This section includes the tafsir (explanation) of the blessed surah of al-ahmad, and a part of the tafsir of the blessed surahs of at-Tauhid and ai-Qadr. It is the most favoured section of this thesis. It covers a number of "torches"

Torch One

General Disciplines of Reciting the Glorious Qur'an Discussed in a Few Chapters

CHAPTER ONE

One of the important disciplines of reciting the Divine Book, shared by the gnostic and the common man, and which brings about good results causing luminosity for the heart and the interior life, is to regard it with "reverence", which depends on realizing its greatness and majesty. This, however, is, actually, Out of the scope of explanation and beyond the human capacity, because understanding the greatness of a thing depends on understanding its truth, while the truth of the Divine Holy Qur'an, before being sent down to the stages manazil of creation and before undergoing practical modes atwar, is of the affairs shu'un of His Essence and of the facts of Knowledge in His Unity hadrat-j wahidiyat. It is the truth of a "Self-speech" kalam-i nafsi according to the spiritual is me "Essential Argument' muqari'a-i dhatiyah in His Names. This appears to no one, neither by means of formal sciences or cordial knowledge nor by unseen disclosure, except through complete divine revelation blessed person of the Final Prophet (S.A.), in the intimacy of qaba (at the distance of two bows' length), or even in the secret privacy of (or nearer). The hand of hope of the human species is short of that, that of the sincere of Allah's friends who, according to the spiritual

lights and the divine facts, share in the spirituality of the Prophet's sacred essence and, through their complete subordination, they vanished in him. They receive the disclosing knowledge by inheriting it from him, and the truth of the Qur'an may be reflected in their hearts, with the same luminosity an perfection with which it appeared in the heart of that great personality, Without its descending to (mundane) stations and taking (mundane) forms. That is without change and alteration, and it is of the book of divine revelation the )ne capable of carrying this Qur'an is the noble person of the absolute friend )f Allah. 'Mi ibn Abi Talib (A.S.). Others cannot take this fact in, unless descends from the station of ghayb (the invisible) to the station of visibility and takes the seen form, wearing the apparel of mundane words and letters. This is ne of the meanings of "changing" tahrif or alteration which has occurred in all Divine Scriptures as well as the Qur'an, changing all the noble ayahs, which, with a change, or rather many changes, according to the stations and stages 'which continue from His "Names" to the last of the worlds of vision and visibility, are placed within the reach of man. The number of the stages of the change corresponds to the number of the stages of the butun of the Qur'an exactly. The meaning of the change tahrif here is the descent from absolute ghayb to absolute visibility, in accordance with the degrees of the worlds, whereas the butun is the return from absolute visibility to absolute ghayb. So. it beginning of the change, and the beginning of the butun are opposed. (whenever a salik attains to a stage of the butun, he gets rid of a degree of the Lange. When he arrives at the absolute butun, which is the seventh, according the general classification, he absolutely gets rid of the change tahrif So, it maybe that the Qur'an appears to some to be full of different changes. To another, it may appear with few changes, while to a third it appears with no change at all. It may also appear to somebody changed in some instances and unchanged in some others, or with some sorts of changes in a third instance As you know, understanding the greatness of the Qur'an is beyond the paucity of the intellect. Yet, a general hint at the greatness of this Divine Book, which is within the reach of everybody, is of many advantages.

Do know, dear, that the greatness of a speech or a book is derived from the greatness of the speaker and the writer, from the greatness of its contents and objectives from the greatness of its results and fruits, from the greatness of its intermediate conveyer, from the greatness of its receiver and its carrier, front the greatness of its keeper and protector, from the greatness of its commentator' and explainer or from the greatness of the time of its being sent down and how it was sent. Some of these, however, arc by nature the causes of greatness others are indirectly so, and some arc proofs of the greatness. All the said matters are contained in this luminous Book in their very best and satisfaction, or, actually they are its distinguished characteristics. No other book shares them with it, or covers all of them comprehensively.

As regards the greatness of the speaker, the composer and its owner, He is the Absolute Great, for all kinds of greatness that can be imagined on the earth and in the heavens, and all powers descending in the visible and the invisible, are but a seepage of the manifestations of the greatness of the act of His Sacred Essence. Allah, the Exalted, would not show Himself to anybody through manifesting His Greatness from behind thousands of veils and curtains, as a hadiths says: "Allah has seventy. thousand veils (of light and darkness, if removed away, the lights of His Face would burn everything other than Him.)⁽²⁷⁷⁾ To the people of knowledge, this noble Book has issued from Allah, the Exalted, the Origin of all affairs of' the Essence, Attributes and Acts, and of all mal1ife stations of Beauty and Majesty. The other divine Books do not enjoy a similar status and position. As regards the greatness of the contents, objectives and subjects, it requires a separate Chapter, or, say separate Chapters, sections, a thesis or a book, that one may relate only a part of that. We shall, nevertheless, generally refer, in a separate Chapter, to its universal principles. In the said Chapter we shall point out, insha 'Allah, its greatness in respect of its results and Outcome.

As regards the greatness of the messenger and the conveyer of its revelation he is the Faithful Gabriel, the Great Spirit. Alter that the noble Messenger of Allah (S.A.) had quitted the apparel of the nature of the flesh and directed the heart towards His Majesty, he got in touch with that Great Spirit. He is one of the four pillars of the House of Realization, or rather he is the greatest of its pillars and the most honourable of them, since that noble and luminous Archangel is the guardian of knowledge and wisdom, and the conveyer of the spiritual provisions and moral nourishments. From the Book of Allah and the noble hadiths one realizes the greatness of Gabriel and his preference to other angels. ⁽²⁷⁸⁾ As regards the greatness of its receiver and carrier, it is the pure and pious, Ahmadan single 'ahmadi-i ahad;', Muhammadan collective j'am i-i muhammadi heart, to which Allah, the Exalted, appeared in all affairs sh'un of the Essence, Attributes, Names and Acts. He (the Prophet) is the Seal of prophethood and the absolute guardian, the most generous of all creation, the best of the human beings, the gist khulasah of the universe, the essence jauharah of existence, the substance 'usarah of the House of Realization, the last brick and the owner of the big isthmus and great vicegerency khilafat. As regards the greatness of its keeper and guardian, He is the Sacred Essence of Allah, the Exalted as He says in the noble ayah: "It is We Who have sent down the Reminder ( the Qur'an ) , and verily We are its keeper."⁽²⁷⁹⁾

As regards its commentators and explainers, they are the pure infallible ones - beginning with the Messenger of Allah and ending with "the Proof of he Time" 'hujjat-i 'asr', may Allah enhance his rise - who are the keys of existence, the deposits of dignity, the sources of wisdom and inspiration, the origins of knowledge and learning, and the possessors of the state of collectivity 'am' and distinctness tafsil. As regards the time of revelation, it is laylatul Qadr (The night of the qadr), which is the greatest of nights and "better than a thousand months". is the most luminous of times. In fact, it is the time of the attainment wusul of the General Guardian waliy-i mutlaq and the Seal of the Prophets (S.A.). As regards how it was revealed and its relevant ceremonies, they arc beyond the limits of the capacity of these few papers. They require a special r, Which, owing to its elaboration, will have to be omitted.

Know that the Glorious (Divine) Book, as it declares itself, is a book of guidance, showing the way to human conduct, to educate the souls, to cure the Spiritual sicknesses and to throw light on the road to Allah. Generally speaking, Allah, due to His All-Embracing mercy upon His servants, sent this Glorious Book from His Sacred state of proximity, down, in :ion to the descending worlds until it reached this world of darkness and of nature and was put in the dress of words and letters in order to those imprisoned in this world's dark dungeon and to unite those by the fetters of hopes and desires, lifting them from the lowest level of shortcomings, weakness and animality to the peak of perfection, strength humanity, taking them away from Satan's neighborhood to the company evenly people, and to lead them to the state of "proximity" so as to let attain to the stage of meeting Allah, which is the highest objective and the want of the people of Allah. So, this is the Book of inviting to Allah an happiness, and explaining how to attain to that stage. Its contents, generally concern this same journey to Allah, or help the salik and traveler to Allah ' short, one of its important objectives is to invite (mankind) to know Allah and (another is) to explain divine knowledge concerning the affairs of the Essence Names, Attributes and Acts. At the top of this is the Unity of Essence, Nam and Acts, some of which are explicitly mentioned and some others are only hinted at. It should be noted that this comprehensive Divine Book deals with the above-mentioned information, from knowing the Essence to knowing the Acts, in such a way that each class of the people comprehends of it according to its capacity. The noble ayahs on tauhid, and on the Unity of Acts in particular, are explained by the literalist scholars the traditionalists and the faqihs (may Allah be pleased with them) in such a way that their explanations are entirely contrary to the explanations of the people of knowledge and the scholars of the latent meaning of the Qur'an. The writer believes that each of these explanations is correct in its own place, since the Qur'an cures the internal pains, and treats each patient in a certain way: See different noble Ayahs, such as: "He is the First and the Last, and the Outward and the Inward"⁽²⁸⁰⁾, "Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth"⁽²⁸¹⁾, "And He it is Who in the heaven is God and in the earth is God"⁽²⁸²⁾, "And He is with you"⁽²⁸³⁾, "Wherever you turn there is Allah's face"⁽²⁸⁴⁾, and many others on the Unity of Essence, and the last ayahs of the surah of al-Hashr and other ones On the Unity of Attributes, and the ayahs "And you threw not when you did throw, but Allah threw,"⁽²⁸⁵⁾ "All praise is for Allah, the Lord of the worlds"⁽²⁸⁶⁾ and "All that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth glorify Allah,"⁽²⁸⁷⁾ concerning the Unity of Acts. Some of them strictly, and some others more strictly, have gnostic indications. For each class of the external and the internal scholars each of them is the remedy, in a way, for an illness. As, although it is said in the noble al-Kafi⁽²⁸⁸⁾ that the first ayahs of surah al-Hadi' and the blessed surah of Ikhlas Tauhid were intended for the deep thinkers of the Time", yet the people of' literalism arc also benefited by them a fact which proves the miraculous ness and the comprehensiveness of this noble Book.

Of its other objectives and topics is its call for purifying the souls and purging the insides from the impurities of nature, and attaining to happiness. Generally. it shows how to travel to Allah. This noble subject is divided into important branches: One is taqwa in all its stages, including bewaring of than Allah, and complete negligence of all other than Him. The other is in all its stages and affairs, including devotion to Allah, and return and repentance to His Sacred Essence. These are of the important objectives of this as most of its subjects, directly or indirectly, connote them. Another subject of this Divine Book is to relate the stories of the friends and the wiremen, and how He educated them, and they educated the people. These stories arc of great advantages and cover instructions. They include so many pieces of divine information, teachings and divine educational instructions, either openly or allegorically that perplex the mind. Glorious is Allah and praise and gratitude are for Him. Just take the story of the creation of Adam (A.S.), the angels' being ordered to bow down to him, the teaching of the names and the cases of Iblis and Adam (A.S.) which arc repeatedly narrated in the Book of Allah. They offer so many teachings, educational instructions, knowledge and information for "him who has a or gives ear and he is a witness"⁽²⁸⁹⁾ that bewilder man. The stories of the Qur'an, such as the stories of Adam, Moses, Ibrahim and other prophets (AS.) are repeatedly stated in order to show that this Book is neither a book of stories nor of history, but a book 01' journeying to Allah, a book of tauhid, knowledge, admonitions and aphorisms. In such matters repetition is required so as to fix them in the hard-hearted souls and to have effects as an admonition to them. In other words, whoever wants to educate, teach, warn and bring good tidings, has to express his intentions in different styles and diverse ways, such as narrations and tales, or historical stories, and sometimes in quite an explicit mt1es by way of allusion and indirect hints, symbols and examples, SO that different souls and scattered hearts can each be benefited by them. As this noble Book is intended for the happiness of all classes anti the human race, and as the human species differ in the condition of their hearts, j their customs, behaviors, time and place, they cannot be attracted in the same way. Many of them may not be prepared to accept the instructions and the original matter in a direct, clear and explicit language, or to be affected by it. They are to be approached in accordance with the construction of their brains in order to make them comprehend what is intended. Some others are not interested in stories, tales and histories, as they are in quest of the cores of the matters and the real aims. They cannot be taken on the same basis with the former ones. Many hearts are fit for being frightened and warned, other hearts are attracted by promises and hopes. Consequently, this noble Book uses different methods, styles and ways for its invitaion of the people. Thus, such a Book has inevitably to resort to repetition. Attracting and admonishing, without repetition, would be far from eloquence. The expected effect in the souls cannot be obtained without repetition. Nevertheless, in this noble Book, the topics are so sweetly related that their repetition never bores the hearers. Furthermore, each repetition of a subject brings fresh details and features that have not formerly been mentioned, or rather in each repetition there is an additional important gnostic or ethical point around which the case revolves. In order to expand upon this, one has to carefully study the stories of the Qur'an, which cannot be contained within the summaries of these papers. This weak person (the writer) has a fixed hope to write, with Allah's help, a book about the stories of the Qur'an, deciphering their puzzles and explaining their teachings and educational qualities as much as possible, though carrying out this task by somebody like the writer is hut a raw desire, or a false fancy. At any rate, relating the stories of the prophets (A.S.), describing their conducts and behaviors, how they educated the people, and remembering their advices, admonitions and good arguments are of the largest Chapters of Knowledge and philosophies and of the loftiest passages to happiness and instructions which Allah, the Exalted and Most Glorified, opened to His servant Although the people of knowledge, suluk and austerity have their share plentifully other people also have their boundless portion, as is stated in the noble ayahs "When the night overshadowed him, he saw a star. He said: 'This is JY Lord.' But when it set, he said: 'I do not love the 5ttii(g (ones)".⁽²⁹⁰⁾ The people of knowledge well understand the spiritual suluk and the conduct of Ibrahim (A.S.). They also learn how to travel to Allah, and perceive the truth of the self's spiritual journey from the farthest (deepest) darkness of nature , expressed in "the night over-shadowed him", till absolutely casting down the egoism and egotism, leaving 1-ness and self worship, attaining to the state of sanctity and joining the meeting of intimacy, which is expressed in: "I have turned my face toward Him Who created the heavens and the earth "⁽²⁹¹⁾

Others learn from it the outer journey and how Khalilul-Rahman (the intimate friend of the Beneficent) educated his people. Likewise, there are other stories and tales, such as the stories of Adam, Ibrahim, Moses, Yusuf (Joseph), 'IsA(Jesus) and the meeting between al-khidr (Elias) and Moses, by which the people of knowledge, austerity and hardship, and others are benefited differently. in this part included, or in a separate objective, are the aphorisms and the admonitions of His Sacred Essence, Who, on every suitable occasion, has invited the people, with His tongue of Power, to divine knowledge, Tauhid and glorification such as the blessed surah of Ikhlas, the last ayahs of the surah of al-Hashr and the early ayahs of the surah of al-Hadid and other instances in the noble divine Book. The people of heart and of good past enjoy a good share of it. For example, when the people of knowledge reciter: "And whoever leaves his house migrating to Allah and His Messenger, then death overtakes him, his reward is, indeed , with Allah…"⁽²⁹²⁾they understand from t the proximity ,of toe nafilah (supererogatory act) and faridah (obligatory act) While

at the same time, other understand from it a bodily migration say, to say to Mecca or to al-Madinah, or they understand it to be an invitation to purifying the soul and internal austerity, as in the noble ayah: " He will, indeed, he successful who purifies it, and he will, indeed, be unsuccessful who seduces it,"⁽²⁹³⁾ and the like; or it is a call to good deed, as ii is obvious or is a warning against anyone of these things. This part also includes the aphorism of Luqman and of other notables and believers which are sporadically mentioned in this divine Book, such as the case of "the people of the Cave" Another subject of this luminous Book concerns the states of the disbelievers, the deniers and the opposers of the truth and reality, and those who act obstinately towards the prophets and the Imams (A.S.). It explains their fates and how they were annihilated, such as the episodes of Pharaoh, Korah, Nimrod, Shaddad, the People of the Elephant, and other disbelievers and sinners, in all of which there arc admonitions, aphorisms and even knowledge for those who deserve them. This part includes the cases of the accursed Iblis, as well as the expeditions of the Messenger of Allah (S.A.), (or in a separate part) from which noble subjects arc also learnt, such as how the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (S.A.) used to fight in order to waken the Muslims from the sleep of negligence, and to incite them to fight for the sake of Allah to uplift the word of truth and to abolish the batil (falsehood). Another subject dealt with in the Glorious Qur'an is explaining the pure laws of the literal meaning of the Shar1'ah and the disciplines and divine rules, which are stated in this luminous Book, in a general way, the most important of which is introducing the principal subjects and disciplines, such as the Chapters of the salat, zakat, khums, hajj, saum, jihad, marriage , inheritance, penalties, punishments, trading and the like. This section, which is the science of the appearance of the Shari'ah, is a public concern and is for all the classes, and it is intended to build up this world and the Hereafter. Alt the classes ol people can benefit from it according to their individual capacities. This is frequently invited to in the Book of Allah, as well as in the ,hadiths and narratives, which freely expand upon the characteristics and details. The works and writings of the religious scholars on this section are more and higher than on other sections. An other topic dealt with in the Glorious Qur'an is the conditions of the ,ma'ad (Resurrection) arguments proving it, its torments, punishments and rewards, and the details of Paradise, Hell, punishing and of putting in a state of comfort and ease. This section handles matters such as the conditions of the people of happiness and their ranks, like the people Of knowledge, the faVOU1ites the people of austerity, the travellers to Allah, the devotees, and the ascetics as well as the conditions and degrees of the people of wretchedness, such as the infidels, the veiled, the hypocrites, the deniers, the disobedient and the sinners. But that which has more advantages to the conditions of the common people is more expanded upon and is in a more explicit language, whereas that which is more advantageous to a particular class of people is referred to by way of allegories and allusions, such as: "And an approval from Allah is far greater"⁽²⁹⁴⁾ and other ayahs about meeting Allah, and such as: "Nay, surely they shall on that day be veiled from their Lord",⁽²⁹⁵⁾ in respect to another group. in this section, i.e. the section concerning details about the Resurrection and the Return to Allah, countless information and difficult secrets are stated, such that, without a demonstrative conduct u1uic or a gnostic light, their nature cannot be comprehended. Another subject of this divine Book is the proofs and evidences which Allah, the Exalted, Himself presents to prove the truthful matters and divine knowledge, like the argument proving (the existence of) Allah and His Oneness, His transcendence, His Knowledge. His Power and His other attributes of perfection. In this section one can sometimes find very refined proofs from Which the people of knowledge derive complete benefit, such as: "Allah bears Witness that there is no god but He."⁽²⁹⁶⁾ One also finds proofs which are Used by the scholars and philosophers in one way, and by the people of formalism and the common people in another way, such as the ayah: " Had there been in them any gods other than Allah, they both would have been Corrupted," ⁽²⁹⁷⁾and the ayah: "... otherwise each god would have y taken away what he had created,"⁽²⁹⁸⁾ and like the first ayahs of the surah of al-1-ladd and the blessed surah of at-Tauhid and other ayahs. Also there are arguments proving the Resurrection and the return of the spirits anti originating another creation, and the arguments proving the existence of Allah's angels and the great prophets, stated in many occasions in this Glorious Book. These were the arguments of the Sacred Essence Himself, and there are the arguments and the proofs of the prophets and wise men quoted by Allah t prove the divine knowledge, such as the arguments of Ibrahim, the intimate friend of Allah (A.S.), and other arguments. These were the important subjects of this Book, though there are many other different subjects, which require considerable time to count.

The writer believes that so far no "tafsir" (exegesis) has yet been written to the Book of Allah. Generally,4o write a tafsir for a book means to explain the objectives of the book and to draw the attentions to what its author wants to say. This noble Book, which Allah, the Exalted, testifies to be a book of guidance and teaching, and the light of the road of man's journey, its exegete should find in each one of its stories, or even in each ayah, a directive guiding to the invisible world, so as to show to the learner the road to happiness, to knowledge and to humanity. A "mufassir" (commentator or exegete) is the one who tells us what was the "objective" of the revelation, not the "occasion" of the revelation as is explained in the exegeses. In the very story of Adam and Eve and their affairs with lb/is, from the very moment of their creation till their descent to the earth, which story is repeated by Allah several times in the Qur'an, there are so many overt and covert teachings ma arif and admonitions, and it reminds us of so many of spiritual faults and Satanic characters, as well as many perfections of the soul and human knowledge which it introduces to us, whereas we still disregard them. In short, the Book of Allah is a book of knowledge and ethics, and an invitation to happiness and perfection. So, its exegesis should also be a book ol gnosticism and ethics, explaining the gnostic and ethical points of view, and aspects of inviting to its happiness sa'adat. The commentator who these points, disregards them or attaches no importance to them, is, Ely, neglecting the objective of the Qur'an and the main aim of revealing (divine) books and sending the messengers. This is a grave mistake which prevented the ummah, for many centuries, from being benefited by the us Qur'an, and it has blocked the road of guidance in their faces. We have to learn the objective of the revelation of the Qur'an - disregarding the intellectual and argumentative aspects, which show us the goal by themselves - from the Qur'an itself. The author of a book knows better his own objective. So, let us have a glance at what the author of this Book Himself says concerning the affairs of the Qur'an. He says: " This is the Book, wherein is no doubt, a guide for the muttaqin (those who fear Allah)".⁽²⁹⁹⁾ He describes His Book as being a book of guidance. In a short surah He repeats saying: "We have made the Qur'an easy for remembrance, but is there any one who will mind?"⁽³⁰⁰⁾ He says: "...We have revealed to you the Remembrance that you may explain to mankind what has been sent down to them and that haply they will reflect,"⁽³⁰¹⁾ and "A Book We have revealed to you, blessed, that they may ponder over its ayahs and that men of understanding may remember,"⁽³⁰²⁾ and many other noble ayahs, to restate which would be lengthy. This opinion of ours is not intended to criticize the tafsirs, as every One of their authors has taken great pains and striven hard in order to write a noble book, so, may Allah bless them and grant them good reward.

We intend just 10 say that the door must be open before the people to be benefited by this Book, which is the only one leading to Allah and the only one for educating the souls With the divine disciplines and laws, the greatest means of connection between the created and Creator, the strong handle and the firm cord of adhering to the Might of Divinity. Let the scholars and commentators write Persian and Arabic exegeses with the aim of explaining the gnostic and ethical teachings and instructions, showing the way of connecting the created to the Creator, and expounding the migration from Dami Ghurur (the House of Conceit = this world) to the Darus-Surur wal Khulud (the House of Pleasure and Eternity) according to what has been deposited in this noble Book. The author of Book is not as-Sakkaki or the Shaykh, whose objectives were eloquence and rhetoric, nor is He Sibawayh or al-khalil, whose objectives were grammar and syntax, nor is He al-Mas'udi or Ibn Khillakan, whose objectives revolved around the history of the world.

This Book is not like the stick of Moses or his White Hand, nor is it like the blow of Christ who could raise the dead (by Allah's permission), to have been sent down only as a miracle to prove the true prophethood of the Holy Prophet. This divine Book is, as a matter of fact, a book of enlivening the hearts with the everlasting life of divine knowledge. It is Allah's Book which invites to divine affairs.

So, the commentator has to teach these divine affairs to the people, and the people have to refer to his commentary to learn those affairs, so that they may attain its advantage: "And We reveal of the Qur'an that which is a healing and a mercy to the believers, and it adds only to the perdition of the wrongdoers."⁽³⁰³⁾ Which perdition is graver than that we keep reciting the Divine Book for thirty or forty years and refer to the exegeses, and yet we do not get its real objectives? "Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If You do not forgive us and have not mercy upon us, we shall certainly be of the losers."⁽³⁰⁴⁾

the thick veil of terminology, concepts and so in. The benefit-deriver mustafid must tear open these veils in order to look at he Qur'an from behind them, taking care not to stay at any one of these veils, o as not to be left behind the caravan of the travellers to Allah, nor be deprived of the sweet divine invitations. The Glorious Qur'an itself instructs hat one should not remain still and should not be satisfied with a certain limit. 'his is frequently referred to in the stories of the Qur'an. Moses (A.S.), a great prophet as he was, was not contented with that position, nor was he satisfied with his high position of knowledge. He no sooner met that perfect man, l-Khidr, than he addressed him, quite humbly and modestly, saying: "May I )How you that you may teach me right knowledge of what you have een taught?"⁽³⁰⁵⁾ He kept following him and acquired the knowledge he 'anted to learn. Prophet Ibrahim (A.S.). also was not satisfied with the great :ate of faith and the special knowledge of the prophets (A.S.). He asked the word: "My Lord! Show me how you give life to the dead."⁽³⁰⁶⁾ He wanted to proceed from the state of cordial faith up to the state of tangible confidence. state most learned person of all Allah's creatures, to say: "... Say: '0 my Lord! weasel me in knowledge".⁽³⁰⁷⁾ Such instructions of the divine Book and relating the stories of the prophets, are but for us to learn from them, and to ring us to conscience and wake us from our negligent sleep.

Another one of the veils is that of the false ideas, and the ba1 ways, are sometimes caused by the inabilities of the person himself, and they mostly the outcome of subordination and imitation. This veil particularly conceals from us the Qur'anic knowledge. For example, if, by listening to our fathers, mothers, or some ignorant preacher, we got a false idea fixed in our hearts, it would be a veil, a barrier, between us and the noble divine ayahs (of the Qur'an). Thus, even if there were thousands of Ayahs and hadiths defying that idea, we would either dismiss them on the basis of their exoteric meanings, or we would not consider them with the aim of understanding. Regarding beliefs and knowledge there are numerous examples, but I shall abstain from counting them, as I do know that this veil cannot not be torn by the sayings of someone, like me. Nevertheless, just to present a sample, I will refer to one of them, which is somewhat easier to understand: Despite all the ayahs which have been revealed in respect of meeting Allah and knowing Him, all the narratives that were related to the same subject and all the indications and allusions, open and hidden, in the invocations and the supplications of the Imams (AS.) , some uninformed and vulgar persons have spread the belief that the way to knowing Allah was completely closed. The door of knowing Allah and discerning the Beauty (of Him) is interpreted to be the same as meditating upon the very Essence of Allah,

which is prohibited, or rather impossible. They may even refrain from entering this field and prefer not to acquaint themselves with such knowledge which is the delight of the eyes of the prophets and holy men auliya '. It is much to be regretted by the people of Allan to see a Chapter of knowledge, which can very aptly be described as the goal of sending the prophets and the most cherished demand of the holy men, should be so prohibited to the people that a simple mentioning it would be regarded complete disbelief and mere heresy. These people take the knowledge ma 'arif of the prophets and the holy men auliya' to be the same as the knowledge ma'arif of the common people and (unlettered old) women about Allah's Essence, Names and Attributes. Sometimes they say even more than that: "SO-and so has good, vulgar beliefs. We wish we kept to the same vulgar belief." This is quite correct, because when this wretched person utters these words, he has already lost his vulgar beliefs, and, at the same time, regards other beliefs which are the beliefs of the elite and the people of Allah, to be false. This Wish is quite similar to the wish of the disbelievers who, as in the noble ayahs say: "... and the disbeliever shall say: '0 would that I were dust!"⁽³⁰⁸⁾ should we want to relate in detail the ayahs and the narratives concerning the meeting with Allah, in order to expose this corrupt belief caused by ignorance and Satanic conceit, we would need to write a separate book. Especially, if we wanted to explain the knowledge which has been neglected due to this thick Satanic veil, it would be clear that this negligent is one of the stages of neglecting and discarding the Qur'an, and it is probably the most regretful stage, as is described in the Qur'an: "And the Messenger said: '0 my Lord! My people have treated this Qur'an as a forsaken (thing)."⁽³⁰⁹⁾ Forsaking the Qur'an has many stages and countless degrees, and we may possess a good number of them.

