CHAPTER ONE

On the Takbir before the Ruku'

Apparently, this takbir (saying: Allahu Akbar-Allah is the Greatest) belongs to the ruku' (obeisance genuflection) in order to be prepared for the stage of ruku'. Its relevant discipline is to bring to mind Allah's status of Greatness and Majesty and the Lord's Might and Sovereignty, and considering, at the same time, one's weakness, inability, poverty, humility and servitude. In such a condition, and according to one's knowledge of the Lord's Might and the servant's humility, one will say the takbir of the Haqq (Allah), the Exalted, being above all description. The description tausif which the salik servant makes of the Haqq (Allah), the Exalted, and his glorifying and extolling, should be out of pure obedience, and taking them to be by the permission of the Haqq (Allah), the Exalted, to describe and worship Him. Otherwise he would dare not to vaunt of his describing and glorifying in the presence of the Lord, weak a servant as he is, and, actually, having nothing of his own, for whatsoever he has is from his Great Worshipped. When 'All ibn al Husayn, with such sweet and authoritative a tongue as he had, being the tongue of Allah, says: "How, with this feeble tongue as I have, can I thank you?",⁽⁵⁸³⁾ what a thin gnat can do?"⁽⁵⁸⁴⁾ So. when the salik servant wants to enter the grave stage of ruku', he has 10 prepare himself for that stage, throwing behind, with his own hand, his describing, glorifying, worshipping and conduct suluk. He then has to raise his hands beside his ears, facing his empty palms towards the qiblah, and, empty-handed, with a heart full of fear and hope - fear of failure and deficiency in observing the state of servitude; and assured hope in the Holy state of Allah Who honoured him into such situations, which belong to the bosom friends of' Allah and the perfect lovers - he enters the stage of ruku. Probably, raising the hands in this way denotes leaving the qiyam (standing) position and the stand wuquf in that stage - a sign indicating taking no provision from the stage of qiyam. Takbir denotes glorifying and aggrandizing the descriptions done in the stage of qiyam. As ruku', to the people of knowledge, is the stage of the Unity of Attributes, the takbir of ruku', to them, is aggrandizing this Unity, and raising the hands is a sign of rejecting the attributes of the creatures.

Know that the principal positions of the .sa1at are three. The other acts and deeds are preliminary and preparatory: First; qiyam. Second: ruku'. Third: sujud.

The people of knowledge regard these three positions to be a hint at the three Unities tauhidat. We, in the Secret of the Salat, referred to these stages in terms of the gnostic taste. Now, we explain them in other terms suitable to the common people. So, we say that as the salat is the believer's perceptive mi'raj, and the bringer of the pious people to Allah's proximity, it stands on two bases, the one is the preliminary to the other. The first is abandoning self-conceit and selfishness, as it is the truth and inside of taqwa (piety). The second is seeking Allah and being in quest of the Haqq, as this is the truth of the mi'raj and proximity. Hence, it. is in the noble narratives that: "The salat is the means of proximity for every pious person,"⁽⁵⁸⁵⁾ the same as the Qur'an is a light of guidance, but for the pious: "This is the Book there is no doubt in it. It is a guide for the muttaqin (the pious)."⁽⁵⁸⁶⁾ In short, in these three states: the states of qiyam, ruku', and sujud, the aid two states (bases) take shape gradually. So, in the state of qiyam, elf-conceitedness is forsaken according to the state of Activity fa'iliyat,, and regarding Allah to be the Absolute Factor and Eternal. In the state of ruku', elf-conceitedness is forsaken according to the state of Attributes and Names, ;considering the state of Allah's Attributes and Names. In the sujud, the elf-conceitedness is forsaken altogether, and it is entirely Allah-seeking and )being in quest of the Haqq. All the stages of the saliks are of the affairs shu'un of these three states, as it is quite obvious to the people of insight, the gnostics and the saliks. When the salik along these three states realizes that the secret of these acts is the three Unities, he will have to pay more attention to that state which s nicer and more delicate. Naturally, the danger of the state is greater and it is more slippery. Then, in the state of ruku', the salik claims that in the house of existence dar-i wujud there is no knowledge, power, life nor will except from Allah - a claim so great and a state so delicate, which we are not (qualified) to out forth. We should inwardly turn to the Holy Threshold of Allah, showing application, distress and humility, asking forgiveness for our faults and allures, and, with seeing eyes and witnessing conscience, admitting our shortcomings, that perhaps His Sacred Holiness may show kindness to, and tree for, us, and may He, in the time of necessity, extend a hand of help to us. Dr, Who answers the distressed one when he calls upon him, and moves the evil?⁽⁵⁸⁷⁾

In respect of the mi'raj sa1at of the Messenger of Allah (S.A.) it is stated that after the ruku', The Almighty addressed him, saying: "Look at My Arsh." The Messenger of Allah said: "1 looked at a greatness which astounded my soul and I went in a swoon. I was inspired to say: 'Glory be to my great Lord and praise be to Him' because of the greatness which I saw. As I said that, I came to myself. i continued to say it for seven times till I came to myself as before ⁽⁵⁸⁸⁾.as the hadith goes. Consider, dear, the state of the greatness of the suluk of the "Universal Master" cap-war-i kull and the Guide to the Paths (S.A.), who, while in the state of ruku', which is a looking down at one's inferior, sees the light of the 'Arsh; and, as the light of Arsh to the walls auliya" is the manifestation of the Essence, without mirror, the self individuation is gone, and a mood of swoon and shock takes place. So, the Holy Essence, with eternal care, helped that Dishonourable being, and with affectionate inspiration taught that noble personality how to "glorify", "aggrandize" and "praise" until after seven times - the number of the veils and the number of man's ranks - he came to himself and to wakefulness. This condition prevailed throughout the mi'raj

