Translated by Dr. Muhammad Legenhausen
Praise be to Allah Who has saved us by our clutching the rope of the two weighty things which He has extended for us into the abyss of error, and salutations and peace be on our Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) and his Family, the good Prophet and the good Family. This essay on the exposition of the path of knowledge of the mysteries of religion for the most elite and noble is called A Fair Exposition (al-Insaf) because it is free from deviation and aberration.
As one who has been guided to the most noble road of Mustafa (S.A.W.), Muhsin bin Murtaza-may Allah increase his guidance upon guidance-when in the prime of his youth he completed his studies of religion and attaining insights into doctrine and the qualities of worship according to the teachings of the Immaculate Imams, Peace be with them, so that by the success granted me by God, glory be to Him, in no problem have I needed to imitate anyone other than the immaculate, it than occurred to me that I should try to acquire gnosis (marifat) of the mysteries of religion, the sciences of the most profound thinkers, so that the soul might achieve some perfection.
However, since the intellect was not the way to this, and on the basis of what faith I had, no doors were open to my soul, and since I had no patience with ignorance, and I was constantly suffering, I plunged into the study of some of the disputes of the theologians and I tried to remove ignorance using ignorant means, and I studied and learned some of the ways of the discourses of the would be philosophers, and I saw bit of the highflying of the would be Sufis in their sayings, and I saw a bit of the light-headedness of those who propounded their own speculations. Finally, sometimes,
I wrote books and essays on the basis of summaries of the sayings of these four sects, and sometimes I kneaded them together to join them and bring them into agreement, although I myself was not in agreement with all of them nor was my heart resolved, but I comprehended all they knew, and as an exercise I wrote some compositions. I did not discover among any of their allusions a cure for my illness, nor did I find any moisture for my burning thirst in turns of phrase, until I feared for myself, for I saw myself becoming like one of their progeny, so I likened my situation to that of the saying, They cheated me, they robbed me, they took me, they oppressed me, they double-crossed me, they belied me, so to whom can I resort for this wrong?!
So, I escaped to Allah from that, and I sought refuge in Allah from that which had delayed me there, and I sought protection in the saying of the Commander of the Faithful salutation of Allah to him-in some of his supplications: O Allah protect me from using opinion about that which my vision does not grasp to its depths, and into which my thinking does not sink.(Nahjul Balagha, Sermon 87)
I returned to God, so He led me by the blessing of the Master of the Apostles-may the Peace of Allah be with them-and He made me understand to the extent of my capacity and the degree of my faith unit I achieved some certainty and he negated from me the temptation of Satan. Praise to Allah for guiding me and thanks to Allah for that with which He entrusted me, and I wrote the verses:
Malik al-sharq tasharraq wa ila al-ruh ta allaq
Ghasaq al-nafsa taffaraq rafaza al-kufra tahddam.
The king of the East shone from the East and reached to my spirit, The darkness of my soul separated, infidelity was rejected and destroyed.
Then I experienced things, and I examined the darkness and the light until it became clear to me that a group of the religious scholars who claim to be followers of the Prophet had closed both their eyes and turned away from the two weighty things (thaqalayn), and they created innovations in doctrine, and they formed parties among the groups none of which were in agreement with any of the others and there was no affection among them nor brotherly love except for hypocrisy, because they circle about four groups without insight, and they do not obey those of insight, and it is suitable to recite the following for them:
(And among men is he who disputes in respect of Allah though having no knowledge, nor guidance, nor a book giving.) (31:20)
And Allah hates them because of this work of theirs, for He did not provide them with camaraderie, mutual affection or agreement, and He abandoned them to the love of position and to vicious competition and hypocrisy, until because of the evil of their deeds they achieve the evil of opposition, turning their back on one another.
Mutual hatred and denial, and furthermore jealousy and arrogance become aspects of their soul, and they refuse to obey any of their contemporaries of the same type. And their enmity to each other becomes most intense when they live in the same locale, unless one of them dies or is not yet born. Their love of position makes them into dictators regarding opinion and they have various lusts, and they are conceited about what they have, and they are proud of themselves, and they ridicule others and their situation:
(Each party rejoices in that which is with them. So leave them in their overwhelming ignorance till a certain time.) (23:53-54). The Commander of the Faithful, may Allah's salutations be upon him, said:
Not all who have hearts have understanding, not all who have hearing listen, and not all who look have insight. I am astonished! And why should I not be astonished at the error of these groups differing over arguments about their religion!
They do not follow the footsteps of the Prophet, nor do they observe the commands of the wasi (executor, Imam); they do not believe in the unseen, nor do they avoid the flawed result.
They act according to their suspicions and a removed by their inclinations. That which is commendable for them is whatever they commend; that which is forbidden for them is whatever they forbid. Their sanctuary from troubles is themselves, and in important matters they rely on their opinions. In every affair, they are their own leaders. Whatever they get out of their opinions they take to be very weighty and sure.(Nahjul Balagha, Sermon 88)
In another hadith he (A.S.) says:
Did Allah command them to oppose one another, so that they are obeying Him? Or did Allah forbid them from such opposition so that they are offending Him? Or did Allah, glory be to Him, send down an imperfect religion, to be perfected with their help? Or are they partners to Allah so that it is for them to say and for Allah to be content? Or did Allah send down a complete religion, while the Prophet failed in the propagation and explanation of it, although Allah, glory be to Him, says, (We have not forgotten anything in the Book)(6:38). And in the Qur'an there is an (explaining of all things) (41:89). (Nahjul Balagha, Sermon 18)
All of these [bad things] are for nothing but their turning away from clutching the rope of the thaqalayn and abandoning what was entrusted by the Master of the two weighty things [the Prophet].
You see one of them very interested in the books of the philosophers and throughout their lives they have no other aim, and they have no desire other than that, even though they have not yet gained any wisdom from the principles or branches of the shariah, and sometimes they never heard anything from the Prophet and his Household except for what they heard when small from their mothers and fathers. They did not learn anything of manners and traditions of the shariah, nor do they imitate those possessed of knowledge of these two.
Glory be to God! I am astonished at these people to whom the best Prophet has been sent to direct them to guidance and to whom the best religion has been given with mercy and providence. And their Prophet set a Book before them, and in his place he assigned successors with knowledge of the Book, one after another, according to the explicit instruction of God, whose radiance will remain until the Resurrection.
They [the Imams] will give water to those who are thirty for knowledge and wisdom according to their capacity and the degree of their faith. The Prophet (S.A.W.) said: I am leaving among you the thaqalayn. If you take hold of them, you will not stray after me: the Book of Allah and my kindred, my Household (Ahl al-Bayt). But they do not pay attention to the guidance of him [the Prophet] and they go begging for knowledge at the doors of previous communities and the look for a bit of moisture in the gutters of those peoples, or they satisfy themselves with flawed reasons.
Mustafa andar jahan, angah kasi guyad ze aql
Aftab andar jahan, angah kasi juyad saha.
Who would speak of reason when Mustafa is in the world?
Who would look for a star when the sun is in the world?