If we bound this divine Book in a nice and valuable cover, and we kissed it and put it on our eyes whenever we wanted to reciter it or to take an istikharah (consulting the Qur'an to do, or not to do, something ) with it, would it mean that we did not forsake it?If we spent most of our lives perfecting our intonation when reciting the Qur'an, and improving our linguistic and rhetorical knowledge of it, would it mean that we brought the Qur'an out of being forsaken?If we learnt the different ways of reciting the Our an and other relevant ;objects, would we be declared not guilty of deserting it?If we took in all the aspects of the miraculous ness and the artistic eauti5 of the Qur'an, would we be excluded from the complaint of the messenger of Allah? Never ! None of these is intended by the Qur'an and its Great Revealer! The Qur'an is a divine Book, and it contains divine affairs. 'he Qur'an is the string connecting the creatures to their Creator, and through s instructions there should be a spiritual and invisible tie between the servants f Allah and their Lord. From the Qur'an there should emerge divine sciences d intuitive knowledge. The Messenger of Allah, according to a narrative in the de al-Kafi, said: "Knowledge is of three kinds: a clear ayah, a fair ,agnation and a current tradition."⁽³¹⁰⁾The Glorious Qur'an is the bearer of these sciences. If we could take in, we would not be deserting the Qur'an. If we accepted the calls of the Qur'an, and learnt from the stories of the prophets (A.S.) which are full of admonishments, information and philosophies, and if we absorbed the admonitions of Allah, the Exalted, of the prophets and of the wise men, as stated in the Qur'an, we would not be deserting it, as indulging in the formal picture of the Qur'an is also keeping to the earth, and is of Satan's whisperings, from which one must seek refuge with Allah. Another veil which prevents us from being benefited by this luminous Book is to believe that except what the exegetes have written or understood, no one has the right to make use of the noble Qur'an. Contemplating and thinking about the noble ayahs are mistakenly regarded to be interpretation, as interpretation according to one's own opinion is not allowed, and thus, because of this false belief and invalid opinion, the Glorious Qur'an was deprived from being utilized in any way and, consequently, it was completely deserted, despite the fact that to utilize it morally, faithfully and agnostically has nothing to do with exegesis, be it according to opinion or else. For example, suppose some one could get out some lessons from the dialogue between the prophets

Moses and al-Khidr (AS.), how they talked to one another,howseverely Moses, great a prophet as he was, traveled in order to acquire the knowledge which he lacked, and he implored al-Khidr (AS.) in the way stated in the noble ayah: "May I follow you that you may teach me right knowledge of what you have been taught?"⁽³¹¹⁾, then al-Khidr's reply, the excuses of Moses (A.S.), the greatness of the station of knowledge, and how a student should behave toward his tutor, in which there may be twenty disciplines. What connection have all these with exegesis, or exegesis according to opinion? Many advantages of the Qur'an are of this kind. Take, for example, someone, who, in respect of Islamic teachings, understands from Allah's saying: "All praise is for Allah, the Lord of the worlds" that all praise and extolment are exclusively Allah's. He learns from it His Unity of Actions, and says that from the noble ayah he gathers that every perfection, beauty, might and majesty which are in the world and which the eye of the squint-eyed and the heart of the veiled ascribe to the beings - are Allah's and no being has itself any share of them. Therefore, praise and extolment are solely Allah's, and nobody shares them with Him. But has this anything to do with exegesis, be it according to opinion or not? There are so many other affairs from which many usages can be obtained, though having no connection with exegesis whatsoever. Besides, to exegete according to opinion is still arguable, as probably it does not concern the ayahs about knowledge and the speculative sciences, which conform with the criteria of intellectual proofs, nor the ethical ayahs which have to do with intellect, since such exegeses coincide with the strong intellectual proofs or with explicit rational indications, such that if an exterior does not conform with them, they are to be turned away from that exterior. For example, the noble ayahs: "And your Lord comes, and the angels rank on rank,"⁽³¹²⁾ or "The Beneficent has settled on the Throne,"313) in which the conventional urfi understanding contradicts the proof, to refute the exterior and to explain them by proof is not explaining according to opinion, and can never be prohibited.

Therefore, it is possible, or believed, that exegesis according to opinion concerns the ayahs of precepts, of which the hand of opinion and intellect is short, and they must be devotionally and obediently taken from the treasurers of revelation and the descending places of the angels of Allah, as most of the noble hadiths in this respect defy the Sunni jurisprudents who wanted to comprehend Allah's religion by way of their own intellects and by comparisons. Some noble narrative says: "Nothing is farther away from the intellects of men than the exegesis of the Qur'an".⁽³¹⁴⁾ Another noble narrative says: "Allah's religion cannot be conceived well by intellects".⁽³¹⁵⁾ Such narratives prove that by "Allah's religion" they mean devotional obedience to the religious precepts. or else, proving the Maker, tauhid, Glorification, the Resurrection Day and Prophethood, or rather all sorts of knowledge are within the intellect's lawful right and field of specialty. That which is in the expressions of some notable who said that proving monotheism depends on traditional proof, is or, more aptly, it is one of the disasters from which we must take with Allah. This speech does not need to be condemned and disgraced, in complaint is to Allah. Another veil which prevents understanding this heavenly Book and being its knowledge and admonitions is the veil of disobediences ma'asi and the opacity caused by rebellion against the sanctity of the Lord of worlds.

By this veil the heart is prevented from understanding the truths. It noted that just as there is a corresponding image for each of the good in the heavenly world, there is a similar one inside the soul, through which the innermost part of the soul gets either luminous and likewise the heart gets purified and luminous, in which case the soul becomes clear and polished like a mirror, prepared to receive the invisible manifestation and the appearance of the truths and knowledge, or the soul gets dark and devilish, in which case the heart becomes like a rusty and tarnished mirror, unable to reflect any divine knowledge and invisible truths. A heart in such a condition will gradually fall under the authority of Satan, and Iblis becomes the possessor of the kingdom of the spirit, and the hearing and seeing, and the other senses and powers, too, become at the disposal of that evil creature. The hearing becomes completely blocked against the divine teachings, and the eyes do not see the splendid divine signs and they become blind to Allah's truth, signs and ayahs. The heart does not become learned in religion, and is deprived

of meditating on the clear signs of Allah, His Names and His Attributes, as Allah, the Exalted says: "They have hearts with which they do not understand, and they have eyes with which they do not see, and they have ears with which they do not hear. They are as cattle - nay, they are even Worse..."⁽³¹⁶⁾ Their look at the world is like the look of the cattle and the animals at it, void of value and deliberation. Their hearts, like the hearts of the animals, lack meditation and remembrance, or rather, the more they think of the ayahs and hear admonitions and instructions, the more their negligence and haughtiness increase. Thus, they are even lower than the beasts and graver in going astray.

Another one of the thick veils, which is a heavy curtain between u and the teachings and admonitions of the Qur'an, is the veil of loving this world which causes the heart to completely be devoted to it, and the inclination of the heart entirely turns towards mundane matters, neglecting remembering Allah and turning away from both remembrance and the One to be remembered. The more the love for this world and its affairs, the thicker the veil and the curtain on the heart.

Sometimes this love so overwhelms the heart, and the power su4an of endearing post and position becomes so influential, that the light of the divine nature fitratullah in the heart is put off, and the doors of happiness are closed to man's face. It is, however, possible that the locks of the hearts mentioned in the noble ayah: "Will they, then, not meditate on the Qur'an, or are there locks on the hearts?" ⁽³¹⁷⁾are those locks of mundane attachments. The one who wants to be benefited by the Qur'an knowledge and to make use of the divine admonitions, will have to purge the heart from such impurities, and drive away the pollution of cordial sins, which are being engaged with other than 1-urn, because the non-purified (heart) is no place for these secrets. Allah, the Exalted, says: "It is surely a noble Qur'an, in a protected Book; none shall touch it save the purified ones."⁽³¹⁸⁾ Just as the touching of the external body of this Book is not allowed for the one whose external body is not purified, by both legislation and obligation, similarly its knowledge, admonitions and secrets are prohibited to the one whose heart is smeared with the filths of the mundane longings.

Allah, The Exalted, says: "This is the Book, wherein is no doubt, a guide for those who fear Allah."⁽³¹⁹⁾ The one who does not fear Allah and is faithless -according to the God-fearing ness and the faith of the common people - is Deprived of the formal lights of the admonitions of the Qur'an and of its true ,beliefs, while the one who does not fear Allah and is faithless - according to other degrees of fearing Allah, which are the fearing of the elite, of the upper elite and of the most upper elite - is deprived of the other degrees of the )Qur'an. However, going into the details and relating other ayahs to the same would lengthen the subject. Nevertheless, we are going to end this chapter with an honoured Ayah, which will be sufficient for the wakeful people, provided that it is well pondered upon.

Allah, the Exalted, says: "...Indeed there has come to you from Allah a light, and a clear Book, with which Allah guides him who seeks His pleasure unto the ways of safety, and brings them out of darkness into the light by His permission, and guides hem unto a straight path."⁽³²⁰⁾ There are many specific points in this noble ayah, and to explain them would need to write a separate thesis, for which there is no opportunity now.

One of the disciplines of reciting the Qur'an is the presence of heart, to which we have already referred in this book, when we discussed the general disciplines of the acts of worship; so, there is no need to repeat it. Another one of its disciplines is meditation, by which we mean that the reciter of the noble ayahs should look for the destination and the objective. Now as the objective of the Qur'an, as the very luminous Book says, is guiding the people to the ways of safety, bringing them out of the stages of darkness into the world of light, and leading them to the straight path, one must, by way of meditating on the noble ayahs, attain to the stages of safety, from its lowest Stage, which belongs to worldly dominion, up to its final stage, which is the realization of a sound heart qalb-i salim, according to the explanation received from Ahlul Bayt (AS.) saying that a sound heart meets Allah when it Occupied by none other than Him.⁽³²¹⁾ The soundness of the worldly and heavenly powers should be the quest of the received of the Qur'an, as he will certainly find it in this heavenly Book if he meditates on it. When the human Powers become safe from Satan's intrusion, and when the way to safety is found and followed, man, in each stage of safety, will be saved from a degree 01 Less, and the bright light of Allah will inevitably shine in him. If he get rid of all sorts of darkness, the first one of which is the darkness of the world of nature, with all its affairs, and the last of which is the darkness of b lug inclined to multiplicity with all its affairs, the absolute light will shine in his heart, leading him to the straight path of humanity, which IS, in this instance the path of the Lord: "Surely my Lord is on a straight path."⁽³²²⁾ Contemplation is very much invited to, praised and applauded in the Glorious Qur'an. Allah, the Exalted, says: "And We have revealed to you the Remembrance that you may explain to mankind what has been sent down to them and that haply they may reflect."⁽³²³⁾ In this noble ayah reflection is strongly applauded, because the aim of sending down this great heavenly Book, the great luminous paper, is that "haply they may reflect". This is quite significant that the mere possibility of reflection causes the revelation of this great generosity karamat. In another ayah He says: Therefore, narrate the narratives qasas that they may reflect.⁽³²⁴⁾

There are so many ayahs of this like or almost the like, as well as narratives riwayat which invite to reflection. The Messenger of Allah (S.A.) is quoted to have said, on the revelation of the ayah "Surely in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day there are signs for men of understanding," ⁽³²⁵⁾ "Woe to the one who reads it and does not reflect upon it".⁽³²⁶⁾ An important point in this respect is that one should know what the commended reflection is, as there is no doubt in the fact that it is praiseworthy to think about the Qur'an and the hadiths. The best expression for it is that of the Khajah 'Abdullah al-Ansari ( may Allah sanctify his soul). He says: "Do know that reflection is the insight's attempt 10 understand the purpose."⁽³²⁷⁾ That is, reflection is a seeking by the "insight basirat, which is the eye of the heart, wanting to attain to the aim and the result, which arc the utmost perfection. It is quite clear that the destination maqsad and the aim maqsad are the absolute happiness, attainable fought theoretical and practical perfection. Therefore, it is man's duty to obtain the humane objective and result. being happiness, from the noble ayahs of the divine Book and from its siOr1Ls and tales. ,and, since happiness is to attain to absolute safety, the world of light and the straight path, man should find through the honoured Qur'an the ways to safety, the source of the absolute light and the straight path, as was stated in the previ0'lY mentioned noble ayah. When the reciter gets the aim, he becomes clear-sighted in getting to it, and the door of being benefited by the Qur'an opens to him, and with it the doors of the mercy of Allah open, too. He, then, would not spend his dear and short years and his capital for obtaining happiness On matters which are not intended by the Message, preventing himself from indulging in useless discussion and talk about such an important subject. Having directed his heart's eye for some time to this purpose, neglecting other matters, the eye of the heart gets sharp in observing, and meditating on the Qur'an becomes common to him, and the ways of utilization open to him, and there open to him such doors that had not already been open to him, and he obtains from the Qur'an such matters and knowledge that he had never obtained before. At that time he can understand the meaning of the Qur'an being a cure for the spiritual ailment, as is confirmed by the noble ayah: "And We reveal from the Qur'an that which is a healing and a mercy to the believers, and it adds only to the perdition of the wrongdoers,"⁽³²⁸⁾ and the meaning of the saying of Imam 'Mi (A.S.): "Learn the Qur'an, for it is the spring rabi' of the hearts; and seek cure with its light, since it is the cure for the hearts."⁽³²⁹⁾ He does not seek from the Qur'an the cure of only the physical ailments, but regards the main aim to he the cure of the spiritual ailments, which is the very objective of the Qur'an. The Qur'an has not been Sent down to cure the physical ailments, although such ailments do get cured by i. The prophets (AS.), too, did not come to cure physical ailments, although they did cure them. As a matter of fact, they were the doctors for the souls, and the curers of the hearts and the spirits.

One of the important disciplines of reciting the Qur'an that causes one to get so many good results and advantages, is "application' tatbiq; that is, each ayah which he reciter and thinks about, he is to apply its concept to his own condition, to make up for his shortcomings by resorting to it, and to cure his ailments with it. Take, for example, the honoured story of Adam (AS.): See what caused Satan to be expelled from the Sacred Threshold of Allah, despite his countless acts of worship and long devoted bowings, so that you may purge yourself from it, because the state of Allah's proximity belongs to the pure Ones, and with Satanic conducts and character no one can be admitted to that Sacred Presence From the noble ayahs one can learn that the reason behind refusing to bow down was self-conceit and self-admiration :1 am better he: You have created me of fire while him You have created of clay."⁽³³⁰⁾This self-conceit led him to selfishness and ostentation, which is This led him to obstinacy, which is independence and disobedience, hence he was expelled from the Sacred Court. We, from the beginning of life, call Satan as the accursed and the discarded, and yet we ourselves his very vile characteristics. It has not occurred to us that anyone he same reasons, which caused the dismissal of Satan, will be

image of his inside: You are the clear Book that By its letters the hidden is exposed.⁽³³⁸⁾ There are other disciplines in this field, some of which have already been mentioned early in this book under the title "the general discipline of worship", and some others are mentioned here. Going on explaining further disciplines viii lengthen our discourse, therefore we relinquish them, and Allah is the knowing.1

Hereunder the translation of some noble narratives are related to complete the advantage and to have the blessings of the sayings of the 'Prophet's) pure progeny: The noble al-Kafi, on the authority of Sa'd, quotes Imam al-Baqir (A.S.) o have said: "0 Sa'd, learn the Qur'an, for it comes on the Resurrection Day in the best of forms, "then he added to the same effect, saying that it would pass through each rank of the masses of the believers, the martyrs, the prophets and the ranks of the angels, and all of them say: 'This is brighter than is', until the Messenger of Allah (S.A.) introduces it ... as the hadiths goes.⁽³³⁹⁾ Imam as-Sadiq ( AS. ) is quoted to have said: "When Allah, the exalted, gathers all the first and the last peoples, they suddenly see a person proceeding, having an image the better of which has never been een before.⁽³⁴⁰⁾

There are many other hadiths of similar content which prove the sayings )f the people of knowledge to the effect that for each being in this world there s a matching image in the Hereafter. From the zad1ths of this Chapter it is gathered that the deeds also have heir images in that world. The noble al-Kafi, on the authority of Imam al-Baqir (A.S.), says: "The Messenger of Allah (S.A.) said: 'I, the Book of l1ah and my progeny will be the first to come to the Almighty, the )omnipotent, then my ummah will come after us. Then I ask: What did do with the Book of Allah and my Ahlul Bayt?"⁽³⁴¹⁾ In another hadith, the Almighty, the Glorified, says to the Qur'an: "By MY Omnipotence and Majesty, and by My High State, I will surely honour him who has honoured you, and I will disdain him who has disdained you."⁽³⁴²⁾

We must know that if we did not revive the precepts and the teachings of the Qur'an by putting them to practice and understanding their truth, we would not be able to reply the question of Allah's Messenger on that day. Which disdain is worse than discarding its objectives and neglecting its calls? Honoring the Qur'an and its people, who are the infallible Ahlul Bayt, is not done only by kissing its cover or their holy shrines. This is a weak sign of honoring and respecting, which will only be acceptable if done according to its instructions and their teachings. Otherwise they would be more like scorning and sporting. Noble hadiths strongly .warn those who reciter the Qur'an and then do not practically follow its teachings. In 'Iqabul A'mul, by Shaykh as-Saduq (may Allah be pleased with him), quoting the Messenger of Allah (S.A.), it is stated that he said in a hadiths: "The one who teaches the Qur'an and does not act according to it, and loves this world and prefers worldly pleasures to it, is worthy of Allah's wrath and is placed on the same level with the Jews and the Christians who threw the Book of Allah behind their backs. The one who reciter the Qur'an with the intention of obtaining reputation sum'ah and mundane gains, will meet Allah with a bony, fleshless face, and the Qur'an will slap his nape to push him into the fire and let him join those before him. And the one who reciter the Qur'an without following its instructions, will be raised blind on the Resurrection Day. He will ask: '0 my Lord, why have You raised me blind whereas I was a seeing one?' He will reply: 'It is so because Our signs came to you but you forgot them, and so you are forgotten this day.'⁽³⁴³⁾ Then he is ordered to be thrown into the Fire. But the one who reciter the Qur'an for the pleasure of Allah and for learning the features of the religion, his will be a reward, the equal of The reward given to all the angels and the prophets and Messengers :A.S.)"

"The one who learns the Qur'an to show off, seeking reputation by way of arguing with the fools, take pride in his knowledge against the ;scholars and seek with it mundane matters, Allah, on the Resurrection )ay, will separate all his bones from one another, and there will be no Torture in the Fire severer than his, and there will be no sort of torment innless he is subjected to it, owing to Allah's strong anger and displeasure." "If the one who learns the Qur'an is humble with his knowledge, teaches the servants of Allah and asks Allah for whatever reward there is with Him, there will be in Paradise no one whose reward is more than his, and there will be in Paradise no high rank and lofty state unless his share of the rank is higher and of the state is 1oftier."⁽³⁴⁴⁾ Concerning meditating on the meaning of the Qur'an, learning lessons from it and being affected by it there are many narratives, such as the hadiths in the noble al-Kafi, on the authority of Imam as-Sadiq (A.S.), that he said: "It is in this Qur'an the stand of the guiding light and the torches for the lark nights. So, let the scrutinizer roam with his wide open eyes to see clearly, because thinking is the life of the discerning heart, like the enlightened one who walks with light in the dark."⁽³⁴⁵⁾ The Imam means that as man needs common light to see his way in the dark so as not to fall over in a precipice, with the Qur'an, which is the light that guides and the torch which lights the road of gnosticism and faith, he is to advance on the lark road to the Hereafter and to Allah so as not to tumble down into devastating precipices. In Ma 'aniyul Akhbar there is a hadiths from Imam 'Au (A.S.) saying that 'The true jurisprudent is the one who would not leave the Quran'' reluctantly and turning to something else. Beware that there is no good in a knowledge without understanding, there is no good in the exciting without contemplation and there is no good in a worship without deep knowledge of it.⁽³⁴⁶⁾ In al-Kisal and Ma'aniyul Akhbar, the Messenger of Allah (S.A.) is quoted to have said: "The bearers of the Qur'an are the informed ones 'urafa' among the people of Paradise."⁽³⁴⁷⁾ It is obvious what is meant by "the bearers of the Qur'an. It means the bearers of the Qur'anic knowledge and teachings, the result of which in the Hereafter is to regard them among the learned and the people of heart. To merely bear the external form of the Qur'an, without getting its lessons and being benefited by its teachings, and convey its knowledge and admonitions, without putting its precepts and laws into application, would be like that which is said by Allah, the Exalted: "The likeness of those who are entrusted with the Torah, yet they apply it not, is as the likeness of the ass carrying books."625 Noble hadiths on the Glorious Qur'an, its affairs and disciplines are too many to be contained in this small book. Peace be upon Muhammad and his progeny.

Know that for the recitation during this spiritual journey and divine ascension there are degrees and stages, and here we shall suffice ourselves with some of them. First, the reciter is one who pays no attention to other than improving the recitation and bettering the expression. His only care is for the good utterance of these words and correct pronunciation of the letters from their correct outlets so that a duty can be performed and an order be fulfilled. It is well known that the task for such persons is heavy and difficult; their hearts are unwilling and their insides are deviated. These have no share of worship, though they are not punished with the punishment of the deserter (of the sa1at ), unless from the invisible treasure a grace appears and the said chattering receives a beneficence and a favour. It sometimes happens that this group, While their tongues are busy remembering Allah, their hearts are completely away from that, engaged in the mundane multiplicity and worldly matters. As a matter of fact, the people in this group are outwardly in the sa1at , while inwardly and actually they are busy with this world and worldly desires and whims. Sometimes it also happens that their hearts busy themselves thinking about correcting the formal shape of the salat. In this case they are busy, by both the tongue and the heart, with the form of the salat, and it is acceptable and agreeable from them. The second group arc those who would not be contented with that limit and take the .salat to be a means of remembering Allah, and the reciting to be praising and glorifying Him. This group is of many ranks and degrees, the mentioning of which would be lengthy. Probably it is this group to which the following Divine Hadiths refers:

"I have divided the salat between Me and My servant, half of it for Me and half of it for My servant. When he says: '

I love the whole world, for the whole world is of Him. ⁽³⁵³⁾ The love of the abode did not infatuate me, But the love of the one who resides therein.⁽³⁵⁴⁾ Otherwise, what would, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (A.S.) do with hours and palaces? How could that great man be associated with the appetites of the self and the animal desires? The one whose worship is that of a free man, his reward cannot be that of traders. The rein of the pen snapped and I wandered away from the main subject. In general, the one who is accustomed to reciting divine ayahs and names from the Book of divine genesis and record, his heart will gradually take the form of remembrance and of an ayah, and the interior of his essence will turn out to be Allah's remembrance, His name and His ayah, as they interpret "remembrance" to be the noble Prophet and 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (A.S.), and "The Beautiful Names" to be the Imams of guidance (A.S.). Ayatullah is also interpreted to be those great men and it is conformed to them. They are the divine ayahs, the Beautiful Names of Allah and the great remembrance at Allah. The state of "remembrance" is such a high one that it is beyond the patience of explanation and the limits of writing and registering. It suffices f0' the people of knowledge and divine attraction, and the people of affection and as in the ayah "Therefore remember Me, I shall remember you".⁽³⁵⁵⁾ Allah, the Exalted, tells Moses (A.S.): "I am the companion of whoever Me."⁽³⁵⁶⁾ A narrative in al-Kull says that the Messenger of Allah .) said: "Whoever remembers Allah frequently, He will like him."⁽³⁵⁷⁾

In Wasa'ilush-Shi'ah, Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq is quoted to have said that the Exalted, said: "0 son of Adam, remember Me in yourself, I will r you in Myself. 0 son of Adam, remember Me in privacy, I remember you in privacy. 0 son of Adam, remember Me in public, I remember you in a public better than yours." He also said: "No remembers Allah in the presence of the people unless Allah him in the presence of the angels."⁽³⁵⁸⁾ The second pillar is "praising" Allah tahmid , as is the musalli's saying: "All praise is for Allah, the Lord of the Worlds." Know that when the musalli attains the state of "remembrance", and regards all the particles of the beings, and the high and low creatures, to be divine names, and when he dismisses from his heart the idea of being self-sufficient, and looks at the beings of the visible and invisible worlds with the eye of dependence, he will be in the stage of "praising", and his heart will confess that all kinds of praising exclusively belong to the Divine Essence, and the others have no share of it, because they have no personal perfection requiring any sort of praising and glorifying. We shall explain in detail this divine grace, in our interpretation of this blessed surah, insha 'Allah ( Allah willing.

The third pillar is magnifying ta'zim which is established by "The beneficent, the Merciful". When the servant travelling to Allah has, under pillar of parsing, confined all praise to Allah, excluding the existential multiplicities from perfection and praise, he will get nearer to the horizon of his eye of plurality will gradually get blind to multiplicity, and the CM Beneficence rahmaniyat - which is the expansion of the existence-and form of Mercifulness orahimiyat - which is the expansion of the perfection the existence, will be manifested to his heart, and he will call Allah by the two names, which are all-embracing and comprehensive, and in which multipliC1f are vanished. So, the manifestation of perfection causes the heart to feel awe servant his due share, which is the opening of the door of intimacy and from the Beauty, and thus, Allah's greatness is implanted in his heart " As this condition is fixed, he will move to the fourth pillar, which is the state of "sanctifying" taqdis , and it is actually " glorifying " tamjid. In Other words, it is entrusting the affairs to Allah, that is, discerning the Position of Ownership and Omnipotence of Allah, and the falling down of the dust of plurality kathrat and the breaking of the idols of the heart and the appearance of the owner of the house of the heart, and possessing it with no Satanic intruding. In this condition he reaches the stage of privacy, and there will be no veil between the servant and Allah, and "You do we worship and you do we seek help from", takes place in that particular privacy and the meeting f familiarity. For this reason He said: "This is between Me and My servant", And when the everlasting favour encompasses him and awakens him, he will demand consistency of this stage and establishment tamkin of His Presence by requesting: "Guide us to the straight path", in which, "Guide is interpreted to mean: "Make us firm, consistent and steady". This is for those who have slipped out of the veil and attained to "the Eternally Wanted matlub-i azal. As to us, the people of the veil, we will have to ask Allah, the Exalted, for guidance with its ordinary concept. This may further be explained in the exegesis of the blessed surah of al-Hamd, insha' Allah (Allah willing),

From the noble Divine Hadiths⁽³⁵⁹⁾ hadith-i qudsi it appears that the salat is completely divided between Allah and the servant, and only the surah of al-Hamd was given as an example. So, we may add, for example, that the takbir of the salat, whether the opening takbirs or the other ones which are said during changing states in the .salat, are the share of Divinity, the portion f the Sacred Essence. If the servant travelling to Allah performed this duty of servitude and carried out what was due to Divinity as his capacity was capable of, Allah the Exalted. with His everlasting special favours, would also grant His .revelation' as is referred to in the noble hadith in Misbahush-shari'ah you utter the takbir , regard small all creatures in relation to the greatness of Allah", and it adds: "Examine your heart during the sal?t. If you tasted the sweetness of the salat, and if in your soul you felt pleased and gay by it, and your heart enjoyed the supplication to Allah and 0nversing with Him, know that Allah has approved your takbirs. Otherwise, without feeling pleasure in supplication, and being deprived of tasting the sweetness of worship, you should know that Allah has denied you and dismissed you from His Threshold."⁽³⁶⁰⁾

consequently, in each one of the acts and states of the salat, there is a share for Allah, and the servant is to perform it, being the disciplines of servitude at that stage. The servant also has his share, which, after performing what the discipline of servitude requires, Allah, out of His covert grace and overt mercy, will bestow upon him His favour. If in these divine times he found himself be deprived of His special favours, he must know that he did not act according to the disciplines of servitude. The relevant sign for the common , people is that the heart does not taste the sweetness of supplication and the delicacy of worship, and he is deprived of the cheerfulness, pleasure and devotion to Allah. The worship which is void of delight and pleasure is spiritless, and it will not be useful for the heart. your heart to be familiar with remembrance, the divine favours Will gradually be bestowed upon you, and And your soul i-uh taste the sweetness of remembering Allah. This divine grace, at the beginning, takes place through intense remembrance and intimacy. during remembrance the heart must not be dead or overcome by negligence. Having taught the heavenly doors will be opened to You, and this is marked by repulsion from this world, by inclination towards the World of eternity, and by preparedness for death before its arrival. Allah! Grant us to have a share of tasting the pleasure of supplicating to you and the sweetness of conversing with you. Place us among the remembering group and in the circle of those who are devoted to Glorified Sanctity, and bestow upon our dead hearts an everlasting life, make us break off the others and inclined to be devoted to You, surely Y are the Giver of favour and grace.

Allah, the Exalted, says: "And when you reciter the Qur'an take renege in Allah from the outcast Satan. He has no authority over those who believe and on their Lord rely. His authority is only over those who befriend him and those who associate partner with Him."⁽³⁶¹⁾ Among the important disciplines of recitation, especially the recitation in the 4salat, which is a spiritual journey to Allah, the real ascension and the ladder to reach the people of Allah, is the isti adhah, seeking refuge in Allah, from the outcast Satan, who is the thorn of the road to knowledge, and blocks the way of the 'S travel to Allah, as Allah, the Exalted, says through him, in the blessed surah of al-'Araf: "He said: 'As You have led me astray, I shall lurk in ambush for them on Your straight path."'⁽³⁶²⁾ He has sworn to lurk for the Sons of Adam on the straight path to prevent them from entering it. So, the .salat, which is the straight path of humanity and the ascension for reaching Cannot take place without isti'adhahfrom this brigand, and without refuge in the fortified fort of Divinity from his evil, there can be no Security. This isri'adhah, this taking refuge, cannot be implemented with empty utterances, a lifeless form or a world with no Hereafter. It is observed that there were people who did utter these words for forty or fifty years, yet they ere not saved from the evil of this bandit, and, actually, in their conducts and acts, and even in their beliefs they followed Satan and imitated him. Had we ally taken refuge from the evils of this wicked one, the Sacred Essence of Allah, the Exalted, Who is the Absolute Gracious, the Omnipotent, the All-Merciful, the All-knowing and Generous, would have granted us His protection, and our faith, moralities and deeds would have been amended. So, e must know that our being left behind the travelers on the road to Allah is due to Satan's temptations and because we have fallen under his control owing our own shortcomings and inefficiency in applying the spiritual disciplines id acquiring the required conditions of the heart. So, it is because of this that e get nothing of the spiritual results and the external and internal effects of our invocations , supplications and worships. From the noble ayahs of the Qur'an and the noble hadiths of the infallible Imams (A.S.) many disciplines in be discovered. But to count them all would need a complete scrutinizing search, which prolongs the discussion. It suffices us to mention only a few of them. One of the important disciplines of isti'adhahis "sincerity", as Allah the exalted, quotes Satan to have said: "By your Might I will tempt them all, kept Your sincere servants from among them."⁽³⁶³⁾ This "sincerity", as is ear from this noble ayah, is something higher than the practical sincerity, heather by the heart or by the limbs, because it is in the objective case (in its Arabic form mukhlasin). Had it been for sincerity in action, it should have en in the nominative case. Therefore, this sincerity is intended to denote the purification of the human personality with all the visible and invisible affairs, of hose emissions is the practical sincerity, although, at the beginning of the suluk, this fact and divine grace would not easily take place except by difficult practical austerities, especially the cordial ones, which are its origin, as is referred to in the well-known hadiths: "The one who keeps being sincere to Allah for forty mornings, fountains of wisdom will flow from his heart to his tongue."⁽³⁶⁴⁾ So, whoever could sincerely devote himself to Allah for forty mornings - which is the period of fermenting takhmir the clay tinat of which Adam was created, and the connection between these two is well-known to the people of knowledge and of heart - and dedicate his cordial and formal acts sincerely to Allah, his heart will become godly, and the godly heart produces nothing other than fountains of wisdom. Then, his tongue, which is the greatest interpreter of the heart, will speak wisdom. So, at the beginning, sincerity of the act leads to the purification of the heart, and when the heart becomes purified, the lights of Majesty and Beauty - which are deposited by divine fermentation takhmir, in the human clay - are reflected in the mirror of the heart and become manifest there, and from the inmost of the heart they appear on the external body.

