Concerning The Summary Of The Verse Praise And Some Disciplines Of Praising And Recitation

Be aware that the theologians differ about the relation of “ba” in the “bismillah” ir-Rahman ir-Rahim. Each theologian, accordance with his own view, knowledge and Gnosticism has expressed some comment thereabout.

For instance, the learned theologians connect it to the entry “Beginning” or seeking help. As to some narratives it means: “I seek help” it conforms with the common taste, being so frequent in the traditions and the variety of a lot of traditions is clarified to this attitude and therefore that Imam al-Rida (‘a) expressed bismillah to convey the meaning

“I put on myself a “sign” of God’s1 or “Seeking help” conveys too subtle conception to be comprehended by the ordinary people, including the mystery of Tawhid in a more delicate contact. Some of the knowledgeable men comment that bismillah refers to “appeared” namely: existence appeared by bismillah.2

This, conforms with the knowledgeable men of conduct and Gnosticism, uttering that the entire Beings, the particles of existence and the visible and the invisible realm or manifestations or the whole-encompassing Name of God, namely “The supreme Name” of God: The “Greatest Name”.

Therefore “Name” which means “Sign” and “Mark” or zenith and Altitude is God’s effusive and actual manifestation being called “effusive Emanation” and brilliant annexation, for due to this conduct, the entire of house of Realization as from the abstract understanding low to the lowest degrees of existence are the phenomenalising of this emanation and the alights of this blessing.

Such manner has been approved by the most noble divine verses and the holy traditions of the Infallible and Purified (‘a) like the extinguished tradition in al-Kafi saying: God created the things by means of “Will”3 by beings through will.

This holy tradition is interpreted accordance with the view of each interpreter’s belief. The most distinctive one is which conforms with the belief that mentions “Will” conveys the conception­ here-the “Agent Will” namely; effusive Emanation and the “Things” refers to the existence’s stages being the phenomena and the descent of this blessing. Thus, the conception of the tradition is as follows:

God, the exalted created the “agent will”, being the shadow of old essential “will”, by means of the will itself, lack of any means, and the other creatures, visible and invisible [both] would have created secondary of that.

“Sayyid Muhaqqiq Famamd”4 despite enjoying a high rank as a theologian and strict researcher has commented this Holy tradition in an odd way. The same state goes to the commandment of late Fayd being away from the correctness.5

In any care “Name” is the very manifestation of act that is realized with this house of realization. Naming “Name” as a term that refers to the real things is mostly observed to be used by God, His messenger and in fallible saying: “We are the comely Names”.6

Therefore, in the Holy invocations7 one repeatedly utters “By your name in which you manifested to do so and so”. There is a possibility that bismillah of the noble verse praise belongs to the verse itself. This view conforms to mystic taste and the view of the learned theologians, as it is to say that the praise of the praisers and the applause or the applauders refer to self-subsistence of the Name God.

Thus, the naming stands as a preliminary to the entire terms and action which is an ordinance religious deed, and it is for recalling that the whole deeds and utterances, all the particles of existence are the phenomena of “God’s Name” and in another word, they are themselves “God’s Names”.

Upon this ground, the concept of the bismillah accordance with the majority differs in each verse, each term, and each deed. The theologians have said: bismillah must be defined for each verse, and if for a verse a bismillah was resisted, this cannot be fined for the next verse, namely beginning with the previous bismillah.

Due to this juristic aspect, there is a reason for it, in fact it goes suit with the scope of this theory. And according to the abolishing of multiplicities in the Supreme Name of God the bismillah as a whole enjoying a unique single concept.

As these two views, exist to the stages or existence and the stations of invisibility and visibility. In the multiplicity, point of view and observing the phenomena, all them multiplied beings the stage of existence and the phenomena of the realm are the different names of the Beneficent, the Merciful, the powerful and the Gracious.

In addition, the view of abolishing of multiplicities and the defacing of the lights or existence in the eternal light of sacred emanation, except the sacred emanation. There is no thing, there is nothing but the entire encompassing Name of God.

And both these views exist in the divine names and adjectives. Due to the first view, the state of unity is the state of multiple names and adjectives, as the whole multiplicities are from Him. Owing to the latter view there is no name and form, but the supreme name of God.

These two views are discreet and erudite. But, if the opinion the doors of the hearts and through the steps of conduct and affectionate austerity. God the exalted will appear in the heart or its beholders by means of His manifestation in Deed, name and essence, sometimes in the Attribute of multiplicity and sometimes in the attribute of unity.

The Holy Qur’an mentions these manifestations, both obviously and directly as His saying:

فَلَمَّا تَجَلَّىٰ رَبُّهُ لِلْجَبَلِ جَعَلَهُ دَكًّا وَخَرَّ مُوسَىٰ صَعِقًا

falamma tajalla rabbuh liljabal jaealah dakkan wakharr musaa saeiqan

“And whom His Lord manifested His illumination to the mountain, He made it crumble to dust, and Moses fell down unconscious (Surah Al-A’raf, 7:143).

And indirectly as in the scenes observed by Ibrahim (‘a) referring repeatedly to the same issue, especially in the exalted invocation entitled “Samat”, the deniers of which cannot deny its authenticity and text, this invocation has been approved by both the Sunni and the Shi’ah, by both learned and the common people.

In this glory invocation, there are very important conceptions and teachings smelling that raptures of the knowledgeable heart, and the breeze of which blows divine fragrance into the spiritual wayfarer's spirit, as it says:

By your Glory which appeared at the mountain of Tur Sina with which you talked to your servant and messenger, Moses son of “Imran (‘a) and by your rise in Sa’ir and your appearance on the mount Faran.8

Briefly, the spiritual wayfarer to God is to make his heart comprehend while reciting the bismillah that the entire outward and inward beings and the entire worlds, the visible and invisible ones, are under the teachings of the Name of God, or rather they are manifested by the manifestation of the names of God, and all his actions and stillness and all the “realms are based upon the self-existence of the Supreme name of God.

Therefore, his praises are for God, and his worships, obeisance, monotheism and sincerity are all for the self-existence of the name of God. Through the restrict recalling, which is the goal of worship, that this state of this divine blessing is firmed and fixed within the heart as God, the exalted, in his proximity session and sacred assembly with h is interlocutor said:

إِنَّنِي أَنَا اللَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا أَنَا فَاعْبُدْنِي وَأَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ لِذِكْرِي

'innani 'ana alllah la 'iilah 'illa 'ana faebudni wa'aqim alssalat lidhikri

“Verily I am God, there is no God but I; so worship Me and perform the prayer for My remembrance.” (Surah Ta Ha, 20:14).

The aim of observing prayer is, He said; to remember Him. A liar severe recalling another way of knowledge will be opened to the heart of the mystic and he will be attracted to the world of unity until the tongue of his heart utters “Praise is for God by God” and “You praise yourself “9 and “I refuge in you from you”.10

This was a brief explanation or relation of the letter “ba” in bismillah and some details thereabout. As to the mysteries of its innermost refers to the Alawian’s position of guardianship, and the stage of Qur’anic collective union a vast scope is needed for clarification. But in fact, the truth of the “Name” enjoys a visible stage, an invisible and enjoys a mystery of the mystery a stage of manifestation and a manifestation of the manifestation. The Name is a “sign” of God and it is abolished in His sacred essence.

Therefore, any name which is closer to the horizon of the unity and further from the multiplicity realm is more perfect in nomination and the most perfect name is the one that is innocent from multiplicities even the multiplicity of knowledge and that is the invisible manifestation of “God Oneness” in the essence by the state of the “holiest emanation” that is possible what was referred to by the Holy verse11 ... or closer still”,

and afterwards there is the manifestation by the “Holy Emanation” then there are the manifestations by the adjectives of multiplicity in the essence, till the last stage of the house of realization.

The writer [Imam Khomeini (‘a)] has explained this concise in Misbah al-Hidayah12 and in the exegesis of “Du’a al-Sahar”.13

And God is the stage of appearance in the “Holy emanation” if by “Name” if the existential individualities, are meant in which state refers to God being as a union between the manifest and the manifestations, and the abolishing of the “Name in the named is acceptable, perchance the verses”

اللَّهُ نُورُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ

Allah Nur as-samawat wa al-'ard

“God is the light of the heaven and the earth (Surah Al-Nur, 24:35).

وَهُوَ الَّذِي فِي السَّمَاءِ إِلَٰهٌ وَفِي الْأَرْضِ إِلَٰهٌ

Wa Hua alladhi fi as-sama' 'iilah wa fi al-'ard 'iilah

“And he it is who in the heaven and in the earth is God” (Surah Al-Zukhruf, 43:84).

Referring to the foregoing state and are the obvious proving the above application.

It is the stage of unity and the union of the names. On the other hand, it is the stage of the Supreme name of God if by “Name” the stage of manifestation by the “Holy emanation” is meant, subsequently the stages of Beneficent” and Merciful differ, accordance with these two possibilities as is obvious.

It may that “Beneficent” the Merciful are attributes for name or it is possible by attributes for God, but they are more apt to be attribute for name, because in praising they are attributes for God, therefore it will be immune from repeating, though if they are the God’s attributes is also proper.

In repeating there is a point of rhetoric. If the adjectives are taken as adjectives for “name” this approves the idea that by “name” the essential names are meant, for only the essential names accept the attributes of Beneficent and Merciful.

Thus, if by name the essential name and the manifestation in the stage of collectively are meant, Beneficent, and Merciful will be adjectives of the essence, which in the manifestation by the stage of unity are approved for the name of Merciful in act is of their reductions and appearances. And if the “name” the collective manifestation in act is meant which is the stage of “Will” the beneficence and Mercifulness are adjectives of act.

Thus, the mercy or the beneficence is the develop of the origin of the existence, which is general and for all beings, but it is of developing the origin of the existence. God the Almighty, is without any partner and the hands of other beings are out of reach of having the mercy of creating: except God there is no effecter in the existence, and except God and there is no God in the house of realization except God.

But due to the mercy of “Mercifulness”, of whose evaluations is the conduct of' the guides on the course, it is particularly for the auspicious and the high dispositions, but it is of the general attributes of which other things get their part, though about which was mentioned before, explaining that the mercy of Mercifulness is of the general mercies and that the debased enjoys no share of it for their own being evils, not for of any limitation.

Thus, guidance and invitation are for the whole human, as is approved by the glorious Qur’an. Similarly, another view mentions that the mercy of the Mercifulness, belongs merely to God and there is no share for anybody else thereof. The Holy traditions have taken into consideration the different views, impressions also are different in expressing the mercy, and impressions are different in expressing the mercy of Mercifulness.

Sometimes it has been said; “The Beneficent is a special name for a special adjective and in other occasion it has been mentioned; Beneficent to all His creatures (he is), and Merciful to the believers in particular”, and it has been uttered that14 Beneficent of this world, and Merciful of the Resurrection or15 “Beneficent and Merciful of this realm and the Resurrection.”

A Mystical Study

The knowledgeable have said that; “Beneficent and Merciful have been taken from mercy and that both indicate hyperbole, but in Beneficent the exaggeration is much more than exaggeration in mercy. Analogy requires that mercy must precede Beneficent but because mercy is as a personal proper name and is not applied to the other beings, therefore it stands in prime to the other. It has been said that both enjoy the same conception and being repeated is only for the confirmation.

The mystic taste accordance with highest levels of which the Qur’an was appeared, require that mercy must precede Beneficent, since the Qur’an according to the people of heart, is the descendant of the divine manifestations and the written form enjoys the divine beautiful names and, as mercy is the most encompassing of the divine names nearest to the supreme name,

and as the knowledgeable are sure that the manifestations by the encompassing names are prior to the manifestations by the embraced names and because every name that is more encompassing, the manifestation of which is prior, and also because the first manifestation in the unity is the manifestation in the supreme name of God.

Then it turns to the manifestation in the supreme name stage in the Beneficent and then that comes the manifestation in the stage of Mercifulness. In the same way in the manifestation of appearance in act, it is the manifestation in the stage of “Will” being the supreme name in this scene and the appearance of the supreme name of the essence having priority over all manifestations.

Manifestation in the stage of beneficence encompassing al1 the beings of the invisible and visible realms and to that the verse:

وَرَحْمَتِي وَسِعَتْ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ

Wa Rahmati wasieat kulla shay'

“My Mercy encompasses all things” (Surah Al-A’raf, 7:156).

Refers, being to precede other manifestations as the saying “His mercy precedes His fury,”16 refers to that somehow.

Usually as the bismillah accordance with the inside and the soul being the form of the manifestations in act, and accordance with the mystery and the mystery of the mystery it is the form of the manifestations of Names or rather or essence, and these manifestations appear first in the stage of God then in the stage of Beneficent” and there in the stage of Merciful” the intonation and written forms must be similar to the divine system.

Considering the Beneficent and the Merciful in the Holy verse of al-Hamd, which stands after “The Lord of the realms” probably due to this state that in the bismillah the attention goes to the appearance of the existence from the unseen and hiding places of existence.

In the Holy verse the attention is diverted to the revert and the inside. Anyway, in this probability exists a problem. Perchance it aims at the perfect ion of mercy of “beneficence” and “Mercifulness” or it is possible there would be some other point.

In any way, the mentioned point related to the bismillah deserves to be believed in, and maybe it is beyond the grace of the mercy of the Mercifulness given to the heart of this poor person. Praise be to Him due to whatever lie has given.

A Discussion And An Acquirement

The formalist theologians declare that “Beneficent” and “Merciful” have been taken from ar-Rahman, meaning compassionate connotation, and kindness. “These two terms convey com passionate connotation, at the same time one of them is more compassionate; namely. “Beneficent” the compassionate and Merciful the kind or His servants giving them live hood and grace.17

Due to the requiring of an emotion for kindness and compassionate some commentary on ascribing them to the sacred essence has been given. Therefore, that is considered allegorical. Many others consider such adjectives common declare;”18

Pay attention upon the consequence and ignore the preliminaries. Pointing referring to God almighty, it is on the ground on the effects and acts, and not being on the beginnings and attributes.

Therefore, the conception of “Beneficent” and “Merciful” as referred to God is the one who favours His servants Mercifully. The schematics consider the entire God’s adjectives as mentioned above, or something similar therefore describing them and referring them to God is allegorical too.

However, being as allegorical is odd, special in Beneficial. That it should be considered an odd case. The fact is that this term is coined for a conception, which is not apt to be applied allegorically. This is not allowed. Pay attention thereabout.

And the learned and the men of study in answering to such problems have said: “The terms have been coined for general conception and the pure facts. Therefore, confining to compassion and kindness has no place in with in the term mercy and for whatever it has been coined. This attachment has been fabricated by the common belief; otherwise, it has nothing to do with the real conception and coining.

And this case, apparently, seems far from research, since it is obvious the one who has coined it, has been or the common persons and the conception and the absolute facts have not been noticed by him while studying it yes, if the coiner would be God the exalted, or messengers’ accordance with the divine revelation an inspiration, a justification for it could be accepted, but that is not confirmed either.

Shortly, the form of this term bears ambiguity, but the researcher’s main intention is also indefinite, rather it may be to declare this matter.

It has been mentioned that the coiner of the term though has not paid deep attention upon the general abstract conception while studying, yet, whatever has been coined thereabout are the very abstract general conceptions. For instance, when he wanted to coin “light” though he wanted to convey the real meaning but due to his lack of understanding and not seeing the mixture of light and darkness, because of his limited insight he coined merely “light”.

