Know that the salik to Allah has to announce attending the Meeting [mahdar], in the adhan, to the heart, which is the sultan of the covert and overt powers, and to other soldiers scattered throughout the visible and invisible realms. As the time of the presence and meeting has drawn near, he is to prepare them, so that, if he is of the eager lovers, he may not lose control at the sudden appearance of a manifestation; and if he is of the veiled, he may not enter the Sacred Presence [mahdar] without making ready the means and the disciplines for the occasion. Thus, the general secret of the adhan is the announcement to the overt and covert powers and the divine armies to attend the Meeting. Its general discipline is to be aware of the greatness of the position, its significance and the majesty of the Presence and the Present, and it is the servility, helplessness, poverty, incapability and shortcoming of the "possible" (existent) in carrying out orders and deserving to attend the Meeting [mahdar], unless the kindness and mercy of Allah, the Most High, extend the helping hand to make up for the shortcomings.
The iqamah is to set up the visible and invisible powers in the Presence, and to make them present in the Meeting; and its discipline is fear, awe, shyness, shame, and a firm hope in the boundless mercy. The salik, during all the chapters of the adhan and the iqamah, is to continually inform the heart about the greatness of the Meeting, Presence and the Present, and to continually think of his own humility, inability and shortcoming, in order to bring about (in the heart) fear and awe, while, on the other hand, he is to show to his heart Allah's vast mercy and generous kindness, in order to bring about (in it) hope and eagerness.
So, eagerness and attraction will conquer the loving hearts, and with the steps of love and affection they (the saliks) will proceed to the Presence of Intimacy, and their hearts, by means of that invisible attraction, will, till the end of the salat and through their love of the Presence and the Present, practice mutual embracing and fondling with remembering Allah and thinking of Him.
Imam 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS) is quoted to have said: "The best of the people is the one who adores worship, embraces it, whole-heartedly loves it, touches it with his body and disengages himself for it. He would not care whether he gains his share of this world with difficulty or with ease." [185]
And the fearing hearts will be overpowered by the manifestation of the Greatness, and overwhelmed by the attraction of the Omnipotence, so that they (the saliks) will be led to ecstasy, their hearts will melt with fear and awe, and their personal shortcomings and their feeling of humility and inability will hold them back from everything.
In a hadith it is quoted from Musa ibn Ja'far (AS) that he said: "Amirul Mu'minin ('Ali) (AS) said: 'Allah has servants whose hearts are broken by fearing Him, causing them to keep silent."' [186]
Sometimes Allah, the Exalted, manifests Himself to His perfect friends in a kind manifestation, and the attraction of love becomes their guide, as the hadith says that the Messenger of Allah (SA) used to be waiting for the time of the salat, his longing ever increasing, until at last he would say to Bilal (the Messenger's mu'adhdhin): "Relieve us, O Bilal." [187] Sometimes He would manifest Himself through greatness and sovereignty, such that they feel they are filled with fear and awe. Such states are related from the Messenger of Allah (SA) and the Imams of guidance (AS). Sometimes He manifests Himself in "the Collective Oneness" [jam'i-i ahad] according to the endurance of the hearts and the capacities of their vessels. We, the veiled, the busy with the world, the imprisoned in the prison of nature and in the chains of desires and hopes, and the deprived of the divine intellectual happiness, who, because of being drunken with nature, will not come back to sobriety nor get up from the deep sleep till the dawn of eternity, are out of the calculations of these divisions, and excluded from this declaration. Thus, the disciplines of the Presence which suit us are different, and the performance of the cordial duties has a different form. But what should be the first and foremost, before all else, is to drive out of the heart the despair of Allah's mercy, and prevent it from losing hope in His generosity, for these are of Iblis's dangerous soldiers and of the inspirations of the human and jinn Satans. We should not imagine that those stations have been cut to suit particular persons, such that our hand of hope is too short to attain to them, or man's treadings cannot reach them. Hence, we should not mistake hand for foot, and with coldness and weakness, remain sticking to the land of nature forever. No, it is not like what has been imagined! But I still say that the special station of the perfect people of Allah is not possibly attainable by everybody. Yet, the spiritual stations and divine knowledge have unlimited degrees and many ranks. Many of those stations, sciences, states and stages are available to the (human) species, if only their coldness and weakness let them, and if only the obstinacy and fanaticism of the people of ignorance and obstinacy take their hands off the hearts of the servants of Allah, and they turn not to be Satans on the road of their travel to Allah.
