Some Disciplines of Isti`adhah

Allah, the Exalted, says: "And when you recite the Qur'an take refuge in Allah from the outcast Satan. He has no authority over those who believe and on their Lord rely. His authority is only over those who befriend him and those who associate partner with Him." [361] Among the important disciplines of recitation, especially the recitation in the salat, which is a spiritual journey to Allah, the real ascension and the ladder to reach the people of Allah, is the isti`adhah, seeking refuge in Allah, from the outcast Satan, who is the thorn of the road to knowledge, and blocks the way of the salik's travel to Allah, as Allah, the Exalted, says through him, in the blessed surah of al-`Araf: "He said: `As You have led me astray, I shall lurk in ambush for them on Your straight path." [362] He has sworn to lurk for the sons of Adam on the straight path to prevent them from entering it. So, the salat, which is the straight path of humanity and the ascension for reaching Allah, cannot take place without isti`adhah from this brigand, and without taking refuge in the fortified fort of Divinity from his evil, there can be no security. This isti'adhah, this taking refuge, cannot be implemented with empty utterances, a lifeless form or a world with no Hereafter. It is observed that there were people who did utter these words for forty or fifty years, yet they were not saved from the evil of this bandit, and, actually, in their conducts and acts, and even in their beliefs they followed Satan and imitated him. Had we really taken refuge from the evils of this wicked one, the Sacred Essence of Allah, the Exalted, Who is the Absolute Gracious, the Omnipotent, the All-Merciful, the All-knowing and Generous, would have granted us His protection, and our faith, moralities and deeds would have been amended. So, we must know that our being left behind the travelers on the road to Allah is due to Satan's temptations and because we have fallen under his control owing to our own shortcomings and inefficiency in applying the spiritual disciplines and acquiring the required conditions of the heart. So, it is because of this that we get nothing of the spiritual results and the external and internal effects of our invocations , supplications and worships. From the noble ayahs of the Qur'an and the noble hadiths of the infallible Imams (SA) many disciplines can be discovered. But to count them all would need a complete scrutinizing research, which prolongs the discussion. It suffices us to mention only a few of them.

One of the important disciplines of isti`adhah is "sincerity", as Allah the Exalted, quotes Satan to have said: "By your Might I will tempt them all, except Your sincere servants from among them" [363] This "sincerity", as is clear from this noble ayah, is something higher than the practical sincerity, whether by the heart or by the limbs, because, it is in the objective case [in its Arabic form = mukhlasin]. Had it been for sincerity in action, it should have been in the nominative case. Therefore, this sincerity is intended to denote the purification of the human personality with all the visible and invisible affairs, of whose emissions is the practical sincerity, although, at the beginning of the suluk, this fact and divine grace would not easily take place except by difficult practical austerities, especially the cordial ones, which are its origin, as is referred to in the well-known hadith: " The one who keeps being sincere to Allah for forty mornings, fountains of wisdom will flow from his heart to his tongue." [364] So, whoever could sincerely devote himself to Allah for forty mornings-which is the period of fermenting [takhmir] the clay [tinat] of which Adam was created, and the connection between these two is well-known to the people of knowledge and of heart-and dedicate his cordial and formal acts sincerely to Allah, his heart will become godly, and the godly heart produces nothing other than fountains of wisdom. Then, his tongue, which is the greatest interpreter of the heart, will speak wisdom. So, at the beginning, sincerity of the act leads to the purification of the heart, and when the heart becomes purified, the lights of Majesty and Beauty-which are deposited by divine fermentation [takhmir] in the human clay-are reflected in the mirror of the heart and become manifest there, and from the inmost of the heart they appear on the external body.