If he had been asked, “do you mean the term to denote the luminosity or the mixture of light and darkness?” He would have answered: “I meant its luminosity and the darkness the main course of the light never comes in this respect.” As we all know that the coiner who has coined “fire” he has thought of fire-the worldly fire and all.

What made him think of such fire in fact was the ordinary fire, because he was lack acknowledge about “The fire kind led by God which rises above the Hereafter. Nevertheless, this causes no means of limiting the fact as “fire” points to the quality of the fire, not the coiner wanted to abstract the conception, this seems odd and far from the issue. Rather we say the terms clarify the conception for which they have been coined, being lack of any limitation.

In fact, there exist no exception in this case, and the more the conception is free from the aliens the nearer to the truth it will be and more away from the shortcomings of allegory for instance the term “light” that is the subject, is being coined for being manifest by itself and for manifestation the other, though applying it for the accidental and mundane lights is not away from the truth.

Since by applying it for them the limits and the mixing with darkness are not meant and in this case the manifestation and the manifestativeness are meant, but applying it for the heavenly lights the appearances of which are more complete, closer to the horizon of the intricacy and mightier in manifestativeness both in quality and quantity,

their mixture with darkness and blemishes is less, closer to the truth and applying them for the lights or majesty is for the mentioned reason, nearer to the truth, and applying it for the sacred essence of God, the Most High, who is the light or the lights and free from all aspects of darkness, and is more pure light, is the very pure and absolute truth.

Rather it can be said that if “light” has been coined for the apparent by itself and manifesting the other applying it for other than God the exalted is a reality is a reality to the partial understanding, but to the knowledgeable supported and to the learned it is allegorical, and it is really when applied for God only.

Similarly, are the terms that have been coined for the meaning of completion, such as conceptions like existence and perfection. Therefore, we say that in “Beneficent” “Merciful” compassionate “kind” and similar to them there is an aspect of perfection and completeness, and an aspect of emotion and shortcoming, and these words have been devised for that of perfection, which is the origin of that truth.

As regards the emotional aspects, which after the requisites of the growth and odd and alien things of the truth, which after the descent of these truths in the places of possibility and the law mundane realm, are concomitant and entangled with them-take the darkness that when mixes with light in the descending growth have nothing to do with conception of the issue.

Therefore, applying it for a being who enjoys the absolute perfection and who is innocent of all aspects is the mere truth, and the pure truth. And this subject with such description, in addition to its apt to the conscience of the people of literalism as well.

Therefore, it is obvious that such attributes of perfection, which have by descending in some growth been mixed interrelated with another issue-of which the sacred essence of God as innocent-are not allegorical to God, the exalted in their absolute meaning. And God is the Guide.

He utters “al-Hamdu lil-Lah” conveys the whole forms of praise acceptingly for the divine sacred essence. Be aware oh dear that under this Holy term is the mystery of the especial Tawhid, or rather the most special one. And, indeed that the entire forms or praise that the praises offer, exceptionally belong to God, the Exalted, is quite clear, by reason, to the learned men and the well-versed in high philosophy, since it is confirmed that the whole house of realization is the expanded shadow of God and his following emanation, and the entire the apparent and covered grace whoever the donor might be, as it seems as the ordinary people think, are God's and no being participate with Him.

Even the preparatory taking share in this respect is the view of the ordinary people’s philosophy and not remarkable philosophy. Therefore, as praise is offered for blessing, gifts and beneficence, and there exists no benefactor in the house of realization but God the entire praises belong to Him. Similarly, there exist no comely and beauty save for his beauty and him, all praises go to Him.

In other words, every praise is due to a grace and perfection on the other side, in order to the place and the occasion of the grace and the perfection that abates and limit these, they are lack of share in the praise and extolment rather they are irreconcilable and incongruous.

Therefore, the entire praises and extolments goes back to the part of divinity being perfection and beauty, no that of the creature, being insufficiency and limitation. In other words, eulogizing the perfect and obliging and praising the benefactor are of the God-given dispositions, being in the uncountable the entire beings. Among other divine inclinations is the feeling of abhorrence with shortcomings, defect and what lessens the blessing.

The absolute grace and the absolute beauty and limit them, not that they extend and support them. Therefore, the whole people are obliged to appreciate and praise the sacred essence of God and ignore the other beings, but those beings who, accordance with their travel through territory of perfection and the city of affection, have been defaced in the Glorious Essence of God, because loving them and praising them one the very loving of God and praising Him, “Loving God's blessings loves God.”

نَارُ اللَّهِ الْمُوقَدَةُ

Nar Allah al-muqada

It is the fire kindled by Allah (Surah Al-Humaza, 104:6).

الَّتِي تَطَّلِعُ عَلَى الْأَفْئِدَةِ

allati tattalie ealaa al'afyida

Which rises above the hearts. (Surah Al-Humaza, 104:7).

So far, we have described the stage of the common people being still within the cover of multiplicity and have not yet got rid of all sorts of covered and deeply covered, polytheism, nor have they reached the perfect degree of sincerity and purity.

But accordance with knowledge of those whose heart having been defaced in certain stages the entire blessings and all perfection, beauty and glorious are the form of the manifestation of the essence, and the praises as a whole and all thanks belong to the sacred Essence of God, or, another praise and thanks are for himself, as is referred to by the connection of In the Name of God to “al-Hamd.”

Beware that the spiritual wayfarer, the striver in the way of God, must not be satisfied with scientific limit of this knowledge spending his entire life investiture which is cover, or rather the greatest cover for covering this distance with “wooden legs”19 or even by the “bird of Solomon”20 it seems impossible.

It is the of the Holy men and stages of the humble without taking off the shoes21 of loving rank, honour, women children, and, unless he gives up dependence and inclination towards other than God, he won’t be able to go forward in the sacred valley, which is the aback of sincere followers and the godly men. If the spiritual wayfarer out his foot in this valley with the truths of sincerity.

Kicking off multiplicity and this real m-which are fancy upon fancy-must there be in him any remnants of selfishness, a hand from the unseen realm would help him and his maintain of I-ness would be smashed by the divine manifestation and he would endure a condition of “senselessness” and “annihilation”.

These state in the hard hearts-being lack or share and information except concerning this realm, and which know nothing but the Satanic egotism-seem abnormal and eccentric and they describe them fantasies, despite the fact that the abolition which we possess in nature and his realm is odd and more amazing than abolition which the people or mystic and wayfarer claim.

We are unaware of all the unseen realms which from the entire aspects, are more vivid than this realm, or, rather of the Essence and attributes of the Sacred Essence to whom appearance merely belong, while to confirm those realms and sacred Essence of God the Glorious, we cling to affirmation and induction.

Bewilderment upon bewilderment comes from this story; the swoon of the elite is the meanest.

If the term “akhass” is written with letter “sad” it is not so bewildered, for the abolition of the imperfect in the perfect is natural and conforms with the divine letter “sin” as this swoon and the abolition are happening to all of us. Our cars and eyes are so absorbed and defaced in nature that we are completely unknown of the unseen realm.

A Tradition And Research

Be aware that the knowledgeable and the formalists have said that; “Praising” is thanking by the tongue for a voluntary favour and, as they are unknown of all tongues except this fleshly organ, they consider all praising and glorifying God, or rather all the utterances or the Sacred Essence to be a kind or figurative speech.

Similarly, they take the taking, the praising and glorifying God by all beings to the allegorical. Therefore, they consider God’s talking to be creating talking, while in the other beings they consider praising and glorifying to be genetic and intrinsic.

They believe that talking is, indeed, debarring confined to their own species, thinking that the sacred Essence or God, the Exalted, and other beings cannot talk, or rather they are-God forbid-dump. They take this to be declaring the innocence of the Sacred Essence, while this is a limitation, or even a disruption and God is innocent of such innocence, as most of the glorifications of the common people are limitation and assimilation.

We have already described how the terms were coined for general and absolute conceptions. We add: We are not, anyway, so eager on proving that the divine facts should necessarily come true under linguistic terminological facts, as it is the correctness of the application and the intellectual truth that are principle in such debates, even if the linguistic fact is also confirmed, accordance with the mentioned debates.

Thus, we declare that language, talking, speech, writing book, praising, and thanking are diverse degree in portion to the existential growths as each one corresponds to its own growth and degree.

And praising in each case, is for a favour and glorifying is for a comely and perfection. Therefore, God the most Exalted, accordance with His self-knowledge, saw, in the unseen ipseity His Beautiful Beauty, in the most perfect rank of knowing and seeing, he was happy at his Beautiful Essence at the highest degree or delight.

Thus, He manifested in the eternal manifestation and the highest degree of manifestation and the highest degree of manifestation in the Essence for the Essence. This manifestation and communicating is unseen mystery of and the “self-argument” is a “self-speech” which occurs with the tongue or the essence in the invisible.

Being witness, this spoken manifestation is hearing the essence. This praising of the essence for the Essence of Gou is God’s praise which the other beings are unable to comprehend such that the sacred person of the Scaling Prophet, the most noble and nearest to God, confess his impotency and says: “I am not able to count the praises for you, You are as You have praised22 Yourself.”

It is known that counting the praises is a branch of knowing the perfection and Beauty, but as the complete knowledge of the absolute Beauty is impossible, like wise the real praise cannot be fulfilled.

The ultimate knowledge of the people of knowledge and mystic is to confess incapability, the knowledgeable people declare that God, the Exalted, praises and glorifies Himself through five tongues, being the tongue of the essence as such, the God of the Unseen Oneness, the tongue of the collective Unity the tongue of the “Distinct Names” and the tongue of the entities.

These are other than the tongues of manifestness the first or them is the tongue of volition down to the end ranks of individuations being the tongue of the existential multiplicities.

Beware that the entire beings take part or have share of the unseen realm, which is life only that running throughout the whole house of existence. This case has been confirmed to people of high philosophy by reasons and to the people or heart and knowledge by Guardians of the Revelation (‘a) refers to it quite clear.

The veiled people of the common philosophy and literalism, who were not able to recognize the tongue of beings, reconstruct to interpretation and justification.

It is quite odd the people of literalism who invalidate the people of philosophy foe commenting the book of God due to their own understanding, they themselves reconstruct in this case, to comment so many of the pain verses and out right correct traditions only due to this case that they were not able to recognize the words of the beings, even without offering a reason at their disposal.

Thus, they translate the Qur’an with no proof and only due to the improbability. Anyhow, the house of existence is the origin of life and the truth of understanding and consciousness. The glo1ification of the beings is pronunciation and volitional, not genetic, innate, as the veiled claim.

All beings are familiar with the state of God, the most Exalted, in proportion to share of being. Now, because there is no being busier with nature and more clement in multiplicity than man, he, thus, is more wrapped unveils than other beings unless he takes off his clothes of a human, and pierces the veil of multiplicity and otherness,

so as to be able to witness, unveiled the beauty of the beautiful, in which case, his praise and glorification would be more capacious than all praise and glorification, and he would be worshipping God with all His divine affairs and all his names and attributes.

Completion

Be aware that the holy words “All praise is for God” accordance with what had already been mentioned is of the whole- inclusive sayings and if, with this fineness’s and truths one praises human being to observe.

Hence, the Holy tradition refers to it. Narrated that Imam al-Baqir (‘a) once came out a house and found that this mount had-gone. He said: “If I find the mount, I will praise Allah as praising deserves.” When his mount was found, he mounted, tidied his clothes and said: “All praise is for Allah.”23

Rasul Allah (S) is quoted to have said “There is no god but Allah’ is half of a scale, and ‘All praise is for Allah’ fills the other hair of the scale.”24

This is because of what we have said “All praise is for Allah” includes monotheism, too.

Rasul Allah (S) is also quoted to have said: “The servant’s saying, ‘All praise is for Allah’ is heavier, in His scales, than seven heavens and seven earths.”25

He (S) is also quoted to have said: “If Allah gave to one of His servants the entire world, and then that servant said: All praise is for Allah; that saying would be better than what he had been given.” 26

Further quotations from him (S) say: “Nothing is more loved by Allah than one's saying: ‘All praise is for Allah,’ as Allah Himself has so praised Himself.27 There are many similar hadith”.

Allah the Exalted said: “rabb al-a1amin” (the Lord of the worlds). If “rabb” means: “the Most High” [muta’ali], “the Constant” [thabit] and “the Master” [sayyid], then it is of the names of the essence.

If it means: “the Possessor” [malik], “the Owner” [sahib], “the Victorious” [ghalib] and “the Omnipotent” [qahir], then it is of the attributive names. If' it means: “the Educator” [murabbi], “the Benefactor” [munim], and “the Completer” [mutammim], then it is of the names of acts.

“Al-alamin” (the worlds), if it means: “Everything other than Allah,” which covers all the stages of existence and the stations [manazil] of the invisible and visible, then we have to take "rabb'' to be or the names of attributes.

If “world” is “the visible world” [alam al-mulk], which gradually takes place and reaches its perfection, then “rabb” means a name of act. At any rate, here it does not mean a name of essence.

Maybe in a way, “alamin” refers to the visible worlds, which attain their suitable perfection under the divine education and management. In this case, the word “rabb” means educator, being one of the names of acts.

Do know that in this paper we refrain from explaining the linguistic, literary and structural aspects or the verses because others have mostly handled them. Certain points that have not been handled at all, or inaccurately handled, we shall properly deal with them.

It must be noted that the names of essence, attributes and acts, which have been referred to, are according to the terms of the people of knowledge. A learned man of the people or knowledge, in Insha’ al-Dawa’ir has divided the names into the names of essence, the names of attributes, and the names of acts.

He has said:

“The names of essence are: Allah, ar-Rabb (the Lord), al­ Malik (the King). Al-Quddus (the Holy). as-Salam (the Peace), al-Mumin (the Faithful), Muhaymin (the Protector), al-Aziz (the Almighty), al-Jabbar (the Omnipotent), al-Mutakabbir (the Haughty), al- ‘Ali (the Exalted), al-Azim (the Tremendous), al­Zahir (the Outward), al-Batin (the Inward), al-Awwal (the First), al-Akhir (the Last), al- Kabir (the Great), al-Jalil (the Majestic), al-Majid (The Glorious), al-Haqq (the Truth), al-Mubin (the Manifest),

al-Wajid (the Finder), al-Majid (the Noble), al-Samad (the Everlasting Refuge), al-Muti’ati (the Most High), al-Ghani (the Independent), al-Nur (the Light), al-Warith (the Inheritor), Dhu’l-Jalal (the Owner of Majesty), and al-Raqib (the Watcher).

The Names of attributes are:

Al-Hayy (the Living), al­Shakur (the Grateful), al-Qahhar (the Conqueror), al-Qahir (the Subduer), al-Muqtadir (the All-Powerful), al-Qawiyy (the Strong), al-Qadir (the Able), ar-Rahman (the Beneficent), ar­Rahim (the Merciful), al-Karim (the Generous), al-Ghaffar (the Forgiver), al-Ghafur (the Forgiving),

al-Wadud (the Affectionate), al-Ra’uf (the Compassionate), al-Halim (the Clement), al-Sabur (the Patient), al-Ban (the Righteous), al­ Alim (the Omniscient), al-Khabir (the Aware), al-Muhsi (the Counter), al-Hakim (the Wise), al-Shahid (the Witness), al­Sami (the Hearer) and al-Basir (the Seer).

