He is the First and the last

Fakhr Razi writes in his Description: The expression الحمد لله is a noble one which should be used in its proper time and place. If you use it properly, you will get your objectives; but, if you don’t, you will not get what you want.

Sarri Saqati was asked: How should we praise Allah? He replied: It is thirty years since I have been repenting the use of الحمد لله out of its proper place.

People asked him: How? He replied: There was a horrible fire in Baqdad. All shops and houses were on fire. I was told my shop was immune from fire. When I heard this, I said الحمد لله . Then, when I thought about the content of this expression, I realized that I was happy for the immunity of my shop with no regards for people’s property which were completely destroyed. It is thirty tears since I have been asking for God’s forgiveness.

To praise God is carried out due to the greatness of the Creator. This action is done through your heart, your tongue, and your eyes, ears, and hands and feet.

What God wants from us is to hear correctly, to say the truth, to carry out good action with our hands, and to walk for God. These are among the divine actions of our limbs.

The right thing for our hearts to carry out is to have faith in God and to realize that God possesses all the attributes of perfection, beauty and magnanimity. Of course, to attain this, we will need great endeavors on our parts.

The right thing for our tongues to do is to utter through our tongues what our hearts feel deep inside concerning God’s attributes of benevolence and greatness and the expression الحمد لله is the most appropriate methods to confess to such a reality.

The right thing for our other limbs is that they should coordinate themselves with God’s wishes so that they could represent God’s attributes and sacred names. If you complete these three stages, you have been involved in the act of praising God for the infinite range of His blessings and favors.

Thus, all God’s believers are given a chance to thank and praise God and no excuse can be accepted in this regard.

God through getting our wisdom involved with all aspects of creation shows Himself free from all defects and short-comings and makes us realize that He is the King, the Sacred and the Wise.

يُسَبِّحُ لِلَّهِ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ الْمَلِكِ الْقُدُّوسِ الْعَزِيزِ الْحَكِيمِ.

“Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth declares the glory Allah, the king, the Holy, the Mighty, the Wise. 62:1”

The Holy Quran emphasizes that man should realize God’s perfection and beauty through his creation; it is become the language of works and traces is more eloquent than the language of news.

If a thousand people say there is fire at a certain place, but one crazy one says “there is no fire”, due to the fool’s expression there might be some doubts and confusion in our belief. But if a person observes smoke, which is the sign of fire, and says “fire”, everybody believes him even though a thousand people say they can not observe any fire. Thus, we see that signs and traces can not be ignored. So, the creation as a whole can be taken as signs which indicate the existence of that great Being, that sacred Entity and that Great Wise: the same Dear Being who is wise and who has sent us the most virtuous being, the Prophet Mohammad (s) and the most precious thing, the Quran to be read by us and to be used for our education. By reading this Glorious trace of God we will discern God’s perfection, glamour, and beauty. The Great Prophet tries to change us through his trainings: تَخَلَّقُوا بأخْلاق اللهِ

“Equip yourself with Godly mannerism”

And having learned the book, we will get aquatinted with rightfulness, Islamically legal and illegal actions. Then the ground is set for theoretical and practical knowledge. Upon completing these high stages of growth and perfection, we may get at the stage where we could get involved in true worshipping and not in a superficial one. This is because the genuine worship is only possible for a believer if he possesses insight, truth, knowledge, love, faith and mannerism.

The sire of Gnostics, the head of the lovers, Imam Ali (s) has a lot of significant saying on Hamd praising God. Some sentences are given here as samples

اَلْحَمْدُ لله الَّذي جَعَلَ الْحَمْدَ عَلى عِبادِهِ مِنْ غَيْر حاجَهٍ مِنْهُ إلى حامِديهِ، وَطريقاً مِنْ طُرُق مِنْ الاعْتِرافِ بلاهُوتيَّتِهِ وَصَمَدانِيَّتِهِ ورَبّانِيَّتِهِ وَفرْدانِيَّتِهِ، وَسَبَباً إلَى الْمَزيدِ مِنْ رَحْمَتِهِ، وَمَحَجَّهً لِلطّالِبِ مِنْ فضْلِهِ؛ وَكَمَّنَ في إبْطان اللَّفْظِ حَقيقَهَ الاعْتِرافِ لَهُ بِاَنَّهُ الْمُنْعِمُ عَلى كُلِّ حَمْدٍ...