It is reported that some Muslims came to the Apostle of Allah (S.A.W.) with the shoulder bone of an animal on which was written something that was said by the Jews. Then he (S.A.W.) said:
It is sufficient for the error of a people to turn away from what their prophet brought them and to turn toward what one who was not a prophet brought. So, it was sent down: (Is it not enough for them that We have sent down to you the Book which is recited to them? Verily in this there is mercy and a reminder for a people who believe.) (29:51).
It is reported that in a meeting at which the Prophet (S.A.W.), was present, Aristotle was mentioned. He (S.A.W.) said, "If he were alive and knew what I brought he would have followed me in my religion."
Baz archeh gah gahi bar sar nahad kolahi Morghan-e qaf danand ayyin-e padshahi.
Even if the hawk sometimes wears a crown, It is the birds of Mt. Qaf who know the ways of kingship.
These are the same people who imagine that some of the religious sciences are not found in the Qur'an or hadith, and that they can be learned from the books of the would be sufis and philosophers and must be sought there. The miserable ones do not know that the gaps and shortcomings are not the hadith and Qur'an but the gaps are in their understanding and the shortcomings in the degree of their faith.
Allah, glory to Him, says: (And We have sent down the Book to you clearly explaining everything and guidance and mercy and glad tidings to the Muslims). (16:89). and there are other verses with the same meaning. Wherever there are gaps and shortcomings in their understanding and faith, their study of the books of the philosophers and would be sufis do not profit them because they cannot understand the real meanings of them.
Kujahan ra por dor-e maknum konam
Ruzi-ye to chun nabashad chun konam.
If I filled the world with hidden pearls Then if you have no part of it, what am I to do?
O you with short sleeves, how long will you stretch your hand? They should know that if they went to the sky they would still not be able to understand more than their capacity and the degree of their faith. If they are able, they should expand their capacity by strengthening their faith; perhaps will be able to go higher, (if they knew) (2:103). Otherwise, however much they delve into these problems, they will become more lost, (from where they do not perceive) (39:25).I seek refuge in Allah from error after guidance.
Nuqtehha chun tigh-e fulad ast tiz
Chun nadari to separ vapas goriz
Pish-e in fulad bi espar mayyar
Kaz buridan tigh ra nabvad haya.
Points like those of the steel blade
Since you have no shield, you must flee.
Do not come near the steel without a shield
For the blade is not ashamed to cut.
Our Master, Imam Baqir (A.S.) said, "Verily, Allah is the Clement (al-Halim) the Omniscient (al-Alim). His wrath is only for those who do not accept His satisfaction, and He only prevents those who do not accept His forgiveness, and He leads astray only those who do not accept His guidance." Har cheh hast, as qamat-e nasaz-e bi andam-e mast.
Var na tashrif-e to bar bala-ye kas kutah nist. Everything unsuitable is due to the disproportion of our limbs, Otherwise the robe of honour that You bestow is not short for anyone. O Brother! Try to strengthen your faith and certainty through asceticism and piety (taqwa) until Knowledge and wisdom is increased. (Fear Allah and Allah will give you knowledge) (2:282). Otherwise do not continue your journey.
Do not stretch your feet beyond the length of your carpet. May Allah have mercy on he who knows his size and who dose not transgress its limits. Cho musta idd-e nazar nisti visal majuy Keh jam-e nakonad sud vaqt-e bi basari.
If you do not have the capacity to see your beloved, do not search for union, The magic mirror is useless to one who lacks vision.
Yes, the summit of gnosis is too lofty for the flight of any bird, and the canopy of insight is too hidden for the inspiration of any wayfarer.
Shah-e majmu eh-ye gol morgh-e sahar danad va bas
Keh na har ku varaqi khwand ma ani danest
Na har keh chehreh barafrukht delbari danad
Na har keh ayeneh sazad sekandari danad
Hezar nuqteh-ye bariktar ze mu injast
Na har keh sar betarashad qalandari danad.
Only the pre-dawn bird knows the explanation for the collection of flowers
Not all who read the pages know their meaning.
Not all who show their faces know how to capture hearts.
Not all who make mirrors know how to make magic mirrors.
There are a thousand points finer than a hair here.
Not all who shave their heads know the way of the Qalandars.
These words are related to the pseudo-philosophers and pseudo-sufis and their followers. But the Disputes of the theologians and the self-satisfied egotists, who are said by some to have pulled their heads from the bridle of imitation, and to have destroyed their innate principles and become discontented with the outward aspects of prophecy and its branches unless they carve some speech for themselves out of it. Their nature does not let them imitate anyone; they are not successful to small the scent of inquiry. (Wavering between this [and that belonging] to neither this not that) (4:143).
Az bahr-e fesad o jangjam'i mardom
Kardand be kuy-e gomrahi khod ra gom
Dar madrasah har ilm keh amukhtehand
Fi al-qabr yazurrhum wa la yanfa uhum
Because of corruption and war a group of people
Went astray on the lost alley
Every knowledge they studied in the school
Will be harmful for them in the grave and of no benefit.
In short, a group of them speak of the necessary and the possible, and another sect calls them cause and effect, and another bunch names them existence and existent, and the egotist says whatever he likes. But we, the pupils and imitators of the Household of the Prophet, the inerrant, we, who are obedient to the clear religion, we say, Glory be to Allah and we say that Allah is Allah and His servants are His servants.
Allah, the Exalted, says: (There is none in heaven and earth but will come to the Merciful as a servant.) (19:93). We do not carve names for ourselves and are content with what we have heard.
There is no doubt that in the firmness of the thaqalayn there is nothing like what is well-known among the groups, and the expressions spoken by their tongues is not founded on reports or narrations; and the esoteric interpretation of the ambiguous verses is not easy for anyone, but it is specific to those who are well grounded in knowledge (al-rasikhuna fi al-Ilm), and they admit all that is not known by interpretation and they confess their weakness about that which they do not Comprehend.
A man said to the Commander of the Faithful (A.S.) "Describe our Lord for us, so that our love for Him may increase, and so that our knowledge of Him may increase." The Imam (A.S.) became angry. After mounting the pulpit he delivered a glorious sermon in which he said: O questioner! Whatever the Qur'an indicates of His attributes, keep before you, and seek light from the light of its guidance.
Whatever Satan obliges you to know, but which is not obligatory in the Book or in the sunnah of the Prophet (S.A.W.) and the guiding Imams, leave the knowledge of it to Allah, glory be to Him. This is the extent of the right Allah has over you.
Be sure of this, that the firmly rooted in knowledge are those who Allah has made needless of penetrating past the barriers before the hidden (ghuyub), and they acknowledge all their ignorance of the interpreting of the hidden that is covered. Allah praises them for their admission that they are unable to get to knowledge of what they cannot comprehend.
Their abandonment of delving into what Allah has not made it obligatory to seek to get to the bottom of is what Allah has called firm-rootedness. Be content with this and do not limit the greatness of Allah according to the measure of your own intelligence, or else you would be among the destroyed ones. Imam Ali (A.S.) made allusion to the following saying of Allah, the Mighty and Magnificent, (they say: "we believe in it, all is from our Lord") (3:7).
He (A.S.) said to his son, Imam Hasan (A.S.), in the will that he wrote foe him, "Give up talking about what you do not know and speaking about what you have not obliged, and stop from going down a road if you fear going astray by it, for stopping when one wanders astray is better than falling into horrors."