In short, the sincerity, which frees one from the Satanic authority is devoting the identity of the soul [ruh] and the innermost of the heart to Allah, the Exalted. It is a reference to this that Imam 'Ali (AS), in his Sha`baniyah Supplication, says: "O Allah, grant me complete devotion to you." [365] When the heart reaches this stage of sincerity and it is cut off other than Allah, and in the kingdom of his existence there is no admission to other than Allah, Satan-who approaches man by other than Allah's way-will have no power over him, and Allah will admit him into His shelter, and he will be placed in the fortified fortress of divinity, as He says: "The word of `there is no god but Allah' is My fort, so whoever enters My fort is safe from My torture". [366] Entering the fort of "there is no god but Allah" is of several degrees. Likewise, being safe from the torture is also of several degrees. So, the one who, externally, internally, cordially and formally, is admitted to Allah's fortress and under His protection, will be safe from all degrees of torture, including being veiled off Allah's Beauty and being separated from meeting the Beloved, the Most High and Almighty-which veiledness and separation are at the top of the tortures. Imam 'Ali (AS), in the "Kumail Invocation", says: "Suppose that I can patiently bear Your torment, how can I patiently bear separation from You?" Our hand is short of that. The one who could reach that stage would be a real servant of Allah, under the vaults [domes] of divinity, and Allah, the Exalted, would manage his kingdom, getting him out of the Taghut's patronage. This is the dearest state for the men of Allah and the most special degree for the pure, and the others have no share of it. It is most likely that the owners of hard hearts among the deniers and of stiff souls among the obstinate, who are far away from such a state, deny it altogether and regard any talk about it to be false and in vain. Or they rather take such affairs, which are the delight of the holy men [auliya'], and which are frequently mentioned by the Book and the Sunnah, to be - God forbid! - of the fabrications of the sufists and false rumours of the literalists. We, by referring to these states, which are, in fact, the states of the perfect ones, do not claim to have a share of them or look at them covetously, but we do so because to deny them is not agreeable to us, and we believe that mentioning the holy men [auliya'] and their positions is effective in purging, saving and reforming the hearts, because good mention of the people of guardianship and knowledge causes affection, familiarity and close connection. Such connection leads to mutual attraction [tajadhub], which, in its turn leads to co-intercession [tashafu] , whose outward is getting out of the darkness of ignorance to the lights of guidance and knowledge, and its inward is the intercession in the Hereafter, because the intercession of the intercessors would not happen without close connection and inward co-attraction [tajadhub], since it would not be based on guess and batil [falsehood].

However, despite the fact that this stage is not but for the perfect ones among the holy men [auliya] and the chosen ones [asfiya'] (AS), and that the perfect state of this stage is, in the origin [bil'isalah], exclusively for the Seal of the Prophets (SA), the luminous and pure Ahmadian single [ahadi-i ahmadi], Muhammadan collective [jam -i muhammadi] heart, and subordinatively [bittaba iyah], it is for the perfect and pure ones of the Ahlul Bayt, yet the believers and the sincere ones are not to give up hoping for some of its degrees, and to be satisfied with formal and practical sincerity, and the external and juristic purity, because stopping in the stations, is one of the masterpieces of Iblis who is sitting at the entrance of the path of man and humanity, trying every possible means to prevent him from ascending to perfections and reaching higher stages. So, one has to double his vigilance and strengthen his will, so that this divine light and grace may move from the outside to the inside, and from the visible to the invisible. The more stages of sincerity one passes, the better he will be stationed under Allah's protection, and the truth of isti'adhah will be implemented, and the hands of the devilish Satan will be short of reaching him.

Hence, if you devoted the visible human form exclusively to Allah, and if you placed the external mundane armies of the soul, which are the powers dispersed in the kingdom of the body, under the shelter of Allah, and if you purified the seven earthly realms, which are: the eye, the ear, the tongue, the stomach, the sex, the hand and the leg, from the impurities of disobedience and placed them at the disposal of Allah's angels, who are the divine armies, these realms would gradually become divine and under the command of Allah, until they also become Allah's angels, or get like Allah's angels "Who do not disobey Allah in what He commands them, and do as they are commanded." [367] Hence, the first degree of isti'adhah takes place, and Satan and his soldiers leave the external kingdom and turn to the inside, assaulting the invisible powers of the soul. Thus, the salik's task becomes harder and his suluk stricter. So, his steps should be stronger, and his watchfulness more perfect. He is to take refuge in Allah, the Exalted, from the spiritual destructions, such as self-conceit, hypocrisy, arrogance, pride and the like, and to gradually start purifying his inside from the moral opacities and internal impurities.

In this stage, or rather in all stages, he is to be attentive to Allah's Unity of Acts, and to remind his heart of this divine grace and heavenly table [ma'idah], which are of the important matters of suluk and of the pillars of `uruj. He is also to make his heart taste the fact that Allah, the Exalted, is the owner of the heavens, the earth, the inside, the outside, the visible and the invisible, so that the heart may get accustomed to His Unity in diety and deny any association in management [tasarruf] and be divinely concocted and theistically educated. In this state the heart will find no asylum, refuge, sanctuary and help except with Allah alone, and, consequently and actually, he will seek refuge with Allah, the Sanctified State of Divinity. Unless he cuts off his heart from the others' management, and closes his eye of greed to other creatures, he cannot truthfully turn to get his refuge with Allah, and his claim will be a false one, and according to the method of he people of knowledge he will be regarded among the hypocrites, and ascribed to deceit and treason.