Praise be upon Allah, who gave the honor to his servants to engage in Hamd (praising God) without needing their praise. He Who put this word, which should be uttered from the very depth of one’s heart, for us to confess to His Great Position and kingdom. He Who put Hamd as a means for his abundance over his servant. He who put it as a light on His servants.[1]

Imam Sadiq (s) has employed the following way of Hamd:

الحَمْدُ لله بمَحامِدِهِ كُلها عَلى نِعَمِهِ كُلها حَتى يَنْتهيَ الحَمْدَ اِلى ما يُحِبُّ ربّي وَيَرْضى.

Praise be upon Allah for all his abundance which He has given to us.

Imam Sadiq (s) narrates from his father: a Prophet among Prophets said to Allah:

الحَمْدُ لله كثيراً حمداً طيباً مُباركاً فيهِ كَما يَنْبَغي لِكَرَمَ وجْهكَ وعِزَّ جَلالِكَ.

Praise be upon Allah, a blessed praise of the form which fits His benevolence, glamour, and dignity.[2]

God, then, revealed on him: Due to the rewards that this praise entailed, you have made a laborious job for the reward – registrars.

عَنْ عَلّي بْنِ الحُسَيْنِ عليها السلّام اِنّهُ قالَ: مَنْ قالَ: اَلحَمْد لله فقدْ ادَى شُكر كلَّ نعمَه لله عَزّوَجَل عَليْه.

Imam Sajjad (s) has said: anybody who utters (al hamdolellah) الحَمْدُ لله, he has in fact thanked Allah for all his abundance.[3]

عَنْ النّبي صّلى الله عليه و آله قال: لا اِله اِلا الله نِصْفُ الميزان وَالحَمْدُ لله يَمْلأهُ.

The Allah’s Messenger said, “the expression “لا اِله اِلا الله” will satisfy half of our tasks towards Allah, but “الحَمْدُ لله” will complete our duties.”

In the above sentences the fact was stressed that Hamd in its genuine sense should be uttered by the suppliant’s heart, tongue and all his limbs, i.e., when the heart confesses to the creator and when the tongue utters the word الحَمْدُ لله, and when our limbs do not participate in sins then the conditions for the utterance of Hamd are met, or else using the word only through the tongue will not help since this word could be taught to some birds (such as parrots and minas) as well. In fact, Hamd consists of three facts: internal, by tongue and physical. This is the sense which is used in most precious narrations. You may pay attention to the following:

عَنْ ابْنِ نَباتَةَ قالَ: كُنْتُ أرْكَعُ عِنْدَ بابِ أميرِ المُؤمِنِينَ عَليه السلام وَأنا أدْعُو اللهَ، إذْ خَرَجَ أميرُ المُؤمِنِينَ عليه السلام فَقَالَ: يا أصْبَغُ، قُلْتُ: لَبَّيْكَ، قالَ: أيَّ شيئٍ كُنْتَ تَصْنَعُ؟ قُلْتُ: رَكَعْتُ وَأنَا أدْعُو، قالَ: اَفَلا أعَلِّمُكَ دُعَاءً سَمِعتُهُ مِنْ رَسُولِ اللهِ صلّى الله عليه وآله؟ قُلْتُ: بَلى، قالَ: قُلْ: (اَلحَمْدُ للهِ عَلى ما كانَ، وَالحَمْدُ للهِ عَلى كُلِّ حالٍ). ثُمَّ ضَرَبَ بِيَدِهِ اليُمْنى عَلى مَنْكَبيَ الأيسَرِ وَقالَ: يا أصْبَغُ لَئِنْ ثَبَتَتْ قَدَمُكَ، وَتَمَّتْ وِلايتُكَ، وَانْبَسَطَتْ يّدُكَ، اللهُ أرحَمُ بِكَ مِنْ نَفْسِكَ!