And in the same will, he wrote, "O my son! The best thing that I would love you to get from my will is to have taqwa of Allah, that you restrict yourself by what Allah has obliged you and that you continue of the way of your father and of the righteous of the folk of your household, for they have never stopped paying attention to their affairs, just as you pay attention to yours, and they think about them like you think. The end of this was that they obtained what they knew about, and they left off what they were not obliged to do. (Nahjul Balagha, Will 31) This is the advice which Imam Ali (A.S.) gave to his son, so what about the likes of us!
Hafiz inja ashnayan dar tariq-e hayratand
Dur nabvad gar neshinad khasteh o miskin gharib.
Hafiz! Here even those who are familiar are on the way of wonder.
It is no wonder if the stranger sits down tired and destitute.
And Imam Ali, may Allah bless him, said, He who assigns to Him qualities does not attribute oneness to Him, nor does he who likens Him [to anything else] grasp His reality, and He is not the object of intention of he who analogizes Him, and He is not considered self-sufficient by one who points to Him and imagines Him. (Nahjul Balagha, Sermon 186)
Imam Zayn al-Abidin (A.S.) said: "Allah, the Mighty and Magnificent, knows that there will be groups at the end of time who are very profound, and for them Allah has sent the surah, (Qul huwa Allahu ahad) (Say, Allah, He is One), and the ayat of Surah al-Hadid to His saying (the Knower of what is in their breasts)(57:6) Whoever seeks beyond this will destroy himself."
And He (A.S.) said: "Even if all the beings of the heavens and the earth were gathered to describe the greatness of Allah, they would not be able to."
Imam Baqir (A.S.) said: Should one be called knowing and powerful except He who grants knowledge to those who know and power to those who are powerful? Whatever you distinguish, in its exact meaning, is something created and made, like yourselves, and returns to you. The Exalted Creator is the granter of life and it is He Who destines death, and perhaps the small ant imagines that Allah has two antennas, for they are its perfections and it supposes that the absence of them would be a flaw in one who lacked them." This is the state of the rational when they try to describe Allah, the Exalted.
Abu Jafar (A.S.) (Imam Baqir) said: Speak about the creatures of Allah and do not speak of Allah, for speech about Allah increases nothing but the confusion of the speaker.
Imam Sadiq (A.S.), said, How can I describe Him by quality when it is He Who makes qualities. Quality is known by He Who has given us qualities.(Bihar al-Anwar, 4, 298)
And he (A.S.) said: "Do not go beyond the Qur'an for you will become lost after its explanation." (Bihar al-Anwar, 3, 262) Imam Kazim (A.S.) said: "Allah is too High, Magnificent, and Grand for the reality of His description to be reached.Describe Allah as He has described Himself. You must refrain from going beyond this."(Kafi, 1, 137)
It was said to Imam Kazim (A.S.): By what can the unity of Allah be known? He said: Do not innovate. He who opines according to his own speculations perishes. He who abandons the Ahl al-Bayt of the Prophet goes astray, and he who abandons the Book of Allah and the sayings of His Prophet disbelieves.(Kafi, 1, 73)
Imam Reza (A.S.) said: "O Allah! I do not describe You except by that with which You describe Yourself." And he said:"You must understand imagine that Allah is other than anything that you imagine." (Bihar al-Anwar, 3, 266)
jahan muttafiq bar illahiyyatash
Forumandeh dar konh-e mahiyyatash
Na edrak dar konh-e dhatessh rasad
Na fekrat bighawr-e sifatesh rasad
Na bar awj-e dhatash parad morgh-e vahm
Nar dar dhayl-e vasfash rasad dast-e fahm
Keh khassan dar in rah faras randehand
Bi la uhsi as tak furumandehand.
All the world is in agreement with His divinity,
But it stops before the reality of His quiddity.
Neither can understanding reach the reality of His essence,
Nor can thought reach the depths of His attributes.
Neither can the bird of imagination reach the summit of His essence.
So, do not pay attention to those who fancy that they have reached the core of holy reality (haqiqah al-muqaddasah), but throw dust at them; indeed they are astray and misled, they belie the truth and attribute falsehoods to others. The affair is too lofty and too manifest to be polluted with human thought.Whatever one imagines is miles away from the precincts of the cherubim. The furthest that deep thought reaches is only the furthest limit of its precision.
Ancheh pish-e to ghayr az an rah nist
Ghayat-e fikr-e tost Allah nist
Goftam hameh mulk-e hasan samayeh-ye tost
Khorshid-e falak chaw dharreh dar sayeh-ye tost
Gofta ghalati ze ma neshan natvan yaft
Az ma to har ancheh dideh'i payeh-ye tost.
The way before you, and beside which there is no other
Is the limit of your own thought, not Allah.
I said that the entire beautiful kingdom is your property.
The sun of the celestial spheres is like a particle in your shadow.
He said, You err; no sign can be found of Us; Whatever you have seen of Us is your own level. Glory to Him in the wilderness of Whose magnificence and greatness the most subtle imaginations are left wandering. Glory be to Him Who placed no way for creatures to know Him.
It should be known that these four groups, even if they are wandering astray, are judged in fairness, despite the differences in their views, not to have departed from Islam because of their statements and beliefs. They have not brought forth anything that would require them to be called disbelievers, for all of them are in agreement on confessing Allah, His angels. His books, His messengers and the Last Day; they oblige themselves to abide by Islamic law (shariah) with great firmness of heart; and they seriously try to find what they have lost and desire.
If it is conclusively established that one of them has not been guided to the wilayah of the immaculate Imams, peace be with them, he is outside of the faith in the specific sense, but not outside of Islam, as can be gathered from the reports attributed to the impeccable ones. If, however, he is one of the nasibin (those who exhibited enmity toward the Imams), he is outside of Islam, and is deserving of malediction and curses, if he insists on this until the time of his death without repenting.
Since it has been established by our Imams that there is a station between the two stations, that is error without disbelief, between faith and disbelief, and they established that the affair of these people pertains only to Allah, glory be to Him, it is not permissible to curse one who is true to his innate nature even if he has gone astray, until his disbelief is proven with certainty, and until it is proven that he remained in disbelief until he became aware of death.
A man said to Imam Sadiq (A.S.), "We disassociate ourselves from a group that does not say what we say." He (A.S.) said, "Do you disassociate yourselves from those who love us, although they do not say what you say? He said, "I said so." He (A.S.) said, "Then, there is something with us that you do not have.
So, would it be appropriate for us to disassociate ourselves from you?" He said, "I said, No." He (A.S.) said, "There is something with Allah that is not with us. Do you consider us spurned [by Allah]?" He said, "I said, No. By Allah, what are we to do?" He said, Love them, and do not disassociate yourself from them. Among the Muslims are who have one share, and some who have two shares, and some who have three shares.
The hadith at length is in Kafi. What sort of people could open their mouths to curse someone who said something one day that made them upset? Perhaps what was said had a correct meaning that was not understood by those who cursed him, or maybe he had repented of what he said, or maybe he only said it because of some emergency, or something else.