But as we have no admission into the privacy of intimacy, nor into a lace of Holy State, it is good to use our incapability and humility as a capital )r the attainment to the objective, and as a pretext to reach the goal. We have keep clinging to the skirt of the intended until we get what we desire. Or, at least, if we are not the men for the job, we are to seek guidance from the guides of the road, and find help with the perfect spiritual men, so that a smell f fragrant of knowledge may reach the smelling sense of our souls, and a breeze of the graces may blow into our dead corpses, because Allah, the exalted, is accustomed to being beneficent, and His habit is to be graceful and onerous. It must be noted that ruku' consists of "glorifying", "aggrandizing" magnifying) and "praising" the Lord, Almighty and Most High. Thus. glorifying" is purifying Allah, the Exalted, from description and definition. aggrandizing" and "praising" are refraining from limits of assimilation and egesting Allah from attributes, because "praising" denotes the appearance in ie mirrors of creation, and "aggrandizing" negates limitation. Thus, He is apparent and there is no appearance in the world more apparent than Him. He not clothed in the apparel of the individuations of the creation.

much as His Greatness knows of their secrets."⁽⁵⁸⁹⁾ This noble hadiths contains signs, good tidings, disciplines and actions, as "adorning" with the "light of Allah's Brilliance", being under the le of Allah's Majesty" and wearing the "gown of Allah's chosen ones" are I tidings of attaining to the state of learning the Names: "And He taught m all the names".⁽⁵⁹⁰⁾ Of that state is the taking of the state of attributive halation and the state of wakefulness, because Allah's adorning the servant the state of "the light of His Brilliance" means taking him to the state of is, which is the reality of teaching man. Taking him under the shade and .0w of "Majesty", which is of the Names of Power, and placing him in His court, refer to annihilating the servant of himself. After this state, clothing him he gown of the chosen ones" is survival after annihilation. From this it is zed that the sujud is self-annihilation, as is said by the people of knowledge. The ruku' is first, and it is these states, and the sujud is second, :h is nothing but the state of annihilation in the Essence. It is also realized that the Absolute Proximity, which happens in the i, is not accessible except through the true ruku'. Whoever wants to be fit :he second, must acquire the discipline of the ruku' and its proximity. After stating the delicacies and secrets of the ruku' and sujud, he refers to their hearty disciplines to suit the middle class. These are among the general matters, which we have referred to in the Preliminaries; and some of them belong to ruku'. Now, as most of these things have already been stated, we out further explanations.

Its secret is the return from wuquf (standing) in the multiplicity of names, as it is said: "The perfect monotheism is the negation of ascribing attributes to Him"⁽⁵⁹¹⁾, because after the awakening from the annihilation in the Names fana '-i asma , the salik servant witnesses his failure and shortcoming, since the beginning of Man's sin - which is to be compensated for by his offspring - is the inclination toward the multiplicities of names, which is the inside of the "tree". Having understood the sin of himself, who is Adam's offspring, and the sin of Adam, who is his origin, be would recognize his state of humility and need, and get ready to remove the sin by way of behaving with humility in 'the presence of' Allah's Majesty. He would then stand erect out of this state, and with the takbir after the ruku' he would remove the multiplicities of names, and, empty-handed he would comprehend the state of humility, helplessness and the earthly origin. The important discoed in this respect d out the state's great significance and to have the heart to taste it through complete remembrance, and strive to attend tawajjuh to His Essence, forsaking attending tawajjuh to oneself, even to one's state of humility. Know, dear, that complete remembrance of the Haqq (Allah), and solute turning, with the inside of the heart, to the Holy Essence, will open e heart's internal eye, through which meeting Allah - the pleasure of the eyes of the walis auliya' - takes place: "And those who strive hard for Us, e will most certainly guide them in Our ways."⁽⁵⁹²⁾

According to the people of gnosticism and of heart, this secret is to be forsaking oneself and closing one's eyes against anything except Him; and, with a Jonahian mi'raj - which took place by sinking into the stomach of the fish - one can pay attention to his origin without seeing the veil. And, in putting the head on the dust, there is a hint at seeing the Beauty of the Beautiful in the inner heart of the dust and the origin of the world of nature. Its hearty disciplines are to find one's reality and the original root o one's existence, and to place the brain, which is the center of the sovereignty o the soul and the 'Arsh of the spirit, at the lowest threshold of the State ol Holiness, and to consider the world of dust as the threshold of the Master the Kings. Thus, the secret of the position of the sujud is to give up oneself, and th discipline of putting the head on the dust is to debase one's most high position regarding it to be lower than the dust. Should there be in the heart a cause fo: these claims, in respect of the states of the a1at, which arc a reference to them they are, to the people of knowledge, hypocrisy. And, as this state is the most dangerous one, the salik to Allah will have to cling to the skirt of the care of Allah, the Most High, by means of his personal disposition and inmost nature, humbly and sterilely asking forgiveness for the shortcomings. But this is a dangerous state which is out of the obligations of people like us. As we have explained in The Secret of the salat these states in details, we refrain from repeating them in this thesis, satisfying ourselves with relating the hadith narrated in Misbahush-Shari'ah concerning the relevant discipline.

It is stated in Misbahush-Shariah that Imam a-S?diq (A.S.) said: "By Allah he will not be a loser the one who performs the sujud as it really should be, even if for a single time in his life. No one will be successful if he takes to privacy with his Lord, in a similar position, resembling the deceiver of himself, unaware of, and neglecting, what Allah has arranged for the sajidin (the prostrate worshippers) of immediate intimacy and adjourned comfort. The one who is good at approaching (Allah) in the sujud, will never be far from Him, whereas the one who observes not the discipline of, and loses the respect for, the sujud, can never be near Him by longing for other than Him in his sujud.