In this fearful valley [wadi] and dangerous deep ocean, if one takes advantage of the sayings of a godly wiseman or a luminous gnostic, whose string of knowledge is connected to the perfect friends of Allah, concerning the Three Unities, it will be a good help to the inner heart. But the condition for taking that advantage is that he should do it regarding it as an ayah, a sign and suluk to Allah, for otherwise it would become a thorn on the road and a veil covering the face of the Beloved. The Messenger of Allah (SA), as it is stated in the noble al-Kafi, calls this knowledge an " indisputable ayah" [ayat-imuhkam ]. [368]

Generally speaking, when the root of Allah's Unity of Acts is strongly implanted in the heart, and irrigated with the water of knowledge accompanied with nice deeds, which knock at the heart's door, its fruit will be remembering the state of divinity, and the heart will gradually become pure and ready for receiving actual manifestation. When the house is free from the traitor, and the nest from the alien, the Owner of the house controls it and Allah's guarding hand brings the invisible and visible powers of the kingdom of the inside and the heart and of the outside kingdom of the body under its rule and authority, and the Satans are completely expelled from this stage, too, and the internal kingdom returns to its independence, which is being under Allah's shelter. This is the second degree of the divine grace, the isti'adhah. After this stage come other stages, such as, the isti`adhah of the spirit and the isti'adhah of the secret, which are out of the scope of these pages. Even what was said was of the overflowing of this servant's pen, or it was written at the command of the pen of the Lord, Most High and Almighty, and to Him is the refuge.

Another discipline and condition of isti'adhah is that which is referred to in the ayah stated at the beginning of this chapter, i.e. "faith" [iman], which is other than knowledge, even though it is proved by means of philosophic proofs: "The legs of the argumentatives are of wood". [369]

Faith is a matter of the heart, and happens through intense remembrance, contemplation, intimacy and privacy with Allah. Despite the fact that Satan had knowledge about the Beginning and the Return, as the Qur'an says, he is counted with the disbelievers. If faith was this argumentative knowledge, those who possess this knowledge must be away from the intrusion of Satan, and the light of guidance of the Qur'an would illuminate their inside, whereas we notice that, despite such marks, there is no sign of faith. So, if we want to be out of Satan's control, and be under the protection of Allah, the Exalted, we must, by intense cordial austerity and continual, or frequent, proximity and privacy, bring the facts of faith to the heart in order to let it be divine. Then, having been so, it will be free from Satan's control, as Allah, the Exalted, says: "Allah is the Guardian of those who believe. He brings them out of darkness into the light." [370] So, the believers, whom Allah, the Exalted is the manager, the guardian of their inside and outside, their secret and their publicity, are free from Satan's control and enter into the Beneficent's kingdom. He brings them out of all degrees of darkness to the absolute light: from the darkness of disobedience and insolence, the darkness of the dirty moral impurities, the darkness of ignorance, disbelief, polytheism, self-deceit, selfishness and self-admiration, to the light of obedience and worship, the light of virtuous characters, the light of knowledge, perfection, faith, monotheism, godliness, piety and friendship with Allah.

Another one of its disciplines is "reliance" [tawakkul] on Allah, which is also part of faith and of the real lights of the grace of faith. It means entrusting the affairs to Allah, which results from the heart's belief in the Unity of Acts, whose details are out of the capacity of this book.

When the salik servant finds no refuge and no shelter other than Allah, and believes that the management of the affairs is exclusively confined to His Sacred Essence, a certain condition of devotion, refuge and trust show up in his heart, and his istiadhah becomes real. So, as he truthfully takes refuge in the strong fortress of the Lordship and divinity, He shall certainly protect him with His most spacious and generous mercy, for He is the possessor of great favour!