In short, the sincerity, which frees one from the Satanic authority is devoting the identity of the soul ruh and the innermost of the heart to Allah, the Exalted. It is a reference to this that Imam 'Ali (A.S.), in his Sha'baniyah Supplication, says: "0 Allah, grant me complete devotion to you."⁽³⁶⁵⁾ When the heart reaches this stage of sincerity and it is cut off other than Allah, and in the kingdom of his existence there is no admission to other than Allah, Satan - who approaches man by other than Allah's way - will have no power over him, and Allah will admit him into His shelter, and he will be placed in the fortified fortress of divinity, as He says: "The word of 'there is no god but Allah' is My fort, so whoever enters My fort is safe from My torture". ⁽³⁶⁶⁾ Entering the fort of "there is no god but Allah" is of several degrees. Likewise, being safe from the torture is also of several degrees. So, the one who, externally, internally, cordially and formally, is admitted to Allah's fortress and under His protection, will be safe from all degrees of torture, including being veiled off Allah's Beauty and being separated from meeting the Beloved, the Most High and Almighty - which veiled ness and separation are at the top of the tortures. Imam 'All (A.S.), in the "Kumail Invocation", says: "Suppose that I can patiently bear Your torment, how can I patiently bear separation from You?" Our hand is short of that. The one who Could reach that stage would be a real servant of Allah, under the vaults (domes) of divinity, and Allah, the Exalted, would manage his kingdom, getting him out of the Tag hut's patronage. This is the dearest state for the men of Allah and the most special degree fur the pure, and the others have no share of it. It is most likely that the owners of hard hearts among the deniers and of stiff souls among the obstinate, who are far away from such a state, deny it altogether and regard any talk about it to be false and in vain. Or they rather take such affairs, which are the delight of the holy men auliya , and which are frequently mentioned by the Book and the Sunnah, to be - God forbid! of the fabrications of the sunsets and false rumors of the literalists. We, by referring to these states, which are, in fact, the states of the perfect ones, do not claim to have a share of them or look at them covetously, but we do so because to deny them is not agreeable to us, and we believe that mentioning the holy men auliya' and their positions is effective in purging, saving and reforming the hearts, because good mention of the people of guardianship and knowledge causes affection, familiarity and close connection. Such connection leads to mutual attraction tajadhub, which, in its turn leads to co-intercession tashafu , whose outward is getting out of the darkness of ignorance to the lights of guidance and knowledge, and its inward is the intercession in the Hereafter, because the intercession of the intercessors would not happen without close connection and inward co-attraction tajadhub , since it would not be based on guess and ba1 (falsehood). However, despite the fact that this stage is not but for the perfect ones among the holy men auliya' and the chosen ones asfiya' (A.S.), and that the perfect state of this stage is, in the origin bil'isalah , exclusively for the Seal of the Prophets (S.A.), the luminous and pure Ahmadian single ahadi-i ahmadi' Muhammadan collective jam'i-i Muhammadan heart, and subordinate bittaba'iyah, it is for the perfect and pure ones of the Ahlul Bail, yet the believers and the sincere ones are not to give up hoping for some of its degrees, and to be satisfied with formal and practical sincerity, and the external and juristic purity, because stopping in the stations, is one of the masterpieces of Iblis who is sitting at the entrance of the path of man and humanity, trying every possible means to prevent him from ascending to perfections and reaching higher stages. So, one has to double his vigilance and strengthen his vi1l, so that this divine light and grace may move from the outside to the inside, and from the visible to the invisible. The more stages of sincerity one passes the better he will be stationed under Allah's protection, and the truth of jçji2idhah will be implemented, and the hands of the devilish Satan will be! short of reaching him. Hence, if you devoted the visible human form exclusively to Allah, and if you placed the external mundane armies of the soul, which are the powers dispersed in the kingdom of the body, under the shelter of Allah, and if you purified the seven earthly realms, which are: the eye, the ear, the tongue, the stomach, the sex, the hand and the leg, from the impurities of disobedience and placed them at the disposal of Allah's angels, who are the divine armies, these realms would gradually become divine and under the command of Allah, until they also become Allah's angels, or get like Allah's angels 'Who do not disobey Allah in what He commands them, and do as they are commanded.⁽³⁶⁷⁾ Hence, the first degree of isti 7zdhah takes place, and Satan and his soldiers leave the external kingdom and turn to the inside, assaulting the invisible powers of the soul. Thus, the salik 's task becomes harder and his suluk stricter. So, his steps should be stronger, and his watchfulness more perfect. He is to take refuge in Allah, the Exalted, from the spiritual destructions, such as self-conceit, hypocrisy, arrogance, pride and the like, and to gradually start purifying his inside from the moral opacities and internal impurities. In this stage, or rather in all stages, he is to be attentive to Allah's Unity of Acts, and to remind his heart of this divine grace and heavenly table ma'idah, which arc of the important matters of suluk and of the pillars of suluk. He is also to make his heart taste the fact that Allah, the Exalted, is the Owner of the heavens, the earth, the inside, the outside, the visible and the

invisible, so that the heart may get accustomed to His Unity in deity and deny any association in management tasarruf' and be divinely Concocted and theistically educated. In this state the heart will find no asylum, refuge, sanctuary and help except with Allah alone, and, consequently and actually, he will seek refuge with Allah, the Sanctified State of Divinity. Unless he cuts of! his heart from the others' management, and closes his eye of greed to Other creatures, he cannot truthfully turn to get his refuge with Allah, and his claim will be a false one, and according to the method of he people of knowledge he will be regarded among the hypocrites, and ascribed to deceit and treason. In this fearful valley wadi and dangerous deep ocean, if one takes advantage of the sayings of a godly Wiseman or a luminous gnostic, whose string of knowledge is connected to the perfect friends of Allah, concerning the Three Unities, it will be a good help to the inner heart. But the condition for taking that advantage is that he should do it regarding it as an ayah, a sign and suluk to Allah, for otherwise it would become a thorn on the road and a veil covering the face of the Beloved. The Messenger of Allah (S.A.), as it is stated in the noble al-Kafi, calls this knowledge an " indisputable ayah ayat-I muhkam⁽³⁶⁸⁾ Generally speaking, when the root of Allah's Unity of Acts is strongly implanted in the heart, and irrigated with the water of knowledge accompanied with nice deeds, which knock at the heart's door, its fruit will be remembering the state of divinity, and the heart will gradually become pure and ready for receiving actual manifestation. When the house is free from the traitor, and the nest from the alien, the Owner of the house controls it and Allah's guarding hand brings the invisible and visible powers of the kingdom of the inside and the heart and of the outside kingdom of the body under its rule and authority. and the Satins are completely expelled from this stage, too, and the entertain kingdom returns to its independence, which is being under Allah's shelter. This is the second degree of the divine grace, the isti adhah. After this stage come other stages, such as, the isti àdhah of the spirit and the isti'adhahof the secret, which are out of the scope of these pages. Even what was said was of the 0vernowing of this servant's pen, or it was written at the command of the pen of the Lord, Most High and Almighty, and to Him is the refuge.

Another discipline and condition of isti adhah is that which is referred t in the ayah stated at the beginning of this Chapter, i.e. "faith' iman, which other than knowledge, even though it is proved by means of philosophic proof "The legs of the argumentative are of wood".⁽³⁶⁹⁾ faith is a matter of the heart, and happens through intense remembrance, contemplation, intimacy and privacy with Allah. Despite the fact that Satan had knowledge about the Beginning and the Return, as the says, he is counted with the disbelievers. If faith was this argumentative knowledge, those who possess this knowledge must be away from the intrusion and the light of guidance of the Qur'an would illuminate their inside notice that, despite such marks, there is no sign of faith. So, if w out of Satan's control, and be under the protection of Allah, the we must, by intense cordial austerity and continual, or frequent proximity and privacy, bring the facts of faith to the heart in order to let it b divine. Then, having been so, it will be free from Satan's control, as Allah, the Exalted, says: "Allah is the Guardian of those who believe. He bring them out of darkness into the light."⁽³⁷⁰⁾ So, the believers, whom Allah, the Exalted,, is the manager, the guardian of their inside and outside, their secret and their publicity, are free from Satan's control and enter into the Beneficent kingdom. He brings them out of all degrees of darkness to the absolute light: from the darkness of disobedience and insolence, the darkness of the dirty moral impurities, the darkness of ignorance, disbelief, polytheism, self-deceiving selfishness and self-admiration, to the light of obedience and worship, the light of virtuous characters, the light of knowledge, perfection. faith, monotheism, godliness, piety and friendship with Allah. Another one of its disciplines is "reliance" ,awakku1 on Allah, which is also part of faith and of the real lights of the grace of faith. It means entrusting the affairs to Allah, which results from the heart's belief in the Unity of Acts, Whose details are out of he capacity of this book. When the salik servant finds no refuge and no shelter other than Allah and believes that the management of the affairs is exclusively Confined to His Sacred Essence, a certain condition of devotion, refuge and trust show up in his heart, and his isti'adhahbecomes real. So, as he truthfully takes refuge fl the strong fortress of the Lordship and divinity, He shall certainly protect him with His most spacious and generous mercy, for He is the possessor of great favor!

We noted in this Chapter that the truth of the isti'adhahis a mood or state of mind which is created by a complete evident knowledge of Allah's Unity of Acts, and by believing in that Unity. That is, after he understood, by way of explicit and strong intellectual proofs and traditional evidences, quoted from the Qur'anic texts, and through the signs and the wonders of the Divine Book and noble hadiths, that the Power of Creation and independence of effectiveness, or rather, the very origin of effect, is exclusively confined to the Sacred Divine Essence, and other beings have no share of it, as is proved in its stance, he should convince his heart of it, and, with the pen of intellect, he should write on the page of his heart the truth of "There is no god but Allah, and there is no effecter mu'aththir in the (world of) existence except Allah. When the heart takes in this grace of faith and proved fact, there appears in it a state of devotion and exclusivity (to Allah).

Believing that Satan is the highway robber of humanity and its strong enemy, there appears in his heart an apprehensiveness, which is the reality of the isti adhah. And, as the tongue is the spokesman of the heart, it translates that state of apprehensiveness, with complete need and necessity in words: "I take refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan," which it utters truthfully. If there were no effects of these facts in the heart, and it was under the control of Satan. as well as the other parts of one's existing kingdom, the isti'adhah also takes place, but with the management of Satan, and verbally he does say" "I take refuge in Allah from Satan", but in fact, as it is an act of Satan himself. It is actually taking refuge in Satan from Allah, and the isti'adhah perform' function, and Satan mocks at the one who utters the isti'adhah - a mockery whose result is known only after removing the cover and pushing aside the curtain of nature. Such a person, whose isti'adhah is merely verbal, is like the one who wants to take refuge from an endless hostile army in a strong fortress, but instead, he heads to the enemy turning away from the fortress, while he continues saying:

"I take refuge in this fortress from the evil of the Such a person, besides being inflicted with the evil of the enemy, subject to the enemy's mockery, too.

one: at-musta'idh the one who seeks refuge
Two: al-musta'adhu minhu 'that from which refuge is sought
Three al-musta 'adhu bihi the one with whom refuge is sought
Four: al-musta 'adhu lahu that for which refuge is sought

Do know that there are so much detailed explanations for these pillars are out of our intention. Yet, we are satisfied to mention a summary of them. The first pillar is concerning al- musta'idh. It is a humanistic truth from the very first stage of the suluk to Allah till the final end of self-annihilation -fana-I dhati. "When the absolute annihilation was complete, the Satan perish and the isti'adhah would take place." To expand on this summary we may say that as long as man is dwelling tile abode of the self and nature, and has not yet started his spiritual journey Suluk to Allah, and is still under Satan's control in all degrees and affairs, not yet understood the truth of isti adhah, and the mere utterances of his tongue arc useless, or rather they fix and strengthen the Satanic authority, unless Allah, the Exalted, grants him His favor. When he gets engaged in his journey at] suluk to Allah and starts his spiritual travel, what hinders him o the road ad thorns his way, as long as he is continuing his journey and suluk is his own Satan, whether of the Satanic spiritual forces, or of the jinn or ins for when e jinn and ins become thorns of the road, they will, actually, be the assistants of Satan and act to his command. Allah, the Exalted, refers to this in the bless surah of an-Nas: " ... from the evil of the slinking whisperer, who whimpers in the breasts of men, from among the jinn and men." If the Satiates from the jinn, it is understood from the noble ayah that the slinking inspirer, i.e. Satan, is originally bil'isalah a jinn and subordinatively bittaba'iyah an ins. But if Satan is another reality resembling the jinn, it appears from the noble ayah that these two species, i.e. the jinn and the ins, are also Satanic shiitakes tamaththulat and his manifestations. In another ayah it is said: "... the Satan's of ins and jinn".⁽³⁷¹⁾ In this blessed Surah the pillars of isti'adhah are mentioned, as we stated before and as it is clear.

In word, before starting the journey to Allah, man is not a musta'idh. When the gnostic arif comes to the end of the journey, and there remains no trace, at of the remnants of servitude, and he reaches the stage of the absolute personal annihilation fana'-i dhati, there will remain no trace of the isti adhah musta'adhun minhu and musta1dh, and in his heart there will be nothing kept Allah and His Divine Sovereignty, and he will be unaware of himself and his heart, and "I take refuge in You from You"⁽³⁷²⁾ is also out of this static When there is a state of wakefulness sahw , intimacy and return, there still is a trace of isti adhah, but not the isti'adhah of a salik. For this reason, the Final Messenger of Allah (S.A.) is also ordered to do the istidhah, as Allah,lie Exalted, says: "Say: I take refuge in the Lord of daybreak" ⁽³⁷³⁾and "Say: I like refuge in the Lord of men,"⁽³⁷⁴⁾ and "Say: M Lord! I take refuge in You from the evil suggestions of the Satans, and I take refuge in You, 0 my Lord! from their presence.⁽³⁷⁵⁾

So, man in two states is not musta'idh: One is before starting the suluk, is the state of being completely veiled, at the Satan's disposal and under his control. The other is when the suluk comes to the end, which is the absolute annihilation, in which there is no trace of the musta id/i, musta 'adhan minhu, musta 'adhan lahu or isti'adhah. In two states he is a musta'idh: One is in his suluk to Allah, in which he takes refuge from the thorns of the road of attainment wusul that are sitting on the straight path, as Satan says in the Qur'an: "As You have led me astray, I shall lurk in ambush for them on Your straight path"⁽³⁷⁶⁾. The other is when he is wakeful and returning from the absolute annihilation, in which be does the isti'adhah (takes refuge) from the coloring seclusions ihtijabat and others. The second pillar is concerning al-musta'adhu minhu, which is the accursed Iblis, the outcast Satan, who prevents man from attiring to his goal and implementing his objective, by means of his diverse snares. Some great men of the people of knowledge say that Satan, in his reality, is the entire world in its aspect of being other than Allah. The writer does not agree with this, because this aspect of being other than Allah, which is a fancied form that has no truth and is void of any sort of realization tahaqquq and reality, is but one of Iblis 's snares in which he gets man engaged. It may be a reference to the point which is said in the ayah: "Rivalry in wordy increase distracts you, until you come to the graves."⁽³⁷⁷⁾ Or else, Iblis himself is a reality with an abstract ideal, and the reality of universal Iblis, the head of all Iblises, is the Universal fancy wahmul kull as the universal abstract intellectual fact, the first man (Adam), is the universal intellect 'aqlul kull. The individual worldly fancies are of the affairs shu'un and manifestations mazahir of the universal Iblis, as the individual intellects are of the affairs shu'un and manifestations 'mazahir of the universal intellect 'aql-i kul . A detailed explanation of this Subject is out of the capacity of this thesis. In a word, what becomes a hindrance and a thorn on the road of the divine suluk to Allah is Satan or his manifestations, whose acts are also of Satan's. And what, of the states of the invisible and visible worlds and of the happenings 'awarid that happen to the soul, and of its different states becomes a veil on the face of the Beloved janan, whether of the mundane terrestrial worlds, such as poverty, and richness, soundness and illness, ability and disability, knowledge and ignorance, plagues and defects, etc., or f the invisible, abstract and ideal worlds, such as paradise and hell, and relevant knowledge, even the argumentative intellectual sciences which belong to tauhid and glorifying Allah ... , all of them are of Iblis 's snares by which he diverts man from Allah and from having intimacy and privacy with Him. Even diversion through moral ma'nawi states and standing wuquf in spiritual stages, whose outside is to stand at the path of humanity, and whose inside is to stand at the path of Allah - which is the spiritual bridge of the hell of separation and parting, and which ends in the paradise of meeting, the bridge which is especially for a small group of the people of knowledge and of heart - are also of the big snares of the chief Iblis, from which one must seek refuge in the Sacred Essence of Allah, the Exalted.

In short, whatever diverts you from Allah and secludes you from the Beautiful Beauty of the Beloved, the Glorified, is your Satan, be it in the form of an ins or a jinn. And whatever is used to prevent you from that goal is of Satan's snares, be it of the kinds of positions and ranks or of the types of sciences and perfections, or professions and industries, or luxury and comfort, or hardship and humility, or anything else. These are of the dispraised worldly matters. In other words, when the heart loves something other than Allah, that will be its world, and that is disapproved. It is a Satanic snare from which one should take refuge in Allah. It is quite likely the point to which the Messenger of Allah (S.A.) referred by his invocation: "I take refuge with Allah's generous face, and with His words, which no pious or impious can pass, from the evil of what descends from the heaven and ascends to it, from the evil of what enters into the earth and what comes out of it, from the evil of the troubles of the night and the day, and from the evil of the knockers at the night and day, except the knocker who brings good.⁽³⁷⁸⁾ Taking refuge with Allah's face and Allah's words means being drowned in the sea of Beauty and Majesty, and whatever keeps man off it is of the evils and belongs to the world of Satan and his tricks, from which one must take refuge with Allah's face, be it of the perfect heavenly truths or of the earthly imperfect ones, unless it is the knocker that brings good - the divine knocker who invites to Absolute Good, that is, Allah, the Exalted.

The third pillar is concerning al-musta 'adhu bihi. Know that the truth of isti'adhah is implemented in the salik to Allah, and attained to through the travel and suluk to Allah. That is, isti'adhah belongs to the salik during the stages of the suluk. ALIGN="JUSTIFY">Therefore, the truths of isti'adhah, musta idh, musta 'adhun minhu and musta'adhun bihi differ according to the degrees and the stages of the travellers to Allah. A reference to this is probably in the noble surah of an-NAs: "Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of men, the King of men, the God of men." From the beginning of the suluk till the limits of the state of the heart, the salik takes refuge with the state of the Lordship: It is possible that this Lordship is the Lordship of Act, so as to conform to "I take refuge with the complete words of Allah".⁽³⁷⁹⁾ And when the journey of the salik ends in the state of the heart, the state of the divine sovereignty appears in the heart, in which case he takes refuge in the state of "The King of men" from the evils of Iblis's cordial intrusion and his despotic inner authority, as he took refuge, in the first state, from the evils of Satan's breast intrusion, as it is said: "... who whispers in the breasts of men" although the "whispering" in the hearts and the spirits is also by the "slinking" Satan. Perhaps this is because it is in the instance of a general introduction and on the basis of an apparent attribute that suits every body. When the salik passes the state of the heart to the state of the spirit, which is of the divine "blowing", and whose connection to Allah is Closer than that of the sunlight to the sun, in this stage anxiety, passion, attraction ardent love, and eagerness, begin to appear, and in it he takes refuge in the "God of men." And when he advances higher than this stage and has before his eyes the Essence without a mirror for the affairs shu'un in other Words, when he reaches the state of the secret, he will be suited to say: "I take refuge from You in You".⁽³⁸⁰⁾(There are, in this respect, other details which ) not suit this essay.

However, you may know that to take refuge in Allah's Name suits all ages because of its comprehensiveness, as, in fact, it is an absolute isti'adhah while other isti adhahs are limited ones. The fourth pillar is concerning al-musta'adhu lahu, i.e. the aim of the i 'adhah. You may know that what is required essentially bid/id hat by the musta'idh person is of the kinds of perfection, happiness and good, which differ accordance with the degrees and ranks of the saliks. As long as the salik is ill within the frame of the soul and the veil of nature, the aim of his journey to attain to self-perfections and the low natural kinds of happiness. This longs to the early stages of the Suluk. Getting out of the soul's confinement, id having acquired a taste of spiritual states and abstract perfections, his goal ill be higher and his aim more perfect, neglecting all personal positions; and s objective will be attaining to cordial perfections and internal happiness. lien, turning the rein of the travel away from this state, and reaching at the )or of the house of the spiritual secret, the beginnings of the divine manifestations start appearing in his inside, and the tongue of his inside, at the ginning says: "I direct my face towards Allah's face", and later on: "I direct my face towards Allah's Names or towards Allah," and after that: "I direct my face to Him". Perhaps "I direct my face to the One Who eated the heavens and the earth"⁽³⁸¹⁾ is related to the first stage because of Le creatorship fatiriyat. In a word, whichever the salik's stage, his real objective is to attain to essential perfection and happiness. But as with happiness and perfection, in any yen stage, there is a Satan with a snare of his snares to prevent him from aching his objective, the salik will have to take refuge in Allah from that Satan and his evils and tricks, in order to get to his original aim and essential )ejective. So, the salik's objective of the isti'adhah is. in fact, obtaining the looked-for perfection and wanted happiness. The aim of the aims, and the final ant, is Allah, the Glorified, the Almighty. In this stage, or after it. Everything vanishes except Allah, the Exalted, and the isti'adhah (taking refuge) from Satan will be a consequent and done in full wakefulness. Praise is Allah's at the beginning and at the end.

In At-Tauhid, quoting Imam ar-R!A (A.S.), it is stated that when he was asked to explain the basmalah , he said: "When one says" bismillah! (

So, first, salik i tasmiyah (naming) is to be distinguished by the divine marks and signs, then he is promoted and attains to the state of ismiyat, which is a state in the beginnings of the proximity of the nafilah (supererogation) and when this proximity of nafilah takes place, he will enjoy full state of ismiyat. md there remains nothing of servant and servitude. The one who reaches this stage, his complete Salat will be uttered by Allah's tongue, a state which can happen only to a few of Allah's friends. As regards the common people and the imperfect ones like us. the discipline is to brand our heart with the mark of servitude during uttering the 2smivah. and to inform the heart about Allah's marks, signs and ayahs not satisfying ourselves with unintentional wordings, haply we may be covered by the eternal favour and make up for the past, and there opens before our hearts a door of learning the Names and of attaining to the objective.

It is further possible to say that in the said noble zad1th, by a simah of "the simahs of Allah", it is meant the mark or sign of the mercy of the "Beneficent" and the mercy of the "Merciful". These two noble Names are of the all-embracing ones, under whose blessing shadow the entire world of realization has reached, and does reach, the existence itself and its perfection, and the mercies of the Beneficence Rahmaniyah and Mercifulness rah1myah cover the whole house of existence dar-i wujud. Even the mercy of Mercifulness, of whose manifestations is the guidance of all guides on the road of tauhid, covers all, except those who were diverted from the disposition of rectitude, and, owing to their own ill-selection, prevented themselves from being benefited by it, not that the Mercifulness did not cover them. Even in the Hereafter world, which is the day of harvesting the bad and good cultivations, those who have bad cultivations are inevitably short of being benefited by the mercy of the Merciful. To be short, the salik who wants his tasmiyah to be implemented, will have to convey Allah's mercies to his heart to have it believe in the favours of the Beneficent and the Merciful, which is marked out On the heart by his looking with kindness and leniency at the servants of Allah, desiring goodness and righteousness to all of them. This look is that of the great prophets and the perfect holy men auliya' (A.S.), although they had two looks: one for Welfare and the happiness of the community, the system of the family and the regime of the Virtuous City, and the second for the happiness of the individual. They were very much concerned about the happiness of these two. The divine laws, which are established, disclosed, enforced and carried out by them, take Complete care of the happiness of those two. Even in carrying out penalties and Punishments and the like, which seem to have been coined in conformity with the laws the Virtuous City, the happiness of both arc taken into because these affairs arc mostly for educating the soul and bringing it to happiness. Even those who had no light of faith and happiness and were killed by the fighters in jihad and the like, such as the Jews of Ranu Qurayzah, this killing (being killed) was for their goodness and reformation It can be said that killing them was of the complete mercy of the Seal of the Prophets (S.A.), because by their survival in this world they would prepare every day diverse punishments for themselves, while the whole life in this world cannot be compared with the tortures and the hardships of a single day in the Hereafter. This is quite obvious to those who have knowledge about the extent of the tortures and punishments in the Hereafter and their reasons and causes. So, the sword which was put to the necks of the Jews of Banu Qurayzah and their like, was nearer to the horizon of mercy than to the horizon of anger and wrath.

The Chapter of al-amru bil ma 'rufi wan-nahyu 'anil munkar (Bidding unto honor and forbidding dishonor) belongs to the mercy of the Merciful. So, the one who bids unto honor and forbids dishonor must make his heart taste the mercy of the Merciful, and his aim of bidding and forbidding should not be showing off, ostentation, and imposition of the bidding and forbidding. Should one have such aims in his mind, the objective of bidding unto honor and forbidding dishonor - which is the happiness of the people and the enacting of Allah's precepts in the land - would not be implemented. Sometimes it may happen that the result of an ignorants bidding unto honor turns out to be contrary to what was intended, and many bad things happen because of a single ignorant bidding and forbidding, prompted by a selfish desire and Satanic conduct. But if the sense of mercy, pity and the right of manhood and brotherhood drive man to guide the ignorant and awaken the negligent, the quality of the explanation and guidance, which is the symptom of a kind heart, appears in such a way that its effect in the deserving materials will be quite )obvious and will soften the hard-hearted and bring them down from their arrogance and denial. It is much to be regretted that we do not learn from the Qur'an. We do not look with an eye of contemplation and learning at this )divine Book, and our benefit from this Wise Reminder is almost nothing contemplating the honoured ayah: "Go, both of you, to Pharaoh, for he has become insolent, and speak to him in a gentle speech, haply he may remember or fear,"⁽³⁸⁴⁾ would open ways of knowledge and doors of hope and expectation to man's heart. Pharaoh, whose insolence reached the extent of saying: "I am your most high Lord," ⁽³⁸⁵⁾ and his haughtiness and corruption were so much that he began to "slaughter their sons and let their women live⁽³⁸⁶⁾ after his dream, which the soothsayers and the magicians interpreted to be about the appearance of Moses the son of 'Imran (A.S.), he immediately separated the women from the men, ordered the innocent boys to be killed and did so much mischief fasad. Allah, the Beneficent, through His Mercifulness, cast His look at all the earth and chose the humblest and most perfect person, i.e., the great prophet, the highly generous messenger, Moses the son of 'Imran (peace be upon our Prophet and his progeny and upon him), and educated and taught him with his educating hand, as He says: "And when he attained his maturity and became full-grown, We granted him wisdom and knowledge; and thus do We reward the good-doers",⁽³⁸⁷⁾ and backed him by his honourable brother, Aron (AS.). These two honourable, who were the prime of humanity, had been chosen by Allah, as He said: "And I have chosen you"⁽³⁸⁸⁾ or:" ... and that you might be formed (brought up) before My eye (in My sight),"⁽³⁸⁹⁾ or: "... and I have brought you up for Myself. Go you and your brother with My signs and do not slacken in remembering Me,"⁽³⁹⁰⁾ and other noble ayahs which refer to this subject and we do not need to relate them, and the heart of the gnostic enjoys them in such a way that it cannot be talked about, especially the two honourable phrases: "and that you might be formed (brought up) before My eye" (in My sight) and "I have brought you up for Myself." You, too, if you open the eye of your heart, you Will bear such a nice spiritual melody that all the hearings of your heart and Corners of your being will become full of the secret of tauhid.

