Removing Filth and Purifying Impurities

Be aware that removing the hadath (impurity), as already stated, is getting out of I-ness and selfishness and parting with carnality [nafsiyat] or rather it is complete separation from the house of the soul, since, as long as there are remnants of a servant's self, he will be polluted with al hadath al akbar (the major impurity) and the worshipper and the worshipped in him are Satan and the soul. If the stages of the journey of the people of the Road and suluk were for getting ranks and ascension to high degrees, they would not be out of the intrusion of Satan and the soul, and the journey and suluk are justified [mu'allal]. Thus, the suluk is within the stages of the self, and the journey in the very inside of the house. Such a salik is not a salik , not a wayfarer, nor is he an emigrant to Allah and His Messenger, and he has not yet been purged from the major impurity, which is "the servant himself' ['ain-i 'abd]. Should he become completely purified from this hadath, the worshipper and the worshipped would be the Haqq [Allah], and "I would be his ear (hearing) and his eye (seeing)", [119] which is the result of the proximity by the nafilah (supererogatory act of worship), would take place. Therefore, as far as purification from the hadath is concerned, the ghusl of the whole body is necessary, because as long as "the very servant" ['ain-i 'abd] is still there in a way, the hadath is not yet removed, as "under each hair there is a janabah". [120]

So, purification from the hadath is purification from the huduth [novelty] and perishing in the sea of ancientness [qidam]. Its perfection is in getting out of the multiplicity of names, which is the interior of the "tree". By this getting out he will get out of Adam's infectious sin, which is the origin [asl] of the offspring.

So, the hadath is of the spiritual impurities, and its purification is of the inner invisible affairs and is a light. Wud'u is a limited light, while the ghusl is an absolute light. "Which Wu'du is purer than the ghusl?" [121]

But removing the external filth and impurities has no such position, because it is a superficial cleaning and an external purification. Its cordial discipline is that the wayfarer servant, who wants to be present in the Presence of Allah, is to know that with Satanic filth and impurity one cannot find his way there, and unless he comes out from the big moral dispraised acts, which are the source of the corruption of the human utopia, and the origin of the external and internal sins, he will have no way to the wanted goal. Satan, who was in the neighbourhood of the world of sanctity and was regarded of the Cherubim, yet, at last, because of evil inclinations, he was dismissed from the position of the favourites, and was cursed by: "Then get out of it, for surely you are accursed." (Surah Sād: 77, and Surah Al-Hijr: 34).

So, we, the survivors of the caravan of the invisible world, the sinking ones in the deep pit of nature, and the returned to the lowest of the low, how can we, with our Satanic, evil inclinations, deserve being in the Presence of His Sanctity and in the neighbourhood of the godly and the companions of the favourites'? Satan became self-conceited, recognized his being of fire, then said:" I am better than him...". [122] This self-admiration led to self-worship and arrogance, which drove him to despise and insult Adam (A.S), and said: " ...and him You created of dust", and made a false comparison. He did not see Adam's goodness, nor his perfect spirituality. He looked only at Adam's appearance, his being of clay and of dust, while of himself he looked at his being of fire, disregarding his polytheism of egoism and egotism. Self-love prevented him from discerning his shortcomings and hid his faults from his eyes. This selfishness and self-conceit led him to self-love, arrogance, ostentation, hypocrisy, obstinacy and disobedience, driving him from the sacred ascension down to the desert of the abode of darkness of nature.

So, it is on the wayfarer to Allah, as he cleans himself from external filth, to purify himself from the origins of vileness and internal Satanic impurities, and thoroughly cleanse, with the divine water of mercy and lawful austerity, his utopia, his virtuous city, and purify his heart ,the place of divine manifestation, and to take off the shoes of ambition and loving pomposity, so as to become worthy of entering the sacred valley of "aiman" and of being a place for the Lord's manifestation. Unless he is cleaned from evil filths, purification from impurities [ahdath] cannot take place, as purifying the exterior is a preliminary step to the purification of the interior. Unless a complete, mundane and visible taqwa according to the instructions of the pure Shari'ah happens, no cordial taqwa will take place; and unless the cordial taqwa is brought about by the already named affairs, no real, secret and spiritual taqwa can happen. All the stages or taqwa are preliminaries to this stage, that is, neglecting everything other than Allah.