So, let yours be the sujud of a submissive and humble to Allah, the Exalted, knowing that he has been created from the dust which is trodden Upon by the creatures, and that He has made you of a mutfah (semen) which is regarded filthy by everybody, and was brought into existence the Light not existed before . The concept of the sujud has been made by Allah, the Exalted, a cause for getting near Him with the heart, the inside and the Spirit. So, whoever nears Him turns away from other than him. Do you not realize that, in the external form, the position of the sujud is not complete except by hiding oneself from everything, and turning away from all things visible to the eyes? Similar is the question of the internal position. Whoever his heart is attracted, during the sal?t, to other than Allah, the Exalted, he will be near to that which attracted him, and far from the reality of that which Allah wanted him to be in his salat. Allah, the Exalted, says: 'Allah has not made for any man two hearts within him,'⁽⁵⁹³⁾ and the Messenger of Allah (A.S.) said that Allah, the Exalted, told him: 'Whenever I look into the heart of a servant and find in it his love to be sincere in obeying Me for My sake and for obtaining My pleasure, I undertake setting him aright and managing his affairs. But whoever is indulged in other than Me, he is among those who mock themselves, and his name is registered in the Book of the Losers."⁽⁵⁹⁴⁾

This noble hadiths explains both the secrets and the disciplines, and, by contemplation, it opens ways of knowledge in the face of the salik to Allah, and destroys the obstinacy and the denial of the deniers, and supports and praises the godly men of knowledge and the people of certainty, and attracts attention to the reality of privacy and intimacy with Allah, and forsaking other than Allah, the Exalted.

It is stated in a narrative that when the ayah: "Therefore, glorify the Name of your Lord, the Great,"⁽⁵⁹⁵⁾ was revealed, the Messenger of Allah (S.A.) said :" Reciter this in your ruku," and when the ayah : " Glorify the Name of your Lord, the Most High"⁽⁵⁹⁶⁾ was revealed, he said: "Reciter this in your sujud."⁽⁵⁹⁷⁾ It is in the noble hadiths of al-Kafi that "... the first and foremost name He assumed for Himself was al- kafi (the High) al-'Azim (the Great)⁽⁵⁹⁸⁾. It may be that "al- Aliy" was the first of the names of Essence, and "a1-'Aim" was the first of the names of Attributes. Know that the sujud, like the other positions of the .a1it has its form, mood, recitation dhikr and secret. These matters, in relation to the Perfect Ones, are as have formerly been related in this thesis. but to go into the details is not suitable. For the middle class the form is showing humbleness and forsaking arrogance and self conceit. Pressing the nose onto dust which is of the confirmed supererogation's, or even neglecting it is contrary to precaution - is a token of showing complete submission, humility and modesty. It also means being aware of one's origin and creation. And putting the tops of the exposed Organs -which are the places of sensation and of the appearance of mobility md power, being the very seven or eight organs-on the dust of humility and helplessness, is a sign of complete surrender, of offering one's entire powers, md getting out of Adam's sin. By strengthening the remembrance of these concepts in the heart, it becomes affected by them and it acquires a mood of running away from oneself md from self-conceit. This mood results in a mood of pleasure, which, by its urn, results in a mood of complete privacy and there will be full love. As regards the recitation dhikr during the sajdah, it is based on tasbih, which is glorifying (purifying) Allah from description and observance of the command amr, or it is purifying (glorifying) Him from multiplicity of names, r purifying (glorifying) Him from unification tauhid ,which is "taf ii", moving from multiplicity to unity, and it is not free from the blemish of multiplying takthir and associating with Allah tashrik, as describing Him with the essential highness and praising Him are also not free from the blemishes of :these concepts. "A1-1.4liy" is of the Names of Essence, and, according to the narrative of l-Kafi, it is the first name adopted by Allah for Himself. That is, the first infestation of the Essence is for Himself. When the salik, in this state, becomes annihilated out of himself and forsakes the world and what is in it, he will have the honour of this Essential manifestation. Know that as the ruku' is first and the sujud is second, glorification and raising in them differ a great deal. Also Rabb is different in those two states, because Rabb as the people of knowledge say, is of the Names of Essence, Attributes and Acts in three aspects. Therefore, Rabb in a1-hamdu lillahi Rabbil alamin may be of the Names of Act in accordance with the state of standing, which is the state of the Unity of Acts. In the ruku' it is of the Names of tributes in accordance with the fact that the rub' is the state of the Unity of .tributes. In the sujud it is of the Names of Essence in accordance with the Ct that sujud is the state of the Unity of Essence. The "glorifying" and raising" in each one of these states are related to that particular state.⁽⁵⁹⁹⁾

The sajdah, as is described in the salat of the mi'raj, is a swoon and a shock resulting from witnessing the lights of the Greatness of Allah. When the servant feels being ruptured and he undergoes a fit tat of annihilation mahw and shock sa'q , he will be covered by the eternal care and will receive inspiration from the Unseen ghaib. The recitation dhikr in the sujud and repeating it are for one to come to himself and turn to the state of wakefulness sahw. So, when one comes to himself, the fire of longing for seeing the light of Allah kindles in his heart, and he raises his head from the sujud. When be finds in himself residues of his selfishness, he leaves them by a sign with his hand. Thus, the light of Majesty is manifested to him once again and the remnants of selfishness are burnt off, and he becomes annihilated rant from the annihilation fana', and, while repeating Allahu Akbar, a state of complete and absolute annihilation and full real swooning sa'q happen to him. So, the unseen help, by the inspiration 0 the recitations, makes him firm in his state, and he will attain to a state 0 sobriety sahw , which is the sobriety of the state of guardianship wilayat an is free from any sort of veiling and creational khalqi blemish. The states tashahhud and sallm, which are of the status of multiplicity, also happen during this sobriety after annihilation mahw. Up to this point, all the cir1e of man's journey has been full and complete.

