ʿAlī (AS): The Slayer of Shirk and Satan

🌼🔆🌼The Sower of Divine Unity🌼🔆🌼

🌹🔅☘️ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحيمِ ☘️🔅🌹

🔅🌹 “Captives of Desire”  “Thirteen Rajabs”  “The Secret of Divine Unity in Politics” “Selling One’s Faith”  “Solitude in Divine Unity” and … An abridged collection, with an addendum       1403.10.25    Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat) 110.141(903)  🌹🔅

🔆🌸O Most Exalted One, by the truth of Ali🌸🔆

☘️🔆🌱O God, open my heart to the boundless vastness of Your love and mercy, and establish within it the fullness of Your love for Ali, so that I may taste the loftiest joy of serving You.🌱🔆☘️

🌷Blessed be the birth of the most exalted radiance of creation!🌷

🔅🌼Our master, the Commander of the Faithful, is in the Greater Occultation.🌼🔅

🌹The Greater Manifestation belongs to that master, the Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him: the manifestation of his lofty rank, standing and majesty.

🔅🌼Testing our faith in the Imam🌼🔅

🌹Let us examine our belief and faith in the Imam morning and evening!

🌹If you do not wake in the morning with the spirit of Imamate, you are no more than dead. To wake in this way is to awaken in death—and in its most benighted form.

🌹Let us attend to the quality and spirit of our deeds. Deeds performed without attaining knowledge of the Imam are lifeless and rotten, reduced to ashes.

🌹To turn away from the Imam’s teachings is to turn away from the Imam himself. To forget the Imam is to forget truth—to forget light, guidance, knowledge and reason.

🌹Let us not distort the Imam’s words, whether in wording or in meaning; distortion of meaning is worse than verbal distortion.

🔅🌼One who does not know his Imam is impoverished in knowledge🌼🔅

🌹There is little difference between someone who denies his Imam and someone who forgets him. The same is true of one who fails to benefit from him.

🌹There is no difference between “a poor person” and “someone who is wealthy but makes no use of his wealth.”

🌹What is the difference between a blind person and someone who closes their eyes to the light? And how do they differ from someone indifferent to the light, who knows nothing of it?

🌹The degrees of ignorance correspond to the distance from the Ahl al-Bayt, peace be upon them, and from knowledge of them. The degrees of blindness correspond to distance from the light and weakness of sight.

🌹Light brings a message; translating the language of light is the foundation of knowledge, awakening and sight. The Immaculate Imams, peace be upon them, are that speaking light! It is a matter of reaching Ali and never parting from him.

🌻🔆Al-Ma’idah: 15   Ya أَهْلَ الْكِتابِ قَدْ جاءَكُمْ رَسُولُنا يُبَيِّنُ لَكُمْ كَثيراً مِمَّا كُنْتُمْ تُخْفُونَ مِنَ الْكِتابِ وَ يَعْفُوا عَنْ كَثيرٍ قَدْ جاءَكُمْ مِنَ اللَّهِ نُورٌ وَ كِتابٌ مُبينٌ

🔆O People of the Book, Our Messenger has come to you, making clear much of the Scripture you used to conceal, and overlooking much. A light and a clear Book have come to you from God.

🌷🔆قَدْ جاءَكُمْ مِنَ اللَّهِ نُورٌ وَ كِتابٌ مُبِينٌ‏ يَعْنِي بِالنُّورِ أَمِيرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَ الْأَئِمَّةَ عَلَيْهِمُ السَّلَامُ.^[1]

🔆What is meant by “the Light” in “قَدْ جاءَكُمْ مِنَ اللَّهِ نُورٌ وَ كِتابٌ مُبِينٌ” is the Commander of the Faithful and the Imams, peace be upon them.

🔅🌼Knowing the Imam is the secret of human life🌼🔅

🌹The most grievous death is death without knowing the Imamate.

🌹Those who do not know the Imam of their time are dead people who only seem alive!

🌹The heart lives through knowledge of the Imam; without it, the heart dies. When the king of the realm of the soul dies, a person becomes a walking corpse.

🌹The Imam is the gateway to the Prophet’s knowledge. Whoever is ignorant of the Imam’s knowledge will find the gate of knowledge shut before them and the gate of ignorance open.

🌹 Whoever is heedless of their Imam becomes prey to the wolf of ignorance.

🌹 To attain salvation, we must pass through darkness. To escape that darkness, we need light—and the knowledge of the Imam is that light. It is also a father’s and mother’s warm embrace.

🌹 The levels and degrees of our life are shaped by the measure of our knowledge. The vitality of our lives—and the measure of our sight, hearing, speech and understanding—also depends on it.

🌹 The ugliest face is the face of the ignorant.

🌹 Our knowledge is a mirror that reflects the Truth. The more it grows, the more light it reflects. The knower’s soul echoes the beauty of the All-Beautiful.

🔅🌼 Without an Imam, a person is lost and bewildered.🌼🔅

🌻🔆عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ مُسْلِمٍ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ أَبَا جَعْفَرٍ ع يَقُولُ‏ كُلُّ مَنْ دَانَ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ بِعِبَادَةٍ يُجْهِدُ فِيهَا نَفْسَهُ وَ لَا إِمَامَ لَهُ مِنَ اللَّهِ فَسَعْيُهُ غَيْرُ مَقْبُولٍ وَ هُوَ ضَالٌّ مُتَحَيِّرٌ وَ اللَّهُ شَانِئٌ‏  لِأَعْمَالِهِ وَ مَثَلُهُ كَمَثَلِ شَاةٍ ضَلَّتْ عَنْ رَاعِيهَا وَ قَطِيعِهَا فَهَجَمَتْ‏  ذَاهِبَةً وَ جَائِيَةً يَوْمَهَا فَلَمَّا جَنَّهَا  اللَّيْلُ بَصُرَتْ بِقَطِيعِ غَنَمٍ مَعَ رَاعِيهَا فَحَنَّتْ إِلَيْهَا وَ اغْتَرَّتْ بِهَا فَبَاتَتْ مَعَهَا فِي مَرْبِضِهَا فَلَمَّا أَنْ سَاقَ الرَّاعِي قَطِيعَهُ أَنْكَرَتْ رَاعِيَهَا وَ قَطِيعَهَا فَهَجَمَتْ مُتَحَيِّرَةً تَطْلُبُ رَاعِيَهَا وَ قَطِيعَهَا فَبَصُرَتْ بِغَنَمٍ مَعَ رَاعِيهَا فَحَنَّتْ إِلَيْهَا وَ اغْتَرَّتْ بِهَا فَصَاحَ بِهَا الرَّاعِي الْحَقِي بِرَاعِيكِ وَ قَطِيعِكِ فَأَنْتِ تَائِهَةٌ مُتَحَيِّرَةٌ عَنْ رَاعِيكِ وَ قَطِيعِكِ فَهَجَمَتْ ذَعِرَةً مُتَحَيِّرَةً تَائِهَةً لَا رَاعِيَ لَهَا يُرْشِدُهَا إِلَى مَرْعَاهَا أَوْ يَرُدُّهَا فَبَيْنَا هِيَ كَذَلِكَ إِذَا اغْتَنَمَ الذِّئْبُ ضَيْعَتَهَا فَأَكَلَهَا وَ كَذَلِكَ وَ اللَّهِ يَا مُحَمَّدُ مَنْ أَصْبَحَ مِنْ هَذِهِ الْأُمَّةِ لَا إِمَامَ لَهُ مِنَ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ ظَاهِرٌ عَادِلٌ أَصْبَحَ ضَالًّا تَائِهاً وَ إِنْ مَاتَ عَلَى هَذِهِ الْحَالَةِ مَاتَ مِيتَةَ كُفْرٍ وَ نِفَاقٍ وَ اعْلَمْ يَا مُحَمَّدُ أَنَّ أَئِمَّةَ الْجَوْرِ وَ أَتْبَاعَهُمْ لَمَعْزُولُونَ عَنْ دِينِ اللَّهِ قَدْ ضَلُّوا وَ أَضَلُّوا فَأَعْمَالُهُمُ الَّتِي يَعْمَلُونَهَا كَرَمادٍ اشْتَدَّتْ بِهِ الرِّيحُ‏ فِي يَوْمٍ عاصِفٍ‏ لا يَقْدِرُونَ‏ مِمَّا كَسَبُوا عَلى‏ شَيْ‏ءٍ- ذلِكَ‏ هُوَ الضَّلالُ الْبَعِيدُ.[2]