Our master Imam Baqir (A.S.) said, "When a curse comes out of the mouth of one who curses, it swirls about and if access is found [to an appropriate target, it goes there], otherwise, it returns to the one who uttered it." (Kafi, 4, 65)
So, it is not hidden from those of intellect that those who cast aside the way of the thaqalayn in the acquisition of knowledge and follow some of these groups have gone astray from the way of guidance, except for those (who repent and believe and do good, then follows the guidance) (20:81). O brothers! Bear witness, with a testimony that I will ask from you when I am in need, that I have not been guided by anything but the light of the thaqalayn, and I have followed none but the chosen Imams, and I disassociate myself whatever is other than the guidance of Allah, and seek refuge in /him. (Verily, the guidance of Allah is guidance) (2:119)
I am not a theologian, not a pseudo-philosopher, not a pseudo-sufi, and not a sham (mutakallif), but I am a adherent of the hadith, and the Qur'an of the Prophet, and I am a follower of his Ahl al-Bayt. I am fed up with and have parted company from the misleading speeches of those four groups, and I have alienated myself from everything but the Noble Qur'an the hadith of the Ahl al-Bayt, peace be with them, and what is unrelated to them. Man har cheh khwandeham hameh az yad-e man beraft
Illah hadith-e dust keh tekrar mikonam
Whatever I have read I have forgotten,
Except the narration of the friend that I repeat.
Because during the period when I was discussing, investigating and trying to penetrate farsighted thoughts I tested the paths of various groups, and I reached the core of what each of them was saying, and with the vision of insight I saw that the eye and intellect are impotent for perceiving the sublimity of the ambit of eternity. The light of thought fails to reach the canopy of the magnificence of oneness. Whenever the intellect wants to see something, it is reflected back to the eye spurned and wearied.
Whenever the light of thought shines to illuminate, it is destroyed, so it dims and is wearied, and none can in from you as can the All-aware. When I saw that it was so, I cried out from behind the curtain of worship: (Glory be to You! Verily, I was of the unjust ones) (21:87); I implore your forgiveness, I (do not love those that set) (6:76); (Verily I have turned my face wholly unto Him Who originated the heavens and the earth being upright, and I am not of the idolaters.) (6:79); (Verily my prayer and my sacrifice, my life and my death are all only for Allah, Lord of the worlds. He has no partner and this I have been commanded and I am the first of those who submit) (6:162-163).
Har jamili keh bedidim bedu yar shodim
Har jamali keh shenidim gereftar shodim
Kebriya-ye haram-e husn-e to chun ruy nemud
Char takbir zadim az hameh bizar shodim
Parto-ye husn-e to chun taft beratiim az hush
Chun keh hush az sar-e ma raft khabardar shodim
Dar pas-e pardeh-ye pendar bisar mibordim
Khofteh bodim ze hayha-ye to bidar shodim
Sharbat-e la l-e labat bud shafa-ye del-e ma
Be abath ma pey-e noskheh-ye Attar shodim
Mushaf-e ruy-e hadith-e labat az yad bebord
Har cheh khwandim, digar bar sar-e tekrar shodim
Rah raftim basi ta keh beh rah pay bordim
Kar kardim keh ta vaqef-e in kar shodim
Ruz-e ma niktar az dat bud o ma beh ze parir
Sal o mah khush keh beh az par o pari par shodim
Har cheh dadand beh ma az digari behtar bud
Ta sezavar-e sarapardeh-ye asrar shodim
Dar del o dideh-ye ma mur-e tajalli afrukht
Ta beh niru-ye yaqin mazhar-e anvar shodim
Sar ze darya-ye haqyiq cho borun avardim
Bar sar-e ahl-e sokhan abr-e goharbar shodim
Ashna Fayz az in guned sokhan bahreh barad
Nazd-e biganeh abath bar sar-e goftar shodim.
I became the companion of every beauty I saw,
I was taken with every beauty of which I heard.
When the greatness of the precincts of your beauty were shown,
I said "God is the greatest" four times and turned away from all else.
I lost consciousness when the beam of your beauty shined;
When I lost consciousness, I became informed.
I lived behind a curtain of fantasy.
I was asleep. I awoke at the noise you made.
The ruby wine of your lips is the cure of my heart.
There was no point in seeking the prescription of the physician.
The scripture of your face and the narrations of your lips made me forget
Whatever I had read, afterward I became preoccupied with repetitions.
I went far along the way until I found the right way;
I worked much until I found the skill of working.
One of my days was better than December. My month is better than last year.
My year and month were better than last year and the year before that.
Whatever I was given was better than all else,
Until I became worthy of the canopy of secrets.
The light of disclosure was ignited in my heart and vision,
Until by the strength of certainty I became the place for the disclosure of lights.
When my head emerged from the sea of truths,
Above the heads of the speakers I became a cloud that rains jewels.
Those who know Fayz (grace) can appreciate these words.
Before those strange to me, I have spoken in vain.
My master! My master! You are the One who has become garbed in eternal divinity (lahutiyyah al-Azaliyyah) and You are unique in eternal pleasure. Before Your constancy, the chain of the tongue is cut off. At the attribute of yourself-subsistence, prattle ceases. You have manifested Yourself in the Easts of splendor and beauty. You became covered by the canopy of greatness and magnificence. The eyes of the intellect are blind to uncovering Your greatness. The tongues of the great ones are dumbfounded at transcribing Your blessings. By Your manifestation the gloomy dark night became illuminated. You became covered from the views of intellects by the radiance of that light. You set free the hearts of the seekers distracted and in wonder in the desert of Your greatness. You made no way for the feet of the intellects to reach the precincts of Your greatness.
How far from the mark! How far off from understanding the sublimity of the magnificence of divinity! How can the lowly worldly ones travel to reach the canopy of the beauty of the divine realm (lahut). Glory to You! Glory to You! Praise does not comprehend You. You are as You have praised Yourself! You are beyond what has been said of You. Keep our hearts from the whirlpools of error by the light of Your guidance. Grant us the success of being able to knock at the door of service to You morning and evening. Apply the salve of the light of Your knowledge to the vision of our eyes until we see Your magnificence by Your radiance.
Make splendour, refulgence and perfection plain to us so that when they are illumined we despise every other good and beauty, are burdened most heavily by all that takes us from Your contemplation and your company, and are turned toward you with our deepest fervour with hope of being joined with you never to part. O God! Open the way for souls that have gone off the road of guidance and are lost in gloomy darkness. Summon us to the knowledge of guidance and veil us from the darkness of blindness, and shear us of the darkness of pretense and affectation. Let the suns of tawhid and the moons of tanzih (abstraction, immateriality) shine upon us.
Teach us knowledge from You to heal the pain of our hearts, brighten the blindness of our bosoms, cure the diseases of our bodies, better us from the corruptions of our breasts, and purify us from the pus of our souls. Make Your love our maxim, and garb us in Your remembrance by Your generosity and nobility. O Caring One! O Kind One!(Glory be to your Lord, the Lord of Majesty, beyond what they attribute! And peace be with the apostles. And all praise is Allah's, Lord of the worlds.)(37:180-182).