Know that testifying to the Oneness (of Allah) and to Prophethood ii the ad/man and iqamah - which belong to the .sa1at and prepare the situation t enter in it - and in the tashahhud - which is going out of annihilation fana to subsistence baqa', and out of unity wahdat to multiplicity kathrat, at t end of the salat - remind the salik servant of the fact that the reality of t salat is the taking place of the real Unity tauhid, and that testifying to t Oneness (of Allah) is of the inclusive states, which accompany the salik fro the beginning of the salat till its end. There is also, in it, the secret of t "First ness" and "Last ness" of Allah, the Glorified and Most High. Further there is the great secret of the salik's journey from Allah to Allah: " ... as IH created you at first, so shall you return."⁽⁶⁰⁰⁾ Therefore, the salik must pay attention to this object at all stat bringing the truth of Allah's Oneness and Divinity to his heart, making it divine ascending journey so that his testimonies may become real and purify from hypocrisy and polytheism. In castling to the Prophethood there may be a hint at the fact that support of the Absolute Guardian and the Seal of the Prophets in this mi raj-i suluk is of the inclusive states, to which the salik must pay attention in all states, so that the secret of the appearance of the "firestones" and last ness", which are of the states of guardianship, becomes clear to the my people.

It must be noted that there is a difference between the shahadah lying) at the beginning of the sa1at and the testifying in the tashahhud, because the former is a testimony before the suluk, a devotional ta'abbudi or a emulative ta'aqquli testimony, whereas the latter is after the return, and it her a realization tahaqquq i or a confirmative tamakkun testimony. So the testimony in the tashahhud is of great danger, because it includes the of realization tahaqquq and confirmation tamakkun , and of returning multiplicity unveiled. And as this lofty state is not possible for persons like or is it expected under our present condition, behaving ourselves in the oonce of the Greater is to remember our shortcomings, humility, failure, inability and distress, and, in a state of shamefulness, we are to face the Holy hold and plead: O Allah! of the states of the holy men auliya', the steps madarij of hosen asfiya', the perfection of the sincere and the suluk of the saliks we no share but a few - words, instead of striving for high states we are satisfied with idle talk, of which there avails nothing in quality nor in quality. 0 Lord! loving this world and its attractions bars us from the Holy t and the presence of your intimacy, unless you, with your hidden kindness us, the helpless, so as to make up for what has passed, that we may rise our sleep of negligence and find our way to Your Holy Presence.

It is stated in Misbahush-shariah that Imam as-Sadiq (A.S.) said: "The tashahhud is extolment of Allah, the Most High. So, be His servant I your inside and submit to Him in your act, as you are His servant I (your) saying and claim. Join the truthfulness of your tongue to th purity of the truthfulness of your inside, as- He has created you servant and ordered you to worship Him with your heart, tongue an organs, and to carry out your servitude by His being your Lord believing that He has in His grip all the creatures; so, they take n breath nor a glance except by His power and will, and they ai incapable of performing the least act in His Domain except by Iii permission and will. Allah, Almighty and Glorious, says: 'And you Lord creates what He wills and chooses. They have not the choice' Glorified is Allah and Exalted above all that they assimilate (will Him)'.⁽⁶⁰¹⁾ So, be a thankful servant by act, as you are a remember servant by word and claim. Join the truthfulness of your tongue to ti purity of the truthfulness of your inside, for He has created you. wile High above being a volition and will to anybody except with His 0'wn w volition and will. So, use servitude to be contented with his gerent, and use worship to perform His commands. He has ordered to send blessing upon his Prophet (S.A.). So, join blessing Him to sing him, and obeying Him to obeying him and testifying him to testifying him. Take care not to miss the blessings of admitting his entity, in which case you will be deprived from the benefit of his sings, as He ordered him to ask forgiveness for you and intercede you, if you performed your duty concerning the obligatory and the )hidden acts, the laws and good manners, knowing his great position i Allah, Almighty, Most High."⁽⁶⁰²⁾ There are, in this noble hadiths, hints at the cordial disciplines of ;hipping and their truths and secrets, as he says that the "tashahhud" is sing Allah, Almighty and Moat High. Formerly, however, we have said that worshipping in general are praising Allah, either by a Name or Names, by of the manifestations or by the origin of the Ipseity as/-i huwiyat. At the head of the disciplines he refers to the fact that: since you inertly show servitude and claim to be a worshipper, in your secret you are to be serving so that the secret cordial servitude may spread to the acts of organs, and that the word and act be the plan of the secret and the inside, the truth of servitude may spread through all the organs, internal and external, and each of the organs, may have a share of the tauhid. The tongue of praise of Allah conveys the praising to the heart, and the sincere and toothiest heart conveys the tau1d and sincerity to the tongue. He seeks Is hip inside the truth of servitude, forsaking egotism and conveying Allah's divinity to the heart. He knows that the control of the servants is in the hands Allah, the Exalted, that they have no power to breathe and to see except ugh the power and will of Allah, the Exalted, and that they are unable to anything in the domain of Allah, however slight, except with the permission will of His Holy Essence, as He has said: "And your Lord creates what wills and chooses. They have not the choice. Glorified is Allah and Exalted above all that they associate (with Him)"(68. On conveying thick grace latifah to the heart, your thanking Allah will be implemented and it will spread through your organs and acts. And, as the tongue and the heart should, in servitude, be coordinating, the truthfulness of the tongue and the purity of the secret of the heart should, in this unity of acts, be joined together, because Allah, Almighty and Most High, is the Creator and there is no effective factor but He, and all wills and volitions are shadows of His prior eternal will and volition.

After observing the disciplines of testifying to the Oneness and Divinity of Allah, one turns to the holy state of the absolute servant, Last of the Prophets, paying attention to the priority of the state of "servitude" to the state of "prophethood", since the state of servitude is the preliminary to all the states of the saliks, and the prophethood is a branch of servitude. As the Final Messenger is a true servant annihilated in the Haqq (Allah), to obey him is to obey Allah, and testifying to his prophethood is connected to testifying to Allah's Oneness. The salik servant should take care not to fall short of obeying the Messenger, as it is obeying Allah, 'lest he may be deprived from the blessings of worshipping, which is attainment to the Holy Court, with the help of the Absolute Guardian. And let him know that there will be no admission to the Holy Court and the place of intimacy without the help of the Patron, the Messenger of Allah (S.A.).