We noted in this chapter that the truth of the istiadhah is a mood or state of mind which is created by a complete evident knowledge of Allah's Unity of Acts, and by believing in that Unity. That is, after he understood, by way of explicit and strong intellectual proofs and traditional evidences, quoted from the Qur'anic texts, and through the signs and the wonders of the Divine Book and noble hadiths, that the Power of Creation and independence of effectiveness, or rather, the very origin of effect, is exclusively confined to the Sacred Divine Essence, and other beings have no share of it, as is proved in its stance, he should convince his heart of it, and, with the pen of intellect, he should write on the page of his heart the truth of "There is no god but Allah, and there is no effecter [mu'aththir] in the [world of] existence except Allah". When the heart takes in this grace of faith and proved fact, there appears in it a state of devotion and exclusivity [to Allah]. Believing that Satan is the highway robber of humanity and its strong enemy, there appears in his heart an apprehensiveness, which is the reality of the isti`adhah. And, as the tongue is the spokesman of the heart, it translates that state of apprehensiveness, with complete need and necessity in words: "I take refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan," which it utters truthfully. If there were no effects of these facts in the heart, and it was under the control of Satan, as well as the other parts of one's existing kingdom, the isti'adhah also takes place, but with the management of Satan, and verbally he does say" "I take refuge in Allah from Satan", but in fact, as it is an act of Satan himself, it is actually taking refuge in Satan from Allah, and the isti'adhah performs its counter function, and Satan mocks at the one who utters the isti'adhah - a mockery whose result is known only after removing the cover and pushing aside the curtain of nature. Such a person, whose isti'adhah is merely verbal, is like the one who wants to take refuge from an endless hostile army in a strong fortress, but instead, he heads to the enemy turning away from the fortress, while he continues saying: "I take refuge in this fortress from the evil of the enemy." Such a person, besides being inflicted with the evil of the enemy, becomes subject to the enemy's mockery, too.

On the Four Pillars of Isti'adhah

One: al-must'idh [the one who seeks refuge]

Two: al-musta`adhu minhu [that from which refuge is sought]

Three: al-musta`adhu bihi [the one with whom refuge is sought]

Four: al-musta`adhu lahu [that for which refuge is sought]

Do know that there are so much detailed explanations for these pillars which are out of our intention. Yet, we are satisfied to mention a summary of them:

The first pillar is concerning al-musta idh. It is a humanistic truth from the very first stage of the suluk to Allah till the final end of self-annihilation [fans'-i dhati]. "When the absolute annihilation was complete, the Satan would perish and the isti`adhah would take place."

To expand on this summary we may say that as long as man is dwelling in the abode of the self and nature, and has not yet started his spiritual journey and suluk to Allah, and is still under Satan's control in all degrees and affairs, he has not yet understood the truth of isti`adhah, and the mere utterances of his tongue are useless, or rather they fix and strengthen the Satanic authority, unless Allah, the Exalted, grants him His favour. When he gets engaged in his journey and suluk to Allah and starts his spiritual travel, what hinders him on the road and thorns his way, as long as he is continuing his journey and suluk, is his own Satan, whether of the Satanic spiritual forces, or of the jinn or ins, for when the jinn and ins become thorns of the road, they will, actually, be the assistants of Satan and act to his command. Allah, the Exalted, refers to this in the blessed surah of an-Nas: " ... from the evil of the slinking whisperer, who whispers in the breasts of men, from among the jinn and men." If the Satan is from the jinn, it is understood from the noble ayah that the slinking whisperer, i.e. Satan, is originally [bil'isalah] a jinn and subordinatively [bittaba'iyah] an ins. But if Satan is another reality resembling the jinn, it appears from the noble ayah that these two species, i.e. The jinn and the ins, are also Satanic similitudes [tamaththulat] and his manifestations. In another ayah it is said: "... the Satans of ins and jinn". [371] In this blessed Surah the pillars of isti'adhah are mentioned, as we stated before and as it is clear.

In a word, before starting the journey to Allah, man is not a musta`idh. When the gnostic [`arif] comes to the end of the journey, and there remains no trace, at all, of the remnants of servitude, and he reaches the stage of the absolute personal annihilation [fana'-i dhati], there will remain no trace of the isti'adhah, musta`adhun minhu and mustaidh, and in his heart there will be nothing except Allah and His Divine Sovereignty, and he will be unaware of himself and his heart, and "I take refuge in You from You" [372] is also out of this state. When there is a state of wakefulness [sahw], intimacy and return, there still is a trace of isti'adhah, but not the isti`adhah of a salik. For this reason, the Final Messenger of Allah (SA) is also ordered to do the isti'adhah, as Allah, the Exalted, says:

"Say: I take refuge in the Lord of daybreak" [373], and "Say: I take refuge in the Lord of men," [374] and "Say: My Lord! I take refuge in You from the evil suggestions of the Satans, and I take refuge in You, O my Lord! from their presence." [375] So, man in two states is not musta`idh: One is before starting the suluk, which is the state of being completely veiled, at the Satan's disposal and under his control. The other is when the suluk comes to the end, which is the absolute annihilation, in which there is no trace of the musta `idh, musta `adhun minhu, musta `adhun lahu or isti`adhah.

