Sins cause descending of tribulations

Sins Causing Tribulations

Three sins cause descending of tribulations; 1. Inattention to the pleading of an afflicted, 2. Not helping the oppressed, 3. Abandoning enjoining good and forbidding evil.

Inattention to the pleading of an afflicted

Someone who is broke, has lost a dear one, or is afflicted by any other trouble pleads with his religious brothers for removing his grief. Human ethics and compassion necessitates hurrying to reduce the sorrow of such a person. Those who hear the pleading of a grief-stricken person but do not rise to help him are not only unbelievers but also inhuman. The Messenger of Allah (s.a) stated:

مَنْ أصْبَحَ لا يَهْتَمُّ بِأمُورِ المُسْلِمِينَ فَلَيْسَ بِمُسْلِمٍ.

One who spends the night without attempting to solve Muslims’ problems is not considered a Muslim.[1]

Attending to the Muslims’ affairs and giving help and support to them, especially to those who plead for help is the recommendation of the Almighty, His Prophet (s.a) and the infallible Imams (a.s). Imam ¯¡diq (a.s) said:

مَنْ نَفَّسَ عَنْ مُؤمِنٍ كُرْبَةً نَفَّسَ اللهُ عَنْهُ كُرَبَ الآخِرَةِ وَخَرَجَ مِنْ قَبْرِهِ وَهُوَ ثَلِجُ الفُؤادِ، وَمَنْ أطْعَمَهُ مِنْ جُوعٍ أطْعَمَهُ اللهُ مِنْ ثِمَارِ الجَنَّةِ، وَمَنْ سَقَاهُ شُرْبَةً سَقَاهُ اللهُ مِنَ الرَّحِيقِ المَخْتُومِ.

One who removes the grief of a believer Muslim Allah would remove his sorrow in the Last Day, raising him from the grave wile he is delightful. And one who removes a believer’s hunger Allah would feed him with heavenly fruits. One who satisfies a believer’s thirst Allah would grant him rahiq-i makhtum (a sealed intact drink).[2]

Imam ¯¡diq (a.s) stated:

مَنْ أغَاثَ أخَاهُ المُؤمِنَ اللَّهْفَانَ اللَّهْثانَ عِنْدَ جَهْدِهِ فَنَفَّسَ كُرْبَتَهُ وَأعَانَهُ عَلَى نَجَاحِ حَاجَتِهِ كَتَبَ اللهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ لَهُ بِذَلِكَ ثِنْتَيْنِ وَسَبْعِينَ رَحْمَةً مِنَ اللهِ، يُعَجِّلُ لَهُ وَاحِدَةً يُصْلِحُ بِهَا أمْرَ مَعِيشَتِهِ وَيَدَّخِرُ لَهُ إحْدَى وَسَبْعِينَ رَحْمَةً لأفْزَاعِ يَوْمِ القِيَامَةِ وَأهْوَالِهِ.

Anyone who answers the pleading of his Muslim brother when he is thirsty and sorrowful, helping him to remove his sorrow and get his wish Allah records seventy two blessings for him. One of the blessings is given to him in this world for arranging his life, and saves the remaining seventy one blessings for his fear in the Last Day.[3]

Avoiding Helping the Oppressed

Helping the oppressed is so much important in Islam that Am¢r al-Mu’min¢n (a.s), in the last minutes of his life on the twenty third night of Ramadan, advised his sons Imam °asan and Imam °usayn (a.s):

كُونَا لِلظَّالِمِ خَصْماً وَلِلمَظْلُومِ عَوناً.

Be the rivals of the oppressors and the aids of the oppressed.[4]

This is the best Islamic motto and a practical one against oppression and for the oppressed.

The Messenger of Allah (s.a) said:

مَنْ أخَذَ لِلمَظْلُومِ مِنَ الظَّالِمِ كَانَ مَعِي فِي الجَنَّةِ مُصَاحِباً.

Anyone who regains the right of an oppressed person from an oppressor one would be my companion in Paradise.[5]

Imam `Al¢ (a.s) stated:

When you saw an oppressed person, help him against the oppressors.[6]

He also said:

أحْسَنُ العَدْلِ نُصْرَةُ المَظْلومِ.

The best act of justice is helping an oppressed individual.[7]

Imam ¯¡diq (a.s) stated:

مَا مِنْ مُؤمِنٍ يُعِينُ مُؤمِناً مَظْلُوماً إلاَّ كَانَ أفْضَلَ مِنْ صِيَامِ شَهْرٍ وَاعْتِكَافِهِ فِي المَسْجِدِ الحَرَامِ، وَمَا مِنْ مُؤمِنٍ يَنْصُرُ أخَاهُ وَهُوَ يَقْدِرُ عَلَى نُصْرَتِهِ إلاَّ وَنَصَرَهُ اللهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالآخِرَةِ، وَمَا مِنْ مُؤمِنٍ يَخْذُلُ أخَاهُ وَهُوَ يَقْدِرُ عَلَى نُصْرَتِهِ إلاَّ خَذَلَهُ اللهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا والآخِرَةِ.

No faithful Muslim helps an oppressed one except that his help is preferred to a month of fasting and seclusion for worship in Masjid al-Haram (the Sacred Mosque in Mecca). No believer Muslim helps his religious brother while he is able to do so, except that Allah would help him in this world and in the Hereafter. And no believer Muslim leaves his religious brother while he can help that brother, except that Allah would leave him in the world and in the Hereafter.[8]

The Messenger of Allah (s.a) stated:

وَعِزَّتِي وَجَلالِي: لأنْتَقِمَنَّ مِنَ الظَّالِمِ فِي عَاجِلِهِ وَآجِلِهِ، وَلأنْتَقِمَنَّ مِمَّنْ رَأى مَظْلُوماً فَقَدِرَ أنْ يَنْصُرَهُ فَلَمْ يَنْصُرْهُ.

The Almighty Allah says: ‘By My Glory and Might that I would certainly take revenge on the oppressor, and surely I would take revenge on anyone who could help the oppressed and refused to do so.’[9]

Abandoning Enjoining to Good and Forbidding Evil

Enjoining to Good and Forbidding Evil are two divine duties. Practicing these two duties is obligatory for anyone who has the necessary conditions; that is, he knows the good and the evil, and does good and avoids evil himself. Abandoning these two duties is a cardinal sin and brings about tribulations.

Enjoining to good and forbidding evil are two important axes of the religion for establishing which all the prophets (s.a), throughout history, were appointed to prophethood.

If these two tasks are discarded, the prophethood movement would stop, the religion would be annihilated, and negligence, corruption, and misguidance would spread everywhere. The cities would collapse and the people would perish. 

The Almighty states in the Holy Qur’¡n:

وَلْتَكُنْ مِنْكُمْ أُمَّةٌ يَدْعُونَ إِلَى الْخَيْرِ وَيَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنْ الْمُنْكَرِ وَأُوْلَئِكَ هُمْ الْمُفْلِحُونَ.

And from among you there should be a party who invite to good and enjoin what is right and forbid the wrong, and these it is that shall be successful. (3/104)

وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتُ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءُ بَعْضٍ يَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنْ الْمُنكَرِ.

And (as for) the believing men and the believing women, they are guardians of each other; they enjoin good and forbid evil. (9/71)

The Messenger of Allah (s.a) stated:

لَتَأْمُرُنَّ بِالمَعْرُوفِ وَلَتَنْهُنَّ عَنِ المُنْكَرِ، أوْ لَيُسْتَعْمَلُنَّ عَلَيْكُمْ شِرَارُكُمْ فَيَدْعُوا خِيَارُكُمْ ولا يُسْتَجَابُ لَهُمْ.

You people should enjoin good and forbid evil, or else Allah would dominate the wicked ones on you, and your honest ones would pray, but their supplications would not be accepted.[10]

إيَّاكُمْ وَالجُلُوسَ فِي الطُّرُقَاتِ. قَالوا: يَا رَسُولَ اللهِ، مَا لَنَا مِنْ مَجَالِسِنَا بُدٌّ، نَتَحَدَّثُ فِيها. قَالَ: إذَا أبَيْتُمْ إلاَّ الجُلُوسَ فَاعْطُوا الطَّرِيقَ حَقَّهَا. قَالُوا: وَمَا حَقُّ الطَّرِيقِ يَا رَسُولَ اللهِ؟ قَالَ: غَضُّ البَصَرِ، وَكَفُّ الأذَى، وَرَدُّ السَّلاَم،ِ وَالأمْرُ بِالمَعْرُوفِ، وَالنَّهْيُ عَنِ المُنْكَرِ.

The Prophet (s.a) said:

Avoid blocking the people’s way by sitting on the road. People said: We cannot help it; we have no other place to talk. The Prophet (s.a) answered: If you cannot help it, you should observe the rights of the roads. The disciples asked: What are the rights of the road? He replied: Not looking at strange passing women, not annoying the passing people, answering people’s greetings, and enjoining to good and forbidding evil.[11]

Prophet Mu¦ammad (s.a) also said:

كُلُّ كَلامِ ابْنِ آدَمَ عَلَيْهِ، لاَ لَهُ، إلاَّ أمْراً بِمَعْرُوفٍ، أوْ نَهياً عَنْ مُنْكَرٍ، أوْ ذِكْرَ اللهِ.

All the speeches of man are to his harm except his invocation to Allah and his enjoining good and forbidding evil.[12]

Imam al-B¡qir (a.s) stated: “Allah revealed to Prophet Shu’ayb (a.s): ‘I will chastise a hundred thousand people from your tribe; forty thousand of the evil doers and sixty thousand of the pious ones.’ Shu’ayb said: ‘O Lord! The wrongdoers should certainly be chastised, but why would You punish the pious ones too?’ The Almighty revealed to him: ‘The pious men were not well wishers to the wrongdoers, did not forbid them from evil doing, did not oppose them, and did not become wrathful to them because of My Wrath.’[13]

A man from Khath’am tribe came to Prophet Mu¦ammad (s.a) and said: “O Prophet! Inform me of the best Islamic rite!” The Messenger (s.a) said: “Belief in Allah.” The man said: “What is the best act after that?” He was answered: “Observing the kinship ties.” The man asked again: “What is next?” The Prophet (s.a) responded: “Enjoining to good and forbidding evil.” The questioner asked again: “Which deed is more hated by Allah?” The Messenger said: “Polytheism, then cutting kinship ties, and then enjoining to evil and forbidding from good.”[14]

اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِىَ كُلَّ ذَنْبٍ أَذْنَبْتُهُ وَكُلَّ خَطِيئَةٍ أَخْطَأْتُهَا

O Allah! Forgive me every sin I have committed and every mistake I have made!

When the attraction of wrongdoing is still not firm in human heart it causes occasional wrongdoing. The researchers call this wrongdoing zanb (sin). To them, khati’a (mistake) is the frequent committing of sins in all the times and places, and is the result of increasing attraction and stabilization of wrongdoing in human heart.

After asking forgiveness for all the sins that tear apart safeguards, bring down adversities, alter blessings, hold back supplications, and bring about tribulations, the beseecher human in Allah’s presence implores his Lord: “Forgive all my sins and mistakes I have done during my lifetime, either major or minor sins, intentional or unintentional ones, hidden or apparent, in childhood, adolescence or adulthood. No one can forgive all the sins except You, because You are the Merciful and the Generous One Who stated in Your Qur’¡n:

قُلْ يَا عِبَادِي الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ لا تَقْنَطُوا مِنْ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ.

‘Say: O my people who have been prodigal against yourselves, do not despair of Allah’s Mercy; surely Allah forgives sins altogether; surely He is the All-forgiving, the All-compassionate. (39/53)’

اَللَّهُمَّ إِنِّى أَتَقَرَّبُ إِلَيْكَ بِذِكْرِكَ

O Allah, verily I seek nearness to You through remembrance of You.

The Ruins of Remoteness

Human’s excessive belonging to material issues, to the extent that they become as a hard veil between him and his Lord, extreme inclination to sensual desires, being drowned in mere enjoyments, spending every minute of valuable life for gaining wealth, accompanying the negligent people, leaving goodness and charity, wastage of food, cloth, and property, inattention to the relatives and friends, negligence in doing obligatory deeds, committing unlawful acts, and lack of knowledge, are all signs of human residence in the ruins of remoteness from Allah.

This a ruin in which nothing is found but fraud, humbleness, devil hood, plunder, hypocrisy, lying, backbiting, slander, usury, betray, robbery, adultery, murder, proud, greed, stinginess, jealousy, hatred, enmity, wrath, and wrongdoing.

In this ruin, the treasure of humanity is seized by Satan, the precious life is wasted, human spiritual asset is spoiled, he is arrested by nihilism, ungratefulness, and disbelief, and entangled in permanent loss and misfortune.

The ruin is one in which the dealing is controlled by the Satan. Most people of this ruin are apparently humans, but animals in reality. They are engaged in useless acts, away from belief and reality, and stuck to whims and conjectures. Like a disbeliever’s grave, it is full of ornaments in appearance, but really full of severe chastisement.

It is a religious and logical obligation for the prisoner of ruins of remoteness to release himself from the material belongings and set out to the union country. By means of Allah’s remembrance, he can reach this union place of knowledge, virtues, trust, honesty, truth, serving, worship, compassion, piety, contentment, patience, reliance on Allah, perseverance, charity, and justice. In the country of union, he can taste the sweetness of nearness to Allah, be adorned with the divine ethics, and accompany the prophets (s.a), the truthful, and the martyrs.

The holy Qur’¡n comments on this informed and divine migration from all the evil to all the goodness:

وَمَنْ يُهَاجِرْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ يَجِدْ فِي الأَرْضِ مُرَاغَمًا كَثِيرًا وَسَعَةً وَمَنْ يَخْرُجْ مِنْ بَيْتِهِ مُهَاجِرًا إِلَى اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ ثُمَّ يُدْرِكْهُ الْمَوْتُ فَقَدْ وَقَعَ أَجْرُهُ عَلَى اللَّهِ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًا.

Whoso migrates for the cause of Allah will find much refuge and abundance in the earth, and whoso forsakes his home, a fugitive unto Allah and His messenger, and death overtakes him, his reward is then incumbent on Allah. Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful. (4/100)

Remembrance

The researchers believe that in the phrase ‘through your remembrance’, ‘through’ has a causative meaning. So the sentence means: ‘O Allah! I seek nearness to You by means of Your remembrance.’

The Meanings of ‘Remembrance’

Three meanings are mentioned for the word remembrance. 1. Hearty attention to Allah, 2. The Qur’¡n, 3. The Prophet (s.a) and his Household (a.s).

Hearty Attention to the Almighty

Remembrance of Allah is contrary to negligence. A person negligent of his Creator is not afraid of wasting his lifetime, committing unlawful deeds, violating other people’s rights, being deprived of worship, gaining unlawful wealth, and getting entangled in misfortunes.

A person who remembers Allah, on the other hand, is quite aware that his Lord has sent the prophets (s.a), revealed the heavenly books for guiding His servants, and set the Paradise for virtues and the Hell for vices. Such a servant spends his life in worshipping Allah, serving other people, avoiding the unlawful things, observing people’s rights, being pious, acquiring knowledge, obtaining sustenance lawfully, solving Muslims’ problems, fulfilling their needs, and helping the poor, and in all his endeavors he only seeks Allah’s content.

This remembrance of Allah, which is an internal tendency, gives human power to do virtues and achieve Allah’s nearness and taste the sweetness of worshipping the Almighty and serving the people.

Prophet Jonah’s tribe who had neglected Allah got subject to Allah’s chastisement. But then they remembered Allah again by the guidance of a pious wise man. They got weepy, repented, ran away to the desert, and hence sent the thundering cloud of chastisement away. They reached Allah’s closeness and spent the rest of their lives worshipping and serving Allah. They also died to benefit from His Mercy and His Paradise in the Hereafter.

Those sinners who moved away from misguidance to righteousness ended well. They compensated for their dark past by worshipping. They could reach such a position by Allah’s remembrance. Their repentance from their previous wrongdoing got a model for others and completed Allah’s argument for everyone.

Eminent figures like Asiyah (the wife of Pharaoh), the people of the Cave (Ashab-e Kahf), Bohlul Nabbash, Horr Ibn Yaz¢d, and Fu¤ayl Ayyaz who have illuminated the history with their purified hearts, are among those who remembered Allah to save themselves from misfortune and Satan’s deceit. They moved from a humble position to the high place of Allah’s nearness and Mercy.

The Holy Qur’¡n

The Compassionate Allah has mentioned Qur’¡n as Zikr (remembrance) in various Qur’¡nic verses, such as:

إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا الذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحَافِظُونَ.

It is We who have sent down the Remembrance, and We watch over it. (15:9)

The holy Qur’¡n includes rules and teachings applying which guarantee human prosperity in this world and the Hereafter. It is a perfect Book to be modeled in life. Human would need nothing in his life except that he can find about it in Qur’¡n. Qur’¡n guides human to the best and the most permanent way and gives good tidings of generous reward to those who follow it. Hearty attention to Qur’¡n and deep pondering in its verses removes ignorance and brings about wisdom. Following the goodness and avoiding the evil mentions in the Qur’¡n causes salvation and greatness. Following the Qur’¡n adorns human with every virtue and prohibits him from every vice, immunizing him against the worldly and heavenly dangers. From the past knowledge to the future forecast, the healing of problems, and the arrangement of everything in life originates from Qur’¡n.

The Messenger of Allah (s.a) benefited from the holy Qur’¡n to make the best people in the history out of the most ignorant ones. He saved the pagan Arabs from the Hell and moved them to the Paradise of guidance and prosperity. The Prophet (s.a) stated:

فَإذا الْتَبَسَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ الفِتَنُ كَقِطَعِ اللَّيْلِ المُظْلِمِ فَعَلَيْكُمْ بِالقُرْآنِ؛ فَإنَّهُ شَافِعٌ مُشَفِّعٌ، وَمَاحِلٌ مُصَدِّقٌ، وَمَنْ جَعَلَهُ أمَامَهُ قَادَهُ إلَى الجَنَّةِ، وَمَنْ جَعَلَهُ خَلْفَهُ سَاقَهُ إلَى النَّارِ.

When the adversities made the issues ambiguous for you, as darkness of the night, follow Qur’¡n, because its intercession and its complaint are accepted. Anyone who follows Qur’¡n would be taken to the Paradise by it, and anyone who ignores Qur’¡n would be taken to the Hell by it.[15]

Imam Al-Sajj¡d (a.s) stated:

لَوْ مَاتَ مَنْ بَيْنَ المَشْرِقَيْنِ وَالمَغْرِبَيْنِ لَمَا اسْتَوْحَشْتُ بَعْدَ أنْ يَكُونَ القُرْآنُ مَعِي.

If the humans from East to West die altogether, I would not be fearful, as long as Qur’¡n is with me.[16]

It is true; for Imam Al-Sajj¡d (a.s) in whose spirit Qur’¡nic verses had realized, there remains no room for fear in solitude. Hence he observed Allah with his spiritual insight, his spirit was illuminated with ethical verses. He practiced the rules stated in verses precisely and sincerely. He was so familiar with verses about the Hereafter, as if he saw himself on top of the salvation peak.

Also Imam Zayn Al-Abidin (a.s) said:

آيَاتُ القُرْآنِ خَزَائِنُ: فَكُلَّمَا فَتَحْتَ خَزِينَةً يَنْبَغِي لَكَ أنْ تَنْظُرَ مَا فِيهَا.

Qur’¡nic verses are treasure sites; so when each site is opened you’d better ponder carefully in it.[17]

One who ponders in Qur’¡nic verses and observes spiritual meanings of them, and then practices Qur’¡nic orders and matches his behaviors to them, would gain power to seek Allah’s nearness. By cause of Qur’¡n, which is Allah’s remembrance, he will be placed in Allah’s nearness and will benefit from seeing His Magnificence forever.

The Prophet and His Household

Al-B¡qir Al-Olum (a.s), the fifth Imam, has narrated an important tradition that includes major issues and lofty meanings. The late Koleyni, in his Al-K¡f¢, has narrated this tradition as the opening to the chapter on excellence of Qur’¡n. Imam al-B¡qir (a.s), explaining about the verse:

إِنَّ الصَّلاةَ تَنْهَى عَنْ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنْكَرِ، وَلَذِكْرُ اللَّهِ أَكْبَرُ.

Prayer forbids indecency and dishonor. Allah’s remembrance is greater. (29:45)

He states:

وَنَحْنُ ذِكْرُ اللهِ، وَنَحْنُ أكْبَرُ.

And we are Allah’s remembrance, and we are greater.[18]

“Remembrance” for sure means the Prophet (s.a) and twelve infallible Imams, who are the successors of Prophet’s belief, morality, knowledge, and insight. They are expositors of Qur’¡n, transmitters of rules, protectors of religion, and Allah’s trustees among people. These twelve Imams are actual realization of Qur’¡n and human’s guides toward salvation and rescue in the world and the Hereafter. They are the reminders of reality, caches of knowledge, and realization of Allah’s attributes. Since infallible Imams are speakers of Qur’¡n, Imam al-B¡qir (a.s) stated:

We are Allah’s remembrance, and we are greater.

Human belief is not complete without accepting their guardianship and science. Without obedience to their orders, one’s morality would be corrupted. And without inclusion in their leadership his deeds would be insufficient. His world would be unorganized and his Last Day would be covered by Allah’s Wrath.

The Prophet of Islam (a.s), in the last moments of his life, told his nation:

إنِّي تَارِكٌ فِيكُمُ الثَّقَلَيْنِ: كِتَابَ اللهِ وَعِتْرَتِي أهْلَ بَيْتِي، وَإنَّهُمَا لَنْ يَفْتَرِقَا حَتَّى يَرِدَا عَلَيَّ الحَوْضَ، مَا إنْ تَمَسَّكْتُمْ بِهِمَا لَنْ تَضِلُّوا بَعْدِي أبَداً.

I will leave two invaluable things among you; Qur’¡n and my Household. These two would not be separated from each other to be presented to me beside the River in Paradise. If you resort to these two precious things, you would never go astray after me.[19]

It is important to note that purifying the heart from the vices and adorning it with divine meanings and names, as well as keeping these virtues from Satan’s assault, continuous presence before Allah, awareness of His existence in every minute of life, practicing every obligatory deed, and doing anything for the wellness of people, are all “remembrance” of Allah.

Some of the pious persons, as well as some traditions suggest that the word ‘remembrance’ in Qur’¡nic verses and traditions denotes interior realities and practical deeds. ‘Remembrance’ is, in fact, actualization of Qur’¡n, Prophet’s prophet hood, and Imams traditions. And there is no way to seek Allah’s pleasure, but through His remembrance. If we refresh Allah’s remembrance in our hearts, practice Qur’¡nic verses, and follow the Prophet and Imams (a.s) whole-heartedly, we can gain Allah’s favor and attain prosperity.

When human heart embraces divine meanings and names of Allah, the impact of these meanings on his soul, mind, heart, and all organs becomes evident. Then a hot and sweat affection occupies his heart, and he becomes an instance of:

أَشَدُّ حُبّاً لِلَّهِ.

(Those of faith) are overflowing in their love for Allah. (2:165)

One who reaches this position is regarded as

رِجَالٌ لا تُلْهِيهِمْ تِجَارَةٌ وَلا بَيْعٌ عَنْ ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ.

Men whom neither traffic nor merchandise can divert from the Remembrance of Allah. (24:37)

This is a comprehensive position for humans, which places them in Allah’s succession on the earth.

It is in this high position that human is safe from Satan’s fraud. Nothing can distract him from Allah. He would know, want, and find nothing above Allah.

The Imam of the believers, `Al¢ (a.s), stated heartily:

مَا رَأيْتُ شَيْئاً إلاَّ رَأيْتُ اللهَ قَبْلَهُ وَمَعَهُ وَبَعْدَهُ.

I saw nothing except that I saw Allah before it, with it, an after it.

And trained by his divine insight and understanding, Sayyid Al-Shohada’, Imam Hossayn (a.s), who was in extreme thirst and hunger on ‘Ashura, surrounded by all calamities, beside seventy one of his martyred companions, and hearing the sound of weeping women and girls of the Household (a.s), put his bloody face on the earth, before his Beloved and said:

إلَهِي! رِضىً بِقَضَائِكَ وَصَبْراً عَلى بَلائِكَ وَتَسْلِيماً لأمْرِكَ، لا مَعْبُودَ لِي سِوَاكَ.

O Allah! I am happy with Your Wish, patient with Your examination, and surrendered to Your Order. There is no deity for me except You.

وَأَسْتَشْفِعُ بِكَ إِلَى نَفْسِكَ

I seek intercession from You with Yourself

This part of the valuable supplication denotes two facts. First, the supplicant has reached the peak of detachment from his Lord. Thus he ignores every worldly means and turns his heart to Allah and His Mercy. Because an intercessor should be one who is acceptable, and there is no doubt in acceptance of Allah’ intercession, the supplicant would seek intercession from Allah with Himself.

Second, he supplicant considers himself so much drenched in sins and disobedience that no intercession is beneficial for him, except the intercession of Allah himself, which saves him from wrongdoing, and releases him from the consequences of committing sins, and hence makes him subject to Allah’s Mercy. Therefore, the supplicant, with a broken heart says miserably:

وَأَسْتَشْفِعُ بِكَ إِلَى نَفْسِكَ...

I seek intercession from You with Yourself

The Meaning of Intercession

The insightful people know well the fact that intercession is a powerful person’s help to a weak one, who has a minimum of knowledge, belief, good deeds, and virtuous morality, but his weakness has caused his wrongdoing. His offence is not, of course, one that ha abolished his belief completely, but that has reduced his progress toward spiritual perfection, and deprived him from attaining Paradise. The Almighty has set the intercession position, out of Mercy, so that a powerful intercessor can help a sinner believer, by his own spirituality, save him from wrongdoing and the consequent chastisement in the Hereafter.