As long as there are in the salik remnants of selfishness, his heart will not discern Allah's manifestation. It is, however, possible that sometimes, owing to the precedence of (Allah's) mercy and the prevalence of the "near-to-Allah" [yalillahi] aspect, invisible help is extended to the salik such that the remnants of his I-ness are burnt out by the Divine firebrand [jadhwah]. It is probable that in the way Allah manifested His glory to the mountain, crushing it to pieces and in the falling down of Moses senseless, there are references to what has been said; and there is a similar difference between the salik-i majdhub (the salik attracted by Divine Grace), and the majdhub-i salik (the attracted one who is travelling to Allah). The people of truth understand from this an important point worthy of knowing, since knowing nothing about it would be the cause of many errors, goings astray and deviations from the right path. No one of those who are in quest of truth is to ignore it or be unaware of it. It is this: The salik who is in quest of truth must declare himself innocent from the extremities of some ignorant Sufis and some negligent phenomenalists, so that it may become possible for him to travel to Allah. As a matter of fact, some sects of the first group believe that the external knowledge and act are formal, and stuffed moulds, intended for the ignorant and the common people, and that those who are the people of the secret, heart and truth, and are of good background, need not practice such acts, and that the external acts are required for the purpose of acquiring cordial truths and attaining to the looked-for destination, and so, when the salik reaches his destination, practicing those preliminaries will be departing, and engaging in the multiplicities will be a veil. The second group, on the other hand, rose to face the first group and went to the other end to extremity by denying all the spiritual stages and divine secrets, and rejected all affairs, except the mere external appearance and the superficial form, alleging that everything else is nothing but imagination and fancy. These two groups are still in dispute and argument, each one accusing the other of being against the Shari'ah. In fact, both groups have somewhat exceeded the limits and they have gone to the extremes. In my Sirrus Salat I have referred to this point, and I show, here, a moderate and middle way, which is the straight path.

It should be noted that the formal rituals and the external worships are not only for acquiring perfect spiritual characters and cordial truths, but that is actually one of their fruits. To the people of knowledge and of heart, all worships transfer the divine knowledge from the inside to the outside, and from the secret to the public. And as the blessing of mercy of the Beneficent [rahman], or rather of the Compassionate [rahim], covers all human cordial and formal growths [nasha'at] and each one of these stages has a share of the general divine blessings, each has to do a part of praising Allah, and thanking Him for the beneficent and merciful favours of His Absolute Necessary Being. As long as the soul has a share of the formal mundane growth [nasha'at] as well as of the visible life, the carpet of multiplicity will not be completely rolled away, and the shares of nature will not be done with. As the traveller to Allah must not engage his heart with other than Allah, he is also not to make use of his bosom, imagination and nature in other than Allah's way, so that his tauhid (monotheism) and glorification may become firm in all the growths [nasha 'at]. And if the spiritual attraction has any result other than serving Allah and submission to Him, it will indicate that there are still some remnants of selfishness, and the salik 's journey is inside the house of the soul, and not to Allah .

The goal of the journey of the people of Allah is to color the nature and the kingdom of the body with Allah's color. There is a noble hadith in which Allah, the Great and Almighty, says: "I am Allah! I am ar-Rahman (the Beneficent)! I created 'rahim' (the womb, relationship) and derived its name from Mine. So, whoever observed it (i.e., observed kinship relations), I would observe him, and whoever severed it, I would sever him." [123] One of the interior concepts of this hadith is, perhaps, this severing the nature, which is the mother of the spirits, off the original homeland, and observing (connecting) it is its austerity and returning it to its homeland of servitude. Abu' Abdullah (as Sadiq ) (AS) is quoted to have said:" I advise you to take care of your aunt, the date-palm, as it was created of Adam's clay." [124] This noble hadith refers to that kinship relations mentioned before.