In two states he is a musta`idh: One is in his suluk to Allah, in which he takes refuge from the thorns of the road of attainment [wusul] that are sitting on the straight path, as Satan says in the Qur'an: "As You have led me astray, I shall lurk in ambush for them on Your straight path" [376]. The other is when he is wakeful and returning from the absolute annihilation, in which he does the isti`adhah [takes refuge] from the colouring seclusions [ihtijabat] and others.

The second pillar is concerning al-musta `adhu minhu, which is the accursed Iblis, the outcast Satan, who prevents man from attaining to his goal and implementing his objective, by means of his diverse snares. Some great men of the people of knowledge say that Satan, in his reality, is the entire world in its aspect of being other than Allah. The writer does not agree with this, because this aspect of being other than Allah, which is a fancied form that has no truth and is void of any sort of realization [tahaqquq] and reality, is but one of Iblis's snares in which he gets man engaged. It may be a reference to the point which is said in the ayah: "Rivalry in worldy increase distracts you, until you come to the graves." [377] Or else, Iblis himself is a reality with an abstract ideal, and the reality of universal Iblis, the head of all Iblises, is the universal fancy [wahmul kul], as the universal abstract intellectual fact, the first man [Adam], is the universal intellect [`aqlul kul]. The individual worldly fancies are of the affairs [shu'un] and manifestations [mazahir] of the universal Iblis, as the individual intellects are of the affairs [shu'un] and manifestations [mazahir] of the universal intellect [`aql-i kulli]. A detailed explanation of this subject is out of the capacity of this thesis.

In a word, what becomes a hindrance and a thorn on the road of the divine suluk to Allah is Satan or his manifestations, whose acts are also of Satan's. And what, of the states of the invisible and visible worlds and of the happenings [`awarid] that happen to the soul, and of its different states, becomes a veil on the face of the Beloved [janan], whether of the mundane terrestrial worlds, such as poverty, and richness, soundness and illness, ability and disability, knowledge and ignorance, plagues and defects, etc., or of the invisible, abstract and ideal worlds, such as paradise and hell, and relevant knowledge, even the argumentative intellectual sciences which belong to tauhid and glorifying Allah ... , all of them are of Iblis's snares by which he diverts man from Allah and from having intimacy and privacy with Him. Even diversion through moral [ma`nawi] states and standing [wuquf] in spiritual stages, whose outside is to stand at the path of humanity, and whose inside is to stand at the path of Allah-which is the spiritual bridge of the hell of separation and parting, and which ends in the paradise of meeting, the bridge which is especially for a small group of the people of knowledge and of heart-are also of the big snares of the chief Iblis, from which one must seek refuge in the Sacred Essence of Allah, the Exalted.

In short, whatever diverts you from Allah and secludes you from the Beautiful Beauty of the Beloved, the Glorified, is your Satan, be it in the form of an ins or a jinn. And whatever is used to prevent you from that goal is of Satan's snares, be it of the kinds of positions and ranks or of the types of sciences and perfections, or professions and industries, or luxury and comfort, or hardship and humility, or anything else. These are of the dispraised worldly matters. In other words, when the heart loves something other than Allah, that will be its world, and that is disapproved. It is a Satanic snare from which one should take refuge in Allah. It is quite likely the point to which the Messenger of Allah (SA) referred by his invocation: "I take refuge with Allah's generous face, and with His words, which no pious or impious can pass, from the evil of what descends from the heaven and ascends to it, from the evil of what enters into the earth and what comes out of it, from the evil of the troubles of the night and the day, and from the evil of the knockers at the night and day, except the knocker who brings good." [378] Taking refuge with Allah's face and Allah's words means being drowned in the sea of Beauty and Majesty, and whatever keeps man off it is of the evils and belongs to the world of Satan and his tricks, from which one must take refuge with Allah's face, be it of the perfect heavenly truths or of the earthly imperfect ones, unless it is the knocker that brings good-the divine knocker who invites to Absolute Good, that is, Allah, the Exalted.