So, the discipline of the Presence for us is that at the beginning, as we have not yet passed through the stage of sensation and the appearance, and think of nothing except the mundane greatness and splendor, while knowing nothing of the Divine Invisible Greatnesses, we have to look at Allah's Presence [mahdar] as we look at a great sultan's presence whose greatness has been realized by the heart, informing it that all kinds of greatness, majesty and glory are but manifestations of the greatness of the heavenly world which have descended to this world, and the heavenly world ['alam-I malakut] is of little importance compared with the invisible worlds. Thus, we are to inform the heart that the world is the Sacred Presence of Allah, the Exalted, since He, the Glorified, is Present at all places and spaces, especially the salat which is a special permission for attending the Presence, and a special date for meeting and intimacy with Allah, the Exalted. Now, having incited the heart to feel the Greatness and the Presence, even if at the beginning it was not so easy to do so, the heart gradually becomes familiar with it, and the imagery becomes real. So, by observing the formal disciplines of dealing with the King of the kings and the Sultan of the sultans, and applying the disciplines of the apparent Presence, the heart will also be affected and will feel the greatness, and will gradually attain to man's desired results. Similarly, inciting love and adoration can be achieved by means of perseverance and austerity.
So, at the beginning, one should exhibit the formal mercies and sensual blessings of Allah, the Exalted, to the heart, and then introduce to it the state of Mercifulness, Compassionateness and Bountifulness, until the heart gradually becomes intimate, and the exterior affects the interior, and the kingdom of the interior is illuminated by the effects of the Beauty, and then the desired results will be achieved. If a man carried out the matter and strove in the way of Allah, the Exalted, He would help him and save him by His invisible hand from the darkness of the world of nature, and would throw the light of His Beauty to the dark earth of his heart, and turn him into a spiritual heaven: "And whoever does a good deed, We add unto its good for him. Surely Allah is forgiving, Thankful." [188]
Notes:
[185]. Wasa'ilush Shi'ah, vol. 1, p. 61, " Book of purity", chs. on "Preliminaries to Worships", ch. 19, hadith 2, quoted from the Messenger of Allah (SA)
[186]. Biharul Anwar, vol. 75, p. 309, "Book of ar-Rawdah", ch. 25, hadith 1, from Tuhaful 'Uqul.
[187]. Refer to footnote No. l78.
[188]. Surah ash-Shura: 23.
Some Disciplines and Secrets of Takbirs in the Adhan and Iqamah
Know that, as the adhan (call to the Salat) is the announcement of the presence [hudur] of the external and internal powers of the soul in the Presence [mahdar] of Allah for the sake of praising His Sacred Essence according to all the Names, Attributes, Affairs and ayahs -since the Salat, as has already been mentioned, is a comprehensive praising of the Sacred Essence according to the manifestation of the Greatest Name, which is the state of "the Collective Oneness of the Names" [ahadiyat-i jam'-i asma'] in His Unity [hadrat-i wahdiyat], and the state of manifestation through the collectivity [jam] differentiation [tafriq], overtness [zuhur] and covertness [butun] in the essences [ayan] and essential names [asma-i ainiyah] -the salik's attention is first directed to the Majesty of the Sacred Essence according to this general affair [sha'n-i jami]. So, at first, he introduces the said Greatness and Majesty to the invisible and visible powers of his own kingdom. Then, secondly, to the angels of Allah in charge of the invisible powers spread in the kingdom of the soul.
