On Turning The Soul Away From The World

So, O seeker of the truth and traveller to Allah, as you have tamed the bird of imagination, chained the Satan of fancy, given up the love of wife, children and other worldly affairs, got familiar with the attraction of the fire of the natural divine love and said: "Lo! I see a fire [afar off]", [95] seen yourself with no barriers in the way and prepared the requirements of the journey, get up, then, leave this dark room of nature and the narrow passage of the world, break off the chains of time, save yourself from this prison and let the bird of sanctity fly to " the meeting place of intimacy." [mahfil-I uns].

A whistle is calling you from the turret of the' Arsh,

I wonder what keeps you into this place of traps! [96]

So, be resolute and strengthen your will, since the first condition of suluk is resolution ['azm] , without which no distance can be covered and no perfection can be reached. The great Shaykh, Shahabadi, [97] (may my soul be his ransom) called that to be the core of humanity. It can also be said that one of the great points of fearing Allah, avoiding the desires of the appetitive soul, the lawful austerities, and the divine worship and rituals, is strengthening the resolution and defying the worldly powers under the sovereignty of the soul, as has already been mentioned. We now close this discourse with praising and glorifying the Sacred Essence of Allah, the Exalted, and with praising the attributes of the Chosen Master, the elected Prophet, and his pure offspring (AS). We ask the help of the holy souls of those sacred personalities in our spiritual journey and faithful ascension.

Notes:

[95]. A part of Moses conversation with his people. "When he saw a fire, he said to his people: 'Stay here! Lo! I see a fire [afar off]."' Surah Ta Ha: 10, and surah an-Naml: 7.

[96]. A poem by Hafiz Shirazi.

[97]. The late Ayatullah Mirza Muhammad Ali Isfahani Shahabadi, a jurist, methodist, gnostic and prominent philosopher, son of the late Ayatullah Mirza Muhammad Jawad Husayn-abadi Isfahani, was born in Isfahan in 1292 L.H. After finishing his preliminary learning in Isfahan and Tehran, he traveled to study in the theological circles of Najaf Ashraf and Samarra' (in Iraq). There his tutors were great scholars, such as the late writer of al-Jawahir, the Akhund Khurasai and Shari'at Isfahani. He soon attained to the degree of ijtihad. He reached a high position of fiqh, philosophy and gnosticism, and he taught these branches of knowledge. His class was one of the most powerful scholarly circles in Samarra'. After returning from Iraq, he settled first in Tehran, then he moved to the sacred town of Qum, where he dwelt for seven years. During his stay in Qum, Imam Khomeini (may Allah be pleased with him and send peace upon him) benefitted so much from his lessons on ethics and gnosticism. The Imam of the nation in many places in this book and in his other books and writings refers to his great teacher with utmost respect and esteem, and relates his scholarly, emissions. Besides teaching different branches of knowledge and educating his distinguished disciples, the late Shahabadi wrote many books in different fields. At the age of seventy-seven years, that man of knowledge and action died in the year of 1369 L.H. in Tehran, and was buried in the neighbourhood of the shrine of 'Abdul 'Azim al Hasani, in the graveyard of the late Shaykh Abul Futuh ar-Razi. May Allah resurrect him together with the Prophet Muhammad and his pure progeny.

 Discourse Two

Objective One

Chapter One

On Purification in General

As it has already been said, besides the outer appearance of the salat, it has a reality, and apart from its exterior it has an interior. And, as its outer form has its formal disciplines and conditions, its interior has its disciplines and conditions, too, which are to be observed by the salik. Thus, purification has also its outer form and formal disciplines, the explanation of which is out of the scope of these pages. The faqihs (jurists) of the Ja'fari sect (may Allah make high their words and raise their ranks) have explained them. As regards the inner disciplines and purifications, they shall be explained in general:

It should be noted that the reality of the salat is ascension to the Proximity, and reaching to the Presence, of Allah, the Almighty and Most high. Thus, to attain to this great objective and ultimate goal, one should practice certain purifications which are other than the outer purifications. The thorns of this road and the obstacles in the way of this ascension are such impurities that if the salik was marked by one of them, he would be incapable of ascending to the peak and completing the ascension. Such impurities are the hinderances in the way of the salat and the plagues of Satan. But what is a help to the salik in his journey and is a discipline of the Presence is the condition of this reality. The traveller to Allah has first to remove the obstacles and impurities so that he may be purified and attain to purity which belongs to the world of light. Unless all the impurities, outer and inner, open and hidden, are purified, the salik will have no chance of attending the Presence (of Allah).