🌻🔆Muhammad ibn Muslim relates: I heard Imam al-Baqir, peace be upon him, say: “Whoever worships God with a devotion that wears him out, but has not chosen for himself a leader appointed by God, his efforts will not be accepted. He is lost and bewildered, and God rejects his deeds. His plight is like that of a sheep that strays from its shepherd and flock. It spends the whole day wandering in search of them, and when night falls, it sees a flock whose shepherd is not its own. It heads towards them, deceived by what it sees, and lies down where that flock rests. When the shepherd moves his flock on, the sheep does not recognise him or them. Once again, it rushes about, lost and bewildered, searching for its own shepherd and flock. It sees another shepherd with his sheep and goes to them, deceived once more. The shepherd calls out to it: ‘Come, join your shepherd and your flock. You have strayed from them and are lost.’ But the sheep, frightened, bewildered and alone, wanders this way and that, with no shepherd to guide it to pasture or lead it home. At that moment, a wolf seizes the chance to prey on the lost sheep and devours it.

“By God, Muhammad, such is the state of anyone among this community who has no manifest Imam—whose Imamate has been established by conclusive proof—appointed by God, the Mighty and Exalted, and known for justice. Such a person is lost and astray; if he dies in that state, he dies in disbelief and hypocrisy.

“Know, Muhammad, that tyrannical leaders and their followers have turned away from God’s religion. They themselves have gone astray and led others astray. Their deeds are like ashes scattered by a raging wind on a stormy day: they will gain nothing from what they have earned. That is the farthest kind of misguidance.”

🌹 There is little difference between someone who denies their Imam and someone who forgets their Imam. Nor is there any difference with those who fail to benefit from him; they are like them.

🌹 There is no difference between a poor person and someone who is wealthy but makes no use of their wealth.

🌹 What is the difference between a blind person and someone who closes their eyes to the light? And what of someone who is indifferent to the light and knows nothing of it?

🌹 The depths of ignorance are measured by how far one is from the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) and from knowing them. The depths of blindness are measured by how far one is from the light and by the weakness of one’s sight.

🌹 Light is the bearer of the message; translating the language of light is the foundation of knowledge, awakening and sight. The Immaculate Imams (peace be upon them) are that very speaking light! It is reaching Ali and never separating from Ali.

🔅🌼The heart’s cleft through love of Ali🌼🔅

🌹 The Ka’ba was split open for his blessed body; the Bayt al-Ma’mur for his blessed spirit; the Throne, for his blessed light.

🌹 How great is our heart’s share in receiving love and wilaya?

🌹 Split open, O heart!

🔅🌼 Tawhid is the mark of love for Ali🌼🔅

🌹 The true lover and Shi’a of Ali is the conqueror of the summit of tawhid, the conqueror and champion of sincerity in tawhid.

🌹 Claimed loves are disturbances to the Beloved; harsher to the Beloved than arrow and spear and deadly poison.

🌹 Those who claim love and lovers will be exposed by the test of trial; love has its signs, it has its fruits!

🌹 What is the sign of love for Ali within you? What fragrance of Ali’s love have you taken?! What colour and lustre, what adornment, what knowledge?!

🌹 Know that Ali is the enumerator of all things; there must be a trace of every thing within you.

🔅🌼 The Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) is the cultivator of tawhid🌼🔅

🌹 The Master, the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him), put out the eye of shirk; “Ali” pulls the thorns and weeds of shirk out of your heart. Receive his wilaya beautifully.

🌹 The Master has blinded shirk; whoever is captive to shirk is captive to blind shirk.

🌹 It is enough that we enter the mine of the Master’s wisdom.

🌹 The Master, the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him), has sown tawhid in pure and clean soil; through the Master’s blessing, tawhid is at full radiance and sight.

🌹 Ali has many wonders; Ali’s battle spans the breadth of the universe.

🔅🌼Not everyone is worthy of Ali’s love🌼🔅

🌹 Darkness cannot love the light, nor ugliness love beauty!

🌹 Knowledge is measured by the very image formed behind the retina of the eye and perceived by the heart! What images are formed, and with what depth.

🌹 The expansiveness of the heart is the prerequisite of love and knowledge of Ali.

🔅🌼 Love of Ali, the purifier of shirk and Satan🌼🔅

🔅🌼 Ali cast shirk out of the self🌼🔅

🌷🔆أنا قاتل الأقران و مجدل الشجعان أنا الذي فقأت عين‏ الشرك‏ و ثللت عرشه غير ممتن على الله بجهادي و لا مدل إليه بطاعتي و لكن أحدث بنعمة ربي‏[3]

🔆Ali, the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him): I am the vanquisher of champions and the one who casts down the brave. I am the one who put out the eye of shirk and shook its throne. I do not lay my struggle as a favour upon God Most High, nor do I boast of my worship; rather, I speak of the blessings of my Lord.