As a result, the intercession of the pious intercessors would not benefit the disbelievers, the polytheists, the hostile, and the hypocrites, as it is rightly mentioned in the Holy Qur’¡n:

كُلُّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ رَهِينَةٌ (38) إِلاَّ أَصْحَابَ الْيَمِينِ (39) فِي جَنَّاتٍ يَتَسَاءَلُونَ (40) عَنْ الْمُجْرِمِينَ (41) مَا سَلَكَكُمْ فِي سَقَرَ (42) قَالُوا لَمْ نَكُ مِنَ الْمُصَلِّينَ (43) وَلَمْ نَكُ نُطْعِمُ الْمِسْكِينَ (44) وَكُنَّا نَخُوضُ مَعَ الْخَائِضِينَ (45) وَكُنَّا نُكَذِّبُ بِيَوْمِ الدِّينِ (46) حَتَّى أَتَانَا الْيَقِينُ (47) فَمَا تَنْفَعُهُمْ شَفَاعَةُ الشَّافِعِينَ (48).

Every soul will be held in pledge for its deeds, except the Companions of the Right Hand. They will be in Gardens of Delight; they will question each other. And ask of the Sinners: ‘What led you into Hell-Fire?’ They will say: ‘We were not of those who prayed; nor were we of those who fed the indigent; but we used to talk vanities with vain talkers; and we used to deny the Day of Judgment, until there came to us the Hour that is certain.’ Then will no intercession of any intercessors profit them. (47:38-48)

Intercession-help of a powerful believer to a weak one who has still spiritual signs- is the last phase in the Day of Judgment, and prevents from being sent to Hell, or brings out from it. The reasons for effect of intercession are Allah’s embracing mercy, high position of intercessor, and the worth of the sinner believer[20].

The Conditions for Intercession

Based on the Qur’¡nic verses and the traditions of Prophet’s Household (a.s), one who is hopeful of intercession should possess belief and good deeds, to the extent necessary to be able to compensate for his faults via the divine Mercy in the world, and recompense his disability via intercession in the Hereafter, and reach Paradise. Or if he was sent to Hell for his burden of sins he can exit the Hell because of intercessions.

The intercessors of the World and Hereafter

The Qur’¡nic verses and traditions reveal that the intercessors, in this world and the next world, are belief, righteousness, repentance, Qur’¡n, prophets, Imams, martyrs, righteous believers, and theology scholars. As these intercessors save the disbelievers from ignorance and become believers in the world, in the Hereafter, too, they help the wrongdoers to compensate for their faulty deeds and are thus rescued.

Therefore, intercession has its own sphere in Islam. It is an Islamic principle whose denier is out of the sphere of Islam.

The Intercession of Belief

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَآمِنُوا بِرَسُولِهِ يُؤْتِكُمْ كِفْلَيْنِ مِنْ رَحْمَتِهِ وَيَجْعَلْ لَكُمْ نُورًا تَمْشُونَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ.

O believers! Fear Allah and believe in His Messenger, and He will give you a twofold portion of His Mercy, and He will appoint for you a light whereby you walk, and forgive you; Allah is All-Forgiving, All-Compassionate. (57:28)

The Intercession of Good deeds

وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَهُمْ مَغْفِرَةٌ وَأَجْرٌ عَظِيمٌ.

To those who believe and do deeds of righteousness has Allah promised forgiveness and a great reward. (5:9)

The Intercession of Repentance

Mo’awiya Ibn Wahab says: “I heard Imam ¯¡diq saying:

إذَا تَابَ العَبْدُ تَوبَةً نَصُوحاً أحَبَّهُ اللهُ وَسَتَرَ عَلَيْهِ... يُنْسِي مَلَكَيْهِ مَا كَانَا يَكْتُبَانِ عَلَيْهِ، وَيُوحِي إلَى جَوارِحِهِ وَإلَى بِقَاعِ الأرْضِ أنْ اكْتُمِي عَلَيْهِ ذُنُوبَهُ؛ فَيَلْقَى اللهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ حِينَ يَلْقَاهُ وَلَيْسَ شَيْءٌ يَشْهَدُ عَلَيْهِ بِشَيْءٍ مِنَ الذُّنُوبِ.

‘If a servant repents sincerely, Allah would love him and cover his faults in the world and the Hereafter.’ I asked Imam ¯¡diq (a.s): ‘How will Allah cover them?’ Imam (a.s) replied: ‘He will make the two angels, in charge of that servant, forget all about his sins they have recorded, and will reveal to his body organs to do so. So the servant would meet Allah while there is no record of his sins.’[21]

The Intercession of Qur’¡n

The Messenger of Allah (s.a) stated:

إذَا الْتَبَسَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ الفِتَنُ كَقِطَعِ اللَّيْلِ المُظْلِمِ فَعَلَيْكُمْ بِالقُرْآنِ؛ فَإنَّهُ شَافِعٌ مُشَفِّعٌ، وَمَاحِلٌ مُصَدِّقٌ.

When calamities surround you like the darkness of night seek refuge to Qur’¡n, for Qur’¡n is an intercessor whose intercession would be accepted. And it is a complainer whose complaint would be confirmed.[22]

Many traditions are mentioned in Bi¦¡r al-Anw¡r, Mahajjat Al-Bayza’, and other valuable tradition books to which the readers can refer.

وَأَسْألُكَ بِجُودِكَ أَن تُدْنِيَنِى مِن قُرْبِكَ
وَأَن تُوزِعَنِى شُكْرَكَ وَأَن تُلْهِمَنِى ذِكْرَكَ

And I ask You through Your Munificence, to bring me nearer to Your Mercy, to bless me with gratitude to You and to inspire me with Your remembrance.

The Commander of the Believers (s.a), in these divine phrases, asks Allah three positions belonging to His devotee servants; the nearness, the gratitude and the remembrance positions.

Obtaining these three positions is, undoubtedly, not possible but through Allah’s Munificence and His Mercy. If He benefit not the devotee servants with interest in and means for gaining these heavenly positions, and help not him in eliminating dark veils and reaching light ones, the servant would not reach the positions. That is why the supplicant asks His Munificence and Mercy, so that these attributes of Allah would realize in his life, thus helping him reach heavenly positions.

For getting a little of Allah’s Munificence and Mercy and their effect on human life, it is deserved to take a look at some phrases from the valuable ‘Arafa supplication of Imam °usayn (a.s), so that we will understand that by resorting to Allah’s Mercy and ignoring any other worldly sources, one can gain spiritual positions:

فَلَكَ الْحَمْدُ وَالشّكْرُ يَا مَنْ أَقَالَ عَثْرَتِي، وَنَفّسَ كُرْبَتِي، وَأَجَابَ دَعْوَتِي، وَسَتَرَ عَوْرَتِي، وَغَفَرَ ذُنُوبِي، وَبَلّغَنِي طَلِبَتِي، وَنَصَرَنِي عَلَى عَدُوّي، وَإِنْ أَعُدّ نِعَمَكَ وَمِنَنَكَ وَكَرَائِمَ مِنَحِكَ لا أُحْصِيهَا، يَا مَوْلايَ أَنْتَ الّذِي مَنَنْتَ، أَنْتَ الّذِي أَنْعَمْتَ،  أَنْتَ الّذِي أَحْسَنْتَ،  أَنْتَ الّذِي أَجْمَلْتَ،  أَنْتَ الّذِي أَفْضَلْتَ،  أَنْتَ الّذِي أَكْمَلْتَ،  أَنْتَ الّذِي رَزَقْتَ،  أَنْتَ الّذِي وَفّقْتَ،  أَنْتَ الّذِي أَعْطَيْتَ،  أَنْتَ الّذِي أَغْنَيْتَ،  أَنْتَ الّذِي أَقْنَيْتَ،  أَنْتَ الّذِي آوَيْتَ،  أَنْتَ الّذِي كَفَيْتَ،  أَنْتَ الّذِي هَدَيْتَ،  أَنْتَ الّذِي عَصَمْتَ،  أَنْتَ الّذِي سَتَرْتَ،  أَنْتَ الّذِي غَفَرْتَ،  أَنْتَ الّذِي أَقَلْتَ،  أَنْتَ الّذِي مَكّنْتَ،  أَنْتَ الّذِي أَعْزَزْتَ،  أَنْتَ الّذِي أَعَنْتَ،  أَنْتَ الّذِي عَضَدْتَ،  أَنْتَ الّذِي أَيّدْتَ،  أَنْتَ الّذِي نَصَرْتَ،  أَنْتَ الّذِي شَفَيْتَ،  أَنْتَ الّذِي عَافَيْتَ، أَنْتَ الّذِي أَكْرَمْتَ، تَبَارَكْتَ وَتَعَالَيْتَ، فَلَكَ الْحَمْدُ دَائِماً، وَلَكَ الشّكْرُ وَاصِباً أَبَداً.

Therefore, praise is for Thee, and also thankfulness. O He who overlooked my lapses, relieved me from anxiety and grief, gave answer to my call, covered up my shortcomings, exempted me from (the consequences of) my wrongdoing, let me have that which I asked for, helped me to get the better of my adversary, and (how many of) Thy bounties, favors and blessings, I asked for and got, cannot be counted. O my Lord-Master. Thou (it is) who: bestowed benefits, overwhelmed with bounties, granted favors, treated with kindness, gave more and more, brought to fullness, made available means of sustenance, rendered (things and events) convenient and useful, donated endowments, relieved from privation, imported, strength and influence, allowed to take refuge in Thy sanctuary; arranged supplies adequate to wants, showed the right path, watched over, covered up, cancelled penalty, made allowances, implanted fearlessness and fortitude, made a present of honor and glory, assisted by aid, strengthened by encouragement, lent a helping hand, gave occasion to succeed, restored to health, kept up well-being and welfare, gave respect and did favors. Thou gives blessings, and high rewards, so, praise is for Thee, for ever, thanks are for Thee, in unbroken succession, till eternity.[23]

It is worthy as well to review parts of Abu Hamza Thomali supplication, which was the prayer of Imam Zayn Al-Abidin (a.s) on Ramadan nights. It helps get a bit of Allah’s Munificence:

سَيّدِي أَنَا الصّغِيرُ الّذِي رَبّيْتَهُ وَأَنَا الْجَاهِلُ الّذِي عَلّمْتَهُ وَأَنَا الضَّالّ الّذِي هَدَيْتَهُ وَأَنَا الْوَضِيعُ الّذِي رَفَعْتَهُ وَأَنَا الْخَائِفُ الّذِي آمَنْتَهُ وَالْجَائِعُ الّذِي أَشْبَعْتَهُ وَالْعَطْشَانُ الّذِي أَرْوَيْتَهُ وَالْعَارِي الّذِي كَسَوْتَهُ وَالْفَقِيرُ الّذِي أَغْنَيْتَهُ وَالضّعِيفُ الّذِي قَوّيْتَهُ وَالذّلِيلُ الّذِي أَعْزَزْتَهُ وَالسّقِيمُ الّذِي شَفَيْتَهُ وَالسَّائِلُ الّذِي أَعْطَيْتَهُ وَالْمُذْنِبُ الّذِي سَتَرْتَهُ وَالْخَاطِئُ الّذِي أَقَلْتَهُ وَأَنَا الْقَلِيلُ الّذِي كَثّرْتَهُ وَالْمُسْتَضْعَفُ الّذِي نَصَرْتَهُ وَأَنَا الطّرِيدُ الّذِي آوَيْتَهُ.

O my Master! I am the little that You have brought up And I am the ignorant that You have taught And I am the straying that You have guided And I am the humble that You have given rise And I am the afraid that You have given security And I am the hungry that You have satiated And I am the thirsty that You have watered And I am the naked that You have dressed And I am the poor that You have given affluence And I am the weak that You have strengthened And I am the lowly that You have given mighty And I am the ill that You have cured And I am the beggar that You have donated And I am the sinner that You have covered And I am the guilty that You have excused And I am the valueless that You have evaluated And I am the helpless that You have backed And I am the expelled that You have boarded.[24]

A devotee servant can thus reach Allah’s nearness by resorting to His Munificence and Mercy.

The Nearness Position

This is the last and the highest position of Allah’s devotee servants. Through Allah’s Munificence and Mercy, the servant avoids unlawful acts, continues doing good deeds, obeys Allah’s Messenger and his Household (a.s), accompanies Allah’s friends, and hence gradually reaches His nearness. Reaching nearness of Allah is surely possible for all servants through worshipping and obeying Him. When the servant attains nearness, his heart would be filled with the essence of belief, and everything other than Allah gets passing for him. Such a servant would be Allah’s successor on the earth, and would act godly, on his part, as is stated in a divine tradition:

عَبْدِي أطِعْنِي حَتَّى اَجْعَلَكَ مِثْلِي: تَقُلْ لِلْشَيْءِ ’كُنْ‘ فَيَكُونُ.

My servant! Obey Me so that I will set you an example of Myself, in terms of Power and Inclination. I say ‘Be!’ to something, and it becomes immediately, then you will say ‘Be!’ to something and it becomes immediately, too.[25]

Another Divine tradition reads:

أنَا مَلِكٌ حَيٌّ لا أمُوتُ أبَداً، عَبْدِي اَطِعْنِي اَجْعَلْكَ مَلِكاً حَيّاً لاَ تَمُوتُ أبَداً.

I am an alive King who never dies. Obey Me, My servant, so that I would set you, too, as an alive king who never dies.[26]

The insightful persons believe that the purpose of all worships, prayers, and obedience is reaching Allah’s nearness. If one does his worships, with all necessary conditions and with this same purpose, he would reach the high position of nearness, and his inclination would be lost in Allah’s Will. In his heart, there would remain nothing, but Allah’s Will, so he can do Godly deeds, if he wants.

When the servant moves toward his Lord through worship and obedience, he gets subject to Allah’s Mercy and Glorious names for each step forward. But His Mercy approaches the servant uniquely faster than the servant’s approach toward Him, hence we read in another Divine tradition:

مَنْ تَقَرَّبَ اِلَيَّ شِبْراً تَقَرَّبْتُ اِلَيْهِ ذِرَاعاً، وَمَنْ تَقَرَّبَ اِلَيَّ ذِرَاعاً تَقَرَّبْتُ اِلَيْهِ بَاعاً، وَمَنْ أتَانِي مَشْياً أتَيْتُ اِلَيْهِ هَرْوَلَةً.

When one approaches Me as far as a span I would approach him as far as a cubit, and if he walks to Me, I would run to him.[27]

Therefore the result of worship and obedience is nearness to Allah, and the position of Allah’s ‘favorite servants’ is considered as a high position in Qur’¡nic verses and the traditions. To the insightful people, all deeds and attributes of Allah’s favorite servants are transient, in comparison to Allah’s; their speech is a ray of His Divine Speech; and their will is as Allah’s Will. This view is based on significant Divine traditions narrated by the Prophet (s.a) and his Household (a.s), like the following:

اِنَّ اللهَ يَقُولُ: لاَ يَزَالُ عَبْدٌ يَتَقَرَّبُ اِلَيَّ بِالنَّوَافِلِ حَتَّى أُحِبَّهُ فَأكُونُ أنَا سَمْعَهُ الَّذِي يَسْمَعُ بِهِ وَبَصَرَهُ الَّذِي يُبْصِرُ بِهِ وَلِسَانَهُ الَّذِي يَنْطِقُ بِهِ وَقَلْبَهُ الَّذِي يَعْقِلُ بِهِ؛ فَإذَا دَعَانِي أجَبْتُهُ وإذَا سَألَنِي أعْطَيْتُهُ.

The Almighty says: My favorite servants seek nearness to Me through Nafila (recommended prayers) to the extent that I would love him. This way, I become his ear to hear, his eye to see, his tongue to talk, his heart to think, so that when he calls Me I would answer him, and when he requests Me I would grant him.[28]

The Prophet of Islam (s.a) stated:

كَلاَمُ المُتَّقِينَ بِمَنْزِلَةِ الوَحْيِ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ إذَا وُجِدَتْ كَلِمَةٌ عَلَى لِسَانِ بَعْضِهِمْ فَقِيلَ لَهُ: مَنْ حَدَّثَكَ بِهَذِهِ؟ فَيَقُولُ: حَدَّثَنِي قَلْبِي عَنْ فِكْرِي عَنْ سِرِّي عَنْ رَبِّي.

The speech of Allah’s pious servants has an equal stance as heavenly revelation. So when some of them speak they are asked: ‘Are you talking on behalf of someone?’ They would answer: ‘My heart talked to me from my mind, my mind from my inside, and my inside talked to me from my Lord.’[29]

The highest such position belonged to the Prophet of Islam (s.a), so he said:

مَنْ رَآنِي فَقَد رَأى الحَقَّ.

One who sees me has undoubtedly seen the Truth.[30]

And he also stated:

لِي مَعَ اللهِ وَقْتٌ لاَ يَسَعُنِي فِيهِ مَلَكٌ مُقَرَّبٌ وَلاَ نَبِيٌّ مُرْسَلٌ.

There is a special time for me with Allah in which no favorite angel, or prophet is allowed.[31]

After the Prophet (s.a), the second nearest position to Allah is for Imam `Al¢ (a.s) who stated:

مَعْرِفَتِي بِالنُّورَانِيَّةِ مَعْرِفَةُ اللهِ.

Knowing me is possible through knowing Allah’s Light.[32]

Wonders of Favorite Servants

1. Hajj Sayyid `Al¢ Qazi

My great Fiqh wa Osul professor, the late Ayatollah Hajj Shaykh Abulfazl Najafi Khansari, was sick. Some months before his demise, I went to meet him and asked him to tell me any wonders he remembered of his late professor, the late Hajj Sayyid `Al¢ Qazi. He said: “One night, we went to Kufah mosque, along with the professor and some other students of him. We began worshipping besides him and beseeched the Almighty. Then we got ready to exit the mosque. Suddenly, a big and dangerous snake approached us. Everybody got frightened except our professor, who was always calm. With his usual tranquility, he turned to the snake and said: ‘Die!’ The snake remained still as a stick, and we went out of the mosque peacefully. After a while, a friend of us went back to see if the snake had died by the professor’s call. He struck the snake to find it dead and returned to us to head for Najaf. The professor turned to him and said: ‘The snake died with my command. It was not necessary for you to investigate about it.’”

2. Mirza ±¡hir Tonekaboni

Mirza ±¡hir Tonekaboni, a contemporary philosopher, said: “I came out of Sepahsalar school in Tehran’s Baharestan square and saw a sayyid man on the other side of the street. I recognized he was a previous classmate of mine, so I went to him to greet him. Then I took him to my room at the school. It was cold and I poured him a cup of tea. Then he asked me to go to Qom with him for pilgrimage. I told him that it was so difficult in such a cold night, but he still insisted until I accepted it. Suddenly he said this is Qom! I found myself in the holy shrine of Hazrat Ma’suma (s.a). I picked an object from there and put it in my pocket to assure of our presence there. After finishing our pilgrimage, he said this is Tehran! And I found ourselves sitting in my warm room in the school and that object was still with me.”

3. J¡bir Ja’fi

J¡bir Ja’fi was Imam al-B¡qir’s disciple and Imam ¯¡diq (a.s) knew him as his father’s companion in the world and the Hereafter. Some people went to him and asked his help for building a mosque. J¡bir said: “I won’t help in building a place in which a believer man falls down and dies!” The people left him while they regarded him both a stingy and a liar! They began building the mosque the next morning. On the evening though, the builder fell down the scaffold and died. The people then found out that J¡bir has not been stingy nor liar.[33]

‘Ala’ Ibn Sharik says: Husham Ibn Abdul Malik invited J¡bir Ja’fi and I accompanied him. On the way, we crossed a shepherd and his cattle. A sheep from his cattle bleated. J¡bir laughed at it. I asked him the reason and he said: “This sheep is telling its lamb to leave this district, because a wolf picked its lamb last year.” I was surprised and went to the shepherd to investigate about it. I asked him to sell me that lamb, but he refused and said: “The sheep once had the best milk, but didn’t have milk from last year, because a wolf took its lamb. This year it has a lamb and milk again.” Then we moved until we reached Kufah Bridge. There was a man there with a ruby ring. J¡bir took his ring to have a look at it and then throw it into the water of Forat river. The owner of the ring got very unhappy. Then J¡bir stretched his hand toward the water and water came to him, bringing the ring. J¡bir took the ring from the water and gave it to its owner![34]

The Gratitude Position

This is a position for gaining which Allah’s favorite servants attempted a lot to reach. It is so high a position that few human beings can obtain it:

وَقَلِيلٌ مِنْ عِبَادِي الشَّكُورُ.

But few of My servants are grateful. (34:13)

The valuable narrator, the late Mullah Mohammad Al-B¡qir Majlesi says about the gratitude position:

الشُّكْرُ الإعْتِرَافُ بِالنِّعْمَةِ ظَاهِراً وَبَاطِناً وَمَعْرِفَةُ المُنْعِمِ وَصَرْفُهَا فِي مَا أمَرَ بِهِ.

Gratitude is acknowledging the blessings, and the Provider of the blessings, and spending our blessings in ways we are ordered.[35]

Imam ¯¡diq (a.s) stated:

شُكْرُ النِّعْمَةِ اجْتِنَابُ المَحَارِمِ.

Being grateful of Allah’s blessings is avoiding all that is unlawful.[36]

At the end of his sermon on ‘Ashura night, Imam °usayn (a.s) asked the Almighty:

فَاجْعَلْنَا مِنَ الشَّاكِرِينَ.

O Lord! Set us as Your grateful servants.[37]

Raghib Isfahani says: “Gratitude has three levels; hearty, verbal, and practical. Hearty gratitude is knowing the blessing as well as the Provider of the blessing. Verbal gratitude is confessing to the blessings. And practical gratitude is consuming the blessing in ways Allah has ordered.

Imam ¯¡diq (a.s) has narrated the following:

إنَّ اللهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ أوْحَى اِلَى مُوسَى: يَا مُوسَى! إشْكُرْنِي حَقَّ شُكْرِي. فَقَالَ: يَا رَبِّ! وَكَيْفَ أشْكُرُكَ حَقَّ شُكْرِكَ وَلَيْسَ مِنْ شُكْرٍ الاَّ وَأنْتَ أنْعَمْتَ عَلَيَّ؟ قَالَ: يَا مُوسَى! الآنَ شَكَرْتَنِي حَيْثُ عَلِمْتَ أنَّ ذَلِكَ مِنِّي.

The Almighty revealed to Moses (a.s): O Moses! Be grateful to Me as I deserve it! Moses said: O Lord! How should I be grateful to You, as You deserve it, while I thank You for Your blessings by my tongue that in another blessing of You? The Almighty stated: O Moses! You are grateful now, as you understood that even your tongue is My blessing.[38]

We read in ‘Arafa supplication of Imam °usayn (a.s):

وَلَوْ حَرَصْتُ أَنَا وَالْعَادّونَ مِنْ أَنَامِكَ أَنْ نُحْصِيَ مَدَى إِنْعَامِكَ سَالِفِهِ وَآنِفِهِ مَا حَصَرْنَاهُ عَدَداً، وَلا أَحْصَيْنَاهُ أَمَداً.

If I crave for more, taken up with greed to have an idea about Thy bounties, given and to be given (with the help of expert accountants), we shall neither be able to fence in the sum total, nor reckon, (nor) agree with each other; also from where and how all that was made available![39]

Prophet David (a.s) said to Allah:

يَا رَبِّ! كَيْفَ اَشْكُرُكَ وَالشُّكْرُ نِعْمَةٌ مِنْكَ أحْتَاجُ اِلَيْهَا اِلَى شُكْرٍ آخَرَ؟ فَقَالَ اللهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: يَا دَاوُدُ! إذَا عَلِمْتَ أنَّ مَا بِكَ مِنْ نِعْمَةٍ فَمِنِّي، فَقَدْ شَكَرْتَنِي.

My Lord! How can I thank You while my thank is itself another blessing of Yours for which I should thank You again? He was answered by the Almighty: O David! If you know that you have every blessing from Me, you have already thanked for it.

The aforementioned traditions involve verbal gratitude. The highest level of gratitude, which is the practical one, is certain belief, doing good deeds, being virtuous, and avoiding all sins.

The Wonderful Account of a Grateful Servant

Musmi’ Ibn Abdul Malik says: “In Mina ’ land, we were eating grapes in the presence of Imam ¯¡diq (a.s), when a poor man came and asked Imam (a.s) for help. Imam (a.s) said: ‘Give him some grapes!’ Offered with grapes, he rejected it and asked for money. Imam (a.s) told him: ‘May Allah grant you!’ The poor man went and returned after a while and asked for the grapes. Imam ¯¡diq (a.s) told him again: ‘May Allah grant you!’ Then another poor man came to us and asked for help. Imam ¯¡diq (a.s) gave him three beans from the grape brunch. The man took them and said: ‘All praise belongs to the Lord of the worlds who fed me.’ Imam ¯¡diq (a.s) gave him two handfuls of grape for the second time. The man thanked Allah again. Then Imam (a.s) turned to his servant and asked him: ‘How much money do you have with you?’ The servant brought twenty drachmas and Imam (a.s) gave it to the poor man. Once more, the man said: ‘All Praise belongs to Allah who granted me blessings; the One deity.’ Afterwards, Imam ¯¡diq (a.s) put off his own cloth and gave it away to him and told him: ‘Put on this garb!’ Having put on the cloth, the poor man said: ‘All Praise is for Allah who dressed me. May Allah grant you reward!’ The poor man thanked Imam ¯¡diq (a.s) and went away.”[40]

The great philosopher and pious scholar, Mullah Mohsin Fayz al-K¡sh¡n¢, in his book Wafi narrates from an infallible Imam: “When a servant finishes his prayer and then genuflects and thanks his Lord for all His blessings, Allah addresses His angels: ‘My servant ended his obligatory prayer and is now appreciating Me. What should I grant him?’ The angels reply: ‘Lord! Grant him his wishes!’ They are then addressed: ‘I granted him his wishes.’ Then the angels ask Allah to save the servant in the Last Day, expand his sustenance, and bestow on him righteous children. As long as that servant is thanking Allah in his genuflection, Allah addresses the angels and they pray. Then the angels would say: ‘Lord! We asked You to grant Your servant whatever goodness we knew.’ They are then addressed: ‘I know what to grant him next; he appreciated Me, and I will thank him by opening the doors of Blessings to his life.’”

