Various kinds of intersection existing that each one could make any body happiness in the hereafter

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.[4]

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.[5]

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.[6]

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.[7]

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.[8]

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.[9]

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.’[10]

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.[11]

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.[12]

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.[13]

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 Sadiq (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.[14]

‘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![15]

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.[16]

Imam Sadiq (a.s) stated:

شُكْرُ النِّعْمَةِ اجْتِنَابُ المَحَارِمِ.

Being grateful of Allah’s blessings is avoiding all that is unlawful.[17]

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.[18]

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 Sadiq (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.[19]

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![20]