial (abstract) is innocent of the material requisites.
Therefore, their descending will be in heavenly or worldly resemblance [tamaththul], whether in the heart, the bosom and the common
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sense of the guardian [walī], or in edifices of the earth, in the ka'bah, around the grave of the Messenger of Allah (s) , or in the Populous House [bayt al-ma'mūr]. Allah, the Exalted, concerning the descending of “The Faithful Spirit” to Mary ('a) , says:
“…it assumed for her the likeness of a perfect man. ” [1]
It is also possible for the holy men [awliyā'] and the perfect to assume heavenly resemblance and spiritual likeness of sovereignty. Therefore, the angels of Allah have the power and ability to enter the visible and invisible worlds assuming likenesses, and the perfect holy men [awliyā'] have the power to enter the heavenly world [malakūt] and the world of power [jabarūt] assuming spirituality, and to return from the exterior to the interior.
To believe in this is quite easy for the one who understands the realities of the abstracts, whether heavenly and powerly abstracts or the rational souls, which are also abstracts of the worlds of jabarūt and malakūt, and who can imagine the stages of their existence and appearances, and the correlation [nisbat] of the outside to the inside, and the inside to the outside.
One must know that the assumption [tamaththul] of the “beings of jabarūt” and the “beings of malakūt” in the heart, bosom and sense of the human being is not possible except after his coming out of the apparel of humanity and being connected with those worlds. Otherwise, as long as the soul is engaged in the mundane preparations and is unaware
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of those worlds, it is impossible for it to witness those scenes or assumptions.
Yet, it is sometimes possible that, with a gesture of a holy man, the soul comes out of this world, and, according to its deservedness, it may get a spiritual or formal [sūrī] understanding of the unseen world. And sometimes it happens that, due to some stupendous event, the soul is directed away from nature and perceives an example of the invisible world, such as the episode of that naïve man who, on his pilgrimage, received an acquittal from the fire of Hell, as related by Avicenna. The gnostic Shaykh, Muhyī’d-Dīn, also relates a story like this one. [1]
Such stories are due to the soul's turning away from the mulk to the malakūt. It sometimes happens that the souls of the perfect holy men [awliyā'] after detachment from the worlds and witnessing the Greatest Spirit or other angels of Allah through the power of soul, come to themselves, keeping the power of witnessing the invisible and the visible. In such a case they simultaneously, and in all emergences (growths = nasha'āt) , witness the truths of the beings of jabarūt. It may also happen that the perfect walī, through his personal power, will be able to have the angels descend. And Allah is the Knower!
The third point is that since the night of qadr is the night of disclosure [mukāshafah] to the Messenger of Allah (s) and the Imāms of guidance ('a) , all the worldly affairs
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[1]: Such as the narrative quoted from Imām as-Sādiq ('a) to the effect: “When the soul is taken (in death) , it remains hovering over the body…” On this he comments: “This narrative and the one after it, and the many other similar narratives, and the other successive narratives, as well as the apparent literal meanings of the Qur'anic āyahs, all prove the spiritual resurrection, i. e. the survival of the soul after the destruction of the body…” Rawdat 'ul-Muttaqīn, vol. 1, p. 492.
[1]: Sūrah al-Muddaththir 74: 31.
[1]: 'Ilm al-Yaqīn, vol. 1, p. 250; Al-Kāfī (ar-Rawdah, hadīth 301) , p. 231.
[2]: Sūrah an-Nabā' 78: 38.
[3]: Nūr ath-Thaqalayn Exegesis, vol. 5, hadīth 9, p. 389; 'Ilm al-Yaqīn, vol. 1, p. 154.
[4]: Bihār al-Anwār, vol. 1, p. 97.
[1]: Usūl al-Kāfī, vol. 2, p. 18, “The Book of Divine Proof,” ch. on “The Spirit by which Allah Directs the Steps of the Imāms” ('a) , hadīth 3.
[2]: Bihār al-Anwār, vol. 25, “Book of the Imāmah,” sec. on “Their Creation, Nature and Spirits,” ch. 3, hadīth 45, p. 64.
[3]: Sūrah Isrā' 17: 85
[1]: Sūrah Yā-Sīn 36: 83
[2]: 'Ilm al-Yaqīn, vol. 1, p. 259.
[3]: Bihār al-Anwār, vol. 56, ch. on “The Angels,” p. 144.
[1]: Sūrah Maryam 19: 17.
[1]: Reference unknown
are uncovered by the unseen malakūt to them, and the angels in charge of every affair appear to them in the invisible world and the world of the heart, and all the affairs which are prescribed for the creatures during the year in the high and low lawhs (tablets) , appear to them, heavenly writ and covertly existed, in a disclosure.
And it is a malakūtī exposure [mukāshafah] covering every particle of the world of nature, and no affair of the people's is hidden from the waliyy al-amr. There is no discrepancy in their knowing, in a single night, the affairs of a whole year, or, in an instance, the entire affairs of the world, or, in a single moment, all the measured assignments [muqaddarāt] of mulk and malakūt.
Also during the days of the year, all the daily affairs may gradually be disclosed to them, both in general and in details. For example, it is in the hadīth, concerning the revelation of the Qur'an, that it was revealed in general (in the whole) in “The Populous House” [bayt al-ma'mūr], then it was revealed to the Messenger of Allah in details within twenty-three years. [1] And its revelation in “The Populous House” was a revelation to the Messenger of Allah (s) , too.
In short, sometimes the waliyy al-amr may become connected to the High Council [mala'-i a'lā], the High Pens and the abstract lawhs, where to him will be exposed all the beings, from the beginning to eternity. Sometimes the connection is with
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the low lawhs, and for a period he uncovers the assignments [muqaddarāt], and the whole page of the universe is present before his guardian-like presence, and whatsoever affair happens will pass before his eyes.
Some narratives refer to the exposition ['ard] of the acts to waliyy al-amr. They are exposed every Thursday and Monday to the Messenger of Allah and the Imāms of guidance ('a). Other narratives say that the acts are exposed every morning, or every morning and night. These exposures are also in general and in details, collectively and distinctly. In this respect, there are noble narratives from the infallible and pure Ahl al-Bayt, mentioned in the books of exegeses, such as al-Burhān and as-Sāfi. [1]
His saying: “Peace it is till the break of the dawn,” means that this blessed night is safe from Satanic evils, calamities and misfortunes till the break of the dawn. Or it is peace upon Allah's friends [awliyā'ullāh] and the worshipping people [ahl-i tā'at]. Or the angels of Allah who meet Allah's friends and the worshipping people greet them on the part of Allah, the Exalted, till the break of the dawn.
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[1]: Usūl al-Kāfī, vol. 4, p. 437, “The Book of the Merits of the Qur'an,” ch. on “Rarities,” hadīth 6
[1]: Bihār al-Anwār, vol. 23, pp. 338, 346 and 347; as-Sāfī's Exegesis.
A Gnostic Note
As it has formerly been said concerning the truth of “the night of qadr,” the degrees of existence and the visible and invisible individuations [ta'ayyunāt] are regarded “night” because the sun of the truth has set in their horizon. Consequently, “The night of qadr” is the night in which the Haqq (Allah) , the Exalted according to all
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the affairs and the “Collective Oneness of the Names and Attributes,” which are the truth of the “Greatest Name”is veiled [muhtajib].
That is the individuation [ta'ayyun] and the constitution [bunyah] of the perfect walī, who was the Messenger of Allah (s) in his life, and then the Imāms of guidance, one after another. Therefore, “the dawn” of “the night of qadr” is when the first rays of the rising sun of the truth shine from behind the veils [hujub] of the individuations [ta'ayyunāt]. The rise of the sun from the horizon of the individuations is “the dawn” of the Day of Resurrection, too.
As from the time of the setting and veiling [ihtijāb] of the sun of the truth in the horizon of the individuations of these perfect walīs [awliyā'], till the time of the break of the dawn, which is the period of “the night of qadr,” that night full of honor is absolutely safe from the Satanic intrusions, and since the sun rises as it had set, blemishless and free from the Satanic intrusion, thus, He says: “Peace it is till the break of the dawn. ” As to the other nights, they are either completely peaceless, such as the nights of the Umayyads and their like, or they have no peace in all its concepts, and these are the nights of the common people.
Conclusion
From the gnostic statements and faithful revelations [mukāshafāt], which, with the help of the great walīs ('a) , dawned upon the luminous hearts of the “people
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of knowledge” [ahl-i ma'rifat], it is obvious that if the noble sūrah of at-Tawhīd is related to the Sacred Essence of Allah, the noble sūrah of al-Qadr is related to the great Ahl al-Bayt, as is stated in the narratives concerning the mi'rāj.
Muhammad ibn Ya'qūb, on the authority of Abū 'Abdullāh [as-Sādiq] ('a) , concerning the performance of the Messenger of Allah (s) his salāt in the heaven, in the hadīth of al-Isrā', said: “…Then Allah, the Most High, revealed to him: Read, O Muhammad, the lineage [nisbat] of your Lord, the Blessed and Most High: 'He is Allah, the One. He is besought by all. He begets not, nor is He begotten. And none is comparable to Him. ' This is in the first rak'ah. Then, Allah, the Exalted and Most High, revealed to him: Read: 'All praise is for Allah. ' He read it as he did first. Then Allah revealed to him: Read: 'We revealed it' which is your lineage [nisbat] and your offspring's till the Day of Resurrection. ” [1]
The noble narratives concerning the merits of the blessed sūrah of al-Qadr are numerous. Among them is a narrative in the noble al-Kāfī, from Imām al-Bāqir ('a) who said: “Whoever recites 'We revealed it on The Night of Qadr' openly (with a loud voice) , he is like the one who unsheathes his swords for the sake of Allah. And whoever recites it secretly, is as if he rolls in his blood shed in the way of Allah, and
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whoever recites it ten times, a thousand of his sins will be forgiven. ” [1]
In Khawāss al-Qur'an, the Messenger of Allah (s) is quoted to have said: “Whoever recites this sūrah, he will have the reward of the one who has fasted the month of Ramadan, attaining “The night of qadr,” and he will have the reward of a fighter in the way of Allah. ” [2] Praise is for Allah, at the beginning and at the end.
