Meditation

One of the disciplines of reciting the Qur'an is the presence of heart, to which we have already referred in this book, when we discussed the general disciplines of the acts of worship; so, there is no need to repeat it.

Another one of its disciplines is meditation, by which we mean that the reciter of the noble ayahs should look for the destination and the objective. Now as the objective of the Qur'an, as the very luminous Book says, is guiding the people to the ways of safety, bringing them out of the stages of darkness into the world of light, and leading them to the straight path, one must, by way of meditating on the noble ayahs, attain to the stages of safety, from its lowest stage, which belongs to worldly dominion, up to its final stage, which is the realization of a sound heart [qalb-i salim], according to the explanation received from Ahlul Bayt (AS) saying that a sound heart meets Allah when it is occupied by none other than Him. [321] The soundness of the worldly and heavenly powers should be the quest of the reciter of the Qur'an, as he will certainly find it in this heavenly Book if he meditates on it. When the human powers become safe from Satan's intrusion, and when the way to safety is found and followed, man, in each stage of safety, will be saved from a degree of darkness, and the bright light of Allah will inevitably shine in him. If he gets rid of all sorts of darkness, the first one of which is the darkness of the world of nature, with all its affairs, and the last of which is the darkness of being inclined to multiplicity with all its affairs, the absolute light will shine in his heart, leading him to the straight path of humanity, which is, in this instance, the path of the Lord: "Surely my Lord is on a straight path." [322]

Contemplation is very much invited to, praised and applauded in the Glorious Qur'an. Allah, the Exalted, says : "And We have revealed to you the Remembrance that you may explain to mankind what has been sent down to them and that haply they may reflect." [323] In this noble ayah reflection is strongly applauded, because the aim of sending down this great heavenly Book, the great luminous paper, is that "haply they may reflect". This is quite significant that the mere possibility of reflection causes the revelation of this great generosity [karamat]. In another ayah He says: " Therefore, narrate the narratives [qasas] that they may reflect. " [324] There are so many ayahs of this like or almost the like, as well as narratives [riwayat] which invite to reflection. The Messenger of Allah (SA) is quoted to have said, on the revelation of the ayah "Surely in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day there are signs for men of understanding," [325]: "Woe to the one who reads it and does not reflect upon it" [326] An important point in this respect is that one should know what the commended reflection is, as there is no doubt in the fact that it is praiseworthy to think about the Qur'an and the hadiths. The best expression for it is that of the Khajah `Abdullah al-Ansari [ may Allah sanctify his soul]. He says: "Do know that reflection is the insight's attempt to understand the purpose." [327] That is, reflection is a seeking by the "insight" [basirat], which is the eye of the heart, wanting to attain to the aim and the result, which are the utmost perfection. It is quite clear that the destination [maqsad] and the aim [maqsud] are the absolute happiness, attainable through theoretical and practical perfection.

Therefore, it is man's duty to obtain the humane objective and result, being happiness, from the noble ayahs of the divine Book and from its stories and tales. And, since happiness is to attain to absolute safety, the world of light and the straight path, man should find through the honoured Qur'an the ways to safety, the source of the absolute light and the straight path, as was stated in the previously mentioned noble ayah. When the reciter gets the aim, he becomes clear-sighted in getting to it, and the door of being benefited by the Qur'an opens to him, and with it the doors of the mercy of Allah open, too. He, then, would not spend his dear and short years and his capital for obtaining happiness on matters which are not intended by the Message, preventing himself from indulging in useless discussion and talk about such an important subject.

