The moods of the sajid during the sujud

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 Greatnesss of Allah. When the servant feels being raptured and he undergoes a fit [hal] 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 he finds in himself residues of his selfishness, he leaves them by a sign with his hand. Thus, the light of Majesty is manifested to him once again and the remnants of selfishness are burnt off, and he becomes annihilated [fani] 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 of the recitations, makes him firm in his state, and he will attain to a state of sobriety [sahw], which is the sobriety of the state of guardianship [wilayat] and is free from any sort of veiling and creational [khalqi] blemish. The states of tashahhud and taslim, which are of the status of multiplicity, also happen during this sobriety after annihilation [mahw]. Up to this point, all the circle of man's journey has been full and complete.

Meaning and effect of testifying to the Tauhid and the Messengership (of the Prophet)

Know that testifying to the Oneness (of Allah) and to Prophethood in the adhan and iqamah-which belong to the salat and prepare the situation to enter in it - and in the tashahhud -which is going out of annihilation [fani] to subsistance [baqa'], and out of unity [wahdat] to multiplicity [kathrat], at the end of the salat-remind the salik servant of the fact that the reality of the salat is the taking place of the real Unity [tauhid], and that testifying to the Oneness (of Allah) is of the inclusive states, which accompany the salik from the beginning of the salat till its end. There is also, in it, the secret of the "Firstness" and "Lastness" of Allah, the Glorified and Most High. Further , there is the great secret of the salik's journey from Allah to Allah: " ... as He created you at first, so shall you return." [600]

Therefore, the salik must pay attention to this object at all states, bringing the truth of Allah's Oneness and Divinity to his heart, making it a divine ascending journey so that his testimonies may become real and purified from hypocrisy and polytheism.

In testifying to the Prophethood there may be a hint at the fact that the support of the Absolute Guardian and the Seal of the Prophets in this mi`raj of behaviour [mi`raj-i suluki] is of the inclusive states, to which the salik must pay attention in all states, so that the secret of the appearance of the "firstness" and the "lastness", which are of the states of guardianship, becomes clear to the worthy people.

It must be noted that there is a difference between the shahadah (testifying) at the beginning of the salat and the testifying in the tashahhud, because the former is a testimony before the suluk, a devotional [ta `abbudi] or a contemplative [ta`aqquli] testimony, whereas the latter is after the return, and it is either a realizational [tahaqquqi] or a confirmative [tamakkuni] testimony. So, the testimony in the tashahhud is of great danger, because it includes the claim of realization [tahaqquq] and confirmation [tamakkun], and of returning to multiplicity unveiled. And as this lofty state is not possible for persons like us, nor is it expected under our present condition, behaving ourselves in the presence of the Greator is to remember our shortcomings, humility, failure, inability and distress, and, in a state of shamefulness, we are to face the Holy threshold and plead:

O Allah! of the states of the holy men [auliya'], the steps [madarij] of the Chosen [asfiya'], the perfection of the sincere and the suluk of the saliks we have no share but a few words. Instead of striving for high states we are satisfied with idle talk, of which there avails nothing in quality nor in spirituality. O Lord! loving this world and its attractions bars us from the Holy Court and the presence of your intimacy, unless you, with your hidden kindness help us, the helpless, so as to make up for what has passed, that we may rise from our sleep of negligence and find our way to Your Holy Presence.

Notes:

[600]. Surah al-A'raf: 29.

The disciplines of tashahhud

It is stated in Misbahush-Shari'ah that Imam as-Sadiq (AS) said : " The tashahhud is extollment of Allah, the Most High. So, be His servant in your inside and submit to Him in your act, as you are His servant in (your) saying and claim. Join the truthfulness of your tongue to the purity of the truthfulness of your inside, as He has created you a servant and ordered you to worship Him with your heart, tongue and organs, and to carry out your servitude by His being your Lord, believing that He has in His grip all the creatures; so, they take no breath nor a glance except by His power and will, and they are incapable of performing the least act in His Domain except by His permission and will. Allah, Almighty and Glorious, says: `And your Lord creates what He wills and chooses. They have not the choice. Glorified is Allah and Exalted above all that they associate (with Him)' .[601]w So, be a thankful servant by act, as you are a remembering servant by word and claim. Join the truthfulness of your tongue to the purity of the truthfulness of your inside, for He has created you. lie is High above being a volition and will to anybody except with His own prior volition and will. So, use servitude to be contented with His judgement, and use worship to perform His commands. He has ordered you to send blessing upon His Prophet (SA). So, join blessing Him to blessing him, and obeying Him to obeying him and testifying Him to testifying him. Take care not to miss the blessings of admitting his sanctity, in which case you will be deprived from the benefit of his blessings, as He ordered him to ask forgiveness for you and intercede for you, if you performed your duty concerning the obligatory and the forbidden acts, the laws and good manners, knowing his great position with Allah, Almighty, Most High. "[602]

There are, in this noble hadith, hints at the cordial disciplines of worshippings and their truths and secrets, as he says that the "tashahhud" is praising Allah, Almighty and Most High. Formerly, however, we have said that all worshippings in general are praising Allah, either by a Name or Names, by one of the manifestations or by the origin of the Ipseity [asl-i huwiyat].

At the head of the disciplines he refers to the fact that: since you apparently show servitude and claim to be a worshipper, in your secret you are also to be serving so that the secret cordial servitude may spread to the acts of the organs, and that the word and act be the plan of the secret and the inside, and the truth of servitude may spread through all the organs, internal and external, and each of the organs, may have a share of the tauhid. The tongue of the praiser of Allah conveys the praising to the heart, and the sincere and monotheist heart conveys the tauhid and sincerity to the tongue. He seeks Lordship inside the truth of servitude, forsaking egotism and conveying Allah's divinity to the heart. He knows that the control of the servants is in the hands of Allah, the Exalted, that they have no power to breathe and to see except through the power and will of Allah, the Exalted, and that they are unable to do anything in the domain of Allah, however slight, except with the permission and will of His Holy Essence, as He has said: "And your Lord creates what He wills and chooses. They have not the choice. Glorified is Allah and Exalted above all that they associate (with Him)"(28:68). On conveying this grace [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 (SA).

Notes:

[601]. Surah al-Qasas: 68.

[602]. Misbahush-Shari`ah, ch. 17, on "The Tashahhud"

State of the musalli during saying the salam, and the condition for the salam to be truthful

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 occultations. 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 [a'yan] 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 salat, which is the truth of the mi`raj, there was no ascension, and he did not come out of the house of the soul, he would actually have no salam. 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 be truthful; if not, he would have no salam. Yes, the salam upon the Prophet (SA) 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.

Notes:

[603]. Biharul Anwar, vol. 15, p. 15: "We are the first and we are the last". Muslim's Sahih, vol. 2, p. 585. Al-Bukhari's Sahih, vol. 1, p. 36: "We are the last and we are the preceding ones".