To be short, Allah, the Exalted, with a lot of ceremonies and preparations, educated Moses, His interlocutor, by spiritual education, as He says: "and We tried you with many trials."⁽³⁹¹⁾ He sent him to the old Shu'ayb (Jethro), to accompany for years that sage man of guidance and th elect of the world of humanity. He, the Exalted, says: "Then you stayed years among the people of Madyan, then you came hither as ordained o Moses."⁽³⁹²⁾ Afterwards, for higher (heavier) trying and examining, He sent him into the Sahara on the road to ash-Sham (Syria), where He caused him to lose his way, put him under heavy rains in the deep darkness, and his wife to start having a hard labour. Thus, all the doors of nature were closed to him. Then, as his noble heart ached of multiplicity, and, through the pure natural disposition, he submitted himself to Allah, and as his divine and spiritual journey in that boundless desert came to an end, "He perceived on the side of the mountain a fire ... and when he came to it, he was called from the right side of the valley in the blessed field, from the tree: 0 Moses! Verily I am Allah, the Lord of the worlds."⁽³⁹³⁾ After all those examinations and spiritual education, what for did Allah prepare him? It was in order to invite, guide, preach and save a single disobedient slave (Pharaoh)

who used to shout: "I am your most high Lord", causing so much mischief in the land. Allah could have burned him down with the flash of a lightning of His anger, but the mercy of His Mercifulness sent him two great prophets and still advised them to talk to him with kindness and leniency, such that he might remember Allah and be afraid of his own deeds and their aftermath. This is the instruction for how to conduct aI-amru bil ma'rufi wa nahyu 'anil munkar. It is the way of how to guide someone like Pharaoh, the taghut (the tyrant). Now, as you, too, want to bid unto honor and forbid dishonor, and to guide the creatures of Allah, remember these noble and divine ayahs and learn from Face the them, since they have been revealed for remembrance and learning.

servants of Allah with a heart full of affection and love, cherishing In the bottom of your heart their good. Having found your heart beneficent and merciful, you may then bid unto honor and forbid dishonor, and guide the people, so that the hard hearts may become soft with the flash to emotional heart, and the iron of the hearts turn supple with the adrift with the tire of your love.

This valley, however, is other than the valley of :Hate on Allah's and love on Allah's behalf," which means that one should bear for the enemies of the religion, as is stated in the noble hadiths and the us Qur'an. That is true in its relevant place, and this is also true in its it place, for which there is no space to explain now.

Scholars differ about the relation of "B" oa' in the Bismillahir Rahmanir-Rahim. Each one of them says something about it according to hi way of thinking, knowledge and gnosticism. For example, men of letters relate it to the entry "beginning" ibtida' or "seeking help" isti'anat. As to some narratives to the effect that Bismillah means: "I seek help (from Allah)", it is either in accordance with the common taste, as is very much current in the 'hadiths, and the difference of many hadiths is ascribed to this predicate, and it is thus that Imam ar-Ri4 (A.S.) explained Bismillah to mean: "I put on myself a simah (mark) of Allah's",⁽³⁹⁴⁾ or "seeking help" denotes too delicate a meaning to be understood by the common people, as it includes the secret of tauhid in a subtler way. Some people of knowledge say that it refers to "appeared" zahara, that is: "Existence appeared by Bismillah".⁽³⁹⁵⁾ This is in accordance with the people of knowledge, suluk and gnosticism, who say that all beings, the atoms of existence and the invisible and visible worlds are the manifestations of the abrading Name of Allah, i.e. "The Greatest Name". Consequently, "name", which means a sign, a mark, or height and elevation, is Allah's effusive and actual manifestation, which is called "Effusive Emanation" faid-i munbasit and "illumines annexation" idafa-i ishraqi , because, according to this conduct, the whole of the House of Realization, as from the abstract intellects down to the lowest degrees of existence, are the phenomenalizations ta'ayyunat of this emanation faid and the descents tanazzulat of this grace latifah . This conduct is supportable by many noble divine ayahs and honourable hadiths of the infallible and purified Ahlul Bayt (A.S.), such as the noble hadiths in al-Kafi which says: "Allah created the Will mashiyat through the Will itself, then He created all the things through Will."⁽³⁹⁶⁾ This honourable hadiths is interpreted according to the opinion of each interpreter's creed. The most obvious one is that which is in conformity with the creed saying that "Will" means, here, the Will in Action, which is the "Effusive Emanation", and the "things" are the stages of existence, and which are the phenomena ta ta'ayyunat and the descents tanazzulat of this grace. So, the hadiths will thus mean that Allah, the Exalted, has created the Will of Act - which is the shadow zill of the Old Essential Will - through the Will itself without intermediation, and the other creatures of the invisible and visible worlds have been created in the wake of that. Yet, Sayyid Muhaqqiq Damad (may his grave be sanctified), a great scholar and strict researcher as he was, interpreted this noble hadiths⁽³⁹⁷⁾ in a strange way. Similarly, the explanation of the late Fayd(may Allah have mercy upon him) is also far from being correct.⁽³⁹⁸⁾ However, "Name" is the very manifestation of Act, with which this House of Realization is realized (actualized). The term "Name", referring to real things, is frequently noticed to be used by Allah, His Messenger and the infallible Ahlul Bayt, who said" "We are the Beautiful Names".⁽³⁹⁹⁾ In the noble invocations one frequently reciter: "By Your Name in which You manifested to so and so."⁽⁴⁰⁰⁾

It is possible that the Basmalah at the opening of each Surah belongs to the same surah. For example, the Basmalah of the blessed surah of "al-Hamd" belongs to the surah itself This opinion coincides with the gnostic taste and of the people of knowledge, as it is to say that the praise of the praises and the eulogy of the eulogists point to the self-subsistence of the Name "Allah". Therefore, the tasmiyah comes as a preliminary to all words and acts - which is an act of religious supererogation - and it is to remind that whatever word or act done by man is by the self-subsistence of the divine Name, since all the particles of existence are the phenomena of "Allah's Name", and, in a way, they themselves are "Allah's names". On this basis, the meaning of the Basma11, according to the majority, is different in each surah, each word and each act. The jurisprudents say that the Basmalah must be defined for each surah, that is, if for a surah a Basmalah was recited, the next surah cannot be commenced with that same Basmalah. From the juristic point of view, this is not without reason, as, actually, it is reasonable within the scope of this research. But, considering the vanishing of multiplicities in the Greatest Name of Allah, all Basmalahs have a single meaning. These two opinions are also applied to the stages of existence and the stations of invisibility and visibility: In the view of multiplicity and seeing the phenomena, all the multiplied beings, the stages of existence and the phenomena of the world are the different names of the Beneficent, the Merciful, the Powerful and the Gracious. In the view of the vanishing of multiplicities and the effacement of the lights of existence in the eternal light of the Sacred Emanation /fai4-i muqaddas , there is nothing except the Holy Emanation faid-i muqaddas and the All- embracing Name of Allah. Both of these two opinions are also present in the Divine Names and Attributes. According to the first opinion, the state of Unity wahidiyat is the state of multiple Names and Attributes, as all multiplicities are from Him. According to the second opinion, there is no name and form ism u rasm except the Greatest Name of Allah. These two opinions are wise and through the step of thinking. But if the view became gnostic through opening the doors of the heart, and through the steps of conduct and cordial austerity, Allah, the Exalted, will appear in the hearts of its possessors through His manifestations in Act, Name and Essence, sometimes in the Attribute of multiplicity and sometimes in the Attribute of Unity. The Glorious Qur'an refers to these manifestations, both overtly , as in His saying: "And when his Lo manifested (His light) to the mountain, He made it crumble to dust, and Moses fell down senseless, "⁽⁴⁰¹⁾and covertly, as in the scenes witnessed by Ibrahim (A.S.) and the Messenger of Allah (S.A.), which are referred to in the surahs "al-An'am" and "an-Najm", as well as in the narratives and the invocations of the infallibles (A.S.) which frequently refer to the same, especially in the great du'a (invocation) called "as-Simat", whose authenticity and text cannot be denied by the deniers, and it is accepted by both the Sunnis and the Shi'ahs, and by both gnostics and common people. In this noble invocation there are many high meanings and teachings smelling which raptures the gnostic's heart, and its breeze blows divine breath into the salik's spirit. It says" "By the light of Your Face with which You appeared to the mountain and made it crumble to dust, and Moses fell down senseless; by Your Glory which appeared at the mount of Tur of Sina , with which You talked to Your servant and messenger, Moses the son of 'Imran (A.S.); and by Your rise in Sa'ir and Your appearance on the mount Faran..."⁽⁴⁰²⁾ In short, the salik to Allah has to inform his heart, when reciting the Basmalah, that all the outward and inward beings and all the visible and invisible worlds, are under the education of the Names of Allah, or rather, they are manifest by the manifestation of the Names of Allah, and all his motions and stillness, and all the world's, are based on the self-existence of the Greatest Name of Allah. So, his praises are for Allah, and his worship, obedience, monotheism and sincerity are all because of the self-existence of the Name of Allah. It is by intense remembrance, which is the aim of worship, that this state, this divine grace, is established and fixed in his heart, as Allah, the Exalted, in His intimate meeting and sacred assembly, with His interlocutor' said: "Verily I am Allah; there is no god but I; so worship Me and perform the salat for My remembrance".⁽⁴⁰³⁾ The objective of performing the salat is, He said, to remember Him. After intense remembrance, another way of knowledge will be opened to the heart of the gnostic and he will be attracted to the world of Unity until the tongue of his heart reciter: "Praise is for Allah by Allah", and "You are as You praised Yourself,"^(403/1) and "I take refuge in You from You".^(403/2)

That was a summary of the relation of the "B" ba1 in Bismillah, an some information obtained from it. As to the secrets of the "B" ha', and th dot under the "B" ba' of Bismillah, which, in its innermost, refers to the 'Alawian position of guardianship, and the state of the Qur'anic Collective Union jam 'ul jam', they need a wider scope to explain. As regards the truth of the Name, it has an invisible station, an invisible of the invisible, and it has a secret, a secret of the secret, a state of manifestation and a manifestation of the manifestation. The Name is the mark 'alamat of Allah and is vanished in His Sacred Essence. So, any name which is nearer to the horizon of the Unity, and farther from the world of multiplicity, is more complete in nomination (name ness = ismiyat); and the most complete name is that which is innocent from multiplicities, even the multiplicity of knowledge, and that is the invisible manifestation of "Ahmadian oneness" ahadi-i ahmadi in the Essence hadrat-i dhat by the state of the "Holiest Emanation" faid-i aqdas, which may be what was referred to by the noble ayah: " ... or closer still"⁽⁴⁰⁴⁾ Then there is the manifestation by the Greatest Name of Allah in the Unity ha4rat-i wahidiyat; then there is the manifestation by the "Holy Emanation" fai4-i muqaddas; then there are the manifestations by the attributes of multiplicity in the essences ia4arat-t a )'an, etc. till the last stage of the House of Realization. The writer has already explained this brief in Misbahul Hidayah ⁽⁴⁰⁵⁾ and in the exegesis of Du 'a 'us-Sahar.⁽⁴⁰⁶⁾ "Allah" is the state maqam of appearance in the "Holy Emanation" if by "Name" the existential individuations ta'ayunat-i wujudiyah are meant, in Which case applying "Allah" to it as a union between the manifest and the manifestation, and the vanishing of the Name in the Named, is not Objectionable. Perhaps, the ayahs "Allah is the light of the heavens and the Earth ⁽⁴⁰⁷⁾and "And lie it is Who in the heaven is God, and in the earth is God,"⁽⁴⁰⁸⁾ are a reference to this state, and an evidence proving the Said application. It is the state of Unity wahidiyat and the Union jam of the Names. In other words, it is the state of the Greatest Name if by "Name" the ;state of manifestation by the "Holy Emanation" is intended. This is Probably more obvious than the other possibilities. Or it is the state of the Essence or he state of the "Holiest Emanation" if by "Name" the "Greatest Name" is intended. Consequently, the states of "Beneficent" rahman and "Merciful" Rahim arc different, according to these possibilities, as is clear.

It is possible that "Beneficent" and "Merciful" are adjectives for "Name", )r they may by adjectives for "Allah", but they are more suitable to he adjectives for "Name", because in praising they are adjectives for "Allah", and Thus, it will be immune from repetition, although their being adjectives for Allah" is also justifiable. In repetition there is, however, a point of eloquence. f we take them to be adjectives for "Name", it supports the idea that by Name" the Essential Names asma '-i 'ainiyah are intended, because only the essential Names can bear the adjectives of "Beneficent" and "Merciful". So, if )y "Name" the Essential Name and the manifestation in the state of Collectivity ire intended, "Beneficent" and "Merciful' will he attributes of the Essence, which, in the manifestations by the state of Unity, are confirmed for "the Name f Allah", and the. mercy of the Beneficent and the Merciful in Act is of their tanazzulat and appearances. And if by the "Name" the collective infestation in Act tajalli-i jam'i-i fi'li is intended, which is the state of Will. he "Beneficence" and "Mercifulness" are attributes of Act. So, the mercy of the Beneficence" rahmaniyat is the expanse of the origin of the existence, which general and for all beings, but it is of the particular attributes of Allah. because in expanding the origin of the existence, Allah, the Exalted, has no partner, and the hands of other beings are short of having the mercy of creating: There is no effecter in the (world of) existence except Allah, and here is no God in the house of Realization but Allah." Regarding the mercy of "Mercifulness" rahmaniyat, of whose exudations ras1uih7t is the guidance of the guides on the road, it is especially for the fortunate and the high dispositions, but it is of the general attributes, of which other beings have their share, too, as it has already been explained that the mercy of Mercifulness is of the general mercies, and that the wicked ashqiya have no share of it is because of their own evils, not because of any limitation. Therefore, guidance and invitation are for the entire human family, as is confirmed by the Glorious Qur'an. However, another opinion says that the mercy of the "Mercifulness" belongs only to Allah, and no one else has any share of it. The noble narratives, taking into consideration the different opinions and estimations, also differ in explaining the mercy of Mercifulness. Sometimes it is said: "The Beneficent' is a particular Name for a general Attribute, and the Merciful' is a general Name for a particular Attribute."⁽⁴⁰⁹⁾ In another instance it is said: "(He is) Beneficent to all His creatures, and Merciful to the believers in particular".⁽⁴¹⁰⁾ it is also said: "0 Beneficent of this world, and Merciful of the Hereafter's⁽⁴¹¹⁾ or "0 Beneficent and Merciful of this world and the Hereafter."

Men of letters say that Rahman (Beneficent) and Rahim (Merciful) arc derived from Rahman (mercy) and that both denote hyperbole, but in Rahman the exaggeration is more than it is Rahim. Analogy requires that Rahim should have preceded Rahman, hut since Rahman is as a personal proper name and cannot be ascribed to other beings, it, thus, came first. Some say that both have the same meaning, and the repetition is for mere confirmation. The gnostic taste - according to the highest levels of which the Qur'an has been revealed - requires that Rahman should precede Rahim , because the Qur'an, according to the people of heart, is the descendant of the divine manifestations, and the written form bearing the divine Beautiful Names, and, as ar-Rahim is the most all-embracing of the divine Names next to the Greatest Name, and as the people ol' knowledge are certain that the manifestations by the embracing Names asma'-i muhatah are prior to the manifestations by he embraced "Names asma -i muhatah, and as every Name that is more embracing, its manifestation is prior, too, therefore, the first manifestation in the Unity hadrat-i wahidiyat is the manifestation in the Greatest Name of Allah. Then comes the manifestation in the state of the Beneficence and after that comes the manifestation in the state of Mercifulness raiimiya1. Similarly, in the manifestation of the appearance in Act, it is the manifestation in the state of 'Will", which is the Greatest Name in this scene mashhad and the appearance of the Greatest Name of the Essence, that has priority over all manifestations. The manifestation in the state of Beneficence - which embraces all the beings of the invisible and visible worlds, and to which the ayah: "My mercy encompasses all things"⁽⁴¹²⁾ refers - is to precede other manifestations, as the saying "His mercy precedes His anger"⁽⁴¹³⁾ refers to that in some aspects. Generally speaking, as the Basmalah, according to the inside and the spirit, is the form of the manifestations in Act, and according to the secret and the secret of the secret, it is the form of the manifestations of Names, or rather of Essence, and these manifestations appear first in the state of "Allah", then in the state of the "Beneficent", and then in the state of the "Merciful", the pronounced and written forms should also be like that so as to be in conformity with the divine system. Regarding the "Beneficent" and the "Merciful" in the noble Surah of al-Hamd, which come later than "The Lord of the worlds", it may be because in the Basmalah the attention is directed to the appearance of the existence from the hidden and invisible places of existence. In the noble surah the attention is paid to the return and the inside. However, on this possibility there is a problem. Maybe it refers to the comprehensiveness )f the mercy of "Beneficence" and "Mercifulness", or there may be another )point. In any case, the said point concerning the Basmalah deserves to he believed in, and probably this is out of the blessings of the Mercy of the Mercifulness bestowed upon the heart of this humble person. Praise be to Him or what He has favoured.

The formalist scholars say that ar-Rahman and ar-Rahim are derive from ar-rahman, implying compassion and kindness. Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah b pleased with him) is quoted to have said: "They are two compassionate word one of which is more compassionate than the other: ar-Rahman, th compassionate, and ar-Rahim, the kind to His servants providing them wit livelihood and favours."⁽⁴¹⁴⁾ As kindness and compassion require an emotion infi'al, certain interpretation is given for ascribing them to the Sacred Essence, and thus that is regarded allegorical 'majazi. Some others, concerning such attributes in general, say: "Take the results and leave the preliminaries".⁽⁴¹⁵⁾ Regarding ascribing them to Allah, the Exalted, ft is based on the effects and acts, not on the beginnings and attributes. So, the meaning of ar-Rahim and ar-Rahman as ascribed to Allah, is the One Who treats His servants mercifully. The Schismatic mu 'tazilah regard all Allah's attributes as said above, or something like it, and, consequently, attributing them to Allah is also allegorical. But it is, however, unlikely to be allegorical, especially in respect of ar-Rahman, which, if admitted to be allegorical, would entail accepting something quite strange. That is, this word is coined for a meaning which is not allowed to be used allegorically and could not be. In fact, it will be an allegory with no reality. Think of it. People of research, in reply to such objections, say that words are coined for general meanings and absolute facts. So, to be confined to compassion and kindness is not included in what the word "mercy" was coined for, but the common mind has fabricated this attachment, as otherwise it has nothing to do with the coining wa4 . This, as it seems, is far from research, because the one who coined it was, obviously, one of these common people, and the abstract meanings and the absolute facts have not been considered. Yes, if the coiner wadi' was Allah, the Exalted, or the prophets, according to divine revelation and inspiration, that would be a justification. This, however, is not confirmed, and the external form of

this Speech is questionable, yet, it is not clear whether this external form was what the men of research intended. It is even possible to say that although the coiner with' to the words may not have considered, during the coining, the general abstract meanings, yet what had actually been intended for the words were the very general abstract meanings. For example, the coiner of the word 'light" had naturally in mind all kinds of accidental 'ara4iyah and sensible lights, as ht' knew nothing about what is behind these lights. But that which the word "light" denotes is the luminosity, not the mixture of light and darkness. If he was informed that those accidental and limited lights are not pure, but mixed with darkness and torpidity, and if he was asked whether he had intended the word to denote the luminosity or the mixture of light and darkness, he would certainly say that he had intended its luminosity, and the darkness never occurred to him in this respect. We likewise know that the person who coined the word "fire" he thought of nothing other than the worldly fires, and that what made it to occur to him was those fires of this world, and he knew nothing about "The fire kindled by Allah which rises above the hearts",⁽⁴¹⁶⁾ more so if the coiner did not believe in the other world. Nevertheless, this occurrence cannot be a means of limiting the fact, as "fire" refers to the quality of the fire, not that the coiner tried to abstract the meanings, such that it appears strange and far-fetched. But, actually, we say that the words denote the meanings for which they were coined, without any particular limit.

Therefore, there is no exception in the case, and the freer the meaning from the aliens and strangers, the nearer it will be to the truth, and farther from the shortcomings of allegory. Take, for example, the word "light" which was coined for being manifest by itself and for manifestation the other, despite the fact that using it for the accidental and mundane lights is not far from the truth, because by using it for them, the limits and the mixing with darkness are not intended, only the self-manifestation and the manifentativeness are intended. But using it for the heavenly lights - whose appearances are more perfect, nearer to the horizon to the intrinsic ness dhatiyat and stronger in manifentativeness in quantity and quality, and whose mixing with darkness and blemishes is less - is nearer to the truth; and using it for the Lights of Majesty anwar-i jabarutiyah is, for the said reason, closer to the truth; and also using it for the Sacred Essence ol Allan, the Most High, Who is the Light of the Lights and free from all aspects of darkness, and is mere Pure Light, is the very pure and absolute truth.

It ca even be said that if "Light" has been coined for "the apparent by itself an, 0anifesting the other", using it for other than Allah, the Exalted, is a reality t the partial intellects, but to the intellects supported (by Allah), and to t people of knowledge, it is allegorical, and it is real only when used for Allah the Exalted. Likewise the words which are coined for concepts of perfection meanings like existence and perfection. consequently, we say that in "Beneficent", "Merciful", "Compassionate anti the like, there is an aspect of perfection and completeness, and a aspect to emotion and shortcoming, and these words have been put for th aspect of perfection, which is the origin of that truth. As regards the emotion aspects, which are of the requisites of the growth nash 'ah and of the strange and alien things of the truth, which, after the descent of these truths in th pieces of possibility and the low mundane worlds, are concomitant and tangle with them - like the darkness which mingles with the light in the descending grown nash 'ah - have nothing to do with the meaning of the object. So using it for a Being Who possesses the Absolute Perfection, and Who i innocent of all aspects of emotion and shortcoming, is the mere pure truth This explanation, in addition to its being close to the taste of the people ol knowledge, suits the conscience of the people of literalism, too. Hence, it has become clear that such attributes of perfection, which have by descending in some growths nasha 'at , been mixed and interrelated with another matter - of which the Sacred Essence of Allah is innocent - are not allegorical when ascribed to Allah, the Exalted, in their absolute concept. And Allah is the Guide.

When He says: "Alhamdu lillah" (All praise is for Allah). it means that all forms of praise are exclusively for the Divine Sacred Essence. So, do know, dear, that under this noble word is the secret of the particular tauhi4, or rather the most particular one. The fact that all forms of praise, that the praises offer, exclusively belong to Allah, the Exalted, is quite obvious, by evidence, to the people of wisdom and the well-versed in high philosophy, because it proved that the entire House of Realization is the Expanded Shadow zill-j munbasit: of Allah and His flowing Emanation faid-i mabsut , and that all the apparent and hidden favours, whoever the donor may be, as it appears and as the common people think, are Allah's, and no being participates with Him. Even the preparatory participation in this respect is the opinion of the people of the common philosophy, not the high philosophy. So, as praise is offered for favours, gifts and beneficence, and as there is no benefactor in the House of Realization except Allah, all praises belong to Him. And also as there are no Beauty and no Beautiful save His Beauty and Him, all praises return to Him. In other words, every praise and extolment by any praise or extoller is because of a favour and a perfection on the other side. As to the place and the occasion of the favour and the perfection, that diminish and limit these, they have no participation in the praise and extolment, rather they are incompatible and contradictory. So, all praises and extolments return to the part ?za7 of Divinity, which is perfection and beauty, not to that of the creature, which is deficiency and limitation. In other words still, eulogizing the Perfect and thanking and praising the Benefactor mun'im are of the God-given dispositions, which are in the innermost of all beings. Among other divine dispositions is the feeling of disgust with the shortcomings, imperfections and what decreases the favour. The absolute favour which is free from all fault, and the complete Beauty and Perfection which are innocent of all kinds of deficiency, exclusively belong to Allah, while the other beings decrease the absolute favours and the absolute beauty and limit them, not that they increase and support them. Thus, all peoples are disposed to thank and praise the Sacred Essence of Allah, and disregard the other beings, except those beings who, according to their journey through the kingdoms of perfection and the towns of love, have been annibt1ated in the Glorious Essence of Allah, since loving them and praising them are the very loving of Allah and praising Him. "Loving Allah's favorites is loving Allah." but to here we have been explaining the positions of the ordinary people who are still within the veils of multiplicity and have not yet got rid of all sorts of bidden, and deeply hidden, polytheism, nor have they reached the perfect degree of sincerity and purity.

But, according to the knowledge 'irfan of those whose hearts have been annihilated in certain states, all the favours and all perfection, beauty and majesty are the form of the manifestation of the Essence, and all praises and thanks belong to the Sacred Essence of Allah, or rather praise and thanks are from Himself to Himself⁽⁴¹⁷⁾ as is referred to by the connection of Bismillah (

Be informed that men of letters and the formalists say that "praising" Hamd is thanking thana' by the tongue for a voluntary favour jamil , and, as they are unaware of all tongues except this fleshy tongue, they regard all praising and glorifying Allah, or rather all the talks of the Sacred Essence, to be a sort of figurative speech. They likewise take the talking, the praising and glorifying Allah by all beings to be allegorical. So, they regard Allah's talking to be creating talking, while in the other beings they regard praising and glorifying to be genetic takwini and intrinsic dhati. They think that speaking is, in fact, exclusively confined to their own species, thinking that the Sacred Essence of Allah, the Most High, and other beings, are unable to speak, or rather they are - God forbid! - dumb. They take this to be declaring the innocence of the Sacred Essence, whereas this is a limitation tahdid, or even a disruption's tatil, and Allah is innocent of such innocence, as most of the glorifications to the common people are limitation and assimilation tashbih . We have already explained how the words were coined for the general and absolute meanings. Now we add: We are not,

however, very keen on confirming that the divine facts should necessarily come true under linguistic terminological facts, as it is the correctness of the application .itlaq and the intellectual truth that are the criterion in such discussions, even if the linguistic fact is also proved, according to the former discussion. Therefore, we say that language, speaking, speech, writing, book, praising and thanking are of diverse degrees in proportion to the existential growths nasha 'at-i wujudiyah , as each one corresponds to its own growth !!nashah and degree.

And praising hamd, in each instance, is for a favour jamil and glorifying mad/i is for a beauty and a perfection. So, when Allah, the Most High, according to His Self-knowledge ilm-i dhati , saw, in the invisible Ipseity huwiyat, His Beautiful Beauty, in the most complete degree of knowing and seeing, He was delighted t-nubtahtj at His Beautiful Essence at the highest degree of delight ibtihaj . So , He manifested in the eternal manifestation and at the highest degree of manifestation in the Essence za4rat-i dhat for the Essence. This manifestation and disclosing the hidden secret and the "Self-argument" muqari'a-i dhatiyah is a "Self-speech" kalam-i dhati which takes place with the tongue of the Essence in the Unseen hadrat-i ghaib . Witnessing this spoken manifestation is hearing the Essence. This praising of the Essence for the Essence of Allah, is Allah's praise which the other beings are incapable of understanding, such that the sacred person of the Sealing Prophet, the most honourable and the nearest to Allah. confesses his incapability and says: "I cannot count the praises for You, You are as You have praised Yourself."⁽⁴²²⁾ 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 not possible, similarly the real praise cannot be performed. The utmost knowledge ma'rifat of the people of knowledge and gnosticism is to confess incapability. The people of knowledge say that Allah, the Exalted. praises and glorifies Himself with live tongues, which are: the tongue of the Essence as Such, the tongue of the Unseen Oneness ahadiyat-i ,,'ghaib , the tongue of the Collective Unity wahidiyat-i jam 'iyah the tongue of the Distinct Names asma '-i tafsil iyah and the tongue of 1:e entities a )'an. These are other than the tongue of manifest ness, the fin, of which is the tongue of Volition mashiyat, down to the end of the rakes of the individuations, which are the tongue of the existential multiplicities. Know that all the beings have i share, or even shares, of the invisible world, which is mere life running throughout the entire House of Existence. This subject is proved to the people of high philosophy by proofs, and to the people of heart and knowledge by Lansing and eyeing. The noble divine ayahs and the hadiths of the guardians the revelation (AS.) refer to it quite explicitly. The veiled people of the common philosophy and literalism, who could not recognize the speech of the beings, resort to interpretation and justification. It is quite strange that the people of literalism, who invalidate the people of philosophy for interpreting Book of Allah according to their own understanding, they themselves resorting this respect, to interpreting so many of the plain ayahs and the outright correct hadiths, just because they could not recognize the talking of the beings, then without having a proof at their disposal. So, they interpret the Qur'an without any proof and only because of improbability istib'ad . At any rate, the House of Existence is the origin of life and the truth of understanding and consciousness. The glorification of the beings is pronunciation, conscious ad volitional, not genetic, innate, as the veiled claim. All beings are acquainted with the state 'maqam of Allah, the Most High in proportion to their shred of being. Now, as there is no being busier with nature and more indulger in multiplicity than man, he, thus, is more wrapped in veils than other beings, unless he takes off his garment of being a human, and pierces the veils 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 comprehensive than all praises and glorifications, and he would be worshiping Allah with all His divine affairs and all His Names and Attributes.

Know that the noble saying ca1imah: "All praise is for Allah' according to what had already been said, is of the all-inclusive sayings kalimat and, if with its delicacies and truths one praises Allah, he will be perform the most that is in the capacity of a human being to perform. Hence the noble hadiths refer to it. It is narrated that Imam al-Baqir (AS.) once came out of house and found that his mount had gone. He said: "If I find the mount, will praise Allah as praising deserves." When his mount was found, h mounted, tidied his clothes and said: All praise is for Allah."⁽⁴²³⁾ Th Messenger of Allah (S.A) is quoted to have said: "'There is no god b Allah' is half of a scale, and 'All praise is for Allah' fills the other ha of the scale."⁽⁴²⁴⁾ This is because of what we have said that "All praise is f Allah" includes monotheism, too. The Messenger of Allah (S.A.) is also quoted to have said: "Th servant's saying: 'All praise is for Allah' is heavier, in His scales, than seven heavens and seven earths."⁽⁴²⁵⁾ He (S.A.) is also quoted to have said "If Allah gave to one of His servants the entire world, and then th servant said: 'All praise is for Allah', that saying would be better than what he had been given."⁽⁴²⁶⁾ Further quotation from him (S.A.) sa "Nothing is more loved by Allah than one's saying: 'All praise is fo Allah', as Allah Himself has so praised Himself."⁽⁴²⁷⁾ There are man similar hadiths Allah, the Exalted, said: "Rabbul 'Alamin" (the Lord "Rabb" means: "the Most High muta'ali, "the Constant" Master" Sayyid, then it is of the Names of the Essence. Possessor" malik , "the Owner" sahib , "the Victorious" Omnipotent" qahir, then it is of the attributive Names. Educator" murabbi, "the Benefactor" mun'im, and of the worlds). I than bit and "th If it means: "th ghalib and "th If it means: "the Complete: mutammim , then it is of the Names of Acts.