The Remembrance Position

The remembrance phrases Allah inspires on the servant after purification of his heart are different from those found in books. The inspired remembrance leads to salvation in this world and the next world and manifests facts for the pious servants that are hidden to other ignorant servants. It is not merely words, rather the means for reaching the nearness of Allah. By inspiration of remembrance words, human comes to discern his Lord better, and becomes prepared to devote himself to his Beloved, saying, like Imam °usayn (a.s):

I have left all Your creaturesfor your sake.

And I have orphaned my family to meet You

If You tear me to pieces in love,

My heart shall never incline to other than You!”

The inspired remembrance is the one uttered by Imam Al-Sajj¡d (a.s) in Khamsa ‘Ashar supplication:

وَآنِسْنَا بِالذِّكْرِ الخَفِيِّ وَاسْتَعْمِلْنَا بِالعَمَلِ الذَّكِيِّ وَالسَّعْيِ المَرْضِيِّ.

And familiarize us with your hidden remembrance, and engage us in virtuous deeds and attempt.[41]

The Prophet of Islam (s.a) stated:

لاَ يَزَالُ المُؤْمِنُ الَّذِي يَذْكُرُ اللهَ فِي كُلِّ حَالٍ فِي أنْوَارٍ خَمْسٍ: مَدْخَلُهُ نُورٌ وَمَخْرَجُهُ نُورٌ، وَكَلامُهُ نُورٌ، وَغِذَاؤهُ نُورٌ، وَمَنْظَرُهُ يَوْمَ القِيَامَةِ اِلَى النُّورِ.

A pious believer who always remembers Allah is placed in five illuminated states; his entrance is light, his exit is light, his speech is light, his food is light, and his view in the Day of Judgment is toward light.[42]

For Allah’s pious favorite servants nothing is more sweat than His remembrance, and Allah’s remembrance does not appear deeply in one’s heart except that his heart is cleansed from worldly affections. This purification is only possible through worshipping and avoiding sins and vices.

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّى أَسْألُكَ سُؤَالَ خَاضِعٍ مُّتَذَلِّلٍ خَاشِعٍ أَن تُسَامِحَنِى وَتَرْحَمَنِى وَتَجْعلَنِى بِقَسَمِكَ رَاضِيًا قَانِعًا، وَفِى جَمِيعِ الأَحْوَاِل مُتَوَاضِعًا.

O Allah! Verily I ask You with the asking of a submissive, abased and lowly man to show me forbearance, to have mercy on me and to make me satisfied and content with Your apportionment, and humble in every state.

Four Requests from the Almighty

If a supplication is done in the darkness of night with a humble heart, a submissive appearance and tearful eyes, it is undoubtedly more probable to be accepted. The Almighty revealed to Prophet Moses (a.s):

يَا بْنَ عِمْرَانَ! هَبْ لِي مِنْ قَلْبِكَ الخُشُوعَ، وَمِنْ بَدَنِكَ الخُضُوعَ، وَمِنْ عَيْنَيْكَ الدُّمُوعَ فِي ظُلَمِ اللَّيْلِ، وَادْعُني فَإنَّكَ تَجِدُنِي قَرِيباً مُجِيباً.

O son of Imran! Bring to My Presence submission of your heart, humbleness of your body, and tears of your eyes in the darkness of night and then call Me, you would then find Me near and compliant.[43]

In this section of Kumayl supplication, the supplicant humbly asks Allah four requests and he should hope that his humbleness and submission would bring his supplication to compliance. These four requests are: 1. Allah’s forbearance toward him, 2. His Mercy for him, 3. Satisfaction with Allah’s apportionment, and 4. Humbleness in all states of his life.

The supplicant should bear in mind that based on the principle of

إِنْ أَحْسَنتُمْ أَحْسَنتُمْ لأَنفُسِكُمْ.

If you do good, you will do good for your own souls. (17/7)

Anyone who does good has done it to himself, gaining Allah’s forbearance is not possible but through lenity to His servants, and gaining His Mercy is only possible through compassion to all the Muslim believers and anyone who deserves it. One who is not lenient and merciful to others would not be subject to Allah’s forbearance and Mercy.

Forbearance

Islam has forbidden all Muslims from hostility and jealousy toward each other and cutting ties of kinship, and invited everyone to lenity and compassion toward others. It has considered the believers as moral brothers and presented valuable rights of brotherhood in this regard that are recommended and sometimes obligatory for them to be observed.

Making moral and brotherhood relationships and continuing it is the result of purity from moral vices. Human vices, such as proud, egotism, greed, stinginess, and jealousy avoid compassion and mercy among people and families.

The Messenger of Allah (a.s), in a significant tradition, has warned people against moral vices and encouraged them to observe brotherhood rights:

لاَ تَدَابَروا وَلاَ تَحَاسَدوا وَلاَ تَقَاطَعوا، وَكُونُوا عِبَادَ اللهِ اِخْواناً؛ اَلمُسْلِمُ أخُو المُسْلِمِ لاَ يَظْلِمُهُ وَلاَ يَحْرِمُهُ وَلاَ يَخْذُلُهُ.

Do not be hostile toward each other, and not be angry with each other, do not be jealous of each other, do not cut ties of friendship, and befriend each other! Muslims are brothers, a Muslim does not oppress his Muslim brothers, does not deprive him from his compassion and his wealth, and does not leave him alone.[44]

He also stated:

مُدَارَاةُ النَّاسِ نِصْفُ الإيمَانِ، وَالرِّفْقُ بِهِمْ نِصْفُ العَيْشِ.

Lenience with people is half the belief and compassion to them is half the life.[45]

And he said:

رَحِمَ اللهُ امْرَءً سَهَّلَ الْبَيْعَ وَسَهَّلَ الشِّرَاءَ وَسَهَّلَ الاقْتِضَاءَ.

May Allah forgive the one who is lenient in buying and selling goods, and in collecting debts.[46]

The Prophet (s.a) has stated as well:

مَنْ أنْظَرَ مُعْسِراً أو تَرَكَ حَاسَبَهُ اللهُ حِسَاباً يَسِيراً.

One who respites a debtor or leaves him Allah would account for his deeds leniently.[47]

It is also narrated from the Prophet (s.a):

إنَّ رَجُلاً كَانَ مُسْرِفاً عَلَى نَفْسِهِ، حُوسِبَ فَلَمْ تُوجَدْ لَهُ حَسَنَةٌ، فَقِيلَ لَهُ: هَلْ عَمِلْتَ خَيْراً قَطُّ؟ فَقَالَ: لاَ، إلاَّ أنِّي كُنْتُ رَجُلاً أُدَايِنُ النَّاسَ، فَأقُولُ لِفِتْيَانِي: سَامِحُوا المُوسِرِينَ، وَأَنْظِرُوا المُعْسِرِينَ. فَقَالَ اللهُ تَعَالَى: فَنَحْنُ أحَقُّ بِذَلِكَ مِنْكَ! فَتَجَاوَزَ اللهُ عَنْهُ وَغَفَرَ لَهُ.

In the Hereafter, a sinner man is called to account and no virtue is found in his letter of deeds to save him. He is asked: ‘Have you ever done a good deed?’ He replies: ‘No, but I lent people money from my wealth and I told the young people around me to be lenient with wealthy debtors and leave poor ones.’ Then the Almighty would say: ‘I am more lenient than him.’ So Allah would forgive his sins.[48]

Hammad Ibn Othman says: “Someone came to Imam ¯¡diq (a.s) and complained about one of Imam’s disciples. That disciple came there after a while and Imam (a.s) asked him: ‘Why does this man complain about you?’ He said: ‘He is complaining about me because I collected the money I had lent him to the last drachma.’ Imam ¯¡diq (a.s) got angry and then said: ‘Do you suppose it not bad to get your money back completely? Allah has described the behavior of believers in the Holy Qur’¡n:’ Those who… fear the terrible reckoning. (13:21)’ Do you think they fear Allah’s oppression on them in reckoning their deeds? No, by Allah that they do not fear except evil reckoning. Anyone who does this has done a bad deed.’”

The Messenger of Allah (s.a) stated:

Beware that there are containers of Allah’s Mercy on the earth, which are people’s hearts. The most favorite of these containers are the purest, strongest, and the most lenient ones. Favorite hearts are pure of sins, strong in belief, and lenient with religious brothers.[49]

In other traditions, the Prophet (s.a) stated:

أمَرَنِي رَبِّي بِمُدَارَاةِ النَّاسِ كَما أمَرَنِي بِأدَاءِ الفَرَائِضِ.

My Lord has ordered me to be lenient with people, as he has ordered me to do obligatory deeds.[50]

ثَلاَثٌ مَنْ لَمْ يَكُنَّ فِيهِ لَمْ يَتِمَّ لَهُ عَمَلٌ: وَرَعٌ يَحْجِزُهُ عَنْ مَعَاصِي اللهِ، وَخُلُقٌ يُدَارِيِ بِهِ النَّاسَ وَحُلُمٌ يَرُدُّ بِهِ جَهْلَ الجَاهِلِ.

Anyone who does not have these three things has accomplished no deed; the piety that prevents him from wrongdoing, the morality that leads him to be lenient with people, and the patience that stands against the ignorance of the foolish.[51]

إنَّ الرِّفْقَ لَمْ يُوضَعْ عَلَى شَيْءٍ اِلاَّ زَانَهُ وَلاَ نُزِعَ مِنْ شَيْءٍ إلاَّ شَانَهُ.

Lenience is not placed in anything except that adorns it, and is not removed from anything except that aggravates it.[52]

لَوْ كَانَ الرِّفْقُ خَلْقاً يُرَى مَا كَانَ مِمَّا خَلَقَ اللهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ شَيْءٌ أحْسَنُ مِنْهُ.

If peoples’ lenience was discernible, it was more beautiful than any of Allah’s creatures.[53]

It is narrated from Amir Al-Mo’minin (a.s):

ثَمَرَةُ العَقْلِ مُدَارَاةُ النَّاسِ.

The fruit of wisdom is lenience with people.[54]

مُدَارَاةُ الرَّجُلِ مِنْ أفْضَلِ الأعْمَالِ.

Lenience with people is among the best deeds.[55]

دَارِِ النَّاسَ تَسْتَمْتِعْ بِإخَائِهِمْ، وَألْقِهِمْ بِالبِشْرِ تُمِتْ أضْغَانَهُمْ.

Behave leniently with people to benefit from their brotherhood, and be kind to them to eliminate their hatred.[56]

According to the Messenger of Allah (s.a) the lenience of Allah to His servants is the result of the servants’ lenience with other people:

إسْمَحْ يُسْمَحْ لَكَ.

Be lenient with people to get subject to lenience.[57]

Lenience and mercy are attributes of Allah’s. As the Prophet (s.a) stated:

تَخَلَّقُوا بِأخْلاَقِ اللهِ.

Imitate the attributes of Allah.[58]

It is worthy for people to be adorned with Allah’s attributes, so that they would be prosperous in the two worlds.

Mercy

Much was said about Allah’s Mercy on the first chapter of the book. It was pointed out that Allah’s specific Mercy is subject to people who are obedient to Him and merciful to His servants. They should avoid annoying and oppressing other people and violating their rights. They should always keep in mind the principle:

إرْحَمْ تُرْحَمْ.

Be merciful to get subject to others’ mercy.[59]

This means that If human does not accomplish Allah’s orders and obligatory deeds correctly, does not avoid sins, and is not kind to people, he should not expect Allah’s Compassion.

Important traditions are narrated in some valuable books about Allah’s Mercy, some of which come here:

The Messenger of Allah (s.a) stated:

إنَّ للهِ تَعَالَى مِائَةَ رَحْمَةٍ أنْزَلَ مِنْهَا رَحْمَةً وَاحِدَةً بَيْنَ الجِنِّ وَالإنْسِ وَالطَّيْرِ وَالبَهَائِمِ وَالهَوامِّ؛ فَبِهَا يَتَعَاطَفُونَ وَبِهَا يَتَرَاحَمُونَ، وَأخَّرَ تِسْعاً وَتِسْعِينَ رَحْمَةً يَرْحَمُ اللهُ بِهَا عِبَادَهُ يَوْمَ القِيَامَةِ.

Allah’s mercy has one hundred aspects, one of which He has revealed among his creatures like humans, jinns, animals, and birds and they have affection for each other by that single aspect of Mercy. Allah will have Mercy on his servants on the Day of Judgment by the other ninety nine aspects.[60]

The Prophet of Islam (s.a) said:

إنَّ اللهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ يَقُولُ يَوْمَ القِيَامَةِ لِلْمُؤمِنِينَ: هَلْ أحْبَبْتُمْ لِقَائِي؟ فَيَقُولُونَ: نَعَمْ يَا رَبَّنَا. فَيَقُولُ: لمَ؟ فَيَقُولُونَ: رَجَوْنَا عَفْوَكَ وَمَغْفِرَتَكَ. فَيَقُولُ: قَدْ أوْجَبْتُ لَكُمْ مَغْفِرَتِي.

The Almighty Allah would reveal to the believers on the Last Day: Did you like My countenance? They would confirm it. Allah would ask them the reason, and they would say: Because we were hopeful of Your forgiveness. Then Allah would say: I obliged My forgiveness for you.[61]

It is narrated from Prophet Mohammad (a.s):

يَقُولُ اللهُ يَوْمَ القِيَامَةِ: أخْرِجُوا مِنَ النَّارِ مَنْ ذَكَرَنِي يَوْماً أوْ خَافَنِي فِي مَقَامٍ.

The Lord of the worlds would say on the Resurrection Day: Bring out of Fire whoever has remembered Me only one day, or has feared Me for something.[62]

The Prophet (s.a) also stated:

اللهُ أرْحَمُ بِعَبْدِهِ المُؤْمِنِ مِنَ الوَالِدَةِ الشَّفِيقَةِ بِوَلَدِهَا.

The Almighty Allah is more compassionate to His servant than a kind father.[63]

Based on the words of the infallible Imams (a.s), it is understood that what attracts Allah’s Compassion is indeed worship, obedience, avoiding sins, and kindness to others. It is narrated from the Prophet (s.a):

الرَّاحِمُون يَرْحَمُهُمُ اللهُ. إرْحَمُوا مَنْ فِي الأرْضِ يَرْحَمْكُمْ مَنْ فِي السَّمَاءِ.

Allah would compassionate the compassionate people. Compassionate anyone on the earth, so that Allah would compassionate you.[64]

The author of An¢s al-Layl quoted from the book Zinat al-Majalis that Moses, in his prayers, (s.a) asked Allah: “What attribute of mine made You content with me?” He was replied: “When you were grassing Jethro’s sheep on a summer day, a lamb ran away from the cattle. You chased it a long way until you got tired and thirsty. When you found the lamb you caught it and told it: ‘You suffered yourself and I.’ Then you took it back to the cattle. Because of your kindness to that lamb I chose you as My prophet and appointed you as My messenger.”[65]

Someone told the Prophet (s.a): “I would like my Lord to have Mercy on me.” He was responded:

إرْحَمْ نَفْسَكَ وَارْحَمْ خَلْقَ اللهِ يَرْحَمْكَ اللهُ.

Have mercy on yourself and Allah’s creatures, so that He would have Mercy on you.[66]

Prophet Mohammad (a.s) stated:

تَعَرَّضُوا لِرَحْمَةِ اللهِ بِمَا أمَرَكُمْ مِنْ طَاعَتِهِ.

Make yourselves subject to Allah’s Mercy by obeying Him.[67]

The Commander of the Believers, Imam `Al¢ (a.s) stated:

أبْلَغُ مَا تُسْتَدَرُّ بِهِ الرَّحْمَةُ أنْ تُضْمِرَ لِجَمِيعِ النَّاسِ الرَّحْمَةَ.

The major factor bringing about Allah’s embracing Mercy is intending kindness for all people.[68]

He also said:

بِالعَفْوِ تُنَزَّلُ الرَّحْمَةُ.

By forgiving people Mercy is revealed.[69]

Besides, he stated:

رَحْمَةُ الضُّعَفَاءِ تَسْتَنْزِلُ الرَّحْمَةَ.

Kindness to the disabled causes Allah’s Compassion.[70]

Satisfaction

The Sacred Entity from whose Wisdom, Will, and Mercy all the hidden and apparent creatures are created and place in their right positions and toward their right goals managed to provide the sustenance of all creatures in accord with their lifestyle, dignity and activities for getting sustenance.

وَمَا مِنْ دَابَّةٍ فِي الأَرْضِ إِلاَّ عَلَى اللَّهِ رِزْقُهَا.

There is no moving creature on earth but its sustenance depends on Allah. (11:6)

The Compassionate provides His servants’ sustenance, out of expedience, in two ways; expanded for some and narrow for some others.

إِنَّ رَبَّكَ يَبْسُطُ الرِّزْقَ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ وَيَقْدِرُ إِنَّهُ كَانَ بِعِبَادِهِ خَبِيرًا بَصِيرًا.

Surely your Lord outspreads and straitens His provision unto whom He will; surely He is aware of and sees His servants. (30:17)

The Benevolent has set different ways for His servants to get Halal (lawful) sustenance, like ranching, farming, business, industry, and other beneficial professions that are the result of thought and activity. He has set no one’s sustenance through unlawful activities, such as theft, plunder, looting, bribery, and usurpation. In fact, what they get unlawfully is detracted from their lawful sustenance.

The Holy Qur’¡n and traditions have encouraged people to gain sustenance through legal works. They consider the expansion or narrowness of lawful sustenance as Allah’s expedience, which should be accepted wholeheartedly by humans.

Islam has obliged seeking lawful sustenance, considering it as a great worship. Suffering the body and enduring difficulties in this way is also considered the key to many values. Many traditions are narrated from the Prophet (s.a) in this regard:

طَلَبُ الحَلاَلِ فَرِيضَةٌ عَلَى كُلِّ مُسْلِمٍ وَمُسْلِمَةٍ.

Seeking lawful sustenance is obligatory for all Muslim men and women.[71]

طَلَبُ الحَلاَلِ فَرِيضَةٌ بَعْدَ الفَرِيضَةِ.

Setting out for getting lawful sustenance is an obligatory deed after other obligatory deeds.[72]

طَلَبُ الحَلاَلِ جِهَادٌ.

Seeking out lawful sustenance is like Jihad (holy war) in Allah’s way.[73]

The traditions include some issues, which make the sustenance more expanded. Once a man asked the Messenger of Allah (s.a) how he could expand his sustenance. Prophet Mohammad (s.a) stated:

دُمْ عَلَى الطَّهَارَةِ يُوَسَّعْ عَلَيْكَ فِي الرِّزْقِ.

Keep on purity and cleanness and your sustenance would be expanded.[74]

Amir Al-Mo’minin (a.s) said:

مُوَاسَاةُ الأخِ فِي اللهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ تَزِيدُ فِي الرِّزْقِ.

Helping religious brothers increases sustenance.[75]

اِسْتِعْمَالُ الأمَانَةِ يَزِيدُ فِي الرِّزْقِ.

Trustworthiness enlarges sustenance.[76]

The fifth infallible Imam, Imam al-B¡qir (a.s) stated:

عَلَيْكَ بِالدُّعَاءِ لإخْوَانِكَ بِظَهْرِ الغَيْبِ فَإنَّهُ يُهِيلُ الرِّزْقَ.

Pray for your religious brothers in their absence because it descends an extended sustenance for you.[77]

Furthermore, Imam ¯¡diq (a.s) said:

مَنْ حَسَّنَ بِرَّهُ أهْلَ بَيْتِهِ زِيدَ فِي رِزْقِهِ.

One who serves his family nicely his sustenance would be expanded.[78]

حُسْنُ الخُلُقِ يَزِيدُ فِي الرِّزْقِ.

Affability increases sustenance.[79]

Attempt in getting lawful sustenance is considered an important Islamic worship. The Messenger of Allah (s.a) states:

مَنْ أكَلَ مِنْ كَدِّ يَدِهِ كَانَ يَوْمَ القِيَامَةِ فِي عِدَادِ الأنْبِيَاءِ وَيَأخُذُ ثَوَابَ الأنْبِيَاءِ.

One who gains sustenance through his own endeavor is placed among the prophets and receives their reward on the Resurrection Day.[80]

مَنْ أكَلَ مِنْ كَدِّ يَدِهِ نَظَرَ اللهُ اِلَيْهِ بِالرَّحْمَةِ ثُمَّ لاَ يُعَذِّبُهُ أبَداً.

One who gains sustenance by his own effort, Allah would have Mercy on him and does not punish him.[81]

Imam al-Ri¤¡ (a.s) stated:

إنَّ الَّذِي يَطْلُبُ مِنْ فَضْلٍ يَكُفُّ بِهِ عِيَالَهُ أعْظَمُ أجْراً مِنَ المُجَاهِدِ فِي سَبِيلِ اللهِ.

Surely one who seeks Allah’s sustenance through his lawful effort in order to maintain his family from poorness and need would have more reward than a campaigner in Allah’s way.[82]

Prophet Mohammad (s.a) said:

العِبَادَةُ عَشَرَةُ أجْزَاءٍ؛ تِسْعَةُ أجْزَاءٍ فِي طَلَبِ الحَلاَلِ.

Worship has ten sections nine sections of which are in seeking lawful sustenance.[83]

Anyway human sustenance is a reality that is provided on the earth and has a definite amount for anyone. This definite amount is either extended or narrow, according to Allah’s expedience. The extendedness of one’s sustenance does not imply his amicability before Allah nor one’s narrow sustenance means he is disfavored; rather extended or narrow sustenance is Allah’s test of gratitude for the rich and of patience for the poor. Thus the grateful and patient servants would be rewarded in this way. The rich would also be rewarded by granting to the poor and the poor by maintaining face and patience for the certain fate.

One who has an extended sustenance should know that if he does not spend his money in true and lawful paths would be subject to worldly and heavenly chastisement. The one who has a narrow sustenance should also consider that if he does not tolerate poorness would also be chastised. Imam `Al¢ (a.s) states:

وَقَدَّرَ الأرْزَاقَ فَكَثَّرَهَا وَقَلَّلَهَا وَقَسَّّمَهَا عَلَى الضِّيقِ وَالسَّعَةِ فَعَدَلَ فِيهَا لِيَبْتَلِيَ مَنْ أرَادَ بِمَيْسُورِهَا وَمَعْسُورِهَا وَلِيَخْتَبِرَ بِذَلِكَ الشُّكْرَ وَالصَّبْرَ مِنْ غَنِيِّهَا وَفَقِيرِهَا.

… And Allah destined people’s sustenance and made it extended for some and narrow for others and he divided sustenance among people justly to test anyone He will with expansion and narrowness of sustenance, thus examine the rich for gratefulness and the poor for tolerance of difficulty.[84]

The Muslim believer should, on the other hand, be content with Allah’s fair distribution of sustenance and not be angry at his portion of sustenance. The believers should follow their leader, Imam `Al¢ (a.s), who prayed Allah for safety in this world and the next world.

Imam °asan Mojtaba (a.s) says in this regard:

كَيْفَ يَكُونُ المُؤْمِنُ مُؤمِناً وَهُوَ يَسْخَطُ قِسْمَهُ وَيُحَقِّرُ مَنْزِلَتَهُ وَالحَاكِمُ عَلَيْهِ اللهُ؟

How can a Muslim believer be discontent with his portion of sustenance and considers his position low, while the One who dominates all his endeavors is Allah?[85]

The Messenger of Allah (s.a) asked Gabriel: “What is the exposition of content?” He answered:

الرَّاضِي لاَ يَسْخَطُ عَلَى سَيِّدِهِ: أصَابَ مِنَ الدُّنْيَا أمْ لَمْ يُصِبْ، وَلاَ يَرْضَى لِنَفْسِهِ بِاليَسِيرِ مِنَ العَمَلِ.

The content servant does not take anger over his Lord, either he possesses something in the world or not, and he is not content with his own trivial deeds.[86]

Imam ¯¡diq (a.s) stated:

اِرْضَ بِمَا قَسَمَ اللهُ لَكَ تَكُنْ غَنِيّاً.

If you are content with Allah’s sustenance, you would get needless.[87]

Amir Al-Mo’minin (a.s) said:

مَنْ رَضِيَ مِنَ اللهِ بِمَا قَسَمَ لَهُ اسْتَرَاحَ بَدَنُهُ.

If one is content with what Allah has allocated to him his body would rest.[88]

Imam ¯¡diq (a.s) stated:

مَنْ لَمْ يَرْضَ بِمَا قَسَمَ اللهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ اتَّهَمَ اللهَ فِي قَضَائِهِ.

Whoever is not content with what Allah, out of expedience, has set as his sustenance has charged Him in His Government and Expediency.[89]

When Amir Al-Mo’minin (a.s) was asked about the exposition to the holy verse:

…فَلَنُحْيِيَنَّهُ حَيَاةً طَيِّبَةً…

‘We shall assuredly give him to live a goodly life. (16:97)’

He replied:

The goodly life is contentment in life.