Having directed his heart's eye for some time to this purpose, neglecting other matters, the eye of the heart gets sharp in observing, and meditating on the Qur'an becomes common to him, and the ways of utilization open to him, and there open to him such doors that had not already been open to him, and he obtains from the Qur'an such matters and knowledge that he had never obtained before. At that time he can understand the meaning of the Qur'an being a cure for the spiritual ailment, as is confirmed by the noble ayah: "And We reveal from the Qur'an that which is a healing and a mercy to the believers, and it adds only to the perdition of the wrongdoers," [328] and the meaning of the saying of Imam `Ale (AS): "Learn the Qur'an, for it is the spring [rabi`] of the hearts; and seek cure with its light, since it is the cure for the hearts." [329] He does not seek from the Qur'an the cure of only the physical ailments, but regards the main aim to be the cure of the spiritual ailments, which is the very objective: of the Qur'an. The Qur'an has not been sent down to cure the physical ailments, although such ailments do get cured by it. The prophets (AS), too, did not come to cure physical ailments, although they did cure them. As a matter of fact, they were the doctors for the souls, and the curers of the hearts and the spirits.

Application to one's own condition

One of the important disciplines of reciting the Qur'an that causes one to get so many good results and advantages, is "application" [tatbiq]; that is, each ayah which he recites and thinks about, he is to apply its concept to his own condition, to make up for his shortcomings by resorting to it, and to cure his ailments with it. Take, for example, the honoured story of Adam (AS): See what caused Satan to be expelled from the Sacred Threshold of Allah, despite his countless acts of worship and long devoted bowings, so that you may purge yourself from it, because the state of Allah's proximity belongs to the pure ones, and with Satanic conducts and character no one can be admitted to that Sacred Presence. From the noble ayahs one can learn that the reason behind Iblis's refusing to bow down was self-conceit and self-admiration :" I am better than he: You have created me of fire while him You have created of clay." [330] This self-conceit led him to selfishness and ostentation, which is arrogance. This led him to obstinacy, which is independence and disobedience, and hence he was expelled from the Sacred Court. We, from the beginning of the life, call Satan as the accursed and the discarded, and yet we ourselves possess his very vile characteristics. It has not occurred to us that anyone possessing the same reasons, which caused the dismissal of Satan, will be dismissed, too. Satan has no particular specialty, whatever reason expelled him from the threshold of Allah's proximity would never let us into that proximity. I am afraid that the curses which we send to Iblis are to be shared by us, too.

We may further think of the same noble story, and what caused the superiority of Adam (AS) over Allah's angels, so that we ourselves may acquire them, too, as much as possible. The cause was "teaching the names", as the Qur'an says: "And He taught Adam all the names" [331] The high degree of teaching the names is realizing [tahaqquq] the state of Allah's Names, such as the high degree of counting the Names as in the noble hadith: " Allah has ninty-nine names; whoever reckons them enters Paradise" [332] which means realizing [tahaqquq] their truth, by which man obtains the Paradise of the Names.

Man, by way of cordial austerities, can be the manifestation [mazhar] of Allah's Names and the great divine sign, and his existence becomes a divine one, and the hand of the divine Beauty and Majesty manages his kingdom. In another hadith it is also said that: "The connection of a believer's soul to Allah, the Exalted, is stronger than the connection of the sun's ray to it or to its light." [333]

In another correct hadith it is said: "When the servant approaches Me through his supererogatory acts, I love him, and when I love him I become his ears with which he hears, and I become his eyes with which he sees, and I become his tongue with which he speaks, and I become his hand with which he takes." [334]

In a hadith it is said: "'Ali is Allah's eye and hand" [335] and similar ones, as in a hadith: " We are His Most Beautiful Names " [336] In this respect, rational and traditional proofs and plenty.