Athbaq Ibn Nobata says: I was praying next to Imam Ali’s house when he came out of his house. He called me and asked what I was doing. I answered: I was engaged in worshipping. Imam Ali (s) then asked: Do you want me to teach you the invocation which I learned from the Prophet(s). I answered: yes, please.

الحَمْدُ لله عَلى ما كانَ وَ الحَمْدُ لله عَلى كُل حالٍ.

“Praise be upon Allah for all His abundance, and praise be upon Him at any moment”

Then he touched my left shoulder with his right hand, saying: If you are steady towards Allah, and if you wholeheartedly believe in His leadership, and if you are generous towards people as far as financial matters are the issue, the kind Allah will be kinder to you than yourself.

Senan Ibn Tarif says: I said to Imam Sadiq (s): “I fear to be dominated by negligence towards Allah when He has given us such an abundance” Imam asked for the reason. He gave it to me. Then I asked him for a thousand Derhams, and I received it. Then I begged Him to give me a servant. I received one, as well”.

Imam then asked me what words I offered upon receiving what I needed. I said I used الحمد لله (Praise is due to Allah).

Imam Sadiq (s), then, said: What you gave God was better than what you received from Him.[4]

عن جعفر بن محمد عليهما السلام عن ابيه، عن جابر بن عبدالله، قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه و آله: “لو أنَّ الدنيا كلها لقمة واحدة فأكلها العبد المسلم ثم قال: الحمد لله لكان قوله ذلك خيراً له من الدنيا و ما فيها”.

Imam Sadiq (s) reports from Imam Baqir (s) who reported from Jabir Ibn Abdollah who narrates from the Prophet (s) who has said: If the whole world were a morsel and then a Moslem ate it and then uttered (الحمد لله) this statement of his would be better for him than the world and what it contained.

In senenteen verses from the Holy Quran, Allah has called Himself (حميد) [Hamid], i.e. praiseworthy: Baqarah 267: Hud 73; Ibrahim 1,8; Hajj 24,64; Luqman 12, 26; Saba 6; Fatir 15; Ha Mim 42; Shura 28; Hadid 24; Mumtahene 6; Taghabun 6; Buruj 8; and Nisa 131.

In the Holy Quran the word (الحمد لله) is used seventeen times: Anam 1; Araf 43; Ibrahim 39; Nahl 75; Bani-Israel 111; Kahf 1; Moaminun 28; Naml 15,59,93; Ankabut 63; Luqman 25; Saba 1; Fatir 1,34; and Zumar 29, 47.

The sacred sentence (الحمدُ للهِ رَبِّ العْالَمِينَ) is used in six verses from the Holy Quran: Fateha 2; Anam 45; Yunus 10; Saffat 182; Zumar 75; and Moamin [Qafir] 65.

The explanation of each verse of the above verses needs philosophical, and Gnostic expertise which this poor, needy and ignorant writer lacks. It is better for you to refer to the relevant books and sources so that you may equip yourself with the light contained in these verses and reach to the stages of Gnosticism and true love.

In the interpretation of Kashfol Asrar, in the first volume, in the third edition for the translation of Hamd, we will read:

“The expression (الحمدُ للهِ) is to praise Allah, the Abundance Giver, the Unique, One who is available without research, and is recognizable without being watched, and the One who is loved without being seen. He is Almighty; He is immune of Annihilation; He is Almighty; He is ascribed by the attributes Glorious, the Beautiful; He observed the worshippers’ weakness in the recognition of Him; and knew that however hard the believers tried, they would never reach it; and however hard they tried, they would not recognize Him. And the Holy Quran witnessed to the worshippers’ inabilities:

وَ ما قَدَرُوا اللهَ حَقَّ قَدرِهِ.

“And they have not honored Allah with the honor that is due to Him” [The Companies 67].

Allah praised Himself and taught His servants how to praise Him or else who would be able to use the expression الحمد لله.