By: Muhsin Fayz Kashani (d. 1091.1680)
Translated by Dr. Muhammad Legenhausen
Praise be to Allah Who has saved us by our clutching the rope of the two weighty things which He has extended for us into the abyss of error, and salutations and peace be on our Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) and his Family, the good Prophet and the good Family. This essay on the exposition of the path of knowledge of the mysteries of religion for the most elite and noble is called A Fair Exposition (al-Insaf) because it is free from deviation and aberration.
As one who has been guided to the most noble road of Mustafa (S.A.W.), Muhsin bin Murtaza-may Allah increase his guidance upon guidance-when in the prime of his youth he completed his studies of religion and attaining insights into doctrine and the qualities of worship according to the teachings of the Immaculate Imams, Peace be with them, so that by the success granted me by God, glory be to Him, in no problem have I needed to imitate anyone other than the immaculate, it than occurred to me that I should try to acquire gnosis (marifat) of the mysteries of religion, the sciences of the most profound thinkers, so that the soul might achieve some perfection.
However, since the intellect was not the way to this, and on the basis of what faith I had, no doors were open to my soul, and since I had no patience with ignorance, and I was constantly suffering, I plunged into the study of some of the disputes of the theologians and I tried to remove ignorance using ignorant means, and I studied and learned some of the ways of the discourses of the would be philosophers, and I saw bit of the highflying of the would be Sufis in their sayings, and I saw a bit of the light-headedness of those who propounded their own speculations. Finally, sometimes,
I wrote books and essays on the basis of summaries of the sayings of these four sects, and sometimes I kneaded them together to join them and bring them into agreement, although I myself was not in agreement with all of them nor was my heart resolved, but I comprehended all they knew, and as an exercise I wrote some compositions. I did not discover among any of their allusions a cure for my illness, nor did I find any moisture for my burning thirst in turns of phrase, until I feared for myself, for I saw myself becoming like one of their progeny, so I likened my situation to that of the saying, They cheated me, they robbed me, they took me, they oppressed me, they double-crossed me, they belied me, so to whom can I resort for this wrong?!
So, I escaped to Allah from that, and I sought refuge in Allah from that which had delayed me there, and I sought protection in the saying of the Commander of the Faithful salutation of Allah to him-in some of his supplications: O Allah protect me from using opinion about that which my vision does not grasp to its depths, and into which my thinking does not sink.(Nahjul Balagha, Sermon 87)
I returned to God, so He led me by the blessing of the Master of the Apostles-may the Peace of Allah be with them-and He made me understand to the extent of my capacity and the degree of my faith unit I achieved some certainty and he negated from me the temptation of Satan. Praise to Allah for guiding me and thanks to Allah for that with which He entrusted me, and I wrote the verses:
Malik al-sharq tasharraq wa ila al-ruh ta allaq
Ghasaq al-nafsa taffaraq rafaza al-kufra tahddam.
The king of the East shone from the East and reached to my spirit, The darkness of my soul separated, infidelity was rejected and destroyed.
Then I experienced things, and I examined the darkness and the light until it became clear to me that a group of the religious scholars who claim to be followers of the Prophet had closed both their eyes and turned away from the two weighty things (thaqalayn), and they created innovations in doctrine, and they formed parties among the groups none of which were in agreement with any of the others and there was no affection among them nor brotherly love except for hypocrisy, because they circle about four groups without insight, and they do not obey those of insight, and it is suitable to recite the following for them:
(And among men is he who disputes in respect of Allah though having no knowledge, nor guidance, nor a book giving.) (31:20)
And Allah hates them because of this work of theirs, for He did not provide them with camaraderie, mutual affection or agreement, and He abandoned them to the love of position and to vicious competition and hypocrisy, until because of the evil of their deeds they achieve the evil of opposition, turning their back on one another.
Mutual hatred and denial, and furthermore jealousy and arrogance become aspects of their soul, and they refuse to obey any of their contemporaries of the same type. And their enmity to each other becomes most intense when they live in the same locale, unless one of them dies or is not yet born. Their love of position makes them into dictators regarding opinion and they have various lusts, and they are conceited about what they have, and they are proud of themselves, and they ridicule others and their situation:
(Each party rejoices in that which is with them. So leave them in their overwhelming ignorance till a certain time.) (23:53-54). The Commander of the Faithful, may Allah's salutations be upon him, said:
Not all who have hearts have understanding, not all who have hearing listen, and not all who look have insight. I am astonished! And why should I not be astonished at the error of these groups differing over arguments about their religion!
They do not follow the footsteps of the Prophet, nor do they observe the commands of the wasi (executor, Imam); they do not believe in the unseen, nor do they avoid the flawed result.
They act according to their suspicions and a removed by their inclinations. That which is commendable for them is whatever they commend; that which is forbidden for them is whatever they forbid. Their sanctuary from troubles is themselves, and in important matters they rely on their opinions. In every affair, they are their own leaders. Whatever they get out of their opinions they take to be very weighty and sure.(Nahjul Balagha, Sermon 88)
In another hadith he (A.S.) says:
Did Allah command them to oppose one another, so that they are obeying Him? Or did Allah forbid them from such opposition so that they are offending Him? Or did Allah, glory be to Him, send down an imperfect religion, to be perfected with their help? Or are they partners to Allah so that it is for them to say and for Allah to be content? Or did Allah send down a complete religion, while the Prophet failed in the propagation and explanation of it, although Allah, glory be to Him, says, (We have not forgotten anything in the Book)(6:38). And in the Qur'an there is an (explaining of all things) (41:89). (Nahjul Balagha, Sermon 18)
All of these [bad things] are for nothing but their turning away from clutching the rope of the thaqalayn and abandoning what was entrusted by the Master of the two weighty things [the Prophet].
You see one of them very interested in the books of the philosophers and throughout their lives they have no other aim, and they have no desire other than that, even though they have not yet gained any wisdom from the principles or branches of the shariah, and sometimes they never heard anything from the Prophet and his Household except for what they heard when small from their mothers and fathers. They did not learn anything of manners and traditions of the shariah, nor do they imitate those possessed of knowledge of these two.
Glory be to God! I am astonished at these people to whom the best Prophet has been sent to direct them to guidance and to whom the best religion has been given with mercy and providence. And their Prophet set a Book before them, and in his place he assigned successors with knowledge of the Book, one after another, according to the explicit instruction of God, whose radiance will remain until the Resurrection.
They [the Imams] will give water to those who are thirty for knowledge and wisdom according to their capacity and the degree of their faith. The Prophet (S.A.W.) said: I am leaving among you the thaqalayn. If you take hold of them, you will not stray after me: the Book of Allah and my kindred, my Household (Ahl al-Bayt). But they do not pay attention to the guidance of him [the Prophet] and they go begging for knowledge at the doors of previous communities and the look for a bit of moisture in the gutters of those peoples, or they satisfy themselves with flawed reasons.
Mustafa andar jahan, angah kasi guyad ze aql
Aftab andar jahan, angah kasi juyad saha.
Who would speak of reason when Mustafa is in the world?
Who would look for a star when the sun is in the world?