Generally speaking, whoever wants to get a good share and advantage from the Qur'an, will have to apply each of the noble ayahs to his own condition so that he may get its complete benefit. For example, the noble ayah of the surah al-Anfal says: "The believers are those whose hearts feel fear when Allah is mentioned, and when His ayahs are recited to them they increase them in faith, and in their Lord do they put their confidence." [337] A salik must see whether he falls in line with these three attributes or not: Does mentioning Allah make his heart collapse and fear fall upon him? When the noble divine ayahs are recited to him, will the light of faith increase in his heart? Are his confidence and trust in Allah, the Exalted? Or is he void of any one of these stages and devoid of these attributes? If he wants to know whether he fears Allah and that his heart falls down because of that, let him look at his deeds. The one who fears Allah, would not dare to do an act of pertness, or to violate any divine law in the Presence of His Sacred Majesty. If his faith increase by the divine ayahs, the light of faith flows to his external kingdom, too. It is impossible for the heart to be luminous while the tongue, the speech, the eye, the sight, the ear and the hearing remain in the dark. A luminous person is the one whose entire worldy and heavenly powers are radiant, diffusing light, and, besides guiding him to happiness and the straight path, they throw light on the road for others and guide them along the road to humanity. Likewise is the one who depends upon Allah and puts his trust in Him, in which case he cuts his eye of covetousness off others, and puts down his burden of need and poverty at the threshold of the Absolute Self-sufficient, and regards others as poor and helpless as himself.

So, the duty of the traveller to Allah is to expose himself to the Glorious Qur'an, and, as the criterion to tell a true and valid hadith from a false and invalid one is to expose it to the Book of Allah, and the one which is not in harmony with it is to be judged as false and nonsense, similarly, the criterion for telling straightness from crookedness, and happiness from wretchedness, is that it is to turn out in the Book of Allah to be straight and correct. And, as the character of the Messenger of Allah is the Qur'an , he [the salik] should make his character coincide with the Qur'an, so that it corresponds to that of the perfect friend of Allah. The character which is contrary to the Book of Allah is nonsense and false. Likewise, he is to conform all his [other] knowledge, [ma`arif], condition of heart, internal and external deeds with the Book of Allah, so as to be in harmony with it, and the Qur'an becomes the image of his inside:

You are the clear Book that

By its letters the hidden is exposed. [338]

There are other disciplines in this field, some of which have already been mentioned early in this book under the title "the general discipline of worship", and some others are mentioned here. Going on explaining further disciplines will lengthen our discourse, therefore we relinquish them, and Allah is the Knowing.

Hereunder the translation of some noble narratives are related to complete the advantage and to have the blessings of the sayings of the [Prophet's] pure progeny:

The noble al-Kafi, on the authority of Sa'd, quotes Imam al-Baqir (AS) to have said: " O Sa`d, learn the Qur'an, for it comes on the Resurrection Day in the best of forms, " then he added to the same effect, saying that it would pass through each rank of the masses of the believers, the martyrs, the prophets and the ranks of the angels, and all of them say: `This is brighter than us', until the Messenger of Allah (SA) introduces it ... As the hadith goes. [339]

Imam as-Sadiq (AS) is quoted to have said: "When Allah, the Exalted, gathers all the first and the last peoples, they suddenly see a person proceeding, having an image the better of which has never been seen before." [340]

There are many other hadiths of similar content which prove the sayings of the people of knowledge to the effect that for each being in this world there is a matching image in the Hereafter.

From the hadiths of this chapter it is gathered that the deeds also have their images in that world. The noble al-Kafi, on the authority of Imam al-Baqir (AS), says: "The Messenger of Allah (SA) said: `I, the Book of Allah and my progeny will be the first to come to the Almighty, the Omnipotent, then my ummah will come after us. Then I ask: What did you do with the Book of Allah and my Ahlul Bayt?"' [341]

In another hadith, the Almighty, the Glorified, says to the Qur'an: "By My Omnipotence and Majesty, and by My High State, I will surely honour him who has honoured you, and I will disdain him who has disdained you." [342]