An Apology
Despite the fact that the writer's intention in this thesis was to refrain from referring to those gnostic topics unfamiliar to the common people, and keep only to the hearty disciplines of the salāt, yet, I realize now that the pen has exceeded the proper bounds, and particularly in commenting on the noble sūrah I have surpassed my own decision.
Now I have but to apologize to my brothers in religion and spiritual friends. At the same time, if they found in this thesis a subject not conforming with their taste, they may not unthoughtfully label it as false, because each knowledge has its people, and each road has its treaders. “May Allah have mercy on the person who knows his worth and does not go beyond his status. ” [3]
It is also possible that some neglect the reality of the condition, and, as they have no information of the Qur'anic knowledge and of the minute details of the divine laws, they take some matters of this thesis as to be interpretation according to
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one's opinion. This is sheer mistake and a grave falsity, because:
Firstly, these knowledges [ma'ārif] and subtleties [latā'if] are all taken from the noble Qur'an and hadīths, and they are proved through heard [sam'iyyah] evidences, some of which have been referred to in the discussions, and most of them were left out for brevity.
Secondly, all, or most of them, agree with the rational or gnostic proofs, and such a thing cannot be interpretation according to one's opinion.
Thirdly, most of the subjects which we mentioned, or we relate in explaining the noble āyahs, are of the kinds of stating the “evidences of the concepts” [masādīq- i mafāhīm]; and explaining the evidences and degrees of the facts has nothing to do with interpretation, let alone its being according to one's opinion.
Fourthly, after all stages, we tried with utmost religious precaution though unnecessarily to relate any unnecessary subject by way of being possible and as one of the possibilities. It is clear that the door of possibility is not shut, and it can have no connection to interpretation on one's opinion. Here there are other subjects that we refrain from mentioning, in our attempt to be short.
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[1]: Al-Burhān Exegesis, vol. 4, p. 487, ”Sūrah al-Qadr,” hadīth 22.
[1]: Usūl al-Kāfī, vol. 4, p. 427, “The Book of the Merit of the Qur'an,” ch. on “The Merit of the Qur'an,” hadīth 6.
[2]: Al-Burhān Exegesis, vol. 4, p. 480, ”Sūrah al-Qadr,” hadīth 1. From Khawāss al-Qur'an.
[3]: Ghurar al-Hikam, ch. 3, letter R, hadīth 1.
On The Takbīr Before The Rukū
Apparently, this takbīr (saying: Allāhu Akbar = Allah is the Greatest) belongs to the rukū' (obeisance = genuflection) in order to be prepared for the stage of rukū'. Its relevant discipline is to bring to mind Allah's status of Greatness and Majesty and the Lord's Might and Sovereignty, and considering,
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at the same time, one's weakness, inability, poverty, humility and servitude. In such a condition, and according to one's knowledge of the Lord's Might and the servant's humility, one will say the takbīr of the Haqq (Allah) , the Exalted, being above all description.
The description [tawsīf] which the sālik servant makes of the Haqq (Allah) , the Exalted, and his glorifying and extolling, should be out of pure obedience, and taking them to be by the permission of the Haqq (Allah) , the Exalted, to describe and worship Him. Otherwise he would dare not to vaunt of his describing and glorifying in the presence of the Lord, weak a servant as he is, and, actually, having nothing of his own, for whatsoever he has is from his Great Worshipped. When 'Alī ibn al-Husayn, with such sweet and authoritative a tongue as he had, being the tongue of Allah, says: “How, with this feeble tongue as I have, can I thank you? ” [1] “What a thin gnat can do? ” [2]
So, when the sālik servant wants to enter the grave stage of rukū', he has to prepare himself for that stage, throwing behind, with his own hand, his describing, glorifying, worshipping and conduct [sulūk]. He then has to raise his hands beside his ears, facing his empty palms towards the qiblah, and, empty-handed, with a heart full of fear and hope fear of failure and deficiency in observing the state of servitude; and assured hope in the Holy state of Allah Who honored him
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into such situations, which belong to the bosom friends of Allah and the perfect lovers he enters the stage of rukū'. Probably, raising the hands in this way denotes leaving the qiyām (standing) position and the stand [wuqūf] in that stage a sign indicating taking no provision from the stage of qiyām.
Takbīr denotes glorifying and aggrandizing the descriptions done in the stage of qiyām. As rukū', to the people of knowledge, is the stage of the Unity of Attributes, the takbīr of rukū', to them, is aggrandizing this Unity, and raising the hands is a sign of rejecting the attributes of the creatures.
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[1]: Misbāh al-Mutahajjid, an extract from Abū Hamzah's invocation, p. 534
[2]: Refer to footnote 273
Concerning The Disciplines Of Bowing In Rukū‘
Know that the principal positions of the salāt are three. The other acts and deeds are preliminary and preparatory:
First: qiyām;
Second: rukū';
Third: sujūd.
The people of knowledge regard these three positions to be a hint at the three Unities [tawhīdāt]. We, in The Secret of the Salāt, referred to these stages in terms of the gnostic taste. Now, we explain them in other terms suitable to the common people.
So, we say that as the salāt is the believer's perfective mi'rāj, and the bringer of the pious people to Allah's proximity, it stands on two bases, the one is the preliminary to the other.
The first is abandoning self-conceit and selfishness, as it is the truth and the inside of taqwā (piety).
The second is seeking Allah and being in quest of the Haqq, as this is the truth of the mi'rāj and proximity. Hence, it is in the
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noble narratives that: “The salāt is the means of proximity for every pious person,” [1] the same as the Qur'an is a light of guidance, but for the pious:
“This is the Book; there is no doubt in it. It is a guide for the muttaqīn (the pious). ” [2]
In short, in these three states: the states of qiyām, rukū', and sujūd, the said two states (bases) take shape gradually. So, in the state of qiyām, self-conceitedness is forsaken according to the state of Activity [fā'iliyyat], and regarding Allah to be the Absolute Factor and Eternal. In the state of rukū', self-conceitedness is forsaken according to the state of Attributes and Names, considering the state of Allah's Attributes and Names.
In the sujūd, the self-conceitedness is forsaken altogether, and it is entirely Allah seeking and being in quest of the Haqq. All the stages of the sāliks are of the affairs [shu'ūn] of these three states, as it is quite obvious to the people of insight, the gnostics and the sāliks.
When the sālik along these three states realizes that the secret of these acts is the three Unities, he will have to pay more attention to that state which is nicer and more delicate. Naturally, the danger of the state is greater and it is more slippery. Then, in the state of rukū', the sālik claims that in the house of existence [dār-i wujūd] there is no knowledge, power, life nor will except from Allah a claim so great and a state so
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delicate, which we are not (qualified) to put forth.
We should inwardly turn to the Holy Threshold of Allah, showing supplication, distress and humility, asking forgiveness for our faults and failures, and, with seeing eyes and witnessing conscience, admitting our shortcomings, that perhaps His Sacred Holiness may show kindness to, and care for, us, and may He, in the time of necessity, extend a hand of help to us.
“Or, who answers the distressed one when he calls upon Him, and removes the evil…? ” [1]
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[1]: Furū' al-Kāfī, vol. 3, p. 265, “The Book of as-Salāt,” ch. on “The Merit of as-Salāt,” hadīth 6.
[2]: Sūrah al-Baqarah 2: 2.
[1]: Sūrah an-Naml 27: 62.
The Rukū‘of the Salāt of The Messenger’s Mi‘rāj
In respect of the mi'rāj salāt of the Messenger of Allah (s) it is stated that after the rukū', the Almighty addressed him, saying: “Look at My 'Arsh. ” The Messenger of Allah said: “I looked at a greatness which astounded my soul and I went in a swoon. I was inspired to say: 'Glory be to my Great Lord and praise be to Him' because of the greatness which I saw. As I said that, I came to myself. I continued to say it for seven times till I came to myself as before…” [2] as the hadīth goes.
Consider, dear, the state of the greatness of the sulūk of the “Universal Master” [sarwar-i kull] and the Guide to the Paths (s) , who, while in the state of rukū', which is a looking down at one's inferior, sees the light of the 'Arsh; and, as the light of 'Arsh to the walīs [awliyā'] is the manifestation of the Essence, without mirror, the self individuation is gone,
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and a mood of swoon and shock takes place.
So, the Holy Essence, with eternal care, helped that honorable being, and with affectionate inspiration taught that noble personality how to “glorify,” “aggrandize” and “praise,” until after seven times the number of the veils and the number of man's ranks he came to himself and to wakefulness. This condition prevailed throughout the mi'rāj salāt.
But as we have no admission into the privacy of intimacy, nor into a place of Holy State, it is good to use our incapability and humility as a capital for the attainment of the objective, and as a pretext to reach the goal.
We have to keep clinging to the skirt of the intended until we get what we desire. Or, at least, if we are not the men for the job, we are to seek guidance from the guides of the road, and find help with the perfect spiritual men, so that a smell of fragrant of knowledge may reach the smelling sense of our souls, and a breeze of the graces may blow into our dead corpses, because Allah, the Exalted, is accustomed to being beneficent, and His habit is to be graceful and generous.