Thus, the first kind of impurities is that of the outer instruments and powers of the soul which may be polluted with obstinacies and acts of disobedience to "the Benefactor" [waliyun ni'am] This is an apparent snare of Iblis. As long as man is trapped in this snare, he is deprived of being in Allah's Presence and attaining to His Proximity. No one may have the notion that without purifying the outside of his kingdom he can reach the state of the truth of humanity, or he can purify his inner heart, as this will be a Satanic vanity and of Iblis 's big tricks. This is because the heart's impurity and darkness will be increased by disobediences, which mark the triumph [ghalabah] of nature over spirituality. Unless the salik conquers the kingdom of the outside, he will remain deprived of inner conquests, which are the big objective, and no way will be opened for him to happiness. Thus, one of the big obstacles of this suluk is the impurities of the acts of disobedience, which must be purged and purified with the water of sincere repentance.

It should also be noted that all the external and internal powers which Allah, the Exalted, has bestowed upon us from the invisible world are divine deposits free from all impurities and are purged and purified, and even illuminated with the light of the God-given disposition, and excluded from Satan's dark and impure influence. Yet, since they have descended in the dark abode of the world of nature, and the influential hands of the devil of imagination and fancy have reached them, they have deviated from the original purity and primary disposition, and got polluted with diverse Satanic filths and impurities. So, if the salik to Allah could, by adhering to the care of Allah's wall, repel Satan's influence, purge the kingdom of the outside and return the divine trusts as they had been given to him with no treason, he would be forgiven and protected, and, as far as the outside is concerned, he need not worry, and then he would turn to the inside to purge it from the impurities of corrupt moralities. This is the second kind of impurity, which is more corrupt and more difficult to cure, and thus, it is more important to the people of austerity, because as long as the inner moralities of the soul are corrupt and encircled by spiritual impurities, it will not deserve the state of holiness and "the private place of intimacy" [khalwat-i uns], as the origin of the corruption of the exterior kingdom of the soul is its corrupt morals and its vile habits. And, unless the salik changes his vile habits to good ones, he will not be safe from the evil acts. If he is successful in repentance (while still having vile habits), its stability - which is a matter of grave importance cannot be achieved. So, the outer purification depends on the inner purification, besides the fact that the interior impurities cause deprivation from happiness, and originate the Hell of morals, which, as the people of knowledge say, is worse and more intense in burning than the Hell of deeds. This question has frequently been mentioned in the hadiths of the infallible Ahlul Bayt (AS).

Therefore, it is a must for the salik to Allah to carry out this purgation. After he has cleansed his soul of the corrupting impurities of the morals with the pure water of useful knowledge and lawful, good austerity, he will have to set upon purifying the heart, the capital which, if reformed, all kingdoms will be reformed, and if it is corrupt, all will be corrupt. The impurities of the world of the heart are the origin of all impurities, such as being attached to other than Allah, to oneself and to this world. This is originated by the love of this world, which is at the head of all sins, and by self-love, which is the mother of all diseases. As long as the roots of this love are still deep in the heart of the salik, he will see no marks of the love of Allah in it, and he will find no way to his destination and objective. So, as long as there are remnants of this love in the heart, his journey will not be to Allah, but to the self, to the world, and to Satan. So, being purged of the love of self and of the world is the first stage of purifying the journey to Allah in reality, because before this purgation the journey would not be to Allah, and it would be a sort of carelessness to refer to salik and suluk in this instance.

After this stage there are other stages, after which there will appear a model of. Attar's Seven Cities of Love, the sayer of which, as a salik, could see himself at the bend of a lane, while we remain behind walls and thick veils, and think that those "cities" and "kings" are nothing but of the weavings of our presumption. I have nothing to do with Shaykh Attar or Mitham at Tammar, but I do not deny the original (gnostic) stations, and I cordially love their owners, and, by this love, I hope to be relieved. You yourself be whom you may, and bind yourself to whom you like.

The pretender wanted to come to look at the Beloved [Friend],

The hand of the invisible came and pushed off the stranger. [98]

But I do not approve of disloyalty by brethren in faith and by spiritual friends to the gnostic friends, and I will not refrain from offering advice, which is the right of the believers to one another.