🔅🌼 Ali’s thunderbolt upon the head of Satan’s army🌼🔅

🌷🔆فَأَمَّا النَّاكِثُونَ فَقَدْ قَاتَلْتُ وَ أَمَّا الْقَاسِطُونَ فَقَدْ جَاهَدْتُ وَ أَمَّا الْمَارِقَةُ فَقَدْ دَوَّخْتُ وَ أَمَّا شَيْطَانُ‏ الرَّدْهَةِ فَقَدْ كُفِيتُهُ بِصَعْقَةٍ سُمِعَتْ لَهَا وَجْبَةُ قَلْبِهِ وَ رَجَّةُ صَدْرِهِ  وَ بَقِيَتْ بَقِيَّةٌ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْبَغْيِ وَ لَئِنْ أَذِنَ اللَّهُ فِي الْكَرَّةِ عَلَيْهِمْ لَأُدِيلَنَّ مِنْهُمْ إِلَّا مَا يَتَشَذَّرُ فِي أَطْرَافِ الْبِلَادِ تَشَذُّرا أَنَا وَضَعْتُ فِي الصِّغَرِ بِكَلَاكِلِ الْعَرَبِ وَ كَسَرْتُ نَوَاجِمَ قُرُونِ رَبِيعَةَ وَ مُضَرَ وَ قَدْ عَلِمْتُمْ مَوْضِعِي مِنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ص بِالْقَرَابَةِ الْقَرِيبَةِ وَ الْمَنْزِلَةِ الْخَصِيصَةِ وَضَعَنِي فِي [حَجْرِهِ‏] حِجْرِهِ وَ [4]

🌷🔆Imam Ali, Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him: Take heed! God has charged me with fighting the oppressors, the oath-breakers and those who spread corruption on earth. I fought the Nākithūn, the oath-breakers (a reference to the Companions of the Camel), and defeated them; I struggled against the Qāsiṭūn, the oppressors of Syria and the followers of Mu‘āwiya, and exposed their weakness and humiliation; and I brought the Māriqūn, the Khārijites of Nahrawān, down to the dust of disgrace. As for the Devil of the Ridhah, his evil was driven away from me by a thunderbolt that struck him so forcefully that the pounding of his heart and the trembling of his chest could be heard. A further group of oppressors remains. If God permits me another assault against them—and lets me live—I will put an end to them and establish the rule of truth in their place, save for a few who may escape us and scatter across the lands. In my youth, I brought the great men and champions of Arabia low, and broke the proud horns of the tribes of Rabī‘a and Muḍar, laying their defiant chiefs in the dust.

🌹 Love of Ali must leave no trace of idolatry or Satan in our souls.

🔅🌼Examine the love of Ali in your heart🌼🔅

🌷🔆 يَا أَبَا الطُّفَيْلِ مَا بَلَغَ مِنْ‏ حُبِّكَ‏ عَلِيّاً؟ قَالَ: حُبُّ أُمِّ مُوسَى لِمُوسَى‏[5]

🔆Then Mu‘āwiya said to Abū Ṭufayl, “Abū Ṭufayl, how great was your love and affection for Ali?”

He replied, “As great as the love of Moses’ mother for Moses.”

🌻🔆Al-Qaṣaṣ: 10   وَ أَصْبَحَ فُؤادُ أُمِّ مُوسى‏ فارِغاً إِنْ كادَتْ لَتُبْدي بِهِ لَوْ لا أَنْ رَبَطْنا عَلى‏ قَلْبِها لِتَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنينَ

🔆  Moses’ mother’s heart was emptied of all else; had We not strengthened it, she would nearly have given him away!

🔅🌼The nobler a person’s heart, the greater their love for Ali🌼🔅

🌷🔆وَ كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ص يَقُولُ فِي بَعْضِ أَحَادِيثِهِ‏ «إِنَّ الْمَلَائِكَةَ أَشْرَفُهَا عِنْدَ اللَّهِ أَشَدُّهَا لِعَلِيِّ بْنِ أَبِي طَالِبٍ ع حُبّاً، وَ إِنَّ قَسَمَ الْمَلَائِكَةِ فِيمَا بَيْنَهُمْ: وَ الَّذِي شَرَّفَ عَلِيّاً ع عَلَى جَمِيعِ الْوَرَى بَعْدَ مُحَمَّدٍ الْمُصْطَفَى».

وَ يَقُولُ مَرَّةً [أُخْرَى‏]: «إِنَّ مَلَائِكَةَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَ الْحُجُبِ- لَيَشْتَاقُونَ‏ إِلَى‏ رُؤْيَةِ عَلِيِّ بْنِ أَبِي طَالِبٍ ع كَمَا تَشْتَاقُ الْوَالِدَةُ الشَّفِيقَةُ إِلَى وَلَدِهَا الْبَارِّ الشَّفِيقِ- آخِرِ مَنْ بَقِيَ عَلَيْهَا بَعْدَ عَشَرَةٍ دَفَنَتْهُمْ» فَكَانَ هَؤُلَاءِ النُّصَّابُ يَقُولُونَ: إِلَى مَتَى يَقُولُ مُحَمَّدٌ: جَبْرَئِيلُ‏  وَ مِيكَائِيلُ وَ الْمَلَائِكَةُ- كُلُّ ذَلِكَ تَفْخِيمٌ لِعَلِيٍّ وَ تَعْظِيمٌ لِشَأْنِهِ وَ يَقُولُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى لِعَلِيٍّ خَاصٌّ مِنْ دُونِ سَائِرِ الْخَلْقِ بَرِئْنَا مِنْ رَبٍّ وَ مِنْ مَلَائِكَةٍ وَ مِنْ جَبْرَئِيلَ وَ مِيكَائِيلَ هُمْ‏ لِعَلِيٍّ بَعْدَ مُحَمَّدٍ مُفَضِّلُونَ. وَ بَرِئْنَا مِنْ رُسُلِ اللَّهِ الَّذِينَ- هُمْ لِعَلِيِّ بْنِ أَبِي طَالِبٍ بَعْدَ مُحَمَّدٍ مُفَضِّلُونَ.[6]

🌷🔆“Indeed, the most noble of the angels in the sight of God Most High are those who feel the deepest love and affection for Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon him.”

Indeed, the angels of the heavens and the veils long to behold Ali ibn Abi Talib, just as a tender, loving mother yearns for her dutiful and compassionate child.

🔅🌼Imam Ali, peace be upon him, warns us against the sting of adversity🌼🔅

🔅🌼Captives of passion🌼🔅

🌷🔆وَ قَالَ ع‏ يَا أَسْرَى الرَّغْبَةِ [اقْصُرُوا] أَقْصِرُوا فَإِنَّ الْمُعَرِّجَ عَلَى‏ الدُّنْيَا لَا يَرُوعُهُ مِنْهَا إِلَّا صَرِيفُ أَنْيَابِ الْحِدْثَانِ أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ تَوَلَّوْا [عَنْ‏] مِنْ أَنْفُسِكُمْ تَأْدِيبَهَا وَ اعْدِلُوا بِهَا عَنْ [ضِرَايَةِ] ضَرَاوَةِ عَادَاتِهَا[7]

🔆Imam Ali, Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him: O captives of passion, rein in your vain hopes, desires and worldly attachments. Nothing frightens those enamoured of this world more than the sound of adversity’s fangs. People, take it upon yourselves to discipline yourselves, and restrain your lower selves from yielding to the habits that bring ruin.

🔆O captives of desire, rein in your whims. The one who rises above this world has nothing to fear but being worn down by the teeth of calamity. People, take charge of disciplining your souls and keep them from falling prey to their habits.

🔅🌼Do not ride the wolf of desire🌼🔅

🌹Let us wake before the sound of our soul’s bones crunching between the wolf’s teeth brings us to our senses!