It must be noted that rukū' consists of “glorifying,” “aggrandizing” (magnifying) and “praising” the Lord, Almighty and Most High. Thus, “glorifying” is purifying Allah, the Exalted, from description and definition. “Aggrandizing” and “praising” are refraining from limits of assimilation and devesting Allah from attributes, because “praising” denotes the appearance in the
mirrors of creation, and “aggrandizing” negates limitation. Thus, He is apparent and there is no appearance in the world more apparent than Him. He is not clothed in the apparel of the individuations of the creation.
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[2]: 'Ilal ash-Sharā'i' , p. 315. A part of the hadīth concerning al-mi'rāj salāt.
Delicacies And Secrets Of The Rukū, Sujūd And Their Cordial Disciplines
point
It is stated in Misbāh ash-Sharī'ah that as-Sādiq ('a) said: “No servant bows in the rukū' for Allah, in a true way, unless Allah adorns him with the light of His Brilliance, and shades him with the shade of His Majesty, and clothes him with the gown of His chosen friends. The rukū' is first and the sujūd is second. The one who performed the first is fit for the second. The rukū' is politeness, and the sujūd is proximity.
So, the one who is not well-mannered, is unfit for proximity. Therefore, perform the rukū' like the one who is submitting to Allah with his heart, humble and afraid under His Sovereignty, drooping to Him his limbs like the one who is afraid and grieved for what one loses of the benefit of those who perform the rukū'. It is narrated that ar-Rabī' ibn Khuthaym used to keep indulged in a single rukū' all the night till dawn.
In the morning he would raise his head and say: 'Oh, the sincere ones have passed us and we are left behind. ' Complete your rukū' by levelling your back, and rebuke yourself for being vigilant in serving Him except with His help. Protect your heart against Satan's whispers, deceits and traps. Allah, the Exalted, raises
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His servants as much as they show humility to Him, and He guides them to the principles of humility and submission as much as His Greatness knows of their secrets. ” [1]
This noble hadīth contains signs, good tidings, disciplines and instructions, as “adorning” with the “light of Allah's Brilliance,” being under the “shade of Allah's Majesty” and wearing the “gown of Allah's chosen ones” are good tidings of attaining to the state of learning the Names:
“And He taught Adam all the names. ” [2]
Of that state is the taking of the state of attributive annihilation and the state of wakefulness, because Allah's adorning the servant with the state of “the light of His Brilliance” means taking him to the state of Names, which is the reality of teaching man. Taking him under the shade and shadow of “Majesty,” which is of the Names of Power, and placing him in His Court, refer to annihilating the servant of himself.
After this state, clothing him in “the gown of the chosen ones” is survival after annihilation. From this it is realized that the sujūd is self-annihilation, as is said by the people of knowledge. The rukū' is first, and it is these states, and the sujūd is second, which is nothing but the state of annihilation in the Essence.
It is also realized that the Absolute Proximity, which happens in the sujūd, is not accessible except through the true rukū'. Whoever wants to be fit for the second, must acquire the
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discipline of the rukū' and its proximity.
After stating the delicacies and secrets of the rukū' and sujūd, he refers to their hearty disciplines to suit the middle class. These are among the general matters, which we have referred to in the Preliminaries; and some of them belong to rukū'. Now, as most of these things have already been stated, we leave out further explanation.
Concerning Raising the Head from the Rukū
Its secret is the return from wuqūf (standing) in the multiplicity of names, as it is said: “The perfect monotheism is the negation of ascribing attributes to Him,” [1] because after the awakening from the annihilation in the Names [fanā'-i asmā'ī], the sālik servant witnesses his failure and shortcoming, since the beginning of Man's sin which is to be compensated for by his offspring is the inclination toward the multiplicities of names, which is the inside of the “tree. ”
Having understood the sin of himself, who is Adam's offspring, and the sin of Adam, who is his origin, he would recognize his state of humility and need, and get ready to remove the sin by way of behaving with humility in 'the presence of Allah's Majesty. He would then stand erect out of this state, and with the takbīr after the rukū' he would remove the multiplicities of names, and, empty-handed, he would comprehend the state of humility, helplessness and the earthly origin.
The important discipline in this respect is to find out the state's great significance, and to have the heart to taste it
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through complete remembrance, and strive to attend [tawajjuh] to His Essence, forsaking attending [tawajjuh] to oneself, even to one's state of humility.
Know, dear, that complete remembrance of the Haqq (Allah) , and absolute turning, with the inside of the heart, to the Holy Essence, will open the heart's internal eye, through which meeting Allah the pleasure of the eyes of the walīs [awliyā'] takes place:
“And those who strive hard for Us, We will most certainly guide them in our ways. ” [1]
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[1]: Misbāh ash-Sharī'ah, p. 12; Bihār al-Anwār, vol. 89, p. 108.
[2]: Sūrah al-Baqarah 2: 31.
[1]: Usūl al-Kāfī, vol. 1, p. 191, “The Book of Monotheism,” ch. on “General Hadīths on Monotheism,” hadīth 6.
[1]: Sūrah al-'Ankabūt 29: 69.
General Secret Of The Sujūd
According to the people of gnosticism and of heart, this secret is to be forsaking oneself and closing one's eyes against anything except Him; and, with a Jonahian mi'rāj which took place by sinking into the stomach of the fish one can pay attention to his origin without seeing the veil. And, in putting the head on the dust, there is a hint at seeing the Beauty of the Beautiful in the inner heart of the dust and the origin of the world of nature.
Its hearty disciplines are to find one's reality and the original root of one's existence, and to place the brain, which is the center of the sovereignty of the soul and the 'Arsh of the spirit, at the lowest threshold of the State of Holiness, and to consider the world of dust as the threshold of the Master of the Kings.
Thus, the secret of the position of the sujūd is to give up oneself, and the discipline of putting the head on the
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dust is to debase one's most high position, regarding it to be lower than the dust. Should there be in the heart a cause for these claims, in respect of the states of the salāt, which are a reference to them, they are, to the people of knowledge, hypocrisy.
And, as this state is the most dangerous one, the sālik to Allah will have to cling to the skirt of the care of Allah, the Most High, by means of his personal disposition and innermost nature, humbly and meekly asking forgiveness for the shortcomings. But this is a dangerous state that is out of the obligations of people like us.
As we have explained in The Secret of the Salāt these states in details, we refrain from repeating them in this thesis, satisfying ourselves with relating the hadīth narrated in Misbāh ash-Sharī'ah concerning the relevant discipline.
Disciplines Of The Sujūd
It is stated in Misbāh ash-Sharī'ah that Imām as-Sādiq ('a) said: “By Allah he will not be a loser, the one who performs the sujūd as it really should be, even if for a single time in his life. No one will be successful if he takes to privacy with his Lord, in a similar position resembling the deceiver of himself, unaware of, and neglecting, what Allah has arranged for the sājidīn (the prostrate worshippers) of immediate intimacy and adjourned comfort.
The one who is good at approaching (Allah) in the sujūd, will never be far from Him, whereas the one who observes not
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the discipline of, and loses the respect for, the sujūd, can never be near Him by longing for other than Him in his sujūd. So, let yours be the sujūd of a submissive and humble to Allah, the Exalted, knowing that you have been created from the dust which is trodden upon by the creatures, and that He has made you of a nutfah (semen) which is regarded filthy by everybody, and was brought into existence though not existed before.
The concept of the sujūd has been made by Allah, the Exalted, a cause for getting near Him with the heart, the inside and the spirit. So, whoever nears Him turns away from other than Him. Do you not realize that in the external form the position of the sujūd is not complete except by hiding oneself from everything, and turning away from all things visible to the eyes? Similar is the question of the internal position. Whoever his heart is attracted, during the salāt, to other than Allah, the Exalted, he will be near to that which attracted him, and far from the reality of that which Allah wanted him to be in his salāt. Allah, the Exalted, says:
“Allah has not made for any man two hearts within him,” [1]
And the Messenger of Allah (s) said that Allah, the Exalted, told him: 'Whenever I look into the heart of a servant and find in it his love to be sincere in obeying me for my sake and for
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obtaining my pleasure, I undertake setting him aright and managing his affairs. But whoever is indulged in other than me, he is among those who mock themselves, and his name is registered in the Book of the Losers. ” [1]
This noble hadīth explains both the secrets and the disciplines, and, by contemplation, it opens ways of knowledge in the face of the sālik to Allah, and destroys the obstinacy and the denial of the deniers, and supports and praises the godly men of knowledge and the people of certainty, and attracts attention to the reality of privacy and intimacy with Allah, and forsaking other than Allah, the Exalted.
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[1]: Sūrah al-Ahzāb 33: 4.
[1]: Misbāh ash-Sharī'ah, ch. 16, on “The Sujūd. ”
Contents And Meaning Of The Form, Mood And Invocation Of The Sujūd
It is stated in a narrative that when the āyah:
“Therefore, glorify the Name of your Lord, the Great,” [2]
Was revealed, the Messenger of Allah (s) said: “Recite this in your rukū',” and when the āyah:
“Glorify the Name of your Lord, the Most High” [3]
Was revealed, he said: “Recite this in your sujūd. ” [4]
It is in the noble hadīth of al-Kāfī that “… the first and foremost name He assumed for Himself was al-'Aliyy (the High) al-'Azīm (the Great). [5] It may be that “al-'Aliyy” was the first of the names of Essence, and “al-'Azīm” was the first of the names of Attributes.