At the top of the spiritual impurities, which cannot be purged even with seven seas, and which caused despair to the great prophets (AS), is the impurity of "the compound ignorance" [jahl-i murakkab], which is the origin of the incurable disease of denying the stations of the people of Allah and of knowledge, and is the source of doubting the people of the heart. As long as man is polluted with such impurities, he will not take a step towards knowledge [ma'arif], or rather, this impurity so often extinguishes the inborn light [nur] of disposition, which is the light [chiragh] for the road of guidance, and puts out the fire of love, which is the heavenly horse [buraq] for ascending to high stations, causing man to eternally stick to the earth of nature.

Therefore, it is necessary for man, through thinking about the status of the prophets and the perfect holy men [auliya] (SA) , and by contemplating their stations, to wash those impurities away from his heart, and not to be satisfied with the status he is in, because this satisfaction with the knowledge [ma'rif] one has, and remaining stagnant, are of the great tricks of Iblis and the evil-commanding soul. We take refuge from them with Allah. Now as this thesis is written according to the taste of the common people, I refrain from the three purifications of the holy men [auliya]. And praise be to Allah.

Notes:

[98]. A poem by Hafiz In the printed copies it is stated: "... the show place of the Secret".

 Chapter Two

Concerning the Stages of Purification

Know that as long as man is in the world of nature and in the abode of the primary [hayulani] matter, he is under the rule of the divine soldiers and the Satanic soldiers. The divine soldiers are the soldiers of mercy, safety, happiness, light, purity and perfection. The soldiers of Iblis are on the opposite side. But as the divine aspects have mastery over the Satanic aspects, at the beginning, man's disposition possesses natural divine light, safety and happiness, as is openly stated in the noble hadiths and hinted at in the noble divine Book. [99] As long as man is in this world, he can, on his own free will, put himself at the disposal of either of the two. So, if from the beginning of the God-given disposition till the end, Satan had no way of intruding, man would be divine, luminous from head to foot with purity and happiness, his heart being the light of Allah, observing nothing but Allah. His inward and outward powers would be luminous and pure, and no one would use them but Allah, and Satan would have no share in them, nor would his soldiers be able to control him. Such an honourable being is absolute purity and pure light, and his past faults and the future ones are forgiven. [100] He is an absolute conquerer, enjoying the station of original "great infallibility" [ismat-i kubra], and the other infallibles have the same station as the followers of that sacred essence. He is the Seal of the Prophets and possesses the station of absolute perfection. His vicegerents, though of separate substance, join him in disposition and completely follow him in absolute infallibility. As to some of the infallible prophets and holy men [auliya] (AS), they have no absolute infallibility and are not protected against Satan's intrusion, such as Adam's act with respect to the "tree", which was one of the intrusions of the big Iblis, the Head of the Iblises, and despite the fact that the "tree" was a paradisiac divine tree, yet it was marked by a multiplicity of names, which is contrary to the state of complete humanity. This is one of the meanings, or of the ranks, of "the forbidden tree".

If the light of the divine disposition was polluted with the formal and spiritual impurities, it would be at a distance from the court of the Proximity and "the Presence of Love" [hadrat-i uns] in proportion to its pollution, until the light of disposition completely goes out, and the kingdom becomes altogether Satanic, and its inside and outside, secret and open, are put at the disposal of Satan. Thus Satan becomes its heart, ear (hearing), eye (seeing), hand, and leg, and all his other organs become Satanic. If somebody reaches this stage -Take refuge with Allah from it -he becomes absolutely wretched and will never see the face of happiness. Between these two limits there are so many stages which only Allah, the Exalted, knows. Whoever is nearer to the horizon of prophethood, is of "those on the right hand" [ashab-i yamin], and whoever is nearer to the Satanic horizon, is of "those on the left hand" [ashab-i yasar].

It should be noted, however, that even after the pollution of the inborn disposition, it is possible to purify it. As long as man is still in this world he can get out of Satan's domain and can easily enter into the party of Allah's angels, who are the soldiers of the divine mercy. The reality of jihad-i nafs [self- struggle] -which, according to the Messenger of Allah (SA), is more meritorious than struggling with the enemies of the religion, and is the greater jihad [101] -is this getting out of Satan's domain and entering the domain of Allah's soldiers.