We must know that if we did not revive the precepts and the teachings of the Qur'an by putting them to practice and understanding their truth, we would not be able to reply the question of Allah's Messenger on that day. Which disdain is worse than discarding its objectives and neglecting its calls? Honouring the Qur'an and its people, who are the infallible Ahlul Bayt, is not done only by kissing its cover or their holy shrines. This is a weak sign of honouring and respecting, which will only be acceptable if done according to its instructions and their teachings. Otherwise they would be more like scorning and sporting. Noble hadiths strongly warn those who recite the Qur'an and then do not practically follow its teachings. In `Iqabul A`mal, by Shaykh as-Saduq [may Allah be pleased with him], quoting the Messenger of Allah (SA), it is stated that he said in a hadith: "The one who teaches the Qur'an and does not act according to it, and loves this world and prefers worldly pleasures to it, is worthy of Allah's wrath and is placed on the same level with the Jews and the Christians who threw the Book of Allah behind their backs. The one who recites the Qur'an with the intention of obtaining reputation [sum`ah] and mundane gains, will meet Allah with a bony, fleshless face, and the Qur'an will slap his nape to push him into the fire and let him join those before him. And the one who recites the Qur'an without following its instructions, will be raised blind on the Resurrection Day. He will ask: 'O my Lord, why have You raised me blind whereas I was a seeing one?' He will reply: `It is so because Our signs came to you but you forgot them, and so you are forgotten this day.' [343] Then he is ordered to be thrown into the Fire. But the one who recites the Qur'an for the pleasure of Allah and for learning the features of the religion, his will be a reward, the equal of the reward given to all the angels and the prophets and Messengers (AS)"

"The one who learns the Qur'an to show off, seeking reputation by way of arguing with the fools, take pride in his knowledge against the scholars and seek with it mundane matters, Allah, on the Resurrection Day, will separate all his bones from one another, and there will be no torture in the Fire severer than his, and there will be no sort of torment unless he is subjected to it, owing to Allah's strong anger and displeasure."

"If the one who learns the Qur'an is humble with his knowledge, teaches the servants of Allah and asks Allah for whatever reward there is with Him, there will be in Paradise no one whose reward is more than his, and there will be in Paradise no high rank and lofty state unless his share of the rank is higher and of the state is loftier. [344]

Concerning meditating on the meaning of the Qur'an, learning lessons from it and being affected by it there are many narratives, such as the hadith in the noble al-Kafi, on the authority of Imam as-Sadiq (AS), that he said: "It is in this Qur'an the stand of the guiding light and the torches for tae dark nights. So, let the scrutinizer roam with his wide open eyes to see clearly, because thinking is the life of the discerning heart, like the enlightened one who walks with light in the dark" [345] The Imam means that as man needs common light to see his way in the dark so as not to fall over in a precipice, with the Qur'an, which is the light that guides and the torch which lights the road of gnosticism and faith, he is to advance on the dark road to the Hereafter and to Allah so as not to tumble down into devastating precipices.

In Ma`aniyul Akhbar there is a hadith from Imam 'Ali (AS) saying that: "The true jurisprudent is the one who would not leave the Qur'an reluctantly and turning to something else. Beware that there is no good in a knowledge without understanding, there is no good in the reciting without contemplation and there is no good in a worship without deep knowledge of it." [346]

In al-Khisal and Ma' aniyul Akhbar, the Messenger of Allah (SA) is quoted to have said: "The bearers of the Qur'an are the informed ones [`urafa] among the people of Paradise." [347] It is obvious what is meant by "the bearers" of the Qur'an. It means the bearers of the Qur'anic knowledge and teachings, the result of which in the Hereafter is to regard them among the learned and the people of heart. To merely bear the external form of the Qur'an, without getting its lessons and being benefited by its teachings, and convey its knowledge and admonitions, without putting its precepts and laws into application, would be like that which is said by Allah, the Exalted: "The likeness of those who are entrusted with the Torah, yet they apply it not, is as the likeness of the ass carrying books. " [62:5]

Noble hadiths on the Glorious Qur'an, its affairs and disciplines are too many to be contained in this small book. Peace be upon Muhammad and his progeny.

Degrees of recitation and the groups of the reciters

Know that for the recitation during this spiritual journey and divine ascension there are degrees and stages, and here we shall suffice ourselves with some of them.