إنْتَقِمْ مِنْ حِرْصِكَ بِالقُنُوعِ كَمَا تَنْتَقِمُ مِنْ عَدُوِّكَ بِالقَصَاصِ.

Fight against your greed, which leads you to the unlawful and destroys your belief, by means of your contentment with Allah’s sustenance, as you take revenge from your enemy by retaliation.[90]

The teachings of the infallible Imams (a.s) signify that greed and avarice does not increase lawful sustenance and wealth, rather leads to unlawful acts that weaken belief, destroy moral principles, and disgraces humans. Contentment with lawful sustenance and the destined life, on the other hand, is an infinite treasure and a guarantee for human world and Hereafter. The Messenger of Allah (s.a) sates:

خِيَارُ أُمِّتِي القَانِعُ، وَشِرَارُهُمُ الطَّامِعُ.

The good people of my nation are the content ones, and the bad ones are greedy.[91]

Imam al-B¡qir (a.s) said: “`Al¢ (a.s) ate the most inferior type of date that was sold and then drank water. Then he struck his belly and said:

مَنْ أدْخَلَهُ بَطْنُهُ النَّارَ فَأبْعَدَهُ اللهُ.

‘One whose stomach drags him to the Hell is away from Allah’s Mercy.’

And then recited a poem denoting that one who fulfills his lust would be defamed.”[92]

Imam al-B¡qir and Imam ¯¡diq (a.s) stated:

مَنْ قَنِعَ بِمَا رَزَقَهُ اللهُ فَهُوَ مِنْ أغْنَى النَّاسِ.

One who is satisfied with his portion of Allah’s sustenance is the most needless of people.[93]

Imam ¯¡diq (a.s) also stated:

إقْنَعْ بِمَا قَسَمَ اللهُ لَكَ وَلاَ تَنْظُرْ إلَى مَا عِنْدَ غَيْرِكَ، وَلاَ تَتَمَنَّ مَا لَسْتَ نَائِلَهُ، فَإنَّهُ مَنْ قَنِعَ شَبِعَ، وَمَنْ لَمْ يَقْنَعْ لَمْ يَشْبَعْ، وَخُذْ حَظَّكَ مِنْ آخِرَتِكَ.

Be content with what Allah has set as your sustenance and do not look at others’. Do not greed people’s wealth and do not wish what you cannot gain. Undoubtedly, one who is content is satisfied and gets reward in the Hereafter. And the discontent did not satisfy.[94]

Imam `Al¢ (a.s) stated:

كَيْفَ يَسْتَطِيعُ عَلَى صَلاحِ نَفْسِهِ مَنْ لاَ يَقْنَعُ بِالقَلِيلِ؟

Whoever is not content with his narrow sustenance and with trivial possessions is not able to discipline himself.[95]

Modesty

Modesty is a great moral reality that helps humans reach spiritual positions. It is so high a state that Amir Al-Mo’minin asks it from Allah in Kumayl supplication. If human applies it to all his deeds, he can obtain goodness in this world and the Hereafter, be safe from Allah’s chastisement, and reach His nearness.

Modesty should be considered in two aspects; one is before Allah and the other is before the people.

Being modest before Allah is accepting all His orders about worldly and heavenly issues wholeheartedly, stated in Qur’¡n, Prophet’s tradition, and Imams’ speech. Then these orders should be applied to life.

Modesty before the people is not letting oneself boast to Muslim brothers and consider oneself superior to them. Modesty is humbling no one, respecting and helping anyone, and forgiving others’ mistakes.

Modesty in Qur’¡n

The holy Qur’¡n not only invites anyone to be modest before Allah, but also asks all the Muslims to be modest before other believers.

The holy Qur’¡n even asks the Prophet (s.a), whose position is higher than any other human’s or jinn’s, to be modest before the believers:

وَاخْفِضْ جَنَاحَكَ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ.

… but lower thy wing (in gentleness) to the Believers. (15:88)

تِلْكَ الدَّارُ الآخِرَةُ نَجْعَلُهَا لِلَّذِينَ لاَ يُرِيدُونَ عُلُوًّا فِي الأَرْضِ وَلاَ فَسَادًا وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ.

That House of the Hereafter We shall give to those who intend not high-handedness or mischief on earth: and the End is (best) for the righteous. (28:83)

The holy Qur’¡n clearly stipulates that the Almighty does not favor the arrogant, and that such people are placed in the Inferno.

إِنَّهُ لاَ يُحِبُّ الْمُسْتَكْبِرِينَ.

Verily He loveth not the arrogant. (16:23)

أَلَيْسَ فِي جَهَنَّمَ مَثْوًى لِلْمُتَكَبِّرِينَ.

Is there not in Hell as abode for the Haughty? (39:60)

Modesty in Traditions

It is narrated from the Messenger of Allah (s.a) who said:

مَا لِي لاَ أرَى عَلَيْكُمْ حَلاوَةَ العِبَادَةِ؟… التَّوَاضُعَ.

How come I don’t see the sweetness of worship in you? What is the sweetness of worship? he was asked. The Prophet (s.a) replied: Modesty![96]

Am¢r al-Mu’min¢n, Imam `Al¢ (a.s), after pointing out the modesty of previous believers before Allah and other Muslims, advises people:

وَلَكِنَّهُ سُبْحَانَهُ كَرَّهَ إلَيْهِمُ التَّكَابُرَ وَرَضِيَ لَهُمُ التَّوَاضُعَ، فَألْصَقُوا بِالأرْضِ خُدُودَهُمْ وَعَفَّرُوا فِي التُّرَابِ وُجُوهَهُمْ وَخَفَضُوا أجْنِحَتَهُمْ لِلمُؤْمِنِينَ.

The Almighty made them disfavor pride, and favored modesty for them. So they touched the earth with their faces for showing service to Allah, and showed respect and modesty to all the Muslims.[97]

He also stated:

عَلَيْكَ بِالتَّوَاضُعِ، فَإنَّهُ مِنْ أعْظَمِ العِبَادَةِ.

Befriend modesty, since it is a great worship.[98]

Imam ¯¡diq (a.s) said about the amount of modesty:

التَّوَاضُعُ أنْ تَرْضَى مِنَ المَجْلِسِ بِدُونِ شَرَفِكَ وَأنْ تُسَلِّمَ عَلَى مَنْ لاَقَيْتَ وَأنْ تَتْرُكَ المِرَاءَ وَإنْ كُنْتَ مُحِقّاً؛ وَرَأسُ الخَيْرِ التَّوَاضُعُ.

Modesty is your contentment with your seating position, while it doest not deserve your highness, that you say hello to everyone you see, that you leave quarrel in discussions even if you are right. Modesty is the core of every goodness.[99]

Prophet Mu¦ammad (s.a) said:

إنَّ أفْضَلَ النَّاسِ عَبْداً مَنْ تَوَاضَعَ عَنْ رِفْعَةٍ.

Surely the best people in worship are those who are the most modest ones in the highest positions.[100]

He also stated:

إنَّ التَّوَاضُعَ يَزِيدُ صَاحِبَهُ رِفْعَةً؛ فَتَوَاضَعُوا يَرْفَعْكُمُ اللهُ.

Modesty raises human position. So be modest, so that Allah would make you dignified.[101]

Ethics scholars have considered arrogance as extravagance, contempt before everyone as wastage, and modesty as the Golden Mean, that is a humane attribute.

It is narrated from the infallible Imams that modesty before Allah is worshipping Him wholeheartedly, associating with people justly, and equaling oneself to others in terms of human rights.

The Modesty of the Messenger of Allah

The great Prophet of Islam (s.a) joined with the poor and the needy with humility. He said hello to everyone, even to the children, sat on the ground, befriended people in the streets and bazaars, and asked them about their lives. He rode a regular roadster, milked the sheep, washed his clothes, ate with his servants, and lived ordinarily among other people.

The Modesty of Imam `Al¢

Am¢r al-Mu’min¢n (a.s) lived an ordinary life, too. Ibn Abbas says: One day I went to Imam `Al¢ (a.s) and saw him patching his shoe. I told him: “This shoe does not worth pitching.” Imam (a.s) stated:

وَاللهِ، لَهِيَ أحَبُّ إلَيَّ مِنْ إمْرَتِكُمْ، إلاَّ أنْ أُقِيمَ حَقّاً أوْ أدْفَعَ بَاطِلاً.

By Allah that this shoe is dearer to me than your world, if I take power in it and trample some rights. If I ever have a government, I like to establish the truth and demolish any untruth via it.

Ibn Abbas continues: “Imam `Al¢ (a.s) patched his clothes himself and rode an ordinary roadster.”[102]

The Modesty of Prophet Solomon

Prophet Solomon (a.s) had such a splendor and greatness that no one else on the earth was his counterpart in this regard, but he was so modest and just that even a weak ant could judge his behavior and take its right from him.

One day an ant was moving on Solomon’ hand when he took the ant and put it down on the ground. He did not think the ant might object to this. However, his modesty was to such an extent that the ant dared talking to him: “What is this proud of you? Why are you such an arrogant person? Don’t you know I am a servant of Allah’s just as you are? Are we different from each other in terms of His worship that you behave toward me this way?” Solomon was deeply affected by the ant’s frankness. He got anxious about Allah’s judgment on the Resurrection Day and thus fainted. When he was sober again he called the ant. But Solomon didn’t mean to punish the ant for its frank criticizing. He was a divine man of prophethood position and was adorned with all ethical goodness and humane perfection. He actually was happy with the ant’s idea, because it showed that everyone in his kingdom was free to comment and oppose. He asked the ant: “What made you oppose me so frankly?” The ant said: “My body is very fragile, so when you took me and dropped on the ground, my whole body got painful and this made me oppose you.” Solomon said: “I apologize you for bothering your body. I didn’t do it on purpose, though, so please forgive me!”

When Solomon, the powerful king and the divine prophet, behaves a little wrongly he gets sad and apologizes even a weak ant. The ant told Solomon: “I forgive you, provided that your longing for this world is not for mere enjoyment, you desire wealth for helping your people, not wasting it, support any deprived person who seeks help from you.”

Solomon whose heart was full of mercy and compassion toward those inferior to him, accepted the terms stipulated by the ant, so the ant forgave him.[103]

اللَّهُمَّ وَأَسْألُكَ سُؤَالَ مَنِ اشْتَدَّتْ فَاقَتُهُ

O Allah! I ask You with the asking of one whose indigence in extreme.

Allah; the True Owner

When reading this part of the supplication, the supplicant should observe two facts, based on the Qur’¡nic verses and the traditions. The first fact is that there is no Owner and no Absolute Sufficient, except Allah. The second one is that the essence of human and all other creatures’ is the mere need and dependence.

It is He, who established the living world independently and created all kinds of creatures in it with their necessities, placing them in their appropriate positions. He is the One who created His creatures, out of Mercy; none of them can oppose Him and surrender to His supreme Power. He can annihilate all His creatures at once, as He has created them before. His Mercy is so expanded that everyone needs it and should be hopeful of it.

The obvious needs of creatures on one hand, and the continuation of Allah’s Compassion in all ages and conditions on the other, are arguments for Allah’s Independence. He is the Creator, the Owner, the Provider, the Generous, the Forgiver, the Shaper, and the Merciful and has no partner.

Those who are engaged in and satisfied with worldly position and wealth are unaware of their need and dependence to Allah. They feel independent that is in fact the result of ignorance. It also makes them away from and deprived of supplicating to the Almighty and announcing their needs. In fact, their life is unfortunate and devoid of divine blessings, like the savages and the beasts.

The Holy Qur’¡n states about the Absolute Independent:

وَلِلَّهِ مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَاللَّهُ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ.

To Allah belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth; and Allah hath power over all things. (3:189)

وَلِلَّهِ مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا وَإِلَيْهِ الْمَصِيرُ.

Allah’s is the Sovereignty of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, and unto Him is the final goal of all. (5:18)

لَهُ مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ، يُحْيِ وَيُمِيتُ، وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ.

To Him belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth; it is He Who gives life and Death; and He has Power over all things. (57:2)

وَلِلَّهِ مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ، يَغْفِرُ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ وَيُعَذِّبُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ.

Allah’s is the dominion of the heavens and the earth; He forgives anyone He likes and chastises anyone He like. (48:14)

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ! أَنْتُمْ الْفُقَرَاءُ إِلَى اللَّهِ، وَاللَّهُ هُوَ الْغَنِيُّ الْحَمِيدُ.

O people! All of you are dependent upon Allah, and only He is the Needless. (35:15)

Is human essence anything but need and poverty? What power does he have in continuing life, quitting it, gaining advantages, or preventing disadvantages? Allah has created him and makes his life continue. He grants him advantages and removes disadvantages from him. So why shouldn’t he go to his Lord and wholeheartedly call for help on a Friday night?

The most beautiful and beneficial state of a human is the state of praying in which he requests from Allah, the Needless.

وَأَنزَلَ بِكَ عِنْدَ الشَّدَائِدِ حَاجَتَهُ

O Allah! I ask You with the asking of one who has stated to You in difficulties his need.

The Merciful does know all His servant’s needs and wants, and is aware of his difficulties, and can as well fulfill his needs in case of difficulties. But He wishes His servant, based on the Qur’¡nic verses, to state his needs, pray Him, and worship Him, so that Allah solves his problems and difficulties, eliminates calamities, and saves him from misfortunes. Then He would fulfill His servant’s demand, out of Mercy, loading him with His blessings.

Stating the need by the servant is Allah’s desire, and is, in fact, worshipping and obeying Him. Isn’t it the case that Allah has ordered His servants to pray and has guaranteed fulfilling it?

Praying, supplicating, and stating the wants are some types of worshipping and obeying Allah, and are, in fact, the core of worship.

Allah does not wish His servant to turn to sources other than Him, in case of difficulties and calamities, ask his needs from them, or request the solution of his problem.

In a Divine tradition, narrated in various lofty books, important issues and valuable facts are stated in this regard:

أيَأمُلُ عَبْدِي فِي الشَّدَائِدِ غَيْرِي؟ وَالشَّدَائِدُ بِيَدِي، وَيَرْجُو سِوَايَ؟ وَأنَا الغَنِيُّ الجَوَادُ، وَأبْوَابُ الحَوَائِجِ عِنْدِي، وَبِيَدِي مَفَاتِيحُهَا وَهِيَ مُغْلَقَةٌ؛ فَمَا لِي أرَى عَبْدِي مُعْرِضاً عَنِّي وَقَدْ أعْطَيْتُهُ بِجُودِي وَكَرَمِي مَا لَمْ يَسْألْنِي؛ فَأعْرَضَ عَنِّي وَسَألَ فِي حَوَائِجِهِ غَيْرِي، وَأنَا اللهُ لاَ إلَهَ إلاَّ أنَا؛ أبْتَدِئُ بِالعَطِيَّةِ مِنْ غَيْرِ مَسْألَةٍ؛ أَفَأُسْئَلُ فَلا أجُودُ؟ ألَيْسَ الجُودُ وَالكَرَمُ لِي؟ ألَيْسَ الدُّنْيَا وَالآخِرَةُ بِيَدِي؟ فَلَوْ أنَّ كُلَّ أهْلِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأرْضِ سَألَنِي مِثْلَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأرْضِ وَأعْطَيْتُهُ مَا نَقَصَ ذَلِكَ مِنْ مُلْكِي جَنَاحَ بَعُوضَةٍ! فَيَا بُؤساً لِمَنْ أعْرَضَ عَنِّي وَسَألَ فِي حَوَائِجِهِ وَشَدَائِدِهِ غَيْرِي!

Is My servant hopeful of those other than Me, when facing difficulties to resolve them for him, while eliminating all the problems is in My Hands? Is My servant hopeful of others but Me, to fulfill his needs and wants and save him from poverty, while the Generous and the Beneficent is Me and accomplishing all the exigencies is in My Power and Mercy?

Why is it that I see My servant ignorant of Me, while I have always granted him everything he wanted, out of Mercy? Why has he turned from Me and referred to others now when he is so much in need?

I am the Deity except Whom there is no other deity. I grant without demand, Would I not grant if I am demanded?!

Is the vast ocean of Mercy and Generosity not from Me? Are the world and the Hereafter not in My Hands?!

If all the beings in the heavens and the earth ask Me to grant them demand as big as all the heavens and the earth, My Kingdom would not be reduced even to the extent of a fly. Woe to the one who turns attention from Me, demanding his needs from those except Me![104]

وَعَظُمَ فِيمَا عِنْدَكَ رَغْبَتُهُ

O Allah, I ask You with the asking of one whose craving for what is with You has become intense.

Am¢r al-Mu’min¢n, Imam `Al¢ (a.s) was completely aware of what is with Allah. It was based on this awareness that when supplicating, he put his face to the ground and stated humbly: My craving of what is with You is intense.

What is with Allah and every deserved servant of Him can benefit from it takes more than human life as well as hundreds of volumes of books to be explained, and still not a drop of Allah’s vast sea of Mercy is stated. Here we give a brief account of what is with the Almighty, so that it adds to our enthusiasm for reaching it.

Allah’s Rewards for the Servant’s Deeds

The Compassionate Allah, out of Mercy, has invited all His servants to perform obligatory deeds, such as praying, fasting, Hajj, Jihad, almsgiving, charity, serving people, observing people’s rights, and avoiding wrongdoing. He has necessitated for Himself rewarding the servants for their deeds. Allah has declared in the Holy Qur’¡n:

وَالَّذِينَ يُمَسِّكُونَ بِالْكِتَابِ وَأَقَامُوا الصَّلاةَ إِنَّا لاَ نُضِيعُ أَجْرَ الْمُصْلِحِينَ.

And as for those who hold fast by the Book and keep up prayer, surely We do not waste the reward of the right doers. (7/170)

إِنَّ اللَّهَ لاَ يُضِيعُ أَجْرَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ.

Surely, Allah does not waste the reward of the doers of good. (9/120)

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ، إِنَّا لاَ نُضِيعُ أَجْرَ مَنْ أَحْسَنَ عَمَلاً.

Surely, as for those who believe and do good, We do not waste the reward of him who does a good work. (18/30)

The Merciful Allah has stated some kinds of rewards for His believer servants in His Qur’¡n: 1. Lofty reward, 2. Bountiful reward, 3. Grateful reward, 4. Great reward, and 5. Twice reward.

لِلَّذِينَ أَحْسَنُوا مِنْهُمْ وَاتَّقَوْا أَجْرٌ عَظِيمٌ.

Those among them who do good to others and guard against evil shall have a great reward. (3:172)

إِنَّ الْمُصَّدِّقِينَ وَالْمُصَّدِّقَاتِ وَأَقْرَضُوا اللَّهَ قَرْضًا حَسَنًا يُضَاعَفُ لَهُمْ وَلَهُمْ أَجْرٌ كَرِيمٌ.

Surely the charitable men and the charitable women and those who set apart for Allah a goodly portion, it shall be doubled for them and they shall have a noble reward. (57:18)

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَهُمْ أَجْرٌ غَيْرُ مَمْنُونٍ.

Those who believe and do good, they shall surely have a reward never to be cut off. (41:8)

وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَهُمْ مَغْفِرَةٌ وَأَجْرٌ كَبِيرٌ.

As for those who believe and do good, they shall have forgiveness and a great reward. (35:7)

أُوْلَئِكَ يُؤْتَوْنَ أَجْرَهُمْ مَرَّتَيْنِ بِمَا صَبَرُوا وَيَدْرَءُونَ بِالْحَسَنَةِ السَّيِّئَةَ وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ.

These shall be granted their reward twice, because they are steadfast and they repel their evil with good and spent out of what We have given them. (28:54)

The rewards of those who believe and do good are permanent rewards and only Allah is capable of granting them. The traditions have mentioned parts of Allah’s rewards. Some of these traditions, which are in fact explanations of Qur’¡nic verses are presented here. Imam `Al¢ (a.s) has stated:

ثَوَابُ عَمَلِكُمْ أفْضَلُ مِنْ عَمَلِكُمْ.

The rewards of your good deeds are superior to the deeds themselves.[105]

ثَوَابُ الصَّبْرِ أعْلَى الثَّوَابِ.

The greatest reward is the reward for patience (over obedience, calamities and wrongdoing).[106]

إنَّ أعْظَمَ المَثُوبَةِ مَثُوبَةُ الإنْصَافِ.

In fact the greatest reward is for fairness.[107]

ثَوَابُ الجِهَادِ أعْظَمُ الثَّوَابِ.

The reward for Jihad is the greatest reward.[108]

Imam al-B¡qir (a.s) stated:

النَّائِمُ بِمَكَّةَ كَالمُجْتَهِدِ فِي البُلْدَانِ، وَالسَّاجِدُ بِمَكَّةَ كَالمُتَشَحِّطِ بِدَمِهِ فِي سَبِيلِ اللهِ، وَمَنْ خَلَّفَ حَاجّاً فِي أهْلِهِ كَانَ لَـهُ كَأجْرِهِ حَتَّى كَأنَّهُ يَسْتَلِمُ الحَجَرَ.

The pilgrim who spends a night in Mecca is like one who is attempting in various cities. One who prostrates in Mecca is like martyr in Allah’s way. One who looks after the pilgrim’s family in his absence has an equal reward as the pilgrim, and it is as if he has touched al-Hajar al-Aswad (the Black Stone).

The Prophet of Islam (s.a) stated:

رِبَاطُ يَوْمٍ فِي سَبِيلِ اللهِ خَيْرٌ مِنَ الدُّنْيَا وَمَا عَلَيْهَا.

Fighting in Allah’s cause for a single day is preferred to the whole world and what is inside it.[109]

Prophet Mu¦ammad (s.a) also stated:

حَرَسُ لَيْلَةٍ فِي سَبِيلِ اللهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ أفْضَلُ مِنْ ألْفِ لَيْلَةٍ يُقَامُ لَيْلُهَا وَيُصَامُ نَهَارُهَا.

One night of guarding Allah’s cause is better than a thousand nights of worshipping and days of fasting.[110]

إنَّ العَبْدَ إذَا تَخَلَّى بِسَيِّدِهِ فِي جَوْفِ اللَّيْلِ المُظْلِمِ وَنَاجَاهُ، أثْبَتَ اللهُ النُّورَ فِي قَلْبِهِ.

When a servant speaks to his Lord in the darkness of night Allah would maintain a permanent light in his heart.[111]

Imam `Al¢ (a.s) said:

قِيَامُ اللَّيْلِ مَصَحَّة البَدَنِ وَرِضَا الرَّبِّ وَتَمَسُّكٌ بِأخْلاَقِ النَّبِيِّينَ وَتَعَرُّضٌ لِرَحْمَتِهِ.

Worshipping Allah at night brings healing the body, Allah’s pleasure and the prophets’ habit for the servant.[112]

The Messenger of Allah (s.a) stated:

إنَّ العَبْدَ لَيُؤمَرُ بِهِ إلَى النَّارِ يَوْمَ القِيَامَةِ فَيُسْحَبُ؛ فَيَقُولُ المُؤمِنُونَ وَالمُؤمِنَاتُ: يَا رَبِّ، هَذا الَّذِي كَانَ يَدْعُو لَنَا، فَشَفِّعْنَا فِيهِ. فَيُشَفِّعُهُمُ اللهُ فَيَنْجُو.

On the Resurrection Day, Allah orders to take a servant to Hell. The believer men and women say: ‘O Lord! This person always prayed for us, so accept our intercession for him! So Allah accepts their intercession about him and he is saved.’[113]

The Messenger of Allah (s.a) said:

ألاَ مَنْ تَعَلَّمَ القُرْآنَ وَعَلَّمَهُ وَعَمِلَ بِمَا فِيهِ فَأنَا لَهُ سَائِقٌ إلَى الجَنَّةِ وَدَلِيلٌ إلَيْها.

Beware that everyone who learns Qur’¡n and teaches it to others and practices its rules I would bring and guide him to the Paradise.[114]

Paradise

One of the realities that is with Allah is Paradise, for which the believers and good doers are enthusiastic. The Merciful Allah has invited all His servants to this permanent site. He has stated belief, piety, good deed, and observing lawful and unlawful deeds for reaching it.

وَسَارِعُوا إِلَى مَغْفِرَةٍ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ وَجَنَّةٍ عَرْضُهَا السَّمَاوَاتُ وَالأَرْضُ أُعِدَّتْ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ.

And hasten to forgiveness from your Lord; and a Garden, the extensiveness of which is as the heavens and the earth; it is prepared for those who guard against evil. (3:133)

سَابِقُوا إِلَى مَغْفِرَةٍ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ وَجَنَّةٍ عَرْضُهَا كَعَرْضِ السَّمَاءِ وَالأَرْضِ أُعِدَّتْ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ، ذَلِكَ فَضْلُ اللَّهِ يُؤْتِيهِ مَنْ يَشَاءُ، وَاللَّهُ ذُو الْفَضْلِ الْعَظِيمِ.

And hasten to forgiveness from your Lord; and a Garden, the extensiveness of which is as the heavens and the earth; it is prepared for those who believe in Allah and His apostles, that is the grace of Allah. (57:21)

Based on the Qur’¡nic verses and the traditions of the Prophet and his Household (a.s), paradise is the reward for belief, good deed, piety, and avoiding unlawful acts. One who is away from these facts and is, on the other hand, polluted with disbelief and other sins is not deserved to enter paradise rather would be placed in Hell and deprived of Allah’s Mercy and countenance.

وَمَنْ عَمِلَ صَالِحًا مِنْ ذَكَرٍ أَوْ أُنْثَى وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ فَأُوْلَئِكَ يَدْخُلُونَ الْجَنَّةَ يُرْزَقُونَ فِيهَا بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ.