Know that when the salik comes out of the state of sujud, whose secret is "annihilation", and comes to himself, and into a state of wakefulness and attentiveness, returning from the state of being absent from the world to the state of being present, he offers his salam (peace) to the beings - the salam of the one who has come back from a journey, from an occultation's. So, as he returns he sends peace upon the noble Prophet, because after returning from unity wahdat to multiplicity kathrat, the first manifestation will be that of the truth of guardianship: "We are the first preceding ones".⁽⁶⁰³⁾ Thereafter, he will pay attention to the essences salat of other beings, distinctly and collectively. The one who has not kept away, in the salat, from the creatures khalq and has not become a traveler to Allah, to him the Salam has no meaning and is nothing but a chattering of the tongue. So, the cordial discipline of the salam depends on the discipline of the salat as a whole. if in this sa1at , which is the truth of the miraj, there was no ascension, and he did not come out of the house of the soul, he would actually have no sal?m. Furthermore, if in this journey there was safety from the intrusions of Satan and the evil-commanding soul, and, if the heart had no ailment during this real mi'raj, his salam, would e truth if nor, he would have no salam. Yes, the salam upon the Prophet S.A.) is, therefore, a salam with truthfulness, because, in this ascending journey, in this travel to Allah, in both ascending and descending, he enjoys peace, and, along his journey, he is free from the conducts tasarrufat of other than the Haqq (Allah), to which we have referred in our commentary on the surah of al-Qadr.

It is stated in Misbahush-Shari ah that Imam as-Sadiq (AS.) said: " The meaning of the salam at the end of each salat is 'security', that is, whoever obeys the command of Allah and the tradition of His Prophet (S.A.), with a submissive heart, will be secured from the trials of this world and exempted from the tortures of the Hereafter. 'Salam' is one o the names of Allah, the Exalted. He trusted it to His creatures so that they may use its concept in their transactions, trusts and annexations, evidencing reciprocal companionship among themselves and th correctness of their association . If you wish to use the salam in it proper place and according to its meaning, you must fear Allah, an your religion, heart and mind should be secured on your part. So, d not make them filthy by the darkness of sinning, and do not cause you protectors (angels) to be vexed, tired and disgusted with you maltreating them. Both your friend and, your enemy should be securest from you, as the one whose close friends are not secured from him, th strangers are certainly more expected not to be so. And whoever doe5 not put the salam in those proper places, his will be no salam and n taslim, and his salam will be a false one, even if he shows it off before the people.⁽⁶⁰⁴⁾ Being secured from the trials of this world means to he secured from satanic intrusions, because obeying the commands of Allah secures one against intrusion of Satan: "Surely prayer forbids indecency and dishonor."⁽⁶⁰⁵⁾

Then, he refers to one of the secrets of the "salam" and says: "salam" is of the Names of Allah. He trusted it to His creatures. "This is a hint at the earache of beings from the Divine Names. The salik servant should declare divine grace, which has been trusted in the inside of his essence and ire, and use it in all of his dealings, associations, trusts and relationships, spread it throughout his inside and outside domains. He should use it in dealings with Allah and His religion so as not to betray the divine trust. s, he is to spread the truth of "salam" in all his worldly and heavenly powers as well as in his customs, beliefs, morals and actions, so that he may be secured from all intrusions. The way to this security is, thus, said to be taqwa. It should be realized taqwa is of many degrees and stages: The external taqwa: It means protecting the outside against the pollution the darkness of formal sinning. This is the taqwa of the common people. The internal taqwa: This means protecting the inside and pirating it extravagance and shortcoming and exceeding the limit of moderateness in morality and spiritual instincts. This is the taqwa of the elite. The taqwa of the mind: It is protecting and purifying the mind from g spent on the non-divine sciences. The divine sciences are those which with the divine laws and religion. Other natural sciences and the like :h are required for knowing the manifestations of Allah, are also divine. if they are not for that, they are not divine, even if they are discussions it the Beginning and the Resurrection. This is the taqwa of "the choice of elite" akhass-i khawass The 11qw of the heart: It is protecting the heart against seeing or .missing other than Allah. This is the taqwa of the wa1s auliya. The noble hadith in which Allah, the Exalted, says: "I am the co-sitter to the one who sits with Me,"⁽⁶⁰⁶⁾ refers to this hearty privacy, which is the best privacy, and the other ones are preliminaries to this one.

So, the one who acquires all these degrees of taqwa, his religion, intellect, spirits heart and all his internal and external powers will remain sound and safe, and the angels in charge of protecting him will not be vexed, tired or disgusted with him. The dealings and the company of such a person with both the friend and the enemy, will be done in peace, or, actually, enmity will be uprooted from his heart, no matter how much his enemies are hostile to him. But the one who has not acquired all the degrees of taqwa, would proportionally be deprived from the emanation of salam, and would be nearer to the horizon of hypocrisy, from which we take refuge with Allah. With peace! was-salam.

There are four rukns (pillars) in the Tasbihat: The first rukn concerns the tasbih (glorification), which is purifying Allah from descriptions by tahmid (saying: al-hamdu lillah = praise is for Allah) and tahlil (saying : la ilaha illAllah there is no god but Allah), which is of the inclusive states. The salik servant should, in all his worshipping, pay attention to that, and prevent his heart from the claim of describing and seeking a eulogy on the Haqq (Allah). He should not think that a servant is able to offer the due servitude to Allah, let alone paying the due homage to the Lord, which is not hoped for even by the perfect walls auliya', and from reaching which the hands of the great ones of the people of knowledge are short: No one can net the phoenix, so undo the net, Since there can be nothing but wind in it,⁽⁶⁰⁷⁾ That is why it has been said that the perfect knowledge of the people of knowledge is their knowing their own inability.⁽⁶⁰⁸⁾ Yes, it is because of the vast mercy of Allah, the Exalted, which covers us, the weak servants, that He vests us, the helpless, with serving Him and flits us to enter into such a holy and pure state which bent the backs of i the Cherubim to get near it. This is of the greatest favours and graces of Holy Essence, The Provider, that bestowed upon His servants. The people knowledge , the perfect walls auliya ' and the godly men value it in portion to their personal knowledge. We - the veiled, left short of all states, the deprived and kept at a distance from any perfection and knowledge - are completely unaware of that, and regard the divine commands, h are, in fact, the highest, big unlimited blessings, as imposition and duty, 'forming them lazily and with boredom, and that is why we are completely rived and veiled from its luminosity.