The third pillar is concerning al-musta `adhu bihi. Know that the truth of isti'adhah is implemented in the salik to Allah, and attained to through the travel and suluk to Allah. That is, isti`adhah belongs to the salik during the stages of the suluk. Therefore, the truths of isti`adhah, mustaidh, musta`adhun minhu and musta`adhun bihi differ according to the degrees and the stages of the travelers to Allah. A reference to this is probably in the noble surah of an-Nas: "Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of men, the King of men, the God of men." From the beginning of the suluk till the limits of the state of the heart, the salik takes refuge with the state of the Lordship: It is possible that this Lordship is the Lordship of Act, so as to conform to "I take refuge with the complete words of Allah" [319] And when the journey of the salik ends in the state of the heart, the state of the divine sovereignty appears in the heart, in which case he takes refuge in the state of "The King of men" from the evils of Iblis's cordial intrusion and his despotic inner authority, as he took refuge, in the first state, from the evils of Satan's breast intrusion, as it is said: "... Who whispers in the breasts of men" although the "whispering" in the hearts and the spirits is also by the "slinking" Satan. Perhaps this is because it is in the instance of a general introduction and on the basis of an apparent attribute that suits every body. When the salik passes the state of the heart to the state of the spirit, which is of the divine "blowing", and whose connection to Allah is closer than that of the sunlight to the sun, in this stage anxiety, passion, attraction, ardent love, and eagerness, begin to appear, and in it he takes refuge in the "God of men." And when he advances higher than this stage and has before his eyes the Essence without a mirror for the affairs [shu'un], in other words, when he reaches the state of the secret, he will be suited to say: "I take refuge from You in You". [380] There are, in this respect, other details which do not suit this essay.

However, you may know that to take refuge in Allah's Name suits all stages because of its comprehensiveness, as, in fact, it is an absolute isti'adhah, while other isti'adhahs are limited ones.

The fourth pillar is concerning al-musta `adhu lahu, i.e. The aim of the isti`adhah. You may know that what is required essentially [bidhdhat] by the musta`idh person is of the kinds of perfection, happiness and good, which differ in accordance with the degrees and ranks of the saliks. As long as the salik is still within the frame of the soul and the veil of nature, the aim of his journey is to attain to self-perfections and the low natural kinds of happiness. This belongs to the early stages of the suluk. Getting out of the soul's confinement, and having acquired a taste of spiritual states and abstract perfections, his goal will be higher and his aim more perfect, neglecting all personal positions; and his objective will be attaining to cordial perfections and internal happiness. Then, turning the rein of the travel away from this state, and reaching at the door of the house of the spiritual secret, the beginnings of the divine manifestations start appearing in his inside, and the tongue of his inside, at the beginning says: "I direct my face towards Allah's face", and later on: "I direct my face towards Allah's Names or towards Allah," and after that: "I direct my face to Him". Perhaps "I direct my face to the One Who created the heavens and the earth" [381] is related to the first stage because of the creatorship [fatiriyat].

In a word, whichever the salik's stage, his real objective is to attain to essential perfection and happiness. But as with happiness and perfection, in any given stage, there is a Satan with a snare of his snares to prevent him from reaching his objective, the salik will have to take refuge in Allah from that Satan and his evils and tricks, in order to get to his original aim and essential objective. So, the salik's objective of the isti`adhah is, in fact, obtaining the looked-for perfection and wanted happiness. The aim of the aims, and the final want, is Allah, the Glorified, the Almighty. In this stage, or after it, everything vanishes except Allah, the Exalted, and the isti`adhah [taking refuge] from Satan will be a consequent and done in full wakefulness. Praise is Allah's at the beginning and at the end.

On Some Disciplines of Naming [tasmiyah]

In At-Tauhid, quoting Imam ar-Rida (AS), it is stated that when he was asked to explain the bismillah , he said: " When one says "bismillah" [in the name of Allah], he means: I put on myself a simah [mark] of Allah's simahs, which is worship". Asked: "What is simah?" He said: "It is the mark" [382]

Do know - may Allah make you and me of those who bear Allah's marks - that to enter in the stage of tasmiyah [naming or marking] is not easy for the salik before entering first the stage of isti`adhah and completing the steps of this stage. As long as man is under the control of Satan and his authority, he is marked with Satanic marks. If man's inside and outside were completely overcome by Satan, he would in all his stages be a sign or a mark of Satan. If, in this instance, man uttered the tasmiyah, he would be uttering it by Satan's will, power and tongue, and from his tasmiyah and isti`adhah there would be no result except confirming the Satanic authority. If, with Allah's help, he woke up from his negligence, and came to conscience, and understood the necessity of continuing the journey to Allah within the station [manzil]- of wakefulness through the divine disposition and the lights of the Qur'anic teachings and the traditions of the guides along the road of tauhid, and his heart recognized the obstacles on the road, there would appear in him a state [hal] of isti'adhah, and then, with the support of Allah, he would enter the station [manzil] of isti'adhah. When he got purified from the Satanic filths, the divine lights would be manifested in the mirror of the salik in proportion to the extent of his purifying his inside and outside. At first, the lights would be mixed with darkness, or the darkness would be overwhelming: " ... they have mingled a good deed and an evil one ...". [383] As the suluk gets steadier, the light overcomes the darkness, and the marks of the Lord appear in the salik, and his tasmiyah appears somewhat real, and gradually the Satanic marks-which, outwardly, contradict the Virtuous City [madina-i fadilah], and, inwardly, are conceit, arrogance and the like, and in the inmost part of the inward, are egotism, selfishness and the like -leave the kingdom of the inside and the outside, and, in their place come the marks of Allah-which, outwardly, observe the regime [nizam] of the Virtuous City, and, inwardly, are servitude and humility of the soul, and in the inmost part of the inside, wanting Allah and regarding for Him.