Whoever does good, whether male or female, and he is a believer, he shall enter the Garden, in which he shall be given sustenance. (40:40)

وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتُ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءُ بَعْضٍ، يَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنْ الْمُنكَرِ وَيُقِيمُونَ الصَّلاةَ وَيُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةَ وَيُطِيعُونَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ، أُوْلَئِكَ سَيَرْحَمُهُمْ اللَّهُ، إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ. وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا وَمَسَاكِنَ طَيِّبَةً فِي جَنَّاتِ عَدْنٍ وَرِضْوَانٌ مِنْ اللَّهِ أَكْبَرُ، ذَلِكَ هُوَ الْفَوْزُ الْعَظِيمُ.

And as for the believing men and the believing women, they are guardians of each other; they enjoin good and forbid evil and keep up prayer and pay the poor rate, and obey Allah and His Apostle; Allah will show Mercy to these; Surely Allah is Mighty, Wise. Allah has promised to the believing men and the believing women gardens, beneath which rivers flow, to abide in them, and goodly dwelling in gardens of perpetual abode; and best of all is Allah’s goodly pleasure- that is the grand achievement. (9:71-72)

Imam Al-Sajj¡d (a.s) stated:

إعْلَمُوا أنَّهُ مَنِ اشْتَاقَ إلَى الجَنَّةِ سَارَعَ إلَى الحَسَنَاتِ وَسَلاَ عَنِ الشَّهَوَاتِ، وَمَنْ أشْفَقَ مِنَ النَّارِ بَادَرَ بِالتَّوْبَةِ إلَى اللهِ مِنْ ذُنُوبِهِ وَرَاجَعَ عَنِ المَحَارِمِ.

One, who is eager to come into paradise, rushes to goodness and forgets lusts. And one, who is afraid of the Hell, rushes to Allah via repentance and avoids the unlawful.[115]

Imam `Al¢ (a.s) said:

ثَمَنُ الجَنَّةِ العَمَلُ الصَّالِحُ.

The cost of the paradise is good deeds.[116]

The fifth infallible Imam, Imam al-B¡qir (a.s) has stated:

عَشْرٌ مَنْ لَقِيَ اللهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ بِهِنَّ دَخَلَ الجَنَّةَ: شَهَادَةُ أنْ لاَ إلَهَ إلاَّ اللهُ وَأنَّ مُحَمَّداً رَسُولُ اللهِ، وَالإقْرَارُ بِمَا جَاءَ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللهِ، وَإقَامُ الصَّلاَةِ، وَإيتَاءُ الزَّكَاةِ، وَصَوْمُ شَهْرِ رَمَضَانَ، وَحِجُّ البَيْتِ، وَالوِلاَيَةُ لأوْلِيَاءِ اللهِ، وَالبَراءَةُ مِنْ أعْدَاءِ اللهِ، وَاجْتِنَابُ كُلِّ مُسْكِرٍ.

There are ten things with which anyone who meets Allah would enter paradise; testifying that there is no deity but Allah, that Mu¦ammad is His Prophet, and that he has brought Qur’¡n from Allah, establishing prayers, paying zakat, fasting in Ramadan, Hajj, befriending Allah’s friends, hating His enemies, and avoiding anything intoxicant.[117]

Allah’s Mercy

The holy Qur’¡n and the traditions have extensively mentioned Allah’s Mercy toward His servants, inviting everyone to obtain this Mercy by resorting to belief, good deeds, piety, charity, and repentance from sins.

فَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَاعْتَصَمُوا بِهِ فَسَيُدْخِلُهُمْ فِي رَحْمَةٍ مِنْهُ.

As for those who believe in Allah and hold fast by Him, He will cause them to enter into His Mercy. (4:175)

وَإِذَا جَاءَكَ الَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِآيَاتِنَا فَقُلْ سَلامٌ عَلَيْكُمْ كَتَبَ رَبُّكُمْ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ الرَّحْمَةَ.

And when those who believe in Our signs come to you, say: Peace be on you, your Lord is the lord of All-encompassing Mercy. (6:54)

وَرَحْمَتِي وَسِعَتْ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ.

And My Mercy encompasses all things. (7:156)

إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ.

Surely, Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. (2:173)

فَقُلْ رَبُّكُمْ ذُو رَحْمَةٍ وَاسِعَةٍ.

Say: Your Lord is the Lord of All-encompassing mercy. (6/147)

For obtaining Allah’s Mercy, one should certainly observe some issues. Imam al-B¡qir (a.s) said:

تَعَرَّضْ لِلرَّحْمَةِ وَعَفْوِ اللهِ بِحُسْنِ المُرَاجَعَةِ، وَاسْتَعِنْ عَلَى حُسْنِ المُرَاجَعَةِ بِخَالِصِ الدُّعَاءِ وَالمُنَاجَاةِ فِي الظُّلَمِ.

Obtain Allah’s Mercy and Forgiveness by returning to Him, and for realizing your return get help from sincere praying in the middle of night.[118]

Someone told the Prophet of Islam (s.a): “I would like to get subject to Allah’s Mercy.” The Prophet (s.a) said:

إرْحَمْ نَفْسَكَ وَارْحَمْ خَلْقَ اللهِ يَرْحَمْكَ اللهُ.

Have mercy on yourself and other people, so that Allah would have mercy on you.[119]

For a better understanding of Allah’s Mercy, you can refer to the third chapter of the book, under the title Allah’s Mercy.

Allah’s Forgiveness

Forgiveness means pardoning the wrongdoing and avoiding the chastisement. The Almighty has set this fact for the regretful sinners, who wish to return to His Kingdom, out of Mercy, and has admired Himself for this lofty attribute, stating:

إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ عَفُوًّا غَفُورًا.

Surely Allah is Pardoning, Forgiving. (4:43)

Imam `Al¢ (a.s) said:

أمْرُهُ قَضَاءٌ وَحِكْمَةٌ، وَرِضَاهُ أمَانٌ وَرَحْمَةٌ، يَقْضِي بِعِلْمٍ وَيَعْفُو بِحِلْمٍ.

Allah’s orders are obligatory and out of expedience and wisdom. His takes pleasure in Mercy and Forgiveness. He rules with knowledge and awareness and forgives patiently.[120]

A Berduin told the Messenger of Allah: “O Prophet of Allah! Who would account for people’s deeds?” The Prophet (s.a) answered: “The Almighty would.” The Arab man said: “By the Lord of Kaaba that we would be saved.” The Prophet asked: “Why do you think so?” He replied:

لأنَّ الكَرِيمَ إذَا قَدَرَ عَفا.

The Generous would forgive if He gets Power.[121]

Imam `Al¢ (a.s) stated:

مَنْ تَنَزَّهَ عَنْ حُرُمَاتِ اللهِ سَارَعَ إلَيْهِ عَفْوُ اللهِ.

Allah’s Forgiveness would rush to anyone who avoids what Allah has forbidden.[122]

Some facts like reward, paradise, mercy and forgiveness that are only with Allah have caused the pious servants a great intense for reaching what is with Him.

اللَّهُمَّ عَظُمَ سُلْطَانُكَ

O Allah! Great is Your Kingdom.

Allah's Kingdom is essential and real. Other sovereignties are conventional and temporary, but Allah's is permanent, unlimited, and endless. His Kingdom embraces hidden and apparent beings, as well as the apparent and hidden aspects of them. There is no kingdom but His Kingdom. All others are in need and have nothing of their own.

Allah's Argument and Proof is great and no one can compete with it. Wisdom, Prophet hood, the Qur’¡n, and the Imamate are His proofs by which He would reason with all the beings in the Resurrection Day, refusing their false excuses for committing sins and avoiding good deeds.

وَعَلاَ مَكَانُكَ

O Allah! Lofty is Your Being.

The Holy God has rightly praised Himself in the Holy Qur’¡n as:

لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ.

Nothing like a likeness of Him. (42:11)

He is away from every fault and slip. He owns all the perfection and magnificence attributes. His attributes are the same as His Essence, and His essence is the same as His attributes. The Glorious Names and Lofty Attributes only belong to Him. The establishment of all the beings is by means of His Guardianship, His Mercy, His Power, His Will, and His Knowledge. His Power is above all other powers; His Might is above others' might. That's why His Being is Lofty and His Status is superior to everything.

وَخَفِىَ مَكْرُكَ

O Allah! Your Contrivance is hidden.

Contrivance means deceitfulness, about Allah's beings, which is used for deceiving others. Applying the word in this meaning to the Almighty Allah is not true, because it is the attribute of incapable and unwise human, and incapability and unwiseness does not involve the Holy Essence of Allah. His Holy Essence is wholly Knowledge, Might, Mercy, and Generosity. All the beings are in need of Him and He is the One Needless.

Contrivance, about the Almighty Allah, means chastisement and punishment. He would use it for those who deserve it, while they have no escape from it.

Allah's chastisement for those who commit sins arrogantly and ignorantly is in different ways. One step of it is in the form of graduation in which as the ignorant sinner increases his wrongdoing, Allah adds to his blessings, so that the servant's ignorance would be enhanced by the increased blessings. As a result the sinner would forget repentance. Then suddenly chastisement comes without the sinner's attention and awareness, entangling him, and making revenge from him. In fact, the sinner would face the hidden contrivance.

It is narrated from Imam ¯¡diq (a.s):

إذَا أرَادَ اللهُ بِعَبْدٍ خَيْراً فَأذْنَبَ ذَنْباً أتْبَعَهُ بِنِعْمَةٍ وَيُذَكِّرُهُ الإسْتِغْفَارَ، وَإذَا أرَادَ بِعَبْدٍ شَرّاً فَأذْنَبَ ذَنْباً أتْبَعَهُ بِنِعْمَةٍ لِيُنْسِيَهُ الإسْتِغْفَارَ وَتَمَادَى بِهَا. وَهُوَ قَوْلُهُ: سَنَسْتَدْرِجُهُم مِّنْ حَيْثُ لاَ يَعْلَمُونَ.

In fact, sometimes Allah wills to give a servant of Him blessings and goodness. That servant commits sins; Allah would give him blessings, and the servant becomes warned and repentant. Sometimes, on the other hand, He wills evil for a servant. Then He grants blessings to him after his wrongdoing, so the servant gets entertained by the blessing and hence more ignorant. He would thus forget repentance and his sins continue due to the blessings. This is the sense of Allah’s saying: 'We draw them near to destruction by degrees from whence they know not. (4:182)'[123]

وَظَهَرَ أَمْرُكَ

O Allah! Your Command is manifest.

Allah's Command is in the first place of genesis kind, by which all the beings were created and emerged in the world. Another kind of Allah's Command is the religious one by whose blessing the Holy Qur’¡n was revealed to the Prophet's heart. Another manifestation of Allah's religious Command is His Rules about the lawfulness and unlawfulness, which have been declared to all human beings by the prophets, heavenly Books and Imams (a.s).

وَغَلَبَ قَهْرُكَ وَجَرَتْ قُدْرَتُكَ

Your Dominance is overwhelming; Your Power is ever-operating.

Allah's Dominance and Power was explained in detail at the beginning of the book.

وَلا يُمْكِنُ الْفِرَارُ مِنْ حُكُومَتِكَ

And escape from Your Domain is impossible.

The Almighty Allah embraces all the things wholly and the beings entirely; nothing is outside His embracing Authority.

All the beings have come to existence by His Will, so He has been present before other beings and they continue existence by His Mercy and blessings. He is with all the creatures, and finally they would all return to Him. Hence He would exist after all the beings. How can the creatures escape from His Domain then?

An important valuable tradition reads: “Someone came to Imam °usayn (a.s) and said: 'I am a sinner, but cannot continue to be a sinner. So preach me!' Imam (a.s) stated:

إفْعَلْ خَمْسَةَ أشْيَاءٍ وَأذْنِبْ مَا شِئْتَ: لاَ تَأكُلْ مِنْ رِزْقِ اللهِ وَأذْنِبْ مَا شِئْتَ. أخْرُجْ مِنْ مَمْلَكَةِ اللهِ وَحُكْمِهِ وَأذْنِبْ مَا شِئْتَ. أطْلُبْ مَكَاناً لاَ يَرَاكَ فِيهِ اللهُ وَأذْنِبْ مَا شِئْتَ. وإذَا جَاءَكَ مَلَكُ المَوْتِ فَادْفَعْهُ عَنْكَ وَأذْنِبْ مَا شِئْتَ. وَإنْ سَاقَكَ مَلائِكَةُ العَذَابِ إلَى النَّارِ فَلا تَدْخُلْ فِيهَا وَأذْنِبْ مَا شِئْتَ.

'Do five things and then commit any sin you want! First, don't eat Allah's sustenance and commit sins. Second, Go outside the domain of Allah's Authority and commit sins. Third, go where Allah would not see you and commit sins. Fourth, when the death angel comes to you send him away and commit sins. Fifth, When the Hell angel wants to throw you into the Hell, don't enter it and commit sins.'[124]

If human wants to escape from anything he should escape from his own ignorance and go toward knowledge, from unknown to the apparent, and escape from the creatures to the Creator, so that he would benefit from worldly and heavenly advantages, divine paradise, and permanent prosperity. Such an escape is, in fact, from wrongdoing to common sense, from the world to the Hereafter, from the Hell to the Paradise, and at last from Satan to Allah.

اللَّهُمَّ لا أَجِدُ لِذُنُوبِى غَافِرًا وَّلا لِقَبَائِحِى سَاتِرًا وَّلا لِشَيٍْء مِّنْ عَمَلِىَ الْقَبِيحِ بِالْحَسَنِ مُبَدِّلاً غَيْرَكَ

O Allah! I find no forgiver of my sins, no concealer of my wicked acts, no transformer of any of my wicked acts into good acts but You.

The Forgiver of Sins

One of the attributes of the Compassionate Allah is the Forgiver. It means Allah would pardon humans' sins, provided that they truly repent from their previous wrongdoing.

The sinner should be hopeful of Allah's forgiveness Who would excuse his crimes if he avoids sins and be adorned with righteous deeds.

Hopelessness of Allah's Forgiveness is a major sin, which is doomed to chastisement, and according to the Holy Qur’¡n, equals disbelief:

إِنَّهُ لا يَيْئَسُ مِنْ رَوْحِ اللَّهِ إِلاَّ الْقَوْمُ الكَافِرُونَ.

Surely none despairs of Allah's Mercy except the unbelieving people. (12:87)

The Holy Qur’¡n declares to the sinners not to be desperate of Allah's Mercy, since Allah would forgive all the sins.

قُلْ يَا عِبَادِي الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ لا تَقْنَطُوا مِنْ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ.

Say: O my people who have been prodigal against yourselves, do not despair of God’s mercy; surely God forgives sins altogether; surely He is the All-forgiving, the All-compassionate. (39:53)

The Qur’¡nic verses like the ones below indicate that the Almighty would pardon the wrongdoing of every sinner.

إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ.

Allah is All-forgiving, All-compassionate. (2:173)

فَمَنْ تَابَ مِنْ بَعْدِ ظُلْمِهِ وَأَصْلَحَ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ يَتُوبُ عَلَيْهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ.

But whoever repents after his wickedness and reforms himself, then surely Allah will turn him mercifully; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. (5:39)

وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ.

Be careful of your duty to Allah; surely Allah is Forgiving Merciful. (8:69)

One who repents from his previous sins, avoids major sins after repentance, does not insist on committing minor sins, compensates his delayed obligatory deeds, and recompenses people's property that is due on him would get completely subject to Allah's Mercy and Forgiveness.

The Messenger of Allah (s.a) lists the signs of a real repentant as follows:

أمَّا عَلاَمَةُ التَّائِبِ فَأرْبَعَةٌ: النَّصِيحَةُ للهِ فِي عَمَلِهِ، وَتَرْكُ البَاطِلِ، وَلُزُومُ الحَقِّ، وَالحِرْصُ عَلَى الخَيْرِ.

A repentant servant of Allah's has four signs; complete obedience of Allah in deeds and behaviors, leaving the untruth, sticking to the truth, and intense enthusiasm to do good.[125]

Imam `Al¢ (a.s) says:

مَا كَانَ اللهُ لِيَفْتَحَ عَلَى عَبْدٍ بَابَ الشُّكْرِ وَيُغْلِقُ عَنْهُ بَابَ الزِّيَادَةِ، ولاَ لِيَفْتَحَ عَلَى عَبْدٍ بَابَ الدُّعَاءِ وَيُغْلِقُ عَنْهُ بَابَ الإجَابَةِ، وَلاَ لِيَفْتَحَ لِعَبْدٍ بَابَ التَّوْبَةِ وَيُغْلِقُ عَنْهُ بَابَ المَغْفِرَةِ.

Allah is not to open up the doors of gratitude to His servant but close the doors of increased blessings. He is not to allow him to supplicate, but limit fulfillment of his supplication. And He does not intend to open the doors of repentance, but close the doors of His forgiveness.[126]

The Concealer of Wicked Acts

Among the important attributes of the Almighty Allah is concealing the wrongdoings of a servant who commits sins in private, not wanting anyone to know of his wicked acts.

The All-Merciful has called himself Sattar Al-'Uyub or the concealer of faults, so that His servants know that He would save their face in case they commit a crime. However if a sinner gets so much brash that he does wrong in public, saving his face before others would be meaningless.

It is narrated from the Messenger of Allah (s.a) who said:

مَنْ تَابَ تَابَ اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَأُمِرَتْ جَوَارِحُهُ أنْ تَسْتُرَ عَلَيْهِ وَبِقَاعُ الأرْضِ أنْ تَكْتُمَ عَلَيْهِ وأُنْسِيَتِ الحَفَظَةُ مَا كَانَتْ تَكْتُبُ عَلَيْهِ.

One who repents Allah would accept his repentance and order his organs to cover sins from his sight. He would order the earth segments to make him neglect his sins, and makes the Writers forget what they have written in that servant's letter of deeds.[127]

Mu'awiyat Ibn Wahab quotes Imam ¯¡diq (a.s) as saying:

إذَا تَابَ العَبْدُ تَوبَةً نَصُوحاً أحَبَّهُ اللهُ وَسَتَرَ عَلَيْهِ... يُنْسِي مَلَكَيْهِ مَا كَانَا يَكْتُبَانِ عَلَيْهِ، وَيُوحِي إلَى جَوارِحِهِ وَإلَى بِقَاعِ الأرْضِ أنْ اكْتُمِي عَلَيْهِ ذُنُوبَهُ؛ فَيَلْقَى اللهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ حِينَ يَلْقَاهُ وَلَيْسَ شَيْءٌ يَشْهَدُ عَلَيْهِ بِشَيْءٍ مِنَ الذُّنُوبِ.

‘If a servant repents sincerely, Allah would love him and cover his faults in the world and the Hereafter.’ I asked Imam ¯¡diq (a.s): ‘How will Allah cover them?’ Imam (a.s) replied: ‘He will make the two angels, in charge of that servant, forget all about his sins they have recorded, and will reveal to his body organs to do so. So the servant would meet Allah while there is no record of his sins.’[128]

In the Qur’¡nic exegesis book, Minh¡j al-¯¡diqin, we read:

On the Resurrection Day, the servant is brought before the Almighty, Who orders to place him in a dome. Then Allah would address that servant: 'My Servant! You benefited from My blessings for committing sins, and as I increased My blessings for you, you increased your wrongdoing.' So the servant bends his head from shyness. He is then addressed: 'My servant! At the same time as you committed sin I forgave you and removed all your sins.' Another servant is brought before Him afterwards and counted for his deeds until he becomes tearful. The Almighty says: 'My Servant! When you committed sins joyfully I did not embarrass you; how do I chastise you now that you are weeping? I forgive you and let you come into My Paradise!'

Transferor of Wicked Acts to Good Acts

Among the attributes of the Almighty is that when the servant repents and does good acts, He would transfer the servant's sins to virtuous acts.

إِلاَّ مَنْ تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ عَمَلاً صَالِحًا فَأُوْلَئِكَ يُبَدِّلُ اللَّهُ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ حَسَنَاتٍ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًا.

Except him who repents, believes, and does a good deed; so these are they of whom Allah changes the evil deeds to good ones, and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. (25:70)

وَأَقِمْ الصَّلاَةَ طَرَفِي النَّهَارِ وَزُلَفًا مِنْ اللَّيْلِ إِنَّ الْحَسَنَاتِ يُذْهِبْنَ السَّيِّئَاتِ ذَلِكَ ذِكْرَى لِلذَّاكِرِينَ.

And keep up prayer at the two ends of the day and in the first parts of the night; surely good deeds take away evil deeds. (11:114)

Numerous facts are mentioned in important scientific and research-based books about transformation of wicked acts to good acts, some of which are philosophical, and some others mystical. But stating them all here requires a lot more space and time.

The authors of Tafs¢r Nemuneh say that transforming wicked acts to good ones has some exegeses, all of which can be acceptable.

When human repents from previous sins and renews his belief in Allah a great revolution occurs throughout his existence. It is because of this alternation that all his sins are transferred to good deeds. If he had committed murder in the past it would be replaced with defending the oppressed people and fighting the oppressors in future. If he were an adulterer previously, he would then become pious and chaste through repenting and getting regretful of his former sins.

After repentance, Allah would remove the servant's sins, out of Mercy, replacing them with good acts. Ab£-Dhar has narrated from the Messenger of Islam (s.a) who said:

يُحْشَرُ بَعْضُهُمْ يَوْمَ القِيَامَةِ فَيَأمُرُ اللهُ أنْ تُعْرَضَ صَغَائِرُ ذُنُوبِهِمْ وَتُسْتَرَ كَبَائِرُهَا. فَيُقَالُ لَهُ إنَّكَ فَعَلْتَ فِِي اليَوْمِ الفُلانِيِّ الذَّنْبَ الفُلاَنِيَّ فَيُقِرُّ بِذَلِكَ وَنَفْسُهُ تَضْطَرِبُ مِنَ الكَبَائِرِ الَّتِي سَيُسْألُ عَنْهَا، ثُمَّ يَأمُرُ اللهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ أنْ تُبَدَّلَ سَيِّئَاتُهُ حَسَنَاتٍ. فَيَقُولُ: يَا رَبِّ: إنَّ لِي ذُنُوباً كَبِيرَةً ولاَ أرَاهَا.

On the Last Day, Allah orders to count for the servant's minor sins, and covering his major sins. He confesses to what he has committed of the minor sins, but he is afraid of his major sins. If Allah wills to have Mercy on him then, He would replace any sin of him with a good act. Therefore the servant professes: 'My Lord! I had committed many major sins that are not present today.'

Ab£-Dharr says: At this point, the Prophet (s.a) smiled in a way that his teeth appeared, then he recited this verse:

فَأُوْلَئِكَ يُبَدِّلُ اللَّهُ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ حَسَنَاتٍ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًا.

These are they of whom Allah changes the evil deeds to good ones, and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. (25:70)[129]

The third possibility is that the sins are not the deeds the human does, rather the wicked effects of them on human soul and mind. When he repents, those wicked effects are removed from his soul, transforming to good effects; and this is the meaning of transformation of wicked acts to good acts.[130]

لا إِلَهَ إِلاّ أَنتَ سُبْحَانَكَ وَبِحَمْدِكَ

There is no deity but You! Glory be to You, and Yours is the Praise!

The phrase 'There is no deity but You' is termed Tahlil, 'Glory be to You' is labeled Tasb¢¦, and 'Praise is Yours' is called Tahmid.

If someone utters Tahlil while he believes in it sincerely and wholeheartedly, removing any other deity from his thought and life, he is a real monotheist. He would then be safeguarded by Allah and away from worldly and heavenly defamation. Such a servant would therefore be sent to Paradise on the Last Day, while Allah is content with him, the angles love him and the prophets, the righteous, and the martyrs are his companions.

The reality of Tahlil is realized when human becomes aware of Allah's Divine Attributes and Glorious Names via the Holy Qur’¡n, the teachings of the prophets, especially Prophet Mu¦ammad and his Household (a.s). He is pure of impurities, attempts in fulfilling the obligations, and sincerely serves Allah's servants.

By following this path human soul and body confesses Allah's uniqueness and call out:

Be aware that everything is fictitious except Allah and every blessing is certainly temporary.

Indeed is there any dweller in the world of existence to be worshipped and asked for sustenance? Is there any one except Him to solve the problems, remove calamities, forgive the sins, and conceal the wicked acts?

The remembrance of Allah by Tahlil, Tasb¢¦, and Tahmid is in fact appropriate for this section of Kumayl supplication, as the supplicant, knowing his poorness and weakness, and confessing to his sins states that: I found no one to forgive my sins and conceal my wicked acts. Because he knows well that this is only possible by Allah's Power.

The Cost of Paradise

The servant who sincerely utters Tahlil and practically denies any other deity except Allah would certainly obey and worship Allah and no one else. Such a servant is preparing the cost of paradise, while placing himself in the secure fort of the Compassionate.

Imam al-Ri¤¡ (a.s) has narrated from his noble ancestors who have narrated from the Messenger of Allah who cited from the Almighty:

لاَ إلَهَ إلاّ اللهُ حِصْنِي؛ فَمَنْ دَخَلَ حِصْنِي أمِنَ مِنْ عَذَابِي.

Taw¦¢d (Unity of Allah) is My Fort, so whoever comes to My Fort would be secured from My chastisement.[131]

The Messenger of Allah (s.a) said:

مَا جَزَاءُ مَنْ أنْعَمَ اللهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ عَلَيْهِ بِالتَّوْحِيدِ إلاّ الجَنَّةَ.

The reward of one to whom Allah has granted the blessing of Taw¦¢d is not but Paradise.[132]

مَنْ مَاتَ وَهُوَ يَعْلَمُ أنَّ اللهَ حَقٌّ دَخَلَ الجَنَّةَ.