It must he realized that as taimi4 and tahlil include Unity of Acts, in ;h there is the blemish of limiting and decreasing, or even the blemish of inflation and mixing, the salik servant, to be prepared for entering into it, to enter first into the strong fortress of glorification and purification, telling his inner heart that Allah, Great and Most High, is innocent of all creational khalqiyah individuations ta'ayunat and of the apparels of duplicities, so that the entering into praising Him can be free from the blemish of multiplication. The second rukn is tahmid, which is the state of Unity of Acts, suitable 71)/am and recitation. In this respect, these glorifications in the last rak'ats the place of the surah of al-Hamd, as the musalli is free to reciter the surah al-Hamd (the Opening) instead. The Unity of Acts - as has already been explained in "al-Hamd" - is to be used to exclusively assign praising to Allah, politely cutting short the hand of the servant from praising. We should convey: "He is the First and the Last and the Outward and the inward"⁽⁶⁰⁹⁾ to the ears of the heart, and let: "And you threw not when you but Allah threw"⁽⁶¹⁰⁾ reach the taste of our spirit, treading upon selfishness and self-conceit by the foot of behaviour suluk, in order to take over selves to the state of tahmid , and out of the burden of being indebted to creatures. The third rukn is the tahlil, which is of many states: One is the state of negating the divinity of act, that is" "There is effecter in the (world of) existence but Allah", which is a confirmation confining the tahmid (to Allah) as its cause and factor, because the stages the possible beings are the shadow of the Real Existence of Allah, Almighty and mere connection. No one of them, in any way, is independent self-sustaining. Thus, effecting existence can never be ascribed to them, sin effectiveness requires independence in bringing into existence, and being independently effective in bringing into existence necessitates being independent in existing. According to the terms of the people of (gnostic) taste the reality of the shadow-beings is the appearance of the Power of the Haqq (Allah) in the mirrors of creation. The meaning of Ia ilaha illAllah (There is god but Allah) is witnessing the Haqq's (Allah's) effectiveness and power up the creatures, and negating the individuations ta'ayyunat of creation , a annihilating the state of their activity 'lliya1 and their effect in the I-la (Allah).

The other is the negation of any worshipped other than Allah , and la ilaha illAllah means: There is no worshipped except Allah. Therefore, the state of tahlil is the result of the state of tahmid, as when the tahmid is exclusive confined to the Holy Essence of Allah, servitude places its burden in that Holy state, and all the servitudes, which people do to one another for the purpose c being praised, become negated. So, it is as if the salik says that since all praise are exclusively for Allah, servitude must also be exclusively for Allah, Who is h he the worshipped, and all the idols are to be broken to pieces. There are other states for tahlil, which do not suit this situation. The fourth rukn is the takbir, which also means that Allah is greater than any description. The servant, by commencing the tahmid and the tahlil, denies the description of Allah, and, having finished that, he again denies describing Allah, and glorifies Him, accompanying his iah,n14 and tali/il with humbleness and confession of shortcomings. Probably the takbir, in this instance, is a takbir of tahmid and tahlili . as they contain the blemish of multiplicity, as has already been said. Probably in tasbih there is tanzih (purification) of takbir and in the 'takbir there can be takbir of tanzih, where the servant's claims turn to be omplete1y invalid, and he becomes in command of the Unity of Acts, and the state of obeying Allah becomes a habit in his heart, getting out of changing colours into a state of stability.

The salik servant, in these noble recitations, which are the spirit of knowledge, should create in his heart a mood of devotion, supplication, dedication and humility, and by continual repetition give to his inner heart the form of remembrance, fixing the truth of remembrance into his heart such That the heart would be clothed with the clothes of remembrance, taking off Is own wear, which is the wear of remoteness bud (from Allah). Then , the heart becomes divine, truthful, in which will be fulfilled the reality and spirit of: 'Surely Allah has bought from the believers their lives.⁽⁶¹¹⁾

Know that the Qunut (supplication in the .sa1at with the hands raise one of the recommended supererogation's which is not becoming to neglect, to perform it is of precaution, such that some companions say that i obligatory. Some narratives also confirm that, although from the juristic p of view it is not obligatory, as is common among the great scholars. I performed as is particularly common among the Imam's imamyah (may Al be pleased with them), i.e., by raising the hands near to the face, with the pal open towards the sky and reciting common or uncommon invocations. Ii allowed to reciter them in any language, Arabic or non-Arabic, though Arabic is better and is according to precaution. The jurisprudents say that the best du a'' (invocation) in this respect du'a' ul faraj⁽⁶¹²⁾, though its preference has not been proved to the writer by authentic juries tic evidence. Yet, the contents of the du a ' confirm preference, because it includes tahlil, tasbih and tahmid, which are the spiral tauhid as has been explained. It also includes the great Names of Allah, s as: Allah, al-Halim, al-Karim, al- 'Aliy, al-'Azim, and ar-Rabb, besides the dl (the wordings to be recited) in the ruku' and the sujud, and the Names of Essence, Attributes and Acts, as well as the stages of the manifestations of Allah, Almighty and Most High, and sending salam to the Messengers though to neglect this is of the acts of precaution, but upon a stronger opinion it is allowed. It also includes sending blessings upon the Prophet and his offspring (AS.). It seems that this noble du 'a', short as it is, covers all the salat's duties of remembrance. Its merit can also be confirmed through the sayings of the jurisprudents (may Allah be pleased with them) or through 'Tolerating the Proofs of the Traditions"⁽⁶¹³⁾although the writer has a second thought on that - or by means of discovering a creditable evidence - which has not occurred to us - regarded by the late-corners to be the basis of unanimity ijma'. Among the noble du'a's of great merit, which includes the polite manners of supplication to Allah, and also numerates the full divine gifts, and completely suits the state of qunut, which is a state of supplication and devotion to Allah, and some great men (may Allah have mercy upon them) almost continually practised it, is the du 'a' called "ya man azharaljamil" (0, the One Who manifested the Beautiful), which is of the treasures of the Arsh and Allah's gift to His Messenger. Each one of its paragraphs has so much merits and rewards, as is stated in at-Tauhid by Shaykh a-Saduq (may Allah have mercy upon him).⁽⁶¹⁴⁾

