The reverend Shaykh was very interested in mystical and ethical poetry. His
sermons were, most often, given along with instructive poetry .He especially
valued the Ghazals of Hafiz and the Mathnawi of Taqdis; he would cry
when hearing their poetry.
He was very fond of Mathnawi of Taqdis and would say: "If there were
only one copy of Taqdis in the market, I would give anything I had in order to
buy that book" [1]
Dr. Abul Hasan Shaykh, a close acquaintance of the Shaykh for many years,
said: 'The Shaykh was an expert on Hafiz poetry and interpreted his poems quite
well.
About the reverend Shaykh's viewpoint concerning poetry and poets,
particularly Hafiz, Dr. Hamid Farzam had this to say: 'Since 1954, when I found
the honor of friendship with the Shaykh through Dr. Guya, rarely a session
would have been held in which I would not hear relevant, timely, and beautiful
poetry from him. He was really fascinated by Hafiz. Once I asked him why he was
so deeply interested in Hafiz. He replied:
"In spiritual and mystical aspects, Hafiz has really done his best and
expressed all spiritual truths and mystical-intuitive findings in his
poetry."
The Shaykh was more dedicated to Hafiz than to other poets, and would
always recite his poems even when he wished to warn or reproach someone.' [2]
He always referred to the world as a "hag". Sometimes facing a
disciple he would say:
"I see you have fallen again in the trap of this 'hag'!"
And then, he would recite this poem of Hafiz:
'There is none who is not entangled in that curling ringlet,
Who is there in the way of whom lies not such a snare of tribulation?' [3]
He would also say ironically:
"Most often they get entangled in it, and very few are the ones who
are detached from this hag!"
He would recite this fine couplet in condemning self-conceit:
'Being self-conceited and self-opinionated is infidelity toward being a dervish
recluse,
The command is what You (God) ordain, the opinion is what You think of.'
Reciting (singing) Poetry in a Delightful Voice
Dr. Farzam said in this respect 'The late reverend Shaykh would recite
poetry in a pleasant melody, for instance, certain poems of the late Fayz-e
Kashani, such as the following couplets which would highly impress the
listeners.
'I seek Allah's forgiveness of whatever (I have done for) other than the
Beloved,
I seek Allah's forgiveness for my fictitious existence
If a moment elapses without remembering his (beautiful) countenance,
I seek Allah's forgiveness myriad of times for that moment'
One afternoon we were in the company of the Shaykh in one of his disciples'
house. It had a very large guestroom and the Shaykh was sitting near the
doorway singing the following couplet of Hafiz.
'Who is the one who, out of loving kindness, may practice sincerity to us?
(And) may do benevolence in lieu of ill-doing to such ill-doer as me'
He sang some couplets of this ghazal with a very beautiful and pleasant
melody while weeping and making others extremely overwhelmed and tearful. It was
so extraordinary! I said to Dr. Goya 'The reverend Shaykh has got such a lovely
voice and sweet breath!
He replied. 'It is a pity you made such belated acquaintance with him He
used to sing so beautifully that when he recited such poems in a mystical state,
the doors and walls literally vibrated.'
A Poem by the Shaykh and Reminiscence
It seems that the Shaykh himself used to write poems occasionally. One of
the contemporary maraji' who was a student of the great jurist and
mystic, the late Ayatollah Qadi (Allameh Tabataba'i's teacher) answered to my
inquiry about Shaykh Rajab Ali Khayyat as follows: 'I met him in a session with
Ayatollah Qadi in Najaf. In that session, he recited some poems in praise of Amir
al-Mu 'minin Ali (a) each couplets beginning with the letters of abjad. [4]
He then recited another of his poems as follows:
'Whatever Bounties You have granted to the whole Universe, All have You
granted to me, plentiful and diverse.'
"I was thinking that this was the most sublime interpretation of
Divine Bounties and thanksgiving to Him, until I came across this statement in al-Sahifah
al-Sajjadiyya:"
"Shukri iyyaka min in 'amatika (I am thankful to You for all
Your Bounties) [5]
An Amazing and Instructive Miraculous Act [6]
At the end of the weekly session of "ethics" lesson [7], a young
man came forward and, referring to what was mentioned at the footnote No.1 of
this page, stated: "I am coming from Yazd. This issue was brought up in a
meeting where some of those present ridiculed and said it was because of the
Shaykh illiteracy that he did not know this phrase is not found in al-Sahifah
al-Sajjadiyya! At that night, I saw him in a dream. He said:
"What is quoted from me is not right. What I have said is as follows:
'And let my atitude to Thee for what Thou hast not granted me be more abundant
than my gratitude to Thee for what Thou hast bestowed upon me!' [8] And this
content does exist in supplication number 35 of al-Sahifah al-Sajjadiyya!"
No doubt, this has been a true dream, since it is extremely important and
essential to note that "it is a great blessing for man not to attain
various worldly pleasures and luxuries which may divert him from sublime human
goal; it is a great blessing that deserves much more gratitude and gratefulness
than gratitude for the bounties that man has attained in the world." Also,
finding such an issue from al-Sahifah al-Sajjadiyya in a dream without
connection to the Unseen world is usually impossible. [9]
Notes:
[1] One of Shaykh's devotees said: ' He recommended reading of "Taqdis"
of Mulla Ahmad Naraqi and "Kimiyaye Sa'adat" of Ghazali.'
[2] See "You Lose Temper too quickly!" Chapter Three, Part 2.
[3] All the poems and ahadith in this volume are rendered into
English by the translator, except the ones adopted from other translated works
which are referred to in the footnotes.
[4] An arithmetical arrangement of the Arabic alphabet.
[5] Despite all the efforts made to identify this phrase in al-Sahifah
al-Sajjadiyya. However, all the phrases in Supplication 37 and the
"Whispered Prayer of the Thankful" of Imam al-Sajjad (a) do testify
to this notion.
[6] This title was later addd to the eleventh edition of the Persian
Version.
[7] Weekly sessions of teaching ethics is held for a group of talabas (seminary
students) from Hawzah 'Ilmiyya (Islamic Seminary) of Hadrat Abdul Azim al-Hasani (a).
[8] The Psalms of Islam, (al-Sahifah al-Sajjadiyya), supplication
35, p. 121, translated by William Chittick, Muhammadi Trust, London, 1988.
[9] It can be even said that this true dream somehow implicitly confirms
other issues quoted from the reverend Shaykh in this book.