One who dies while he knows that Allah is indeed the Truth, would enter Paradise.[133]

Imam ¯¡diq (a.s):

قَوْلُ لاَ إلَهَ إلاّ اللهُ ثَمَنُ الجَنَّةِ.

The cost of Paradise is the sincere uttering of ‘There is no deity but Allah’.[134]

Moreover, he said:

مَنْ قَالَ لاَ إلَهَ إلا ّ اللهُ مُخْلِصاً دَخَلَ الجَنَّةَ؛ وَإخْلاَصُهُ أنْ تَحْجِزَهُ لاَ إلَهَ إلاّ اللهُ عَمَّا حَرَّمَ اللهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ.

One who confesses to the Unity of Allah sincerely would enter Paradise and his sincerity makes him away from what Allah has declared unlawful.[135]

A man came to the fifth infallible Imam, Imam al-B¡qir (a.s) and asked about the Prophet's tradition about the cost of Paradise. Imam (a.s) said: “It is true.” That man returned from the house of Imam al-B¡qir (a.s), but then the Imam ordered to return him back to the house. Then he stated:

There are some conditions for Taw¦¢d and I, the infallible Imam selected by Allah and obeying me is obligatory in every aspect, am among its conditions.[136]

Anyway the only way for human salvation is belief in Taw¦¢d (Allah's Unity) and its conditions. In other words, when human knows Allah as the only deity Who possesses and gives sustenance to anything in the world, and confesses to it verbally, accepting the prophet hood of the prophets and the Imamate of the infallible Imams, as well as the Holy Qur’¡n, he has for sure resorted to the only salvation key.

After confessing to the Unity of Allah every good act of human's would be accepted, and if he does something wicked, he would be forgiven after regret and repentance. Without Taw¦¢d, however, no good deed is accepted and even the tiniest sins are not forgiven.

If the believers in Allah's Unity get subject to chastisement in the Hereafter for wrongdoing, they would then be saved for the blessing of Taw¦¢d. Important traditions have been cited in authentic tradition books, one of which is narrated here.

The Prophet of Islam (s.a) said to Gabriel, the angel of revelation, the nearest to Allah: Describe the Inferno for me. Gabriel described its residents and positions one by one until the first position and then kept silent. The Prophet (s.a) asked Gabriel: Who are the residents of the Hell's first position? He answered: “The chastisement of them is easier than that of other positions' residents, who are the sinners from your nation. The Prophet (s.a) said: Will anyone from my nation go to the Hell? The nearest angel said: Those who have committed major sins without repenting.

The Prophet (s.a) began crying and continued to do so for three complete days. His daughter Hadrat Zahra (s.a) came to visit him on the fourth day who found him putting his face on the ground and crying so hard that the sol under his face had turned to mud. She asked him the reason. The Prophet (s.a) replied: Because the Trustee angel has informed me that the first floor of the Inferno is resided by the sinners from my nation. Hadrat Fatima (s.a) said: Did you ask Gabriel how the sinners would be taken to the Hell? His honorable father answered: Yes! He said the sinner men and women are held by their hair and taken to the Hell. Then as they approach the Hell and see its agent they would cry out and ask him to let them cry for their misery. When the Hell agent allows them to do so they weep as long as there remains no tears in their eyes, then they would shed tears of blood instead. The agent would say: You'd better had such a cry in the world for the fear of today's account.

Afterwards, the agent of the Inferno takes them to the Hell. The sinners would cry: “l¡-il¡ha ill¡ all¡hu” so the fire recedes from them saying: How can I cover these sinners when they have confessed to Allah's Unity. The agent orders the fire to cover them, but the Almighty addresses: Do not burn their faces since they have prostrated to worship Me and do not burn their hearts because they have bore thirst in Ramadan. So they would remain in the Inferno as long as Allah wills. Then Gabriel is asked of the Muslim sinners' state. The Hell agent shows them to Gabriel. They would observe Gabriel in a pleasant way and would ask his identity. They are answered: He is the angel who brought Mu¦ammad (s.a) revelations in the world. Hearing the Prophet's name, the captives of the Hell would cry: Greet the Prophet (s.a) for us and tell him that the Muslim sinners are in the Hell.

Gabriel would deliver their message to Prophet Mu¦ammad (s.a). He would then prostrate for Allah and ask Him to forgive those sinners for his sake. The Prophet (s.a) would be replied: I forgave them for your sake. So the Prophet would take them out of Hell, while they resemble firewood. Then he would take them into 'Ein Al-Hayat to drink from its water and wash their inner and apparent impurities. On their forheads this phrase is depicted: Liberated from the Fire by the Compassionate.

When they are brought to Paradise, its residents show then to each other saying: These are liberated from the Hell.

The liberated ones would say: O Lord! You had Mercy on us and brought us into Paradise, now remove this sign from our foreheads. So Allah would accept their request and remove their foreheads' signs.”

Tasb¢¦

Tasb¢¦ means considering Allah as purified from any fault or wickedness. It is in fact confessing to Allah's infinite perfections.

Talha Ibn `Abdull¡h says: I asked the Messenger of Allah about the exegesis of “sub¦¡nall¡hi (Glory be to Allah).” He said:

تَنْزِيهُ اللهِ مِنْ كُلِّ عَيْبٍ.

It is regarding Allah as pure of any faults.[137]

Amir Al-Mu'minin Imam `Al¢ (a.s) was asked about the exegesis of the same phrase. He said:

It is regarding Allah as Grand and purified of what every disbeliever ascribes to Him. When a servant confesses to this sincerely, all the angels praise him.[138]

Many of the verses in the Holy Qur’¡n introduce all the world beings as praising Allah:

وَإِنْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ إِلاَّ يُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِهِ وَلَكِنْ لاَ تَفْقَهُونَ تَسْبِيحَهُمْ.

There is not a single thing but glorifies Him with His praise, but you do not understand their glorification. (17:44)

The reason why Tasb¢¦ is mentioned in this part of the supplication may be that since the servant has declared his wrongdoing, which keeps him away from his nearness to Allah, the best way for being delivered is glorifying Allah. So it is the very position to praise Allah, so that He would save Him from the darkness and bring him to His own nearness position. When the Prophet Jonah (a.s) was entangled in the darkness of the fish belly in the dark night:

فَنَادَى فِي الظُّلُمَاتِ أَنْ لا إِلَهَ إِلاَّ أَنْتَ سُبْحَانَكَ إِنِّي كُنتُ مِنْ الظَّالِمِينَ. فَاسْتَجَبْنَا لَهُ وَنَجَّيْنَاهُ مِنْ الْغَمِّ وَكَذَلِكَ نُنْجِي الْمُؤْمِنِينَ.

So he called out in the darkness: There is no god but Thou; glory be to Thee. Surely I have been a wrong-doer. So We responded to him and delivered him from the grief and thus do We deliver the believers. (21:87-88)

The author of exegesis book Minh¡j Al-¯¡diqin, explaining about this verse, has narrated the Prophet (s.a) who said:

مَا مِنْ مَكْرُوبٍ يَدْعُو بِهَذا الدُّعَاءِ إلاّ اسْتُجِيبَ لَهُ.

There is no grief-stricken who recites this verse, but his supplication would be accepted.[139]

Imam ¯¡diq (a.s) has narrated from Amir Al-Mu'minin (a.s):

Tasb¢¦ fulls the scale of deeds from rewards.[140]

`All¡mah Majlis¢ in his excellent book, Bi¦¡r al-Anw¡r, has narrated a valuable tradition about glorifying Allah: “When something made the Prophet (s.a) happy, he used to say: Praise be to Allah for this! And when some occurrence grieved him, he said: Praise be to Allah in all states!”[141]

ظَلَمْتُ نَفْسي، وَتَجَرَّأْتُ بِجَهْلي وَسَكَنْتُ إِلى قَديمِ ذِكْرِكَ لي وَمَنِّكَ عَلَيَّ

I have wronged myself, I have been audacious in my ignorance and I have depended upon Your constant remembrance of me and Your favor toward me.

Wronging Oneself

Though I recognized You well by watching and contemplating on Your wonderful creation signs in the world, hearing the facts about You from the researchers, and reading books on You, I did not come toward You, did not obey Your rules, did not worship You, did not ask You requests, and got ignorant of you. This was a mistake I always committed and wronged myself.

I recognized Your prophets by reading the history and knew them as the guides to salvation, sympathetic to human beings, deliverers of people from Satanic temptations, and advisers. As I was a Muslim this recognition of mine was deeper in case of the Prophet of Islam (s.a); however, I ignored them, resorted to sources other than them, followed stranger traditions, and did not appreciate the prophets. I was not grateful for this blessing of You, insisted on my miserable way of life and followed the misguidance path. This way, I always wronged myself.

I got familiar with Your Holy Book, Qur’¡n, through participating in religious gatherings and reading Islamic books and divine teachings. I found out that Qur’¡n has been revealed from You to the Prophet of Islam (s.a) in order to guide all Your servants. I knew that this Book is the most comprehensive one including the most fruitful topics, wise rules, useful teachings, startling advises, and the most excellent instructions. Nevertheless, I neglected its signs and facts and lived a negligent life, hence I wronged myself severely.

I got to know the noble Imams via various ways and realized that they are Your proof among people, and guides to the truth. Being perfect humans, they are the successors of the Prophet (s.a) in his nation. The Prophet (s.a) has introduced them as the leaders of the people after himself, who would teach people the Islamic teachings, differentiate between the truth and the futile, and explain the Qur’¡nic verses. Though they faced many difficulties, hostilities and calamities, and were all martyred by the enemies of Islam, the Infallible Imams did not neglect their great responsibility of guiding the people even for a moment. They stated divine rules and religious orders for the people, which were collected in four hundred strong books for the future generations. But I ignored all these facts, disobeyed my Imams, the guidance sources, and went astray. I insisted on my misguidance and deviance, resorted to worldly sources, and preferred the ignorant people, who have misguided from the east to the west of the earth, to my infallible and benevolent Imams (a.s). This was the wrong I committed.

I knew well that the great book of Nahj al-Bal¡ghah is but a ting of Imam `Al¢'s knowledge, in which there is everything necessary for the guidance of humans to Allah, salvation and a purified life. Its sermons, letters, and maxims are replete with Divine teachings, to the extent that it is called Qur’¡n's counterpart. I knew too well al-¯a¦¢fah al-Sajj¡diyyah, including fifty four supplications of Imam al-Sajj¡d (a.s), in which all the human responsibilities before the Almighty have been stated. All the Shi'a Imams have recommended attending to this invaluable book.

I was aware that the Divine rules and the Islamic teachings are stated in the precious books such as Al-K¡f¢, Tahdh¢b al-A¦k¡m, al-Istib¥¡r, man-l¡-ya¦¤aruhu’l-faq¢h, Tu¦af al-`Uq£l, Raw¤at al-W¡`i¨¢n, al-W¡f¢, al-Sh¡f¢, Bi¦¡r al-Anw¡r, Was¡'il al-Sh¢`ah, Raw¤at al-Muttaq¢n, and J¡mi` A¦¡d¢th al-Sh¢`ah and a thousand more, but did not bother myself reading them for my bliss in this world and the Hereafter. Instead I spent my days and nights reading useless and irreligious magazines, wasted my valuable time, and only harmed myself. I always was audaciously ignorant.

Audacity in Ignorance

Since I did not follow the path of knowledge and remained deprived of religious cognition, I continued life ignorantly and got entangled in sins. I could not think of my ultimate position, the account of my deeds, the Hell and the Paradise, hence I began opposing You. My ignorance made me audacious in wrongdoing.

Confessing to sins

Lord! When I was inside my mother's womb, I was wholly under Your Mercy. Your Mercy turned the impure semen into a perfect human, with every necessary organ. Then You enabled my mother to bear me healthily, and prepared my food in her breasts. You also endeared me to my parents, so that I could grow up gradually by their protection. Then You organized the rest of my life.

Lord! This much compassion of You made me proud. It made me think I would still benefit from Your Mercy if I began wrongdoing, without any punishment. I should not have become proud because of Your blessings; I should not have committed sins.

Now that I have got aware of my miserable life and terrible condition, I have turned to You wholeheartedly. I confess to my sins and my audacity in wronging myself. Based on the Qur’¡nic teachings and Prophet's traditions, I know that this confession of me to sins is in fact my repentance and returning to salvation.

It is narrated from Imam al-B¡qir (a.s):

وَاللهِ لاَ يَنْجُو مِنَ الذَّنْبِ إلاّ مَنْ أقَرَّ بِهِ.

By Allah (I swear), no one would be saved from sins, unless he confesses to sins.[142]

He also said:

لاَ وَاللهِ، مَا أرَادَ اللهُ مِنَ النَّاسِ إلاّ خِصْلَتَيْنِ: أنْ يُقِرُّوا لَـُه بِالنِّعَمِ فَيَزِيدُهُمْ، وَبِالذُّنُوبِ فَيَغْفِرُهَا لَهُمْ.

By Allah, He doest not expect but two attributes from His servants; that they confess to His blessings so that He would increase them, and that they confess to their sins so that He would forgive them.[143]

The Commander of the Believers, Imam `Al¢ (a.s) has stated:

اَلمُقِرُّ بِالذَّنْبِ تَائِبٌ.

One who confesses to his sins is considered as the one who repents.[144]

شَافِعُ الذَّنْبِ إقْرَارُهُ وَتَوْبَتُهُ اعْتِذَارُهُ.

The intercessor of a sinner is his confession to sins, and his repentance is as his apology.[145]

It is narrated from Imam ¯¡diq (a.s) in Tadhkirat al-Awliy¡':

Any sin whose beginning is fear and whose end is apology makes the servant close to the Almighty. And any worship whose beginning is pride and whose end is egotism makes him far from Allah.

Confession of the Young Sinner

Mansur Ibn Ammar says: One night I went out and crossed a house from which I heard the weeping and beseeching of a young man, who called his God this way: “Lord! When I committed sins it was not for opposing or disobeying you. My carnal soul overcame me; Satan deceived me, so I wronged myself and made myself subject to Your wrath.” Hearing this, I recited this verse through the door:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا قُوا أَنفُسَكُمْ وَأَهْلِيكُمْ نَارًا وَقُودُهَا النَّاسُ وَالْحِجَارَةُ عَلَيْهَا مَلائِكَةٌ غِلاظٌ شِدَادٌ لا يَعْصُونَ اللَّهَ مَا أَمَرَهُمْ وَيَفْعَلُونَ مَا يُؤْمَرُونَ.

O you who believe! Save yourselves and your families from a fire whose fuel is men and stones; over it are angels stern and strong, they do not disobey Allah in what He commands them, and do as they are commanded. (66:6)

When I read this verse the young man cried out and I went away. The next morning I passed that house again and saw an old woman who was weeping and said: “I had a son who cried at nights from Allah's fear. Last night someone came and recited a punishment verse before the door. Then my son cried out and passed away.” I told her: “I recited that verse last night. May I wash his body before being buried?” She allowed me, so I saw him wearing a piece of cloth around his neck. When I opened the cloth, I saw on his neck written in green: “We have washed this young man with repentance water!”[146]

Regretful Sinner's End

`Abd al-W¡¦id Ibn Zayd, who was among the corrupted wrongdoers, passed the preaching circle of Y£suf Ibn °usayn one day, who was saying at the moment: “The Compassionate Allah has invited the sinners toward Himself, out of Mercy, as if He needs them.” Hearing this statement, `Abd al-W¡¦id put off clothes and ran to the cemetery. On the first night, Y£suf Ibn °usayn dreamed a herald, calling on behalf of Allah: “Go find the sinner young man!” That is Give him the tidings of Our forgiveness! Y£suf began looking for the young man until he found him in the cemetery on the third day. The young man had his head on the ground and was weeping and beseeching Allah. When he saw Y£suf beside himself, he said: “You have been sent three days ago, but you only came today.” He then passed away.

اللّهُمَّ مَوْلاي كَمْ مِنْ قَبيح سَتَرْتَهُ، وَكَمْ مِنْ فادِح مِنَ الْبَلاءِ أَقَلْتَهُ، وَكَمْ مِنْ عِثار وَقَيْتَهُ، وَكَمْ مِنْ مَكْرُوه دَفَعْتَهُ، وَكَمْ مِنْ ثَناء جَميل لَسْتُ أَهْلاً لَهُ نَشَرْتَهُ

O Allah! O my Protector! How many ugly things You have concealed! How many tribulations You have warded off! How many stumbles You have removed! How many ordeals You have averted! And how much beautiful praise, for which I was unworthy, You have spread about me.

In uttering the phrase “my Protector” in the middle of a Thursday night, the supplicant feels an enjoyment which is unique in the world. That is why Prophet Moses (a.s) states in his prayer to Allah:

I have something in my poverty that does not exist in all Your Property. Allah addressed him: What is that thing, Moses? He replied: I have a Lord like You.[147]

Concealing the ugly deeds is one of the greatest blessings and a unique mercy of Allah’s toward His servant. When Allah hides the ugly things of His believer servant in this world, He would certainly pay more attention to His repented servant in the Hereafter, concealing his sins more than before. It is narrated from the Messenger of Allah (s.a):

مَا سُتِرَ عَلَى عَبْدٍ فِي الدُّنْيَا إلاّ سُتِرَ عَلَيْهِ فِي الآخِرَةِ.

No deed or ugly thing of a servant is concealed in this world except that it is concealed in the Last Day too.[148]

In the supplications quoted and recommended by the Prophet (s.a) and his infallible Household (a.s), there is continuous reference to Allah’s being the Concealer of Faults. In these supplications, there are always good tidings for the repented sinner that the Merciful Allah would avoid letting his face down in this world and the Hereafter, hide his faults and sins, and inform no one of his wrongdoing.

As an instance, a tradition is quoted here from the closing section of the valuable book `Uddat al-D¡`¢ by Ibn Fahad al-°ill¢:

Once Gabriel, the trustee angel, was descended to the Prophet of Islam (s.a), smilingly and with good tidings. He greeted the Prophet (s.a) who responded to his greeting. Then Gabriel said: “The Almighty has sent a gift for you.”

The Messenger of Allah asked: “What is that gift?”

He replied: “There are some words of Empyrean’s treasures by which Allah has endeared and made specialized the Empyrean.”

Prophet Mu¦ammad (s.a) asked again: “What are those words?”

Gabriel then said:

يَا مَنْ أَظْهَر الْجَمِيلَ، وَسَتَرَ الْقَبِيحَ، يَا مَنْ لَمْ يُؤْاخِذْ بِالْجَرِيرَةِ، وَلَمْ يَهْتِكِ السّتْرَ، يَا عَظِيمَ الْعَفْوِ، يَا حَسَنَ التّجَاوُزِ، يَا وَاسِعَ الْمَغْفِرَةِ، يَا بَاسِطَ الْيَدَيْنِ بِالرّحْمَةِ، يَا صَاحِبَ كُلّ نَجْوَى، يَا مُنْتَهَى كُلّ شَكْوَى، يَا كَرِيمَ الصّفْحِ، يَا عَظِيمَ الرّجَاءِ، يَا مُبْتَدِئاً بِالنّعَمِ قَبْلَ اسْتِحْقَاقِهَا، يَا رَبّنَا وَسَيّدَنَا وَمَوْلانَا، يَا غَايَةَ رَغْبَتِنَا، أَسْأَلُكَ يَا اَللهُ أنْ لاَ تُشَوِّهَ خَلْقِي بِالنَّارِ.

O the One who revealed the goodness and concealed the badness. O the One who reprimanded no one for wrongdoing and let no one’s face down. O the One whose forgiveness is great, whose pardon is good, and whose Mercy is extended. O the one who has applied his Power in Mercy. O the Owner of any secret and the ultimate source of any complaint. O the one whose forbearance is magnanimous and whose blessings are great. O the Bestower of blessings before the necessary deserve for them. O my Lord, my Protector, and the end of my tendency! O Allah! I ask You not to destroy my creation by the Fire.

The Messenger of Allah asked Gabriel: “What is the recompense of these words?”

Gabriel said: “Beware that the whole knowledge is exclusive in these words. If all the angels of the seven Heavens and the seven earths attempt to describe this supplication until the Resurrection Day, they can describe but one part out of one thousand parts of it.”

When the servant says: “O the One who revealed the goodness and concealed the badness,” Allah would conceal his sins, have mercy on him in the world, maintain his well-being in the next world, and cover him with thousand veils in the two worlds.

And when the servant says: “O the One who reprimanded no one for wrongdoing and let no one’s face down,” the Almighty would not account for his deeds in the Resurrection Day, not uncovering his secrets on that day.

When the servant says: “O the One whose forgiveness is great,” Allah would forgive his sins, even if they are as many as the sea waves.

When he says: “O the One whose pardon is good,” Allah would even forgive his wine-drinking, theft, and other major sins.

When he says: “O the One whose Mercy is extended,” the Merciful Allah would open seventy doors of Mercy on him, so he would be subject to Allah’s Mercy until the last day of his life.

When the servant says: “O the one who has applied his Power in Mercy,” Allah would extend his Power to him out of Mercy.

When the servant says: “O the Owner of any secret and the ultimate source of any complaint,” Allah would grant him the recompense of any grief-stricken, poverty-stricken, patient or blind man until the Resurrection Day.

If the servant says: “O the one whose forbearance is magnanimous and whose blessings are great,” the Almighty would fulfill all his wishes and the wishes of all other servants for him.

If the servant says: “O the Bestower of blessings before the necessary deserve for them,” Allah would recompense as if he is grateful of His blessings.

If the servant says: “O my Lord,” his Lord would says: “My angels! Beware that I forgave him, and I granted him recompense as the number of all My creatures, either in the Paradise or the Hell, in the heavens or the earth, the sun or the moon, the star and the raindrops, different kinds of beings in the mountains, on the soil, and on the Empyrean.”

And if he says: “O my Protector,” Allah would fill his heart with belief.

When the servant says: “O the end of my tendency!” the Almighty would grant him the wishes of all the other creatures.

And if the servant says: “O Allah! I ask You not to destroy my creation by the Fire,” Allah says: “My servant wants to become free from the Fire. O My angels! I delivered him, along with his parents, brothers, family, and neighbors from the Fire and accepted his intercession for a thousand of those who deserved to be put into Fire.”

So Gabriel said: “O Mu¦ammad! Teach these words to the believers and not to the hypocrites. This supplication is accepted for the supplicant and for those present in Allah’s House, when it is circumambulated.”[149]

It should be noted that this great recompense and wonderful reward is not rare of Allah’s extended Mercy, unlimited Beneficence, and infinite treasure of rewards.

Imam `Al¢ (a.s), following the phrase, “How many ugly things You have concealed,” states: “How many tribulations You have warded off; such as earthquake, storm, flood, fire, accident, famine, and calamities. How many stumbles You have removed, which could destroy my belief, my ethics, my benefactions, and my face among people. How many ordeals You have averted, which could destroy my calmness, bring anxiety in my life, and put pressure and difficulty in my heart and mind. How much beautiful praise, for which I was unworthy, You have spread about me, though I had committed so many sins; so my parents and my closed ones thought highly of me and praised me, while I did not deserve it.

اَللّهُمَّ عَظُمَ بَلائي وَأَفْرَطَ بي سُوءُ حالي، وَقَصُرَتْ بي أَعْمالي وَقَعَدَتْ بي أَغْلالي

O Allah my tribulation is tremendous, my bad state is excessive, my acts are inadequate, and my fetters have tied me down.

The above-mentioned phrases are the requests of a patient of sins, a captive of disobedience and material wants before an experienced Omniscient physician. The Merciful physician has invited the patient Himself, out of beneficence, to cure him of his tribulations and free him of his material desires.

The Meaning of ‘bal¡' (tribulation)’

The insightful servants have suggested several meanings for the word ‘tribulations:’

1. Sins

It has been said that “tribulations” are the sins, which are the greatest misfortunes. Wrongdoing is a dangerous illness that, unless one repents and returns to Allah, compensating for his past deeds, it can lead to the spiritual death of his heart. When one’s heart dies he would lose touch with the Almighty, which leads to eternal atrocity and being away from Allah’s Mercy.

The Fourth infallible Imam, al-Sajj¡d (a.s), at the beginning of Mun¡j¡t al-T¡'ib¢n (supplication of the repented) has mentioned this fact:

وَأمَاتَ قَلْبِي عَظِيمُ جِنَايَتِي.

My great crime, that is my wrongdoing, has caused my heart to die.

Ab£-Dharr al-Ghif¡r¢, a disciple of Prophet Mu¦ammad’s was asked: “What illness do you suffer from?” He answered:

أشْكُو ذُنُوبِي.

I suffer from the illness of sin.

An Important Question-Answer

Am¢n al-Isl¡m al-±abars¢, in the great exegesis book “Majma` al-Bay¡n”, explaining about the Qur’¡nic chapter al-W¡qi`ah narrates: `Uthm¡n Ibn `Aff¡n visited `Abdull¡h Ibn Mas`£d while he was sick, before his death. He asked `Abdull¡h: “What do you suffer from?”

`Abdull¡h answered: “My sins.”

`Uthm¡n asked: “What do you desire?”

He replied: “My Lord’s Mercy.”

`Uthm¡n asked again: “Do you want me to call a doctor to visit you?”

“The real Healer has cured me,” answered `Abdull¡h.

`Uthm¡n asked him again: “Do you want me to pay your portion from Muslims’ treasury?”

`Abdull¡h replied: “You did not pay it when I needed it, do you want to pay it now that I don’t need it anymore?”

`Uthm¡n stated again: “Let me pay it to your daughters instead.”

But `Abdull¡h said: “My daughters don’t need it either. I have recommended them to recite al-W¡qi`ah chapter, because I heard from the Prophet (s.a) that anyone who recites al-W¡qi`ah every night would never suffer from poverty.”