It is reported that some Muslims came to the Apostle of Allah (S.A.W.) with the shoulder bone of an animal on which was written something that was said by the Jews. Then he (S.A.W.) said:
It is sufficient for the error of a people to turn away from what their prophet brought them and to turn toward what one who was not a prophet brought. So, it was sent down: (Is it not enough for them that We have sent down to you the Book which is recited to them? Verily in this there is mercy and a reminder for a people who believe.) (29:51).
It is reported that in a meeting at which the Prophet (S.A.W.), was present, Aristotle was mentioned. He (S.A.W.) said, "If he were alive and knew what I brought he would have followed me in my religion."
Baz archeh gah gahi bar sar nahad kolahi Morghan-e qaf danand ayyin-e padshahi.
Even if the hawk sometimes wears a crown, It is the birds of Mt. Qaf who know the ways of kingship.
These are the same people who imagine that some of the religious sciences are not found in the Qur'an or hadith, and that they can be learned from the books of the would be sufis and philosophers and must be sought there. The miserable ones do not know that the gaps and shortcomings are not the hadith and Qur'an but the gaps are in their understanding and the shortcomings in the degree of their faith.
Allah, glory to Him, says: (And We have sent down the Book to you clearly explaining everything and guidance and mercy and glad tidings to the Muslims). (16:89). and there are other verses with the same meaning. Wherever there are gaps and shortcomings in their understanding and faith, their study of the books of the philosophers and would be sufis do not profit them because they cannot understand the real meanings of them.
Kujahan ra por dor-e maknum konam
Ruzi-ye to chun nabashad chun konam.
If I filled the world with hidden pearls Then if you have no part of it, what am I to do?
O you with short sleeves, how long will you stretch your hand? They should know that if they went to the sky they would still not be able to understand more than their capacity and the degree of their faith. If they are able, they should expand their capacity by strengthening their faith; perhaps will be able to go higher, (if they knew) (2:103). Otherwise, however much they delve into these problems, they will become more lost, (from where they do not perceive) (39:25).I seek refuge in Allah from error after guidance.
Nuqtehha chun tigh-e fulad ast tiz
Chun nadari to separ vapas goriz
Pish-e in fulad bi espar mayyar
Kaz buridan tigh ra nabvad haya.
Points like those of the steel blade
Since you have no shield, you must flee.
Do not come near the steel without a shield
For the blade is not ashamed to cut.
Our Master, Imam Baqir (A.S.) said, "Verily, Allah is the Clement (al-Halim) the Omniscient (al-Alim). His wrath is only for those who do not accept His satisfaction, and He only prevents those who do not accept His forgiveness, and He leads astray only those who do not accept His guidance." Har cheh hast, as qamat-e nasaz-e bi andam-e mast.
Var na tashrif-e to bar bala-ye kas kutah nist. Everything unsuitable is due to the disproportion of our limbs, Otherwise the robe of honour that You bestow is not short for anyone. O Brother! Try to strengthen your faith and certainty through asceticism and piety (taqwa) until Knowledge and wisdom is increased. (Fear Allah and Allah will give you knowledge) (2:282). Otherwise do not continue your journey.
Do not stretch your feet beyond the length of your carpet. May Allah have mercy on he who knows his size and who dose not transgress its limits. Cho musta idd-e nazar nisti visal majuy Keh jam-e nakonad sud vaqt-e bi basari.
If you do not have the capacity to see your beloved, do not search for union, The magic mirror is useless to one who lacks vision.
Yes, the summit of gnosis is too lofty for the flight of any bird, and the canopy of insight is too hidden for the inspiration of any wayfarer.
Shah-e majmu eh-ye gol morgh-e sahar danad va bas
Keh na har ku varaqi khwand ma ani danest
Na har keh chehreh barafrukht delbari danad
Na har keh ayeneh sazad sekandari danad
Hezar nuqteh-ye bariktar ze mu injast
Na har keh sar betarashad qalandari danad.
Only the pre-dawn bird knows the explanation for the collection of flowers
Not all who read the pages know their meaning.
Not all who show their faces know how to capture hearts.
Not all who make mirrors know how to make magic mirrors.
There are a thousand points finer than a hair here.
Not all who shave their heads know the way of the Qalandars.
These words are related to the pseudo-philosophers and pseudo-sufis and their followers. But the Disputes of the theologians and the self-satisfied egotists, who are said by some to have pulled their heads from the bridle of imitation, and to have destroyed their innate principles and become discontented with the outward aspects of prophecy and its branches unless they carve some speech for themselves out of it. Their nature does not let them imitate anyone; they are not successful to small the scent of inquiry. (Wavering between this [and that belonging] to neither this not that) (4:143).
Az bahr-e fesad o jangjam'i mardom
Kardand be kuy-e gomrahi khod ra gom
Dar madrasah har ilm keh amukhtehand
Fi al-qabr yazurrhum wa la yanfa uhum
Because of corruption and war a group of people
Went astray on the lost alley
Every knowledge they studied in the school
Will be harmful for them in the grave and of no benefit.
In short, a group of them speak of the necessary and the possible, and another sect calls them cause and effect, and another bunch names them existence and existent, and the egotist says whatever he likes. But we, the pupils and imitators of the Household of the Prophet, the inerrant, we, who are obedient to the clear religion, we say, Glory be to Allah and we say that Allah is Allah and His servants are His servants.
Allah, the Exalted, says: (There is none in heaven and earth but will come to the Merciful as a servant.) (19:93). We do not carve names for ourselves and are content with what we have heard.
There is no doubt that in the firmness of the thaqalayn there is nothing like what is well-known among the groups, and the expressions spoken by their tongues is not founded on reports or narrations; and the esoteric interpretation of the ambiguous verses is not easy for anyone, but it is specific to those who are well grounded in knowledge (al-rasikhuna fi al-Ilm), and they admit all that is not known by interpretation and they confess their weakness about that which they do not Comprehend.
A man said to the Commander of the Faithful (A.S.) "Describe our Lord for us, so that our love for Him may increase, and so that our knowledge of Him may increase." The Imam (A.S.) became angry. After mounting the pulpit he delivered a glorious sermon in which he said: O questioner! Whatever the Qur'an indicates of His attributes, keep before you, and seek light from the light of its guidance.
Whatever Satan obliges you to know, but which is not obligatory in the Book or in the sunnah of the Prophet (S.A.W.) and the guiding Imams, leave the knowledge of it to Allah, glory be to Him. This is the extent of the right Allah has over you.
Be sure of this, that the firmly rooted in knowledge are those who Allah has made needless of penetrating past the barriers before the hidden (ghuyub), and they acknowledge all their ignorance of the interpreting of the hidden that is covered. Allah praises them for their admission that they are unable to get to knowledge of what they cannot comprehend.
Their abandonment of delving into what Allah has not made it obligatory to seek to get to the bottom of is what Allah has called firm-rootedness. Be content with this and do not limit the greatness of Allah according to the measure of your own intelligence, or else you would be among the destroyed ones. Imam Ali (A.S.) made allusion to the following saying of Allah, the Mighty and Magnificent, (they say: "we believe in it, all is from our Lord") (3:7).