"All- 'Alamin" (the worlds), if it means: "Everything other than Allah", filch covers all the stages of existence and the stations nanazi1 of the visible and visible, then we have to take "Rabb" to be of the Names of tributes. If "world" is "the visible world" 'alam-i mulk , which gradually takes ace 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 to their suitable perfection under the vine education tarbiyat and management (instruction = tamshiyat). In this se 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 of the ayahs , because others have mostly handled them. Certain points which have not been handled at all, or accurately handled, we shall properly deal with them. It must be noted that the Names of Essence, Attributes and Acts, which we been referred to, are according to the terms of the people of knowledge. learned man of the people of knowledge, in insha'ud -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-Mu'min (the Faithful), -Muhaymin (the Protector), al-'Aziz (the Almighty), al-Jabbar (the omnipotent), al-Mutakabbir (the Haughty), al-'Ali (the Exalted), al-'Azim (the emend us), as-Zahir (the Outward), al-Batin (the Inward), al-Awwal (the First). al-Akhir (the Last), al-Kabir (the Great), al-Jalil (the Majestic), al- Majid 'he Glorious), al-Haqq (the Truth), al-Mubin (the Manifest), al-Wajid (the under), al-Majid (the Noble), as-Samad (the Everlasting Refuge), al-Muta'ali he Most High) al-Ghani (the Independent), an-Nur (the Light), al-Warith (the heritor), Dhul-Jalal (the Owner of Majesty), and ar-Raqib (the Watcher).

The Names of Attributes are: al-Haiy (the Living), ash-Shakur (the grateful), al-Qahhar (the Conquerer), al-Qahir (the Subduer), al-Muqtadir (the All-Powerful), al-Qawiy (the Strong), al-Qadir (the Able), ar-Rahman (the Beneficent), ar-Rahim (the Merciful), al-Karim (the Generous), al-Gaffer (the Forgiver), al-Ghafur (the Forgiving), al-Wadud (the Affectionate), ar-Ra'uf (the Compassionate.), al-Halim (the Clement), as-Sabur (the Patient), al-Barr (the Righteous). a!- 'AIim (the Omniscient), al-Khabir (the Aware). al-Muhsi (the Counter), al-Hakim (the Wise), ash-Shahid (the Witness), as-Sami' (the Hearer) and al-Basir (the Seer). The Names of Acts are: al-Mubdi' (the Beginner), al-Wakil (the Guardian), al-Ba 'it/i (the Resurrect or), al-Mujib (the Responsive), al-Wasi' (the Expansive), al-Hasib (the Reckoned), al-Muqit (the Nourished), al-Hafiz (the protector), al-Khaliq (the Creator), al-Ban' (the Maker), al-Musawwir (the Shaper), al-Wahhab (the Giver), ar-Razzaq (the Provider), al-Fattah (the Opener), al-Qabi4 (the Restrainer), al-Basit (the Spreader), al-Khafid (the Abaser), ar-Raft' (the Exalter), al-Mu'izz (the Honourer), al-Mudhill (the Humiliater), al-Hakim(the Wise), a!- 'Adl(the Just), al-Latif(the Subtle), al-Mu 'iii (the Restorer), a1-Muzy1 (the Life-giver), al-Mumit (the Death-giver), al- Wali (the Patron), at-Tawwab (the Relenting, the Accepter of Repentance), al-Muntaqim (the Avenger), al-Mu qs4 (the Equitable), al-Jami' (the Comprehensive), aI-Mughni (the Enriched), al-Mani (the Deterrent), ad-Darr (the Harmful), an-Nafi' (the Beneficial), al-Hadi (the Guide), al-Bad' (the Magnificent) and ar-Rashid (the Prudent).⁽⁴²⁸⁾ 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 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 salik with the steps of

knowledge reached 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 o 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 which do not suit these pages. That which is stated in the insha'ud 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 ayahs of the surah of "al-Hashr". Allah, the Exalted, says: "He is Allah, other than Whom there is no god, the Knower of the invisible and the visible. He is the Beneficent, the Merciful,"⁽⁴²⁹⁾ up to the end of the noble ayahs. Perhaps the first of these noble ayahs 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 mushahadah of the people of witnessing ashab-i mushahadah and the manifestations in the hearts of the people of heart. It should be realized that the noble ayahs have other secrets, but to mention them does not suit the situation. That the second ayah is the Names of Attributes, and the third is the Names of Actions, 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" rahmaniyat and "Mercifulness" rahimiyat are of the manifestations of "the Most Holy Emanation" faid-i aqdas , not of "the Holy Emanation fai4-i muqaddas. Confining these Names to the remembrance of Allah, whereas "Living" .hayy , "Constant" thabit and "Lord" Rabb 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.

There is a great controversy about the word, the derivation and meaning of "al- 'alamin", (the worlds). Some say that "a!- 'alamin" is plural, covering all kinds of creation, material and abstract, and each kind is a world in itself. It is a plural which has no singular of its root. This is a well-known opinion. Some others say that "'alam" is passive participle and "aiim" is active participle. So, "alamin" means "ma'lumin" (the known). But this opinion besides having no proving evidence and being unlikely, it is quite silly and irrelevant to say "Rabbul ma'lumin" (the Lord of the known). Some say that "'alamin" is derived from "alamin" (sign) which covers all beings, since everything is a sign and an ayah of the Sacred Essence . The letters "w" waw and "n" nun refer to the rational beings, giving them priority to the other beings. Others say that it is derived from "ilm" (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 "alam" is used for everything other than Allah, and is also used for every individual or category. lf the one who uses it for every individual and category is of the people of tradition and language, he considers every thing to be a sign of the Creator: "In every thing He has a sign..."⁽⁴³⁰⁾ 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 ahadiyat-i jam' 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, Sadrul Millat-i wad-Din (Sadrul Muta'allihin) (may his spirit be sanctified), to those like al-Baydawi is applicable, because they have not tasted of this drink (school mashrab). But to the ways of the people of gnosticism it is inapplicable. However, as the argument of t1-Baydaw 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 of Surah al-Fatihah If "ar-Rabb" is of the Names of Attributes, meaning "Master" or "Owner" and the like, the meaning of "d- 'alamin" 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 "al-'alamin' will only be the kingdom of the visible world, as, in which case, "ar-Rabb" will mean "the Educator" - a meaning which is of gradual effectiveness, while th abstract worlds are innocent of gradualness, though, to the writer, the spirit f "graduation" in the world of "dahr" (eternity, perpetual duration) is, in a wa, certain; and, in the same way, we have also proved the temporal contingency huduth-i zamani , meaning the spirit of time and the eternity of graduation dahriyat-i tadrij 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.

Do know that "praising" hamd is for a "favour" jamil. From the noble ayah it is gathered that praising extolment are confirmed for the state of he Greatest Name as the all-embracing Name ism-I jami. which has the state )f being the Lord of the wor1, "the Beneficent", "the Merciful" and "the Master of the Day of Judgement". So, these noble Names, i.e. "Rabb". Rahman", "Rahim' and "Malik" should have an effective role in the praising. Mater on, we shall explain in details Allah's saying: "Maliki yaumiddin" (The 4aster of the Day of Judgement) Now, we shall talk about the proportionate ness of the state of Divinity to "praising". It is SO from two aspects:

The first is that as the very praise 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, fear 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 of humanity, which is the most 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 return is to Him.⁽⁴³¹⁾ The second is that educating (rearing = tarbiyat) 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 'usarah 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 movement, to wherever it ends, it would he the objective of creation and the end of the journey. If we look in a universal way at the universal body. 1 ism-i kull, universal nature, universal vegetable, universal animal and universal man insan-i kull. 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, ii taken according to the absolute Act, the Act af 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 quds iyat: " 0 son of Adam! I created all things for you, and I created you for Myself."⁽⁴³²⁾ Allah in the Glorious Qur'an, addressing Moses, son of 'Imran ( peace be upon him and upon our Prophet and his progeny), says: "I have made you for Myself." He also says: "And I those you".⁽⁴³⁴⁾ 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 to the door of Allah, annihilation in the Essence of Allah, and sticking to the Court of Allah. His return ma'ad is to Allah, from Allah, in Allah and by Allah. In the Qur'an He says: "Surely to Us is their return."⁽⁴³⁵⁾ Other creatures return to Allah through Man, or rather their return is to Man, as it is stated in the Jami'ah invocation, in which some inspects of 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,"⁽⁴³⁶⁾ and also in the noble ayah" 'Surely to Us is their return, and surely upon Us is their reckoning."⁽⁴³⁷⁾ the said invocation: "The return of the creatures is to you and their beckoning is upon you", is one of tauhids 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, -ness and selfishness of his own, rather he is of the Beautiful Names and the retest Name, to which the Qur'an and the hadiths frequently refer.

The Qur'an contains such delicate points, facts, secrets and subtitles bout Tauhid that the minds of the people of knowledge are bewildered, and his is the great inimitability of this heavenly and luminous Book, besides its excellent syntax, graceful expression, wonderful elegance, miraculous style, the ray 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 of its inimitabilities well-known all over the world, was because the early 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 of understanding. Nowadays, too, those who have a similar level of thinking, can comprehend nothing of this divine grace, except its literal elegance, beautiful rhetoric's and eloquent expressions. As regards those who are well versed in the secrets of knowledge and the graces of tauhid 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 ma'arif, 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.

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

The first is the "General Sovereignty", which covers all the beings of the world, and it is the genetic up-bringing (education) 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 of the primary matter till the stage of animality and the gaining of the corporeal and spiritual powers of animality, and the genetic eo1u ion, each on ol them 1tsti!iti that 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.S.) 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 hi organs and powers, external and internal, would not he prompted by his self. hut to he divine, in that case he would attain to the human perfection, which Lxc1usive1y belongs to the human species. Up to the stage 0! animality. 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: "My Lord is .)n the Straight Path."⁽⁴³⁸⁾ The other is the way of wretchedness, which is the 2rooked 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 he educated ) Him, his heart, which is the sultan of this kingdom, would gradually submit 0 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 zill 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 word?" 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 e expressive in saving : "Muhammad S.A.) is my Prophet, 'Mi In(I his infallible sons are my Imams and the Qur'an is my Book." But l he did of turn his heart to divinity . and the image of La ilaha illallah Muhammadan rasulullah, Alyan waliyullah( There is no god except Allah. Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah and 'Au is the friend of Allah ) was not engraved on the page of his heart such that to become the portrait of the inside f 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 it, all his knowledge ma'arif would be effaced from his memory when suffering from the agonies of death, his 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 which have become a second part of his constitution, owing to continual remembrance and close intimacy with them. Should he the inflicted with a serious incident or a dreadful accident, he would be neglecting a lot of his affairs, and the line of forgetfulness would underline his acquired information. So, how about the agonies, sufferings and difficulties of death? What would happen to him then? It' 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 avail. Talqin (reminding the dead of his beliefs) can be useful only to those whose hearts have acquired the true beliefs and whose hearts' ears are usually open, but at the very moments of death agonies they may undergo a fit of forgetfulness, and thus, the Talqin will he a means for the angels of Allah to convey it to their cars. But if man is deaf, with no hearing ears suitable for the worlds of barzakh and the grave, he can never hear the Talqin and it can benefit him nothing. There is a hint at some of these in the noble hadiths. Ar-Rahmanir-Rahim (The Beneficent, the Merciful): Do know that for all the Names and Attributes of Allah. the Most High, there are, generally, two States (maqam) and Two ranks martabah One is the state of the Names and Attributes 01' Essence, which are constitute in His Unity hadrat-i wahidiyat , 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-i dhatiyah

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" 'ilm-i fi'li , which the Illuminists regard as confirmed and on it depends the "Detailed Knowledge" ilm-i tafsili. The most merited of the wise men, Khajah Nasiruddin (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".⁽⁴³⁹⁾ 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 an aluminous 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." ⁽⁴⁴⁰⁾ 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 hadrat-i wahidiyat through the manifestation of the Holiest Emanation. The other is in the appearance of the cosmic entities a'yan-i kauniyah through the Holy Emanation. If the ar-Rahman and ar-Rahim, in the blessed Surah, are of the Essential Attributes -as is more obvious - it will be possible to regard them, in BLrmil1ahir-Ra?manfr-RaiWfl, to be related to "ism" (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 ayah will be: With Hi' 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 ta'ayyunat of the state of Divine Will, is the display jilwah of the Essential Beneficence and Mercifulness. There are, however, other possibilities which we have left Out, as the said one is more obvious. Maliki yaumiddin (The Master of the Day of Judgement): Many of the reciter 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 surah and the blessed surah of at-Tauhid, 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 the Messenger of Allah (S.A.). Although most of the reciter read it malik, and many of the scholars prefer malik, yet none of those things damaged this certain, necessary and successively proved fact, and no body imitated them. And although the scholars allowed imitating anyone of the reciter, no one - except the abnormal shadhdh whose opinion is negligible - necessarily recited malik in his .salats, or if Somebody did reciter malik, it was as a precaution ihtiyat, besides saying malik, too, such as my learned teacher of the traditional science, Haj Shaykh Abdul Karim Yazdi (may his grave be sanctified), who used, at the request of some of his contemporary scholars, to reciter 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 he uttered in respect of the surahs which are not frequently recited, though still with difficulty, hut not in respect of this surah which has been confirmed through hearing and reciting, as is quite clear. Such a claim is an empty and incredible one. This very argument is also true in respect of kufuwan, as its recitation with "w" maftuhah and "f' 'madmumah -which is 'Asim's recitation alone - is also confirmed by way of hearing and rehearing, and other recitations do not necessarily contradict that, though some think that they practise 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 reciter like the people reciter⁽⁴⁴¹⁾ which actually deserves arguing, as it is believed that these narratives wanted to say: reciter 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 reciter "malik" and "kufu wan" other than the way commonly recited by the Muslims and written in the Qur'an, is incorrect. At any rate, the precaution is their recitation as current among the people and written in the Qur'an, because that way of recitation is correct to every creed. Allah knows better.⁽⁴⁴²⁾

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 tulan 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 affair such as creating mental images, whose contractions and expansions a somewhat under the control of the soul's will, nor is it like the ownership the intellectual worlds of what is of lower ranks, even if they were effective those worlds through annihilating I'd am and creating 'ad ,for all the being of the world of possible realization, on whose foreheads the humility of power is marked, are bound by limits and restricted by measures, even to the extent the essence. And whatsoever is bound by a limit is isolated from its act, proportion to its limitedness, and it enjoys Hot a true existential inclusiveness ihata-i qayyüm. Therefore, all things, according to the degree of their o essence, oppose and contradict their passive elements munfa'ilat,, and because' of this they do not enjoy self-existential inclusiveness ihata-i dhatiyah qayyüm iyah. But concerning the ownership of Allah, the Exalted, which is illuminative annexation and self-existential inclusiveness, it is the true re' self-ownership malik iyat-i dhatiyah , in which there is not the least of an defective contradicting isolation in His Essence and Attributes with any one ( the beings. The ownership of the Sacred Essence of all the worlds is the Sam without treating the beings with discrimination at all, or being nearer to. ant more inclusive of, the abstracts and the invisible worlds, than of the other otherwise it would require limitation and isolating disunity accompanied by need and potentiality; High Exalted is Allah, the Great, shovel all that! A reference to this is perhaps in the saying of Allah, the Exalted: "Am We are nearer to him than you."⁽⁴⁴³⁾ "And We are nearer to him than hi: jugular vein",⁽⁴⁴⁴⁾ "Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth"⁽⁴⁴⁵⁾ "And He it is Who is God in the heaven and God in the earth,"⁽⁴⁴⁶⁾ ani 'Allan's is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth."⁽⁴⁴⁷⁾ The Messenger of Allah (S.A.) is quoted to have said: "If you are lowered down with a rope to the lowest of the earth, you will come down onto Allah.⁽⁴⁴⁸⁾ Imam a-sadiq (A.S.) is also quoted to have said, as in al-Knife: "No space ca: confine Him and no space can accommodate Him, and He is no neared to a place than to another."448t1 Imam 'Ali an-Naqi is quoted to have said. "You must know that when Allah is in the lowest heaven He is, at the same time, on the Throne. AU things are equally known, Countrified owned and encompassed by Him."⁽⁴⁴⁹⁾ Nevertheless, although the ownership of His Sacred Essence covers all things and all worlds equally, the noble ayah says" "The Owner of the Day of Judgement. "This specification is probably because the Day of Judgement is the day of gathering. So, the Owner of "The Day of Judgement, which is the day of gathering, is (also) the Owner of the other days 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 so 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 ta 'ayyun. and in every specification and limitation there is a veil. And as man is the composite maj'ma 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 ta'ayyunat can be described to be the "night" and "The Night of the Qadr". And as long 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 taqdir eland of the Holiest Emanation in His Knowledge - return to the original homeland and the real place of promise mi'ad - as is frequently referred to by the - they once again get rid of the luminous and dark veils, and the ownership and the sovereignty of Allah, the Exalted, are manifested, and He papers in Unity and Sovereignty. Here, where the Last returns to the First, the Outside connects to the Inside, and where the rule of the appearance and the government of the inside is manifested, the absolute owner - and there is no addressed except His Sacred Essence - "Whose is the sovereignty this Day?, and as there is no answer, He says: (It is) Allah's, the One, the Almighty."⁽⁴⁵⁰⁾ 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 Judgement" in a way, since every being, under the shadow 'zill of its suitable name, vanishes in Allah. When The Trumpet is blown, it appears from that name and accompanies the followers of that name: "A group in Paradise and a group in Flaming Fire."⁽⁴⁵¹⁾

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 is the Unity ha4rat-i wahidiyat , which is on the level of the "Holiest Emanation", and its carriers arc 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" qaum _ is the "Holy Emanation", which is on the level of the Greatest Name, and its carriers are: aI-Rahman, ar-Rahim, ar-Rabb and al-Malik. Another one of its concepts is the phrase "all that is other than Allah" ma siwallah and its carriers are the four angels: Esraphiel, Gabriel, Michael and Izrael. Another is the "Universal Body" jism-i kull, which is carried by four angels who are the images of the Archetypes arbab-i anwa' , as is referred to in Al- kafi.⁽⁴⁵²⁾

Sometimes it is regarded to be the "Knowledge", which may be Allah's Active Knowledge 'ilm-I fi'li', which is the state of the great guardianship wilayat-i kubra , and its carriers arc 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, Amirul Mu'minin 'Au, al-Hasan and al-Husayn (A.S.). Now, as this introduction has been understood, do know that in the noble surah of al-Hamd (the Opening), after the name "Allah". which refers to His Essence, the four noble names: ar-Rabb, ar-Rahman, ar-Rahim and Malik, are particularly mentioned, maybe because these four noble names are the carriers of the 'Arsh of His Unity wahdaniyat in respect of the inside, while their outer appearances are Allah's four favorite angels who arc the carriers of the 'Arsh of "Realization' tahaqquq. So, the blessed name of ar-Rabb is the inside batin of Michael, who, as ar-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 batin of Esraphiel, who is the caretaker munshi ol the spirits, the blower of the Trumpet and the spreader basil of the spirits and the images, as the spread base of existence is also in the name of arRa'1/1lhl" The noble name of ar-Rahim is the inside of Gabriel, who is in charge of teaching and perfecting the beings. The noble name of Malik is the inside of who is in charge of taking qabd the spirits and images, and of retiring outside zahir to the inside balm . So, the blessed surah, up to "The Owner ol the Day of Judgement", includes the 'Arsh of Unity and the 'Arsh of Realization, with reference to its carriers. 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 of this surah. This very concept is also entirely covered by the Bismillah, which is the Greatest Name.

It is also in the "B" 'ha' , which is in the position of causality, and in the dot of :)' which is the secret of the causality. And, as 'Au (AS.) is the secret of guardianship wilayat and causality, therefore, it is he who is the dot under the "B" ⁽⁴⁵³⁾ That is, the dot under the "B" ( ) is the translator of the secret or guardianship. Contemplate. The reason for contemplation is the difficulty which is in the hadiths. And Allah know better!

Ferias giving priority to ar-Rabb before stating ar-Rahman and al-Rahim and then Malik at the end , is a delicate reference to the way of man's u1uk from the material mundane creation up to the complete Lion, or up to the state of the presence before the Master of the kings. as the salik is still at the beginning of the journey, he is gradually being light up by Rabbul 'Alam7n (the Lord of the worlds), for he is of the world his conduct suluk is under the control of time and graduation. After Rae transitory world of nature by the steps of his conduct, the stage of inclusive names, which do not belong only to the world - in which the of "differentiation" is predominant - is established in his heart. And, as noble name of ar-Rahman is more particular than the other inclusive S, it is stated then, and, as it is the manifestation of mercy and the stage of spreading, it precedes ar-Rahim, 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 kathrat ' to singleness wahdat, until he ends up to 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 to the visual witnessing, he converses in presence (with Allah) and says: "You do we worship".

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 to the Absolute Presence. This Presence is the salik's great resurrection and the rising of his Hour. In the noble ayah: ... and all who are in the heavens and the earth swoon away, except him whom Allah wills…",⁽⁴⁵⁴⁾ 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" 454/1), when joining his two forefingers, the Messenger of Allah (S.A) may have referred to this concept.

In the current exegeses which we have seen, or which are quoted from, the word "din" is said to mean Judgement 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."⁽⁴⁵⁵⁾ 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 yaumiddin (the Day of Judgement), the same as "today" is called yaumiddin (the day of this world or the mundane day) 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: "... and remind them of the days of Allah", ⁽⁴⁵⁶⁾which are the days in which Allah treats a nation with force and sovereignty. The Day of Resurrection is a "thy 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 (You do we worship; You do we seek help from): 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 jab4 and expansion bas( 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. That which is claimed by some of the people of formalism that to confine worship (to Allah) 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: "and help one another in goodness and piety"⁽⁴⁵⁷⁾ and also: "and seek help through patience and .salat,"⁽⁴⁵⁸⁾ and it is known that the conduct of the noble Prophet, the Imams of guidance (AS.), their companions and the Muslims was based on seeking help from other than Allah in lawful matters, such as getting the help of the beast of mount, the servant, the wife, the friend, the messenger, the worker and the like - is 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 confining the praises to Allah, the Exalted, since, according to this opinion, other beings also have their behaviors, 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 matters to be polytheism, and in the narratives they are regarded hidden polytheism, as it is said that (resorting to) turning the ring in the finger to remember something is regarded a hidden polytheism.⁽⁴⁵⁹⁾ 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 and cling to the Might of the Sanctity of Allah to the extent he sees 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"^(459/1)manifest in his heart.

The point of changing from the 3rd person to the 2nd 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's, 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 vivacity to his spirit, yet, as the salat 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 an wrapped in the dark veils of the world of nature and in the luminous ones o the invisible world, while the travel to Allah is getting out of these veils by th steps of spiritual conduct. Actually, migration to Allah is turning away from th house of self and from the house of creation to Allah, leaving multiplicities rejecting the dust of otherness and attaining to the Unities tauhidat. It i absence from creation and presence before the Lord. When in the noble ayah "Owner of the Day of Judgement" he finds that multiplicity disappears under the shining light of the Ownership and Omnipotence, he experiences a state o effacement from multiplicity and being present before Allah, the Exalted, and by personally conversing and witnessing the Beauty and Majesty, he offer himself to servitude, and presents his quest for Allah and his piety to th Sacred Presence and the meeting of intimacy. The fact that the pronoun Iyyaka is used for this purpose is because th 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 th multiplicity of names and attributes, and the heart turns towards the Essens 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, th leader of the lovers, the pioneer of the attracted and the beloved, Amirul Mu'minin ('Mi), may Allah bless him and his infallible offspring, who said: "The perfect monotheism is the negation of ascribing attribute to⁽⁴⁶⁰⁾ as an attribute denotes otherness ghairiyat and plurality kathrat 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.

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 of other creatures, among whom, of course, are the perfect ones of Allah's friends whose worship 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 salat 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 His Presence, and the iqamah is to have them stand upright before Him. When the salik prepared his visible and invisible powers to be present in the Presence, and the heart, which is their leader, stood upright as their Imam, then the salat has been started and "The believer alone is a congregation".⁽⁴⁶¹⁾ 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 Ahlul Bayt A.S.), who are the source of gnosticism and divine vision, there is a reference o this concept. Another opinion which occurs to the writer is that the salik regards all he praises and thanks from every praise and thinker, in the visible and revisable worlds, to be exclusively confined to the Holy Essence of Allah. It S also clearly proved in the proofs of the Imams of proofs, and in the hearts of Lie 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 auima1Y, or rather of humanity, and they praise and glorify Allah, the Exalted, rati0flY and consciously. It is fixed in the nature fitrat 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 : " ... and there is not a single thing but glorifies Him, but you do not understand their glorification"⁽⁴⁶²⁾ Other noble ayahs, and narratives of the infallibles, which are full of this divine grace, support this fixed judging proof. So, if the traveler to Allah could find this truth through argumentative reasoning, faithful taste or gnostic vision, he would realize, whatever position he is in, that all the particles of the existence ad the dwellers of the invisible 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.

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 of taste ahl-i dhauq 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 of the monotheists in Worship, who confine "worship" to Allah, are polytheists in "seeking help" and do not confine 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 stations of the gnostics and the stages of the saliks, later than "giving up seeking other than Him."

0 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 saliks, because it implies a claim contrary to monotheism and abstraction. They even believe that seeing worship, worshipper, worshipped, help-seeker, and the one whose help is sought, and seeking help are contrary to monotheism. In the real monotheism, which appears in the heart of the salik such multiplicities vanish, and seeing such affairs is effaced. Yes, those who have come to themselves from the invisible attraction and have attained to 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 n the dark veils of nature. Another group consists of the saliks the travellers to Allah, the migrants to the Court of Holiness. A third group consists of the united was/Ian , 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.S.). 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, "5'yaka na'budu wa iyyaka nasta'in" 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 saliks, it is nearer to the truth in proportion to the travelling step. To the united wail an , 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.

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 aI-hamdu lillah (praise is for Allah) we can confine 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 favorite 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 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, reciter 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 may not claim a false allegation.

Some Jurisprudents see that it is not allowed to intend composition 'J 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 U) precaut1on if not to say his reciting would be batil (invalid). 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 Ho!)' 1-Jahadiths: "When he (the servant) says in his salat: '

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 Lord, It follows t ha I such a 5Uhflmsj0 j inseparable from taking the worship1)ed to he 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 or deciding this meaning, even reluctantly, and even if it reached the utmost submission, would not he a reason for disbelief and polytheism, although some kinds (if 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 religiously 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 favorites of Allah is to respect Him, and "To love Allah's elects is to Love Allah." Among the groups of "1 call Allah to witness, and Allah is sufficient as a witness," the group that is - by the blessing of Ahlul Bayt of revelation and infallibility, the resources of knowledge and wisdom - more excellent in unifying, glorying and exiling Allah, the Most High, than all other groups of humanity, is the group of the 12-imam Shahs. Their books of the principles of belief- such as the honourable hook of al-Kafi, and the honourable book (if at-Tauhid by ash-Shaykh as-Saduq (may Allah be pleased with him) - and speeches and invocations of their infallible Imams. which, in unifying and glorifying Allah, the Most High, are the issues of the said resources of revelation and inspiration, testify that such sciences were unprecedented 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 tints have been following those infallible. pure and monotheist Imams of guidance. and through their explicit reasoning and proof they have known Allah, glorified and unified Him, set, 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 of the infallible Ahlul 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 inner retrievable. Concerning this subject, and according to rational and religious criteria, the responsibility of the crime and the sin of this detective, ignorant and helpless group is to he 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" 'khairul bashar lost and nill, closing the door of the House of Revelation and the Qur'an in the face of the people. "0 Allah, curse them an intense cursing and torture them a painful torment."

Do know, dear, that there is a reference in the noble surah of al-Hamd (the Opening) to the conduct of the people of knowledge and austerity, and up to "You do we worship" ii covers the complete journey from creation up t(i Allah. When the 'salik 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, arid attends the state of presence and witnessing ,there happens complete annihilation and full consumption istihlak-I kulli . 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 Judgement", at the end of this suluk 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 ruju' 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 Judgement", 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 barzakh (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) nash'atay , and it is the path of Allah. Therefore, "those upon whom You have bestowed favors" are the ones whose aptitude 'isti'dad has been established by Allah, the Exalted, through the manifestation of the "Holiest Emanation" in His knowledge hadrat-i 'ilmiyah , and, after complete annihilation, He has returned them to their kingdom. "Those inflicted by wrath", according to this cxegc5is are those who are veiled before the union wusul, and "Those who have gone astray" are those who have vanished in the Presence (za4rat. As regards the imperfect ones, if they have not yet started their suluk these matters 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 suluk . 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 the Messenger of Allah (S.A.) and Ahlul Bayt (AS.), as the exegetes say that it means the Messenger of Allah, the Imams of guidance and Amirul Mu'minin ('Ali) (AS.). In a hadiths it is said that the Messenger of Allah (S.A.) once drew a straight line in the middle and other lines at its sides and said: "This middle straight line is from me".⁽⁴⁶⁶⁾ The expression "a middle nation" in the noble ayah "We have made you a middle nation",⁽⁴⁶⁷⁾ 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 narrative that by this the Imams of guidance (A.S.) are intended, as Imam al-Baqir (AS.) says to Yazid ibn Mu'awiyah al-'Ijli: "We are the middle nation and we are the witnesses of Allah over mankind."⁽⁴⁶⁸⁾ In another narrative, he also says: "To us returns the extravagant ghali and to us refers the negligent muqassir⁽⁴⁶⁹⁾ in which wudu there is a reference to what has been said.