The Names of Acts are: al-Mubdi’ (the Beginner), al-Wakil (the Guardian ), al-Ba’ith (the Resurrector), al-Mujib (the Responsive ), al-Wasi (the Expansive), al-Hasib (the Reckoner), al-Muqit (the Nourisher), al-Hafiz (the Protector), al-Khaliq (the Creator), al-Bari’ (the Maker), al-Musawwir (the Shaper), al­ Wahhab (the Giver), al-Razzaq (the Provider), al-Fattah (the Opener), al-Qabid (the Restrainer), al-Basit (the Spreader), al­ Khafid (the Abaser), ar-Rafi’ (the Exalter), al-Mu’izz (the Honorer), al-Mudhill (the Humiliator), al-Hakim (the wise),

al-‘Adil (the Just), al-Latif (the Subtle), al-Mu’id (the Restorer), al­Mubyi (the Life-Giver), al-Mumit (the Death-Giver), al-Wali (the Patron), al-Tawwab (the Relenting, the Accepter of Repentance), al-Muntaqim (the Avenger). al-Muqsit (the Equitable), al-Jami’ (the Comprehensive), al-Mughni (the Enricher), al-Mani (the Deterrent), al-Darr (the Harmful), al-Nafi’ (the Beneficial), al­Hadi (the Guide), al-Badi (the Magnificent), and al-Rashid (the Prudent).28

Concerning these divisions, it is said that although they are all names of essence, yet considering the appearance of the essence, they are called the names of essence, and considering the appearance of the attributes or the acts they are called the names of attributes or of acts.

That is, whichever of these is more apparent, they are named after it. Consequently, sometimes in a name two or three aspects appear at the same time, in which case it is regarded as a name of essence, attribute and acts, or of two of these three, like “ar-rabb,” as has been said.

But this question does not come to suit the writer’s taste, nor does it suit the Gnostic taste. What is apparent in this sorting is that the criterion for these names is that when the spiritual way later with the steps of knowledge reaches the stage of complete annihilation in acts, Allah, the Exalted, appears to his heart through the manifestations of names of acts.

After the annihilation in attributes, the manifestations will be in the names of attributes, and after the annihilation in essence, the manifestations will be in the names of essence. Should his heart have the ability of preservation after coming to sobriety, whatever he tells of his seeing of acts would be names of acts.

Similarly, whatever he tells of his seeing of attributes would be names of attributes, and likewise the names of essence. There are, in this connection, details that do not suit these pages. That which is stated in the Insha’ al-Dawa’ir is not correct according to its own criterion, as is obvious on having a look at the names.

It can be said that these divisions of “the three names” are referred to in the Glorious Qur’an, in the last noble verses of the Surah of Praise.”

Allah, the Exalted, says:

هُوَ اللَّهُ الَّذِي لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ۖ عَالِمُ الْغَيْبِ وَالشَّهَادَةِ ۖ هُوَ الرَّحْمَٰنُ الرَّحِيمُ

“He is Allah, other than Whom there is no god, the Knower of the invisible and the visible. He is the Beneficent, the Merciful” (59:22)

up to the end of the noble verses29.

Perhaps the first of these noble verses refers to the names of essence, the second refers to the names of attributes and the third refers to the names of acts. Giving precedence to the names of essence over those of attributes, and these over those of acts, is according to the order of the facts of existence and of the divine manifestations, not according to the witnessing of the people of witnessing and the manifestations in the hearts of the people of heart.

It should be realized that the noble verses have other secrets, but to mention them does not suit the situation. That the second verse is the names of attributes, and the third is the names of action, is quite clear.

That “the Knower of the invisible and the visible,” “the Beneficent” and the “Merciful” are of the names of essence, is based on the fact that “the invisible” and “visible” are of the internal and external names, and “Beneficence” and “Mercifulness” are of the manifestations of “the Most Holy Emanation” [fayd al-aqdas], not of “the Holy Emanation”.

Confining these names to the remembrance of Allah, whereas “Living” “Constant” and “Lord” seem nearer to the names of essence, is probably because of their comprehensiveness, as they are of the mothers of names. And Allah knows better.

A Remark

There is a great controversy about the word, the derivation and meaning of the worlds. Some say that the world is, plural, covering all kinds of creation, material and abstract, and each kind is a world in itself. It is a plural that has no singular of its root. This is a well-known opinion.

Some others say that “world” is passive participle and “world” is active participle. So, the worlds mean the known. But not only that this opinion has no proving evidence and is unlikely, it is also quite silly and irrelevant to say the lord of the known.

Some say that “the worlds” is derived from sign, which covers all being, since everything is a sign and a verse of the sacred essence. The letters “waw” and (“nun”) refer to the rational beings, giving them priority to the other beings.

Others say that it is derived from knowledge. At any rate, regarding it to embrace all creation is correct, as it is justified to take it to cover the rational beings. But is used for everything other than Allah, and is also used for every individual or category.

If the one who uses it for every individual and category is of people of tradition and language, he considers everything to be a sign of the Creator: “In everything He has a sign... And if he is a divine Gnostic, he considers every being to be the appearance of the all-embracing name covering all the truths, by way of the appearance of the collective oneness and the secret of the existence.

According to this consideration, the entire world and every part of it can be regarded as the greatest name in the state of the collective oneness. “The names are all in all, and such are the signs.” Consequently, the objection of the great philosopher, Sadr al-Millat wa’d-Din [Sadr al- Muta’allihin] (may his soul be sanctified), to those like al-Baydawi is applicable, because they have not tasted of this drink [school].

But to the ways of the people of Gnosticism it is inapplicable. However, as the argument of al-Baydawi and that of the philosopher, on this topic are too lengthy, we refrain from mentioning them. The interested readers may refer to the exegesis of the said late philosopher on verse praise.

If “al-Rabb” is of the names of attributes, meaning “Master” or “Owner” and the like, the meaning of the worlds may be “everything other than Allah,” whether the owned were the beings of the kingdom of the world, or the abstract invisible beings.

If it is of the names of acts-as it apparently is-the meaning of the worlds will only be the kingdom of the visible world, as, in which case, “al-Rabb” will mean “the Educator”-a meaning which is of gradual effectiveness, while the abstract worlds are innocent of gradualness, though, to the writer, the spirit of “graduation” in the world of eternity, perpetual duration is, in a way, certain; and in the same way, we have also proved the temporal contingency meaning the spirit of time and the eternity of graduation in the abstract worlds.

In the Gnostic way, the temporal contingency is also proved for all worlds, but not in the same way as referred to by the theologians and the people of hadith.

Another Remark

Do know that “praising” is for a “favour”. From the noble verse, it is deduced that praising and extolment are confined for the state of the greatest name as the all-embracing name, which has the state of being the Lord of the worlds, “the Beneficent,” “the Merciful” and “the master of the Day of Judgment.”

So, these noble names, i.e., “Rabb”, “Rahman” and “Malik” should have an effective role in the praising. Later on, we shall explain in details Allah’s saying: The master of the Day of Judgment. Now, we shall talk about the proportionality of the state of Divinity to “praising”. It is so from two aspects:

The first is that as the very praiser is a part of the “worlds”, or he may even be “a world” by himself, and from the point of view of the people of knowledge, each one of the beings is a world by itself, he praises Allah, for He, with the hand of divine education, has taken him out of weakness, deficiency, rear and the darkness of the mass of non-existence to strength, perfection, security and the luminous world of humanity.

He has also taken him past the corporeal, elemental, mineral, vegetable, and animal stations, under a system arranged according to self-and­ substantial movements, and the dispositional and natural inclinations to the station or humanity, which is the honourable station of beings. Furthermore, He continues to educate him until he becomes what you can never imagine in your fancy.

“Then I become non-existent such non-existence that the organ says to me: “Our returns is to Him.”30 The second is that educating [rearing] the system of the kingdom of the world, such as the celestial spheres, elements, substances and accidentals, is preliminary to the existence of the perfect man, who is, in fact, the product of the juice of the world of realization and the ultimate end of the beings of the world, and he is, as such, the last product.

And, since the visible world moves according to the substantial self-movement, and this is a self-completing, wherever it ends, it would be the objective of creation and the end of the journey. If we look in a universal way at the universal body, universal nature, universal vegetable, universal animal and universal man, we notice that man is the last product who has been created after the substantial self-movements of the world and they have ended in him.

So, the educating (rearing) hand of Allah, the Exalted, has been educating (rearing) man in all the world of realization and man is the first and the last.

That which has been said was about the minor acts and according to the stages of existence, as otherwise, if taken according to the absolute act, the act of Allah, the Exalted, can have no objective except His own Sacred Essence, as is proved in its relevant instances.

Should we look at the minor acts, we would realize that the objective of creating man is the absolute invisible world, as is stated in the Divine Sayings: “O son of Adam! I created all things for you, and I created you for Myself.:”31

“Allah in the Glorious Qur’an, addressing Moses, son of ‘Imran (peace be upon him and upon our Prophet and his progeny), says:

وَاصْطَنَعْتُكَ لِنَفْسِي

“I have made you for Myself.” (20:41).

He also says:

وَأَنَا اخْتَرْتُكَ

“And I chose you.” (20:13).

So, man is created for Allah and made for His sacred essence. From among all the beings man is the chosen and the elect. The destination of his journey is attaining the door of Allah, and annihilation in the Essence of Allah, and sticking to the court of Allah. His return is to Allah, from Allah, in Allah and by Allah. In the Qur’an, He says:

إِنَّ إِلَيْنَا إِيَابَهُمْ

“Surely to Us is their return” (88:25).

Other creatures to Allah through Man, or rather their return is to Man, as it stated in the Jami’ah invocation, in which some aspects or the states of guardianship are explained. It says: “The return of the creatures is to you and their reckoning is upon you.” It also says: “With you Allah opened and with you He closes,”32 and also in the noble verse:

إِنَّ إِلَيْنَا إِيَابَهُمْ

“Surely to Us is their return” (88:25).

ثُمَّ إِنَّ عَلَيْنَا حِسَابَهُمْ

and surely upon Us is their reckoning.” (88:26).

In the said invocation: “The return of the creatures is to you and their reckoning is upon you,” is one of Tawhid’s secrets, referring to the fact that to return to the perfect man is to return to Allah, as the perfect man is absolutely annihilated and lasts by Allah’s everlasting, having no individuality, and selfishness of his of the Beau1iful names and the greatest name, to which the Qur'an and the hadiths frequently refer.

The Qur’an contains such delicate points, facts. Secrets, and subtleties about Tawhid that the minds of the people of knowledge are bewildered, and this is the great inimitability of this heavenly and luminous book, besides its excellent syntax, graceful expression, wonderful elegance, miraculous style, the way of inviting and foretelling the unseen, perfecting the precepts, controlling and managing the family and the like, each one of which is independently extraordinary and beyond man’s power.

It can even be said that the Glorious Qur’an’s being distinguished for its eloquence as one or its inimitabilities well ­ know all over the world was because the weary Arabs were famous for their eloquence, and, thus, they could understand only that aspect of the Qur’an’s inimitability.

The Arabs of that time could not comprehend its other more important dimensions, which needed a higher degree or understanding. Nowadays, too, those who have a similar level of thinking can comprehend nothing of this divine grace, except its literal elegance, beautiful rhetoric and eloquent expressions.

As regards those who are well versed in the secrets of knowledge and the graces of Tawhid and abstraction, know that what attracts them, and what is the goal of their hopes, in this divine Book and heavenly revelation is only its knowledge and they are not so much interested in its other aspects.

Whoever casts a glance at the Qur’an’s Gnosticism, and at the Gnostics of Islam who acquired their knowledge from it, and then makes a comparison between them and the scholars of other religions, concerning their works and knowledge, will very well recognize the higher standard of the knowledge of Islam and the Qur’an, which is the base of the foundation of religion and faith, and the final objective of sending the Messengers and revealing the Books.

To believe that this Book is a divine revelation and that its knowledge is divine does not cost him any difficulty.

A Faithful Awakening

Do know that the Sovereignty of Allah, the Exalted, over the worlds is or two kinds:

The first is the “General Sovereignty,” which covers all the beings of the world, and it is the genetic upbringing, which takes every being out of the limits of its shortcomings to its suitable perfection, under the control of the divine sovereignty.

All the natural and substantial developments and the essential and accidental movements and improvements are under the control of the Lord. In short, from the stage or the primary matter until the stage of animalism and the gaining of the corporeal and spiritual powers of animalism, and the genetic evolution, each one of them testifies. “My Lord is Allah, Glory and Majesty to Him.”

The second is the “Legislative Sovereignty,” which exclusively belongs to the human species, and the other beings have no share of it. This education is guiding to the roads of salvation, showing the ways to happiness and humanity, and warning against what contradicts them, as explained by the prophets (‘a).

If somebody voluntarily placed himself at the disposal and education of the Lord of the worlds, and was brought up by Him, such that the actions of his organs and powers, external and internal, would not be prompted by his self, but to be divine, in that case he would attain the human perfection. which exclusively belongs to the human species.

Up to the stage of animalism, man goes side by side with the other animals. To step out of this stage he will have to choose, on his own free will, one of the only two ways before him: One is the way to the stage (abode) of happiness, which is the Straight Path of the Lord of the Worlds:

إِنَّ رَبِّي عَلَىٰ صِرَاطٍ مُسْتَقِيمٍ

“My Lord is on the Straight Path.” (11:56).

The other is the way of wretchedness, which is the crooked path of the accursed Satan. Therefore, if he puts the powers and organs of his kingdom at the disposal of the Lord of the worlds to be educated by Him, his heart, which is the sultan of this kingdom, would gradually submit to Him.

When the heart becomes a subject to the Lord of the worlds, other soldiers [junud] would follow it, and the whole kingdom would be under His education. Then his invisible tongue, which is the shadow of the heart, would be able to say: “My Lord is Allah, Glory and Majesty to Him,” in reply to the angels of the world of the grave, who ask him: “Who is your Lord?”

And as such a man has obeyed the Messenger of Allah, imitated the Imams of guidance and acted according to the Divine Book, his tongue would be expressive in saying: “Muhammad (S) is my Prophet: Ali and his in fallible sons are my Imams and the Qur’an is my book.”

But if he did not turn his ca11 to divinity, and the image of there is no god except Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah and 'Ali is the friend of Allah was not engraved on the page of his heart such that to become the portrait of the inside or the soul, and if there was no reciprocal spiritual and moral connection between him and the Qur'an as to act according to it, thinking about it, remembering and contemplating on it, all his knowledge would be effaced from memory when suffering from the agonies of death, the death-sickness, and in the death itself­ that monstrous calamity.

My dear! Man, under a typhoid fever and the deterioration of his mental faculties, forgets all his knowledge, except things that have become a second part of his constitution, owing to continual remembrance and close intimacy with them.

Should he be inflicted with a serious incident or a dreadful accident, he would be neglecting a lot of his affairs, and the line of forgetfulness would under line his acquired information. So, how about the agonies, sufferings and difficulties of death? What would happen to him then?

If the hearing and the heart were not opened, if the heart was not hearing, to instruct him with the necessary beliefs at the time of dying and after it would be of no awail talqin (reminding the dead of his beliefs) can be useful only to those whose hearts have acquired the true beliefs and whose hearts are usually open,

but at the very moments of death agonies, they may undergo a fit of forgetfulness, and thus, the avail will be a means for the angels of Allah to convey it to their ears. However, if man is deaf, with no hearing ears suitable for the worlds of limbo and the grave, he never hears the avail and it can benefit him naught.