He (A.S.) said to his son, Imam Hasan (A.S.), in the will that he wrote foe him, "Give up talking about what you do not know and speaking about what you have not obliged, and stop from going down a road if you fear going astray by it, for stopping when one wanders astray is better than falling into horrors."
And in the same will, he wrote, "O my son! The best thing that I would love you to get from my will is to have taqwa of Allah, that you restrict yourself by what Allah has obliged you and that you continue of the way of your father and of the righteous of the folk of your household, for they have never stopped paying attention to their affairs, just as you pay attention to yours, and they think about them like you think. The end of this was that they obtained what they knew about, and they left off what they were not obliged to do. (Nahjul Balagha, Will 31) This is the advice which Imam Ali (A.S.) gave to his son, so what about the likes of us!
Hafiz inja ashnayan dar tariq-e hayratand
Dur nabvad gar neshinad khasteh o miskin gharib.
Hafiz! Here even those who are familiar are on the way of wonder.
It is no wonder if the stranger sits down tired and destitute.
And Imam Ali, may Allah bless him, said, He who assigns to Him qualities does not attribute oneness to Him, nor does he who likens Him [to anything else] grasp His reality, and He is not the object of intention of he who analogizes Him, and He is not considered self-sufficient by one who points to Him and imagines Him. (Nahjul Balagha, Sermon 186)
Imam Zayn al-Abidin (A.S.) said: "Allah, the Mighty and Magnificent, knows that there will be groups at the end of time who are very profound, and for them Allah has sent the surah, (Qul huwa Allahu ahad) (Say, Allah, He is One), and the ayat of Surah al-Hadid to His saying (the Knower of what is in their breasts)(57:6) Whoever seeks beyond this will destroy himself."
And He (A.S.) said: "Even if all the beings of the heavens and the earth were gathered to describe the greatness of Allah, they would not be able to."
Imam Baqir (A.S.) said: Should one be called knowing and powerful except He who grants knowledge to those who know and power to those who are powerful? Whatever you distinguish, in its exact meaning, is something created and made, like yourselves, and returns to you. The Exalted Creator is the granter of life and it is He Who destines death, and perhaps the small ant imagines that Allah has two antennas, for they are its perfections and it supposes that the absence of them would be a flaw in one who lacked them." This is the state of the rational when they try to describe Allah, the Exalted.
Abu Jafar (A.S.) (Imam Baqir) said: Speak about the creatures of Allah and do not speak of Allah, for speech about Allah increases nothing but the confusion of the speaker.
Imam Sadiq (A.S.), said, How can I describe Him by quality when it is He Who makes qualities. Quality is known by He Who has given us qualities.(Bihar al-Anwar, 4, 298)
And he (A.S.) said: "Do not go beyond the Qur'an for you will become lost after its explanation." (Bihar al-Anwar, 3, 262) Imam Kazim (A.S.) said: "Allah is too High, Magnificent, and Grand for the reality of His description to be reached.Describe Allah as He has described Himself. You must refrain from going beyond this."(Kafi, 1, 137)
It was said to Imam Kazim (A.S.): By what can the unity of Allah be known? He said: Do not innovate. He who opines according to his own speculations perishes. He who abandons the Ahl al-Bayt of the Prophet goes astray, and he who abandons the Book of Allah and the sayings of His Prophet disbelieves.(Kafi, 1, 73)
Imam Reza (A.S.) said: "O Allah! I do not describe You except by that with which You describe Yourself." And he said:"You must understand imagine that Allah is other than anything that you imagine." (Bihar al-Anwar, 3, 266)
jahan muttafiq bar illahiyyatash
Forumandeh dar konh-e mahiyyatash
Na edrak dar konh-e dhatessh rasad
Na fekrat bighawr-e sifatesh rasad
Na bar awj-e dhatash parad morgh-e vahm
Nar dar dhayl-e vasfash rasad dast-e fahm
Keh khassan dar in rah faras randehand
Bi la uhsi as tak furumandehand.
All the world is in agreement with His divinity,
But it stops before the reality of His quiddity.
Neither can understanding reach the reality of His essence,
Nor can thought reach the depths of His attributes.
Neither can the bird of imagination reach the summit of His essence.
So, do not pay attention to those who fancy that they have reached the core of holy reality (haqiqah al-muqaddasah), but throw dust at them; indeed they are astray and misled, they belie the truth and attribute falsehoods to others. The affair is too lofty and too manifest to be polluted with human thought.Whatever one imagines is miles away from the precincts of the cherubim. The furthest that deep thought reaches is only the furthest limit of its precision.
Ancheh pish-e to ghayr az an rah nist
Ghayat-e fikr-e tost Allah nist
Goftam hameh mulk-e hasan samayeh-ye tost
Khorshid-e falak chaw dharreh dar sayeh-ye tost
Gofta ghalati ze ma neshan natvan yaft
Az ma to har ancheh dideh'i payeh-ye tost.
The way before you, and beside which there is no other
Is the limit of your own thought, not Allah.
I said that the entire beautiful kingdom is your property.
The sun of the celestial spheres is like a particle in your shadow.
He said, You err; no sign can be found of Us; Whatever you have seen of Us is your own level. Glory to Him in the wilderness of Whose magnificence and greatness the most subtle imaginations are left wandering. Glory be to Him Who placed no way for creatures to know Him.
It should be known that these four groups, even if they are wandering astray, are judged in fairness, despite the differences in their views, not to have departed from Islam because of their statements and beliefs. They have not brought forth anything that would require them to be called disbelievers, for all of them are in agreement on confessing Allah, His angels. His books, His messengers and the Last Day; they oblige themselves to abide by Islamic law (shariah) with great firmness of heart; and they seriously try to find what they have lost and desire.
If it is conclusively established that one of them has not been guided to the wilayah of the immaculate Imams, peace be with them, he is outside of the faith in the specific sense, but not outside of Islam, as can be gathered from the reports attributed to the impeccable ones. If, however, he is one of the nasibin (those who exhibited enmity toward the Imams), he is outside of Islam, and is deserving of malediction and curses, if he insists on this until the time of his death without repenting.
Since it has been established by our Imams that there is a station between the two stations, that is error without disbelief, between faith and disbelief, and they established that the affair of these people pertains only to Allah, glory be to Him, it is not permissible to curse one who is true to his innate nature even if he has gone astray, until his disbelief is proven with certainty, and until it is proven that he remained in disbelief until he became aware of death.
A man said to Imam Sadiq (A.S.), "We disassociate ourselves from a group that does not say what we say." He (A.S.) said, "Do you disassociate yourselves from those who love us, although they do not say what you say? He said, "I said so." He (A.S.) said, "Then, there is something with us that you do not have.
So, would it be appropriate for us to disassociate ourselves from you?" He said, "I said, No." He (A.S.) said, "There is something with Allah that is not with us. Do you consider us spurned [by Allah]?" He said, "I said, No. By Allah, what are we to do?" He said, Love them, and do not disassociate yourself from them. Among the Muslims are who have one share, and some who have two shares, and some who have three shares.
The hadith at length is in Kafi. What sort of people could open their mouths to curse someone who said something one day that made them upset? Perhaps what was said had a correct meaning that was not understood by those who cursed him, or maybe he had repented of what he said, or maybe he only said it because of some emergency, or something else.