So, the first stage of purity is the observance of divine laws and the obedience to Allah's commands.

The second stage is to be adorned with virtuous morals and faculties.

The third stage is the purity of the heart, which means submitting the heart to Allah, after which the heart becomes luminous, or rather it becomes of the world of light and a degree of divine light. The luminosity of the heart flows to other organs and inner powers, and the whole kingdom turns into light, and light upon light, till the heart becomes divine and godly and the Divinity [hadrat-i lahut] manifests in all the inner and outer stages. In this case, servitude completely vanishes and is annihilated, and Lordship explicitly appears, in which case, the heart of the salik is overcome by a state of tranquillity and familiarity, and he loves the whole world, and experiences divine trances, and the sins and faults become forgive-able to him, and will be covered by the shelter of "love manifestations" [tajalliyat-i hubbi], and primary holiness [wilayat] begins to appear in him, and he becomes worthy of attending "the Presence of Intimacy" [mahdar-i uns]. Then, there are other stages, mentioning which does not suit these papers.

Notes:

[99]. Such as the noble ayah. "So set your face to the religion, as a man of pure faith -Allah's original upon which He originated mankind." (Ar-Rum: 30). Look up the hadiths in Biharul Anwar, vol. 3, p. 276, and vol. 64, p. 130, and in at Tawhid, p. 321, ch. 53.

[100]. A hint at the noble ayah: " ... That Allah may forgive your past faults and those to come". (Fath: 2).

[101]. Biharul Anwar, vol. 67, p. 65, and vol. 19, p. 182.

Chapter Three 

The Cordial Disciplines of the Salik When Coming to Water for Purification

In this chapter we translate a noble hadith from Misbahush Shari'ah so that the pure hearts of the people of faith may get from it some lumination.

It is stated in Misbahush Shari'ah that Imam as Sadiq (AS) said : "When you intend purification and wudu' [ritual ablution], proceed to the water as you proceed to Allah's mercy, because Allah has made water the key to his proximity and supplication, and a guide to the court of His service. And, as Allah's mercy purifies the sins of the servants, similarly the outer filths are purified by water and by nothing else. Allah, the Exalted, says: 'And He it is Who sends the winds as good news heralding His mercy, and We send down purifying water from the sky.'(Surah al-Furqan: 48). He also says: "And We made every living thing of water. Will they not then believe?' (al-Anbiya ':30). So, as He has given life, with water, to everything of the blessings of this world, likewise, He has made obedience the life of the hearts, out of His mercy and grace. Think of the clarity, softness, purity and blessing of water and of its tender mixing with everything. Use it to purge the organs that Allah has ordered you to purify, and observe their disciplines in His obligations and advantages. So, if you use them respectfully, the springs of he advantages will burst out for you presently. Then, mix with the creatures (servants) of Allah like the mixture of water with things: It gives to everything its due without any change in its own meaning. And learn a lesson from the Messenger of Allah (SA) (who said): 'A sincere believer is like water'. Let your clearness with Allah, the Most High, be like the clearness of water as He sent it down from the sky and called it 'purifier' [tahur]. Purify your heart with fear of Allah [taqwa] and certitude [yaqin] as you cleanse your organs with water." [102]

In this noble hadith there are delicate points and facts which enliven the hearts of the people of knowledge, and bestow animation on the clear souls of "the people of heart" [ashab-i qulub].