There is a hint at some of these in the noble traditions.

Ar-Rahman, Ar-Rahim

الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Ar-Rahman, Ar-Rahim

The Beneficent, the Merciful (1:3).

Do know that for all the names and attributes of Allah, the Most High, there are generally two slates and two ranks. One is the state of the names and attributes of essence, which are constant in His Unity [hadrat wahidiyyat], such as the essential knowledge, which is of the essential affairs and manifestations, and the essential power and will, and other essential affairs [shu ‘un-e dhatiyvah].

The other is the state of the names and attributes of acts, which are confirmed for Allah through the manifestation by the Holy Emanation, such as the “Active Knowledge” which the Illuminists regard as confirmed, and on it depends the “Detailed Knowledge”. The most merited of the wise men, Khwjah Nairuddin (May Allah make his face bright), has proved this, following the opinion of the Illuminists who say that the criterion for the “Detailed Knowledge” is the “Active Knowledge.”33

However, although this subject is contrary to research-because the “Detailed Knowledge” is confirmed for the essence, and that the exposure and the details of the essential knowledge are higher than the “Active Knowledge” and more extensive, as is proved and confirmed, in its relevant place, by a luminous proof-yet. the original question,

that the system of the existence is within Allah’s active and detailed knowledge, is proved and confirmed according to the tradition of proving and the method of Gnosticism, despite the fact that the higher method and the sweeter Gnostic taste have, beside such ways, another way: “The lover’s religion is other than that of the others.”34

Generally speaking, for the mercy of “Beneficence” and “Mercifulness” there are two ranks and two manifestations: One is in the appearance of the essence in His unity through the manifestation of the holiest emanation.

The other is in the appearance of the cosmic entities through the holy emanation. If the ar-Rahman and ar-Rahim, in the blessed verse, are of the essential attributes-as is more obvious- it will be possible to regard them, in Bismillah ‘ar-Rahim, to be related to name, rather than attributes of act.

Consequently, there is no repetition at all that one may claim them to be confirmatory repetition, or exaggeration. Based on this. the meaning of the noble verse will be: With His Beneficent and Merciful will, praise be to His Beneficent and Merciful essence-Allah knows better.

And, as the state of Divine will is the manifestation of the sacred essence, the state of “Beneficence” and “Mercifulness” which is of the determinations of the state of Divine Will, is the display of the essential Beneficence and Mercifulness. There are, however, other possibilities, which we have left out, as the said one is more obvious.

Maliki yawn ad-din

مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ

Maliki yawn ad-din

The Master of the Day of Judgment (1:4).

Many of the reciters have read: maliki, and there are many literary justifications for both versions. such that even a great scholar (may Allah have mercy upon him) has written a thesis on preferring Malik to Malik, but the arguments of both parties are not quite convincing.

That which comes to the writer’s notion is that Malik is preferable, or rather, particularly assigned, because this blessed verse and the blessed Surah of at-Tawhid, are unlike the other surahs of the Qur’an.

Since these two surahs are recited by the people in their obligatory and non-obligatory salats, and in every era hundreds of millions of the Muslims have heard them from hundreds of millions of other Muslims, and these from former hundreds of millions, and so on, by hearing these two noble surahs from one another, recited, exactly the same, with no letter advanced and no letter retarded, no letter increased and no letter decreased, by the Imams of guidance and Rasul Allah (S).

Although most of the reciters read it malik, and many of the scholars prefer malik, yet none of those things damaged this certain, necessary and successively proved fact, and nobody imitated them.

And although the scholars allowed imitating anyone of the reciters, no one-except the abnormal [shadhdh] whose opinion is negligible-necessarily recited malik in his salats, or if somebody did recite malik, it was as a precaution [ihtiyat], besides saying malik, too, such as my learned teacher of the traditional science, Haj Shaykh ‘Abd al-Karim Yazdi (may his grave be sanctified), who used, at the request of some of hid contemporary scholars, to recite malik, too.

Nevertheless, this is too weak a precaution, or, as the writer believes, it is out of question. The weakness of the said question becomes clear under the saying that in Kufi penmanship malik and malik are mistaken for each other. This claim can be uttered in respect of the surahs, which are not frequently recited, though still with difficulty, but not in respect of this surah, which has been confirmed through hearing and reciting, as in quite clear.

Such a claim is an empty and incredible one. This ve1y argument is also true in respect of kufuwan, as its recitation with “w” [maftuhah] and “f” [madhmumah]-which is ‘asim’s recitation alone-is confirmed by way of hearing an rehearing, and other recitations do not necessarily contradict that, though some think that they practice precaution by reciting the version of the majority with “hamzah” instead of the “w”---an irrelevant precaution.

If there can be any argument in respect of the narratives in which we are ordered to recite like the people recite35--which actually deserves arguing, as it is believed that these narratives wanted to say: recite as the people. in general, do, not that you are free to choose any one of the “Seven Recitations,” for example-in that case, to recite “malik” and “kufuwan” other than the way commonly recited by the Muslims and written in the Qur’an, is correct.

At any rate, the precaution is their recitation as current among the people and written in the Qur’an, because that way recitation is correct to every creed. Allah knows better.36

A Philosophic Research

Do know that Allah’s ownership is not the same as the ownership of the servants, nor is it like the kings’ ownership of their kingdom, as these are conventional annexations, while annexing the creatures to Allah is not of that kind, although to the jurisprudents this sort of ownership of Allah is longitudinally confirmed. This, however, does not contradict what has been observed in this respect.

Nor does it resemble man’s owning his own organs and limbs, nor his internal and external powers, although this latter ownership is nearer to Allah’s ownership than the aforementioned ones.

It is also not like the soul’s owning its own self-action, which is of the soul’s affairs, such as creating mental images, whose contractions and expansions are somewhat under the control of the soul’s will, nor is it like the ownership, of the intellectual worlds, of what is of lower ranks, even if they were effective, in those worlds through annihilating [i’dam] and [ijad], for all the beings of the world of possible realization, on whose foreheads the humility of poverty is marked, are bound by limits and restricted by measures, even to the extent to essence.

And whatsoever is bound by a limit is isolated from its act, in proportion to its limitedness, and it enjoys not a true existential inclusiveness [ihatah al-qayyum]. Therefore, all things, according to the degree of their own essence, oppose and contradict their passive elements [munfa’illat], and because of this they do not enjoy self ­ existential inclusiveness [ihatah al-dhaiyyah al-qayyumiyyah].

But concerning the ownership of Allah, the Exalted, which is by illuminative annexation and self - existential inclusiveness, it is the true real self-ownership [malikiyyat-i dhatiyyah], in which there is not the least of any defective contradicting isolation in His essence and attributes with any one of the beings.

The ownership of the Sacred essence of all the worlds is the same, without treating the beings with discrimination at all, or being nearer to, and more inclusive of, the abstracts and the invisible worlds, than of the other worlds, as otherwise it would require limitation and isolating disunity, accompanied by need and potentiality; High Exalted is Allah, the Great, above all that, A reference to this is perhaps in the saying of Allah, the Exalted here below.

وَهُوَ مَعَكُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كُنْتُمْ

“and He is with you wherever you are” (57:4).

وَنَحْنُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ حَبْلِ الْوَرِيدِ

“And We are nearer to him than his jugular vein.” (50:16).

اللَّهُ نُورُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ

“Allah, is the light of the heavens and the earth” (24:35).

وَهُوَ الَّذِي فِي السَّمَاءِ إِلَٰهٌ وَفِي الْأَرْضِ إِلَٰهٌ

“And He it is Who is God in the heaven and God in the earth” (43:84)

أَلَمْ تَعْلَمْ أَنَّ اللَّهَ لَهُ مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ۗ وَمَا لَكُمْ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ مِنْ وَلِيٍّ وَلَا نَصِيرٍ

Do you not know that Allah's is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and that besides Allah you have no guardian or helper? (2:107).

لِلَّهِ مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَمَا فِيهِنَّ

“To Allah belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth.” (5:120).

Rasul Allah (S) is quoted to have: “If you are lowered down with a rope to the lowest of the earth, you will down onto Allah.”37

Imam al-Sadiq (‘a) is also quoted to have said, as in al- Kafi: “No space can confine Him and no space can accommodate Him, and He is no nearer to a place than to another.”38

Imam Ali al-Naqi (‘a) is quoted lo have said: “You must know that when Allah is in the lowest heaven He is, at the same time, on the Throne. All things are equally known, controlled, owned and encompassed by Him.”39

Nevertheless, although the ownership of His sacred essence covers all things and all worlds equally, the noble ayah says:

مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ

“The Owner or the Day of Judgment” (1:4).

This specification is probably because the Day of Judgement is the day of gathering. So, the Owner of “The Day of Judgment,” which is the day of gathering, is (also) the owner of the other clays, which are dispersed, and “the dispersed in the visible world are gathered (collected) in the invisible world.”

Or maybe it is because of the appearance of the ownership and omnipotence of Allah, Glorified be His Majesty, on the “Day of Gathering,” which is the day of the return of the possible to the threshold of Allah, and the ascension of the beings to the court of Allah.

Expanding on this brief as to suit this paper is that as long as the light of existence and the sun of the truth is descending down from the hidden places of invisibility towards the world of visibility, it tends to occultation and being veiled.

In other words, in every descent there is a specification, and in every specification and limitation there is a veil. And as man is the composite of all specifications and limitations, he is veiled with all the seven dark veils and the seven veils of light, which are the seven earths and seven heavens, according to interpretations.

Perhaps returning to the “lowest of the low” means being wrapped in all kinds of veils. This occultation of the sun of existence, and the mere light in the horizon of specifications can be described as the “night” and “The Night of al-Qadr.”

And as long as man is wrapped in these veils, he is deprived of seeing the beauty of the Eternity and of eyeing the prime light.

When all beings, in their ascending march from the low stations of the world of nature, with the natural movements-which are deposited in their innate constitution from the light of the attraction of the divine disposition, according to the determination of the holiest emanation in His Knowledge­ return to the original homeland and the real place of promise - as is frequently referred to by the noble ayahs-they once again rid of the luminous and dark veils, and the ownership and the sovereignty of Allah, the Exalted, are manifested, and He appears in unity and sovereignty.

Here, where the last returns to the first, and the outside connects to the inside, and where the rule of the appearance falls and the government of the inside is manifested, the absolute owner addresses-and there is no addressed except His sacred essence-

لِمَنِ الْمُلْكُ الْيَوْمَ ۖ لِلَّهِ الْوَاحِدِ الْقَهَّارِ

“Whose is the sovereignty this Day? and as there is no answer. He says: (It is) Allah’s, the One, the Almighty.” (40:16)

This absolute day, the day when the sun of the truth rises from behind the veil of the horizon of the individuations, is “the Day of Judgment” in a way, since every being, under the shadow of its suitable name, vanishes in Allah. When the Trumpet is blow, it appears from that name and accompanies the followers of that name:

فَرِيقٌ فِي الْجَنَّةِ وَفَرِيقٌ فِي السَّعِيرِ

“A group in Paradise and a group in Flaming Fire.” (42:7)

The perfect man in this world gets out of these veils according to his journey to Allah and migration to Him, and the regulations of the Resurrection, the Hour and the Day of Judgment appear before him and are proved to him.

So, Allah, with His Sovereignty, appears to his heart through this salat ascension, and his tongue becomes the interpreter of his heart, and his appearance becomes the tongue of his internal seeing. This is one of the secrets of confining the ownership to the Day of Judgment.

An Inspiration Concerning The ‘Arsh

Do know that concerning the “Arsh and its carriers there are different opinions. Similarly, the noble narratives outwardly differ, too, although inwardly there is no difference, since, according to the Gnostic view and demonstrative way, the ‘Arsh covers so many meanings.

One of its meanings-which I did not see in the language of “the people”-is the unity, which is on the level of the “Holiest Emanation,” and its carriers are four names, of the great names: The First, the Last, the Outward and the Inward.

Another-which also I did not see in the language of “the people”- is the “Holy Emanation,” which is on the level of the greatest name, and its carriers are: ar-Rahman, ar-Rahim, ar­Rabb and al-Malik.

Another one of its concepts is the phrase “all that is other than Allah.” and its carriers are the four angels: Seraphiel, Gabriel, Michael and Israel.

Another is the “Universal Body”, which is carried by four angels who are the images of the Archetypes, as is referred to in al-Kafi.40

Sometimes it is regarded to be the “Knowledge,” which may be Allah’s active knowledge which is the state of the great guardianship and its carriers are four of Allah’s perfect friends from the ancient nations: Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus (peace be upon our Prophet, his progeny and upon them), and four persons of the perfect ones of this nation: the Seal of the Prophets, Amir al- Mu’minin ‘Ali, al-Hasan and al-Husayn (‘a).

Now, as this introduction has been understood, do know that in the noble Surah al-Hamd (the Opening), after the name “Allah” that refers to His essence, the four noble names: ar­Rabb, ar-Rahman, ar-Rahim, and Malik, are particularly mentioned, maybe because these four noble names are the carriers or the ‘Arsh of His Unity in respect of the inside, while their outer appearances are Allah’s four favourite angels who are the carriers of the ‘Arsh of “Realization”.

So, the blessed name of al-Rabb is the inside of Michael, who, as al-Rabb’s manifestation, is in charge of the provisions and the education in the world of existence. The noble name of ar-Rahman is the inside of Seraphiel, who is the caretaker of the spirits, the blower of the Trumpet and the spreader of the spirits and the images, as the spread of existence is also in the name of al-Rahman.

The noble name of al-Rahman is the inside of Gabriel, who is in charge of teaching and perfecting the beings. The noble name of Malik is the inside of Izra’el, who is in charge of taking the spirits and images, and of returning the outside to the inside.

So, the blessed Surah, up to “The Owner of the Day of Judgment.” includes the ‘Arsh of Unity and the ‘Arsh of Realization, with reference to its earners. Thus, the entire circle of existence and the manifestations of the invisible and the visible, which are translated by the Glorious Qur’an, are mentioned up to this part or the Surah.

This very concept is also entirely covered by the Bismillah, which is the Greatest Name. It is also in the “ba”, which is in the position of causality, and in the dot of bism, which is the secret of the causality.

And, as ‘Ali (‘a) is the secret of guardianship [wilayat] and causality, therefore, it is he who is the dot under the “ba” 41.

That is, the dot under the “ba” is the translator of the secret of guardianship. Contemplate. The reason for contemplation is the difficulty that is in the hadith. And Allah knows better!

A Gnostic Notice

Perhaps giving priority to ar-Rabb before stating ar-Rahman and ar-Rahim and then Malik at the end is a delicate reference to the way of man’s journey from the material mundane creation up to the complete annihilation, or up to the state of the presence before the Master of the kings.

So, as the Malik is still at the beginning of the journey, he is gradually being brought up by Rabb al-Alamin (the Lord of the worlds), for he is of the world and his conduct is under the control of time and graduation.

After leaving the transitory world of nature by the steps of his conduct, the stage of the inclusive names, which do not belong only to the world-in which the aspect of “differentiation” is predominant-is established in his heart. And, as the noble name of ar-Rahman is more particular than the other, inclusive names, it is stated then, and, as it is the manifestation of mercy and the stage of absolute spreading, it precedes ar-Rahmam, which is nearer to the horizon of the interiority.