Thirdly, to the beings of the invisible and visible worlds, and fourthly, to the angels of Allah in charge of the Kingdom of the heavens and the earths (lands = aradin). So, through these four takbirs (saying: "Allah is Greater") he announces the Majesty of the Grand Name (Greatest Name) to all the dwellers of the invisible and visible worlds of the inward and outward kingdoms. And this, by itself, is an announcement of his being incapable of undertaking the duty of praising the Sacred Essence, and an announcement of his falling short of performing the salat. This, in itself, is one of the general affairs of the suluk and of the comprehensive disciplines concerning praising and worshipping, which must be before the salik's eyes during the whole period of performing the salat. That is why the takbir is repeated in the adhan and the iqamah, as well as in the salat. It is also repeated when passing from one stage to another so that the salik's innate inability, and the Greatness and the Glory of the Sacred Essence are confirmed in his heart.
As such, its discipline, as it appears, is that the salik should, in each takbir, remind himself of his inability and Allah's Majesty. On another supposition, it is possible that each one of these preliminary takbirs of the adhan points to a state: The first takbir means: He is Greater than the attributive Essence; the second means: He is Greater than the attributive Attribute; the third means: He is Greater than the attributive Name; and the fourth means: He is Greater than the attributive Act. Thus, it is as if the salik says: Allahu akbar [Allah is Greater] than your description of His Essence, or of His Essence-manifestations, and He is Greater than your describing Attributes, His Names and His Acts, or their respective manifestations.
In an elaborated speech quoted from Amirul Mu'minin 'Ali (AS) it is said: "... The other aspect is that Allahu akbar implies negation of His quality, as if he (the mu'adhdhin = the one who speaks out the adhan) says: ' Allah's attribute, with which He is qualified, is far above being comprehended by the describers', for the describers describe Him according to their own measure, not according to the measure of His Greatness and Majesty. He is far above His quality being understood by the describers ..." as the hadith goes.[189]
Another important discipline of the takbirs is that the salik is to strive, and, by cordial austerities, he is to prepare his heart to be the place for the Majesty of Allah, the Glorified, and to regard Greatness, Glory, Sovereignty and Majesty to be exclusively ascribed to the Sacred Essence of Allah, the Most High, and to exclude the others from Majesty. If he feels in his heart even a tiny bit of anyone else's greatness, without taking it to be the light of that of Allah's, his heart is sick and is controlled by Satan. It is quite possible that Satan's intrusion would cause the sovereignty of the majesty of other than Allah, in the heart, to be more than that of Allah's, and the heart would regard him greater than Allah. In this case, man would be counted among the hypocrites. The symptom of this devastating disease is that man regards the pleasure of the creatures to be preferred to the pleasure of Allah, and in order to obtain the pleasure of the created, he would incur the displeasure of the Creator.
As-Sadiq (AS) is quoted to have said: "When you say: Allahu akbar, slight whatever is there between the high (heaven) and the earth, regarding it below His Majesty, because if Allah looked into the heart of the servant while telling the takbir, and saw therein something contradicting his takbir, He would say: " O you liar! Are you deceiving Me? By My Might and My Majesty, I will deprive you of (tasting) the sweetness of remembering Me, and I will exclude you from My proximity and from getting pleasure through your supplication. " [190]
My dear, the fact that our wretched hearts are deprived of the sweetness of remembering Allah, the Exalted, and that the enjoyment of supplication to the Sacred Essence is not tasted by our spirit, and that we are prevented from reaching the proximity of His Threshold and deprived of the manifestations of His Beauty and Majesty, is because our hearts are sick and faulty, attracted by the world, stuck to it and wrapped in the veils of the darkness of nature. And this fact deprives us of recognizing Allah's Majesty and of discerning the lights of His Beauty and Glory. As long as our look at the beings is Satanic and independent, we shall never drink of the wine of intimacy, not attain to the pleasure of supplication. As long as we believe that in the world of existence there can be glory, might, majesty, greatness and dignity for any created being, and as long as we are wrapped in the veils of the created specifications [ta 'ayyunat], the dominion [sultan] of the Majesty of Allah, the Glorified, will not manifest in our hearts.