🌹One who mounts this world and soars toward false hopes does not know what he has mounted: a serpent, a scorpion, a wolf, a dog—the fiercest of predators, the most venomous of creatures, the vilest of evils.

🌹Must a person ensnared by this world hear the bones of his greater world breaking—the destruction of his virtues and his celestial realm—before he comes to his senses?

🌹The heedless person rides a mount that devours him moment by moment.

🌹Fixation on this world is dangerous, for it blinds the heart and the inner eye to the celestial realm.

🔅🌼Do not let your soul run wild by setting it free;  🌼🔅

🌹The human being is the only creature that devours itself, stings itself, and tears itself apart.

🌹Place the reins of your being in the hands of its true master.

🌹Do not take refuge in the embrace of your own soul. Find repose instead in the nurturing embrace of the Two Weighty Things, and discipline your soul through their teachings until it attains serenity.

🌹If a person rides upon baseness, his destination will be baseness, filth and confinement. Where can someone riding a fly possibly go?

🌹Where does the mount of darkness lead? Where does the mount of clay lead?

🌹Even the mount of heaven is too small for the human being! Even a mount of light is not enough: a person must become a vessel for light and a guide to it!

🌹Ride only the divine vessels—the vessels of the Two Weighty Things!

🌹To reach heaven, we must dismount from the mount of earth; to reach the Highest Realm, we must free ourselves from the material world and its possessions. To taste the celestial realm, we must turn away from the taste of clay.

🌹What must we do to reach ʿAli? We must dismount from every lowly mount.

🌹Low worldly hopes make a person’s prison narrower and darker, his steps shorter, and his pace slower.

🔅🌼A warning from the Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him, to the merchants of this world  🌼🔅

🔅🌼Faith is not to be spent on worldly gain🌼🔅

🌷🔆وَ قَالَ ع‏ لَا يَتْرُكُ‏ النَّاسُ‏ شَيْئاً مِنْ أَمْرِ دِينِهِمْ لِاسْتِصْلَاحِ دُنْيَاهُمْ إِلَّا فَتَحَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ مَا هُوَ أَضَرُّ مِنْه‏[8]

🔆The Master, the Commander of the Faithful, ʿAli, peace be upon him: “People do not abandon any part of their religious practice to improve their worldly life without God opening up something more harmful to them in its place.”

🌹Whoever strikes a bargain against his faith for the sake of this world has embarked on a ruinous trade.

🌹Those who burn their faith at the brazier of this world will see all their wealth consumed in its flames. This is an age in which faith is burned for the false mirage of the world’s sweetness.

🌹Whoever spends his faith to enrich his worldly life will face a severe reckoning.

🔅🌼Selling one’s faith is forbidden🌼🔅

🌹Everyone who sells their faith will be harshly punished.

🌹How many people put their faith up for sale in exchange for this world!

🌻🔆An-Naḥl: 106   مَنْ كَفَرَ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ بَعْدِ إيمانِهِ إِلاَّ مَنْ أُكْرِهَ وَ قَلْبُهُ مُطْمَئِنٌّ بِالْإيمانِ وَ لكِنْ مَنْ شَرَحَ بِالْكُفْرِ صَدْراً فَعَلَيْهِمْ غَضَبٌ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَ لَهُمْ عَذابٌ عَظيمٌ

🔆Those who disbelieve in God after having believed—except those who are compelled to do so while their hearts remain firm in faith—those who open their hearts to disbelief incur God’s wrath and a great punishment.

🌻🔆Al-Nahl: 107   ذلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمُ اسْتَحَبُّوا الْحَياةَ الدُّنْيا عَلَى الْآخِرَةِ وَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ لا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الْكافِرينَ

🔆That is because they preferred the life of this world to the Hereafter, and because God does not guide the people who disbelieve.

🔅🌼Sacrifice everything you have for the love of God 🌼🔅

🌷🔆أَسْهِرُوا عُيُونَكُمْ وَ أَضْمِرُوا بُطُونَكُمْ وَ اسْتَعْمِلُوا أَقْدَامَكُمْ وَ أَنْفِقُوا أَمْوَالَكُمْ وَ خُذُوا مِنْ أَجْسَادِكُمْ فَجُودُوا بِهَا عَلَى‏ أَنْفُسِكُمْ‏ وَ لَا تَبْخَلُوا بِهَا عَنْهَا فَقَدْ قَالَ اللَّهُ سُبْحَانَه‏[9]

🔆Imam Ali, Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him: Keep your eyes awake in the depths of night; make your bellies lean; put your feet to work; give away your wealth; take from your bodies and add to your souls. Do not be miserly in this.

🌹 Those who have made their faith the fare of this world have lost everything, from the earth to the highest heavens.

🌹 Spend everything in pursuit of God’s good pleasure; the believers’ paradise is God’s good pleasure.

🔅🌼Pick the world out of the depths of your hearts 🌼🔅

🌷🔆وَ قَالَ ع: أَلَا حُرٌّ يَدَعُ هَذِهِ‏ اللُّمَاظَةَ لِأَهْلِهَا إِنَّهُ لَيْسَ لِأَنْفُسِكُمْ ثَمَنٌ إِلَّا الْجَنَّةَ فَلَا تَبِيعُوهَا إِلَّا بِهَا[10]

🔆Imam Ali, peace be upon him, said: Is there no free person who will leave this leftover food to its rightful owners? Know that you are worth nothing less than Paradise; do not sell yourselves for anything but Paradise.

🌹 For the free, Paradise is the love of God.

🌷🔆 يَا نَعِيمِي وَ جَنَّتِي وَ يَا دُنْيَايَ وَ آخِرَتِي‏

🔅🌼The love of God can never be sated 🌼🔅

🌷🔆وَ قَالَ ع: مَنْهُومَانِ لَا يَشْبَعَانِ طَالِبُ عِلْمٍ وَ طَالِبُ دُنْيَا[11]

🔆Imam Ali, peace be upon him, said: There are two who are never satisfied: the seeker of knowledge and the seeker of this world.

🌹 One who is never sated with knowledge—who knows what they might become through their teacher?

🔅🌼Infinite love can never be sated 🌼🔅

🌷🔆اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِهِ وَ طَهِّرْ قَلْبِي وَ جَسَدِي وَ زَكِّ عَمَلِي وَ اقْبَلْ سَعْيِي وَ اجْعَلْ مَا عِنْدَكَ خَيْراً لِي سَيِّدِي أَنَا مِنْ‏ حُبِّكَ‏ جَائِعٌ لَا أَشْبَعُ أَنَا مِنْ‏ حُبِّكَ‏ ظَمْآنُ لَا أَرْوَى وَا شَوْقَاهْ إِلَى مَنْ يَرَانِي وَ لَا أَرَاهُ يَا حَبِيبَ مَنْ تَحَبَّبَ إِلَيْهِ يَا قُرَّةَ عَيْنِ مَنْ لَاذَ بِهِ وَ انْقَطَعَ إِلَيْهِ قَدْ تَرَى وَحْدَتِي مِنَ الْآدَمِيِّينَ وَ وَحْشَتِي‏[12]

🔆O God, bless Muhammad and the Family of Muhammad, purify my heart and body, make my deeds pure, accept my efforts, and make what is with You good for me.