Hence, in the Gnostic conduct, the external names appear first, then after that, the internal names, because the salik’s march is from multiplicity to singleness, until he ends up in the purely internal names, including the name of Malik. Thus, with the manifestation of ownership, the multiplicity of the invisible and visible worlds will vanish, and the complete annihilation and absolute presence will take place.

As he frees himself from the veils of multiplicity with the appearance of unity and divine sovereignty, and attains the visual witnessing, he converses in presence (with Allah) and says:

إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ

“You do we worship.” (1:5).

Hence, the whole circle of the travellers’ journey is also contained in the noble Surah, from the last veils of the world of nature up to the removing of all the dark and luminous veils and attaining the absolute presence.

This presence is the salik’ s great resurrection and the rising of his Hour. In the noble Ayah:

فَصَعِقَ مَنْ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَنْ فِي الْأَرْضِ إِلَّا مَنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ

“…and all who are in the heavens and the earth swoon away, except him whom Allah wills...” (39:68).

The exception may be this group of the people of suluk who would swoon away and be annihilated before the Trumpet is blown. By saying: “I and the Hour are like these two” 42 when joining his two forefingers, Rasul Allah (S) may have referred to this concept.

A Literary Notice

In the current exegeses that we have seen, or which are quoted from, the word “din” is said to mean Judgment and reckoning. The lexicons give these meanings, too. The Arab poets have also used it so, such as the poet who says: “Beware that you will be judged as you judge,” and there is a saying ascribed to Sahl ibn Rabi’ah stating: “There remained but hostility. We so judged them as they did.” 43

It is said that “dayyan,” which is one of the divine names, denotes this very meaning. Perhaps by “din” the true religion is intended. And as on the Day of Resurrection the results of the religion appear and the religious facts come out from behind the curtain, for this reason it is called yawm ad-din (the Day of Judgment), the same as “today” is called yawm ad-dunya (the day of this world or the mundane clay) on which appear the results of this world, while the true image of the religion is not apparent.

This bears a similar concept of Allah’s saying:

وَذَكِّرْهُمْ بِأَيَّامِ اللَّهِ

“... and remind them of the days of Allah” (14:5)

which are the days in which Allah treats a nation with force and sovereignty. The Day of Resurrection is a “day of Allah” as well as the “day of religion,” since it is the day of the appearance of the divine sovereignty and the day of the emergence of the truth of Allah’s religion.

Iyyaka na’budu wa iyyaka nasta’in

إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ

Iyyaka na’budu wa iyyaka nasta’in

You do we worship and You do we seek help from (1:5).

Do know, dear, that when the servant, the salik on the road of knowledge, understood that all thanks and praises exclusively belong to Allah’s sacred essence, and attributed to Him contraction and expansion of the existence, and regarded the reigns of the affairs, at first and at last, the beginning and the end, to be in the grasp of His Ownership,

and the unity of essence and of acts manifested in his heart, he would exclusively confine worship and seeking help to Allah, regard the entire world of realization submitting, willingly or unwillingly, to the Sacred essence, and recognize no able one, in the world of realization, so as to ascribe to him any help.

What is claimed by some of the people of formalism that to confine worship is real, but to confine seeking help only to Him is not real-by arguing that the help of other than Allah can also be sought, and it is in the Glorious Qur’an:

وَتَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْبِرِّ وَالتَّقْوَىٰ

“And help one another in goodness and piety,” (5:2).

and also:

وَاسْتَعِينُوا بِالصَّبْرِ وَالصَّلَاةِ

“And seek help through patience and, salat,” (2:45).

And it known that the conduct or the noble Prophet (S), the Imams of guidance (‘a), their companions and the Muslims were based on seeking help from other Allah in lawful matters, such as getting the help of the beast or mount, the servant, the wife, the friend, the messenger, the worker and the like-but a talk suitable to the formalists.

But the one who has knowledge about the unity of acts of Allah, the Exalted, and regards the system of the existence to be a form of the activity of Allah, the Exalted, seeing, either plainly or by rational proof, that there is no effecter in the [world of] existence save Allah, regards, with the eye of insight and luminous heart, confining “seeking help” to be a real confinement, and takes the help of the other beings to be a form of Allah’s help.

According to what these people say, there is no reason for con fining the praises to Allah, the Exalted, since according to this opinion, other beings also have their behaviours, options, beauty and perfection which deserve praising and thanking.

They even say that giving life and death, and providing and creating are some other affairs which are common between Allah and the creatures. The people of Allah regard such mailers to be polytheism, and in the narratives, they are regarded as a hidden polytheism, as it is said that [resorting to] turning the ring in the finger to remember something is regarded as n hidden polytheism.44

In short, “You do we worship and You do we seek help from” is a part of praising Allah, and it is a reference to real monotheism. The one in whose heart the truth of monotheism has not yet appeared, and he has not purged it from polytheism absolutely, his saying “You do we worship” would not be real, and he cannot confine his worship and seeking help to Allah, and he would not be a godly man and a theist.

When monotheism manifests in his heart, he will, in proportion to the degree of this manifestation, give up all beings that “You do we worship and You do we seek help from” takes place by the name of Allah; and some facts of “You are as You praised Yourself” manifest in his heart.

An Illuminative Notice

The point of changing from the third person to the second has become clear from the statements of this thesis.

Although in itself it is one of the ornaments of speech and the characteristics of rhetoric, frequently seen in the speeches of the eloquent orators, and is a decoration to the speeches, and, at the same time, by changing from one mood to another, one removes the addressee’s boredom and gives a fresh vividness to his spirit, yet, as the salad is the ascension for reaching the presence of holiness, and the ladder to the state of intimacy, this noble Surah gives the order to start the spiritual ascension and the Gnostic journey.

The servant, at the beginning of the travel to Allah, is imprisoned and wrapped in the dark veils of the world of nature and in the luminous ones of the invisible world, while the travel to Allah is getting out of these veils by the steps of spiritual conduct. Actually, migration of Allah is turning away from the house of self and from the house of creation to Allah, leaving multiplicities, rejecting the dust of otherness and attaining the Unities. It is absence from creation and presence before the Lord.

When in the noble verse “Owner of the Day of Judgment” he finds that multiplicity disappears under the shining light of the ownership and omnipotence, he experiences a state of effacement from multiplicity and being present before Allah, the Exalted. and, by personally conversing and witnessing the Beauty and Majesty, he offers himself to servitude, and present his quest for Allah and his piety to the sacred presence and the meeting of intimacy.

The fact that the pronoun iyyaka is used for this purpose is because this pronoun returns to the essence in which multiplicity is vanished. So, the salik in this situation may have a mood of unity of essence, turning away from the multiplicity of names and attributes, and the heart turns towards the essence that is free from the veils of multiplicity.

This is the perfect monotheism which was referred to by the Imam of the monotheists, the head of the Gnostics, the leader of the lovers, the pioneer of the attracted and the beloved, Amir al-Mu’minin [‘Ali], may Allah bless him and his infallible offspring, who said: “The perfect monotheism is the negation of ascribing to Him”45 as an attribute denotes otherness and plurality, while this inclination, though to the plurality of Names, is far from the secrets of monotheism and the facts of abstraction.

Thus, probably, the secret of Adam’s sin was inclination towards the plurality of names, which was the spirit of the forbidden tree.

A Gnostic Inquiry

Be informed that the literalists show some opinions in respect of “na’budu (we worship) and “nasta’in” (we seek help), concerning their being in the first-person plural number, whereas the speaker is actually a single person.

They say that, in this connection, a lawful trick has occurred to the worshipper in order to have his worship accepted by Allah, the Exalted. By using a plural pronoun, he places his worship among the worshipping or other creatures, among whom, of course, are the perfect ones of Allah’s friends whose is accepted by Allah, the Exalted, and presents it to the threshold of holiness and the court of mercy, making sure that his worship will, implicitly, be accepted. since it is not of the custom of the Generous to discriminate in the deal.

They also say that as the solar was imposed first in congregation, so it came in the plural. Talking about the general secret of the adhan and the iqamah we stated a point from which this secret can be recognized to some extent.

That is, the adhan is proclaiming that the visible and invisible powers of the salik are ready to be present in this presence, and the iqamah is to have them stand upright before Him.

When the salik prepared his visible and in visible powers to be present in the presence, and the heart, which is their leader, stood upright as their Imam, then the slat has been started and: The believer alone is a congregation.”46

So, “na’budu, nasta’in and ihdina” (“We worship,” “we seek help” and “guide us”), all would be performed by this congregation in the Holy presence.

In the narrations and the invocations of the pure infallible Ahl al­Bayt (‘a) who are the source of gnosticism and divine vision, there is a reference to this concept.

Another opinion which occurs to the writer is that the salik regards all the praises and thanks from every praiser and thanker, in the visible and invisible worlds, to be exclusively confined to the Holy essence of Allah.

It is also clearly proved in the proofs of the Imams of proofs, and in the hearts of the gnostics that all the beings in the circle of the existence-worldly and heavenly, big and small -have the life of sensibility and understanding of animalism, or rather of humanity, and they praise and glory Allah, the Exalted, rationally and consciously.

It is fixed in the nature of all beings, the human species in particular, to submit to the Holy presence of the perfect and the absolute beautiful, and their foreheads are on the dust of His Holy threshold, as is stated in the Glorious Qur’an:

وَإِنْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ إِلَّا يُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِهِ وَلَٰكِنْ لَا تَفْقَهُونَ تَسْبِيحَهُمْ

“...and there is not a single thing but glorifies Him, but you do not understand their glorification.” (17:44)

Other noble verse, and narratives of the infallible, which are full of this divine grace, support this fixed judging proof. So, if the traveller to Allah could find this truth through argumentative reasoning, faithful taste of gnostic vision, he would realize, whatever position he is in, that all particles of the existence and the dwellers of the in visible and visible worlds, worship the absolute worshipped and seek their creator. Thus, the plural form [of the pronoun] is used because all beings, in all their movements and stillness, worship the sacred essence of Allah, the Exalted, and seek His help.

A Notice And A Point

Know that the reason for giving priority to iyyaka na’budu over iyyaka nasta’in-despite the usual custom that seeking help for worship comes before worship-is that “worship” is prior to “seeking help,” not to “helping.” Sometimes “helping” happens without “seeking help.” Also, they say that, as these two are related to each other, advancing or retarding can make no difference, as it is said: “You did observe my due, so, you did me good.”

Or “You did me good, so you did observe my due,” Furthermore, seeking help is for future worship, not for present worship. The dullness of these opinions is not concealed from the people or taste.

Maybe the point is that confining “seeking help” to Allah, the Exalted, comes, according to the state of the travel to Allah, later than confining “worship” to Him. It is quite obvious that a good number or the monotheists in worship, who confine “worship” to Allah, are polytheists in “seeking help” and do not con fine it to Allah, as we have already quoted some exegetes who believe that confining “seeking help” to Allah is not real.

So, confining “worship” to Allah, in its conventional concept, is of the first states of the monotheists, and confining “seeking help” is an absolute rejection of other than Allah.

It should not be hidden, however, that “seeking help” does not mean to “seek help” only in worshipping, but in all affairs, and this is after rejecting the means and neglecting multiplicities, and completely turning to Allah.

In other words, confining “worship” is seeking Allah, wanting Him and giving up turning to other than Him. And confining “seeking help” is seeing Him, and giving up seeing other than Him This “giving up seeing other than Him” comes, according to the station of the Gnostics and the stages of the spiritual wayfarer, later than “giving up seeking other than Him.”

A Gnostic Advantage

O travelling servant, know that confining “worship” and “seeking help” to Allah is also not of the states of the monotheists and perfect stages of the spiritual wayfarer, because it implies a claim contrary to monotheism and abstraction. They even believe that seeing worship, worshipper, worshipped, help-seeker, the one whose help is sought, and seeking help are contrary to monotheism.

In the real monotheism, which appears in the heart of the spiritual wayfarer, such multiplicities vanish, and seeing such affairs is effaced. Yes, those who have come to themselves from the invisible attraction and have attained sobriety, multiplicity does not form a veil for them, because people are of many groups:

A group consists of the veiled, such as we, the helpless, who are wrapped in the dark veils of nature. Another group consists of the saliks, the travellers to Allah, the emigrants to the Court of Holiness.

A third group consists of the united, who have come out of the veils of multiplicity and have been engaged with Allah, neglecting all creatures and veiled against them, as they have undergone a complete swoon and an absolute annihilation.

Another group consists of those who have come back to the creatures, and who have the post of completers and guides, such as the great prophets and their successors (‘a). Although they are among multiplicity and in charge of guiding the people, multiplicity does not veil them, but it forms an isthmus-like state for them.

Consequently, “iyyaka na‘budu wa iyyaka nasta‘n” has different implications in respect of the different groups mentioned above. To us, the veiled, it is a mere allegation and an image. But if we become aware of our veil and recognize our shortcoming, our worship becomes more luminous in proportion to the degree of our awareness of our shortcoming, and becomes, accordingly, accepted by Allah, the Exalted.

To the spiritual wayfarer, it is nearer to the truth in proportion to the traveling step. To the united, in respect of seeing Allah, it is the truth, and, in respect of seeing multiplicity, it is a mere image and a customary act. To the perfect ones, it is mere truth, and so, they have veil neither against Allah nor against the creatures.

A Faithful Awakening

Do know, dear, that as long as we are in this heavy veil of the world or nature, spending our life on colonizing the world and its pleasures, and being negligent of Allah, the Exalted, of remembering Him and of thinking about Him, all our worshipping, invocations and recitations will contain no truth­ neither in al-hamdu llil-Lah (praise is for Allah) we can con fine praises to Allah, nor in iyyaka na’budu wa iyyaka nasta’in can we find a way to the truth.

With these empty claims in the presence of Allah, the Exalted, the favourite angels, the messenger prophets and the infallible guardians, we will be disgraced and humiliated. The one whose tongue of state and speech never stops praising the people of this world, how can he say, “All praise is for Allah?” The one whose heart is inclined to nature, and is empty of any divine scent, and whose dependence is on the people, with which tongue can he utter: “You do we worship and You do we seek help from.”

So, if you are the man for this field, then tuck up the ski1 of determination, and with intense remembrance and contemplation of Allah’s greatness, and of the creature’s humiliation, inability and poverty, try first to convey the facts and the delicate matters mentioned in this thesis, to your heart, and enliven your heart by remembering Allah, the Exalted, so as to bring to your heart's sense of smell a scent of monotheism, and, with the help of the unseen, to find a passage to the salat of the people of knowledge.

If you are not the man for this field, at least you are to continually remember your faults, pay attention to your humility and inability, perform your duties out of shame and disgrace, and avoid claiming servitude. And these noble ayahs, with whose graces you are not acquainted, recite them either through the tongues of the perfect ones, or consider yourself merely reciting the form of the Qur'an, so that, at least, you many not claim a false allegation.

A Juristic Branch

Some jurisprudents see that it is not allowed to intend composition in sentences like iyyaka na’ budu wa iyyaka nasta’in, thinking that it would be a contradiction to the Qur’an and reciting it, since recitation is relating the words of someone else.

Th is talk has no justification, because as one can praise someone with his own words, he can use somebody else’s words for the purpose. For example, if we praised somebody using Hafiz’s poetry, it would be true that we have praised the intended person and it would also be true that we have recited Hafiz’s poetry.