In short, taking out the kingdom of the exterior from the homeland of servitude, and leaving it to itself, is a deep ignorance of the stations of the people of knowledge, and is of the temptations of the accursed Satan, who deviates each group from Allah, the Exalted, in a particular way. At the same time, denying the stations and blocking the way to knowledge, which is the delight of the eye of the holy men [auliya] (AS), and confining the divine laws to the exterior, which is the world's share, the kingdom of the self and the animal state, and disregarding the inner secrets and disciplines worship -which result in purifying the inside, reforming the heart and developing the interior -are utmost ignorance and negligence. Both of these two groups are far away from the way of happiness and the straight path of humanity, and both are cut off from the stations of the people of knowledge.

The one who is aware of Allah and knows the stations, must observe all the inner and outer rights and help everyone who has a right to get it. He must purify himself of exaggeration, fault and going to the extremes, remove the filth of denying the outside of the Shari'ah, which is, in fact, limitation, and remove the filth of denying the inside of the Shari'ah, which is restriction, and both of which are of the temptations of Satan and his treacheries, so that the road of travelling to Allah and attaining to the spiritiual stations become easy for him.

Thus, one of the stages of removing filth is removing the filths of the false fancies which prevent Allah's proximity and the ascension of the believers. One of the concepts and positions of the universality of the ultimate prophethood, or rather, of the proofs of the finality of the prophethood, is that he (the Last Prophet) attained, in all the spiritual states to all their rights and shares as regards all the affairs of the Shari'ah. As in the knowledge of the affairs of the Lordship, the Glorified, He is known in the highest height and in the nearest nearness to the state of universality: "He is the First and the Last and the Outward and the Inward",[125] "Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth...", [126] "If you are lowered down with a rope to the lowest of the earth, you will come down onto Allah" [127], and "...Wherever you turn, there is Allah's Face...", [128] etc., through which the knower of the divine knowledge, attracted by the divine attractions, feels invisible delight and divine ecstacy. Similarly the practical-cordial monotheism is permeated into the last stage of the horizon of the of nature and the corporeal body, and no being is deprived of a share of knowing Allah.

In short, the people of Sufism unknowingly speak of Isa's (Jesus's) wisdom, while the phenomenalists speak of the wisdom of Moses. The Muhammadans, however, are, by limitation, innocent of both of them. To expand on this brief is out of the question and does not suit these pages.

Connection

Quoting Imam as Sadiq (AS) Mis'bahush-Shari'ah narrates: "The mustarah (W.C.= washing closet = where one relieves oneself = toilet) is called so because the people are relieved there from the weights of the filths, and they clear out there the dirts and impurities. The believer learns from this that the pure of the ephemeral things of this world (i.e., food) will finally have such an (impure) end. Then, he will be relieved by abandoning this world and turning away from it. He empties his soul and his heart from being engaged with it, and disdains collecting and possessing it, as he disdains the impurities, the feces and filth. He thinks, of himself, how he is honoured in an instance and feels humiliated in another. He then realizes that adhering to contentedness and taqwa gives him relief in both worlds, that comfort is in neglecting this world, in refraining from enjoying it and in removing the impurity of (wanting) the unlawful and the doubtful, and so, he closes the door of arrogance to himself after knowing it, runs away from sins, opens the door of modesty, remorse and shyness, strives to carry out His commands and to refrain from the forbidden, hoping for a good return and a delightful proximity. He imprisons himself in the prison of fear, patience and abstinence from (satisfying) the desires until he arrives, with Allah's custody, in the eternal abode, and tastes His pleasure, as this is what is reliable (counted), and everything else is nothing." [129] This is the end of his noble speech.

In this noble speech there is a comprehensive order for the people of knowledge and suluk, and it is that a conscious person, on his journey to the Last Abode, must, in whatever state he may be, demand all the spiritual pleasures, and not neglect, in any condition, to remember his ultimate goal and return. That is why the wise men have said: "The Prophet serves the (divine) decree [qada'] as the physician serves the body." As the great prophets and holy men [auliya] (AS) have no care whatsoever except for Allah's decree [qada'] and the "near-to-Allah" [yalillahi] aspect, and the heavenly Kingdom [malakut] of the divine decree governs their hearts, they believe that the management of all affairs is in the hands of Allah's angels, who are the divine soldiers, while the physical physician, being far from this stage and discarded from this valley, ascribes the running of the affairs of nature to the natural powers.