The best manner of servitude is that, in the state of qunut - which is a state of supplication and devotion to Allah in the salat, all of which is showing servitude and praising, and in this state the Holy Essence of Allah, the Exalted and Most High, specially opens the door of supplication and invocation to the servant and honors him so - the salik servant must also observe the discipline of the Holy State of Lordship, and take care that his du'a's should include glorifying and purifying Allah, the Exalted, and His remembrance. He should ask Allah, in this noble state, to give him those things that are of the kind of divine knowledge ma'arif, and to open for him the door of supplication, intimacy, privacy and devotion to Him. He should avoid demanding this world, mean animal matters and selfish desires, so that he in not feel ashamed in the presence of the pure Once, and not debase himself the gathering of pious ones. O dear, qunut is giving up other than Allah, and completely Luring towards the Lord's Might. and extending the empty hand of demand to t Absolute Self-Sufficient. During such a state of devotion, to talk of t stomach, private parts and mundane matters is but a shortcoming and a loss Darling, now that you are far away from your homeland, blocked for neighbouring the free people and captured in this dark house full of trouble and perils, do not spin around yourself, like a silkworm. O dear, Allah, the Beneficent, has fermented your disposition with t light of knowledge and the fire of love, and supported you with the lights 1 the prophets, and the lovers like the walis auliya' , so, do not extinguish t fire with the dust and ashes of this low world, and do not tarnish and dar that light with a world which is a place of exile. Probably if you pay attention the original home, and demand from Allah to be devoted to Him, and exp before Him your deprivation and dislike of separation, in a painful tone out your heart, displaying the conditions of your helplessness, weakness distress, an invisible assistance will reach you and an inside hand of help will extended to you, and your shortcomings will be done away with, as it is habit to be charitable, and it is His custom to be benefactor. If you reciter parts of the Sha'baniyah supplication by the Imam of I Pious and the Commander of the Believers and his infallible offspring, who the Imams of the people of knowledge and truths, in your qunut, especially 1 part in which he says: "0 Allah, grant me to be completely devoted You," ⁽⁶¹⁵⁾ etc., but in a state of necessity idtirar , devotion and imploration, i with a dead heart. like the writer's, it will be quite becoming of the conduction In short, the state of the qunut, according to the writer's opinion, is 1 the state of the sujud. The former is turning towards the humility of servitor and the remembrance of the state of the Lord's Might, and the latter turning towards the Lord's Might and the remembrance of inability and humility of servitude. This is in proportion to the state of the middle class. But according to the state of the perfect ones, since the sujud is the state of the servant's annihilation, and neglecting the other ghair and otherness, the qunut is the stale of the exclusive devotion to Allah, and giving up depending on the other, which is the spirit of the state of "trust in Allah" tawakkul. In short, as qiyam is the slate of the Unity of Acts, which is confirmed in the second rak'at, he displays in the qunut its result, and extends his begging bowl before Allah, and completely parts with, and runs away from, all creatures.

It is one of the confirmed mustahabs (supererogatory), and to ne it is abominable. It is most recommended after the .salats of the morning an the afternoon. The after-the-salat invocations are so many, including the three takbirs. The great religious men take care to raise their hands in the takbirs, the opening takbirs, to near their ears, with their palms open and facing qiblah. To prove this is difficult, although some narratives refer to raising hands three times. Probably raising the hands, saying the takbir three times then reciting the du 'a' which starts with : la ilaha illAllah, wahdahu wahdah…⁽⁶¹⁶⁾. (there is no god but Allah, alone, alone!) etc., will be enough. If raising hands in the way the great men do is a supererogatory act, it confirms the s secrets which have already been stated, and maybe it refers to rejecting ti .salat and worshipping lest they may admit conceit and self-admiration i their hearts. The three takbirs may be a reference to magnification(s) takbir showing the shortcomings of the Three Unities which keep the spirit of whole so/at. So, the hearty discipline of these takbirs is to reject, with each raising of the hands, one of the three unities, and magnify and glorify Allah, Almighty and Most High, from his describing and unifications, displaying his inability, humility, failure and shortcomings before the Holy Presence of Allah, Almighty and Most High. In the Cirrus- Salat thesis we related, in a nice Latif way, the spiritual secrets of these takbirs and raising the hands. It was of the graces of Allah, the Exalted, bestowed upon this helpless person. For Him are the thanks and praise. Of the other noble after-the-sa1tt du'a's are the Tasbihat of the Pure 'Siddiqah (Fatimah) (A.S.), the daughter of the Prophet (S.A.), which was taught to her by the Messenger of Allah (S.A.). It is the best of the after-the-salat du 'a's. It is in the hadiths that had there been a better one , the Messenger of Allah (S.A.) would have taught it to Fatimah (A.S.)⁽⁶¹⁷⁾. Imam as-sadiq (A.S.) is quoted to have said that these tasbihs every day after every salat are more loved by me than a thousand rak'ats of the salat every day.⁽⁶¹⁸⁾ It is known among the companions that these tasbihs are arranged as follows: takbir thirty-four times, tahmid thirty-three times and tasbih thirty-three times. it is most probable that this arrangement is the best, not positively imposed. One is free to change the successions of, say, the tahmid and the tasbih , or replace the takbir by the tasbih. But the best, and according to precaution, is the said known arrangement.