So, if we, by saying “All praise is for Allah, the Lord of the worlds,” actually compose all the praises for Allah, and by saying “You do we worship” we compose the confinement of worship to Allah, it will come true that with Allah’s words we have praised Him, and with Allah’s words we have confined worship to Him.

But if somebody emptied the words from their compositional meaning, he would be acting contrary to precaution, if not to say his reciting would be batil. However, if someone did not know it, it would not be necessary for him to learn it, as the formal reciting with its own meaning would do.

Some of the noble narratives refer to the fact that the reciter composes, as is in the Hadith Qudsi: “When he [the servant] says in his salat:” “In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful,” Allah says: “My servant remembered Me”, and when he says: “All praise is for Allah,” Allah says: “My servant praised Me,” etc.47

If the “bismillah” and “praising” were not composed by the servant, “remembered Me” and “praised Me” would have no meaning. In the hadiths of mi’raj it is said: “Now that you have arrived, recite My Name48 [i.e., say the bismillah].

A Faithful Awakening

Do know, dear, that as long as we are in this heavy veil of the world of nature, spending our life on colonizing the world and its pleasures, and being negligent of Allah, the Exalted, of remembering Him and of thinking about Him, all our worshipping, invocations and recitations will contain no truth­ neither in al-hamdu lil-Lah (praise is for Allah) we can confine praises to Allah, nor iyyaka na’budu wa iyyaka nasta’in can we find a way to the truth.

With these empty claims in the presence of Allah, the Exalted, the favourite angels, the messenger prophets and the infallible guardians, we will be disgraced and humiliated. The one whose tongue of state and speech never stops praising the people of this world, how can he say: “All praise is for Allah” The one whose heart is inclined to nature, and is empty of any divine scent, and whose dependence is on the people, with which tongue can he utter: “You do we worship and You do we seek help from.”

So, if you are the man for this field, then tuck up the skirt of determination, and, with intense remembrance and contemplation of Allah’s greatness, and of the creatures’ humiliation, inability and poverty, try first to convey the facts an d the delicate matters mentioned in this thesis, to your heart, and enliven your heart by remembering Allah, the Exalted, so as to bring to your heart’s sense of smell a scent of monotheism, and, with the help of the unseen, to and a passage to the salat of the people of knowledge.

If you are not the man for this field, at least you are to continually remember your faults, pay attention to your humility and inability, perform your duties out of shame and disgrace, and avoid claiming servitude. And these noble ayahs, with whose graces you are not acquainted, recite them either through the tongues of the perfect ones, or consider yourself merely reciting the form of the Qur'an, so that, at least, you many not claim a false allegation.

A Juristic Branch

Some jurisprudents see that it is not allowed to intend composition in sentences like iyyaka na ‘budu wa iyyaka nasta’in, thinking that it would be a contradiction to the Qur’an and reciting it, since recitation is relating the words of someone else. This talk has no justification, because as one can praise someone with his own words, he can use somebody else’s words for the purpose.

For example, if we praised somebody using Hafiz’s poetry, it would be true that we have praised the intended person, and it would also be true that we have recited Hafiz’s poetry. So, if we, by saying “All praise is for Allah, the Lord of the worlds,” actually compose all the praises for Allah, and by saying “You do we worship” we compose the confinement of worship to Allah, it will come true that with Allah’s words we have praised Him, and with Allah’s words we have confined worship to Him.

But if somebody emptied the words from their compositional meaning, he would be acting contrary to precaution, if not to say his reciting would be batil. However, if someone did not know it, it would not be necessary for him to learn it, as the formal reciting with its own meaning would do.

Some of the noble narratives refer to the fact that the reciter composes, as is in the Hadith Qudsi: “When he [the servant] says in his salat:” “In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful,” Allah says: “My servant remembered Me”, and when he says: “All praise is for Allah,” Allah says: “My servant praised M”, etc.,49

If the “bismillah” and “praising” were not composed by the servant, “remembered Me” and “praised Me” would have no meaning. In the hadiths of mi’raj it is said: “Now that you have arrived, recite My Name50 [i.e., say the bismillah].

From the moods of the Imams of guidance (‘a) on reciting “The Owner of the Day of Judgment” and “You do we worship,” and from their repeating these verses, it is clear that they were composing, not merely reciting, like: Ismail testifies that there is no god but Allah.51

One of the important differences of the ranks of the salat of godly people is due to this very difference in their recitation, as we have already referred to some of it. This, however, would not come about unless the reciter was intending the composition in his recitations and remembrances. Evidences proving this are much more than this. In short, composing these concepts by the divine words is not objectionable.

An Advantage

The linguists say that “worship” means utmost submission and humbleness. They also say that since worshipping is the highest degree of submission, it does not befit except the one who is at the highest degree of existence and perfection, and the greatest of the degrees of grace and benevolence, and as such, worshipping other than Allah is polytheism.

Probably, “worshipping”- which in the Persian language means “adoration” and “servitude”-actually implies more than that which has been said, i.e., it is submission to the Creator and the Lord.

It follows that such a submission is inseparable from taking the worshipped to be the Deity and Lord, or for example, His semblance and manifestation. Consequently, worshipping other than Allah is polytheism and disbelief.

However, absolute submission, without this belief of deciding this meaning, even reluctantly, and even if it reached the utmost submission, would not be a reason for disbelief and polytheism, although some kinds of it are regarded to be haram such as placing the forehead on the dust by way of submission; though this is not worshipping, but it is apparently prohibited.

Therefore, the homage paid by the followers of a religion to their religious leaders, believing that they, too, are servants in need of Allah, the Exalted, for everything-for the existence itself and for its perfection -and that they are good servants who, although can have no advantage, harm, life and death for themselves, are, through their servitude, in the proximity of the court of Allah, the Exalted, and subject to His care, and a means of His grants, cannot be mixed with any blemish of polytheism and disbelief.

To respect the favourites of Allah is to respect Him, and “To love Allah’s elects is to love Allah.” Among the groups of “I call Allah to witness, and Allah is sufficient as a witness,” the group that is-by the blessing of Ahl al-Bayt of revelation and infallibility, the resources of knowledge and wisdom- more excellent in unifying, glorifying and exalting Allah, the Most High, than all other groups of humanity, is the group of the Twelve-Imam Shi’ahs.

Their books of the principles of belief-such as the honourable book of al­ Kafi, and the honourable book of at-Tawhid by al-Shaykh al­Saduq (may Allah be pleased with him) and speeches and invocations of their infallible Imams, which, in unifying and glorying Allah, the Most High, are the issues of the said resources of revelation and inspiration, testify that such sciences were un precedented among humanity, and that no one has glorified and exalted Allah, the Most High, like them, after the Holy revelation of the divine sacred book, the Glorious Qur’an, which is written by the hand of the Omnipotent.

Despite the fact that the Shi’ahs, in all countries and times have been following those infallible, pure and monotheist Imams of guidance, and through their explicit reasoning and proofs they have known Allah, and glorified and unified Him, yet, some groups. whose heresy is quite clear in their beliefs and books. opened the door of contestation and abuse against them, and, owing to the inner hostility which they had, accused the followers or the infallible Ahl al-Bayt of polytheism and disbelief.

Although, in the market of knowledge and philosophy, this is worthless, yet its corrupting effect is that the incomplete people and the ignorant and the common, may be driven away from the sources of knowledge towards ignorance and wretchedness. This is a grave crime against humanity, which is never retrievable.

Concerning this subject, and according to rational and religious criteria, the responsibility of the crime and the sin of this defective, ignorant and helpless group is to be upon the conscience of the unfair who, for their imagined transitory interests prevented the spread of the divine knowledge and precepts, and were the cause of the wretchedness and the adversity of the human species, and rendered all the painful efforts of “the best of men” lost and nil, closing the door of the House of Revelation and the Qur’an in the face or the people. “O Allah, curse them an intense cursing and torture them a painful torment.”

Guide Us To The Straight Path Etc

اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ

Ihdina as-Sirat al-Mustaqim

Guide Us To The Straight Path (1:6).

Do know, dear, that there is a reference in the noble verse of al-Hamd (the Opening) to the conduct of the people of knowledge and austerity, and up to “You do we worship” it covers the complete journey from creation up to Allah.

When the proceeds from the Manifestations of acts to the Manifestations of Attributes, and thence to the Manifestations of Essence, and comes out from the luminous and dark veils, and attains the state of presence and witnessing, there happens complete annihilation and full consumption.

When the journey to Allah ends by the setting of the horizon of servitude and the rise of the sovereignty of ownership in the “Owner of the Day of Judgment,” at the end of this salik there takes place a state of establishment and stability, and the salik comes to himself, and becomes sober and attentive to his own state, but as a result of being attentive to Allah.

This is contrary to the state of returning to Allah, for attending to Allah was a result of attending to the creatures. In other words, during the journey to Allah he used to see Allah in the veil of creation, and after returning from the state of complete annihilation, which takes place in the “Owner of the Day of Judgment.” he sees the creation in the light of Allah, and thus, he says: “You do we worship” giving priority to the object, the addressee, over himself and his worship.

And, as in this position, there may be no stability, and slipping can be imagined, he demands his stability and firmness from Allah, the Exalted, and says: “Guide us” which means: make us firm, as was explained.

It must be noted that the said position and the said explanation are for the perfect ones of the people of knowledge. Their first state is that in the state of returning from the journey to Allah. He, the Exalted, becomes their veil against the creation.

And their state of perfection is the state of great isthmus, in which neither the creation becomes the veil against Allah, such as we, the veiled, nor Allah becomes the veil against creation, such as the eager united, and the attracted annihilated.

So, their “Straight Path” is this isthmus situation, in the middle between the two creations (worlds), and it is the path of Allah. Therefore, “those upon whom You have bestowed favours” are the ones whose aptitude has been established by Allah, the Exalted, through the manifestation of the “Holiest Emanation” in His knowledge, and, after complete annihilation, He has returned them to their kingdom.

“Those inflicted by wrath,” according to this exegesis, are those who are veiled before the union, and “Those who have gone astray” are those who have vanished in the presence. As regards the imperfect ones, if they have not yet started their conduct, these manners will not come true in their respect, and their “path” is the apparent religious form.

For this reason, “the Straight Path” is interpreted to mean “religion,” “Islam” and the like. If they are of the people of conduct, by “guidance” they mean “showing the way,” and by “the Straight Path” they mean the shortest way of reaching Allah, which is the way of Rasul Allah (S) and Ahl al- Bayt (‘a), as the exegetes say that it means the Messenger of Allah, the Imams of guidance and Amir al-Mu’minin [‘Ali] (‘a).

In a hadith it is said that Rasul Allah (S) once drew a straight line in the middle and other lines at its sides and said: “This middle straight line is from me.”52 The expression “a middle nation” in the noble Ayah:

وَكَذَٰلِكَ جَعَلْنَاكُمْ أُمَّةً

“We have made you a middle nation,” (2:143)

probably means an absolute middle covering all meanings, including the middle in knowledge and spiritual perfections, which is an isthmus big position and a great middle. For this reason, this station belongs to the perfect ones of Allah’s friends.

That is why it is in the nan-alive that by this the Imams of guidance (‘a) are intended, as Imam al-Baqir (‘a) says to Yazid ibn Mu’awiyah al-‘Ijli: “We are the middle nation and we are the witnesses of Allah over mankind .”53

In another narrative, he also says: “To us returns the extravagant [ghali] and to us refers the negligent [muqassir],”54 in which hadith there is a reference to what has been said.

An Illuminative Notice And A Gnostic Illumination

Do know, you who are in quest of Allah and truth, that when Allah, the Exalted, created the system of the existence and the demonstration of the invisible and the visible, owing to His essential love to be known in the names and attributes, according to the noble hadith: “I was a Hidden Treasure, then I liked to be known, so I created the creatures to become known,”55

He devised a natural love and innovated an inborn longing in the dispositions of all beings, so that by that divine attraction and godly fire of love they may be driven to go in quest of the absolute perfection and to long for the Absolute Beautiful. For each one of them He assigned a divine inborn light with which they may find the way to the destination and the objective.

These fire and light, the one is the rafrah of arrival, and the other the buraq of ascension-both were heavenly mounts of Rasul Allah (S). Perhaps the “buraq” and the “rafraf” of Rasul Allah (S) were the means of this grace [latifah] and the corresponding worldly image of this truth, and that is why they were sent down from Paradise, which is the ulterior, core of this world.

As the beings have descended in ranks of individuations and have been veiled from the Beautiful Beauty of the Beloved, Glorified His Greatness, Allah, the Exalted, takes them out of the dark veils of individuations and the luminous I-nesses, by the said fire and light and by the blessed name of “the Guide,” which is the reality of these means, so that they may reach the proximity of their Beloved, their real objective, through the shortest way.

Thus, that light is “the guidance” of Allah, the Exalted, and that fire is the divine “assistance” and the journey is on the shortest path, which is the “Straight Path” since Allah, the Exalted, is on that “Straight Path.” It is probably a reference to this guidance, journey and destination that the verse says:

مَا مِنْ دَابَّةٍ إِلَّا هُوَ آخِذٌ بِنَاصِيَتِهَا إِنَّ رَبِّي عَلَىٰ صِرَاطٍ مُسْتَقِيمٍ

“There is no living creature but He holds it by its forelock, surely my Lord is on the Straight Path,” (11:56).

As it is clear to the people of knowledge.

It must be noted that every being has its own path, light and guidance: “The ways to Allah are as many as the breaths of the creatures.”56 And as in every individuation there is a veil of darkness, and in every being and I-ness there is aluminous veil, and as Man is the meeting place of the phenomena and the collector of entities, he is the most veiled of the beings from Allah, the Exalted. The noble Ayah:

ثُمَّ رَدَدْنَاهُ أَسْفَلَ سَافِلِينَ

“Then We reduced him to the lowest of the low” (95:5)

Is probably a reference to this point.

For this reason, the path of humankind is the longest and darkest of all paths. And, as man’s “Lord” is the greatest name of Allah, to Whom the external, the internal the first, the last, mercy, might, and generally, the counter names, all are the same. Man, himself, has to go through the big isthmus stage at the end of his himself, has to go through the big isthmus stage at the end of his journey, and this is the reason why h is “path” is the most delicate of all paths.

A Faithful Notice

As has been said and is known, there are stages and degrees for guidance in respect of the kinds of the journeys of the travellers to Allah and the stages or the conducts of the wayfarer. We shall briefly refer to some of those stages, so that, meanwhile, the “Straight Path,” the “path of the immoderate” and the “path of the extravagant”, who are those who have been “inflicted by wrath” and those who have “gone astray,” can be distinguished according to each one of the stages.

First is that the light of guidance is inherent, as has already been said in the former “notice.” In this stage of guidance, the “Straight Path” is the conduct to Allah without there being any visible or invisible veil, or it is the conduct to Allah without being veiled with body or heart sins, or it is the conduct to Allah without extravagance [ghuluww] or negligence, or it is the conduct to Allah without being veiled with luminous or dark veils, or it is the suluk to Allah without the veils of unity or multiplicity.

Probably the ayah:

وَلَٰكِنْ يُضِلُّ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَيَهْدِي مَنْ يَشَاءُ

“He causes whom He wills to go astray, and guides whom He wills” (16:93 & 35:8).