Know that the sujūd, like the other positions of the salāt has its form, mood, recitation [dhikr] and secret. These matters, in relation to the Perfect Ones, are as have formerly been related in this thesis, but to
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go into the details is not suitable. For the middle class the form is showing humbleness and forsaking arrogance and self conceit.
Pressing the nose onto dust which is of the confirmed supererogations, or even neglecting it is contrary to precaution is a token of showing complete submission, humility and modesty. It also means being aware of one's origin and creation. And putting the tops of the exposed organs which are the places of sensation and of the appearance of mobility and power, being the very seven or eight organs on the dust of humility and helplessness, is a sign of complete surrender, of offering one's entire powers, and getting out of Adam's sin.
By strengthening the remembrance of these concepts in the heart, it becomes affected by them and it acquires a mood of running away from oneself and from self- conceit. This mood results in a mood of pleasure, which, in turn, results in a mood of complete privacy and there will be full love.
As regards the recitation [dhikr] during the sajdah, it is based on tasbīh, which is glorifying (purifying) Allah from description and observance of the command (amr) , or it is purifying (glorifying) Him from multiplicity of names, or purifying (glorifying) Him from unification [tawhīd], which is ”taf'īl,” moving from multiplicity to unity, and it is not free from the blemish of multiplying [takthīr] and associating with Allah [tashrīk], as describing Him with the Essential highness and praising Him are also not free from the
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blemishes of these concepts.
“Al-'Aliyy” is of the Names of Essence, and, according to the narrative of al-Kāfī, it is the first name adopted by Allah for Himself. That is, the first manifestation of the Essence is for Himself. When the sālik, in this state, becomes annihilated out of himself and forsakes the world and what is in it, he will have the honor of this Essential manifestation.
Know that as the rukū' is first and the sujūd is second, glorification and praising in them differ a great deal. Also rabb is different in those two states, because rabb as the people of knowledge say, is of the Names of Essence, Attributes and Acts in three aspects. Therefore, rabb in al-hamdu lillāhi rabbil-'ālamīn may be of the Names of Act in accordance with the state of standing, which is the state of the Unity of Acts.
In the rukū' it is of the Names of Attributes in accordance with the fact that the rukū' is the state of the Unity of Attributes. In the sujūd it is of the Names of Essence in accordance with the fact that sujūd is the state of the Unity of Essence. The “glorifying” and “praising” in each one of these states are related to that particular state. [1]
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[2]: Sūrah al-Wāqi'ah 26: 74
[3]: Sūrah al-A'lā 87: 1.
[4]: Majma' ul-Bayān, vol. 9, p. 224, commenting on āyah 74 of Sūrah al-Wāqi'ah.
[5]: Usūl al-Kāfī, vol. 1, p. 153, “The Book of at-Tawhīd,” ch. on “The Originality of the Names (of Allah) , hadīth 2.
[1]: In the MS (manuscript) , before starting ”,” the Imām has scribed nearly two pages under the title “A Gnostic Note,” then these were crossed out as to be deleted, and in the margin he wrote: “This note is not needed and it is to be completely effaced. ” In the book's latest MS (manuscript) this part is omitted. But it appears in the former editions of this book. In this edition that passage is not printed.
The Moods Of The Sājid During The Sujūd
The sajdah, as described in the salāt of the mi'rāj, is a swoon and a shock resulting from witnessing the lights of the Greatness of Allah. When the servant feels being raptured and
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he undergoes a fit [hāl] of annihilation [mahw] and shock [sa'q], he will be covered by the eternal care and will receive inspiration from the Unseen [ghayb].
The recitation [dhikr] in the sujūd and repeating it are for one to come to himself and turn to the state of wakefulness [sahw]. So, when one comes to himself, the fire of longing for seeing the light of Allah kindles in his heart, and he raises his head from the sujūd. When he finds in himself residues of his selfishness, he leaves them by a sign with his hand. Thus, the light of Majesty is manifested to him once again and the remnants of selfishness are burnt off, and he becomes annihilated [fānī] from the annihilation [fanā'], and, while repeating Allāhu Akbar, a state of complete and absolute annihilation and full real swooning [sa'q] happens to him.
So, the unseen help, by the inspiration of the recitations, makes him firm in his state, and he will attain to a state of sobriety [sahw], which is the sobriety of the state of guardianship [wilāyat] and is free from any sort of veiling and creational [khalqī] blemish. The states of tashahhud and taslīm, which are of the status of multiplicity, also happen during this sobriety after annihilation [mahw]. Up to this point, all the circle of man's journey has been full and complete.
Meaning And Effect Of Testifying To The Tawhīd And The Messengership (Of The Prophet)
Know that testifying to the Oneness (of Allah) and to Prophethood in the adhān and iqāmah which belong to the salāt
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and prepare the situation to enter in it and in the tashahhud which is going out of annihilation [fanā'] to subsistance [baqa'], and out of unity [wahdat] to multiplicity [kathrat], at the end of the salāt remind the sālik servant of the fact that the reality of the salāt is the taking place of the real Unity [tawhīd], and that testifying to the Oneness (of Allah) is of the inclusive states, which accompany the sālik from the beginning of the salāt till its end. There is also in it the secret of the “Firstness” and “Lastness” of Allah, the Glorified and Most High. Further, there is the great secret of the sālik's journey from Allah to Allah:
“…as He created you at first, so shall you return. ” [1]
Therefore, the sālik must pay attention to this object at all states, bringing the truth of Allah's Oneness and Divinity to his heart, making it a divine ascending journey so that his testimonies may become real and purified from hypocrisy and polytheism.
In testifying to the Prophethood there may be a hint at the fact that the support of the Absolute Guardian and the Seal of the Prophets in this mi'rāj of behavior [mi'rāj-i sulūkī] is of the inclusive states, to which the sālik must pay attention in all states, so that the secret of the appearance of the “firstness” and the “lastness,” which are of the states of guardianship, becomes clear to the worthy people.
It must be noted
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that there is a difference between the shahādah (testifying) at the beginning of the salāt and the testifying in the tashahhud, because the former is a testimony before the sulūk, a devotional [ta'abbudī] or a contemplative [ta'aqqulī] testimony, whereas the latter is after the return, and it is either a realizational [tahaqquqī] or a confirmative [tamakkunī] testimony. So, the testimony in the tashahhud is of great danger, because it includes the claim of realization [tahaqquq] and confirmation [tamakkun], and of returning to multiplicity unveiled.
And as this lofty state is not possible for persons like us, nor is it expected under our present condition, behaving ourselves in the presence of the Creator is to remember our shortcomings, humility, failure, inability and distress, and, in a state of shamefulness, we are to face the Holy threshold and plead:
O Allah! Of the states of the holy men [awliyā'], the steps [madārij] of the Chosen [asfiyā'], the perfection of the sincere and the sulūk of the sāliks we have no share but a few words. Instead of striving for high states we are satisfied with idle talk, of which there avails nothing in quality nor in spirituality. O Lord! Loving this world and its attractions bars us from the Holy Court and the presence of your intimacy, unless you, with your hidden kindness help us, the helpless, so as to make up for what has passed, that we may rise from our sleep of negligence and find our way to Your Holy Presence.
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[1]: Sūrah al-A'rāf 7: 29.
The Disciplines Of Tashahhud
It is stated in Misbāh ash-Sharī'ah that Imām as-Sādiq ('a) said: “The tashahhud is extolment of Allah, the Most High. So, be His servant in your inside and submit to Him in your act, as you are His servant in (your) saying and claim. Join the truthfulness of your tongue to the purity of the truthfulness of your inside, as He has created you a servant and ordered you to worship Him with your heart, tongue and organs, and to carry out your servitude by His being your Lord, believing that He has in His grip all the creatures; so, they take no breath nor a glance except by His power and will, and they are incapable of performing the least act in His Domain except by His permission and will. Allah, Almighty and Glorious, says:
“And your Lord creates what He wills and chooses. They have not the choice. Glorified is Allah and Exalted above all that they associate (with Him). ” [1]
So, be a thankful servant by act, as you are a remembering servant by word and claim. Join the truthfulness of your tongue to the purity of the truthfulness of your inside, for He has created you. He is High above being a volition and will to anybody except with His own prior volition and will. So, use servitude to be contented with His judgment, and use worship to perform His commands. He has ordered you to send blessing upon His Prophet (s).
So, join
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blessing Him to blessing him, and obeying Him to obeying him and testifying Him to testifying him. Take care not to miss the blessings of admitting his sanctity, in which case you will be deprived of the benefit of his blessings, as He ordered him to ask forgiveness for you and intercede for you, if you performed your duty concerning the obligatory and the forbidden acts, the laws and good manners, knowing his great position with Allah, Almighty, Most High. ” [1] [2]
There are, in this noble hadīth, hints at the cordial disciplines of worshippings and their truths and secrets, as he says that the ”tashahhud” is praising Allah, Almighty and Most High. Formerly, however, we have said that all worshippings in general are praising Allah, either by a Name or Names, by one of the manifestations or by the origin of the Ipseity [asl-i huwiyyat].
At the head of the disciplines he refers to the fact that since you apparently show servitude and claim to be a worshipper, in your secret you are also to be serving so that the secret cordial servitude may spread to the acts of the organs, and that the word and act be the plan of the secret and the inside, and the truth of servitude may spread through all the organs, internal and external, and each of the organs, may have a share of the tawhīd.
The tongue of the praiser of Allah conveys the praising to the heart, and the sincere and
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monotheist heart conveys the tawhīd and sincerity to the tongue. He seeks Lordship inside the truth of servitude, forsaking egotism and conveying Allah's divinity to the heart. He knows that the control of the servants is in the hands of Allah, the Exalted, that they have no power to breathe and to see except through the power and will of Allah, the Exalted, and that they are unable to do anything in the domain of Allah, however slight, except with the permission and will of His Holy Essence, as He has said:
“And your Lord creates what He wills and chooses. They have not the choice. Glorified is Allah and Exalted above all that they associate (with Him) ” (28: 68).