A Dialogue with Uways al-Qaran¢

The great Iranian poet, ‘Attar, narrates from Hurm Ibn Hayyan in his “Tadhkirat al-Awliy¡’ “, who said: “When I heard that Uways al-Qaran¢ has reached the intercession position, I desired to see him. I came to K£fah and looked for him until I found him getting ablution. He Asked me: “O Ibn Hayyan! What has brought you here?” I said: “The tendency to befriend you.” He answered: “I don’t think that one, who befriends Allah, befriends anyone except Him.” I told him: “Give me a piece of advise me!” He said: “O Ibn Hayyan! When you fall asleep, consider death under your pillow, and when you get up, consider it in front of yourself. Do not pay attention to the smallness of your sin; rather pay attention to Allah’s greatness, before whom you have committed sin. Because if you consider your sins small, it is as if you consider Allah small!”

2. Remoteness from Allah’s Closeness

It has also been said that the great “tribulation” may be remoteness from Allah’s closeness; the position that is obtainable by belief, good deeds, and good morality. This position contains Allah’s pleasure and would lead to accompanying the prophets, martyrs, and the pious in the Hereafter.

Those who are always far from this position would eventually reach a position in which there are Satans and savages, but no humanity, belief, good deeds and morality. That is a place where human does nothing but oppression, wrongdoing, transgression, and immorality. Those who are always seeking the nearness position, on the other hand, benefit from Allah’s especial blessings; hence they engage in worshipping the Almighty and serving His servants, in a joyful and blissful state. In this engagement, they have no job but as a sincere servant, and no desire but reaching Allah’s nearness. Their hearts continuously gain blessing from Allah and leads it to all aspects of their beings.

Joseph, the truthful, seeking the route to Allah’s nearness, turned his diminutive house in Kan’an into a sincere worshipping and serving position. At the very beginning of this spiritual route, he dreamed of the future, seeing his high position. He made the dark deepness of the well his prayer place. He made the palace of Egypt’s king, which was a falling place for Zulaykha (Potipher’s wife), his rising place to piety. He also turned the prison into a worshipping place for himself and a guidance place for others. He performed wisely and trustworthily as the treasurer of Egypt and sincerely served Allah’s servants as Egypt’s king. He thus reached the position of Allah’s nearness.

3. Ignorance

It has been said that “tribulation” means ignorance, which is the root of all difficulties, deprivations, and eternal misfortune. The Commander of the Believers (a.s), in a tradition about ignorance, states:

اَلجَهْلُ دَاءٌ وَعَيَاءٌ.

Ignorance is a kind of illness and disability.[150]

اَلجَهْلُ أدْوَأُ الدَّاءِ.

Ignorance is the most severe illness.[151]

الجَهْلُ مُمِيتُ الأحْيَاءِ وَمُخَلِّدُ الشَّقَاءِ.

Ignorance kills the alive and perpetuates misfortune.[152]

الجَاهِلُ لاَ يَعْرِفُ تَقْصِيرَهُ وَلاَ يَقْبَلُ مِنَ النَّصِيحِ لَهُ.

The ignorant does not recognize his own fault and does not accept the advice of the benevolent.[153]

الجَاهِلُ مَيِّتٌ وَإنْ كَانَ حَيّاً.

An ignorant person is dead, though he is apparently alive.[154]

الجَاهِلُ صَخْرَةٌ لاَ يَنْفَجِرُ مَاؤهَا، وَشَجَرَةٌ لاَ يَخْضَرُّ عُودُها، وَأرْضٌ لاَ يَظْهَرُ عُشْبُهَا.

An ignorant person is like a rock which does not flow water, a tree which does not bear a green leave, or a ground that does not grow a plant.[155]

Imam `Al¢ (a.s) addresses Allah in one of his supplications this way:

أنَا الجَاهِلُ: عَصَيْتُكَ بِجَهْلِي، وَارْتَكَبْتُ الذُّنُوبَ بِجَهْلِي، وَسَهَوْتُ عَنْ ذِكْرِكَ بِجَهْلِي، وَرَكَنْتُ إلَى الدُّنْيَا بِجَهْلِي.

I am an ignorant person, who disobeyed You because of his ignorance, committed sins, forgot Your remembrance, and got interested in the material world.[156]

Bad State

By bad state it is meant bad improper morality that is one of the worst problems. The insightful people believe it is the most severe cover, which deprives human from understanding the truth, gaining blessings and Allah’s nearness, seeking His way, conceiving Qur’¡nic teachings and the traditions, and Allah’s countenance.

كَلاَّ إِنَّهُمْ عَنْ رَبِّهِمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ لَمَحْجُوبُونَ.

Surely on that Day they (the sinners) will be covered from the Mercy of their Lord. (83:15)[157]

The Almighty has stressed the importance of purifying the soul from vices and adorning it with virtues more than any other duty of humans. After swearing for eleven times in His Qur’¡n, the Almighty has stated the eternal luck and salvation of the purified servants and disappointment of the sinners:

قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَنْ زَكَّاهَا. وَقَدْ خَابَ مَنْ دَسَّاهَا.

He will indeed be successful who purifies it (the soul). And he will indeed fail who corrupts it. (91:9-10)

Human’s bad moral state leads to moral blindness, remoteness from the truth, deafness to the call of Allah and His prophets, and lack of awareness of Allah’s Mercy. The Messenger of Allah (s.a) said:

خِصْلَتانِ لاَ تَجْتَمِعَانِ فِي مُسْلِمٍ: البُخْلُ وَسُوءُ الخُلُقِ.

A believer does not possess two attributes; stinginess and bad morality.[158]

Imam `Al¢ (a.s) stated:

لاَ وَحْشَةَ أوْحَشُ مِنْ سُوءِ الخُلُقِ.

No fear is more frightening than bad temperedness.[159]

سُوءُ الخُلُقِ شَرُّ يَقِينٍ.

Bad-temperedness is the worst companion.[160]

The Messenger of Allah stated as well:

إنَّ العَبْدَ لَيَبْلُغُ مِنْ سُوءِ خُلُقِهِ أسْفَلَ دَرَكِ جَهَنَّمَ.

In fact a servant reaches the farthest position in Hell from his bad-temperedness.[161]

Inadequacy of Acts

If one wants to reach prosperity, spiritual perfection and eventually Paradise, he must act in accord with the Qur’¡nic verses and the traditions of Prophet’s Household. He must also observe the necessary conditions like perseverance, sincerity and desire in order to be able to reach perfection.

If one’s acts are devoid of understanding, perseverance, and desire, and not in accord with Allah’s will, and if they are done with dullness, insincerity, stinginess, jealousy, and pride, how can they cause human to reach salvation and get free of misfortunes?

The Commander of the Believers, despite having unique spiritual resources, called out Allah, in his prayers at nights:

آهِ مِنْ قِلَّةِ الزَّادِ وَبُعْدِ السَّفَرِ وَوَحْشَةِ الطَّرِيقِ.

Ah betides the limitation of resources, the farness of the destination and the fear from the way![162]

It is necessary to study about the worshipping of Allah’s favorite servants to know about their perseverance, desire, and sincerity in serving Allah, and thus get motivated to serve and worship Allah, out of desire. This way, our hearts become illuminated and we get to seek Allah’s way to experience spiritual life.

The martyr, Qazi Nur Allah Shushtari has narrated in his book “Majalis Al-Mu’minin” that Uways al-Qaran¢ said at some nights: “This is the night for genuflection.” And he spent all that night in genuflection. Some other nights he said: “This night is for prostration.” And he spent the night only in prostration. Someone told him: “How do you have the ability of such long worshipping at nights?” He answered: “Do you think the nights are long? I wish all the world was but one night, so that I could spend it all in one prostration!”

The Restrictive Fetters

The insightful servants and the seekers of truth explaining about the phrase “My fetters have tied me down,” have stated:

Perhaps “my fetters” means the sins and especially major sins that restrict human being and tie him down. The sins prevent human from worshipping and serving Allah, depriving him from His blessings. An evidence of this is an important tradition narrated from Am¢r al-Mu’min¢n, `Al¢ (a.s):

Someone told Imam `Al¢ (a.s): “I used to perform the night prayers and Nafilas, but I can no longer do so.” Imam (a.s) said:

أنْتَ رَجُلٌ قَدْ قَيَّدَتْكَ ذُنُوبُكَ.

You are a person, whose sins have become his fetters, tying him down and preventing him from night worshipping.[163]

There is another possibility that “the fetters” are useless entertainments and activities, which prevent human from paying attention to more important real purposes. In a tradition from the Messenger of Allah (s.a), this is mentioned:

مِنْ حُسْنِ إسْلاَمِ المَرْءِ تَرْكُهُ مَا لاَ يَعْنِيهِ.

One of the good things a Muslim observes is his leaving activities that are of no use to him.[164]

وَحَبَسَني عَنْ نَفْعي بُعْدُ أَمَلي

O Allah! My high hopes have held me back from my gain.

High Hopes

Having hopes is a blessing from the Almighty that is deposited in every human to be able to begin useful positive activities and be optimistic about their future benefits. If this great blessing did not exist, human being could do nothing, make no efforts, and got interested in no engagement.

It is narrated that Jesus (a.s) was in a desert while an old man was plowing the farm by his tools. Jesus (a.s) looked up to the heaven and prayed: “O Allah! Take his hopes away from him!” Then the old man put away his tools and slept. After a while, Jesus (a.s) prayed again: “O Allah! Give back his hopes to him!” The old man got up and resumed his work.[165]

The Messenger of Allah (s.a) stated:

Having hope is a Mercy for my nation. If there existed no hopes, no mother breastfed her child neither any farmer planted any trees.[166]

The fourth infallible Imam, Imam al-Sajj¡d (a.s), asked Allah:

أسْألُكَ مِنَ الآمَالِ أوْفَقِهَا.

Fulfill the truest of my hopes![167]

The positive hopes like reaching scientific positions, moral perfection, salvation in this world and the Hereafter, serving Allah and His servants, and leaving useful works after one’s death, such as mosques, roads, hospitals, schools, and libraries can be excellent hopes of a believer servantHereafter.

On the other hand, if human hopes are limited to material issues and exceed the normal amount to such an extent that they remove security and calmness, bring about stinginess and greed, and lead to, emulation and pride, they are untrue hopes and satanic illness. Such hopes make human forget Allah and the Hereafter, and deprive him of worshipping and obeying Allah.

The traditions narrated from the Prophet’s Household (a.s) contain valuable facts in this regard. Imam `Al¢ (a.s), in a tradition says:

الأمَلُ كَالسَّرَابِ؛ يَغِرُّ مَنْ رَآهُ وَيُخْلِفُ مَنْ رَجَاهُ.

Unreal hope is like a mirage, anyone who looks at it is deceived by it and anyone who is hopeful of it would get hopeless.[168]

الأمَلُ خَادِعٌ غَارٌّ ضَارٌّ.

Unreal hopes are deceiving and harmful.[169]

الأمَانيُّ تُعْمِي عُيُونَ البَصَائِرِ.

Unreal hopes blind one’s perception and insight.[170]       

الأمَلُ سُلْطَانُ الشَّيَاطِينِ عَلَى قُلُوبِ الغَافِلِينَ.

Unreal hopes are like the sultan of satans that govern the negligent hearts.[171]

Prophet Moses (a.s), in his prayer, heard Allah saying:

يَا مُوسَى! لاَ تُطَوِّلْ فِي الدُّنْيَا أمَلَكَ فَيَقْسُو قَلْبُكَ، وَالقَاسِي القَلْبِ مِنِّي بَعِيدٌ.

O Moses! Do not have high wishes in the world, since they make you hardhearted, and the hardhearted is away from Me.[172]

Imam ¯¡diq (a.s) called Allah in the ‘Arafa supplication:

أعُوذُ بِكَ مَنْ دُنْياً تَمْنَعُ خَيْرَ الآخِرَةِ، وَمِنْ حَيَاةٍ تَمْنَعُ خَيْرَ المَمَاتِ، وَمِنْ أمَلٍ يَمْنَعُ خَيْرَ العَمَلِ.

I seek refuge to You from the world that hinders a better Hereafter, from a life that prohibits the best death, and from a wish that avoids doing the best deed.[173]

Imam `Al¢ (a.s) said:

مَنْ أيْقَنَ أنَّهُ يُفَارِقُ الأحْبَابَ وَيَسْكُنُ التُّرَابَ وَيُوَاجِهُ الحِسَابَ وَيَسْتَغْنِي عَمَّا خَلَّفَ وَيَفْتَقِرُ إلَى مَا قَدَّمَ كَانَ حَرِيّاً بِقِصْرِ الأمَلِ وَطُولِ العَمَلِ.

One who is sure he would get separated from his friends after death, would be placed in the earth, would be probed by Allah, would get needless of what he has left in the world and in need of what he has sent before, is deserved to have limited wishes and high attempt.[174]

High hopes would harm human severely, depriving him of Allah’s blessings. Human being, from the birth time, is like a fertile land. If this productivity of him is maintained, he would bring the blossoms of good morality and deeds by the raindrops of Allah’s mercy. If, on the other hand, this capability is turned to a desert because of diseases such as ignorance, pride, greed and high hopes, it would not grow certain belief, good morality and deeds.

وَالْبَلَدُ الطَّيِّبُ يَخْرُجُ نَبَاتُهُ بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِ وَالَّذِي خَبُثَ لا يَخْرُجُ إِلاَّ نَكِدًا كَذَلِكَ نُصَرِّفُ الآيَاتِ لِقَوْمٍ يَشْكُرُونَ.

And as for the good land, its vegetation springs forth abundantly by the permission of its lord, and as for that which is inferior its herbage comes forth but scantily. (7:58)

High hopes that embrace human heart like a spider’s net, hinder his thought and understanding of the truth, thus making him forgetful of Allah’s remembrance, the Hereafter, and preparing provisions for the Last Day.

In fact, such a limited-life being, with high hopes of reaching infinite wealth, property, land, position, and foreign travels, can not concentrate on Allah’s remembrance or the Last Day, neither on doing good deeds nor compensating his previous sins and faults!

The Messenger of Allah (s.a) states in an important tradition:

إنَّ أخْوَفَ مَا أخَافُ عَلَيْكُمْ خِصْلَتَانِ: إتِّبَاعُ الهَوَى وَطُولُ الأمَلِ. أمَّا اتِّبَاعُ الهَوَى فَيَصُدُّ عَنِ الحَقِّ، وَأمّا طُولُ الأمَلِ فَيُنْسِي الآخِرَةَ.

In fact, the most severe fear I have for you are two qualities; following the carnal soul and high hopes. Following the carnal soul prevents human from accepting the truth and high hopes prevents remembering the Last Day.[175]

In order to become free of this deadly captivity, contemplating on the previous generation’s lives, attending religious gatherings, pondering in the Holy Qur’¡n and the signs of the Household (a.s), reading history books, visiting the cemetery once in a while are very useful.

Truly, when the heart is captured by imaginary hopes and unwise wishes, human loses the true benefits of the world and the Day of Judgment, and even of the life, knowledge and thought.

A Strange Account

The great Iranian poet, ‘Attar Naysh¡b£r¢, narrates: Once °asan Basri was going somewhere when he reached Dijla river and waited there. Suddenly Habib ‘A’jami, who was a pious man, came and said: “My teacher! Why are you standing here?” °asan answered: “I am waiting for a ship.” Habib said: “You have taught me not to be jealous of other people, and not to have high hopes, so that my desire for this world become little, then I can walk on the water and cross it!” Then Habib walked on the water and crossed it. Seeing this, °asan fainted. When he got awake again, he was asked of the matter. So he answered: “He has learned his knowledge from me, but now he reproaches me, walking on the water. If on the Last Day I am ordered to pass the Sirat Bridge[176] and I am incapable of it, what can I do?[177]“ Then he asked Habib: “How could you reach such a position?” He replied: “O °asan! I whiten my heart and you blacken the papers!” So °asan said: “My knowledge benefits others, but not myself!”

وَخَدَعَتْنِي الدُّنْيا بِغُرُورِها

And this world with its delusions has deceived me.

The goodness and fraud of this world should be evaluated in regard to any one’s thoughts and state of mind. The one, who is defeated by the carnal soul, is drenched in false dreams, and is polluted with moral vices like pride, greed, an envy, is ignorant of Allah, the Hereafter, the Prophets’ prophet hood, the Imam’s Imamate, and the reality of Qur’¡nic verses. Such a person is easily deceived by worldly material, luxurious life, wealth and worldly positions and considers these as the only truth. He thus spends all his lifetime gaining these worldly goals. Eventually, he awakes at the departure day, the death time, and finds his worldly aims as mere fraud and all his efforts as useless. He is forced to go to the next world without any virtues done.

The history’s pharaohs and Korahs have not been pharaohs and Korahs from their birth time; rather they have turned to the people they were due to mental illnesses, false viewpoints and untrue estimates.

Someone who does not have a polluted soul, is not engaged in false thoughts, and does not have vices, is well aware of Allah, the Hereafter, the prophets, the Imams and the Holy Qur’¡n. Such a person considers the world, along with all its facilities, a tool for living purely, doing good deeds, and preparing for a better hereafter. He, therefore, utilizes all his lifetime for fulfilling these goals.

The heavenly messengers and the infallible Imams (a.s) are humans who have not been trapped by the world’s luxuries and have not been deceived by material issues.

The insightful, who see everything through their hearts, have left some advices from themselves that are valuable for the thoughtful people.

Am¢r al-Mu’min¢n, Imam `Al¢ (a.s), states: “I was in a garden of Fadak’s, which belonged to Hadrat Zahra (a.s), gardening with a shovel. Suddenly, a lady came to me, who looked great and pretty to me. I thought she was Thaniyya, daughter of ‘Amir Jamhi, who was famous for her beauty among the women of Quraysh. She told me: “O son of Abu Talib! Are you interested in proposing me? If yes, I am ready to become your wife. Then I would help you to fulfill your need for making a living, would guide you to the earth’s treasures, and would govern you on the world.” I asked her: “Who are you to take you as my wife?” She said: “The world!” I said: “Go away and look for a husband other than me, since I have divorced you three times, and there is no return for my decesion.”[178]

One, who is deceived by the deceptive world, has made himself unlucky forever, depriving himself from the blessings of this world and the Hereafter. And one, who is uninterested in this world, has gained a great benefit and an eternal blessing; Allah’s pleasure.

Imam ¯¡diq (a.s) states:

مَنْ زَهِدَ فِي الدُّنْيَا أثْبَتَ اللهُ الحِكْمَةَ فِي قَلْبِهِ وَأنْطَقَ بِهَا لِسَانَهُ وَبَصَّرَهُ عُيُوبَ الدُّنْيَا وَدَاءَهَا وَدَوَاءَهَا وَأخْرَجَهُ مِنَ الدُّنْيَا سَالِماً إلَى دَارِ السَّلاَمِ.

One, who is indifferent to the world, Allah would bestow wisdom on his heart, enable his tongue to utter it, make his eye seeing of the world’s faults, illnesses, and treatments, and would eventually transfer him, safe and sound, to the Territory of Peace.[179]

Luqm¡n, the wise, told his son:

يَا بُنَيَّ! إنَّ الدُّنْيَا بَحْرٌ عَمِيقٌ قَدْ غَرِقَ فِيهَا عَالَمٌ كَثِيرٌ، فَلْتَكُنْ سَفِينَتُكَ فِيهَا تَقْوى اللهِ وَحَشْوُهَا الإيمَانَ وَشِرَاعُهَا التَّوَكُّلَ وَقَيِّمُهَا العَقْلَ وَدَلِيلُهَا العِلْمَ وَسُكَّانُهَا الصَّبْرَ.

My son! Indeed the world is a deep see, which has drowned many worlds. So you should travel in it with the ship of piety, load this ship with belief, take a sail of reliance on Allah for the ship, employ a crew of wisdom, a guide of knowledge and passengers of patience and tolerance for it.[180]

The Messenger of Allah (s.a) said:

كُنْ فِي الدُّنْيَا كَأنَّكَ غَرِيبٌ أوْ كَأنَّكَ عَابِرُ سَبِيلٍ، وَعِدْ نَفْسَكَ فِي أصْحَابِ القُبُورِ.

Be present in this world as if you are an alien, or a passing traveler, and consider yourself as the dead ones.[181]

Imam ¯¡diq (a.s) said:

يَا بْنَ جُنْدَبٍ! إنْ أحْبَبْتَ أنْ تُجَاوِرَ الجَلِيلَ فِي دَارِهِ وَتَسْكُنَ الفِرْدَوْسَ فِي جِوَارِهِ فَلْتَهُنْ عَلَيْكَ الدُّنْيَا.

O son of Jundab! If you like to be Allah’s neighbor in His House in the Hereafter and be with Him in His paradise, this world should be worthless for you.[182]

The Qur’¡nic verses and the traditions of Prophet’s House (a.s) imply that if the world is employed to do good deeds and advantageous performances, thus construct the hereafter fruitful, this is a fine worthy world. If, on the other hand, it is used for badness, oppression, and sins, and destroys the hereafter, it is indeed a worthless world.

In general, the goodness or badness of the world depends on the people’s ideas and performances. If one acts with belief, morality and good deeds, living in the world is certainly to his benefit. But if he lives in the world with disbelief, idolatry, bad morality, and wrongdoing, the world is completely harmful for him.

As a result, it is not possible to judge the world without knowing about human’s relationship with and his performance in it. About the world that is deceiving for some people, it is said: All the badness is gathered in a house, whose key is love for the world. And also entering the world is easy, but exiting it safely is difficult.

If the hereafter were a lasting clay container and the world were a temporary golden one, the hereafter was more deserved to be loved by the people, let alone now that the hereafter is like a golden and permanent container but the world is like an ending clay one.

Abu Hazim Makki said: “It is supposed that you avoid the world because I was informed that on the Last day the servant is brought into account and a caller will call on behalf of Allah that this is a servant who belittled what Allah praised and liked whatever Allah disliked.”

وَنَفْسي بِخِيانَتِها وَمِطالي

My own soul with its offences and my dilly-dallying have deceived me.

The soul is a phenomenon, which is impossible or at least difficult to understand, but recognizing its signs, as mentioned in Qur’¡n and the traditions is not as hard.

If the soul is not put into training and purification, it would become polluted with whims and desires, thus committing any sins would become easy for it.

Whim lexically means “falling down or moving in a wrong direction” and also “extreme desire for anything”. Desire implies “collapse, corruption, and being misled”. Psychologically, desire means “a stressful motion in human soul that does not leave him relaxed, such as love, hatred, and wrath.”

One who is desirous for something in every moment does not have the power to move toward perfection. Achieving perfection requires calmness of the mind. As far as there are desires, there is no peace and the mind does not govern the soul. A child is naturally desirous, so he should be watched closely not to get accustomed to being desirous. Women are also desirous by nature, because they are so precise. It is a necessity for women, because they are created for managing the internal affairs of the house and they should pay attention to the details. What harms women more than other things is jealousy. They should hence control this vice by training and trying.

In general, if the desire is leaved with no reign, it would change into lust. And if wisdom cannot rule this lust, it may transgress and lead to insanity. This insanity is quite visible in people’s greed and ambition. Such people are like the deaf and the blind and do anything to reach their purpose. For doing so, they violate all social and religious sanctities and even may get disloyal to their friends and their country. No one should trust the friendship of such people, because they have a single beloved for which they sacrifice all other dear ones. Those who suffer from the insanity of greed only like those who accept to be a tool for facilitating their evil intentions, thus they generally hate piety and the pious.

That people’s desires turns to severe lust and lust makes them insane is because a strong lust vanishes their thinking and wisdom.

The extreme desire for positions is the most severe lust, which has harmed mankind more than other lusts. This lust has colored many history pages red, causing people to kill their fathers, brothers and sons.

It should be pointed out that by following the carnal soul it is meant only the harmful aspects of it that cause the lusts and desires. In fact, no one should completely ignore his soul, as some of the seekers of truth way have misunderstood. But since humans are naturally more inclined to the negative aspect of their souls, that is wrongdoing, the religious leaders have warned us against the carnal soul entirely. That’s why they give warning more than hope in their preaching. Humans are inclined to a variety of social and personal attempts called the instincts, most of which lead to selfishness. And this selfishness is laid in human nature, out of Allah’s higher wisdom, for the continuation of life and the perfection steps.

This innate selfishness should be controlled by belief in Allah, the Resurrection, and spiritual relationship with the prophets and the infallible Imams, as well as by accomplishing the religious duties and observing the right of other people, so that selfishness does not become an excess. An extremely selfish person thinks about nothing but his personal benefits. This devil vice would harm the selfish person in the first place, and the society at large. For instance anger is a prerequisite of selfishness, but it should be controlled and employed for defending one’s life, wealth, reputation, country and right, not for bothering the weak. An extreme anger is savageness and an insignificant one is lack of zeal.

Freedom, as another instance, is the fruit of life and the prerequisite of human will, because it prevents him from being limited by others’ wills. But this innate tendency should be used wisely and moderately. If the blessing of freedom is used excessively, it leads to chaos. If it is used inadequately, on the other hand, it causes captive ness and oppression.

Human instinct of loving wealth is also a decent one to the extent that it does not lead to meanness on one hand, and illegal activities, such as theft, embezzlement, and gambling to gain it, on the other.

The best state in relationships with others is good morality, which should be kept in a moderate state, not to violate anyone’s rights.

Sociability and happiness with others is fine to the extent that it does not turn into unsuitable kidding. Mentioning friends’ virtues is encouraging them to goodness, but it should not lead to flattery[183]. From the above-mentioned issues, the vices of the soul, which is not adorned with religious training, becomes clear.