Is a hint at this stage of guidance and veiling ordained in the Fate, which, to us, is the stage of unity manifested in the immutable essences. Yet, to expand upon this subject is out of the scope of this paper, or it is even beyond the limits of writing it down: “It is one of Allah’s secrets and one of Allah’s covers.”57

Second is guidance by the light of the Qur’an, and on its counter, side is extravagance or negligence in knowing it, or stopping at its exterior or its interior, as some of the formalists believe that the Qur’anic sciences are the ve1y conventional and common meanings and the vulgar and positive concepts, and, on the basis of this belief, they do not meditate upon the Qur’an or contemplate it.

Their advantage from this luminous Book­ which undertakes man’s spiritual, bodily, heart and formal happiness -is confined only to its formal and external instructions. They disregard all those ayahs which enjoin, or recommend, contemplating and remembering the Qur’an and making use of the light of it, by which many doors of knowledge can be opened. It seems as if the Qur’an has been revealed only to invite to the worldly pleasures and animal needs, and just to confirm the station of bestial desires.

Some of the esoteric think that they should turn away from the external meaning of the Qur’an and its formal calls-which are the instructions of observing the disciplines of being in the divine presence and how to travel to Allah. of which they are unaware.

They deviate from the exterior of the Qur’an, deceived by the tricks of the accursed Iblis and the evil-commanding soul, believing themselves to be adherent to its internal sciences, despite the fact that the way to the internal passes through observing the disciplines of the external.

These two groups are at any rate, out of moderation and are deprived of the light of guidance to the Qur’anic Straight Path, and are ascribed to extremism on both sides. The researching scholars and the learned scrutinizers should both the exterior and the interior and observe the formal and the spiritual disciplines, lighting the external with the light of the Qur’an, and the internal with the lights of knowledge, monotheism and abstraction.

Let the people of literalism know that to confine the Qur’an to the disciplines of the external forms and a handful of practical moral instructions and common beliefs about Tawhid, names and attributes, is un-observing the Qur’an’s due respect, and regarding the Shari’ah of the Seal of the Prophets (S) as imperfect, whereas no Shari’ah should be thought to be more perfect than that, as otherwise being the “Seal” would be impossible according to the criterion of justice.

So, as the Islamic Law is the Seal of the divine Laws, and as the Qur’an is the Seal of the revealed Books, and the last connection between the Creator and the creatures, the facts of Tawhid, abstraction and divine knowledge, which are the original objective and the essential aim of the divine religions, laws and the revealed Books, should represent the last of the stages and the utmost peak of perfection, or else, there must necessarily be a shortcoming in the Law, in which case, it would be contrary to the divine justness and the Lord’s kindness, which in itself, is a dishonourable impossibility and an ugly disgrace, which cannot be washed off the true religions by the seven seas-we take refuge in Allah from that!

Let the esoteric know that to reach the original objective, the real end, is nothing but purifying the outside and the inside, and without holding to the outer form and the outside one cannot get to the inside. Without wearing the apparel of the outer form of the Shari’ah, the way to the inside cannot be found. So, neglecting the outside means invalidating both the outside and the inside of the divine Law.

This is one of the tricks of the Satans of the Jinn and Ins. We have explained some aspects of this point in our book “Explanations of Forty hadiths”58 as said before.

Third is guidance by the light of the Shari’ah.

Fourth is guidance by the light of Islam.

Fifth is guidance by the light of faith.

Sixth is guidance by the light of certainty.

Seventh is guidance by the light knowledge.

Eight is guidance by the light of love.

Ninth is guidance by the light of guardianship.

Tenth is guidance by the light of abstraction and monotheism.

Each one of these has the extremes of excessiveness and shortcomings, exaggeration [ghuluww] and negligence. To go into details would make it lengthy. The noble hadith in al-kafi may be a hint at a part, or all, of it. It says: “…We, the offspring of Muhammad, are the moderate type. The extremist would not perceive us, and the follower would not outstrip us.”59

In a hadith from the Prophet (S), it is said: The best of this Ummah is the moderate type. with whom the followers catch up. and to whom the extremists return.60

A Gnostic Notice

Know that for every being of the invisible and visible worlds, and of this world and the Hereafter, there is a beginning and a destination. Although the divine Ipseity is the beginning and the destination of all, the Holy Essence of Allah, the Most High, as He is, would not manifest to the high and low beings without the veil of Names.

According to this state, which is a no­ static that has no name and no form, and is not qualified with the Names of Essence, of Attributes and or Acts, no creature has any relation with Him, nor any connection and mixing: “How can there be any comparison between dust and the Lord of the Lords!”61 - the details of this have been mentioned in our Misbah al-Hidayah.

So, the firstness and the originality [masdariyyat] of His Sacred Essence are in the veils of Names, and as the Name is the very Named itself, it is, at the same time, its veil, too.

Therefore, manifestation in the invisible and visible worlds is according to the Names and is veiled by them. For this reason, His Sacred Essence has, in the display of the Names and Attributes, manifestation in His Knowledge, whose individuals the people of knowledge call “the fixed entities” (figures emblematic of the Names of Allah.

Consequently, each nominal manifestation in His Knowledge requires a fixed entity, and each Name has, by the determination of His Knowledge, in the outer world, and appearance whose origin and end are the same name which is suitable for it; and the return of every being from the world of multiplicity to the invisibility of the name which is its origin and beginning, is its “Straight Path.”

So, everyone has a special journey and a special path, as well as a predestined beginning and end, in His Knowledge, willingly or unwillingly. The difference of the appearances and paths is due to the difference of the apparent and the Names. It must be noted that man’s “stature” in the highest of the high is the collection of names. For this reason, he is reduced to the lowest of the low, and his “path” starts from the lowest of the low and ends up in the highest of the high.

It is the path of those who are favoured by Allah with an absolute favour, the favour of the perfect collection of the names, which is the highest of the divine favours. Other paths, whether the paths of the happy and the “favoured ones”, or the paths of the wretched, stand at either end of extravagance or negligence, in proportion to how much they lack of the emanation of the absolute favour.

So, the path of the perfect ma n alone is that of those who have been absolutely favoured. This path originally is assigned to the Holy person of the Seal of the Prophets (S), and, concomitantly, it is confirmed for other Holy men [Awliya] and prophets.

To understand this talk, and the fact that the generous prophet is the Last Prophet, one needs the understanding of the “Names” and the “Entities”, explained in the book Misbah al-Hidayah. Allah is the guide to the way of uprightness.

Quoting For Further In Formation

The dignified Shaykh Baha’i (may Allah sanctify his soul), in his al- ‘Urwat al-Wuthqa, says: “Although the favours of Allah are too numerous to be numbered by counting as Allah says:

وَإِنْ تَعُدُّوا نِعْمَتَ اللَّهِ لَا تُحْصُوهَا

“And if you count Allah’s favour, you will not be able to number them” (14:34 & 16:18).

Yet, they are of two kinds: the mundane favours and the favours of the Hereafter. Each one of them is either natural or acquired, and each one of them is either spiritual or corporeal. So, they are, overall, eight kinds:

First: mundane, natural and spiritual, such as the blowing of the spirit and the emanation of the intellect and comprehension.

Second: mundane, natural and corporeal, such as the creation of the organs and their powers.

Third: mundane, acquired and spiritual, such as emptying the self from low affairs, and adorning it with pure morals and high faculties.

Fourth: mundane, acquired and corporeal, such as decorating with laudable forms and good ornaments.

Fifth: of the Hereafter, natural and spiritual, such as His, Forgiving the sins or us, and His being pleased with those of us who have already repented. This is the exact text of the Shaykh in this example. It seems that it is a mistake on the part of the copier. Probably he meant to say that Allah, the Exalted, may forgive us without first repenting. Refer to it.

Sixth: of the Hereafter, natural and corporeal, such as rivers of milk and honey.

Seventh: of the Hereafter, acquired and spiritual, such as forgiveness and pleasure [of Allah] preceded by repentance, and as the spiritual pleasure which is concomitant to acts of worship.

Eighth: of the Hereafter, acquired and corporeal such as the bodily pleasures which are obtained by the acts of worship.

The intended favour here is the last four kinds, and the things that are the means of attaining to these kinds from the first four kinds.”62 (The end or the Shaykh’s talk, may Allah sanctify his soul).

Nice as these divisions of the Shaykh are, the most important one of the divine favours, the greatest objective of the noble divine book, has slipped off the Shaykh’s pen. He has satisfied himself with the favours of the imperfect or the medium class. Although in his talk he refers to “spiritual pleasure,” yet the spiritual pleasure of the Hereafter which is obtained by the acts of worship is the share of the middle class, if not the share of the imperfect.

Generally, apart from what the Shaykh has said concerning the animal pleasure and the shares of the soul, there are other favours of which three are important:

One is the favour of knowing the essence and the unity of essence, whose principle is the suluk to Allah, and its result is the paradise of meeting [Allah]. But if the salik’s attention is directed to the result, there can be a default in his suluk because this is the stale of abandoning oneself and its pleasures, whereas caring for the result is caring for oneself, and this is worshipping oneself not Allah. It is multiplication, not unification. It is a [Satanic] disguise, not abstraction.

Another one is the favour of knowing the Names-a favour which is ramified in as many branches as the multiplicity of the Names. If its items are individually counted, they will amount to a thousand, and if it is taken in its two-name or multi-name compounds, it will be uncountable.

وَإِنْ تَعُدُّوا نِعْمَتَ اللَّهِ لَا تُحْصُوهَا

“And if you count Allah’s, you will not be able to number them.” ” (14:34 & 16:18).

The unification of Names, in this state, is the favour of knowing the Greatest Name, which is the slate of the “Collective Oneness of the Names”. The result of knowing the names is the paradise of Names, [for] each person in proportion to knowing a single name or many names, individually or collectively.

The third is the favour of knowing the acts, which also has infinitely many branches. The state of Tawhid in this stage is the collective oneness of the manifestation of Acts, which is the state of the “Holy Emanation” and the slate of the “Absolute Guardianship.” And its result is the paradise of the acts, which is the manifestations of Allah’s acts in the heart of the salik.

The manifestation that happened to Moses, the son of ‘Imran, when he said:

إِنِّي آنَسْتُ نَارًا

“I see a fire.” (20:10 & 27:7 & 28:29).

was probably a manifestation of acts, and the saying of Allah, the Exalted:

فَلَمَّا تَجَلَّىٰ رَبُّهُ لِلْجَبَلِ جَعَلَهُ دَكًّا وَخَرَّ مُوسَىٰ صَعِقًا

“And when his Lord manifested His glory to the mountain. He made it crumble to dust, and Moses fell down in a swoon” (7:143).

Was a manifestation of names or of essence.

Therefore, the path of those “upon whom favour is bestowed,” is in the first place, “the path” of the journey to the essence of Allah, and the “favour” in that instance is the manifestation of the essence. And in the second place, “the path” is the conducts to the names of Allah, and the “favour” in that instance is the manifestation of the names. And in the third place, the journey is to the act of Allah, and its “favour” is the manifestation of the acts.

The people of these states do not seek the common paradises and pleasures, whether spiritual or corporeal. These states, according to some narratives, are confirmed for some believers.63

Conclusion

Know that the blessed Surah al- Fatihah (the Opening), as it contains all the stages of existence, also contains all the stages of conducts and, further, it contains, by way of allusion [ishar’ah], all the objectives of the Qur’an. Delving deep into these matters, though it needs a complete expansion and a logic other than this one, yet to refer to each one of them is not profitless, or rather it has many advantages for the people of knowledge and certitude.

So, in the first place we say that it is possible that “In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful” is a hint at the entire circle of existence and at the two bows of dissension and ascension. So, “Name of Allah” is the state of the oneness of “contraction and expansion”.

“The Beneficent” is the state of “expansion and appearance,” which is the bow of dissension, and “The Merciful” is the state of “contraction and covertness,” which is the bow of ascension. “All praise is for Allah” is possibly a reference to the world of might and the Higher Kingdom, whose realities are the absolute praising.

“The Lord of the worlds” that concerns “education” and “worlds” which is the state of determination, is probably a reference to the worlds of nature, which, by the substance of essence, are moving, passing, and under education. “The Owner of the Day of Judgment” refers to the state of unity. Omnipotence and the return of the circle of existence. Up to here, the entire circle of existence, descending and ascending, has been covered.

In the second place we say that the isti’adhah, which is an act of supererogation, can be a reference to forsaking other than Allah, and running away from the Satanic domain. And, as this a preliminary [stage] to the other states, not a part of them-since abandoning is the preliminary to be adorned [with virtues], and in itself it is not of the states of perfection-therefore, the isti’adhah is not a part of the Surah, but a prelude to enter into it.

The tasmiyah [the bismillah] may point to the state of the unity of acts and of essence, and joining both together. “All praise is for Allah” up to “The Lord of the worlds” may be a reference to the unity of acts.

Perhaps “The Owner of the Day of Judgment” is a hint at complete annihilation and unity of essence, and from “You do we worship” the state of sobriety and return starts. In other words, isti’adhah is a journey from the creatures to Allah, a coming out of the house of the soul.

“Tasmiyvah” is a reference to “realizing the love of Allah” [tahaqquq beh haqqaniyyat] after taking off creation and multiplicity. “All praise is for Allah” up to “The Lord of the worlds” is a reference to the journey from Allah, by Allah and in Allah. This journey terminates by “The owner of the Day of Judgment.” In “You do we worship” the journey from Allah to the creatures begins with the attainment of sobriety and return. This journey ends with “Guide us to the Straight Path.”

In the third place we say we say that this noble verse contains the main divine objectives in the Qur’an, since the principal objectives of the Qur’an are: the completion of knowing Allah and acquiring the three unities, the connection between Allah and the creatures, how to travel to Allah, the return of the divine means to the “Truth of the truths”, introducing the divine manifestations, collectively [jam’an] and distinctly, in single and in compound, directing the creatures, in suluk and in realization, and teaching the servants, in knowledge, practice, Gnosticism and vision.

All these facts are contained in these noble verses, much brief and short as it is. Therefore, this noble Surah is “The Opening of the Book.” “The Mother of the Book” and the general form of the objectives of the Qur’an.

And as all the objectives of the Divine Book return to a single objective, i.e., the truth of monotheism, which is the goal of all prophethood and the ultimate aim of all the great prophets (‘a), and the truths and the secrets of monotheism are contained in the noble verse of bismillah, so, this noble verse is the greatest of the divine ayahs and contains all the objectives of the Divine Book, as is confirmed by the noble tradition.64

As the “ba” is the appearance of Tawhid, and the dot65 under it is its secret, the whole Book, its overt and covert, is in that “ba”. And the perfect man, that is, the blessed person of ‘All (‘a) is the very dot of the secret of Tawhid.66

There is no ayah in the world greater than that blessed person after the Seal of the Messengers (S), as is stated in the noble hadith.67

Completion

Some noble narratives related about the merit [fadhl] of this blessed Surah:

Rasul Allah (S) has been quoted to have said to Jabir ibn ‘Abdullah al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him): “O Jabir, don’t you want me to teach ‘you the most merited Surah revealed by Allah in His Book?” Jabir said: “O yes, may my father and mother be your ransom, Messenger of Allah, teach me, “He, thus. taught him [Surah] “al-Hamd,” the mother of the Book.