So, of the disciplines of takbir is that the salik should not stop at its outer form, or be satisfied with its wordings and with mere pronunciations of the tongue. First, he is to prove to the heart, with the power of argument and the light of divine knowledge, Allah's Glory and the confinement of greatness and majesty only to the Sacred Essence of Allah, Most High, informing it of the poverty, humility and helplessness of all the possible dwellers and all the corporeal and spiritual beings. After that, with the power of austerity, frequent intimacy [murawadah] and complete familiarity, he is to enliven the heart with this divine grace and grant it spiritual and intellectual life and happiness. When the salik realizes the poverty and the humility of the possible (the creatures) and Allah's Greatness and Majesty, and puts that before his eyes, while his contemplation and remembrance reach their assigned limit, and the heart attains to familiarity and tranquillity, he will see with the eye of insight the effects of Allah's Glory and Majesty in all beings, and the diseases and faults of his heart will be cured. Only then will he taste the deliciousness of supplication and the sweetness of remembering Allah, and the heart will affirm Allah's Sovereign Majesty, and the effects of Majesty will appear in the exterior and in the interior of the kingdom, and the heart, the tongue, the outside and the inside will go in harmony. So, all the external and internal powers, visible and invisible, recite Allahu akbar, and one of the thick curtains is drown away, and he gets one stage nearer to the truth of the salat.
There is a reference to some of what has been said in a lengthy hadith Ilalush Shara'i, quoting Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq (AS) describing the Mi'raj. He said: "Allah, the Glorified and Almighty, sent down, to the Prophet, a carriage of light comprised of forty sorts of light which were around the' Arsh. The arsh of Allah, Blessed and Most High, blurs the eyes of the onlookers. One of them was yellow, and it became the cause of the yellowness of the yellow. Another one was red, and it became the cause of the redness of the red..." Then he added: "... He (the Messenger (SA)) sat in it and it ascended him to the lower heaven. The angels ran to the outskirts of the heaven, then they fell in prostration, and said: 'All-Glorified and All-Holy is our Lord, the Lord of the angels and the Spirit. How this light is like the light of our Lord!' Jibrael (Gabriel) said: :Allahu akbar! Allahu akbar!' The angels stopped talking, and the heaven was opened. The angels gathered and came to pay tribute to the Prophet (SA) group after group ..." as the hadith goes. [191]
In this noble hadith there are great secrets to which the hand of our hopes is too short to reach, and what can be said is now out of our purpose, like the secret of the descension of the carriage of light, the secret of the many lights, the secret of their diversity, the secret of the figure forty, the secret of its being sent down by Allah, the secret of their gathering around the 'Arsh, the truth of the 'Arsh in this respect, the secret of the yellowness of the yellow and the redness of the red caused by them, the secret of the angels' running, their bowing, praising and glorifying, and likening his light to Allah's, and the like. To speak about each of them would be lengthy. Yet, that which suits this occasion and testifies to our subject is that the angels of Allah quieted down as they heard Gabriel's takbir, and gathered around the candle of the meeting of the Absolute Guardian. By that takbir the first heaven opened, and one of the curtains, which blocked the way to Allah, was drawn away. It should be noted that the curtains which are pushed aside by the adhan are other than the curtains which are in the opening takbirs. We shall probably refer to this concept later on, insha 'allah (Allah willing).
Concerning there being only two takbirs in the iqamah, it is probably because the salik has set up his powers in the Presence, and has somewhat advanced from multiplicity toward unity, magnifying the Essence and the Names, or the Names and the Attributes; and it may be that the magnification of the Essence and the Names implies the magnification of the Attributes and the Acts.
Notes:
[189]. Biharul Anwar, vol. R1, p. 131, "Book of the Salat", ch. on "The Adhan and the Iqamah", hadith 24.
[190]. Misbahush Shari'ah , ch. 13 , on " Finishing the Salat" . al Mahahhatul Bayda, printed by as-Saduq Library , vol. 1 , p. 385 , Mustadarak Wasa'il, 'Book of as-Salat", chs. on "The Acts of the Salat", ch. 2, hadith 9.
[191]. 'Ilalush-Shara'i " vol. 2, p. 312, chs. on "The Causes of the Wudu" the Adhan and the salat", hadith 1.
source : Adabus Salat The Disciplines of the Prayer by Imam Khomeini