Do know, you who are in quest of Allah and truth, that when Allah, the Exalted, created the system of the existence and the demonstrations mazahir of the invisible and the visible, owing to His Essential love to be known in the Names and Attributes, according to the noble hadiths: "I was a Hidden Treasure, then I liked to be known, so I created the creatures to become known,' He put 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 rafraf of arrival wusul , and the other the buraq of ascension - both were the heavenly mounts of the Messenger of Allah (S.A.). Perhaps the "buraq and the "rafraf' of the Messenger of Allah (S.A.) were the means raqiqah of this grace latifah and the corresponding worldly image surat-i mutamaththila-i mulk iyah of this truth, and that is why they were sent down from Paradise, which is the batin (interior, 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 1-nesses, by the said fire and light and by the blessed name of "the Guide", which is the reality of these means raqayiq, 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 ayah says : "There is no living creature but He holds it by its forelock, surely my Lord is on the straight path,"⁽⁴⁷⁰⁾ 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".⁽⁴⁷¹⁾ And, as in even-v individuation ta 'ayyun there is a veil of darkness, and in every being and I-ness there is a luminous veil, and as Man is the meeting place maj'ma' of the phenomena ta'ayyunat and the collector of entities jami'-i wujudat , he is the most veiled of the beings from Allah, the Exalted. The noble ayah: " Then We reduced him to the lowest of the low" ⁽⁴⁷²⁾ is probably a reference to this point. For this reason, the path of mankind is the longest and lankest 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. he counter names, all are the same, Man, himself, has to go through the big ;isthmus stage at the end of his journey, and this is the reason why his "path" IS he most delicate of all paths.

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 f the suluks of the saliks. We shall briefly refer to some of those stages, so that, meanwhile, the "straight path', the "path of the immoderate" sirat-i mufritin and the "path of the extravagant" sirat-i mufritin , 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 suluk to Allah without there being any visible or invisible veil, or it is the suluk to Allah without being veiled with body or heart sins, or it is the suluk to Allah without extravagance ghuluww or negligence taqsir, or it is the suluk 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" "He causes whom He wills to go astray, and guides whom He wills"⁽⁴⁷³⁾ is a hint at this stage of guidance and veiling ordained in the Fat hadrat-i qadar , which, to us, is the stage of Unity ivaid7vat manifested in the immutable essences hadrat-i a'yan-i thabitah . 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."⁽⁴⁷⁴⁾ 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 very conventional and common meanings and the vulgar and positive concepts, and, on he 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's 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 he 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 alil-i batin 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 anti 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 from 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 consider 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 ahl-i zahir 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 tauh4, Names and Attributes, is unobserving the Qur'an's due respect, and regarding the Shari 'ah of the Seal of the Prophets (S.A.) 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 tauhid, 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. the must necessarily be a shortcoming in the Law, in which case, it Would hi contrary to the divine justness and the Lord's kindness, which, in jt11, dishonorable impossibility and an ugly disgrace, which cannot he washed off the true religions by the seven seas-we take refuge in Allah from that! Let the Esoteric ahl-i batin 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 th inside cannot be found. So, neglecting the outside means invalidating both th outside and the inside of the divine Law. This is one of the tricks of the Satan of the Jinn and Ins. We have explained some aspects of this point in our boo "Explanations of Forty Hadiths", as said before.

Third is guidance by the light of the Shari/i.
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 of knowledge 'firm.
Eighth is guidance by the light of love muhabbat.
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 ifrat and shortcomings tafrit, exaggeration ghuluww and negligence taqsir. To go into details would make it lengthy. The noble hadiths in al-Kafi may be a hint at a part, or all, of it. It says: " ... We, the offspring or Muhammad, are the moderate type. The extremist ghali would not perceive us, and the follower tali would not outstrip us." ⁽⁴⁷⁵⁾ In a hadiths from the Prophet (S.A.), it is said: The best of this Ummah is the moderate type, with whom the followers catch up, and to whom the extremists return.⁽⁴⁷⁶⁾

Know that for every being of the invisible and visible worlds, and of this and the Hereafter, there is a beginning mabda' and a destination ma'ad . Although the divine Ipseity huwiyat is the beginning and the destination marja,' of all (beings), the Holy Essence of Allah, the Most High, a, He is, would not manifest to the high and low beings without the veil of lames. According to this state, which is a no-state lamaqami that has no name and no form, and is not qualified with the Names of Essence, of Attributes and of 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!" ^(746/1) - The details of this have been mentioned i our Misbahul Hidayah. So, the first ness mabda iyat and the originality masdariyat 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 ilmiyah of the Names and Attributes, manifestations in His Knowledge.. hadrat-i ilmiyah, whose individuals the people of knowledge call "the fixed entities" (figures emblematic of the Names of Allah = a)'an-i thabitah). Consequently, each nominal manifestation tajalli in His Knowledge requires a fixed entity, and each Name has, by the determination ta'ayyur of His Knowledge, in the outer world, an appearance mazhar 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, every one (of the beings) has a special joinery and a special path, as well as a predestined beginning and end, in His Knowledge, willingly or unwillingly. The difference of the appearances tanzanite and paths is due to the difference of the apparent zahir and the Names.

It must be noted that man's "stature" taqwim in the highest of the high a'ala 'illiyin is the collection of Names jam '-1 asma . For this reason he 15 Seduced to the lowest of the low asfal-i saflin , 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. ni'mat , 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 su'ada' and the "favoured ones" mun'amun 'alaihim , or the Paths of the wretched ashqiya stand at either end of extravagance or negligence tafrit , in proportion to how much they lack of the emanation of the Absolute Favour. So, the path of the perfect man 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.A.), and, concomitantly bittaba'iyah it is confirmed for other holy men auliya and prophets. To understand this talk, and (its connection with) the fact that the generous Prophet is the Last Prophet, one needs the understanding of the "Names" and the "Entities" a'yan , explained in the book Misbahul Hidayah. Allah is the guide to the way of uprightness.

The dignified Shaykh Baha'i (may Allah sanctify his spirit) , in his a!- 'Urwatul Wuthqa, says: "Although the favours of Allah are too numerous to be numbered by counting, as Allah says: 'And if you count Allah's favours, you will not be able to number them⁽⁴⁷⁷⁾ yet, they arc 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, all in all, 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 (the body) with laudable forms and good ornaments.
Fifth: of the Hereafter, natural and spiritual, such as: His forgiving the Sins of 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 )n the part of the copier. Probably he meant to say that Allah, the Exalt, nay forgive us without first repenting. Look it up.

"Sixth :of the Hereafter, natural and corporeal , such as: rivers of milk md 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 which are he means of attaining to these kinds from the first four kinds."⁽⁴⁷⁸⁾ (The end of he Shaykh's talk, may Allah sanctify his spirit.) Nice as these divisions of the Shaykh are, the most important one of the living favours, the greatest objective of the noble divine Book, has slipped off he Shaykh's pen. He has satisfied himself with the favours of the imperfect or he 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 he share of the middle class, if not the share of the imperfect. Generally, apart from what the Shaykh has said concerning the animal )pleasures 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 state 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 takthir not unification tauhid. 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 item5 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. "And if you count Allah's favours, you will not be able to number them."⁽⁴⁷⁹⁾ The unification of Names, in this state, is the favour of knowing the Greatest Name, which is the state of the" Collective Oneness of the Names ahadiyat-i jam 'asm? . 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 tauhid in this stage is the Collective Oneness of the manifestation of Acts, which is the state of the "Holy Emanation" and the state 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: "I see a fire",⁽⁴⁸⁰⁾ was probably a Manifestation of Acts, and the saying of Allah, the Exalted: "And when his Lord manifested His glory to the mountain, He made it crumble to dust, and Moses fell down in a swoon,"⁽⁴⁸¹⁾ 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 suluk 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.⁽⁴⁸²⁾

Know that the blessed Surah of al-Hamd (the Opening), as it contain all the stages of existence, it also contains all the stages of suluk and, further it contains, by way of allusion isharah , all the objectives of the Qur'an. Plunging 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 "

Some noble narratives related about the merit fadl of this blessed Surah:

The Messenger of Allah (S.A.)has been quoted to have said to Jabir ibn 'Ahdullah al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him): "0 Jabir, don't you want me to teach you the most merited surah revealed by Allah in his Book?" Jabir said: "0 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: "0 Jabir, don't you want me to tell 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.⁽⁴⁸⁷⁾ ibn 'Abbas related that the Messenger (S.A.) once said: "For everything there is a foundation. The foundation of the Qur'an is 'the Opening' (surah) and the foundation of the 'Opening' is Bismillahir -Rahmanir- Rahim (

Ibn 'Abbas said that once they were sitting with the Messenger of Allah (S.A.) when an angel came and said: "Good tidings to you for the two ligh8 which have been given to you, and never given to the prophets bef0. you. They are 'The Opening of the Book' and the seals of the surah of al-Bagarah .No one reciter a single word of them unless his demand granted."⁽⁴⁹⁹⁾ This narrative is also related in al-Maj'ma', with nearly the same content.⁽⁵⁰⁰⁾

Know that this noble surah is the lineage nasab of Allah, the Exalted, according to the noble hadiths, one of which is in the noble al-kafi, on the authority of Imam a-Sadiq (AS.) who said: "The Jews inquired of the Messenger of Allah (S.A.) and said: 'Tell us your Lord's lineage nasab .' The Prophet remained three days giving no reply. Then it was revealed to him: 'Say: He is Allah, the One,' till the end.⁽⁵⁰¹⁾ Consequently, the human mind is incapable of understanding its facts, subtleties and secrets. Yet, though it is so, the share which the people of knowledge have of it, and what the hearts of the people of Allah know, cannot be understood by mere reasoning. By the Beloved, this noble surah is one of the trusts which the heavens of the spirits, the lands of ghosts and the mountains of 1-nesses, are incapable of carrying it. No one is fit to carry it other than the Perfect Man who has Crossed the boundary of "the possible" and entered the realm of ecstasy. Nevertheless, there is the good news that would please the people of the End of the Time and offer safety to the people of knowledge. There is a hadiths in

The noble al-Kafi, which says that, asked about at-Tauhid , Imam 'Ali ibn Husayn (AS.) said: "Allah, the Almighty and Exalted, knew that in the End of the Time there would be people of deep knowledge. Therefore, Allah, the Exalted, revealed the surah: 'Say: He is Allah, the One, ...' and some ayahs of the surah al-Hadid up to 'He knows what is in the breasts'. Whoever wanted other than that would perish."⁽⁵⁰²⁾ From this noble hadiths one gathers that to comprehend these noble ayahs and this blessed surah is for the scrutinizers and the owners of deep insight. Th contain the minute secrets of at-Taui4 and knowledge. The delicate divine knowledge is descended by Allah upon the worthy. Those who have no share of the secrets of at-Tautzi4 and divine knowledge, have no right to look into these ayahs. They have no right to interpret these ayahs according to the common and vulgar meanings which they know, and to which they confine them. In the first noble ayahs of the blessed surah of al-Hadid there are delicate things of at-tauhid , and great information of the secrets of divinity and abstraction, the like of which is unseen in the divine revelations, and the books of the people of knowledge and the owners of heart. Had there been nothing who took their knowledge from the source of divine inspiration - the highest and best of them may be the noble book called Ethnology (Theologian), ⁽⁵⁰³⁾by the great philosopher and celebrated wise man, Aristotle, to whom great philosophers, such as the Master Avicenna, the rare wonder of the time, humbly bowed. Of the emanations of his mind was the logic and its rules, Oft which basis he was named "The First Teacher". Avicenna says that evil this great scholar composed the rules of logic, no one has been able to object to even a single one of his rules or add to them. Despite what has been said, and although he had written that honourable book in order to prove the state f divinity, yet, could the whole of that noble book prove it as the noble ayah at the beginning of the surah al-Hadid could do, or even something near it with a resent of the great secret of monotheism? Has it anything like the saying 01 Allah, the Exalted: "He is the First and the Last and the Outward and the Inward,"⁽⁵⁰⁴⁾ or the noble saying: "And He is with you whosesoever you ma be."?⁽⁵⁰⁵⁾ Nowadays the deep thinkers and the people of insight and knowledge dc know what secrets there are in these ayahs, and with what noble words and a great secret Allah, the Exalted, has honoured and favoured the people of the End of the Time! Whoever refers to the knowledge of the religions of the world and to the knowledge common among the great philosophers of each religion, and compares them, in respect of the Beginning and the Return, with the knowledge of the upright religion of Islam and of the great philosophers ol Islam and of the well-versed gnostic teachers of this ummah, will certain) admit that the source of the Islamic knowledge is the light of the Qur'an and the hadiths of the Seal of the Prophets and his Ahlul Bayt (A.S.), all of whew receive their knowledge from the light of the Qur'an. Only then will he realize that the philosophy and gnosticism of Islam are not taken from the Greek rather, they have no resemblance to theirs. Yes, some of the philosophers 0: Islam did imitate the method of the Greek philosophers, such as the Master Shaykh Avicenna. Yet, the Shaykh's philosophy is not so prosperous in the market of the people of knowledge, and it has little value with them, as far a the knowledge about Divinity, the Beginning, and the Return is concerned. In short, ascribing today's philosophy of the Islamic philosophers, an the great knowledge of the people of knowledge to the Greek philosophy: denotes the ascribes' lack of information about the Islamic writings, such a the writings of the great Islamic philosopher, Sadrul Muta'allihin (may hi Spirit be sanctified) and his great tutor, Muhaqqiq Damad (may his spirit bi sanctified), and his great student, Fay Kashani (may his spirit be sanctified) and the great student of Fayd, the great gnostic faithful, Qadi Sa'id Qummi 'may his spirit be sanctified). It also shows their ignorance of the knowledge of he Divine Book and the hadith of the infallibles (A.S.), and that is why they scribed every philosophy to the Greek, and regarded the Islamic Philosophers LS the followers of the Greek philosophy. We have related a part of the delicate points of the noble surah of at-Tauhid and some hints about those noble ayahs in our book on explaining the Forty Hadiths. Furthermore, we also gave a brief explanation of this noble surah in our book The Secret of The salat. Relying on Allah, we give here another short explanation, and SO we say: If the basmalah of this surah belongs to this surah - as we supposed it o when explaining the blessed surah of al-Hamd - it may be a hint at the fact hat to explain the lineage nasab of Allah and the secrets of at-tauhid through ur selfishness and our own language is not possible. Actually, unless the salik taps out of his veil , realizes the state of the Absolute Will and of the Holy emanation and perishes in the Absolute Ipseity huwiyat, he will not be able o comprehend the secrets of at-tauhid. "Say" is a command from the Collective Oneness za4rat-i ahadiyat-I to the state of the big isthmus barzakhian-i kubra and the mirror of collectivity jam and distinctness tafsil . That is, "Say, 0 Muhammad, mirror if the appearance of the Collective Oneness, in the slate of essential proximity adall1-i dhat, or the sacred state of "even nearer" - which n he a deference to the state of the Most Holy Emanation -with a tongue elf-perishing, and subsisting by Allah's subsistence: "He is Allah, the One." Do know, 0 traveler on the road of knowledge and tauhid , and sender to the heights of transcendence and abstraction, that Allah's Sacred essence, in itself, is innocent of external and internal manifestations, and of mark, form, attribute and name. The hands of the hopes of the people of knowledge are short of His Majesties skirt, and the travelling legs of the people f heart are too slow to reach the threshold of His Holiness. The ultimate knowledge of the Perfect Friends is "We knew You not", and the end of the journey of the people of secrets is "We worshipped You not".⁽⁵⁰⁶⁾ The head of the circle of the people of knowledge, the prince of the people of at-Tauhid, Imam 'Au (A.S.), in this lofty stance says: " ... the perfection of sincerity is to deny Him attributes."⁽⁵⁰⁷⁾ And the leader of the people of suluk, the master of the worshippers and the gnostics, at His mighty threshold says: "The attributes lost their way to You, and the descriptions fell into contradiction about You".⁽⁵⁰⁸⁾ The people of the scholarly Suluk and terms, call His Holy Essence "The Immune Ghayb" ghayb-i masun, "The Hidden Secret", "The Wonderful Unknown" anqa -i mughrib and "The Absolute Unknown" majhul-i and They say that His Essence would appear in no mirror without the veil of Names and Attributes, and would be manifested in no one of the creations nor in any one of the invisible and visible worlds. But according to "Every day He is in a state,"⁽⁵⁰⁹⁾ there are, for His Holy Essence, Names, Attributes and states affairs shu 'un of "Beauty" and "Majesty". There are for Him Essential Names in the state of Oneness ahadiyat, which is the unseen state. They are to be called "the Essential Names", and, by the individuation ta 'ayyun of the Essential Names, He would be manifested through the Holy Emanation. From this manifestation in the apparel of the Essential Names, there would be the individuation ta 'ayyun and the appearance zuhür of the state of " Unity wahidiyat and "Names and Attributes", and the state of "Divinity".

So, it has become known that after the Holy Essence, as such, there are other three states and scenes: the state of the Unseen "Oneness"; the state of the manifestation of the "Holiest Emanation", which may be referred to by the word amal' in the noble Prophetic hadiths;⁽⁵¹⁰⁾ the state of "Unity" wahidiyat which, according to the Collective Oneness ahadiyat -i jam', is the state of the Greatest Name, and, according to the "distinct multiplicity" kathrat-i taf1i is the state of Names and Attributes. To go into the details of these states requires an expansion which is out of the capacity of these papers. Having understood this preliminary we say that "He" huwa may be a reference to the state of the "Most Holy Emanation", which is the manifestation of the Essence in the individuation of the "Essential Nam" "Allah" points to the state of the Collective Oneness ahadiyat-I jam' of the Names, which is the Greatest Name. "Ahad" (the One) is a reference to the state of the "Oneness" ahadiyat. Therefore, the noble ayah intends to prove that these three states which, in the instance maqam of nominal multiplication, possess plurality kathrat, actually possess Utmost unity at the same time. The manifestation in the "Most Holy Emanation", according to the state of appearance, is "Allah", and according to the state of interiority butun is the "One" (Ahad). Perhaps "He" huwa points to the state of the Essence. And, as it is an invisible reference, it is actually a reference to the unknown. "Allah" and "Ahad" are references to the state of "Unity" wahidiyat and "Oneness" aha4at. So, He introduces the Essence - which is the Absolute Unknown - through the Names of Essence, and the Names of the Unitary Attributes. In fact, it points to the fact that the Essence is invisible and the hands of hopes are short of reaching it, and that spending the life in thinking about Allah's Essence leads to going astray, and that what is known to the people of Allah and to the knowledge of those who know Allah, is related to the states of "Unity" wahidiyat and "Oneness" ahadiyat, the "Unity" being for the common people of Allah, whereas "Oneness" is for the special people of Allah. A Philosophic Note:

Do know that there are for Allah "Positive Attributes" sifat-i thubutiyah md" Negative Attributes" sifat -i salbiyah , as the philosophers believe. By the 'Negative Attribute" they mean the negation of the negative, i.e. negation of imperfection. Some say that the "Positive Attributes" are the Attributes of Beauty" Jamal and the "Negative Attributes" are the Attributes of "Majesty salat, and that "The Owner of Majesty and Generosity" includes all the Negative and the Positive Attributes. But this talk, in both stages, is contrary to certainty tahqiq. Now the first stage: The "Negative Attributes" are certainly not of the attributes, since concerning the Essence of Allah, there can be neither any negative nor negation of the negative. Allah, the Exalted, is not attributed with negative attributes, because attributing with negative attributes is a privatize proposition qadiya-i ma'dulah, and forming a privatize proposition is not allowed in respect of Allah, the Exalted, since it is modification of the possible aspects and it requires admission of composition tarkib in the Holy Essence. Rather, the negative attributes are through the simple absolute negation, which is a negation of the attribute, not a confirmation of the attribute of negating the negation. In other words, Allah, the Exalted, is deprived of all imperfections in a simple negation, not that the negation of imperfections be confirmed for Him by way of affirmation of privation ijab-i uduli. So, as a matter of fact, the attributes of purification tanzih are not "attributes". Allah, the Exalted, is only attributed with the positive attributes. As regards the second stage, the people of knowledge regard the "Attributes of Beauty" to be those which bring intimacy and affection. The "Attributes of Majesty" are those which bring fear, bewilderment and anxiety. So, whatever is affiliated to kindness and mercy is of the "Attributes of Beauty", such as "Compassionate", "Merciful", "Tender", "Affectionate", "Lord" and the like. And that which belongs to sovereignty and grandeur is of the "Attributes of Majesty", such as "Owner", "King", "Forceful", "Avenger" and the like, although in the inside of every Beauty there is a Majesty, too, because every beauty has, in the inside, bewilderment and anxiety, appearing in the heart with the secret of greatness and power, and, every majesty has, in the inside, mercy, and the heart feels, with it, intimacy inside. That is why as the heart naturally is attracted to beauty and the beautiful, it, at the same time, is attracted to power, greatness, the powerful and the great. Therefore, both of these kinds of attributes are positive, not negative, attributes. Now, as this subject has been understood, do know that although "Allah" is "The Greatest Name" and that the attributes of "Beauty" and "Majesty" are of its manifestations and are under its custody hitah ,yet sometimes it is used for the attributes of "Beauty" Jamal in opposition to the attributes of" Majesty" jalal, such that " divinity " ilahyat and "godhead " uluhiyat categories belong to the attributes of "Beauty", particularly if they are thought to Oppose the attribute of "Majesty". In the noble ayah of: "Say: He is Allah, the One", "The One" may be a reference to one of the important attributes of "Majesty", which is the state maqam of the perfect simplicity of the Holy Essence, while "Allah" is a reference to the Name of "Beauty". Thus, the lineage nasab of Allah, the Exalted, has been explained in this noble ayah, in respect of the states of "Oneness" ahadiyat, "Unity" wahidiyat and manifestation through "The Holiest Emanation" -the three of which are (covering) all the divine affairs shu'un - according to the first possibility which has already been referred to in the previous "Note". In accordance with the possibility stated in this "Note", the lineage nasab of Allah, the Exalted, is explained in accordance with the states of the Names of Beauty and Majesty, which encircle all the Names. And Allah is the Knower.

Know that the talk of every speaker is a demonstration of his self in accordance with the state of appearance. It is the emergence of his inner faculties on the mirror of words, in proportion to the capacity of the composition of words. If a heart becomes luminous and purged from the pollutions and evils of the world of nature, its talk will also become luminous, or, rather, it becomes light itself, and the very luminosity of the heart is manifested in the clothing of words. Concerning the Imams of guidance it is said: "Your talk is light."⁽⁵¹¹⁾ It is also said: "He manifested in His talk to His servants."⁽⁵¹²⁾ In Nahjul Balagha it is said: "His talk is but His act."⁽⁵¹³⁾ Action is the appearance of the doer's self dhat, without "talk". If a heart )becomes dark and polluted, its act and talk will become dark and polluted, too: "A good word is like a good tree ⁽⁵¹⁴⁾"And the likeness of a bad word is as a bad tree."^(514/1)

The Holy Essence of Allah, the Most High, according to "Every day He is in a state sha'n: ⁽⁵¹⁵⁾appears to the hearts of the prophets and the guardians auliya' in the clothing of the Names and Attributes, and His manifestations differ in accordance with the differences of their hearts. Similarly, the heavenly Books, which descended upon their hearts by revelation through the Revelation Angel, Gabriel, are different according to the differences of these manifestations and of the Names which are the origins of them - as the difference of the prophets and their Shari 'ahs is according to the kingdoms of the Names. So, the more the Name is comprehensive and embracing, the more comprehensive and embracing its kingdom, its relevant prophethood and its revealed Book, and the more comprehensive and permanent its Shari'ah. And, as the Seal of Prophethood, the Glorious Qur'an and the Islamic Shari'ah are of the phenomena, or of the manifestations and appearances of the Collective State of the One and of the Greatest Name of Allah, consequently, they are the most comprehensive prophethood, Book and Shari'ah, and the most all-inclusive ones, and nothing can be imagined more perfect and more honourable than them, and from the world of the unseen a knowledge loftier than that, or like it, would no longer come down to the expanse of nature. That is, the last appearance of a scientific perfection, concerning religions, is this, and there is no possibility of the dissension of a better one to this world.

Hence, the very person of the Seal of the Messengers (S.A.) is the most honoured one of the beings and is the complete manifestation of the Greatest Name, and his propped is also the most possible complete one, and is the image of the Kingdom of the Greatest Name, which is everlasting and eternal, and the Book revealed to him is also from the Stage of the unseen through the manifestation of the Greatest Name. For this reason, this noble Book has its "oneness of collectivity and distinctness" aha4iyat.j jam' u tafsil, and it is of "The Collective Words" jawami ul kalim ⁽⁵¹⁶⁾ The words of the Prophet himself were of the Collective Words, too.

By saying that the Qur'an, or the Prophet's words, are Collective Words we do lot mean to refer to their general instructions and collective principles although considering this, his had this are also collective and of the principles is known to the science of jurisprudence. The Qur'an is collective because it s revealed for all the human classes, during all the stages of the human life md it meets all the needs of the human race. The reality of this race is the same as the reality of the society, with all its stations, from the lowest earthy mess up to the highest spiritual, heavenly and mighty ones. Therefore, the individuals of this species in this low, mundane world are so different, and hey are so diverse that the like of it is not seen in any other species.

It is this pieces that includes the completely wretched and the completely happy. It is his species in which there are some individuals who are lower than all kinds of animals, while there are some others who are more honoured than all the favoured angels. In short, as the individuals of this species are different in aspect of their understanding and knowledge, the Qur'an has been revealed in much a way as to be benefited by everybody in accordance with the degree of the refection or weakness of his understanding and knowledge. For example, the able ayah: "Had there been in them (the heavens and the earth) any gods except Allah, they would have surely been in (a state of) disorder".⁽⁵¹⁷⁾ As he common people, the people of letters, and the lexicographers understand, ach a certain concept, the theologians understand something else, similarly the philosophers, men of wisdom understand a different meaning, as well as the gnostics and the godly men who benefit from it differently. The common people take it to be a speech addressed to them according to their own tastes. hey say, for example, two kings cannot rule a single kingdom, or two chieftains in a tribe cause corruption, or two headmen in a village would lead disputes and quarrels. So, had there been two gods in the world there would aver been corruption, disputes and litigation. But as there is one God, this ferrous of the heavens and the earth and their systematic order are reserved. So, the Manager of the world is One. The theologians use this as usual antagonistic demonstration, while the philosophers and the wise men use it for establishing a decisive reasoning argument based on: "The one does to issue but the one, and the one is not issued but by the one."⁽⁵¹⁸⁾ The people of owl edge ahl-i ma'rifat get to recognize Unity, fl a different way through it, by way of knowing that the world is the mirror of appearance zuhür and the place of manifestation of the Haqq (Allah); and so on, which makes it too lengthy to expand on each of those ways.

Now that this introduction is understood, you may know that the noble surah of "Say: He, Allah, is One" is, like the other parts of the Qur'an, of Co1leCtiVe Words", and, being so, every one makes use of it in a way. The men of letters and of form take "lie" to be a pronoun of state, and "Allah" to be a proper noun, and "ahad" to mean "the One", or an exaggeration of "Oneness", i.e. Allah is One, or He has no partner in Divinity, or "There is nothing like Him"⁽⁵¹⁹⁾, or in the divinity and Essential Eternity He has no partner, or His Acts are One, that is, all of them are based on practicality and benevolence, with no benefit for Himself. Allah is as-Samad, i.e. He is the Great Master who is sought by the people for their wants to be fulfilled, or He is as-Saniad, meaning that He has no inside, and, being such, nothing can be born of Him, nor can He be born of anything, and no one is like Him or comparable to Him. This is a statement on the part of the common people intended to counter the disbelievers who had many gods, all of which had possible attributes. The Messenger of Allah (S.A.) was ordered to tell them that his God was different from theirs, and His attributes are those which have been mentioned. That was the explanation of this surah in a traditional and common way, and suitable for one group, and it is not incompatible with this fact that there may be another meaning or other scrupulous meanings, as we have already mentioned some of them.