On conveying this grace [latīfah] to the heart, your thanking Allah will be implemented and it will spread through your organs and acts. And, as the tongue and the heart should, in servitude, be coordinating, the truthfulness of the tongue and the purity of the secret of the heart should, in this unity of acts, be joined together, because Allah, Almighty and Most High, is the Creator and there is no effective factor but He, and all wills and volitions are shadows of His prior eternal will and volition.
After observing the disciplines of testifying to the Oneness and Divinity of Allah, one turns to the holy state of the absolute servant, Last of the Prophets, paying attention to the priority of the state of “servitude” to the state of “prophethood,”
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since the state of servitude is the preliminary to all the states of the sāliks, and the prophethood is a branch of servitude.
As the Final Messenger is a true servant annihilated in the Haqq (Allah) , to obey him is to obey Allah, and testifying to his prophethood is connected to testifying to Allah's Oneness. The sālik servant should take care not to fall short of obeying the Messenger, as it is obeying Allah, lest he may be deprived of the blessings of worshipping, which is attainment to the Holy Court, with the help of the Absolute Guardian. And let him know that there will be no admission to the Holy Court and the place of intimacy without the help of the Patron, the Messenger of Allah (s).
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[1]: Sūrah al-Qasas 28: 68.
[1]: Misbāh ash-Sharī'ah, ch. 17, on ”The Tashahhud. ”
[2]:
State Of The Musallī During Utterance Of The Salām, And The Condition For The Salām To Be Truthful
Know that when the sālik comes out of the state of sujūd, whose secret is “annihilation,” and comes to himself, and into a state of wakefulness and attentiveness, returning from the state of being absent from the world to the state of being present, he offers his salām (peace) to the beings the salām of the one who has come back from a journey, from an occultation. So, as he returns he sends peace upon the noble Prophet, because after returning from unity [wahdat] to multiplicity [kathrat], the first manifestation will be that of the truth of guardianship: “We are the first preceding ones” [1]
Thereafter, he will pay attention to the essences [a'yān] of other beings, distinctly and collectively.
The
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one who has not kept away, in the salāt, from the creatures [khalq] and has not become a traveler to Allah, to him the salām has no meaning and is nothing but a chattering of the tongue. So, the cordial discipline of the salām depends on the discipline of the salāt as a whole. If in this salāt, which is the truth of the mi'rāj, there was no ascension, and he did not come out of the house of the soul, he would actually have no salām.
Furthermore, if in this journey there was safety from the intrusions of Satan and the evil-commanding soul, and, if the heart had no ailment during this real mi'rāj, his salām would be truthful; if not, he would have no salām. Yes, the salām upon the Prophet (s) is, therefore, a salām with truthfulness, because, in this ascending journey, in this travel to Allah, in both ascending and descending, he enjoys peace, and, along his journey, he is free from the conducts [tasarrufāt] of other than the Haqq (Allah) , to which we have referred in our commentary on the sūrah of al-Qadr.
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[1]: Bihār al-Anwār, vol. 15, p. 15: “We are the first and we are the last;” Muslim's Sahīh, vol. 2, p. 585; Al-Bukhārī's Sahīh, vol. 1, p. 36: “We are the last and we are the preceding ones. ”
Concerning The Meaning And The Secret Of The Salām And Its Disciplines
It is stated in Misbāh ash-Sharī'ah that Imām as-Sādiq ('a) said: “The meaning of the salām at the end of each salāt is 'security,' that is, whoever obeys the command of Allah and the tradition of His Prophet (s) , with a submissive heart, will be secured from the trials of this world and exempted from the tortures of the Hereafter. 'Salām' is
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one of the names of Allah, the Exalted. He trusted it to His creatures so that they may use its concept in their transactions, trusts and annexations, exemplifying reciprocal companionship among themselves and the correctness of their association.
If you wish to use the salām in its proper place and according to its meaning, you must fear Allah, and your religion, heart and mind should be secured on your part. So, do not make them filthy by the darkness of sinning, and do not cause your protectors (angels) to be vexed, tired and disgusted with your maltreating them.
Both your friend and, your enemy should be secured from you, as the one whose close friends are not secured from him, the strangers are certainly more expected not to be so. And whoever does not put the salām in those proper places, his will be no salām and no taslīm, and his salām will be a false one, even if he shows it off before the people. [1] [2]
Being secured from the trials of this world means to be secured from satanic intrusions, because obeying the commands of Allah secures one against the intrusion of Satan:
“Surely prayer forbids indecency and dishonor. ” [3]
Then, he refers to one of the secrets of the “salām” and says: “salām”' is one of the Names of Allah. He trusted it to His creatures. ” This is a hint at the appearance of beings from the Divine Names. The sālik servant should declare this divine grace, which has been
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trusted in the inside of his essence and nature, and use it in all of his dealings, associations, trusts and relationships, and spread it throughout his inside and outside domains.
He should use it in his dealings with Allah and His religion so as not to betray the divine trust. Thus, he is to spread the truth of ”salām” in all his worldly and heavenly powers as well as in his customs, beliefs, morals, and actions, so that he may be secured from all intrusions.
The way to this security is, thus, said to be taqwā. It should be realized that taqwā is of many degrees and stages:
The external taqwā: It means protecting the outside against the pollution and the darkness of formal sinning. This is the taqwā of the common people.
The internal taqwā: This means protecting the inside and purifying it from extravagance and shortcoming and exceeding the limit of moderateness in morality and spiritual instincts. This is the taqwā of the elite.
The taqwā of the mind: It is protecting and purifying the mind from being spent on the non-divine sciences. The divine sciences are those that deal with the divine laws and religion. Other natural sciences and the like which are required for knowing the manifestations of Allah, are also divine. But if they are not for that, they are not divine, even if they are discussions about the Beginning and the Resurrection. This is the taqwā of “the choice of the
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elite” [akhass-i khawass].
The taqwā of the heart: It is protecting the heart against seeing or discussing other than Allah. This is the taqwā of the walīs [awliyā']. The noble hadīth in which Allah, the Exalted, says: “I am the co-sitter to the one who sits with Me,” [1] refers to this hearty privacy, which is the best privacy, and the other ones are preliminaries to this one.
So, the one who acquires all these degrees of taqwā, his religion, intellect, spirit, heart and all his internal and external powers will remain sound and safe, and the angels in charge of protecting him will not be vexed, tired or disgusted with him.
The dealings and the company of such a person with both the friend and the enemy will be done in peace, or, actually, enmity will be uprooted from his heart, no matter how much his enemies are hostile to him. But the one who has not acquired all the degrees of taqwā, would proportionally be deprived of the emanation of Salam, and would be nearer to the horizon of hypocrisy, from which we take refuge in Allah. With peace! [was-salām].
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[1]: Misbāh ash-Sharī'ah, ch. 18, “On Salām”; Bihār al-Anwār, vol. 82, p. 307.
[2]:
[3]: Sūrah al-Ankabūt 29: 45.
[1]: Al-Mawāhib as-Saniyyah, p. 77; Al-Mahajjat al-Baydā', vol. 8, p. 58 (with a slight difference).
The Secrets And The Cordial Disciplines Of The Four Tasbīhs
There are four rukns (pillars) in the Tasbīhāt:
The first rukn concerns the tasbīh (glorification) , which is purifying Allah from descriptions by tahmīd (saying: al-hamdu lillāh = praise is for Allah) and tahlīl (saying: lā ilāha illallāh = there is no god but Allah) , which is of the inclusive states. The sālik servant should, in all his worshippings, pay attention
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to that, and prevent his heart from the claim of describing and seeking a eulogy on the Haqq (Allah).
He should not think that a servant is able to offer the due servitude to Allah, let alone paying the due homage to the Lord, which is not hoped for even by the perfect walīs [awliyā'], and from reaching which the hands of the great ones of the people of knowledge are short:
No one can net the phoenix, so undo the net, since there can be nothing but wind in it, [1]
That is why it has been said that the perfect knowledge of the people of knowledge is their knowing their own inability. [2]
Yes, it is because of the vast mercy of Allah, the Exalted, which covers us, the weak servants, that He vests us, the helpless, with serving Him and permits us to enter such a holy and pure state which bent the backs of even the Cherubim to get near it. This is of the greatest favors and graces of the Holy Essence, The Provider that bestowed upon His servants.
The people of knowledge, the perfect walīs [awliyā'] and the godly men value it in proportion to their personal knowledge. We the veiled, left short of all states, the deprived of and kept at a distance from any perfection and knowledge are completely unaware of that, and regard the divine commands, which are, in fact, the highest, big unlimited blessings, as imposition and duty, performing them lazily
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and with boredom, and that is why we are completely deprived of and veiled from its luminosity.
It must be realized that as tahmīd and tahlīl include Unity of Acts, in which there is the blemish of limiting and decreasing, or even the blemish of assimilation and mixing, the sālik servant, to be prepared for entering it, has to enter first the strong fortress of glorification and purification, telling his inner heart that Allah, Great and Most High, is innocent of all creational [khalqiyyah] individuations [ta'ayyunāt] and of the apparels of multiplicities, so that the entering into praising Him can be free from the blemish of multiplication.
The second rukn is tahmīd, which is the state of Unity of Acts, suitable for qiyām and recitation. In this respect, these glorifications in the last rak'ats take the place of the sūrah of al-Hamd, as the musallī is free to recite the sūrah of al-Hamd (the Opening) instead. The Unity of Acts as has already been explained in “al-Hamd” is to be used to exclusively assign praising to Allah, completely cutting short the hand of the servant from praisings.