Descriptions of the Soul

The Holy Qur’¡n has cited some descriptions for the soul that emerge due to human inattention to the religious and moral facts:

1. The carnal soul, 2. The corrupting soul, 3. The fooling soul, 4. The reducing soul, 5. The pledged soul, 6. The desirous soul, 7. The woeful soul.

The Qur’¡nic verses containing these descriptions of the soul are in order:

إِنَّ النَّفْسَ لأَمَّارَةٌ بِالسُّوءِ إِلاَّ مَا رَحِمَ رَبِّي.

Most surely man’s soul is prone to evil, unless my Lord do bestow His Mercy. (12:53)

وَقَدْ خَابَ مَنْ دَسَّاهَا.

And he will indeed fail who corrupts the soul. (91:10)

وَمَنْ يَرْغَبُ عَنْ مِلَّةِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ إِلاَّ مَنْ سَفِهَ نَفْسَهُ.

And who forsakes the religion of Ibr¡h¢m but he who makes himself a fool. (2:130)

قَالَ بَلْ سَوَّلَتْ لَكُمْ أَنفُسُكُمْ أَمْرًا.

Nay your souls have made the matter light for you. (12:18)

كُلُّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ رَهِينَةٌ.

Every soul is held in pledge for what it earns. (74:38)

وَأَمَّا مَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ وَنَهَى النَّفْسَ عَنْ الْهَوَى، فَإِنَّ الْجَنَّةَ هِيَ الْمَأْوَى.

And as for him who fears to stand before his Lord and forbids the soul from low desires, then surely the garden- that is the abode. (79:40-41)

أَنْ تَقُولَ نَفْسٌ يَا حَسْرَتَا عَلَى مَا فَرَّطْتُ فِي جَنْبِ اللَّهِ.

Lest a soul should say: O woe to me! For what I fell short of my duty to Allah. (39:56)

Shaykh Bah¡’¢ in his valuable book, ‘Arba’in says: “By ‘soul’ in the traditions it is meant the savage powers, like lust and anger.” Ghazali in ‘Madarij Al-Quds’ has mentioned this point in the following sentence: ‘The ‘soul’ is ascribed to all the vices that are in contrast with the thinking power.’

The Holy Prophet is reported to have said:

أعْدَى عَدُوِّكَ نَفْسُكَ الَّتِي بَيْنَ جَنْبَيْكَ.

The most severe of your enemies is your own soul that is placed between your two sides.[184]

The divine wise men say that fighting the soul is only because of its belonging to the body, which causes savage and satanic vices. Regardless of this belonging to the body, the soul is really the mind, possessing the angels’ virtues. In this sense, the soul serves to worship Allah and to reach His paradise. Therefore the attributes of the soul’s belonging to the body should be fought so that the soul can reach peace and be safe from its satanic aspect. Otherwise, it would always be full of quarrels and disputes!

The great Persian poet, Sa’di, says: I asked someone of the meaning of this Prophet’s tradition: “The most severe of your enemies is your own soul that is placed between your two sides.” He answered: “It is because if you do good to any enemy he becomes a friend, except your soul that increases its enmity if you do good to it and fulfill its desires!” The followers of the carnal soul, who live unwisely, are the insane.

Buhl£l was asked: “How many fools are there in the city?” He replied: “It is very hard to count them. Ask me of the number of the wise men!”

Am¢r al-Mu’min¢n’s Viewpoint about Reforming the Soul

Imam `Al¢ (a.s), out of his full insight into the reality and his knowledge about everything, has recommended some ways for reforming the soul that the great Shi’a scholar, the late ’Amudi, has cited in Ghurar al-°ikam:

إذَا رَغِبْتَ فِي صَلاَحِ نَفْسِكَ فَعَلَيْكَ بِالإقْتِصَادِ وَالقُنُوعِ وَالتَّقَلُّلِ.

When you desired to reform your soul do behave with moderation and contentment, and belittl the world.[185]

صَلاَحُ النَّفْسِ مُجَاهَدَةُ الهَوَى.

Reforming the soul is fighting the desires that destroy it.[186]

سَبَبُ صَلاَحِ النَّفْسِ العُزُوفُ عَنِ الدُّنْيَا.

The key to reforming the soul is preventing oneself from the worldly issues.[187]

دَوَاءُ النَّفْسِ الصَّوْمُ عَنِ الهَوَى. 

The remedy for the soul is avoiding the unwise desires.[188]

سَبَبُ صَلاَحِ النَّفْسِ الوَرَعُ.

The key to reforming the soul is avoiding the sins.[189]

إنّ تَقْوى اللهِ دَواءُ داءِ قُلوبِكُمْ… وَطهُورُ دَنَسِ أنْفُسِكُم.

Piety and fearing Allah cures your hearts and purifies your souls.[190]

آفَةُ النَّفْسِ الوَلَهُ بِالدُّنْيَا.

Corruption of the soul is caused by considerable interest in the world.[191]

رَأسُ الآفَاتِ الوَلَهُ بِالذَّاتِ.

The greatest corruption is the lust for illegal enjoyments.[192]

طُوبَى لِمَنْ عَصَى فِرْعَوْنَ هَوَاهُ وَأطَاعَ مُوسَى عَقْلِهِ.

Blessed is he who fights the Pharaoh of his soul and obeys the Moses of his wisdom.[193]

This divine statement implies that everyone has a Pharaoh and a Moses in his inside and if he wants to reach Moses’ position, he should contrast his soul’s Pharaoh, or else he would get soaked in the sea of demise. And if he follows the Moses of wisdom, he would deserve Allah’s praise, as an especial believer:

سَلامٌ عَلَى مُوسَى وَهَارُونَ… إِنَّهُمَا مِنْ عِبَادِنَا الْمُؤْمِنِينَ

Peace be on M£s¡ and Haroun…  Surely they were both of Our believing servants. (37/120, 122)

Imam `Al¢ Am¢r al-Mu'min¢n (a.s) has stated:

طَهِّرُوا أنْفُسَكُمْ مِنْ دَنَسِ الشَّهَوَاتِ تُدْرِكُوا رَفِيعَ الدَّرَجَاتِ.

Purify your souls from the pollution of unlawful lusts to reach high spiritual positions.[194]

Anyone who wants to attain divine positions and become released from the limited cage of nature to the garden of wisdom and understanding should purify his soul from the pollutions and lusts and prevent the soul from loving worldly enjoyments, so that he would be adorned with angels’ attributes, and would even reach a position higher than that of the angels.

The divine scholars have stated that human can purify his soul in one of these four ways: 1. Learning from the sinners, 2. Accompanying the wise men, 3. Asking his real friends about his own vices and faults, 4. Avoiding the sins of him that are mentioned by his enemies.[195]

The Description of my Dilly-Dallying

For asking repentance, reforming my soul, attaining provisions for the Hereafter, doing good deeds, avoiding sins, and seeking wisdom and insight, I have dilly-dallied for years now and have done nothing. This satisfaction with today and tomorrow has deceived me and prevented me from seeking the truth. O Allah! I ask you a strong will and a power to fulfill my promises to become released from this idleness of mine, because this weakness would eventually harm me, depriving me from Your mercy and forgiveness, and placing me among the disobedient servants.

يا سَيِّدي فَأَسْأَلُكَ بِعِزَّتِكَ أَنْ لا يَحْجُبَ عَنْكَ دُعائي سُوءُ عَمَلي وَفِعالي

O my Lord! So I ask you by Your Might not to let my evil deeds and acts veil my supplication from You.

The Reason for the Obstruction of Supplications

Wrongdoing is a veil that prevents human from receiving the Devine blessings and Mercy, as well as from the fulfillment of the supplications, except that the sinner repents from his sins. Evil deeds take the proper mood for supplication away from the servant, preventing him from coming to Allah’s presence. Even if a sinner servant succeeds in calling Allah and asking Him his requests, his supplications would not be likely to be fulfilled. Deprivation of the servant from the fulfillment of his supplications is in fact his being expelled from the Mercy of his Lord. It has been quoted from a mystical lover of Allah: It is harder for me to get deprived of supplicating than depriving from its fulfillment.

In this part of the supplication, the supplicant beseeches to the Almighty and asks him: My Lord! Hinder the effect of my evil doing on the fulfillment of my supplications, so that I can keep on supplicating and You continue accomplishing my prayers, out of Mercy.

It is narrated in a tradition that Am¢r al-Mu’min¢n (a.s) crossed a place, together with some of his disciples, where he saw a young man putting his head against a wall, and swearing Allah by His Might to fulfill his request. Imam (a.s) stated: “His request would be accepted because of such swearing.”

Surely, the Compassionate Lord has the power to hinder the bad effects and open new doors to His servant. He is the One Who prevented the fire from burning Abraham (a.s). And he is the One Who prevented the knife from cutting the throat of Ismael (a.s).

وَلا تَفْضَحْني بِخَفِي مَا اطَّلَعْتَ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ سِرّى

Not to disgrace me through the hidden things You know of my secrets.

Secret-Keeping

The servant should know that Allah is well aware of the entire world, all the beings and their hidden and apparent aspects, so there is no unawareness, forgetfulness, or ignorance for Him. He is well aware of the past, present and future events. Human hidden side is evident for Him. If He reveals our hidden sins, we would get disgraced before our parents, spouse, children and others. If they know about our hidden sins, they would discard us, and perhaps not want to talk to us anymore.

The servant, in this section of the supplication, beseeches to the Lord to maintain his grace, not disgracing him for his hidden sins.

By murmuring these divine words, the supplicant should be sure that his Lord would never disgrace a repenting sinner servant. The Almighty conceals the sins to such an extent that He has stated about accounting for some of His servants’ deeds:

I account for their deeds Myself, so that their deeds would not get obvious for Prophet Mu¦ammad, who is so kind to his Ummah, and they don’t get disgraced before him.

The fourth infallible Imam has stated some of the attributes of the Almighty in Abu Hamza supplication like this:

سَتّارُ الْعُيُوبِ، غَفّارُ الذُّنُوبِ، عَلاّمُ الْغُيُوبِ، تَسْتُرُ الذَّنْبِ بِكَرَمِكَ، وَتُؤَخِّرُ الْعُقُوبَةَ بِحِلْمِكَ.

O the Concealer of faults, the Forgiver of sins, the Knower of the hidden, You conceal the sins out of Your Might, and You delay the punishments, out of Your Patience.

Some servants of Allah, with their limited capacity, astonishingly conceal others’ faults. If these are the Almighty’s servants, how concealer is He Himself?

Prophet Jacob (a.s) who wanted to persuade Josef (a.s) that his brothers had behaved unjustly to him, only heard from him:

عَفَا اللَّهُ عَمَّا سَلَفَ.

Allah forgives what is past… (5:95)

An Astonishing Story on Forgiveness

Abu Abd Al-Rahman °¡tam Ibn Yosuf Asam, a noble man from Khurasan, was highly knowledgeable and pious. It has been said that he was named al-A¥amm[196] because once a woman came to him to ask something. While talking to him, the woman unintentionally broke wind and got very ashamed. °¡tam pointed at his ear, implying that he could not hear her speech. The woman got so happy that she was not disgraced before this knowledgeable scholar. No one got aware of this happening. But °¡tam was named Asam from that time, because he pretended to hear badly until that woman was alive. When he passed away, another pious noble man dreamed him and asked him: “How did Allah account for you?” °¡tam answered: “Because I considered what I heard unheard, the Almighty forgave what I had ever done and heard altogether.”

وَلا تُعاجِلْني بِالْعُقُوبَةِ عَلى ما عَمِلْتُهُ في خَلَواتي مِنْ سُوءِ فِعْلي وَإساءَتي وَدَوامِ تَفْريطي وَجَهالَتي وَكَثْرَةِ شَهَواتي وَغَفْلَتي

And I ask You not to hasten me to punishment for what I have done in private: my evil acts in secrecy, my misdeeds, my continuous negligence, my ignorance, my manifold passions and my forgetfulness.

According to the Islamic teachings, if the Almighty hastened the people to punishment, not a single being would have remained on earth. But He does not hurry in punishing the sinner servants, due to His Mercy, so that they profit from the opportunity, come to Allah by real repentance, reform their previous faults and compensate for the previous duties. Moreover, the Almighty does not hasten the sinners to punishment so that if a believer progeny is to appear from them, the punishment would not hinder it. Also He postpones the punishment because of the children’s crying, the believers’ sincere supplication, and the supplicants’ night weeping and repentance. And if there is no such hindrance, he does not delay the punishment.

Though hastening the sinners to punishment, due to their boldness, exists in Allah’s system anyway, it can be removed by repentance, reforming the faults, and beseeching to Him, as the people of prophet Jonah (a.s) removed the punishment from themselves.

It should be highlighted that if Allah’s punishment arrives, no one has the power to return it. Also sometimes the divine punishment is represented in the world as catastrophes such as famine, heavenly disasters, expensiveness of goods, distrust among people, and eventually spiritual metamorphosis.

The signs of inner metamorphosis are mentioned in an important tradition of the Prophet’s (a.s), in address to Imam `Al¢ (a.s):

يَا عَلِيُّ! إنَّ القَوْمَ سَيُفْتَنُونَ بَعْدِي بِأمْوَالِهِمْ وَيَمُنُّونَ بِدِينِهِمْ عَلَى رَبِّهِمْ وَيَتَمَنَّوْنَ رَحْمَتَهُ، وَيَأمَنُونَ سَطْوَتَهُ، وَيَسْتَحِلُّونَ حَرَامَهُ بِالشُّبُهَاتِ الكَاذِبَةِ وَالأهْوَاءِ السّاهِيَةِ، فَيَسْتَحِلُّونَ الخَمْرَ بِالنَّبِيذِ، وَالسُّحْتَ بِالهَدِيَّةِ وَالرِّبَا بِالبَيْعِ.

O `Al¢! Soon after me, the nation is examined by its properties, they ask favor from their Allah for embracing the religion, they hope for His Mercy, and consider themselves safe from His punishment, they make His unlawful lawful, with lying and passions, so they make the intoxicant drink a lawful drink, the unlawful wealth lawful gift and granting, and the usury lawful business for themselves.[197]

In fact, if people’s hearts have not metamorphosed to a satanic state, due to insistence on evil doing, how can they consider Allah’s unlawful issues, such as the intoxicant drink, unlawful wealth, and usury as lawful so easily? These are the signals of heart metamorphoses, which is in reality part of Allah’s punishment, as was depicted in the appearance of the disobedient Israelite people whose sinners were addressed by Allah’s punishment call:

…فَقُلْنَا لَهُمْ كُونُوا قِرَدَةً خَاسِئِينَ.

…so we said to them: ‘Be as apes, despised and hated. (2:65)’

Imam `Al¢ (a.s) in these sentences has referred to four evil doings: 1. Dissipation, 2. Ignorance, 3. Passion, 4. Forgetfulness.

Dissipation

By dissipation, it is meant negligence in worshiping and obeying Allah, as well as serving His servants and doing good. The divine teachings have warned people against dissipation, considering it as an extreme harm that prevents them from benefiting the divine blessings.

التَّفْرِيطُ مُصِيبَةُ القَادِرِ.

Dissipation is the competent person’s disaster.[198]

ثَمَرَةُ التَّفْرِيطِ النَّدَامَةُ، وَثَمَرَةُ الحَزْمِ السَّلاَمَةُ.

The result of dissipation is regretful ness, and the fruit of prudence is safety.[199]

الجَنَّةُ غَايَةُ السَّابِقِينَ، وَالنَّارُ غَايَةُ المُفَرِّطِينَ.

Paradise is the fate of the forerunners and Inferno is the destiny of the dissipaters.[200]

The sixth infallible Imam, Imam ¯¡diq (a.s), stated:

مَنْ فَرَّطَ تَوَرَّطَ.

One who dissipates would severely get into troubles.[201]

Ignorance

Ignorance of the truths of the world and the Hereafter, as well as of the duties and rights of oneself and the others is like a dangerous illness. If this illness is not cured via acquiring knowledge and understanding, it would bring about permanent harm, disgrace, and ruin. Some of the traditions on ignorance were mentioned in previous pages under the explanation for the phrase “I have been audacious in my ignorance.”

Passion

Passion means an extreme desire for anything, gaining of which is human goal. If this desire is for untrue and unlawful issues, it leads to committing sins and to the corruption of the spirit, and the punishment in this world and the next one eventually.

The cause of passions is too much longing for the worldly issues. This extreme craving, together with satanic temptations and accompanying the sinners, grows the wrongdoing tree, the damned branches of which are various sins. It causes farness from Allah, deprivation from His Mercy, disgrace in the world, and punishment in the Last Day.

This dangerous tree would not be destroyed except by accepting advises, repentance and returning to Allah, reflection and concentration on the lessons of the events.

The truthful servants say: The most dangerous branches of the passion tree, which have grown in most souls and led to many sins and immoralities, are seven: 1. Passion for positions and superiority, 2. Passion for wealth and belongings, 3. Passion for palaces and expensive mansions, 4. Passion for relationship with pretty women, 5. Passion for delicious foods and intoxicant drinks, 6. Passion for various splendid clothes, and 7. Passion for associating with the wrongdoers and the sinners.

These seven passions unintentionally create seven satanic vices, depriving human heart from the rays of sun of understanding: 1. Proud, 2. Hypocrisy, 3. Jealousy, 4. Greed, 5. Stinginess, 6. Oppression, and 7. Wrath.

Explanation of each of these seven vices and their destructive outcomes requires a separate book.

Those who have fell down into the well of passions, when startled by the messenger of death, understand that they have harmed themselves greatly, constituting a fine blissful Hereafter with a humble world, whose happiness is simultaneous with grief and whose enjoyment with displeasure.

The Unlucky Prince

The state of those entangled in the trap of the world and drowned in the darkness of passions is like that of a young prince whose father inclined to prepare his marriage, so a uniquely beautiful princess was proposed for him.

When everything was ready for the wedding ceremony, anyone from the ordinary people to the noble ones came to the palace, were treated with gifts and various meals, and got happy of the joyfulness and astonished by the splendor of the reception.

The angel-like bride was brought into the bridal chamber with make-up and diverse adornments, but the groom was absent and was not found after much searching. On that very night, the groom had excessively drunk wine, and his mind had darkened, just as his luck. Due to drunkenness, he leaved the feast unintentionally and passed some alleys. Then he reached a crypt of the Zoroastrians, in which they usually lay the bodies of their dead, lighting up fires and candles beside them.

Seeing the crypt, the young intoxicated prince conceived it as the bridal chamber and entered it. There, the body of a dead old woman, still intact, was put by the Zoroastrians. The unlucky drunk prince hugged the dead body passionately all night.

When he got sober again with the next morning breeze and found himself in a terrifying crypt by an ugly dead body, he was nearly dying from hatred and shame. He was thinking of hiding this happening from others when suddenly his father, along with their servants, found him and knew about that disgrace!

This is a panorama of the lives of those deceived by an unpleasant world of passions, exchanging a lucky Hereafter with it! Imam ¯¡diq (a.s) has narrated from his father, from the messenger of Allah (s.a), who stated:

طُوبَى لِمَنْ تَرَكَ شَهْوَةً حَاضِرَةً لِمَوْعُودٍ لَمْ يَرَهُ.

Blessed is the one who leaves a present passion for getting an unseen promised Paradise.[202]

حُفَّتِ الجَنَّةُ بِالمَكَارِهِ وَحُفَّتِ النَّارُ بِالشَّهَوَاتِ.

The Paradise is enveloped with the hardness of worship and obedience, and the Fire is surrounded by the passions.[203]

Someone told the fifth infallible Imam, Imam al-B¡qir (a.s): “My worship and fasting are little, but I am willing not to have unlawful sustenance.” The Imam (a.s) told him:

وَأيُّ اجْتِهَادٍ أفْضَلُ مِنْ عِفَّةِ بَطْنٍ وَفَرْجٍ!

No deed is better than avoiding unlawful sustenance and passions.[204]

The messenger of Allah (s.a) said:

أكْثَرُ مَا تَلِجُ بِهِ أُمَّتِي النَّارَ الأجْوَفَانِ: البَطْنُ وَالفَرْجُ.

The most common reason for which my nation enters the Hell is passion of the belly and sexual passion.[205]

Forgetfulness

Forgetfulness means unawareness of something one has been aware of before. Too much engagement in worldly issues, appearance, and desires are all due to forgetfulness of Allah, the Day of Judgment, obedience, and worship.

Am¢r al-Mu’min¢n, `Al¢ (a.s), in his wise advices, warns people of the damages of forgetfulness:

الغَفْلَةُ أضَرُّ الأعْدَاءِ.

Forgetfulness is the most harmful enemy.[206]

وَيْلٌ لِمَنْ غَلَبَتْ عَلَيْهِ الغَفْلَةُ فَنَسِيَ الرِّحْلَةَ وَلَمْ يَسْتَعِدَّ.

Woe to the one who is overcome by forgetfulness, hence he forgets his immigration to the next world and would not get prepared for it.[207]

مَنْ غَلَبَتْ عَلَيْهِ الغَفْلَةُ مَاتَ قَلْبُهُ.

One, who is overcome by forgetfulness, his heart dies.[208]

دَوَامُ الغَفْلَةِ يُعْمِي البَصِيرَةَ.

Continuation of forgetfulness blinds human insight.[209]

Imam °asan Mujtaba (a.s), the second infallible Imam, stated:

الغَفْلَةُ تَرْكُكَ المَسْجِدَ وَطَاعَتُكَ المُفْسِدَ.

Ignoring the worship at mosque and obeying the corrupted people are signs of forgetfulness.[210]

وَكُنِ اللّهُمَّ بِعِزَّتِكَ لي في كُلِّ الاَْحْوالِ رَؤوفاً وَعَلَيَّ في جَميعِ الاُْمُورِ عَطُوفاً

And by Your Might, O Allah! Be kind to me in all states and be gracious to me in all affairs!

No one in the world can describe Allah’s kindness, however knowledgeable he or she may be. But His kindness can be understood from pondering in Qur’¡nic verses and the traditions of the Prophet’s Household (a.s). The easiest way for recognizing the Mercy of the Almighty is paying attention to the instances in which His Mercy has materialized.

It is narrated form the Prophet of Islam (s.a): I asked some requests from Allah, one of them was: “O Allah! Leave my nation’s deeds to me to account for them.” I was then addressed: “Though you are the Prophet of kindness, but you are not the most Merciful. If you are informed of some of the sins of your people, you would hate them; let only Me know about their sins.

O Mu¦ammad! I would account for them in such a way that no one would get informed of their sins, not even you. So when I hide their sins from you, who are the manifestation of kindness, I would certainly hide their sins from others too.

O Mu¦ammad! If you have a prophethood kindness to them, I have a Godly Mercy to them. You are their prophet, while I am their Lord. If you are with them today, I have been kind to them from the very beginning and will be so until eternity.

The Sinner and Allah’s Forgiveness

Shaykh Bah¡’¢ says: A reliable man told me about a sinner who died and his wife asked help from people to wash, shroud, and bury his body. But they hated the dead sinner man so much that no one cooperated with his wife. Hence she had to hire someone to bring him to the city’s public prayer place so that the believers might help hold the ritual there. But still no one attended! So she had the hired man take the dead body to the desert and bury it without washing and shrouding.

There was a mountain near that desert in which a pious man lived. He had spent all his life in worshipping Allah and the people living there knew him for his piety. As soon as he saw the sinner man’s body, he went to attend his burial ritual. When the neighboring people heard it, they rushed to accompany the pious man too.

People asked the pious man why he has attended the sinner’s ritual. He answered: “In my dream, I was told to come to this cite of the desert where a single woman accompanies a dead body, and pray for it, since he is forgiven.”

Everyone was astonished at this happening. The pious man called the sinner’s wife and asked about his husband. She answered: “Most of the days he was engaged in one sin or the other.” The pious asked her again: “Had you seen any good deeds from him?” She replied: “I saw three good deeds from him; first that everyday after committing sin, he changed clothes, and began praying humbly, second that his home was never void of orphans and he was more kind to them than to his own children, and third whenever he got up at night, he cried and said: O Allah! Where in the Hell will you place this sinner?!”

The Servant of `Abdull¡h al-Mub¡rak

Attar Naysh¡b£r¢ says: `Abdull¡h Mub¡rak had a servant and had promised to set him free if he could work and pay back as much as his price. One day someone told `Abdull¡h: “Your servant opens the graves at night, steals the dead bodies’ shrouds to sell them and pays you!” `Abdull¡h was very upset at hearing this. One night, he secretly followed the servant to the cemetery where he entered a grave, put on an old clothes and a chain around his neck, placed his face on the ground, and began supplicating and crying.

Seeing this, `Abdull¡h was hided in a corner and began weeping silently. The servant continued worshipping until the dawn. Then he exited the grave and went toward the city. He entered the first mosque he saw for the Morning Prayer. After his prayer, he said: “My true Lord! Another night finished and my master asks me for Drachmas now. O Allah! You are the Provider of the poor and the Supplier of the unfortunate.” At that time, a heavenly light appeared out of which a gold Drachma was put in the servant’s hand. Observing this, `Abdull¡h was greatly astonished, went toward the servant, embraced him and said: “May Allah sacrifice me for you! I wish you were my master and I were your servant!” The servant said: “O Allah! No one knew this secret of mine. Now that it is revealed, I don’t want to be alive anymore; take me to Yourself!” So he passed away in `Abdull¡h’s hands. `Abdull¡h buried him in the same old clothes. That night, he dreamed of the Messenger of Allah (s.a) and prophet Abraham, who were coming to him on a horse, and told him: “Why did you bury our friend in old clothes?!”

In fact, the Almighty has Mercy on His servants in all states and in different forms, especially in the state of supplication and prayer.