🔆O my Master, I hunger for Your love and can never be sated by it; I thirst for Your love and can never be quenched.

🔆Oh, how I long for the God who sees me, though I cannot see Him! O You who love everyone who loves You,

🔅🌼There is no seclusion from God 🌼🔅

🌷🔆وَ قَالَ ع‏ اتَّقُوا مَعَاصِيَ‏ اللَّهِ‏ فِي الْخَلَوَاتِ فَإِنَّ الشَّاهِدَ هُوَ الْحَاكِم‏[13]

🔆Imam Ali, Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him: Beware of disobeying God in private, for the Witness is also the Judge.

🌹 Satan deceives us so thoroughly that we imagine no one knows what takes place in the solitude of these so-called virtual spaces. We think we are alone with our own devils, yet God is witness to every space.

🌻🔆al-ʿAlaq: 14   أَ لَمْ يَعْلَمْ بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ يَرى‏

🔆Does he not know that God sees all that he does?!

🌹 The most ignorant person is the one who does not know that God knows.

🌻🔆al-Anʿām: 19   قُلْ أَيُّ شَيْ‏ءٍ أَكْبَرُ شَهادَةً قُلِ اللَّهُ شَهيدٌ بَيْني‏ وَ بَيْنَكُمْ وَ أُوحِيَ إِلَيَّ هذَا الْقُرْآنُ لِأُنْذِرَكُمْ بِهِ وَ مَنْ بَلَغَ أَ إِنَّكُمْ لَتَشْهَدُونَ أَنَّ مَعَ اللَّهِ آلِهَةً أُخْرى‏ قُلْ لا أَشْهَدُ قُلْ إِنَّما هُوَ إِلهٌ واحِدٌ وَ إِنَّني‏ بَري‏ءٌ مِمَّا تُشْرِكُونَ

🔆Say: “Whose testimony is the greatest?” Say: “God is witness between me and you. This Qur’an has been revealed to me so that I may warn you and all those whom it reaches. Do you truly bear witness that there are other deities alongside God?!” Say: “I will never bear such witness.” Say: “He is the only one God, and I am free of whatever you associate with Him!”

🔅🌼Sincerity and Monotheism: The Secret of Transcendent Politics 🌼🔅

🌷🔆إِنَّ اللَّهَ [تَعَالَى‏] سُبْحَانَهُ أَنْزَلَ كِتَاباً هَادِياً بَيَّنَ فِيهِ الْخَيْرَ وَ الشَّرَّ فَخُذُوا نَهْجَ الْخَيْرِ تَهْتَدُوا وَ اصْدِفُوا عَنْ سَمْتِ الشَّرِّ تَقْصِدُوا الْفَرَائِضَ الْفَرَائِضَ أَدُّوهَا إِلَى اللَّهِ تُؤَدِّكُمْ إِلَى الْجَنَّةِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ حَرَّمَ حَرَاماً غَيْرَ مَجْهُولٍ وَ أَحَلَّ حَلَالًا غَيْرَ مَدْخُولٍ وَ فَضَّلَ حُرْمَةَ الْمُسْلِمِ عَلَى الْحُرَمِ كُلِّهَا وَ شَدَّ بِالْإِخْلَاصِ‏ وَ التَّوْحِيدِ حُقُوقَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ فِي مَعَاقِدِهَا فَالْمُسْلِمُ مَنْ سَلِمَ الْمُسْلِمُونَ مِنْ لِسَانِهِ وَ يَدِهِ إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ وَ لَا يَحِلُّ أَذَى الْمُسْلِمِ إِلَّا بِمَا يَجِبُ بَادِرُوا أَمْرَ الْعَامَّةِ وَ خَاصَّةَ أَحَدِكُمْ وَ هُوَ الْمَوْتُ فَإِنَّ النَّاسَ أَمَامَكُمْ وَ إِنَّ السَّاعَةَ تَحْدُوكُمْ مِنْ خَلْفِكُمْ تَخَفَّفُوا تَلْحَقُوا فَإِنَّمَا يُنْتَظَرُ بِأَوَّلِكُمْ آخِرُكُمْ اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ فِي عِبَادِهِ وَ بِلَادِهِ فَإِنَّكُمْ مَسْئُولُونَ حَتَّى عَنِ الْبِقَاعِ وَ الْبَهَائِمِ [وَ] أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَ لَا تَعْصُوهُ وَ إِذَا رَأَيْتُمُ الْخَيْرَ فَخُذُوا بِهِ وَ إِذَا رَأَيْتُمُ الشَّرَّ فَأَعْرِضُوا عَنْه‏[14]

🔆Imam ʿAlī, Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him, said: God Almighty sent down a book that guides, and in it He made clear what is good and what is evil. Choose the path of goodness so that you may be guided, and turn away from evil so that you may be placed upon the straight path. Fulfil your obligations! Fulfil your obligations! Present them before God, so that they may bring you to Paradise. God has forbidden what is not unknown to you, and permitted what is free of fault. He has given the sanctity of the Muslim precedence over all that is sacred, and, through sincerity and monotheism, established the rights of Muslims in their proper places. A Muslim is one from whose tongue and hand other Muslims are safe, except where truth requires otherwise; and harming Muslims is not permissible unless an obligatory duty is at stake.

Hasten toward that matter which is universal and yet particular to each one of you: death. For those who came before you have already gone on ahead, and the Resurrection is driving you from behind. Lighten your burdens so that you may catch up, for those who have gone before are being held back and awaiting those who remain. Be mindful of God regarding His servants and His cities, for you are responsible even for the earth and the animals. Obey God and beware of disobeying Him. When you see goodness, do not let it pass you by; and when you see evil, turn away from it.[15]

🔅🌼Sincerity and Monotheism: The Key to Politics 🌼🔅

🔅🌼 Sincerity and Monotheism are the soul of politics, governance and progress 🌼🔅

🌷🔆وَ شَدَّ بِالْإِخْلَاصِ‏ وَ التَّوْحِيدِ حُقُوقَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ فِي مَعَاقِدِهَا[16]

🔆and, through sincerity and monotheism, established the rights of Muslims in their proper places.

🔆and, through sincerity and monotheism, established the rights of Muslims in their proper places.

🌹Sincerity and divine oneness are the beginning and end of politics, the higher ideal of statesmanship, and the key to trust and confidence. Who can remain true to themselves? Sincerity and divine oneness uphold the rights of the faithful and free us from embezzlement and broken promises.

🌹Divine oneness is the higher ideal of advanced politics.

🌹Declare it aloud: divine oneness is the key to leaps forward in science, technology, management, and politics.

🌹The earth will not flourish without divine oneness.

🌹Peace, prosperity, and confidence are possible only through divine oneness.

🌹Politics without divine oneness means rule by Satan.