Be aware that Hamd [Praise on Allah] has two phases: One is due when you confront the asset; the other is due to the Giver. What is due when you see the asset is for you to thank Him upon receiving it to-day and let you enter the paradise tomorrow. The Prophet (s) has said regarding this:

اَوَّلُ من يُدعى اِلى الجَنَّة الحَمَّادُون للهِ على كُلِّ حالٍ.

“The first who will enter the paradise are those whose job it was to praise Allah”

This is the case of those who praise Allah for His abundance. But there are those who praise Allah irrespective of the assets they receive or not: They would say: “O love! We have not come here to see the world only”.

الأوَّلُ بِلا أوَّلٍ قبلَهُ، و الآخِرُ بِلا آخِرَ يَكُونُ بَعْدَهُ.

The words (اول) [The first], and (آخر) [The last] in this great invocation which is as wavy and stormy as the ocean, are taken from the third verse of the sacred surah Hadid from the Holy Quran and are, in fact, meaningful but short interpretations of that verse.

As it is evident from the famous narrations available to us, every verse of the Holy Quran, which has seventy deep structures and every deep structure has seventy deep structures of its own, was revealed to the clean heart of the Prophet (s) and then was transferred to the Infallible (s); regarding this topic, there is a description of the forty second invocation of Shifeh Sajjadieh in the coming pages.

The Infallible ones (s) who possessed the first and last Divine knowledge, and who were complete human beings and each had at their disposal a stormy ocean of earthly and heavenly knowledge, started to describe the verses of the Quran through their invocations, narrations, good manners and holy actions and left a complete and all-inclusive school behind which could satisfy any believer’s questions on the worldly affairs and those of the Hereafter.

In the holy Surah of Hadid [The Iron], the content of the verses of which is marvelous, and intoxicating, and the issues of which are heart stimulants and spirit polishers and is the builder of the world Here and then, we will read:

هُوَ الأوَّلُ و الآخِرُ و الظاهِرُ و الباِطنُ وَ هوَ بكلِّ شيئ عليم.

“He is the First and the last and the Ascendant over all and the Knower of the hidden things, and He is Cognizant of all things. 57:3”

To describe the words “اول و آخر”, the first and the last, I will present the readers the results of our study of the verses of the Quran, invocations, narrations, the discussions of great Divine scholars and God lovers:

Before delving into the matter, let me discuss on two issues: one is time, the other one is place. Time is a phenomenon which came into being with the first creature. It is nothing except the movement of power into action, the change of a truth into truer; and a progression which has an end to it.

Place is location and a container, in which all elements rest or from which they change place. The two words “the first”, and “the last” are beyond the concepts of time and place.

The first and the last, like the expressions “Ascendent over all” and “the Knower of the hidden things”, and like all other attributes of Allah refer to the Being of Allah, the Being which contains all features of perfection. In fact, these attributes are the same as the Being Himself. In Allah the being is the Attributes and the Attributes are the same as the Being.

The attribute of each thing is different from its other attributes. For instance, the attribute knowledgeable is different from a person’s other attributes such as “strong”, “Just”, or “generous”. But in Allah, the Almighty, there exists only unity. Regarding this issue, Imam Ali (s) says:

وَكَمالُ الاخلاصِ لَهُ نَفيُ الصِفاتِ عَنهُ.

“To show perfect sincerity towards Him is to negate all his other extra attributes”

To explain more, Allah’s attributes are not like the adjectives given to things; i.e., where adjectives are different from the things described. Allah’s Being is the first, the last, Cognizant, Wise, Hearer, Seer, Witness, Creator, Giver, and … all of which refer to the Unique truth.

The expression نَفيُ الصِّفاتِ عَنهُ means not to separate Allah’s Attributes from His Being. It is because there the adjectives and “things described” do not exist separately and side by side, because in Allah each attribute is Allah Himself, not an added adjective.