In brief, a salik should, in all conditions, make use of all the aspects of his suluk. So, as he sees that the trivial matters and the pleasures of the visible world are destined to annihilation and change, and realizes that their fate is corruption and vanishing, he will easily have his heart turn away from them and free his heart from thinking of them and being engaged with them, and he will be disgusted with them as he is with filths. The inside of the world of nature is filthy. Filth and dirt seen in a dream -which is a door of revelation [mukashafah] are interpreted to mean worldly positions and wealth, and, according to the revelations [mukashafah] of' Ali (AS), this world is but a carrion. [130] So, as the believer empties himself from the loads and excretions of nature and relieves the natural town from their harm, he is also to relieve his heart from being attached to it (nature) and getting engaged with it. He is to remove from his heart the burden of loving the world and position, and empty the spiritual utopia and relieve it from those impurities. Let him think how being engaged in the world will , after few hours, humiliate the honourable soul and force it to undergo the worst and most disgraceful state. Let him know that to busy the heart with the world, after a while, when the curtain of visibility is drawn up and the veil of nature is pushed aside, will humiliate man and bring him to the reckoning and punishment. He is to know that adherence to taqwa and contentment brings comfort in both worlds -a comfort which is a result of neglecting the world, be-slighting it and rejecting its pleasures and entertainments. Having purged himself of the formal filths , he is also to purify himself from the impurities of the haram (the unlawful) and the doubtful cases.

Having understood himself and recognized the humility of his need, he has to close to himself the door of arrogance and haughtiness, to run away from recalcitrance and sin, and to open to himself the door of modesty, remorse and shyness. He is to strive to obey Allah and refrain from disobedience, so as to return to Allah good and well, and to attain Allah's proximity with purity and serenity of the soul. He is to imprison himself in the prison of fear and patience and curb his soul of its desires, so as to be saved from the prison of Allah's punishment, and to join Allah's custody in the eternal abode, and, thus, to taste Allah's contentment. This is the ultimate hope of the people of suluk, and everything else is nought.

Notes:

[119]. Refer to footnote No. 21.

[120]. Biharul Anwar, vol. 78, p. 51, "Book of Purification", ch. on "The Incumbency of the Ghusl of Janabah", hadith 23.

[121]. Jami' Ahadithish-Shi'ah, "Book of Purification", chs. on "The Ghusl and its Regulations", ch. 12.

[l22]. "I am better than him. You have created me of fire, and him You created of dust." (Surah Sad: 76).

[123]. Biharul Anwar, vol. 71, p. 95, quoted from Ma'aniyul Akhbar, p. 302.

[124]. Ibid., vol. 66, p. 129, quoted from al-Mahasin, p. 528.

[125]. Surah al-Hadid: 3.

[126]. Surah Nur: 35.

[127]. 'Ilmul Yaqin, vol. 1, p. 54.

[128]. Surah al-Baqarah: 115.

[129]. Misbahush-Shari'ah, ch. 9, "Privy = W.C."

[130]. Nahjul Balaghah, edited by Faydul Islam, sermon No.108: "They fell upon a carrion by eating of which they were exposed." Or as in sermon No. 151: "They are falling upon an easy carrion."

Objective Two

Station One

General Disciplines for the Clothes

Know that man's rational soul is a reality which, at the same time of its unity and perfect simplicity, has diverse aspects (growths = nasha'at), the principal ones of which are, generally, three:

The first aspect (growth = nash'ah) is the external mundane visible aspect, displayed in the apparent senses, and its lowest surface is the body.

The second is the aspect [nash'ah] of the barzakh world (the Isthmus, or the intermediate, world) displayed in the internal senses, the barzakhian (intermediate) body and "the mould of the ideal" [qalib-i mithali]".

The third is the invisible internal aspect [nash'ah], displayed in the heart and in its affairs.