🔅🌼 The Effects of Divine Oneness on Material Life 🌼🔅

🌹Why does divine oneness resolve every problem? What does it have to do with the economy, health, ethics, politics, education, progress, and advancement?

🌹When a person’s innate nature is awakened, it is as though the full capacity of body and spirit is brought to life. Knowledge and wisdom come into alignment, ignorance and darkness recede, the gates of heaven and earth open before them, and mind, heart, and soul are freed from confinement and constraint.

🌹Through divine oneness, the intellect reaches its full potential; paths to progress and ways out of hardship and difficulty open up.

🌹Innovative solutions and pure, wholesome knowledge will come to light.

🌹Through divine oneness, earthly and heavenly conquests, blessings, and divine grace are brought about.

🌹Through divine oneness, thought, awareness, understanding, and memory are enhanced.

🌹Through divine oneness, the presence of angels grows stronger and the influence of devils diminishes.

🔅🌼 Theatrics of Divine Oneness 🌼🔅

🌹Beware of a contrived, ornamental, and performative profession of divine oneness!

🌹How many who claim divine oneness are, in fact, polytheists.

🌹Some wish to affirm divine oneness but cannot—as is the case with certain people enamored of philosophy.

🔅🌼 مَقَامُ مَنْ أَفْرَدَكَ بِالتَّوْحِيدِ 🌼🔅

🌹This is the station of one who made divine oneness yours alone, acknowledged no equal to you in it, and harbored no trace of associating partners with you within it,

🔅🌼 Singularity in Divine Oneness 🌼🔅

🌷🔆اللَّهُمَّ وَ هَذَا مَقَامُ مَنْ أَفْرَدَكَ بِالتَّوْحِيدِ الَّذِي هُوَ لَكَ وَ لَمْ يَرَ مُسْتَحِقّاً لِهَذِهِ الْمَحَامِدِ وَ الْمَمَادِحِ غَيْرَكَ[17]

🌷🔆اللَّهُمَّ أَنْتَ أَهْلُ الْوَصْفِ الْجَمِيلِ وَ التَّعْدَادِ الْكَثِيرِ إِنْ تُؤَمَّلْ فَخَيْرُ مَأْمُولٍ وَ إِنْ تُرْجَ فَخَيْرُ مَرْجُوٍّ اللَّهُمَّ [فَقَدْ] وَ قَدْ بَسَطْتَ لِي فِيمَا لَا أَمْدَحُ بِهِ غَيْرَكَ وَ لَا أُثْنِي بِهِ عَلَى أَحَدٍ سِوَاكَ وَ لَا أُوَجِّهُهُ إِلَى مَعَادِنِ الْخَيْبَةِ وَ مَوَاضِعِ الرِّيبَةِ وَ عَدَلْتَ بِلِسَانِي عَنْ مَدَائِحِ الْآدَمِيِّينَ وَ الثَّنَاءِ عَلَى الْمَرْبُوبِينَ الْمَخْلُوقِينَ اللَّهُمَّ وَ لِكُلِّ مُثْنٍ عَلَى مَنْ أَثْنَى عَلَيْهِ مَثُوبَةٌ مِنْ جَزَاءٍ أَوْ عَارِفَةٌ مِنْ عَطَاءٍ وَ قَدْ رَجَوْتُكَ دَلِيلًا عَلَى ذَخَائِرِ الرَّحْمَةِ وَ كُنُوزِ الْمَغْفِرَةِ اللَّهُمَّ وَ هَذَا مَقَامُ مَنْ أَفْرَدَكَ بِالتَّوْحِيدِ الَّذِي هُوَ لَكَ وَ لَمْ يَرَ مُسْتَحِقّاً لِهَذِهِ الْمَحَامِدِ وَ الْمَمَادِحِ غَيْرَكَ وَ بِي فَاقَةٌ إِلَيْكَ لَا يَجْبُرُ مَسْكَنَتَهَا إِلَّا فَضْلُكَ وَ لَا يَنْعَشُ مِنْ خَلَّتِهَا إِلَّا مَنُّكَ وَ جُودُكَ فَهَبْ لَنَا فِي هَذَا الْمَقَامِ رِضَاكَ وَ أَغْنِنَا عَنْ مَدِّ الْأَيْدِي إِلَى سِوَاكَ- إِنَّكَ عَلى‏ كُلِّ شَيْ‏ءٍ قَدِير[18]

🔆O God, You possess abundant attributes of beauty and qualities of perfection. If we yearn for You, it is because You are our finest desire; and if we place our hope in You, You are our greatest hope.

O God! You have given me the strength to offer praise that I direct to none but You, and to turn to glorification that I offer to no one else. I do not address those who are a source of despair, doubt, and uncertainty. Through knowledge of You, You have restrained my tongue from praising human beings and extolling created things.

O God! Every act of praise brings a reward and a gift from the one being praised. For this reason, I hope that You will guide me to the treasuries of Your mercy and the riches of Your forgiveness.

O God! This is the station of one who has affirmed Your oneness in Your own unique oneness, and who sees no one but You as worthy of such praise and glorification.

(O God!) I am in need of You—a need that nothing but Your grace can meet. I am distressed and destitute, and nothing but Your generosity can relieve me. Since this is so, grant us Your good pleasure in this moment, and keep our hands from seeking help at anyone else’s door, “for You have power over all things.”

🌼Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat) 110.141(903)🌼

🔅🌼A student’s perspective on the topic “Ali, Slayer of Polytheism and Satan” 🌼🔅

🔹 Ali, Slayer of Polytheism and Satan

🔹 The blessed birth of His Eminence, the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (peace be upon him)

📅 Date: 1403/10/25 – 13 Rajab 1446

✨ Session: Meshkat-e Noor

🎤 Speaker: Master Ali Saei

📝 Some points discussed in the session:

### 🌟 The eve of the Commander of the Faithful’s birth

The eve of the birth of the Victorious Lion of God, the point, word, and line of all creation,

is an opportunity to offer congratulations to the inhabitants of the spiritual, celestial, and divine realms, accompanied by the melodious invocation of blessings upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad.

### 💫 The miracle of birth in the Kaaba

The Kaaba split open, and the very spirit of divine authority was placed within it. Without doubt, this opening was not confined to the Kaaba: the Inhabited House, the Exalted Throne, and all of existence experienced it. Yet the blessed being of the Commander of the Faithful is so immense that the whole universe cannot contain him, for he is the Supreme Friend of God and God’s greatest sign.

The Major Occultation belongs to Imam of the Age (AJ), but the greatest occultation is that of the Commander of the Faithful. One day it will end, and the Imam’s exalted virtues will be revealed to all, when hearts are ready and breasts made spacious.

### 🕊 Taking stock of our relationship to divine authority

Let us take stock of ourselves: to what extent do we live under the authority of the Commander of the Faithful? If this authority is not affirmed, no other claim to authority will be valid either.

Each morning and evening, let us examine our state: are we alive through this authority, or dead to it? Love for the Imam, joined with knowledge of him, is a sign of life within this bond. If that connection is absent, we have departed from the path of divine authority.