Then he said: “O Jabir, don't you want me to tell you about it?” “Yes, may my father and mother be your ransom, Messenger of Allah, tell me”, said Jabir. “It is a cure for every ailment except death,” he said.68

Ibn ‘Abbas related that Rasul Allah (S) once said: “For everything there is a foundation. The foundation or the Qur’an is ‘the Opening’ is bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim (In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful).69

He is also quoted to have said: “The Opening verse of the Book is the cure for every illness.”70

Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq (‘a) is quoted to have said that if the verse or the Opening did not cure a person, nothing else would cure him.71

Imam ‘Ali (‘a) is quoted to have said that Rasul Allah (S) said: “Allah, the Exalted, told me:

وَلَقَدْ آتَيْنَاكَ سَبْعًا مِنَ الْمَثَانِي وَالْقُرْآنَ الْعَظِيمَ

“O Muhammad, we have given you Sab’ al-Mathani [another name of the Surah of the “Opening”] and the great Qur’an.” (15:87)

I am graced with a separate favour by the Opening of the Book, which is put on the same level as the Qur’an. Indeed, the Opening of the Book is the honoured thing in the treasures of the ‘Arsh, and Allah, the Exalted, has bestowed its honour Muhammad (S), sharing no one of the prophets in it, except Solomon, to whom Allah gave the Bis1lillah of the Opening Surah, i.e., Bismillah ir-Rahim, as Bilqis says:

إِنِّي أُلْقِيَ إِلَيَّ كِتَابٌ كَرِيمٌ

“An honourable letter has been thrown to me. (27:29).

إِنَّهُ مِنْ سُلَيْمَانَ وَإِنَّهُ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

It is from Solomon, and it is: In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.” (27:30)

So, whoever recites it, believing in loving Muhammad and his offspring, obeying its command and believing in its outside and inside, Allah, the Exalted, will grant him, for each of its letters a favour, which is in fact, preferred to the whole world and whatever is in it of different kinds of properties and good things.

Whoever listens to it being recited will get one-third of that which is given to its reciter. So, let everyone of you increase his share of this blessing offered to him, as it is a chance that you must not be late in taking it, otherwise your hearts will regret it much.72

Imam al-Sadiq (‘a) is quoted to have said: “It is no wonder if [the Surah of] al-Hamd is recited seventy times over a dead and it comes back to life.”73

Rasul Allah (S) is quoted to have said: “Whoever recites the Surah of ‘the Opening of the Book’ will get the reward of reciting two-thirds of the Qur’an.74 Another narration says: “It will he like reciting the whole Qur’an.”75

Ubay ibn Ka’b narrated: “I recited to Rasul Allah (S) the verse of the Opening.” He said: “By the One in Whose life is my soul, Allah did not reveal in the Torah, nor in the Gospel, the Psalms or the Qur’an a Surah like “The Opening of the Book.”

It is Umm al-Kitab (The Mother of the Book) and Sab’ al-Mathani (the repeated seven. It is divided between Allah and His servant, and it is for His servant to demand whatever he wants.”76

Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman (may Allah pleased with him) is quoted to have said that Rasul Allah (S) said: “Allah, the Exalted, may send an inevitable punishment upon a nation. Then one of their children recites: ‘All praise is for Allah, the Lord of the worlds,’ in the Book of Allah. On hearing this, Allah, The Most High, postpones torturing them for forty years.”77

Ibn ‘Abbas said that once they were sitting with Rasul Allah (S) when an angel came and said: “Good tidings to you for the two lights which have been given to you, and never given to the prophets before you. They are ‘The Opening of the Book’ and the seals of the Surah al-Baqarah.” No one recites a single word of them unless his demand is granted.

This narrative is also related in “Majma’ al-Bayan” with the same content.

• 1. Tawhid, chapter 31, hadith 1, p. 229, Ma’ani al-Akhbar, vol. 3.
• 2. This aspect of the meaning of the bismillah is stated by Muhy al-Din ibn al­’Arabi in his al-Futuhat al-Makkiyyah, vol. 1, p 102.
• 3. Usul al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 49, “Book of at-Tawhid”, chapter on “The will is Among the Attributes of Action 4: Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 4, p. 145.
• 4. Mur’at al-Uqul, vol. 2, p. 19; al-Wafi, vol 1, p 100.
• 5. Al-Wafi, vol. 1, see. on “knowing His Attributes and Names, the Glorified,” chapter on “The Attributes of the Act,” explanation of Hadith 4, p 100.
• 6. Usul al-Kafi, vol. 1, “Book of al-Tawhid,” “Rarities,” hadith 4, p 196.
• 7. From the noble invocation called Du’a as-Simat. See Misbah al-Mutahajjid.
• 8. Extracted from the du’as as-Simat. Misbah al-Mutahajjid, p. 376.
• 9. Of an invocation from the Messenger of Allah (S) in his prostration. Furu’ al­ Kafi, vol. 3, p 389; hadith 21.
• 10. Misbah al-Mutahajjid wa Silah al-Muta’abbid, p.308.
• 11. “So he was at the measure of two bows or closer still,”( Surah al-Najm 53:9).
• 12. Misbah al-Hidayat is a book written in the Arabic language by Imam Khomeini (may Allah sanctify his honourable soul), explaining some truths and knowledge concerning the caliphate and guardianship. In the preface to this honourable book he says: “I like to uncover for you, in this paper, by the help of Allah, the guardian of guidance in the beginning and in the end, an indication of the Muhammadan caliphate, and an exudation of the truth of the ‘Alawiyan guardianship (upon them be the greeting from the beginning to eternity) and how they spread through the invisible and visible worlds.... or rather it should be named: Misbah al-Hidayat to caliphate and guardianship I ask Allah success. as He is the best assistant and company, and I ask His pure: guardians their patronage in this world and in the other world….” The writer finished writing the hook in the month of Shawwal, 1349 A H”.
• 13. The exegesis of Du’a ‘al-Sahar is of the exudations of the pen of Imam Khomeini (may Allah be pleased with him) in Arabic. The aim of writing it as the exegete himself says, was to explain some aspects of the noble invocation called “Mubahilah,” (the invocation of Sahar has been narrated from the pure Imam [‘a]). The writing of this noble book was complete in 1349, L.H.
• 14. Ma’ani al-Akhbar, p 3; Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 89, p. 229.
• 15. Usul al-Kafi, vol. 4, p. 340, “the Book of the Invocation,” chapter on “Invoking on Calamities.” hadith 6: As Sahifah al-Sajjadiyyah, Invocation 54.
• 16. Ilm al-Yaqin, vol.1, p 57.
• 17. Jalal al-Din al-Suyun, al-Durr al-Manthur fi Tafsir bi’l-Ma’thur, vol. 1, p. 9, Quoted from al-Asma’ wa’s-Sifat by al- Bayhaqi.
• 18. A current proverb, Asrar al-Hikam, by Sabzewari, p. 52.
• 19. This is a reference to a line of poerty by Mawlawi.
• 20. This refers to a line of poetry by Hafiz, in which he says: “I did not reach the far away palace of the phoenix (of truth) by myself: I could cover it only by the help of Solomon's bird (the hoopoe, i.e. the guide of wisdom)”.
• 21. A reference to Surah Ta Ha:
  فَاخْلَعْ نَعْلَيْكَ إِنَّكَ بِالْوَادِ الْمُقَدَّسِ
  Fakhlae na’alayk 'innaka bi al-wad al-muqaddas
  “….put off your shoes, you are in the sacred valley…” (20:12).
• 22. Misbah al-Shari’ah, chapter 5: 'Awali al-La’ali, vol. 1, p. 389.
• 23. Usul al-Kafi, vol. 3, p. 152. "Book of faith and Disbelief.'' chapter on Thanking, hadith 18.
• 24. Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 90, p. 210, quoted from Shaykh al-Tusi, al-Amali, vol. 1, p. 18.
• 25. Mustadrak al-Wasa 'il, printed by the Ahl al-Bayt Foundation, vol. 5. p. 314.
• 26. Makarim al-Akhlaq, p. 307, section 10, chapter 3 on praising Allah (with a slight difference).
• 27. Reference untraceable.
• 28. Insh’a-Dawa’ir, p.28.
• 29. The rest of the Verses of Surah Al-Hashr read as follows:
  هُوَ اللَّهُ الَّذِي لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْمَلِكُ الْقُدُّوسُ السَّلَامُ الْمُؤْمِنُ الْمُهَيْمِنُ الْعَزِيزُ الْجَبَّارُ الْمُتَكَبِّرُ ۚ سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ
  He is Allah, besides Whom there is no god; the King, the Holy, the Giver of peace, the Granter of security, Guardian over all, the Mighty, the Supreme, the Possessor of every greatness Glory be to Allah from what they set up (with Him). (59:23).
  هُوَ اللَّهُ الْخَالِقُ الْبَارِئُ الْمُصَوِّرُ ۖ لَهُ الْأَسْمَاءُ الْحُسْنَىٰ ۚ يُسَبِّحُ لَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ۖ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ
  He is Allah the Creator, the Maker, the Fashioner; His are the most excellent names; whatever is in the heavens and the earth declares His glory; and He is the Mighty, the Wise. (59:24).
• 30. Poetry by Mawlawi
• 31. ‘Ilm al-Yaqin, vol.I, p. 381.
• 32. Uyun Akhbar al-Rida, vol. 2: al-Jami’ah al-Kabirah, invocation, p. 272.
• 33. Masari al-Masari, by Khwajah Nasiruddin, edited by Mu’izzi, p. 141.
• 34. The lovers’ religion and creed is Allah. (Mawlawi)
• 35. Such as: “Recite as the people recite” or “Recite as you have learnt,” Wasa,’il ash-Shi'ah, vol. 4, “The Book of as-Salat,” chapter on “Recitation in the Salat” chapter 74, hadiths 1-3, p 821
• 36. Surah Al-Waqi’ah, 56:85.
• 37. Ilm al-Kafi, vol. 1, p. 54.
• 38. Usul al-Kafi, vol.. 170, “Book of al-Tawhid.” chapter on “movement and Mobility.” Hadith 3.
• 39. Usul al-Kafi, vol.. 170, “Book of al-Tawhid.” chapter on “movement and Mobility.” Hadith 4.
• 40. Usul al-Kafi. vol. 1. pp. 131-132.
• 41. Al-Asfar al-Arba‘ah, vol. 7, p, 32: Asrar al-Hikam, p. 559.
• 42. Al-Ash’ athiyyah, p. 212, chapter on “What Necessitates Patience;” Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 2, p. 39, “Book of Knowledge.” hadith 72, From Majalis of Shaykh Mufid.
• 43. “When evil appeared, in the morning and in the evening, naked, and there remained but hostility. We so judged them as they did.” Poetry by Sahl Shayban, Jami’ al-Shawahid, chapter on “F and I,” p 185.
• 44. Abu ‘Abdullah al-Sadiq (‘a) said “The (hidden) polytheism is stealthier than the crawling of the ants.” He also said: “... of it is (resorting to) turning the ring to remember a thing, and the like.” Ma’ant al-Akhbar, p. 379, chapter on “Rare Meanings,” hadith 1; Bihar al-Anwar, vol 69, p 96.
• 45. Usul al-Kafi, vol. 1, p. 191, “Book of Monotheism.” chapter on “General Hadiths on Monotheism.” hadith 6.
• 46. Was’il al-Shi’ah, vol. 5, p. 379, “Book of as-Salat,” section on: Congregational salat,” chapter 4, hadiths 2 and 5.
• 47. Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 92, p. 226, Muslim’s Sahih, vol. 2, p. 92, with a slight difference in words.
• 48. Hal al-Shara’i, p. 315, of the hadith “Salat al-Mi’raj.”
• 49. Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 92, p. 226, Muslim’s Sahih, vol. 2, p. 92, with a slight difference in words.
• 50. ‘Hal al-Shara’i’, p. 315, of the hadith “Salat al-Mi’raj.”
• 51. This is a sentence which, according to narration, Imam al-Sadiq (‘a) wrote on the shroud of his deceased son. It is said that a group of the Muslims, called the Akhbaris, who used to literally apply the texts of the akhbar [hadiths], used to write this.
• 52. A nearly similar narrative is related in ‘Ilm al- Yaqin. vol. 2, p. 967.
• 53. Usul al-Kafi, vol. 1, p. 270, “The Book of Divine Proof”, chapter “The Imams are the Witnesses of Allah over His Creatures.” hadith 2.
• 54. Al-Ayyashi’s Exegesis, vol. 1, p. 63, hadith 111.
• 55. Asrar al-Hikam, p. 20.
• 56. A hadith ascribed to the Messenger of Allah (S) Sayyid Haydar Amuli, Jami’ al-Asrar wa Manba’ al-Anwar, pp. 8, 95 and 121; Lahiji’s Commentary on Gulshan-e Raz, p. 153; Naqd an-Nusus, p 185: Minhaj al- Talibin, p. 221; al­ Usul al-Ash’ arah. p. 31.
• 57. Ascribed to Amir al-Mu’minin [‘Ali] (‘a), Al-Tawhid, p. 383. Chapter on “Fatalism.” hadith 32.
• 58. The full book is available online at: https://www.al-islam.org/forty-hadith-exposition-second-revised-edition-...
• 59. Usul al-Kafi, vol. 1, p. 136. “Book of Monotheism.” chapter on “Forbidding any Attribute…” Hadith 3.
• 60. Lisan al- ‘Arab, entry “namat”, vol. 7, p. 416, quoting Imam ‘Ali (‘a).
• 61. ‘Afif Usayran, editor of the book, “Preliminaries” of ‘Ayn al-Qudat, on page 276 of that book, has put it as a hadith, Asrar al-Hikam by Sabzewari, p. 23.
• 62. Al-‘Urwat al- Wuthqa, p. 38.
• 63. Bihar Al-Anwar, vol. 77, p. 23.
• 64. Bihar al-Anwar, 92, p. 238. Three hadiths are narrated in this respect.
• 65. There may be an objection to our saying: the dot under the “ba”, that in the Kafi penmanship which was common when the Qur’an was revealed, there were no dots (in the alphabet). To this, one may say that this fact and reality will make no difference, although its role appeared late, which, in fact, had no effect on the facts. Rather, there is not decisive evidence in support of the said claim, mere convention is not a proof of absolute non-existence. So, think it over.
• 66. “I am the dot under the “ba”,” Asrar al-Hikam, p. 559.
• 67. Al-Safi’s Exegesis, vol. 2, p. 779, commenting on the noble ayah: “About the great event” (Surah Al-Naba, 78:2).
• 68. Al- ‘Ayyashi’s Exegesis, vol. 1, p. 20, hadith 9.
• 69. Majma’ ul-Bayan, vol. 1, p. 17.
• 70. Majma’ ul-Bayan, vol. 1, p. 17.
• 71. Al- ‘Ayyashi’s Exegesis, vol 1, o 20, Bihar al-Anwar, vol 89, p 237, hadith 34.
• 72. ‘Uyun Akhbar ar-Rida, vol 1, p. 301, under the title. “Concerning the Different Narratives Quoted from Imam ‘Ali ibn Musa.” hadith 60, Bihar al­ Anwar, vol. 89, p 227, hadith 5.
• 73. Nur ath-Thaqalayn Exegesis, vol. 1, p. 4, commenting on the Surah of al-Hamd, hadith 8.
• 74. Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 89, p. 259, Majma’ al-Bayan, vol. 1, p. 17.
• 75. Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 89, p. 259, Majma’ al-Bayan, vol. 1, p. 17.
• 76. Majma’ al-Bayan, vol. 1, p. 17.
• 77. Al-Tafsir al-Kabir, vol. 1, p. 178.