First, the reciter is one who pays no attention to other than improving the recitation and bettering the expression. His only care is for the good utterance of these words and correct pronunciation of the letters from their correct outlets so that a duty can be performed and an order be fulfilled. It is well known that the task for such persons is heavy and difficult; their hearts are unwilling and their insides are deviated. These have no share of worship, though they are not punished with the punishment of the deserter [of the salat], unless from the invisible treasure a grace appears and the said chattering receives a beneficence and a favour. It sometimes happens that this group, while their tongues are busy remembering Allah, their hearts are completely away from that, engaged in the mundane multiplicity and worldly matters. As a matter of fact, the people in this group are outwardly in the salat, while inwardly and actually they are busy with this world and worldly desires and whims. Sometimes it also happens that their hearts busy themselves thinking about correcting the formal shape of the salat. In this case they are busy, by both the tongue and the heart, with the form of the salat, and it is acceptable and agreeable from them.

The second group are those who would not be contented with that limit and take the salat to be a means of remembering Allah, and the reciting to be praising and glorifying Him. This group is of many ranks and degrees, the mentioning of which would be lengthy. Probably it is this group to which the following Divine Hadith refers:

"I have divided the salat between Me and My servant, half of it for Me and half of it for My servant. When he says: `In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, The Merciful', Allah will say: 'My servant has remembered Me', and when he says: `All praise is for Allah', Allah says: `My servant has praised and glorified Me,' and this is the meaning of `Allah hears from the one who praises Him'. And when he says: `The Beneficent, the Merciful', Allah says: 'My servant aggrandized Me. And when he says: `Master of the Day of Judgement', Allah says: `My servant glorified Me.' [In another version: `My servant has entrusted himself to Me']. And when he says: `You do we worship and You do we seek help from', Allah says: `This is between Me and My servant'. And when he says: `Guide us to the straight path', Allah says: `My servant has this right, and it is granted to him."' [349]

Now as the salat, according to this noble hadith, is divided between Allah and the servant, the servant has to completely pay what is due to Him, according to the discipline of servitude stated in this noble hadith, so that Allah, the Exalted, may treat him as is becoming of His Lordly graces, since He says: "And fulfil My covenant, I shall fulfil your covenant." [350]

Allah, the Exalted, confined the disciplines of servitude in recitation to four pillars:

The first one is "remembrance" [tadhakkur] which is to happen by " In the Name of Allah , the Beneficent , the Merciful " , and the salik servant should look at the entire "House of Realization" [dar-i tahaqquq] as a name perished in the Named [musamma]. He should teach his heart to be seeking the Haqq and wanting the Haqq in every particle of "the possibles" [mumkinat], and bring the natural disposition of learning the names-which is fixed in the nature of his essence according to the requirement of the universality of the growth [nash'ah] and its being the manifestation of the Great Name of Allah, to which Allah refers by saying: "And He taught Adam all the names," [351] - to the state of actuality and manifestation. Such a state is the result of having privacy with Allah and of deep remembrance and contemplating the divine affairs [shu'un], to the extent that the heart becomes a complete divine servant such that there can be found in every nook of it no name except that of Allah, the Exalted.