### ✨ The importance of knowing the Imam

Whoever does not know their Imam wanders in error; should they die in that state, their death will be in unbelief and hypocrisy. Their deeds are like ashes scattered by the wind.

Let us examine ourselves and recognise the Imam’s authority. Whoever partakes of the table of divine authority will feel love for the Imam in their soul. This love turns a person’s whole being upside down, making them ever more hungry and thirsty for that bond.

To reach our Master, we must turn away from the desires of the ego, or we will remain bound and fettered. Let us hear the Imam’s call and answer it, for he is addressing us: “O captives of desire …”

### 🔗 O captives of desire

O captives of desire, you who are held prisoner by the ego’s impulses and your own petty, paltry wishes—can you not see that you have lost your way amid these blind longings?

From the beginning of history to its end, the Imam’s cry is directed at those enslaved by the world and their own desires. If you were free of this bondage, his blessed son would not be hidden from view.

O captives of desire, let go of these blind hopes and the whims of the ego, and heed the Imam’s cry.

### 🌍 Curbing Worldly Ambitions

What remarkable words! O captives of desire, keep your ambitions in check. Whoever mounts the world and embraces it will fear nothing and heed no cry—except the sound of calamities and misfortunes grinding their fangs.

This is the Imam’s cry: O people, O humankind, take charge of your own souls. Keep them from their afflictions and habits. Separate them from the world’s rotting carcass. How long will your souls grow accustomed to savoring the world? A soul entwined with the world seals its own misery.

### ✨ Freedom from the Ego’s Captivity

O captives of desire, dismount from the steed of the world! Whoever fixes their attention on the world will blind heart and soul.

The captives of desire are those so attached to the world that they cannot see beyond it. They are so sullied by the world’s dust that they have forgotten the heavens.

Free your souls from savagery and find peace in the nurturing embrace of the Two Weighty Things, for this alone is the path that will bring you to complete spiritual refinement.

Small worldly ambitions enslave and imprison a person. The smaller those ambitions, the smaller the person becomes in equal measure. How much breadth or worth does this world have beside the Most Exalted Kingdom?

### 🕊 Enslaved by the World

Whoever mounts the world becomes its captive. Whoever rides upon wickedness can have no destination but wickedness. Whoever mounts a fly can land nowhere but in filth, for there is no finer destination for it.

If we ride upon darkness, we will never reach the light; it is impossible. Whoever rides upon the earth will never attain the heavens. The rider of darkness can have no destination but blindness.

A person should not even ride upon the heavens, but rather guide them; they must lead the way to the light. The only vessel for this person’s journey is the Vessel of God, and their only mount is the Two Weighty Things. Only by this mount can one reach the highest destination.

### 🌍 A Healing Remedy for Humanity

The Imam counsels us and speaks of the calamity facing humanity today. God is the healing remedy for us and for the planet, yet we are suffocating without even realizing it. With each passing day, the suffocation grows worse. Humanity has reached the point of choking. What can be done?

No one gives up anything of their religion for the sake of their worldly life without God sending them something whose harm is greater than what they gave up. If we sell our religion for the world, the result will be a loss so heavy we will never escape its weight. It is a ruinous bargain. We will not even taste the pleasure of worldly life, for we have set ourselves against God. This world will not always be allowed to drift heedlessly on, nor will its respite last forever; one day it will come to an end, and the time for correction will arrive. Let us not burn our religion at the world’s brazier, as so many have done. Selling one’s religion is forbidden—and this is God’s law. God Himself will punish those who sell their religion.

### ✨ All Things for God’s Good Pleasure

Everything in life should be spent in pursuit of God’s good pleasure; we must not spend God’s good pleasure on this lowly world. Woe to those who merely appear to be believers but turn to disbelief after having believed; they will be severely punished.

Whoever cuts back on worship for the sake of the world gains nothing but loss. Their worldly life will be diminished and lifeless, and they will taste none of its pleasures.

Let us heed the Imam’s cry:

– Keep your eyes alert.

– Make your bellies lean.

– Put your feet to work and take action.

– Take action and give of your wealth.

Draw upon your bodies and nourish your souls; do not be miserly in this cause.

### 🔊 The Imam’s cry: Do not sell your soul for a pittance

Let us hear the Imam’s cry: Is there no freeborn soul who would leave this paltry fare, this scrap caught between the teeth, to those who are entitled to it?

Your soul is worth nothing less than Paradise. Do not barter it for anything but Paradise. For believers, Paradise is God’s good pleasure.

### ✨ Love of God and knowledge: insatiable

I will trade myself for nothing but God.

O my Paradise, my quest, my longing, my world and my hereafter,

the Imam says: Two groups of people are never satisfied, never quenched: the seeker of knowledge and the seeker of this world.

But death brings the seeker of this world’s hunger to an end, whereas knowledge has no end, and the seeker of knowledge is never satisfied, unto eternity.

Now, if a person can never have enough knowledge, could they ever have enough love for God? No, never!

O my Master, my Lord, I hunger for Your love and can never be satisfied. I thirst and will never be quenched. How sublime is my longing!

How I yearn for the One who sees me, though I cannot see Him. O You who are beloved by those who reach out to You in friendship.

### 🕊 Let us speak of the Imam’s words

Shall I speak of the Imam and his words? I can never have enough!

The Imam says:

Fear disobeying God when you are alone, for the Witness is also the Judge.

God is witness in every place and every space. Satan has so deceived us that we imagine we are alone in so-called virtual spaces.

### 👁 God, the All-Seeing Witness

Does a person not see that God sees them?

Say, O My Messenger: What is the greatest testimony?

Reply: Allah is the greatest of witnesses.

By God, even before the noble recording angels bear witness to our deeds, Allah Himself is their Witness and Seer.

Satan has deceived us so completely that we imagine no one sees us and that we are alone with him.

O my Imam, I can never have enough of your words. Your wine does not quench my thirst; it only makes me thirstier.

O Master of water and bread, my whole being yearns for You.

### 📜 The Imam’s counsel: the path of good and evil

The Imam’s counsel:

God, Exalted is He, has made good and evil clear in His Book of guidance.

– Follow the path of good, and you will be guided.

– Keep away from the path of evil, and you will find the straight way.

– Fulfil your obligations. Your obligations—your obligations!

### 🌟 Fulfilling God’s due

Fulfil God’s due, and you will find your way to His Paradise.

God made the forbidden clear, without leaving it ambiguous, and likewise made the permissible plain, with no impediment. What is permissible is pure and wholesome.

But know that God has placed the sanctity of a Muslim above all other sanctities.

### 🌟 The Imam’s words: the secret of sincerity and divine oneness

With sincerity and divine unity, he strengthened the rights of Muslims in their covenants and agreements. How remarkable! In these words of the Master, the key to politics—its beginning and end—is plain to see. 

How can we attain a pure and exalted form of politics? The answer is clear: by seeking sincerity and divine unity. 

If we want to govern this planet at the highest level, the key is sincerity and divine unity. 

### 🔗 The Secret of Keeping One’s Word 

If you want to know whether someone who makes you a promise will keep it, the secret lies in their sincerity and divine unity. 