Then when the kingdom becomes godly and gets rid of the Satans of jinn and ins, and the divine marks appear in it, the salik gets to the state of ismiyat [nameness, nomination, naming].

So, first, salik's tasmiyah [naming] is to be distinguished by the divine marks and signs, then he is promoted and attains to the state of ismiyat, which is a state in the beginnings of the proximity of the nafilah [supererogation], and when this proximity of nafilah takes place, he will enjoy full state of ismiyat, and there remains nothing of servant and servitude. The one who reaches this stage, his complete salat will be uttered by Allah's tongue, a state which can happen only to a few of Allah's friends.

As regards the common people and the imperfect ones like us, the discipline is to brand our heart with the mark of servitude during uttering the tasmiyah, and to inform the heart about Allah's marks, signs and ayahs, not satisfying ourselves with unintentional wordings, haply we may be covered by the eternal favour and make up for the past, and there opens before our hearts a door of learning the Names and of attaining to the objective.

It is further possible to say that in the said noble hadith, by a simah of "the simahs of Allah", it is meant the mark or sign of the mercy of the "Beneficent" and the mercy of the "Merciful". These two noble Names are of the all-embracing ones, under whose blessing shadow the entire world of realization has reached, and does reach, the existence itself and its perfection, and the mercies of the Beneficence [rahmaniyah] and Mercifulness [rahimiyah] cover the whole house of existence [dar-i wujud]. Even the mercy of Mercifulness, of whose manifestations is the guidance of all guides on the road of tauhid, covers all, except those who were diverted from the disposition of rectitude, and, owing to their own ill-selection, prevented themselves from being benefited by it, not that the Mercifulness did not cover them. Even in the Hereafter world, which is the day of harvesting the bad and good cultivations, those who have bad cultivations are inevitably short of being benefited by the mercy of the Merciful.

To be short, the salik who wants his tasmiyah to be implemented, will have to convey Allah's mercies to his heart to have it believe in the favours of the Beneficent and the Merciful, which is marked out on the heart by his looking with kindness and leniency at the servants of Allah, desiring goodness and righteousness to all of them. This look is that of the great prophets and the perfect holy men [auliya] (AS), although they had two looks: one for welfare and the happiness of the community, the system of the family and the regime of the Virtuous City, and the second for the happiness of the individual. They were very much concerned about the happiness of these two. The divine laws, which are established, disclosed, enforced and carried out by them, take complete care of the happiness of those two. Even in carrying out penalties and punishments and the like, which seem to have been coined in conformity with the laws of the Virtuous City, the happiness of both are taken into consideration, because these affairs are mostly for educating the soul and bringing it to happiness. Even those who had no light of faith and happiness, and were killed by the fighters in jihad and the like, such as the Jews of Banu Qurayzah, this killing [being killed] was for their goodness and reformation. It can be said that killing them was of the complete mercy of the Seal of the Prophets (SA), because by their survival in this world they would prepare every day diverse punishments for themselves, while the whole life in this world cannot be compared with the tortures and the hardships of a single day in the Hereafter. This is quite obvious to those who have knowledge about the extent of the tortures and punishments in the Hereafter and their reasons and causes. So, the sword which was put to the necks of the Jews of Banu Qurayzah and their like, was nearer to the horizon of mercy than to the horizon of anger and wrath.

The chapter of al-amru bil ma`rufi wan-nahyu `and munkar [Bidding unto honor and forbidding dishonor] belongs to the mercy of the Merciful. So, the one who bids unto honor and forbids dishonor must make his heart taste the mercy of the Merciful, and his aim of bidding and forbidding should not be showing off, ostentation, and imposition of the bidding and forbidding. Should one have such aims in his mind, the objective of bidding unto honor and forbidding dishonor-which is the happiness of the people and the enacting of Allah's precepts in the land-would not be implemented. Sometimes it may happen that the result of an ignorant's bidding unto honor turns out to be contrary to what was intended, and many bad things happen because of a single ignorant bidding and forbidding, prompted by a selfish desire and Satanic conduct. But if the sense of mercy, pity and the right of manhood and brotherhood drive man to guide the ignorant and awaken the negligent, the quality of the explanation and guidance, which is the symptom of a kind heart, appears in such a way that its effect in the deserving materials will be quite obvious and will soften the hard-hearted and bring them down from their arrogance and denial. It is much to be regretted that we do not learn from the Qur'an. We do not look with an eye of contemplation and learning at this Divine Book, and our benefit from this Wise Reminder is almost nothing.