The relevant cordial disciplines are the same as have been stated concerning "the Four Tasb1zs". Furthermore, as these noble recitations are for after the salat, and as their tasbih is magnification takbir and glorification tanzih showing failure in due servitude, and magnification takbir' and glorification tanzih showing incapability in servitude before His Holy Presence, and magnification takbir and glorification tanzih showing the shortcomings of knowledge ma'rufi (in knowing Him), which is the objective ol servitude, the salik servant should, in the after-the-salat invocation, think about his shortcomings, his incomplete worship and his negligence's during the state of presence, which are regarded to be sins in the school of love and affection. He is to think about his being deprived of his share of the Presence of Allah, the Exalted, so that he may, in the after-thc-ala1 recital which open a new door leading to the mercy of Allah, the Blessed and compensate as much as possible, conveying those noble recitations to his and revive it with them, in which case his end may he sealed with goodie: happiness. In the tamed (praising) of the tasbihs of the (pure) Siddiqah ( he is to prove this praising, too, which is the performance of servitude, f Divine Ipseity huwiyat-i ilah iyah, taking it to be a support, a power success from that Holy Essence. He is to convey the truths of these matt the inside of his heart, letting it taste the secret of these graces, so th heart may be enlivened with the remembrance of Allah, and get eternal 1' it. As the morning is the beginning of being engaged in the multiplicity entering the world, where man is faced with the danger of getting busy wit creatures and neglecting Allah, the conscious salik, in this crucial situate entering this dark house, has to turn to Allah, the Exalted, and be devote Him. And as he finds himself not so dignified in the Holy Presence, he resort to the guardians of the affairs, the guards of the times, the intercede of ins and jinn, i.e., the Seal of the Messengers (S.A.) and the infallible hi (A.S.), asking those honourable personalities to be his intermediates to, an intercessors with, Allah. Now each day has its guard and sheltered: for Sat'. it is the blessed being of the Messenger of Allah (S.A.), for Sunday it is Ar Mu'minin, 'Au (A.S.), for Monday arc the two magnificent Imams grandsons of the Messenger of Allah (S.A.) , al-Hasan and al-Hussein (A.S.) ,for Tuesday Imams as-Sajjad, al-Baqir and a-Sadiq (A.S.), Wednesday Imams a1-kim, ar-Rida, at-Taqi and an-Naqi (A.S.) , for Thu Imam al-'Askari (A.S.), and for Friday waliyul amr (may Allah hasten his I advent) The 12th imam (A.S.) ⁽⁶¹⁹⁾ So, it is suitable for one, in after- the-. salat recitations in the morning, and for the purpose of entrain deadly dark sea, the awful Satanic trap-place. to resort to the guards ol day. and, with their intercession - as they arc close to the Holy Court an the I vaunts con hedonism at door of intimacy -_ ask Allah, the Exalted, to remove the evils ol Satan and the evils Unhanding soul, and to have those ones a- his intermediates or the completion and satanic tit incomplete worshipping and unworthy rites.

Naturally. if Allah, Highly, Exalted, made Muhammad (S.A.) and his on spring our means 01 guidance, and through their blessings He saved the ummah from ignorance and straying. He would, because of their intercession, ,mend our inability and complete our shortcomings, and accept our unworthy obedience's and worshipping, "the is the Lord ol' grace and bounty." Other reported after-the-./at du'a's are stated in the relevant hooks of invocations. Everybody may select those which '-.unit him best in order to bring this honourable journey to its good and happy destination.

It was appropriate to finish this thesis by stating the salat v moral at' stacks, such as imposture, conceitedness and the like, but as 1 have given some explanations in the hook The Forty Hadiths ⁽⁶²⁰⁾ about some ,hadith connected to this subject. and also, now, being too much busy, and owing to Distraction of mind, I apologize for not being able to fifer this service. So, I :and these papers h' admitting navigability and shortcomings, and ask Forgiveness from the people of pure insight for my mistakes, and request their good du 'i and edifies attention. 0 Allah. you Who have clothed Us, Your weak servants, with the dress f existence. through Your grace and favour and pure mere and generosity. prior to any service and worship on our part, and without needing our .worshipping and servitude. 'you ha e bestowed upon us diverse kinds of ;spiritual and corporeal favours, and different sorts of internal and external :mercies, although our non-existence causes no power and .locknut. nor our existence adds anything to Your greatness and prestige. Now hat the headspring of Your beneficence gushed forth, and the sun of Your Beautiful Beauty effulged, drowning us in the seas of mere and illuminating i with if Your Beauty , make up for our shortcomings, sins and failing with the light of internal success and Your secret help and guidance, at relieve our fully attached hearts from mundane attachments, and make the cling to Your Holy Might. 0 Allah, our unworthy worshipping expands nothing of Your domain Our disobedience decreases nothing of Your kingdom, and torturing al punishing the sinners benefit You not a bit, and forgiving the fallen and having mercy upon them lessen nothing of Your power. The immutable essences the sinners implore for mercy, and the dispositions of the imperfect ask I perfection. You Yourself treat us with Your comprehensive kindness a: disregard our inefficiency. "0 Allah, if I am unworthy to receive Your mercy, You are worthy of granting me of Your vast favour, 0 Allah, You have covered for me this world sins which I need more to be covered in the Hereafter. Allah, grant me to be completely devoted to You, and light our hearts eyes with the light of witnessing You until the hearts' eyes penetrate veils of light, to reach the source of greatness."⁽⁶²¹⁾ Our talk has come to an end here, according to the taqdir of Al Almighty and Most High, with praises and thanks for His graces, asking Hi send His blessings Upon Muhammad and his pure progeny, on the date Monday. 2nd of (the month of) Rabi'uth-Thani , thirteen-hundred sixty-one of Lunar year (1361 L.H.).⁽⁶²²⁾