The relation of each of these aspects to the other is that of the external to the internal, and of the manifestation to the manifested. This is the reason for the effects, the characteristics and the reactions of each of these aspects to permeate into the other aspects. For example, if the sense of seeing discerns something, it will have an effect on the barzakhian sense of seeing according to its aspect [nash'ah]. Then the effect is transmitted to the internal seeing sense of the heart according to its aspect [nash'ah]. In the same way the effects of the cordial aspect appear in the other two aspects. This, besides being proved by a strong and firm evidence, coincides with the conscience, too. Consequently, all the formal disciplines of the Shar' have their effect, or effects on the interior; and each of the good characters -which belong to the barzakhian status of the soul also has its effects on the exterior and interior. All the divine knowledge [ma'arif] and the true beliefs also have their effects on the two barzakhian and external aspects. For example, this belief that to have control over the kingdom of existence as well as the invisible and visible worlds belongs to Allah, and no other being has any control over them, except that permitted shadowy control, brings about so many spiritual perfections and good human moralities, such as depending on Allah and trusting Him, and pinning no hope on any creature. This is the mother of perfections and the cause of so many good deeds and commendable acts, and prevents one from committing evil practices. Likewise other sorts of knowledge, which are so numerous that these pages, as well as the broken pen of the writer, have no patience to count them nor to relate the effects of each one of them, since it needs writing a huge book which can be expected only from the powerful pen of the people of knowledge, or from a warm soul of "the people of ecstasy" [ahl-i hal]: My hand is short, while the dates are (high) on the date-palms". [131]

Similar is, for example, contentment [rida'] as a character, which is one of the human moral perfections. It is effective in purifying and polishing the soul, rendering the heart a place for special divine manifestations, elevating faith to a perfect faith, the perfect faith to tranquillity [tuma'ninah], tranquillity to its perfection, its perfection to vision [mushahadah], the vision to a perfect vision, its perfection to "reciprocal love" [mushahadah] (with the Beloved), the reciprocal love to its perfection, its perfection to courting [murawadah], the courting to its perfection, its perfection to union [murawadah], the union to its perfection, and to what neither I nor you can imagine. The character of contentment has a surprising effect on the kingdom of the body and on the formal marks and acts, which are leaves and branches. It changes hearing, seeing and other powers and organs into divine ones, and the secret of "I will be his hearing and seeing" [132] is somewhat manifested. As those stages have an effect, or rather, effects, on the appearance, they are also affected so surprisingly by the outer shape, all the ordinary and extraordinary movements and pauses, and all the acts and abstentions, so that it sometimes happens that a scornful glance by a salik at a servant of Allah causes the salik to fall from his high status to the lowest of the low, and this will need him years to make up for it.

Now, as our helpless hearts are weak and shaky, like the weeping willows, losing their stillness, by every gentle breeze, it would be, therefore, necessary, even in ordinary situations -one of which is the instance of choosing one's clothes -to observe the conditions of the heart and to take care of it. As the soul and Satan have quite firm snares and clever delusions which we are unable to understand, we have to do our best, as much as we can and is in our capacity, to resist them, and to ask, in all cases, Allah's help and support for success.

So, we say that as it has become clear that the exterior and the interior have reciprocal effects, the seeker for the truth and spiritual elevation has to avoid choosing such clothes and models which have bad effects on the spirit, deviate the heart from perseverance and remembering Allah, and turn the soul's direction to worldly matters. Do not think that Satan's delusions and the tricks of the evil-commanding soul are confined only to expensive and nice clothes and luxurious articles. Actually even by old and worthless clothes they may disgrace a man. Therefore, one should avoid seeking fame through clothes, or rather he should avoid all conducts contrary to the normal and the customary. He is to abstain from wearing highly luxurious clothes made of expensive materials and attractively and notoriously tailored, because our hearts are very weak and inconstant, and they slip by slightest distinction and deviate from moderation. It may often happen that a wretched, helpless man, devoid of all degrees of honour, humanity, dignity and perfection, just because of a few meters of silk or woollen cloth, well tailored in a foreign style, and which might have been obtained through shameful and dishonourable bargains, looks down upon the servants of Allah with scorn, arrogance and haughtiness, devaluating the people. This is caused only by a completely powerless soul with so small a capacity that it takes the spit of a worm or the apparel of a sheep to be a cause of honour and dignity for itself.