Contemplating the honoured ayah: "Go, both of you, to Pharaoh, for he has become insolent, and speak to him in a gentle speech, haply he may remember or fear,"[384] would open ways of knowledge and doors of hope and expectation to man's heart.

Pharaoh, whose insolence reached the extent of saying: "I am your most high Lord," [385] and his haughtiness and corruption were so much that he began to "slaughter their sons and let their women live ...", [386] after his dream, which the soothsayers and the magicians interpreted to be about the appearance of Moses the son of `Imran (AS), he immediately separated the women from the men, ordered the innocent boys to be killed and did so much mischief [fasad]. Allah, the Beneficent, through His Mercifulness, cast His look at all the earth and chose the humblest and most perfect person, i.e., the great prophet, the highly generous messenger, Moses the son of `Imran [peace be upon our Prophet and his progeny and upon him], and educated and taught him with his educating hand, as He says: "And when he attained his maturity and became full-grown, We granted him wisdom and knowledge; and thus do We reward the good-doers", [387] and backed him by his honourable brother, Aaron (AS). These two honourables, who were the prime of humanity, had been chosen by Allah, as He said: "And I have chosen you " [388] or: " ... And that you might be formed [brought up] before My eye [in My sight]," [389] or: "... And I have brought you up for Myself. Go you and your brother with My signs and do not slacken in remembering Me," [390] and other noble ayahs which refer to this subject and we do not need to relate them, and the heart of the gnostic enjoys them in such a way that it cannot be talked about, especially the two honourable phrases: "and that you might be formed [brought up] before My eye" [in My sight] and "I have brought you up for Myself." You, too, if you open the eye of your heart, you will hear such a nice spiritual melody that all the hearings of your heart and corners of your being will become full of the secret of tauhid.

To be short, Allah, the Exalted, with a lot of ceremonies and preparations, educated Moses, His interlocutor, by spiritual education, as He says: "and We tried you with many trials." [391] He sent him to the old man, Shu'ayb [Jethro], to accompany for years that sage man of guidance and the elect of the world of humanity. He, the Exalted, says: "Then you stayed for years among the people of Madyan, then you came hither as ordained, O Moses." [392] Afterwards, for higher [heavier] trying and examining, He sent him into the sahara on the road to ash-Sham [Syria], where He caused him to lose his way, put him under heavy rains in the deep darkness, and caused his wife to start having a hard labour. Thus, all the doors of nature were closed to him. Then, as his noble heart ached of multiplicity, and, through the pure natural disposition, he submitted himself to Allah, and as his divine and spiritual journey in that boundless desert came to an end, "He perceived on the side of the mountain a fire ... and when he came to it, he was called from the right side of the valley in the blessed field, from the tree: O Moses! Verily I am Allah, the Lord of the worlds." [393] After all those examinations and spiritual education, what for did Allah prepare him? It was in order to invite, guide, preach and save a single disobedient slave [Pharaoh] who used to shout: "I am your most high Lord", causing so much mischief in the land. Allah could have burned him down with the flash of a lightning of His anger, but the mercy of His Mercifulness sent him two great prophets and still advised them to talk to him with kindness and leniency, such that he might remember Allah and be afraid of his own deeds and their aftermath. This is the instruction for how to conduct al-amru bilma'rufi wan nahyu 'anil munkar. It is the way of how to guide someone like Pharaoh, the taghut [the tyrant]. Now, as you, too, want to bid unto honor and forbid dishonor, and to guide the creatures of Allah, remember these noble and divine ayahs and learn from them, since they have been revealed for remembrance and learning. Face the servants of Allah with a heart full of affection and love, cherishing in the bottom of your heart their good. Having found your heart beneficent and merciful, you may then bid unto honor and forbid dishonor, and guide the people, so that the hard hearts may become soft with the flash of your emotional heart, and the iron of the hearts turn supple with the admonitions warm with the fire of your love.

This valley, however, is other than the valley of :Hate on Allah's behalf, and love on Allah's behalf," which means that one should bear enmity for the enemies of the religion, as is stated in the noble hadiths and the Glorious Qur'an. That is true in its relevant place, and this is also true in its relevant place, for which there is no space to explain now.