Describing water, in this hadith, as to be Allah's mercy, or interpreting it to be so, denotes that water is one of the great manifestations of Allah's mercy which He sent down to the world of nature, and made it the source of life for the beings. Rather, the vast divine mercy , which descended from the high heaven of His Names and Attributes, and with which the lands of the individual entities [ta'ayyunat-i ayan] were revived, is called "water" by the people of knowledge. And as the vast divine mercy is more obvious in the apparent substance of water than in other things, Allah, the Exalted, has assigned to it the task of purifying the outer filths, and made it the key to the door of His proximity and of the supplications to Him ,and the guide to the court of His service, which is the door of the doors of the inner mercies. Actually, the water of Allah's mercy descends and appears in every growth [nash'ah] of existence and in every visible and invisible scene to purify the sins of Allah's servants according to that growth [nash'ah] and suitable to that world. So, the invisible sins of the individual entities are purified with the water of mercy which descends from the heaven of His Oneness [ahadiyat], and the sins of the non-existence of "the outer quiddities" [mahiyat-i kharijiyah] are purged with the water of the vast mercy descending from the heaven of His Unity [wahidiyat] in every stage which Allah has ordered you to purify, and observe their disciplines in His traditions as under each one of them there are many of existence according to that stage. In the stages of human growths [nasha'at], too, the water of mercy has different manifestations, as with the water descending from His Essence onto "the purgatory collective individuations" [ta'ayyunat-i jam'iya barzakhiyah] the sins of the " existential secret " [sirr-i wujudi] are purified: " Your existence is a sin incomparable with any other sin". With the water descending from His Names and Attributes and the manifestation of Act the vision of the attribute and the act is purged. With the water descending from the sky of His Just Judgement" [hukm-i adl] the inner moral impurities are purified. With the water descending from the sky of His Forgiveness the sins of the servants are purged. And with the water descending from the sky of "the kingdom of heaven" [malakut] the formal impurities are purged. So, it is clear that Allah, the Exalted has made water the key to His proximity and the guide to His court of mercy. Then, in the noble hadith there is another instruction, which opens another way to the people of suluk and of observance. It says: " ... think of the clarity, softness, purity and blessing of water and of its tenderly mixing with everything. Use it to purge the organs which Allah has ordered you to purify, and observe their disciplines in His obligations and traditions, as under each one there are many advantages. So, if you use them respectfully, the springs of the advantages will burst out for you presently."

This noble hadith refers to the degrees of purity in general and puts it in four general degrees, of which one is that which is mentioned so far in the noble hadith, i.e. purifying the organs. It also notes that the people of observance and the saliks to Allah should not stop at the apparent form of the things. They are to regard the appearance as a mirror reflecting the inside, to detect the facts from the forms and not to be satisfied with formal purification, which is a Satanic snare. So, in the purity of water they discover the purity of the organs, which they are to purge and clarify by way of performing the obligatory duties and the divine laws, whose fineness is to be used to make fine the organs and to take them out of the coarseness of disobedience, and to let purity and blessing flow into all the organs. And, from the tenderly mixing of water with things, they realize how the divine heavenly powers are mixed with the world of nature, preventing the impurities of nature from affecting them. When the organs are clothed with the divine obligations and laws and their disciplines, the inner advantages gradually appear, the springs of the divine secrets burst out and a part of the secrets of servitude and purity uncover themselves for the salik . After explaining the first stage of purification and its instruction, the hadith gives the secondary instruction, saying:".. then mix with the creatures (servants) of Allah like the mixture of water with things: It gives to everything its due without any change in its own meaning. And learn a lesson from the Messenger of Allah(SA) (who said): 'A sincere believer is like water"'.

The first instruction concerns the salik's managing his organs and inner powers. The second instruction mentioned in this noble hadith concerns man's relation with Allah's creatures. This is a comprehensive instruction telling how the salik's behaviour with the creatures should be, which is also an implication of the reality of privacy [khalwat]; that is, the traveler to Allah, while treating each group of the people with kindness, giving them their natural dues, and dealing with anyone of them according to his disposition, is to strictly observe the divine rights, and never to lose his own meaning, which is servitude and attending to Allah. At the same time of being in multiplicity [kathrat], he is to be in privacy [khalwat], and his heart-which is the lodging of the Beloved is to be free from others and empty of all designs and paintings. Then the hadith refers to the third instruction, which concerns the salik's connection with Allah, the Exalted. It says: "Let your clearness with Allah, the Most High, be like the clearness of water when He sent it down from the sky and called it 'purifier'[tahur]."

That is, the traveller to Allah should be free from the intrusion of nature, and its impurity and darkness should not be allowed into his heart, and all his acts of worship should be free from all external and internal polytheism. As the water is pure when descending from the sky, and the hands of impurity have not extended to it, the heart of the salik, which has descended pure from the heaven of the invisible, is to be protected against the intrusion of Satan and nature, and to be prevented from being polluted with the impurities. After this instruction, the hadith comes to the last and the comprehensive instruction for the people of austerity and of suluk .It says: purify your heart with fear of Allah and certitude as you cleanse your organs with water."

Here is a reference to two lofty stations of the people of knowledge: one is "godfearing" , which is perfected by abandoning everything other than Allah. The other is certitude, which is perfected by discerning the Presence of the Beloved.