This is a stage of perishing in divinity that [even] the relapsed and hard hearts of the deniers cannot deny what of it we have just said, unless their denial be Satanic, for such hearts feel repulsion, by nature, on hearing Allah's name or His remembrance, may God save us from that! If a word of divine knowledge or one of Allah's Names was mentioned, they would feel distressed. They would not open the eyes of their hearts except at the desires of the appetites of the stomach and sex. There are among these people those who admit for the prophets and holy men [auliya] (AS) nothing other than corporeal states and bodily Paradise, i.e. Satisfying the animal desire. They take the greatness of the states of the other world to be similar to the greatness of this world, with vast orchards, running rivers and a multitude of houris and youths and palaces. When there is a talk about love, affection and divine attraction, they assault the speaker with vulgar language and ugly words, as if they themselves have been insulted and they were retaliating. These people block the way of humanity and they are the thorns of the road to knowing Allah, and the Satans who deceive men, hindering groups upon groups of the servants of Allah from Allah, His names, His attributes, His remembrance and remembering, and directing their attentions to the animal stomach and sexual desires. They are Satanic agents who sit in ambush on the straight path of Allah according to the ayah: "I shall surely lurk in ambush for them on Your straight path," [352] in order to prevent the servants of Allah from getting familiar with their Lord and from ridding themselves from the darkness of animal desires, including inclination towards houris and palaces. These people may resort to evidences from the invocations of the prophets and the infallible Ahlul Bayt (AS) in which they also demand houris and palaces. But this is due to the shortcomings of this group who recognize no difference between loving Allah's grace, which is loved because it is the gift of the Beloved, in itself being a sign of affection and care, and merely loving the houris and palaces independently, which is within the nature of the animal desire. Loving Allah's gifts is Loving Allah, which consequently covers the favours of Allah and His graces:

I love the whole world, for the whole world is of Him. [353]

But the love of the one who resides therein. [354]

Otherwise, what would, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS) do with houris and palaces? How could that great man be associated with the appetites of the self and the animal desires? The one whose worship is that of a free man, his reward cannot be that of traders. The rein of the pen snapped and I wandered away from the main subject.

In general, the one who is accustomed to reciting divine ayahs and names from the Book of divine genesis and record, his heart will gradually take the form of remembrance and of an ayah, and the interior of his essence will turn out to be Allah's remembrance, His name and His ayah, as they interpret "remembrance" to be the noble Prophet and 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS), and "The Beautiful Names" to be the Imams of guidance (AS). Ayatullah is also interpreted to be those great men and it is conformed to them. They are the divine ayahs, the Beautiful Names of Allah and the great remembrance of Allah. The state of "remembrance" is such a high one that it is beyond the patience of explanation and the limits of writing and registering. It suffices for the people of knowledge and divine attraction, and the people of affection and love, as in the ayah "Therefore remember Me, I shall remember you". [355]

Allah, the Exalted, tells Moses (SA): "I am the companion of whoever remembers Me." [356] A narrative in al-Kafi says that the Messenger of Allah (SA) said: "Whoever remembers Allah frequently, He will like him." [357]

In Wasa'ilush-Shi`ah, Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq is quoted to have said that Allah, the Exalted, said: "O son of Adam, remember Me in yourself, I will remember you in Myself. O son of Adam, remember Me in privacy, I will remember you in privacy. O son of Adam, remember Me in public, I will remember you in a public better than yours." He also said: "No servant remembers Allah in the presence of the people unless Allah remembers him in the presence of the angels." [358]

The second pillar is " praising " Allah [tahmid], as is the musalli's saying: "All praise is for Allah, the Lord of the Worlds."

Know that when the musalli attains the state of "remembrance", and regards all the particles of the beings, and the high and low creatures, to be divine names, and when he dismisses from his heart the idea of being self-sufficient, and looks at the beings of the visible and invisible worlds with the eye of dependence, he will be in the stage of "praising", and his heart will confess that all kinds of praising exclusively belong to the Divine Essence, and the others have no share of it, because they have no personal perfection requiring any sort of praising and glorifying. We shall explain in detail this divine grace, in our interpretation of this blessed surah, insha'allah [ Allah willing ].

The third pillar is "magnifying" [ta'zim], which is established by "The beneficent, the Merciful". When the servant traveling to Allah has, under the pillar of "praising", confined all praise to Allah, excluding the existential multiplicities from perfection and praise, he will get nearer to the horizon of Oneness, his eye of plurality will gradually get blind to multiplicity, and the form of Beneficence [rahmaniyat]-which is the expansion of the existence-and the form of Mercifulness [rahimiyat] -which is the expansion of the perfection of the existence, will be manifested to his heart, and he will call Allah by the two names, which are all-embracing and comprehensive, and in which multiplicities are vanished. So, the manifestation of perfection causes the heart to feel awe from the Beauty, and thus, Allah's greatness is implanted in his heart.