O helpless man! How wretched and indigent you are! You should be the pride of the world of possibility, and the gist of space and place. You are the offspring of Adam, and you should teach the names and the attributes. You are the child of the (Allah's) successor; so, you should be of the brilliant signs (of Allah). "A whistle calls you from the turret of the 'Arsh". [133] You, unfortunate degenerate! You have usurped a handful of remnants and apparels of helpless animals, by which you take pride. This pride of yours is that of a silk worm, a sheep, a camel, a squirrel or a fox. Why do you feel proud of others' clothes, and show arrogance by others' pride?

In short, as the quality, the value and the decoration of the clothes have their effects on the souls, Imam Amirul Mu'minin (AS), as quoted by the late Qutb the Rowandi, said: "Whoever wears luxurious clothes, he will be, inevitably, arrogant, and the Fire is inevitably for the arrogant." [134] There are effects in their fashion and tailoring. It sometimes happens that the one who wears the clothes cut similar to those of the foreigners, gets a feeling of ignorant attachment to them, and thus, he repulses and abominates the friends of Allah and His Messenger, and loves their enemies. In this respect, Imam as Sadiq (AS) is quoted to have said: "Allah, the Exalted and Most High, inspired one of the prophets commanding him: 'Tell the believers not to wear the clothes of My enemies, not to eat like My enemies, and not to walk like My enemies, so as not to be My enemies as they are My enemies."' [135]

As the too luxurious clothes affect the souls, similarly, too low and shabby clothes, both in material and quality, also affect them. It is most probably that this is more corruptive, by many degrees, than the exquisite clothes, as the soul can have quite crafty plots. When one sees himself distinguished from others by wearing rough, denim clothes, while others wear fine, soft clothes, he tries, as he loves himself, to neglect his defects, regarding this accidental and irrelevant affair as a matter of pride. He may probably get to admire himself and look down at the servants of Allah, alleging that the others are out of Allah's holy sanctum, thinking himself to be among the most sincere and favourite servants of Allah. It is also most probable that he will be afflicted with hypocrisy and other big corruptions. So wretched he is that, out of all the degrees of knowledge, taqwa and spiritual perfections, he suffices himself with rough, shabby wears, unaware of thousands of his big faults, the biggest of which is this very bad effect resulting from these clothes. He thinks himself, who is of Satan's friends, of the people of Allah, regarding the servants of Allah as nothing and worthless. It also happens that the style and the way he wears his clothes throw him into many mischiefs, such as wearing them in such an arrangement as to make him famous as an ascetic and a holy man.

In short, to wear clothes for distinction, on either side of the extremities, is a matter which shakes the weak hearts, and deprives them from good moralities, and causes conceit, hypocrisy, arrogance and pride, each one of which is a mother of spiritual vileness. They further lead to being attached to this world and loving it, which is the head of all sins and the source of all evils. Many hadiths also refer to many of the said affairs, as is stated in the noble al-Kafi, quoting Imam as Sadiq (AS), saying: "Allah, the Exalted, becomes angry with one's getting famous through clothes". [136]

He is also quoted to have said: "The famous, good or bad, is in the Fire." [137]

He is further quoted to have said: "Allah becomes angry with two fames: the fame of clothes and the fame of the salat." [138]

A hadith is quoted from the Messenger of Allah (SA), saying: "Whoever wears an apparel of fame, Allah will make him wear, in the Hereafter, an apparel of humility." [139]

Notes:

[131]. My leg is lame, while the destination is so far, My hand is short, while the dates are (high) on the date-palms. (by Hafiz Shirazi).

[132]. Refer to footnote No.21.

[133]. Refer to footnote No.96.

[134]. Mustadrakul Wasa'il, "Book of as-Salat", chs. on "The Rules of the Clothes", ch. 16, Hadith 5, quoted from Lubbul Albab, Qutb the Rawandi.

[135]. Al-Jawahirus-Saniyah, ch. on "Abu 'Abdullah Ja'far ibn Muhammad, as Sadiq", Hadith 60.

[136]. Wasa'ilush-Shi'ah, vol. 3, p. 354, "Book of as Salat", chs. on "Rules Concerning the Clothes", ch. 12, Hadith 1.

[137]. Ibid, Hadith 3.

[138]. Mustadrakul Wasa'il, "Book of as Salat", chs. on "The Rules of the Clothes", ch. 8, Hadith 2.

[139]. Ibid., Hadith 1.