It is possible that for the blessed surah of "at-Tauhid" - which was revealed for the deep thinkers of the end of the Time - there may be a wise explanation based on theological criteria and philosophic proofs. This explanation has been revealed to me by the great gnostic Shaykh Shahabadi (may his shadow be lengthened):⁽⁵²⁰⁾ So, "He' huwa is a reference to mere existence and absolute Ipseity huwiyat - a fact which proves, in the blessed surah, six lofty Philosophic subjects:

First: The state of "Divinity" u1uhyat, which is the state of containing all perfections, and the "Collective Oneness" ahadiyat-i jam' of "Beauty" and "Majesty", as in the relevant states of philosophic findings it has been proved that pure existence and absolute Ipseity are pure perfection, otherwise it would not be pure existence, either. As explaining these subjects require lengthy expansion and further preliminary steps. I suffice myself with the above-mentioned hints.
Second: The state of "Oneness" ahadiyat, which is a reference to complete intellectual, external and existential essential simplicity, and to being above all intellectual compositions, whether genus and differentia, or matter and mental image, or external, whether matter and external image or measured parts. The evidence proving this subject is the same proof of pure existence and absolute Ipseity, because if the "pure" sirf is not one in itself, it will by necessity quit its being pure and part with its identity dhatiyat.
Third: The state of "being the One sought for help" Samad iyat, which points to negation of quiddities "mahiyat. Having no inside and being not empty also point to having no quiddities and no possible imperfection, for in all the possible beings, their essential degree - which is their inside - is empty. But as the Holy Essence is the pure existence and absolute Ipseity, He has no )possible shortcoming, whose origin is quiddities, since quiddities is extracted from he existential limit, and its conventional status is derived from the existential individuation, whereas the pure existent is free from limit and individuation a 'an , because every limited is a fixed Umayyad identity huwiyat and a pure existence. It is not absolute nor pure.
Fourth: Nothing separates from Him, because the separation of something form something denotes materiality, or even measured parts, which is contrary to absolute identity huwiyat and pure existence. The existence of the caused from the cause does not happen, however, by way of separation, but by way of manifestation, appearance, consequence and issue. And it happens in such a way that nothing is reduced from the cause, and nothing is added to the cause by its return to it.
Fifth: He (Allah) has separated from nothing, which, besides the formerly stated depravity, is contrary to pure existence and absolute identity, as otherwise it would necessitate that there should be something prior to the pure existence , while high philosophy has already proved th2t "purity" sirf is the most ancient, and that individuation comes later than the absolute.
Sixth: Having no match and no equal, and negating His resemblance and like, which is proved by the proof that the pure existence has no repetition. So, no dual absolute identity can be imagined, and the absolute and the limited are neither equals nor matches.

Know that this blessed surah, so brief as it is, includes all the Divine Affairs sh'un and the stages of praising and glorification. In fact, it is the correlation between Allah, the Exalted, and whatever can be put into the mould of words and the construction of expressions, such as: "He, Allah, is One" which covers all the Attributes of Perfection, as well as the Positive Attributes. And from the word "as-Samad" up to the end of the surah, the Words cover the "Attributes of purity" and denote negation of shortcomings. Furthermore, the surah proves being out of "the two limits": ta 'iii (divesting Allah of all Attributes), and tashbih (assimilation), both of which are going beyond the limit of moderation and the reality of ai-tauhid. The first noble ayah refers to the negation of tail, and other parts of the surah refer to the negation of tashbih. It also includes the Essence as it is, and the state of "Oneness" ahadiyat , which is the manifestation by the Names of Essence and the state of "Unity" wahidiyat , which is the manifestation by the Names of Attributes, a suitable explanation of which has already been related.

Shaykh a-saduq (may Allah be pleased with him) quotes Abul- Bukhtari Wahhab ibn Wahhab al-Qarashi, quoting Imam as-sadiq(A.S.), quoting his great father, Imam al-Baqir (AS.), that in Allah's saying: "Say: He, Allah, is One", "Say" means: "Make known what We revealed to you and informed you about it by the constructed letters recited to you, so that he may be guided by them whoever lends his ears and sees. "Huwa" (He) is a pronoun of indication referring to the third person, in which "H" ha r denotes an affirmed concept, and the "W" waw' refers to what is absent from the senses, unlike "H?dha" (this) which refers to what is present before the senses. This pointing to the absent is because the disbelievers pointed to their gods by the pronoun indicating a thing present and perceivable. They said: "These are our gods, who are tangible and perceivable by the eyes. So, you too, Muhammad, point out to your god that we may see him and understand him, so that we may not feel bewilderment about him." Hence, Allah sent down that: "Say, He", in which the "H" hi confirms what is affirmed, and the "W" waw points out to what is absent from sight and other senses, for Allah is the Most High, or rather. He is the Conceiver of the eyes and the Creator of the senses."⁽⁵²¹⁾ Imam al-Baqir (A.S.) said: "Allah is a Worshipped Deity about Whom the creatures are perplexed as unable to understand His truth and how He is. The Arabs, when are confused about someone and lack concrete knowledge about him, say: Aliha-r-raj ul (The man became a deity). They also say: Walaha when they try to take a refuge with something from a frightening thing, while al-ilah denotes that which IS covered from the human senses." He also said: "Ahad means the One, and Ahad and wahid both have the same meaning, which is the One Who is unique and has no match. At-Tauhid means the acknowledgement of monotheism, that is, uniqueness. One is a heterogeneous mutabayin which does not issue from anything and does not unite with anything. Thus, it is said that the number is formed of the one, while the one is not a number, as it is not called a number, but two is a number. So, the meaning of Allah's saying: Allahu ahad is that the Worshipped, Whom the human beings are confusedly incapable of understanding and of getting comprehensive knowledge about Him, is Unique in divinity and far above the creatures' attributes."⁽⁵²²⁾ Imam al-Baqir (A.S.) has also said: "My father Zaynul 'Abidin (A.S.) told me, quoting his father al-Husayn ibn 'Au (A.S.) , that as-Samad is that which has no inside, and as-Samad is the one whose mastery has reached its maximum, as-Samad is the one who neither eats nor drinks, and a.-Samad is the one who does not sleep, and a-Samad is a permanent that has always been and would always be." Imam al-Baqir (AS.) said that Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyah used to say: "As-Samad is that which is self-existent and self-sufficient." Someone else said: "As-Samad is above becoming and decaying. As-Samad is that which does not change." Imam al-Baqir (AS.) further said : As-Samad is the commanding chief above whom there is no commander to bid and forbid." He said: "Au ibn al-Husayn, Zaynul 'Abidin (A.S.), asked about as-Samad, said: 'As-Samad is the One who has no partner, and preserving of nothing is difficult or heavy for Him, and nothing is concealed from Him.⁽⁵²³⁾ Wahhab ibn Wahhab al-Qarashi says that Zayd ibn 'All said: "as-Samad is the One Who when desires a thing, He says to it 'Be', and there it is as-Samad is the One Who innovates the things, then creates them in forms unlike each other, or similar to each other, and in pairs, while He alone is the One Who has no antonym, no shape, no equal and no LIKE.⁽⁵²⁴⁾ Wahhab ibn Wahhab further quotes 'Ali ibn al-Husayn (AS.) explaining a.-Samad. He also reports Imam al-Baqir's explanations concerning the secrets of the letters of a-Samad. He says that Imam al-Baqir (AS.) said: "Had I found bearers for the knowledge which Allah has bestowed upon me, i would have spread knowledge about at-tauhid, Islam, faith, religion and the laws out of a.-Samad. But how can I find bearers of such knowledge, while my grand father, Amirul Mu'minin, could find none to carry his knowledge, such that he used to painfully sigh and tell his followers, on the minbar (pulpit): 'Ask me before you miss me. Behind the ribs of my bosom is great knowledge. Oh! Oh! that I can find no carriers for it."⁽⁵²⁵⁾

In concluding this Chapter, we relate some noble hadiths concerning the merits of this blessed surah, as they are too many to be all contained in these few pages. The noble al-Kafi quoting Imam al-Baqir, says: "Whoever reciter 'Say: He, Allah, is One' once, will be blessed. Whoever reciter it twice, he and his family will be blessed. Whoever reciter it thrice, he, his family and his neighbors will be blessed. Whoever reciter it twelve times, Allah will build for him twelve palaces in Paradise, such that the keepers hafizes say: 'Take us to the palaces of our brother so-and-so to See them'. Whoever reciter it a hundred times, Allah will forgive his sins for twenty-five years, except (sins concerning) blood and property. Whoever reciter it four hundred times, his will be the rewards of four hundred martyrs, the horses of all of whom were killed and their blood shed. Whoever reciter it a thousand times in a day and a night, will not die unless he sees his seat in Paradise, or it is shown to him."⁽⁵²⁶⁾ In the same noble al-Kafi, on the authority of Imam al-Baqir (A.S.) it is said that the Messenger of Allah (S.A.) said: "Whoever reciter 'Say: He, Allah, is One' a hundred times on his going to bed, Allah will forgive his sins of fifty years."⁽⁵²⁷⁾ imam as-Sadiq (AS.) is quoted to have said that his father said: "(The surah of) 'Say: He, Allah, is One' is one-third of the Qur'an, and (the surah of) 'Say: 0 you, disbelievers' is a quarter of the Qur'an."⁽⁵²⁸⁾ He also is quoted to have said that the Messenger of Allah (S.A.) performed the .salat over (the body of) Sa'd ibn Ma'adh, then said: "Seventy-thousand angels, including Gabriel, came down and performed the salat over Sa'd's body. I asked Gabriel: 'What for did Sa'd deserve that you performed the sa1at over him?' He said: 'Because he used to reciter: 'Say: He, Allah, is One', standing, sitting, riding, walking on foot, in coming and going."⁽⁵²⁹⁾ Wasailush-Shiah , quoting al-Majalis wa Ma'aniyul-Akhbar, on the authority of Imam as-sadiq (AS.) , says that the Imam has quoted his great fathers on the authority of Salman ( al-Farsi - may Allah be pleased with him) that he heard the Messenger of Allah (S.A) say: "Whoever reciter (the surah of) 'Say: He, Allah, is One' once, he will be as if he has recited one-third of the Qur'an. Whoever reciter it twice, he will be as if he has recited two-thirds of the Qur'an . And Whoever reciter it three times, he will be as if he has completed reciting the Qur'an."⁽⁵³⁰⁾ In Thawabul A 'mal it is said that: "If a Friday (a week) passes over somebody without his reciting (the surah of) 'Say: He, Allah, is One', and he dies, he dies on the religion of Abu Lahab."⁽⁵³¹⁾ In al-Mustadrak there are many lengthy hadith relating the merits of this noble surah. For further information refer to it and to the Wasa'il⁽⁵³²⁾ And praise is for Allah.

He, the Exalted, says : "We revealed it on the night al-Qadr. "Lofty matters are there in this noble ayah, to refer to some of which is not without advantage. The first matter is that this ayah and many of noble ayahs ascribe the revelation of the Qur'an to the Sacred Essence of Allah Himself, as He says: "We have revealed it in a blessed night,"⁽⁵³³⁾ "We have revealed the Reminder and We will be its guardian,"⁽⁵³⁴⁾and similar noble ayahs. In some other ayahs it is ascribed to Gabriel, the Faithful Spirit, as He says: "The Faithful Spirit descended with it."⁽⁵³⁵⁾ The literalist scholars in these instances say that this is metaphorical, Similar to: "0 Haman! build for me a tower..".⁽⁵³⁶⁾ Ascribing the revelation, for example, to Allah is because His Sacred Essence was the cause and the one who Commanded it to be revealed, or the ascription of the revelation to Allah is real, and as the Faithful Spirit is the means, it is metaphorically ascribed to him. This is because they regard ascribing Allah's act to the creatures to be like ascribing a creature's act to another creature. Thus, the tasks of Izrael and Gabriel are ascribed to Allah, the Exalted, as the task of Haman is ascribed to Pharaoh, and the tasks of the builders and the constructors to Haman. But this is an analogy which is completely false and differential. Comprehending ascribing (a creature's) creation to Allah, and the act of a creature to the Creator is among the important branches of theology and philosophy, through which a lot of problems are solved, including fatalism and free will, of which this matter is a branch.

It must be noted that it has been proved and confirmed in the high sciences that all the House of Realization and phases of existence are the image Surat of the Holy Emanation, which is the luminous manifestation of Allah. As the Luminous Relation idafa-i ishraqiyah is mere relation and pure dependence faqr, its individuations and images are mere relations, too, having neither identity haithiyat nor independence of their own. In another expression, the whole House of Realization is, essentially, attributively and actually, vanished in Allah, because if a being was independent in a personal affair of his, whether in the existential identity or in any of its other affairs, he would be out of the limits of possibility, and would be changed into essential necessity, which is an obvious falsity. If this divine grace is implanted in the heart and the heart tastes it as it deserves, a secret of Qadar qadr (fate, Predestination) will be exposed to him, and a delicate aspect of the truth of "a flatter between two matters" (amr-un baynal amrayn) will be disclosed to him. So, the effects and the acts of perfection can be attributed to the :creature as they similarly can be attributed to Allah, without resorting to metaphor on either side, and this is realized in the view of Unity wahdat and multiplicity kathrat and joining between the two matters. But, the one who is it mere multiplicity kathrat and veiled off Unity, ascribes the act to the creature, heedless of Allah, as we, the veiled, are. The one in whose heart Unity wahdat is manifested, will be veiled against the creatures, and will scribe all acts to Allah, while the gnostic researcher joins between "Unity" and multiplicity": At the same time of attributing the act to Allah, without sorting to the blemish of metaphor, he also attributes it to the creature, without the blemish of metaphor, too. The noble ayah " ... And you threw not when you did throw, but Allah threw,"⁽⁵³⁷⁾ in which, while confirming the throwing, negates it, and while negating the throwing, confirms it, is a reference to the way of the great gnostics and their strict faithful method. Our referring to the acts and effects of perfection excluding the shortcomings, was because the shortcomings' recourse is to the privations which are of the individuations ta 'ayyunat of existence, and are not attributed to Allah, except accidentally bil'ara4. Going into the details of this subject is not possible in these papers. Now that this introduction has been understood, the attribution of "revelation" tanzil to Allah and Gabriel, and the "bringing to life" ihya' to Esraphiel and Allah, and the "bringing death" imatah to Izrael and the angels in charge of the souls and to Allah, can also be easily understood. There are many references to this matter in the noble Qur'an. It is one of the Qur'an's Knowledge ma'arif of which there was no trace in the books of the wise men and the philosophers before this Glorious Book, and the human family is indebted to the gift of this Divine Book in this respect, like other divine, Qur'anic Knowledge ma'arif. The second matter is the use of the plural pronoun: "We revealed". The point here is to aggrandize the state of Allah, the Exalted, as the revealer of this noble Book. It may be that this plurality refers to a nominal plurality denoting that Allah, the Exalted, with all the affairs of His Names and Attributes, is the originator of this noble Book. For this reason, this noble Book is the image of the Collective Oneness of all the Names and Attributes, and is the introducer of the Holy state maqam of Allah in all affairs shu'un and manifestations. In other words, this luminous Book is the image of the Greatest Name, as is the Perfect Man, or rather, the truth of these two, in the Unseen ha4rat-i ghaib, is the same, while in the world of separation they separate in respect of the image, although in respect of concept they do not separate. This is a meaning of: "They would not separate until they come to me at the Pool."⁽⁵³⁸⁾ As Allah, with the hands of Majesty and Beauty fermented The clay of the First Man, the Perfect Man, He, with the hands of Beauty and majesty, revealed the Complete Book, the Comprehensive Qur'an. Probably it for this reason that it was called the Qur'an, because the state of Oneness hadiyat is the Union of Unity and multiplicity, /am '-i wahdat u kathrat , and is for this reason that this Book can neither be abrogated nor ruptured, :cause the Greatest Name and its manifestations are eternal and everlasting, Ld all Shari 'ahs call to this Muhammadan Shari'ah and guardianship wilayah.

It is probable that as it is said: "We revealed", on the same basis: "We offered the trust…"⁽⁵³⁹⁾ is said in the first person plural, since "the trust", ;cording to its inside, is the truth of guardianship, and, according to its inside, is the Shari'ah, Islam Qur'an or the salat. The third matter is a brief about the revelation of the Qur'an. It is of the delegacies latayif of divine sciences ma'arif and of the secrets of religious acts that only few can scientifically get some information about them, except Le perfect godly men, at the head of whom is the very person of the Seal of e Prophets (S.A.), and then, with his assistance, the others of the godly men id the people of knowledge. No other one can, by way of intellectual tuition, know this divine delicacy latifah, because this truth cannot be seemed except by attaining to the world of inspiration and getting out of the mitts of the worlds of possibility. We shall, in this stage, refer to this truth by ay of hints and expressive allegories. It must be noted that the hearts which travel to Allah by way of spiritual 1nk and internal journey, and migrate from the dark station of the self and on the house of 1-ness and selfishness, are, generally, divided into two .opus. First, those who, after finishing their travel to Allah, death overtakes them, and they remain in the state of attraction, annihilation and death. The ward of this group is with Allah, and it is Allah. They arc the beloved who perish under the 'domes qibab of Allah". No one knows them, and they have )inaction to nobody. They know none but Allah: "My friends are under My domes, no one knows them other than Me."⁽⁵⁴⁰⁾ The second group are those who, having completed their journey to Allah and in Allah, became fit to return to themselves and be subject to a state of sobriety and intelligence. They are those whose aptitude, according to the manifestation by the Holiest Emanation, which is the secret of qadr, has been predetermined and they have been chosen for perfecting the servants and engendering prosperity in the regions. Having communicated with His knowledge hadrat-i 'ilmiyah and returned to real entities, they disclosed the journey of the entities and their communication ittisal with His Holiness and their travel to Allah and to happiness, receiving the honorable robe khal'at of prophethood. This disclosure kashf is a divine revelation wahy , before descending to the world of Gabriela revelation. After turning from this world towards the descending worlds, they disclose what is in the High Pens and Holy Tablets, in proportion to their comprehension of knowledge and growth of perfection, which belong to the Names 'hadrat-i asmayah. The difference of Shari'ahs and prophethood, or rather all differences, stem from there. In this stage it sometimes happens that the Unseen Truth and the Holy Secret, proved in His Knowledge hadrat-i 'ilmiyah and the High Pens and Tablets, descend, by way of the unseen of their souls and the secret of their honourable spirits, by means of the Angel of Revelation, Gabriel, into their blessed hearts. Sometimes Gabriel appears in an "ideal image" tamaththulat-i mithali in the "Ideal" hadrat-i mithal to them, and sometimes he takes a "worldly image", appearing from the hidden place makman of the Unseen, by that truth to the scene of the world of visibility, bringing down that divine delicacy latifah. The receiver sahib of the revelation, in each of the emergences nasha 'at, understands and discerns in a certain way: in a way in His Knowledge hadrat-i ilmiyah , and in different ways in the entities hadrat-i ilmiyah, in the Pens hadrat-i aqlam, in the Tablets hadrat-i alwah, in the "Ideal" hadrat-i mithal , in the Common Sense and in the absolute visibilities shahadat . These are the seven stages of dissension, which may be related to the hadiths that the Qur'an has descended on "seven letters", ⁽⁵⁴¹⁾which does not contradict the hadith: The Qur'an is one, revealed from the One',⁽⁵⁴²⁾ is known. This state, however, requires to be expanded Upon, hut not here. The fourth matter concerns the secret of the third person singular pronoun "ii" in "we revealed it." As is known, the Qur'an has Passed before being descended to this emergence nash 'ah through stages and entities 1caznuna! its first stage was its entity in the Knowledge kainunat-j 'ilmiyah in he Unseen by the speaking of His Essence and by His Self-arguing muqari'a 1htivah by way of the "Collective Oneness' ahadiyat-j jam' And the said pronoun may be a reference to that state, as, in order to show that percept He wised the third person pronoun, as if to say that this very Qur'an which wa revealed on "the night of qadr" is the same scholarly Qur'an, in the Unseen secret hidden in the emergence of Knowledge nash'ah-i ilmiyah , and which was One of which it was united with the Essence and was of the manifestations of the Names. This apparent truth is that divine secret, and this Book, which has appeared in the uniform 01 words and expressions, in the stage of Essence is in the image of the Essential manifestations, and, in the stage of Action, is the very manifestation of Act, as to Commander of the Believers ('All) (A.S.) said: "His talk is His act."⁽⁵⁴³⁾ The fifth matter concerns "the night of qadr", about which there arc many discussions and uncountable pieces of information, which have been pended upon by the great scholars (may Allah he pleased with them) according to their diverse ways and methods, in these pages we shall briefly late some of them. As to the matters which they did not mention, we shall refer to them within our relating other matters. As regards the naming of "the night of qadr". the scholars have different )inions. Some say that as it is honourable and great, and as the Qur'an is eat, brought down (in it ) by a great angel, to a great Messenger, for a great amah, ii was called "Laylatul Qadr" (the night ol greatness). Some sa that it is called "the night of measure" because the fathers. e fife-terms and the provisions of the people are "measured in that very night. Some say that as the angels on that night are so numerous (in the earth) that as it the earth is strictly misused' for them, it is called aI-qadr, and that is like: "and he whose provision is mastered."⁽⁵⁴⁴⁾

These are some of I he opinions concerning this subject. About each of them there have been researches, a hint at which is not without advantage. As to the first opinion. i.e. that night being honourable and great. know that many things arc said in this respect, to the effect that, as regards lime and place in general. some are honourable and some are not, some are lucky and some are unlucky. But is this a natural and intrinsic characteristic of time and place or is it because happy and unhappy events happen in them, and, consequently they are so described? Although this is not a noble and important topic. and to expand upon it is not advantageous. yet, we shall briefly refer to it. What gives priority to the first possibility is that some narratives and ayahs which apparently regard time and place either honourable or unlucky, confirm this to be intrinsic, not a characteristic belonging to the particular condition. So, as there is no rational objection, they can be taken according to their apparent meanings. What gives priority to the second possibility is that the truth of time and place is a single one, or even their entity ( personality) is one, too. Such being the case, it will not be possible that a single person can be divided and he different in status hukm . Therefore, it is inevitable to take what is said about time and place as lucky or unlucky as caused by the events and happenings taking place in them. But this is not provable, because although time is a single entity, yet, as it gradually expands and is measurable, there can he no Objection that some part of it he different in status and effect from another part. There is no evidence that a person. whoever he may he, cannot enjoy IWO Status and two effects, rather the contrary is apparent. For example, the human beings, although every one of them is a single person, yet, there are many differences in their corporeal features, like the skin, the brain and the heart, as these arc more delicate and honoured than the other organs. Similarly, some of the internal and external powers are more honourable than others. This i because man, in this world, is not apparently known as to have a complete unity, though single in person. But as apparently he is known of multiplicity he can have different status.

The priority of the first possibility is not, however, an agreeably correct one, because this opinion is based, for example, on "the originality of appearance" isalatuz -zuhur and "the originality of the truth", isalatuz haqiqah whereas methodically it is known that "the originality of the truth" and "the originality of appearance" are used when there is a doubt in the objective for the purpose of making sure of the objective, not that they should confirm the objective after that it had already been known. So, consider.⁽⁵⁴⁵⁾ Therefore, both aspects are possible, but the second aspect seems preferable. Consequently, "the night of qadr" was described as "the honoured night" because it was the night of the meeting of the Sealing Prophet, the night on which the real lover reached his Beloved. In the former discussions it was noted that the dissension of the angels and the revelation was after the annihilation and the real proximity. From many narratives and noble ayahs it can be gathered that the luckiness and unluckiness of times and places are because of the events which take place in them. This can be realized by referring to them, although some of them also denote their intrinsic honour. The other possibility for naming "the night of qadr" is because the affairs of the days of the year are measured on that night. So, know that the truth of "Fate" qada and "Destiny" (Divine Decree = qadar), its quality and its stages of appearance, are of the greatest and noblest divine knowledge, and it is because of their extreme exactness and nicety that deeply thinking about them is not allowed for the human race as it causes bewilderment and straying. Therefore, this truth is to be regarded of the religious secrets and the deposits of Prophethood, and one is to refrain from conducting scrutinizing research about it. We refer here only to a subject suiting this stage. That is, although the measurement of the affairs has been estimated from the very beginning in the knowledge of Allah, the Exalted, and it is not of the gradual matters in respect of the pure state of the divine knowledge, then, what does "taqdir" in every year and in a particular night mean? Know that "Fate" and "Divine Decree" are of degrees, and according to those degrees and emergences 'nasha'at they differ in their status. The first degree 5 the facts which are judged (evaluated) and measured in His knowledge by the manifestation in "The Holiest Emanation" in the wake of the appearance of the Names and Attributes. Afterwards, by the High Pens and in the High Tablets, according to the appearance, and by the manifestation of the Act, they are ordained and confirmed. No changes and alterations may happen in these degrees. The inevitable and unchangeable decrees a4a are the abstract facts happening in the entities hadrat-i a yan and in the emergence nash 'ah of His Knowledge and descending to the abstract Pens and Tablets. Afterwards , the facts appear in isthmus barzakhiyah and ideal nutha1yah images in other Tablets and in a lower world, which is the world of "the distinct imagination" khiyal-i munfasil and "the universal imagination" khiyal ul kull - the world which, according to the method of the illuminations philosophers, is called "The World of the Suspended Ideas" 'alam-i muthul-i mu'allaqah. In such a world changes and differences are possible to happen, or actually they do happen. After that, the evaluations taqdir and measuring take place by means of the angels in charge of the world of nature. In this Tablet of Fate there are continual changes and alterations, or rather it is, in itself, a flowing form and a passing, gradual fact. In this 1auz (Tablet) the facts can be strong or weak, and the movements may be swift, slow, accelerated or decreased. Nevertheless, the "near-to-Allah" ya1i1ah aspect, the unseen aspect, of these very things, - which is the aspect of tadalli (suspension) to Allah, and it is the form of the appearance of the "Spread Emanation" munbasit and the "Extended Shade" zill-i mamdud, and the truth of Allah's "Active knowledge" - there can occur in it no change or alteration. In short, all the changes, alterations, additions to the lives, and measuring (the peoples') provisions are, as the philosophers believe, in the lauh of "the qadr of knowledge" qadr-i 'ilm , which is "the world of ideas" - while to the writer, they are in the lauh of "the qadr of objectivity" qadr-I'ayni which is the very place of the measurements - done by the angels in charge o it. Therefore, there is flu objection 'mani' that, as "the night of qadr" is the night of full attention of the "perfect guardian" wali-i kamil and of the appearance of his heavenly sovereignty, changes and alterations may happen, in it, in the world of nature through the honourable person of the "perfect guardian" and the Imam of each era and the pole qurb of the time who, in our time, is "Allah's Remainder" baqyatul1ah in the worlds (earths, lands aradin), our Master, Patron, imam and Guide, the Proof, the son of al-Hasan al-'Askari, may our souls be ransom for his coming. So, he may accelerate or slow any individual part of nature that he desires, and enlarge or straiten any provision he wills. And this will is that of the Haqq, and is the shadow and the rays of the Eternal Will and follows the Divine commands, as the angels of Allah, too, can do (change) nothing by themselves. Every act (change =tasarruf), rather every particle of existence, is of Allah and of His unseen grace latifah,: "So keep straight as you are commanded."⁽⁵⁴⁶⁾ As to what has been said concerning the other possibility of naming "the night of qadr", i.e. it was so called because the earth seems too much narrow with the throng of the angels on that night, this point is a far-fetched one, despite the fact that Khalil ibn Ahmad, ⁽⁵⁴⁷⁾ the wonder of the time, may Allah's pleasure be upon him, says that what can be discussed is that the angels are not of the kind of the world of nature and matter, so what does it mean to say that the earth seemed narrow? However, such matters have been related in SOn1C noble narrations, like the case of the funeral procession of Sa'd ibn Mu'adh,⁽⁵⁴⁸⁾ may Allah be pleased with him, or the angels' spreading their wings for the students of knowledge.⁽⁵⁴⁹⁾ This is when the angels appear in the assimilation tamaththul of "ideal images", descending from the unseen world to the "World " of Ideals' 'alam-i mithali and narrowing the dominion of the heart, probably their worldly assimilation in the kingdom of the earth, although this still cannot be seen by the natural animal eyes. However, the narrowing IS On the basis of "Ideal" mitha1'ah or "worldly" mulk iyah assimilation. The second matter concerns the truth of "the night of qadr". Know that every spiritual grace has a reality, and for every worldly form there is a heavenly and unseen interior. People of knowledge say that the stages of the dissension of the truth of the existence, in respect of the setting of the sun o in the horizon of individuations, are "nights", whereas the stages o in respect of the rising of the sun of the truth in the horizons o inculcations, are "days". Hence, the honour and the unluckiness of the "days" and the "nights" are, accordingly, clearly known. According to another aspect, the arch of dissension is the Muhammadan "night of qadr", and the arch of ascension is the Ahmadan "Resurrection Day", because these two arches are the extension of the light of the "Expanded ion" faid-i munbasit, which is "the Muhammadan Truth" haqiqat-i muhamadiyan, and all the individuations ta 'ayyunat are of the First Endive "the Greatest Name". So, from the point of view of Unity wahdat, is the "night of qadr" and the "Day of Resurrection", and it is no in a single night and day, which is the entire House of Realization, the "night of qadr" and the Ahmadan "Day of Resurrection". The one who is assured of this truth will always be in the "night of qadr" and in the "Day of Resurrection", and these two become united. from the point of view of multiplicity, there will be nights and days. some nights have qadr (greatness, dignity) and some have not. Among all the nights, the Ahmadan constitution bunyah, the Muhammadan individuation (S.A.) - into whose horizon has set the light of the truth of existence, with all the affairs, Names and Attributes, and with full luminosity and entire truth - is the absolute night of qadr, as the Muhammadan day is the absolute Day of Resurrection. Other days and nights are limited ones. The Qur'an's revelation nuzul to this noble constitution bunyah and pure heart, is the revelation nuzul in the "night of qadr". So, the Qur'an was revealed both in full in "the night of qadr", by way of complete and absolute disclosure, and in parts along twenty. three years in "the night of qadr."