God has made covenants firm through sincerity and divine unity. Anyone who has no share in this bond cannot remain faithful to their promises and agreements. 

### 💡 Divine Unity: The Answer to Every Problem 

If divine unity is absent, polytheism will take its place. 

Can divine unity invigorate our economy? By God, yes! It is divine unity that makes the world flourish. 

If divine unity is absent from society, Satan will come, and ignorance will prevail. It is a mistake to expect honesty from Satan. 

If divine unity does not prevail in our universities, nothing but ignorance will emerge from them. 

Divine unity resolves every problem, because it sets our innate nature aright and opens the way to guidance. 

### 🔑 Divine Unity: The Key to Leaps Forward and Progress 

Our innate nature is bound up with God, and all knowledge, from beginning to end, is hidden within it. How can we draw on this knowledge? How can we benefit from the Clear Book and the knowledge of the unseen? 

Some people seek out extraterrestrial beings in the hope of gaining knowledge from them, oblivious to the fact that all knowledge is already contained within our innate nature. 

Divine unity is the key to leaps forward and progress; it is the key to politics. 

If divine unity does not take root on this planet and in earthly politics, Satan’s rule will take hold instead. 

To turn one’s back on divine unity is to turn toward Satan. Through divine unity, reason reaches its perfection, paths to progress open, and pure knowledge comes to light. 

### 🌟 The Station of Sincerity and Divine Unity 

O Lord, this is the station of one who acknowledged no equal to You in Your oneness and affirmed You as One in Your divine unity. 

Many claim to uphold divine unity, but only those who choose the Master’s path will succeed. 

Let us beware of the self-deceptions and outward displays of divine unity that conceal polytheism within. Divine unity must not be a performance; it must be inward and sincere. 

### 🌟 Love for the Master: The Measure 

The Master, the Commander of the Faithful, is the commander of divine unity. 

O Abu Tufayl, I want to measure my love for the Master. How great is it? 

What is the sign of love for the Master? When it comes to action, the one who claims to love him is put to shame. Am I even one-billionth as much a lover of him? 

O my soul, O my claim—prove your claim. Has this claim caused the Master any hardship? Has my Master wept because of my love for him? 

The effects of this love should be visible in my conduct, my words, and my dealings. Whoever loves the world becomes its captive. But whoever loves the Master becomes captive to God. 

The lover of Ali is a conqueror of divine unity. 

The lover of Ali conquers the summit of divine unity. Not an atom of polytheism remains in his soul, for his Master has blinded the eye to polytheism. 

### ⚡️ The Master’s Mission: Blinding the Eye to Polytheism 

I blinded the eye to polytheism and eradicated it. 

One who sees through the lens of shirk is no lover of the Master. The Master cleanses the hearts of his lovers of the weeds and thorns of shirk. Love for the Master cannot be mixed with worldly attachment. The Master has vanquished Satan. 

The Master has carried out—and continues to carry out—wondrous operations; he has made our task easier. 

He has destroyed Satan and made the trembling of his heart and his anxiety known to the whole world. That is the Master! 

### 💡 The Master’s Wonders and the Path of Divine Unity 

I am a lover of the Master, but how far have I travelled on the path of divine unity? A day will come when the Master’s wonders will be revealed. 

Muʿawiya asked Abu Tufayl, “How great is your love for Ali?” 

He replied: 

“My love is like the love of Moses’ mother for Moses

when she had been parted from him. Her love overwhelmed her so completely that she felt her heart would break from the intensity of her longing and fear of being separated from Moses.” 

If I, too, cannot bear even a moment’s separation from the Master, that is proof of my love. 

### 🕊 A Description of Love for Ali 

When asked about his love for Ali, Abu Dharr said: 

“My love for Ali is like cool water reaching my parched, burning heart, like the purest honey from the honeybee. 

But no! Love for Ali is sweeter still.” 

Why can Muʿawiya, the Nasibis and the Daeshis not love the Master? 

Because darkness cannot love light. 

The angels’ ranks are measured by the degree of their love for the Master. The angels of the heavens and the veils long so intensely to behold Ali that their yearning surpasses that of a devoted mother for her child. 

### 🌟 A Prayer for Love of Ali 

O God of Ali, the Most Great, grant this sublime love to all his Shiʿa.

🌼Ali Saʿi (ʿAbdullah Mishkat) 110.141 (903)🌼

---

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[2] الكافي (ط – الإسلامية) ؛ ج‏1 ؛ ص183 Kulaini, Muhammad ibn Yaʿqub ibn Ishaq, Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyya—Tehran, 4th edition, 1407 AH.

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[5] وقعة صفين ؛ النص ؛ ص554 Ayatollah Marʿashi Najafi Library—Qom, 2nd edition, 1404 AH.

[6] التفسير المنسوب إلى الإمام الحسن العسكري عليه السلام ؛ ؛ ص452 Hasan ibn Ali, Imam Mahdi School (may God hasten his return)—Iran, Qom, 1st edition, 1409 AH.

[7] نهج البلاغة (للصبحي صالح) ؛ ؛ ص537 Sharif al-Radi, Hijrat—Qom, 1st edition, 1414 AH.

[8] نهج البلاغة (للصبحي صالح) ؛ ؛ ص487Sharif al-Radi, Hijrat—Qom, 1st edition, 1414 AH.

[9] Nahj al-Balagha (Ṣubḥī Ṣāliḥ edition); p. 267  al-Sharīf al-Raḍī, Hijrat, Qom, first edition, 1414 AH.

[10] Nahj al-Balagha (Ṣubḥī Ṣāliḥ edition); p. 556  al-Sharīf al-Raḍī, Hijrat, Qom, first edition, 1414 AH.

[11] Nahj al-Balagha (Ṣubḥī Ṣāliḥ edition); p. 556  al-Sharīf al-Raḍī, Hijrat, Qom, first edition, 1414 AH.

[12] Iqbal al-A‘mal (old edition); vol. 1, p. 56  Ibn Tawus, Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyya, Tehran, second edition, 1409 AH.

[13] Nahj al-Balagha (Ṣubḥī Ṣāliḥ edition); p. 532 al-Sharīf al-Raḍī, Hijrat, Qom, first edition, 1414 AH.

[14] Nahj al-Balagha (Ṣubḥī Ṣāliḥ edition); p. 242 al-Sharīf al-Raḍī, Hijrat, Qom, first edition, 1414 AH.

[15]Nahj al-Balagha, translated by Ansariyan, p. 383

[16] Nahj al-Balagha (Ṣubḥī Ṣāliḥ edition); p. 242 al-Sharīf al-Raḍī, Hijrat, Qom, first edition, 1414 AH.

[17] Nahj al-Balagha (Ṣubḥī Ṣāliḥ edition); p. 135 al-Sharīf al-Raḍī, Hijrat, Qom, first edition, 1414 AH.

[18] Nahj al-Balagha (Ṣubḥī Ṣāliḥ edition); p. 135 al-Sharīf al-Raḍī, Hijrat, Qom, first edition, 1414 AH.