We should convey:
“He is the First and the Last and the Manifest and the Hidden” [1]
To the ears of the heart, and let:
“And you threw not when you did, but Allah threw” [2]
Reach the taste of our spirit, treading upon selfishness and self-conceit by the foot of behavior [sulūk], in order to take ourselves to the state of tahmīd, and out
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of the burden of being indebted to the creatures.
The third rukn is the tahlīl, which is of many states:
One is the state of negating the divinity of act, that is “There is no effecter in the (world of) existence but Allah,” which is a confirmation of confining the tahmīd (to Allah) as its cause and factor, because the stages of the possible beings are the shadow of the Real Existence of Allah, Almighty, and mere connection. No one of them, in any way, is independent or self-sustaining. Thus, effecting existence can never be ascribed to them, since effectiveness requires independence in bringing into existence, and being independently effective in bringing into existence necessitates being independent in existing.
According to the terms of the people of (gnostic) taste, the reality of the shadow-beings is the appearance of the Power of the Haqq (Allah) in the mirrors of creation. The meaning of lā ilāha illallāh (There is no god but Allah) is witnessing the Haqq's (Allah's) effectiveness and power upon the creatures, and negating the individuations [ta'ayyunāt] of creation, and annihilating the state of their activity [fā'iliyyat] and their effect in the Haqq (Allah).
The other is the negation of any worshipped other than Allah, and lā ilāha illallāh means: There is no worshipped except Allah. Therefore, the state of tahlīl is the result of the state of tahmīd, as when the tahmīd is exclusively confined to the Holy Essence of Allah, servitude places its burden
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in that Holy State, and all the servitudes, which people do to one another for the purpose of being praised, become negated. So, it is as if the sālik says that since all praises are exclusively for Allah, servitude must also be exclusively for Allah, Who is to be the worshipped, and all the idols are to be broken to pieces. There are other states for tahlīl, which do not suit this situation.
The fourth rukn is the takbīr, which also means that Allah is greater than any description. The servant, by commencing the tahmīd and the tahlīl, denies the description of Allah, and, having finished that, he again denies describing Allah, and glorifies Him, accompanying his tahmīd and tahlīl with humbleness and confession of shortcomings.
Probably the takbīr, in this instance, is a takbīr of tahmīd and tahlīl, as they contain the blemish of multiplicity, as has already been said. Probably in tasbīh there is tanzīh (purification) of takbīr and in the takbīr there can be takbīr of tanzīh, where the servant's claims turn to be completely invalid, and he becomes in command of the Unity of Acts, and the state of obeying Allah becomes a habit in his heart, getting out of changing colors into a state of stability.
The sālik servant, in these noble recitations, which are the spirit of knowledge, should create in his heart a mood of devotion, supplication, dedication and humility, and by continual repetition give to his inner heart the form of remembrance,
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fixing the truth of remembrance into his heart such that the heart would be clothed with the clothes of remembrance, taking off its own wear, which is the wear of remoteness [bu'd] (from Allah). Then, the heart becomes divine, truthful, in which will be fulfilled the reality and spirit of:
“Surely Allah has bought from the believers their lives. ” [1]
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[1]: Poetry from Hāfiz Shīrāzī.
[2]: Bihār al-Anwār, vol. 94, p. 150, “Supplication Eighteen,” “The Supplication of the Gnostics. ”
[1]: Sūrah al-Hadīd 57: 3.
[2]: Sūrah al-Anfā1 8: 17.
[1]: Sūrah at-Tawbah 9: 111.
Concerning The Cordial Disciplines Of The Qūnūt
Know that the Qunūt (supplication in the salāt with the hands raised) is one of the recommended supererogations, which is not becoming to neglect, but to perform it is of precaution, such that some companions say that it is obligatory. Some narratives also confirm that, although from the juristic point of view it is not obligatory, as is common among the great scholars. It is performed as is particularly common among the Imāmīs [imāmiyyah] (may Allah be pleased with them) , i. e. , by raising the hands near to the face, with the palms open towards the sky and reciting common or uncommon invocations. It is allowed to recite them in any language, Arabic or non-Arabic, though the Arabic is better and is according to precaution.
The jurisprudents say that the best du'ā' (invocation) in this respect is du'ā' al-faraj, [2] though its preference has not been proved to the writer by an authentic juristic evidence. Yet, the contents of the du'ā' confirm its preference, because it includes tahlīl, tasbīh and tamhīd, which are the spirit of tawhīd as has been explained.
It also includes the great Names of Allah, such as: Allah,
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al-Halīm, al-Karīm, al-'Aliyy, al-Azīm, and ar-Rabb, besides the dhikr (the wordings to be recited) in the rukū' and the sujūd, and the Names of Essence, Attributes and Acts, as well as the stages of the manifestations of Allah, Almighty and Most High, and sending salām to the Messengers though to neglect this is of the acts of precaution, but upon a stronger opinion it is allowed. It also includes sending blessings upon the Prophet and his offspring ('a). It seems that this noble du'ā', short as it is, covers all the salāt's duties of remembrance.
Its merit can also be confirmed through the sayings of the jurisprudents (may Allah be pleased with them) or through “Tolerating the Proofs of the Traditions” [1] [2] although the writer has a second thought on that or by means of discovering a creditable evidence which has not occurred to us regarded by the latecomers to be the basis of unanimity [ijmā'].
Among the noble du'ā''s of great merit, which includes the polite manners of supplication to Allah, and also numerates the full divine gifts, and completely suits the state of qunūt, which is a state of supplication and devotion to Allah, and some great men (may Allah have mercy upon them) almost continually practiced it, is the du'ā' called ”yā man azhar al-jamīl” (O, the One Who manifested the Beautiful) , which is of the treasures of the 'Arsh and Allah's gift to His Messenger. Each one of its paragraphs has so much merits and
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rewards, as is stated in at-Tawhīd by Shaykh as-Sadūq (may Allah have mercy upon him). [1]
The best manner of servitude is that, in the state of qunūt which is a state of supplication and devotion to Allah in the salāt, all of which is showing servitude and praising, and in this state the Holy Essence of Allah, the Exalted and Most High, specially opens the door of supplication and invocation to the servant and honors him so the sālik servant must also observe the discipline of the Holy State of Lordship, and take care that his du'ā' should include glorifying and purifying Allah, the Exalted, and His remembrance.
He should ask Allah, in this noble state, to give him those things that are of the kind of divine knowledge [ma'ārif], and to open for him the door of supplication, intimacy, privacy, and devotion to Him. He should avoid demanding this world, mean animal matters and selfish desires, so that he may not feel ashamed in the presence of the pure ones, and not debase himself in the gathering of the pious ones.
O dear, qunūt is giving up other than Allah, and completely turning towards the Lord's Might, and extending the empty hand of demand to the Absolute Self- Sufficient. During such a state of devotion, to talk of the stomach, private parts and mundane matters is but a shortcoming and a loss.
Darling, now that you are far away from your homeland, blocked from neighboring the free people
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and captured in this dark house full of troubles and perils, do not spin around yourself, like a silkworm.
O dear, Allah, the Beneficent, has fermented your disposition with the light of knowledge and the fire of love, and supported you with the lights like the prophets, and the lovers like the walīs [awliyā'], so, do not extinguish this fire with the dust and ashes of this low world, and do not tarnish and darken that light with a world which is a place of exile.
Probably if you pay attention to the original home, and demand from Allah to be devoted to Him, and expose before Him your deprivation and dislike of separation, in a painful tone out of your heart, displaying the conditions of your helplessness, weakness and distress, an invisible assistance will reach you and an inside hand of help will be extended to you, and your shortcomings will be done away with, as it is His habit to be charitable, and it is His custom to be benefactor.
If you recite parts of the Sha'bāniyyah supplication by the Imām of the Pious and the Commander of the Believers and his infallible offspring, who are the Imāms of the people of knowledge and truths, in your qunūt, especially the part in which he says: “O Allah, grant me 'to be completely devoted to You',” [1] etc. , but in a state of necessity [idtirār], devotion and imploration, not with a dead heart, like the writer's, it will be
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quite becoming of the condition.
In short, the state of the qunūt, according to the writer's opinion, is like the state of the sujūd. The former is turning towards the humility of servitude and the remembrance of the state of the Lord's Might, and the latter is turning towards the Lord's Might and the remembrance of inability and the humility of servitude. This is in proportion to the state of the middle class.
But according to the state of the perfect ones, since the sujūd is the state of the servant's annihilation, and neglecting the other [ghayr] and otherness, the qunūt is the state of the exclusive devotion to Allah, and giving up depending on the other, which is the spirit of the state of “trust in Allah” [tawakkul]. In short, as qiyām is the state of the Unity of Acts, which is confirmed in the second rak'at, he displays in the qunūt its result, and extends his begging bowl before Allah, and completely parts with, and runs away from, all creatures.
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[2]: The du'ā' that begins with: ”Lā ilāha illallāh al-Halīm al-Karīm” (There is no god but Allah, the Clement, the Generous). Wasā'il ash-Shī'ah, vol. 4, p. 906. “The Book of the Salāt,” sec. on “The Qunūt,” ch. 7, hadīth 4; Mustadrak al-Wasā'il, “The Book of the Salāt,” sec. on “The Qunūt,” ch. 6, hadīth 4 and 9.