Notes:

[102]. Misbahush Shar'iah, ch. 10, on "Purification".

Chapter Four

Concerning the Purifier

The "purifier" is either water -which is, in this respect, basic or "earth". Know that the traveller to Allah has, generally speaking, two ways to take him to the loftiest goal, the station of proximity to the Divinity: The first of them, which is the principal and original one, is the journey to Allah by turning towards the Absolute Mercy, especially the compassionate mercy, which is the compassion that takes every being to its appropriate perfection. It is of this kind of compassionate mercy that the prophets (SA) were sent to lead on the roads and to help those lagging behind. To the people of knowledge and the people of heart, the House of Realization is the form of divine mercy. The creatures are perpetually and completely drowned in the oceans of Allah's mercy, yet they do not make use of it. The Great Divine Book -which has descended from the divine invisible world and the proximity of the Lord, and has appeared in the form of words and speech so that we, the deserted, the prisoners in the jail of nature and put in the fetters of the crooked chains of the soul's desires and whims, make use of it and rescue ourselves -is one of the greatest manifestations of the absolute divine mercy, of which, we, the blind and deaf, have in no way made use. The Messenger the Seal of the prophets, the honourable absolute guardian ,who came from the Sacred Presence of the Lord and the company of the divine proximity and familiarity to this abode of estrangement and dread, where he had to keep company with the people like Abu Jahl (the Prophet's uncle and his bitter enemy) or even worse, and whose sigh:" ...my heart is enveloped by a cover of dust... " [103] has burnt the hearts of the people of knowledge and friendship -is Allah's vast mercy and the divine absolute generosity, who had come into his (worldly) body as an all-embracing mercy for the dwellers of this lower world, in order to take them out of this abode of terror and estrangement, like a "ring-dove" [104] which throws itself into the net of blight to save its flock.

The traveller to Allah is to take the purification with the water of mercy as to be a form of using the descending divine mercy, and to make use of it as long as it is possible for him to do so. Should his hand become short of it, because of inertia or negligence, and be bereaved of the water of mercy, he would have but to pay attention to his own humility, indigence, poverty and destitution. When he has in full view his humility of servitude and is aware of his need, his poverty and his own potentiality, and discards his haughtiness, conceit and selfishness, a door of mercy opens to him, and the earth of (his) nature changes into the white earth of mercy, and becomes the dust which is one of the "two purifiers" [105], and becomes the object of Allah's mercy and kindness. The stronger this state in man, i.e., his awareness of his humility, the more he receives of mercy. Should he decide to depend on himself and on his action in his journey, he would perish, since there might be no one to extend help to him, like an infant which boldly starts walking alone, taking pride in its own steps, and depending on its own ability, without its father offering it any help, rather leaving it to itself. But when it recognizes its inability and inefficiency, it turns to its affectionate father, distrusting its own power, and entrusts itself to the care of its father, who offers his help, hugs it and guides it step by step to walking. So, it is better for the traveller to Allah to break the leg of his journey and completely renounce his self-confidence, austerity and action, and abolish himself, his power and ability. He should always remember his mortality and dependence in order to become an object of Allah's care, and to cover a hundred-year distant road in a single night by the attraction of the Lord, and the tongue of his inside and his state say, in the Presence of the Lord's Sanctity, imploringly and helplessly: "Or, Who responds to the distressed, when he calls unto Him, and removes the evil... ?" [106]

Notes:

[103]. Refer to footnote No. 88

[104]. Kalilah wa Dimnah, ch. "The Ring-Dove".

[105]. It refers to a narrative related by the late Akhund Khurasani (may Allah sanctify his spirit) in Kifayatul 'Usul, vol. 1, p. 130, to the effect that: "Dust is one of the two purifiers, and is enough for you for ten years."

[106]. Surah an-Naml: 62.