Our master Imam Baqir (A.S.) said, "When a curse comes out of the mouth of one who curses, it swirls about and if access is found [to an appropriate target, it goes there], otherwise, it returns to the one who uttered it." (Kafi, 4, 65)
So, it is not hidden from those of intellect that those who cast aside the way of the thaqalayn in the acquisition of knowledge and follow some of these groups have gone astray from the way of guidance, except for those (who repent and believe and do good, then follows the guidance) (20:81). O brothers! Bear witness, with a testimony that I will ask from you when I am in need, that I have not been guided by anything but the light of the thaqalayn, and I have followed none but the chosen Imams, and I disassociate myself whatever is other than the guidance of Allah, and seek refuge in /him. (Verily, the guidance of Allah is guidance) (2:119)
I am not a theologian, not a pseudo-philosopher, not a pseudo-sufi, and not a sham (mutakallif), but I am a adherent of the hadith, and the Qur'an of the Prophet, and I am a follower of his Ahl al-Bayt. I am fed up with and have parted company from the misleading speeches of those four groups, and I have alienated myself from everything but the Noble Qur'an the hadith of the Ahl al-Bayt, peace be with them, and what is unrelated to them. Man har cheh khwandeham hameh az yad-e man beraft
Illah hadith-e dust keh tekrar mikonam
Whatever I have read I have forgotten,
Except the narration of the friend that I repeat.
Because during the period when I was discussing, investigating and trying to penetrate farsighted thoughts I tested the paths of various groups, and I reached the core of what each of them was saying, and with the vision of insight I saw that the eye and intellect are impotent for perceiving the sublimity of the ambit of eternity. The light of thought fails to reach the canopy of the magnificence of oneness. Whenever the intellect wants to see something, it is reflected back to the eye spurned and wearied.
Whenever the light of thought shines to illuminate, it is destroyed, so it dims and is wearied, and none can in from you as can the All-aware. When I saw that it was so, I cried out from behind the curtain of worship: (Glory be to You! Verily, I was of the unjust ones) (21:87); I implore your forgiveness, I (do not love those that set) (6:76); (Verily I have turned my face wholly unto Him Who originated the heavens and the earth being upright, and I am not of the idolaters.) (6:79); (Verily my prayer and my sacrifice, my life and my death are all only for Allah, Lord of the worlds. He has no partner and this I have been commanded and I am the first of those who submit) (6:162-163).
Har jamili keh bedidim bedu yar shodim
Har jamali keh shenidim gereftar shodim
Kebriya-ye haram-e husn-e to chun ruy nemud
Char takbir zadim az hameh bizar shodim
Parto-ye husn-e to chun taft beratiim az hush
Chun keh hush az sar-e ma raft khabardar shodim
Dar pas-e pardeh-ye pendar bisar mibordim
Khofteh bodim ze hayha-ye to bidar shodim
Sharbat-e la l-e labat bud shafa-ye del-e ma
Be abath ma pey-e noskheh-ye Attar shodim
Mushaf-e ruy-e hadith-e labat az yad bebord
Har cheh khwandim, digar bar sar-e tekrar shodim
Rah raftim basi ta keh beh rah pay bordim
Kar kardim keh ta vaqef-e in kar shodim
Ruz-e ma niktar az dat bud o ma beh ze parir
Sal o mah khush keh beh az par o pari par shodim
Har cheh dadand beh ma az digari behtar bud
Ta sezavar-e sarapardeh-ye asrar shodim
Dar del o dideh-ye ma mur-e tajalli afrukht
Ta beh niru-ye yaqin mazhar-e anvar shodim
Sar ze darya-ye haqyiq cho borun avardim
Bar sar-e ahl-e sokhan abr-e goharbar shodim
Ashna Fayz az in guned sokhan bahreh barad
Nazd-e biganeh abath bar sar-e goftar shodim.
I became the companion of every beauty I saw,
I was taken with every beauty of which I heard.
When the greatness of the precincts of your beauty were shown,
I said "God is the greatest" four times and turned away from all else.
I lost consciousness when the beam of your beauty shined;
When I lost consciousness, I became informed.
I lived behind a curtain of fantasy.
I was asleep. I awoke at the noise you made.
The ruby wine of your lips is the cure of my heart.
There was no point in seeking the prescription of the physician.
The scripture of your face and the narrations of your lips made me forget
Whatever I had read, afterward I became preoccupied with repetitions.
I went far along the way until I found the right way;
I worked much until I found the skill of working.
One of my days was better than December. My month is better than last year.
My year and month were better than last year and the year before that.
Whatever I was given was better than all else,
Until I became worthy of the canopy of secrets.
The light of disclosure was ignited in my heart and vision,
Until by the strength of certainty I became the place for the disclosure of lights.
When my head emerged from the sea of truths,
Above the heads of the speakers I became a cloud that rains jewels.
Those who know Fayz (grace) can appreciate these words.
Before those strange to me, I have spoken in vain.
My master! My master! You are the One who has become garbed in eternal divinity (lahutiyyah al-Azaliyyah) and You are unique in eternal pleasure. Before Your constancy, the chain of the tongue is cut off. At the attribute of yourself-subsistence, prattle ceases. You have manifested Yourself in the Easts of splendor and beauty. You became covered by the canopy of greatness and magnificence. The eyes of the intellect are blind to uncovering Your greatness. The tongues of the great ones are dumbfounded at transcribing Your blessings. By Your manifestation the gloomy dark night became illuminated. You became covered from the views of intellects by the radiance of that light. You set free the hearts of the seekers distracted and in wonder in the desert of Your greatness. You made no way for the feet of the intellects to reach the precincts of Your greatness.
How far from the mark! How far off from understanding the sublimity of the magnificence of divinity! How can the lowly worldly ones travel to reach the canopy of the beauty of the divine realm (lahut). Glory to You! Glory to You! Praise does not comprehend You. You are as You have praised Yourself! You are beyond what has been said of You. Keep our hearts from the whirlpools of error by the light of Your guidance. Grant us the success of being able to knock at the door of service to You morning and evening. Apply the salve of the light of Your knowledge to the vision of our eyes until we see Your magnificence by Your radiance.
Make splendour, refulgence and perfection plain to us so that when they are illumined we despise every other good and beauty, are burdened most heavily by all that takes us from Your contemplation and your company, and are turned toward you with our deepest fervour with hope of being joined with you never to part. O God! Open the way for souls that have gone off the road of guidance and are lost in gloomy darkness. Summon us to the knowledge of guidance and veil us from the darkness of blindness, and shear us of the darkness of pretense and affectation. Let the suns of tawhid and the moons of tanzih (abstraction, immateriality) shine upon us.
Teach us knowledge from You to heal the pain of our hearts, brighten the blindness of our bosoms, cure the diseases of our bodies, better us from the corruptions of our breasts, and purify us from the pus of our souls. Make Your love our maxim, and garb us in Your remembrance by Your generosity and nobility. O Caring One! O Kind One!(Glory be to your Lord, the Lord of Majesty, beyond what they attribute! And peace be with the apostles. And all praise is Allah's, Lord of the worlds.)(37:180-182)
source : alhassanain