[1]: There are many narratives, to the limit of prolixity [istifādah], to the effect that if somebody gets the information—by hearing or reading—that to perform a certain act results in getting a reward, and he performs that act, he will receive the promised reward, even if his information turned to be incorrect. Such narratives are known as “the narratives of the attainer” and their contents are called “Tolerating the Proofs of the Traditions. ” Refer to Bihār al-Anwār, vol. 2, p. 256, “The Book of Knowledge,” ch. 30; Usūl al-Kāfī, vol. 3, p. 139, “The Book of Faith and Disbelief,” ch. on “The One Who Attained a Reward from Allah for an Act. ”
[2]:
[1]: At-Tawhīd, ch. on “The Names of Allah, the Exalted,” ch. 29, hadīth 14.
[1]: “Munājāt-i Sha'bāniyyah,” Bihār al-Anwār, vol. 91, p. 99.
After-The-Salāt Invocation
It is one of the confirmed mustahabs (supererogatories) , and to neglect it is abominable. It is most recommended after the salāts of the morning and of the afternoon. The after-the-salāt invocations are so many, including the final three takbīrs.
The great religious men take care to raise their hands in the takbīrs, like the opening takbīrs, to near their ears, with their palms open and facing the qiblah. To prove this is difficult, although some narratives
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refer to raising the hands three times. Probably raising the hands, saying the takbīr three times and then reciting the du'ā' which starts with: lā ilāha illallāh, wahdahū wahdah … [1] (there is no god but Allah, alone, alone! ) etc. , will be enough.
If raising the hands in the way the great men do is a supererogatory act, it confirms the same secrets which have already been stated, and maybe it refers to rejecting their salāt and worshippings lest they may admit conceit and self-admiration into their hearts.
The three takbīrs may be a reference to magnification (s) [takbīr (s) ] showing the shortcomings of the Three Unities which keep the spirit of the whole salāt. So, the hearty discipline of these takbīrs is to reject, with each raising of the hands, one of the three unities, and magnify and glorify Allah, Almighty and Most High, from his describings and unifications, displaying his inability, humility, failure and shortcomings before the Holy Presence of Allah, Almighty and Most High.
In the Sirr as-Salāt thesis we related, in a nice [latīf] way, the spiritual secrets of these takbīrs and raising the hands. It was of the graces of Allah, the Exalted, bestowed upon this helpless person. For Him are the thanks and praise.
Of the other noble after-the-salāt du'ā's are the tasbīhāt of the Pure Siddīqah (Fātimah) ('a) , the daughter of the Prophet (s) , which was taught to her by the Messenger of Allah (s). It is the best of the after-the-salāt du'ā's.
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It is in the hadīth that had there been a better one, the Messenger of Allah (s) would have taught it to Fātimah ('a). [1]
Imām as-Sādiq ('a) is quoted to have said that these tasbīhs every day after every salāt are more loved by me than a thousand rak'āts of the salāt every day. [2] It is known among the companions that these tasbīhs are arranged as follows: takbīr thirty-four times, tahmīd thirty-three times and tasbīh thirty-three times. It is most probable that this arrangement is the best, not positively imposed. One is free to change the successions of, say, the tahmīd and the tasbīh, or replace the takbīr by the tasbīh. But the best, and according to precaution, is the said known arrangement.
The relevant cordial disciplines are the same as have been stated concerning “the Four Tasbīhs. ”
Furthermore, as these noble recitations are for after the salāt, and as their tasbīh is magnification [takbīr] and glorification [tanzīh] showing failure in due servitude, and magnification [takbīr] and glorification [tanzīh] showing incapability in servitude before His Holy Presence, and magnification [takbīr] and glorification [tanzīh] showing the shortcomings of knowledge [ma'rifat] (in knowing Him) , which is the objective of servitude, the salik servant should, in the after-the-salāt invocation, think about his shortcomings, his incomplete worship and his negligences during the state of presence, which are regarded to be sins in the school of love and affection.
He is to think about his being deprived of his share of the Holy Presence of
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Allah, the Exalted, so that he may, in the after-the-salāt recitations, which open a new door leading to the mercy of Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, compensate as much as possible, conveying those noble recitations to his heart and revive it with them, in which case his end may be sealed with goodness and happiness. In the tahmīd (praising) of the tasbīhs of the (pure) Siddīqah ('a) , he is to prove this praising, too, which is the performance of servitude, for the Divine Ipseity [huwiyyat-i ilāhiyyah], taking it to be a support, a power and a success from that Holy Essence.
He is to convey the truths of these matters to the inside of his heart, letting it taste the secret of these graces, so that the heart may be enlivened with the remembrance of Allah, and get eternal life by it.
As the morning is the beginning of being engaged in the multiplicity and entering the world, where man is faced with the danger of getting busy with the creatures and neglecting Allah, the conscious sālik, in this crucial situation of entering this dark house, has to turn to Allah, the Exalted, and be devoted to Him. And as he finds himself not so dignified in the Holy Presence, he is to resort to the guardians of the affairs, the guards of the times, the intercessors of ins and jinn, i. e. , the Seal of the Messengers (s) and the infallible Imāms ('a) , asking those honorable personalities to be
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his intermediates to, and his intercessors with, Allah.
Now each day has its guard and shelterer: for Saturday it is the blessed being of the Messenger of Allah (s) , for Sunday it is Amīr al-Mu'minīn, 'Alī ('a) , for Monday are the two magnificent Imāms, the grandsons [of the Messenger of Allah (s) , al-Hasan and al-Husayn ('a) ], for Tuesday Imāms as-Sajjād, al-Bāqir and as-Sādiq ('a) , for Wednesday Imāms al-Kāzim, ar-Ridā, at-Taqī and an-Naqī ('a) , for Thursday Imām al-'Askarī ('a) , and for Friday waliyy al-amr (may Allah hasten his glorious advent) (The 12th Imām ('a). [1]
So, it is suitable for one, in the after-the-salāt recitations in the morning, and for the purpose of entering this deadly dark sea, the awful Satanic trap-place, to resort to the guards of that day, and, with their intercession as they are close to the Holy Court and are the favorite confidents at the door of intimacy ask Allah, the Exalted, to remove the evils of Satan and the evil-commanding soul, and to have those great ones as his intermediates for the completion and acceptance of incomplete worshippings and unworthy rites.
Naturally, if Allah, Highly Exalted, made Muhammad (s) and his offspring our means of guidance, and through their blessings He saved the ummah from ignorance and straying, He would, because of their intercession, amend our inability and complete our shortcomings, and accept our unworthy obediences and worshippings, “He is the Lord of grace and bounty. ” Other reported after-the-salāt du'ā's are stated in the relevant books of
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invocations. Everybody may select those which suit him best in order to bring this honorable journey to its good and happy destination.
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[1]: Wasā'il ash-Shī'ah, vol. 4, p. 1030, “The Book of the Salāt,” sec. on “After-the-Salāt Invocation,” ch. 14, hadīth 2.
[1]: Furū' al-Kāfī, vol. 3, p. 343, “The Book of the Salāt,” ch. on “The After-the-Salāt Du'ā',” hadīth 14.
[2]: Bihār al-Anwār, vol. 83, p. 332, quoting Thawāb al-A'māl, p. 149; Wasā'il ash-Shī'ah, vol. 4, p. 1024, “The Book of as-Salāt,” sec. on “After the-Salāt Invocation,” ch. 9, hadīth 2.
[1]: Bihār al-Anwār, vol. 24, p. 239, quoting al-Khisāl, vol. 2, ch. 7, p. 394.
Conclusion And Invocation (Du‘a’)
It was appropriate to finish this thesis by stating the salāt's moral obstacles, such as imposture, conceitedness and the like, but as I have given some explanations in the book The Forty Hadīths [1] [2] about some hadīths connected to this subject, and also, now, being too much busy, and owing to distraction of mind, I apologize for not being able to offer this service. So, I end these papers by admitting my inability and shortcomings, and ask forgiveness from the people of pure insight for my mistakes, and request their good du'ā' and generous attention.
O Allah, You Who have clothed us, Your weak servants, with the dress of existence through Your grace and favor and pure mercy and generosity, prior to any service and worship on our part, and without needing our worshipping and servitude. You have bestowed upon us diverse kinds of spiritual and corporeal favors, and different sorts of internal and external mercies, although our non-existence causes no flaw in your power and strength, nor our existence adds anything to your greatness and prestige.
Now that the headspring of Your beneficence gushed forth, and the sun of Your Beautiful Beauty effulged, drowning us in the seas of mercy and illuminating us with the lights of Your Beauty, make up for our shortcomings, sins and failures with the light of internal success and Your secret help and
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guidance, and relieve our fully attached hearts from mundane attachments, and make them cling to Your Holy Might.
O Allah, our unworthy worshipping expands nothing of your domain. Our disobedience decreases nothing of your kingdom, and torturing and punishing the sinners benefit you not a bit, and forgiving the fallen and having mercy upon them lessen nothing of your power. The immutable essences of the sinners implore for mercy, and the dispositions of the imperfect ask for perfection. You yourself treat us with your comprehensive kindness and disregard our inefficiency.
“O Allah, if I am unworthy to receive your mercy, you are worthy of granting me of your vast favor. O Allah, You have covered for me in this world sins which I need more to be covered in the Hereafter. O Allah, grant me to be completely devoted to You, and light our hearts' eyes with the light of witnessing You until the hearts' eyes penetrate the veils of light, to reach the source of greatness. ” [1]
Our talk has come to an end here, according to the taqdīr of Allah, Almighty and Most High, with praises and thanks for His graces, asking Him to send His blessings upon Muhammad and his pure progeny, on the date of Monday, 2nd of (the month of) Rabī'uth-Thānī, thirteen-hundred and sixty-one of Lunar year (1361 L. H. ). [2]
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[1]: Refer to footnote 63.