 Chapter Five

Some Disciplines of the Wudu' (Ritual Ablution) in Respect of the Interior and the Heart

Imam ar-Rida (AS) is quoted to have said: " The servant has been commanded to perform the wudu' (ritual ablution) so as to be pure when standing before the All-Powerful and supplicating, and by obeying Him, to be purged from filth and impurity, beside his removing laziness, expelling sleep and purifying the heart to stand in the Presence of the All-Powerful. Confining it (the wudu') only to the face, the two hands, the head and the two feet, was because when the servant stands before the All-Powerful, the parts which are exposed are those which are ordered to be washed in the wudu': as with his face he performs the sujud (prostration), with his hands he requests, desires, dreads and supplicates, with his head he inclines to Him in his ruku. ' (bowing down) and his sujud, and with his legs he stands and sits..." [107] etc. Up to here he explained the principal point in the wudu " informing the people of knowledge and suluk that to stand in the holy Presence of Allah, the of worship, and of obeying the Lord. Therefore, the purification of the outside results in the purification of the inside, and purging the exterior leads to the purity of the interior. Generally, the traveler to Allah must, at the time of wudu' be aware of his being about to stand in the Presence of Allah, the Almighty, as with such states of heart as he has, he does not Glorified and Most High, and to offer supplication to the Provider of Needs, require certain disciplines which should be observed. One must not appear in His Presence even with the external filths and impurities and with a sleepy eye, let alone with a heart which is filled with dirts, and it is afflicted with spiritual impurities, which are the origin of all impurities. Despite the fact that a narrative says: "Allah, the Exalted, does not look at your faces, but He looks at your hearts" [108], and despite the fact that the means with which man attends to Allah, the Exalted, and what is, in the worlds of creation, worthy of looking at His Majesty, Greatness and Glory, is the heart, while the other organs have no share in it, yet, they did not neglect the outer cleanliness. So, they decided the external purification for cleaning man's exterior, and the inner purification for cleaning his interior. In this noble hadith , it is clear from assigning the purification of the heart to be a result of the wudu' that the wudu' has an interior with which man's interior is purified, and meanwhile it appears that there is a connection between the exterior and the interior, the visible and the invisible. Similarly it becomes clear that the outer cleanliness, the outside wudu', is of the acts deserve to be in His Presence, or he may even be dismissed from the Presence of the Lord, the Most High. Thus, he has to get ready to have his outer purification transferred to his interior, and to purify his heart -which is the object of Allah's attention, or, actually, is the lodging of His Sanctity -from all that is other than Allah, and to take out from his head any notion of arrogance and I-ness, which is the origin of the origins of the impurities, so as to become worthy of His Presence. After that, Imam ar-Rida (AS) explains the reason for specifying certain organs to wud'u'. He says:

"Confining it only to the face, the two hands, the head and the two feet, was because when the servant stands before the All-Powerful, the parts which are exposed are those which are ordered to be washed in the wudu': as with his face he performs the sujud (prostration), with his hands he requests, desires, dreads and supplicates, with his head he inclines to Him in his ruku' (bowing down) and his sujud, and with his legs he stands and sits..."

The gist of his discourse is that these organs take part in worshipping Allah, and it is through these organs that worship is manifested. Consequently, it is necessary to purify them. Then he refers to those acts of worship which appear from them, opening the way of their being valid and useful to the deserving people, and making the people of knowledge familiar with these secrets that the organs on which servitude appears in Allah's Blessed Presence, should be clean and purified, as the outer limbs and organs of the body, which have a deficient share of those meanings, would not be worthy of that station without purification. Although submission is not, actually, a character of the face, and none of requesting, desiring, dreading, supplicating and facing the qiblah belongs to any of the tangible organs, yet, as these organs are the manifestations of those meanings, they must be purified. Therefore, purifying the heart, which is the real place of servitude, and the actual centre of those meanings, is more necessary. Without its purification, the external organs will never be purified even if they are washed in seven seas, and it (the heart) will not deserve being in the Presence of Allah. Actually, Satan will have a hand in it, and it will be dismissed from His Glorious Presence.

Connection: In an authorized narrative in 'Ilalush-Shara'i' it is related that: "A group of Jews came to the Messenger of Allah (SA) and asked him questions. Among their questions they asked: "Tell us, 0 Muhammad why, are these four organs given the wudu', while they are the cleanest parts of the body'?" The Messenger of Allah (SA) said: 'When Satan whispered to Adam (AS) and he came near the "tree" and looked at it, he lost face. He stood up and walked to it -the first step taken towards sinning. He took with his hand some of what was of it and ate it. Off his body flew what were on him of jewelry and apparel. He put his hand on the top of his head and wept. Allah accepted his repentance, but made it incumbent upon him and his offspring to purify those four organs. So, Allah ordered the face to be washed, because it looked at the "tree". He ordered the hands to be washed to the elbows, because he took with them (the fruit of the tree). He ordered the head to be anointed (with the hand wet with water), as he put his hand on the top of his head, and He ordered the feet to be anointed because with them he walked to sin." [109]