The gnostic Shaykh, the Shahabadi5491 (may his prosperity by lasting), used to say that the Muhammadan period is "the night of qadr", that is, all the periods of existence are the Muhammadan period, or it is because in this period the perfect Muhammadan poles, the infallible guiding Imams (A.S.), are "the nights of qadr". What proves our suggested possibility concerning the truth of "the night of qadr" is the lengthy noble hadiths which is quoted by al-Burhan Exegesis from the noble al-Kafi, in which it is said that when a Christian asked imam Musa ibn Ja'far about the hidden explanation of "Ha Mim! (I swear) By he explaining Book. We revealed it on a blessed night - Surely We are ever warning. There in every wise affair is made distinct,"⁽⁵⁵⁰⁾ he replied: "As to "Ha Mim", it is Muhammad (S. A.) "The explaining Book' is Amirul Mu'minin 'Mi (A.S.), and "the night" is Fatimah (A.S.)".⁽⁵⁵¹⁾ In another narrative it is said that "the ten nights" are interpreted to be the pure Imams from al-Hasan to al-Hasan.⁽⁵⁵²⁾ This is one of the degrees of "the night of qadr "to which Imam Musa ibn Ja'far referred, testifying that "the night of qadr" was the entire Muhammadan period. In Al-Burhan Exegesis there is a narrative from Imam al-Baqir (A.S.). Being a noble hadiths referring to several pieces of information, disclosing important secrets, we, owing to its blessedness, relate it in full: The author (may Allah have mercy upon him), quoting Shaykh Abu Ja'far at-Tusi, from his men, from 'Abdullah ibn 'Ajlan as-Sakuni, said: " I heard Abu ja'far (A.S.) say: The house of 'All and Fatimah is the room of the Messenger of Allah (S.A.), and the roof of their house is the 'Arsh of the Lord of the worlds. And at the bottom of their house there is an uncovered opening to the 'Arsh, the mi'raj of revelation; and the angels bring down revelation upon them in the morning and in the evening and every hour and twinkle of an eye. The angels are in ceaseless groups, some descending and some ascending. And Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, disclosed to Ibrahim the heavens till he saw the Arsh and He increased his seeing power. And Allah increased the seeing power of Muhammad, 'All, Fatimah, al-Hasan and al-Husayn (A.S.). They used to see the 'Arsh and they found no roof over their houses except the 'Arsh'. Their houses were roofed with the 'Arsh of the Beneficent, and the ascensions of the angels and the Spirit in them, with the permission of their Lord, 'for every affair in peace. 'I said: "for every affair?' He said: 'In every affair.' I said: 'Is that revelation?' He said: 'Yes".⁽⁵⁵³⁾ Contemplating this noble hadiths will open doors of knowledge in the face of the deserving people and discloses parts of the truth of guardianship and of the hidden inside of "the night of qadr". The third matter: Know that as "the night of qadr" has a truth and an inside as it has been mentioned, it also has a form and an appearance. or even appearances in the world of nature. But as appearances can differ in respect of their sortCOming5 and perfectiOn5 form the narratives and hadiths about specifying "the night of qadr" can be gathered that all the noble nights specified in those narratives are of the appearances of "the night of qadr", except that they differ from one another in respect of their honour and perfection of appeasable while that noble night, which is the full appearance of "the night of qadr" , the night of the complete joining wa.1 and the perfect attainment wudu/ of the Last Prophet, is hidden in the whole year, in the blessed month of Ramadan, in its last ten (nights) or in the "three nights". The narratives of the Elite khassah and the public 'ammah also differ. The Elite narrate, with uncertainty, that it is on the nights of the nineteenth, twenty-first and twenty-third (of Ramadan), and sometimes they waver between the night of the twenty-first and the twenty-third. Shihab ibn 'Abd Rabbih says: 1 asked Imam Ja'far as-sadiq(A.S.) to tell me about "the night of qadr". He said: "the night of the twenty-first and the night of the twenty-third.'⁽⁵⁵⁴⁾ 'Abdul Wahid ibn al-Mukhtar al-Ansari says: "I asked Imam al-Baqir (A.S.) about 'the night of qadr'. He said: 'It is on two nights: the night of the twenty-third and the night of the twenty-first.' I said: 'Name only one of them.' He said: 'What if you do something on the two nights of which one is 'the night of qadr?⁽⁵⁵⁵⁾ liaison ibn Abu 'Mi says: "I asked Imam as-Sadiq (A.S.) about 'the night of qadr' He said: "Get it on the nineteenth, twenty-first and twenty-third."555' The devotee and pious "Sayyid" (may Allah be pleased with him) in Jqbal says: "Know that it is the night of the twenty-third of the month of Ramadan There are explicit narratives that it is 'the night of qadr' by revelation and declaration. Of that I relate , on my authority up to Sufyan ibn as-Sit (or as-Simt) who said: "I asked Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq (A.S.) to tell me which was 'the night of qadr' exactly." He said: "The night of the twenty-third". Another is to narrate, on my authority up to Zurarah, quoting 'Abdul Wahid ibn al-Mukhtar al-Ansari, who said: "I asked Imam al-Baqir (A.S.) about 'the night of qadr'. He said: "By Allah I tell you with no ambiguity, it is the first night of the last seven nights." Zurarah was further quoted to have said that the month which the Imam mentioned had twenty-nine days.⁽⁵⁵⁶⁾ After that other narratives are related to the effect that "the night of qadr" is the night of the twenty-third (of Ramadan), such as the case of Juhani,⁽⁵⁵⁷⁾ which is known.

As it has been said in respect of the two previously explained blessed surahs, it is more obvious that the basmalah of each surah belongs to it. Therefore, in the blessed surah of al-Qadr it means: "We revealed the noble Qur'anic truth, the Sacred Divine Grace latifah,

Some Narratives concerning the Merits of "the Night of Qadr" Among them arc those narrated by the knower of Allah, Sayyid ihn TaWI1S (may Allah be pleased with him) in his noble Book Iqbalul A 'mal. He says: "I found in the book, called yawaqit, by Abul Fadl ibn Muhammad al-Harawi, some narratives on the merits of "the night of qadr". Then he quotes from it a narrative from the Messenger of Allah (S.A.) as to have said: "Moses said: '0 Allah! I desire Your proximity'. Allah said: "My proximity is for the one who keeps awake on 'the night of qadr'. He said: '0 Allah! I wish for your mercy.' Allah said: 'My mercy is for the One who shows mercy to the poor on 'the night of qadr'. He said: 'o Allah! i want to cross the Sirat the (Right) Path '.He said: 'That is for the one who gives out a sadaqah on 'the night of qadr'. He said: '0 Allah! I wa, of the trees and fruits of Paradise'. Allah said: 'They are for the one who glorifies (Me) on 'the night of qadr'. He said: 'I want to be de1jvered Allah said: 'From the Fire?" 'Yes,' he said. Allah said: 'It is for the one who asks forgiveness on 'the night of qadr'. He said: '0 Allah! I ask for Your pleasure.' Allah said: 'I would be pleased with the one who performs two rak'ahs of sal?t on 'the night of qadr". The same book, quoting the Messenger of Allah (S.A.), also says: "The doors of the heaven are opened on 'the night of qadr'. No servant may perform the salat on it unless Allah, the Exalted, writes down for him, for every sajdah a tree in Paradise, such that if a horseman rides under its shadow for a hundred years he will not finish it, for every rak'ah (or ruku') a house, in Paradise, made of quartzes, rubies, chrysalides and pearls, for every ayah a paradisiacal crown, for every glorifying one of the precious birds, for every sitting one of the paradisiacal degrees, for every tashahhud a paradisiacal room and for every taslim a garment from paradise. And when the column of dawn bursts out, Allah will grant him (in Paradise) sociable women (wives) whose breasts bulge out from behind the dress, educated and good-behaving maids, eternal boys, noble birds, fragrant flowers, flowing rivers, pleasing graces, gifts, presents, coats of honour, wonders and whatever the heart desires and pleases the eye, in which you will eternally live." Quoting Imam al-Baqir (A.S.), the same book says: "Whoever lives 'the night of qadr' awake, his sins will be forgiven, even if as many as the stars of the sky, and as heavy as the mountains or the weight of the seas:'⁽⁵⁵⁸⁾ The narratives about its merits are too many to be included in tI1CSI papers. His saying: "And how do you know what the night of qadr is!" is a construction intended to denote honoring, attributing and paying homage to the greatness of the subject and the truth, especially when considering the addresser and the addressee. Although the addresser is Allah, the Exalted, and the addressee is the Messenger of Allah (S.A.), yet, the subject is sometimes so glorious that it is impossible to contain it with the construction of words and expressions. It is as if He says: You know not how great the truth of the night of qadr is! It cannot be explained in arranged words and letters, as they are incapable of containing it. Therefore, He just used "How" ma to denote that greatness, trying not to describe it, only saying that 'the night of qadr is better than a thousand months", that is, He introduces it by referring to its characteristics and effects, since telling its truth is not possible. Hence, one may well guess that the truth of the night of qadr and its inside are different from its external form, though its external form is great and important, too, but not to the extent of addressing the Messenger of Allah, the absolute guardian and the informed of all worlds, in this way.

If you say: On the basis of the said possibility that the inside of "the night of qadr" is the very truth and constitution of the Messenger of Allah (S.A.), in which the sun of truth, in all its affairs, is hidden, then the objection will be higher, because it will not be possible to tell him: "How do you know what 'the night of qadr', which is your own visible form, is?" I will say: This subject has a secret. This delicate point has an inner meaning "for him who has heart or gives ear and is a witness".⁽⁵⁵⁹⁾ Know, dear, that in the inside of the real "night of qadr", i.e., the constitution and the Visible form, or the immutable essence of Muhammad 'ayn-i thabit-i muhammadi (S.A.), there is manifested the Greatest Name and the Divine collective Oneness. Therefore, as long as the travelling-to-Allah servant, that is, the Sealing Messenger (S.A.), is still inside his own veil, he will not be able to Witness that inside and truth, as the same was said about Moses, the son of 'Imran, (A.S.) in the Glorious Qur'an: "You will never see Me", ⁽⁵⁶⁰⁾despite the fact that Moses witnessed the manifestation in Essence or in Attributes as in: "When his Lord manifested (Ills glory) to the mountain, He made it crumble to dust, and Moses fell down in a swoon",⁽⁵⁶¹⁾ or in the great noble invocation of Simat, as is quite obvious. There is also the note that: "0 Moses, as long as you are in your Musawi yan veil and in your concealment ihtijab, you will have no chance of witnessing. Witnessing the Beauty of the Beauty is possible for the one who has come out of himself, because having come out of himself, he would see with the Haqq '5 eye, and the Haqq 'is' eye would be seeing the Haqq. So, the manifestation of the Greatest Name, which is the perfect form of "the night of qadr", cannot be seen through one's concealment ihtijab. Therefore, this expression is, according to the mentioned verification, correct and fitting. If you say: "the night of qadr is the very Ahmadan constitution in view of the fact that in him the sun of the truth is hidden, not the sun itself that the said justification may be correct." I will say: "According to the people of insight, the thing-ness of a thing depends on its form of perfection, and that the things with reasons, sabab especially divine reason sabab, their truth cannot be recognized without recognizing their reasons. In view of the people of knowledge, the correlation between the outside and the inside, manifestation and the manifesting, is not like that of two separate matters, because a truth may sometimes have an external manifestation, and sometimes an internal manifestation, as the well-known gnostic says: We are non-existents showing existence, You are the Absolute Being and our existence. As the gnostic Rumi says, this talk has no end and it is better to forgo it.

His saying: "The night of qadr is better than a thousand months." If we note the worldly appearance of the external form of the night of qadr", we realize that its goodness is more than a thousand months which have no night of qadr in them, or the night of qadr and the acts of devotional worship on it are better than thousand months in which the Israelites used to carry their weapons and fight for the sake of Allah, or the night of qadr is better than the thousand months of the rule of the Ummayids (may Allah curse them), as is stated in the noble narratives.⁽⁵⁶²⁾ If we note the truth of the night of qadr, "a thousand months" may be an allusion to all beings, as "a thousand" is a complete number, and by "months" the kinds are intended. That is, the respected Muhammadan constitution, who is the perfect man, is better than the thousand kinds which cover all beings, as has been said by some people of gnosticism.⁽⁵⁶³⁾ Another possibility occurs to the writer, that is, the night of qadr may be a hint at the manifestation of the Greatest Name, i.e., the complete Muhammadan (S.A.) mirror, and "a thousand months" may be the manifestations of the other Names. And, as Allah, the Exalted, has one thousand and one Names, and as one Name is especially hidden in the unseen world, similarly, the night of qadr is hidden, too, and the night of qadr of the Muhammadan constitution is also a hidden name. Thus, this especially hidden name is known to nobody except to the sacred essence of the Sealing Messenger (S.A.).

It must be noted that as the perfect guardian, the Seal of the Prophets (S.A.), is the night of qadr because of the interiority butun of the Greatest Name in him and the occultation ihtijab of the Haqq with all affairs in him, likewise he is the day of qadr, too, since the appearance of the sun of the truth and the projection of the all-embracing Name appear from the horizon of his individuation. Similarly, the "Day of Resurrection is his person, too. In short, that sacred essence is the day and night of qadr, and the Day of Resurrection is the day of qadr, too. Threescore, the point that. Out of all phenomena. the month is referred to. and from this complete and sacred phenomenon it is referred to "the night", is, perhaps, because the beginning of the months and years is the day and night, like the "one" being the beginning of the numbers. Thai master sar'war in the inside hr of the truth, the Greatest Name, is the beginning of the other names and, in his individuation ta a'yun and immutable essence ayn-i thabit he is the root (origin asl of the "Good Tree" shajara-i tayyibah and the beginning of the individuations ta'ayunat . Consider, so that you may know, and seize the opportunity! His saying: "The angels and the Spirit descend in it by the permission of their Lord, for every affair." In this noble ayah there are points, to some of which we shall refer briefly.

The first point is about the ranks of the angels of Allah, the Exalted, and their reality in general. Know that there are differences among the traditions md researchers concerning the angels whether they are abstract or corporeal. all the Philosophers and researchers, and many of the juristic researchers, believe in their abstraction and in the abstraction of the rational soul, which hey prove by strong evidences. There are also many noble narratives and ayahs from which (their) abstraction can he understood, as the traditions and searcher, our master Muhammad Taqi Majlisi the great father of the late Majlisi, says, in Sharhul Faqih, commenting on some relevant narratives, that hey confirm the abstraction of the rational soul.⁽⁵⁶⁴⁾ On the other hand, some of the. great traditions believe in their non-abstraction. Their utmost proof is that to believe in their abstraction i :contrary to religion, and they add that there is no abstract except the Sacred sconce of Allah. the Exalted. This, however, is a very weak argument. because heir most attention is probably directed to only two points: the first is the C1SC 1 the temporal contingency huduth-i zamani of the world, as they think that the existence of an abstract other than Allah contrad5 it. The second point is the Case of the free wilt of Allah, the Exalted. in His acts, as they think that this contradicts the abstraction of the world of intelligence and he angels of Allah, the Exalted. Both these cases are of the insane ma'nunah affairs within the High Sciences. The noncontradicti0n of such cases with an abstract being is quite obvious. Even to believe in the nonahstract10n of the rational souls, the world of intelligence and the angels of Allah, is contrary to many divine affairs and true beliefs, which cannot be explained for the time being. The temporal contingency of the worlds, as is interpreted by this group, is contrary to the principle of the temporal contingency, besides being in opposition to many divine rules, too. To the writer, the truth, which agrees with reason 'aql and tradition naql, is that the angels of Allah are of different types. Many of them arc abstracts and many are intermediate barzakhi corporeal: "No one knows the host of your Lord save Him".⁽⁵⁶⁵⁾ As to their types, according to their general division, it is said that the heavenly beings are of two types: Type one has nothing to do with the corporeal world, belonging to neither incarnation huIuI nor management tadbir . The other type belongs to one of the said two aspects. The first type consists of two groups. The first group are those who are called "the Passionate muhayyimah Angels". They are those who are infatuated with the Beauty of the Beautiful, absorbed in the Essence of His Majesty, unaware of all other creatures, paying no attention to other beings. Among the friends of Allah auliya ullah there is a group like them. While we arc indulged in the dark sea of nature. and are completely unaware of the unseen world and the Essence of His Majesty. despite the tact that He is apparent by His Essence bidh-dhat and that every appearance is a reflection of His appearances they are unaware of the world and of whatever S in it, and arc engaged only in the Haqq and His Beautiful Beauty. A narrative says that Allah has some creatures who know nothing of His creating Adam and Ib1is.⁽⁵⁶⁶⁾

The second group are those whom Allah, the Exalted, has made the means of the mercy of His Being. They are the beginning of the series of the dings and the goal of their longings. They are called ahlul jabarut (the Owners Power), and their chief and leader is "the Greatest Spirit". It may be that he angels and the Spirit descend," is a reference to this group of the angels of Allah. Describing him as "the Spirit", though he is an angel, is a hint his greatness, as is in the noble ayah: "On the day when the angels and re Spirit stand arrayed."⁽⁵⁶⁷⁾ From a point of view, the Spirit is called "the highest Pen" qalam-i a'la , as it is said that: "The first that Allah created was e Pen".⁽⁵⁶⁸⁾ According to another point of view, it is called "the First Intellect" aql-i awwal, as it is also said that: "The first that Allah created was the Intellect".⁽⁵⁶⁹⁾ Some others take "The Spirit" to be Gabriel. Some philosophers insider Gabriel to be the last of the Cherubic angels; some call him "The Holy spirit"; and they regard the "Spirit" to be the first of the Cherubic angels. The noble narratives also state that "the Spirit" is greater than Gabriel. The noble .Kafi, quotes Abu Basir, who said: "I asked Abu 'Abdullah, as-Sadiq, (A.S.) out the words of Allah, the Exalted" 'They will ask you concerning the spirit. Say: The Spirit is of the bidding of my Lord'(surah as-Isra': 85). said: '(It is) a creature .khalq greater than Gabriel and Michael. It is with the Messenger of Allah (S.A.), it is with the Imams (A.S.), and is from the heavenly kingdom."⁽⁵⁷⁰⁾ Some narratives say that the Spirit is t of the angels, it is greater than them.⁽⁵⁷¹⁾ Probably "The Spirit" has two meanings in terms of the Qur'an and the editions, as it has its meanings in other terms. A Spirit is of the angels' type, cc it was said to be of "the heavenly kingdom". Another Spirit is that of the holy men auliya , which is not of the angels, but greater than them. Therefore, Spirit in the noble surah of al-Qadr may refer to "the Faithful Spirit" nuzul in or "the Greatest Spirit", because the surah was revealed on "the night of qadr ". In the noble ayah : "They will ask you about the Spirit ", 571/1 the reference may be to the spirit of the human beings, which, in its perfect degrees greater than Gabriel and other angels. It is of "the World of Command" 'alam-i amr, and sometimes combined with His "Will" mash yin,, which is absolute command. Another group of the angels of Allah are those who are in charge of the corporeal beings and of managing them. These are of so many types and uncountable kinds, because for every being, high or low, celestial or terrestrial, there is a heavenly aspect wijhah through which it is connected to the world of the angels and the host junud of Allah, the Exalted, as Allah refers to the heavenly domain of the things in the noble ayah: " Therefore, glory be to Rim in Whose hand is the dominion of all things, and to Him you shall be brought back. '⁽⁵⁷²⁾ The Messenger of Allah (S.A.), concerning the host of the angels, say (as it has been narrated): "The heaven clamored, and it bad the right to do so, as there was no place for a foot without there being an angel bowing or kneeling down."⁽⁵⁷³⁾ Noble narratives speak much of the multitude of the angels and their numerous ranks.⁽⁵⁷⁴⁾

The second point concerns the descent of the angels upon the waliyul amr (the legal guardian). Know that the Greatest Spirit is the greatest creature among the angels of Allah, i.e. it is placed in the first rank of the angels of Allah, and is the greatest and most honourable of all. The immaterial (abstract) angels of Allah, confined to the world of power 'alam-i jabarut , would not forsake their states, as for them ascending and descending, as done by the material bodies, is impossible, because the immaterial (abstract) is innocent of the material requisites. Therefore, their descending will be in heavenly or worldly resemblance tamaththul, whether in the heart, the bosom and the common sense of the guardian wali , or in edifices of the earth, in the ka 'bah, around the grave of the Messenger of Allah (S.A.), or in the Populous House Baytul ma mur . Allah, the Exalted, concerning the descending of "The Faithful Spirit" to Mary (S.A.), says: "... it assumed for her the likeness of a perfect man".⁽⁵⁷⁵⁾ It is also possible for the holy men auliy?2' and the perfect to assume heavenly resemblance and spiritual likeness of sovereignty. Therefore, the ells of Allah have the power and ability to enter the visible and invisible )rids assuming likenesses, and the perfect holy men auliya' have the Power enter the heavenly world malakut and the world of power /jabarut summing spirituality, and to return from the exterior to the interior. To believe this is quite easy for the one who understands the realities of the abstracts, either heavenly and powerly abstracts or the rational souls, which are also straits of the worlds of jabarut and malakut, and who can imagine the stages their existence and appearances, and the correlation nisbat of the outside the inside, and the inside to the outside. One must know that the assumption tamaththul of the "beings of jabarut" and the "beings of malakut" in the heart, bosom and sense of the man being is not possible except after his coming out of the apparel of inanity and being connected with those worlds. Otherwise, as long as the ul is engaged in the mundane preparations and is unaware of those worlds, it impossible for it to witness those scenes or assumptions. Yet, it is sometimes sable that, with a gesture of a holy man, the soul comes out of this world, d, according to its deservedness, it may get a spiritual or formal .suri distending of the unseen world. And sometimes it happens that, due to me stupendous event, the soul is directed away from nature and perceives an ample of the invisible world, such as the episode of that naive man who, on pilgrimage, received an acquaintance from the fire of Hell, as related by 'iceman. The gnostic Shaykh, Muhyiddin, also relates a story like this one.⁽⁵⁷⁶⁾ such stories are due to the souls turning away from the mulk to the malakut. It me times happens that the souls of the perfect holy men auliya' after attachment from the worlds and witnessing the Greatest Spirit or other angels Allah through the power of soul, come to themselves, keeping the power of Ensign the invisible and the visible. In such a case they simultaneously, and all emergences (growths nasha 'at ), witness the truths of the beings of jabarut. It may also happen that the perfect wali, through his personal power LI be able to have the angels descend. And Allah is the Knower! The third point is that since the night of qadr is the night of disclosure mukashafah to the Messenger of Allah (S.A.) and the Imams of guidance (A.S.), all the worldly affairs are uncovered by the unseen malakut to them, and the angels in charge of every affair appear to them in the invisible world and the world of the heart, and all the affairs which are prescribed for the creatures during the year in the high and low 1auis (tablets), appear to them, heavenly writ and covertly existed, in a disclosure. And it is a malakuti exposure mukashafah covering every particle of the world of nature, and no affair of the people's is hidden from the waliyul amr. There is no discrepancy in their knowing, in a single night, the affairs of a whole year, or, in an instance, the entire affairs of the world, or, in a single moment, all the measured assignments muqaddarat of mulk and malakut. Also during the days of the year, all the daily affairs may gradually be disclosed to them, both in general and in details. For example, it is in the had it/i, concerning the revelation of the Qur'an, that it was revealed in general (in the whole) in "The Populous House" Baytul Ma'mur, then it. was revealed to the Messenger of Allah in details within twenty-three years.⁽⁵⁷⁷⁾ And its revelation in "The Populous House" was a revelation to the Messenger of Allah (S.A.), too. in short, sometimes the waliyul amr may become connected to the High Council mala '-i a 'la , the High Pens and the abstract 1auzs, where to him will be exposed all the beings, from the beginning to eternity. Sometimes the connection is with the low laughs, and for a period he uncovers the assignments muqaddarat(at, , and the whole page of the universe is present before his guardian-like presence, and whatsoever affair happens will pass before his eyes. Some narratives refer to the exposition 'ar4 of the acts to wa1'Ul amr. They are exposed every Thursday and Monday to the Messenger of Allah and the Imams of guidance (A.S.). Other narratives say that the acts are exposed every morning, or every morning and night. These exposures are also in general and in details, collectively and distinctly. In this respect there are noble narratives from the infallible and pure Ahlul Bayt, mentioned in the books ol exegeses, such as al-Burhan and a.-safi.⁽⁵⁷⁸⁾ His saving: "Peace it is till the break of the dawn" means that leased night is safe from Satanic evils, calamities and misfortunes till the break f the dawn. Or it is peace upon Allah's friends auliya 'ullah and the worshipping people alil-i (a it. Or the angels of Allah who meet Allah's fiends and the worshipping people greet them on the part of Allah, Exalted, till the break of the dawn.

As it has formerly been said concerning the truth of 'the night of qadr". the degrees of existence and the visible and invisible individuations ta'ayunat -e regarded "night' because the sun of the truth has set in their horizon. consequently, "The night of qadr" is the night in which the Haqq (Allah), the exalted - according to all the affairs and the "Collective Oneness of the Ames and Attributes", which are the truth of the "Greatest Name" - is veiled 'muhtajib . That is the individuation ta'ayunat and the Constitution bunyah of e perfect wall, who was the Messenger of Allah (S.A.) in his life, and then c Imams of guidance, one after another. Therefore, "the dawn" of "the night qadr" is when the first rays of the rising sun of the truth shine from behind e veils hujub of the individuations ta'ayunat . The rise of the sun from the horizon of the individuations is "the dawn" of the Day of Resurrection, too. from the time of the setting and veiling ihtijab of the sun of the truth in the horizon of the individuations of these perfect walis auliya.', till the time of break of the dawn, which is the period of "the night of qadr". that night I of honour is absolutely safe from the Satanic intrusions, and since the sun s as ii had set, blemish less and free from the Satanic intrusion, thus. He s: "Peace it is till the break of the dawn". As to the other nights, they are either completely placeless, such as the nights of the Ummayids and their like. they have not peace in all its concepts, and These are the nights of the Common people.

From the gnostic statements and faithful revelations mukashafat, which, with the help of the great walls (A.S.), dawned upon the luminous hearts of the "people of knowledge" ahl-i ma rifat , it is obvious that if the noble surah of at-Tauhid is related to the Sacred Essence of Allah, the noble surah of al-Qadr is related to the great Ahlul Bayt, as is stated in the narratives concerning the mi'raj. Muhammad ibn Ya'qub, on the authority of Abu Abdullah sadiq (A.S.), concerning the performance of the Messenger of Allah (S.A.) his 'a1at in the heaven, in the hadiths of al-Isra', said: "...Then Allah, the Most High, revealed to him: Read, 0 Muhammad, the lineage nisbat of your Lord, the Blessed and Most High: 'He is Allah, the One. He is Besought by all. He begets not, nor is He begotten. And none is comparable to Him.' This is in the first rak'ah. Then, Allah, the Exalted and Most High, revealed to him: Read: 'All praise is for Allah.' He read it as he did first. Then Allah revealed to him: Read: 'We revealed it' which is your lineage nisbat and your offspring's till the Day of Resurrection."⁽⁵⁷⁹⁾ The noble narratives concerning the merits of the blessed surah of al-Qadr are numerous. Among them is a narrative in the noble al-Kafi, from Imam al-Ba4jr (A.S.) who said: "Whoever reciter 'We revealed it on The Night of Qadr' openly (with a loud voice), he is like the one who unsheathes his swords for the sake of Allah. And whoever reciter it secretly, is as if he rolls in his blood shed in the way of Allah, and Whoever recite it ten times, a thousand of his sins will be forgiven."⁽⁵⁸⁰⁾ In Khawassul Quran, the Messenger of Allah (S.A.) is quoted to have said : " Whoever reciter this surah, he will have the reward of the one who has fasted the month of Ramadan , attaining "The night of qadr ", and he will have the reward of a fighter in the way of Allah."⁽⁵⁸¹⁾ Praise is or Allah, at the beginning and at the end.

Despite the fact that the writer's intention in this thesis was to refrain from referring to those gnostic topics unfamiliar to the common people, and keep only to the hearty disciplines of the salat, yet, I realize now that the pen has exceeded the proper bounds, and particularly in commenting on the noble Surah I have surpassed my own decision. Now I have but to apologize to my )brothers in religion and spiritual friends. At the same time, if they found in this thesis a subject not conforming with their taste, they may not unthoughtfully able it as false, because each knowledge has its people, and each road has its readers. "May Allah have mercy on the person who knows his worth and does lot go beyond his status."⁽⁵⁸²⁾ It is also possible that some neglect the reality of the condition, and, as hey have no information of the Qur'anic knowledge and of the minute details )f the divine laws, they take some matters of this thesis as to be interpretation according to one's opinion. This is sheer mistake and a grave falsity, because: Firstly, these knowledge ma'arif and subtleties la(a 1' are all taken from the noble Qur'an and hadiths, and they are proved through heard oevidences, some of which have been referred to in the discussions, and most of hem. were left out for brevity. Secondly, all, or most of them, agree with the rational or gnostic proofs, and such a thing cannot be interpretation according to one's opinion. Thirdly, most of the subjects which we mentioned, or we relate in paining the noble ayahs, are of the kinds of stating the "evidences of the Incepts" masadiq-i mafahim ; and explaining the evidences and degrees of the Lets has nothing to do with interpretation, let alone its being according 10 tie's opinion. Fourthly, after all stages, we tried with utmost religious precaution - though unnecessarily - to relate any unnecessary subject h wa of being possible and as one of the possibilities. It is clear that the door of possibility is not shut, and it can have no connection to interpretation on one's opinion. Here there are other subjects which we refrain from mentioning, in our attempt to be short.