Allah is the First, but not the first that we imagine; He is the Last, but not the last which we conceive. The states of being First and Last are not bound by Time and Place and by other factors which are used in relation with other creatures. He is the First; it means He is the Origin of all works, hidden or apparent. He is the Goal of all hidden or apparent things. While he is the First, He is eternal; He is the Last; it means He is perpetual; not the first which has an origin, nor the last which rests on an end.

Somebody asked Imam Sadiq (s) the meaning of the holy verse: هُوَ الأوَّلُ و الآخِرُ, he answered:

الأوَّلُ لا عَن أوّل قَبْلَهُ، ولا عَنْ بَدءٍ سَبَقَهُ و آخِرٌ لا عَنْ نِِهايَةٍ كَما يُعقَلُ مِن صِفاتِ المَخْلُوقينَ، وَ لكِن قَديمٌ أوَّلٌ وآخِرٌ لَم يَزَل وَ لا يَزالُ بِلا بَدءٍ وَ لا نِهايَةٍ، لا يَقَعُ عَلَيهِ الحُدُوثُ، وَ لا يَحولُ مِن حالٍ إلى حالٍ، خالِقُ كُلِّ شَئٍ.

He is the First, not from a first prior to Himself and not from a precedent before Him. He is the Last, not from any end, as assumed in the case of creatures. He is the First, the Last, without any reference to any beginning or end. There is no place there for changing from one state into another. He is the Creator of all things.[5]

The Prophet (s) used to say to Him:

اللّهُمَّ اَنتَ الأوَّلُ فَلَيسَ قَبْلَكَ شَيئٌ وَ اَنتَ الآخِرُ فَلَيسَ بَعْدَكَ شَيئٌ.

O God, you are the First prior to whom there was nothing; and you are the Last after whom nothing exists.

Imam Ali (s), the sire of believers, has said:

لَيسَ لِأوَّليّتِهِ ابْتداءٌ وَلا لِأزَلِيّتِهِ اِنقِضاءٌ هُوَ الأوّلُ لَمْ يَزَل و البَاقي بِلا اَجَلٍٍ.

For His being First, there is no first; and for His being Last, there is no end, either. He is the First who has always been and is an Eternal for Whom there is no ene.

Imam Mojtaba (s) has said:

اَلحَمْدُ للهِ الّذي لَمْ يَكُن فيهِ أوّلٌ مَعْلُومٌ ولا آخِرٌ مُتَناهٍ.

Praise be upon the Being who has always been. He is the one for Whom there is no end, he is Everlasting. Our wisdom may not understand Him. Imam Ali (s) says in the first sermon of Nahjolbalaqa, which is a miracle by itself:

“Pious men when sincerely confessed to the Allah’s uniqueness, will see Him so clean that He will not need any attribute.

Never will He be attributed by any attribute; this is because when we describe, we think the adjectives with which the thing is described are different identities.

Thus, in describing Allah, it seems as though He had an associate; such an individual is far from reality, however.

Allah is a Being to whom non – existence will not apply. There is no beginning for His existence.

He is the factory for the warm life, but He will not receive any light or heat except from the Eternal Determination and the Power of Perpetuality”.[6]

I do not think that without the necessary requirements, to which we have already referred, an understanding of the science of the unknown world, two significant factors of which are monotheism and the recognition of Allah, would be feasible.

To reach the Divine truths, especially to grasp the depth of the supreme Divine concepts above all, an understanding of Allah’s names and attributes, would be impossible without requiring the plans which believers have raised in their essays. Up to the point when the obstacles are not removed from their hearts and souls, Individuals would not succeed in observing the Love’s beauty.

Many people of the world, even Moslems, are fond of the non – sense of this world: they spend most of their time satisfying their lusts and applying to their homes, shops, wealth, eating, and sleeping. They are exchanging their dear life with some schemes which are of no use to them. They would not go after truth; and even if they went after truths, since they could not enjoy it, they would become tired and would quit the endeavor. This all happens because some obstacles, either financial, ethical or practical, have engulfed their hearts and souls. This is the case not only of some scholars, but of general public. This kind of people can not reach the sublime position since when they gather wealth, they wish to become Qarun, Firon (pharaoh), and Bala’am.