Concerning the reason for imposing fasting, there is also a noble hadith to the effect that the Jews asked him: "What caused Allah to impose on your people to fast for thirty days?" He said: "It was Adam (AS), because that which he had eaten from that "tree" remained in his stomach for thirty days. So Allah made it incumbent upon him and his offspring to endure hunger and thirst for thirty days ,and He allowed them, out of His kindness, to eat and drink at the nights." [110]

These noble hadiths give the people of allusion and the people of heart to understand many points: Although Adam's sin was not like the sins of the others, as it might have been a natural one, or a sin of being inclined to multiplicity, the tree of nature, or of attending to multiplicity of names after the attraction [jadhibah] of self-annihilation [fana'-i dhati], yet it was not expected from one like Adam (AS) who was Allah's chosen one [safiy] and distinguished by proximity [qurb] and self-annihilation. Therefore, according to the love-zeal [ghairat-i hubbi] of His Sanctified Essence, He announced his disobedience and going astray to all the worlds and on the tongues of all the prophets (AS). He, the Exalted, said: "And Adam disobeyed his Lord, so he went astray." [111] Thus, so much cleaning and purification were needed for him (Adam) and his offspring who were hidden in his loin and (so) participated in the sin, though they did participate (in it) after coming out of the loin, too.

Therefore ,the sin committed by Adam and his offspring has many degrees and manifestations. The first of those degrees is paying attention to multiplicity of names, and the last of those manifestations is eating from the forbidden tree, the invisible [malakuti] form of which is a tree that carries diverse sorts of fruits. And its visible [mulki] form is its nature and affairs, and the love of this world and the self, as seen now in his offspring, is of the affairs of the same inclination to that tree and eating from it. Similarly, for their cleaning, purifying, cleansing, salat and fasting for the redemption of the father's sin which is the origin -there are many degrees in proportion to the degrees of the sin. From this explanation it is understood that all kinds of disobedience of the children of Adam are related to eating from the "tree", and are purified in a certain way. All their sins of the heart are also related to that tree, and are purified in a certain way. Then, all kinds of spiritual sins are related to it, too, and are purified in a certain way.

Purifying the external organs is the "shadow" [zill] of the purity of the heart and spirit for the perfect. It is an order, and a "means" to them, for the people of suluk. As long as man is within the veil of the individuation [ta'ayyun] of the organs and their purification, and he lingers there, he cannot be of the people of the suluk, and is still in the sin. But if he engaged himself in passing through the stages of external and internal purifications, and used the formal and outer purifications as a means of purifying the spirit and the heart, and in all the acts of worship and rites he observed their spiritual aspects and was benefited by them, or better, if he gave more importance to the internal aspects and regarded them to be the most high objective, he would be admitted through the door of the suluk along the road of humanity, as is referred to in a noble hadith in Misbahush Shar'iah: "... And purify your heart with taqwa (fear of Allah) and yaqin (certitude) when you cleanse your organs with water." [112]

So, a salik man needs first a scientific suluk so as to distinguish, with the blessings of "the people of remembrance" [ahl-i dhikr] (SA), the stages of servitude, and regard the formal worship inferior to the spiritual and inner worship. Then the practical suluk, which is the reality of the suluk is started. The aim of this suluk is to free the soul from other than Allah, and adorn it with the manifestations of His Names and Essence. Getting to this stage, the salik would be at the end of his journey, attaining to the goal of his progress to perfection, and acquiring the secrets of austerity and worship, as well as the delicacies of suluk. Those are the manifestations of Majesty which are the secrets of purity, and the manifestations of Beauty, which are the objective of other worships. To give the details is out of the capacity of these pages.

Notes:

[107]. Uyunu Akhbarir Rida, vol. 2, p. 104, ch. 34, hadith 1.

[108]. Biharul Anwar, vol. 67, p. 241, quoting Jami'ul Akhbar, p. 117 (with a slight difference).

[109]. Ilalush-Sharai', vol. I, p. 280, ch. 191, hadith 1.

[110]. Ibid, vol. 2, p. 378, ch. 109, hadith 1.

[111]. Surah Ta Ha: 121.

[112]. Misbahush Shari'ah, ch. 10, on "Purity".