As this condition is fixed, he will move to the fourth pillar, which is the state of "sanctifying" [taqdis], and it is actually " glorifying " [tamhid]. In other words, it is entrusting the affairs to Allah, that is, discerning the position of Ownership and Omnipotence of Allah, and the falling down of the dust of plurality [kathrat] and the breaking of the idols of the heart and the appearance of the owner of the house of the heart, and possessing it with no Satanic intruding. In this condition he reaches the stage of privacy, and there will be no veil between the servant and Allah, and "You do we worship and you do we seek help from", takes place in that particular privacy and the meeting of familiarity. For this reason He said: "This is between Me and My servant". And when the everlasting favour encompasses him and awakens him, he will demand consistency of this stage and establishment [tamkin] of His Presence, by requesting: "Guide us to the straight path", in which, "Guide us" is interpreted to mean: "Make us firm, consistent and steady". This is for those who have slipped out of the veil and attained to "the Eternally Wanted" [matlub-i azal]. As to us, the people of the veil, we will have to ask Allah, the Exalted, for guidance with its ordinary concept. This may further be explained in the exegesis of the blessed surah of al-Hamd ,insha'allah [Allah willing].

Completion:

From the noble Divine hadith [359] [hadith-i qudsi] it appears that the salat is completely divided between Allah and the servant, and only the surah of al-Hamd was given as an example. So, we may add, for example, that the takbirs of the salat, whether the opening takbirs or the other ones which are said during changing states in the salat, are the share of Divinity, the portion of the Sacred Essence. If the servant traveling to Allah performed this duty of servitude and carried out what was due to Divinity as his capacity was capable of, Allah, the Exalted, with His everlasting special favours, would also grant His servant his due share, which is the opening of the door of intimacy and revelation, as is referred to in the noble hadith in Mishahush-Shan`ah : " As you utter the takbir , regard small all creatures in relation to the greatness of Allah", and it adds: "Examine your heart during the salat. If you tasted the sweetness of the salat, and if in your soul you felt pleased and gay by it, and your heart enjoyed the supplication to Allah and conversing with Him, 'stow that Allah has approved your takbirs. Otherwise, without feeling pleasure in supplication, and being deprived of tasting the sweetness of worship, you should know that Allah has denied you and dismissed you from His Threshold." [360]

Consequently, in each one of the acts and states of the salat, there is a share for Allah, and the servant is to perform it, being the disciplines of servitude at that stage. The servant also has his share, which, after performing what the discipline of servitude requires, Allah, out of His covert grace and overt mercy, will bestow upon him His favour. If in these divine times he found himself be deprived of His special favours, he must know that he did not act according to the disciplines of servitude. The relevant sign for the common people is that the heart does not taste the sweetness of supplication and the delicacy of worship, and he is deprived of the cheerfulness, pleasure and devotion to Allah. The worship which is void of delight and pleasure is spiritless, and it will not be useful for the heart.

So, dear, make your heart familiar with the disciplines of servitude, and let your soul [ruh] taste the sweetness of remembering Allah. This divine grace, at the beginning, takes place through intense remembrance and intimacy. During remembrance the heart must not be dead or overcome by negligence. Having taught your heart to be familiar with remembrance, the divine favours will gradually be bestowed upon you, and the heavenly doors will be opened to you, and this is marked by repulsion from this world, by inclination towards the world of eternity, and by preparedness for death before its arrival.

O Allah! Grant us to have a share of tasting the pleasure of supplicating to you and the sweetness of conversing with you. Place us among the remembering group and in the circle of those who are devoted to Your Glorified Sanctity, and bestow upon our dead hearts an everlasting life, and make us break off the others and inclined to be devoted to You, surely You are the Giver of favour and grace.