[2]:
[1]: “The Sha'bāniyyah Supplication,” Bihār al-Anwār, vol. 91, p. 99.
[2]: Corresponds to 30th of Farvardīn, 1321 Solar Hijri Year.
Glossary
A
adhān: announcement or the call announcing the arrival of the time for the salāt.
Ahl al-Bayt: the offspring of the Messenger of Allah (s).
Ahl al-Jabarūt: the owner of Power,
the owners of power.
Ahl al-Allah: the people of Allah.
'aynul jam': the very union, the essence of union (collectively).
al-amr bil-ma'rūf wan-nahy'anil-munkar: bidding unto honor and forbidding dishonor.
al-Baytul-Ma'mūr: Allah's Populous House.
'ālim (pl. 'ulamā'): scholar, scientist, learned.
'amā': a sufist term meaning “the truth of the truths;” heavy clouds, high.
amr: affair; order; sovereignty, rule, authority, power, ordinance decree.
('a): 'alayhis-salām = Peace be upon him;
'alayhas-salām = Peace be upon her;
'alayhimus-salām = Peace be upon them.
asrār: (pl. of sirr): secret.
āyah (pl. āyāt): a Qur'anic term use for one of the smaller portions of a chapter of the Qur'an usually called “verse;” a divine sign or communication.
B
barzakh: isthmus; the interval between death and the Day of Resurrection.
barzakhian (adj. of barzakh): intermediate.
basmalah: uttering ”bismillāhir-rahmānir-rahim,” i. e. In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
bātil: false, invalid, void, null, wrong.
bātin: the inside, the inward, interior, hidden meaning.
bismillāh: In the Name of Allah.
butūn: interior.
D
dār-i tahaqquq: the House of Realization.
dār al-ghurūr: the house of conceit, i. e. this world.
dār as-surūr: the house of pleasure, i. e. the Hereafter world.
dīn (pl. adyān): religion, judgment.
du'a' (pl. ad'iyah): invocation, benediction, prayer.
F
faqīh: (pl. fuqahā): jurisprudent, expert of fiqh.
fitrat: disposition, nature.
G
ghayb (pl. ghuyūb): the unseen, the invisible.
ghusl (pl. aghsāl): ritual bathing; the major ritual ablution.
H
hadath: a ritual impurity which requires either a wudū' or a ghusl before performing salāt.
hadīth (pl. ahādīth): the saying of the Prophet (s) , the tradition of the Prophet (s) ; narrative relating deeds and utterances of the Prophet, the Ahl al-Bayt, the infallible Imāms and the Companions.
hajj: the pilgrimage of
the Muslims to Makkah (Mecca) during certain months.
halāl: religiously lawful or allowed.
harām: religiously unlawful.
I
Iblīs: Satan, the devil.
ihrām: the state of being in the pilgrimage period; the special dress worn during pilgrimage.
ihtijāj: argumentation.
ins: the human beings as against the jinn.
inshā'Allāh: an Islamic expression meaning: if Allah wills, Allah willing.
isti'ādhah: saying a'ūdhu billāh, i. e. I take refuge in Allah.
istikhārah: consulting the Qur'an or the rosary beads to do, or not to do, something.
ikhlās: sincerity.
iqāmah: preliminary wordings said before entering the salāt.
J
jabarūt: of omnipotence; the possession of power.
janābah: the state of being ritually impure owing to seminal ejaculation or to a sexual penetration, though without ejaculation—a state requiring a ritual ghusl.
jawāmi'al-kalim: comprehending many significations; the Qur'an; collective words.
jihād: struggle or exertion of effort for the sake of Islam.
K
ka'bah: a structure in the middle of the Holy Mosque in Makkah, to which the Muslims of the world direct their faces during the performance of salāt.
khilāfah: succession, successorship, vicegerency.
khums: a fifth of one's net profit to be paid to a religious authority.
L
latīfah: grace; subtlety, delicacy.
lawh (pl. alwāh): a tablet, a slab, a Qur'anic term denoting “The Tablet” with Allah, the Exalted, in which everything is registered.
M
ma'ād: resurrection.
mahdar: presence, company.
mahw: (self-) effacement, (self-) extinction, annihilation.
majdhūb-i sālik: the attracted one who is traveling to Allah.
malakūt: heavenly kingdom.
ma'sūm: infallible.
minbar: a pulpit of several ascending steps in a mosque from which the speaker delivers his speech.
mi'rāj: ascension to Allah.
mu'adhdhin: one who speaks out the adhān.
mufassir: one who writes exegesis on the Qur'an, an exegetist.
mukāshafah: revelation, disclosure, apocalypse.
mulk: this transitory world.
muqārināt: affinities.
musallī
(pl. musallīn): a Muslim when performing the salāt.
musta'ādhun bihi: one with whom refuge is sought.
musta'ādhun lahū: that for which refuge is sought; one for whom refuge is sought.
musta'ādhun minhu: that from which refuge is sought; one from whom refuge is sought.
musta'īdh: one who seeks refuge; refuge-seeker.
muttaqī (pl. muttaqqīn): one who guards against Allah's wrath by obeying His commandments; God-fearing, pious.
N
nāfilah (pl. nawāfil): supererogatory salāts.
nutfah (pl. nutaf): sperm of human beings.
niyyah (pl. niyyāt): intention.
Q
qadr: measure; predestination.
qibāb (pl. of qubbah): domes.
qiblah: the direction to which the Muslims are to face when performing the salāt, i. e. the ka'bah in Makkah.
qiyām: the standing position in the salāt.
qunūt: supplication recited in the salāt after the second rak'ah, in the standing position, with the palms of the hands raised upwards.
R
rabb: the Lord, the Sustainer; One of Allah's Names.
rafraf: the name of one of the Messenger's heavenly mounts.
rak'ah (pl. raka'āt): a complete section of the salāt.
rijāl: biographical books about the narrators of the hadīths, who sort them according to their authority, truthfulness and dependability; sources of information.
rukn (pl. arkān): one of the pillars of the salāt.
rukū' (pl. rukū'āt): the position of bowing in the salāt; genuflection.
S
(s): Sallallāhu 'alayhi wa ālih = May Allah send His blessings upon him (the Prophet) and his offspring.
sadaqah: charity, alms.
sahw: sobriety.
sajdah: prostration in prayer, prostration in worship.
salām: peace, salutation, greetings.
salāt (pl. salawāt): the Muslim's ritual prayer.
sājid (pl. sājidīn): a prostrate worshipper; one who prostrates himself.
sālik: a Gnostic term denoting the traveler to Allah.
sālik-i majdhūb: a sālik attracted by Divine Grace.
sawm (or
siyām): fasting.
shahādah (pl. shahādāt): testimony.
shar': divine law.
sharī'ah (pl. sharā'i'): divine law.
shuhūd: intuition, divine vision.
sujūd: prostration.
sulūk: a Gnostic term for the journey to Allah.
sunnah (pl. sunan): tradition; the Prophet's tradition.
sūrah: a chapter of the Qur'an.
T
ta'ālā: a divine attribute meaning the Most High.
tafsīr (pl. tafāsīr and tafsīrāt): explanation, commentary; an exegesis of the Qur'an.
tahlīl (pl. tahlīlāt): saying lā ilāha illallāh = There is no god but Allah.
tahmīd (pl. tahmidāt): saying al-hamdu lillāh = All praise is for Allah; Praise belongs to Allah.
tāghūt (pl. tawāghit): an ancient idol, anything worshipped other than Allah; a tyrant, a despot.
tajwīd: a style of reciting the Qur'an with intonation; rules of correct recitation of the Qur'an.
takbīr (pl. takbīirāt): saying; Allāhu akbar = Allah is the Greatest.
talqīn: giving instructions; religious instruction recited to the dead as a funeral rite.
tanzīh: purifying Allah from all blemishes and defects.
taqdīr: measuring; Allah's decree.
ta'qīb (pl. ta'qībāt): after-the-salāt invocation.
taqwā: avoiding Allah's wrath by precaution and obeying His commandments; fearing Allah, piety.
tartīl: a style of reciting the Qur'an without intonation.
tasbīh (pl. tasbīhāt): glorifying Allah by saying: subhānallāh = Glory be to Allah.
tashahhud: the act of testifying the unity of Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah (as part of the salāt).
taslīm: the greetings with which the salāt is closed.
tasmiyah: naming; saying: In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
tawhīd: believing in Allah's Oneness; monotheism.
U
ummah: people, nation.
ummul-qurā': the Mother of the towns.
'urūj: ascension.
W
walī (or walīyy) (pl. awliyā'): friend, patron, protector; holy man, saint.
walīyy al-'amr (pl. awliyā' al-'umūr or al-'amr): plenipotentiary, religious guardian, legal
guardian, the religiously legal authority.
wasī (or wasīyy) (pl. awsiyā'): trustee, custodian; successor, vicegerent.
was-salām: and that is the end to the matter; and now good bye; with peace.
wilāyah: guardianship.
wudū': ritual ablution (made before performing the salāt).
Z
zakāt: purity; alms tax; prescribed portion of one's wealth which is to be given to the religious authorities or to the poor according to certain conditions.
Final Note by Imam Khomeini
Know that for the salāt, beside its form, there is a meaning, and apart from its exterior it has an interior; and as the exterior has its disciplines, neglecting which would render the outer form of the salāt invalid or incomplete; likewise, its interior has cordial spiritual disciplines, neglecting which would render the spiritual salāt invalid or incomplete; whereas observing them would inspire the salāt with a heavenly spirit.
Imām Khomeinī.