Be Careful How You Describe Yourself

🌼🔆🌼The Kazimiyya Doctrine🌼🔆🌼

🌹🔅☘️ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحيمِ ☘️🔅🌹

🔅🌹 “Near and far are the same to Him”  “The secret of sameness”  “The secret of almsgiving in bowing” “The mysteries of the Kazimiyya”  “The eve of the birth of Imam Kazim, peace be upon him” and more … An outline with an addendum       1403.04.07    Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat) 110.141(903)  🌹🔅

🔅🌼  A map of the discussion🌼🔅

🌼Imam Kazim, peace be upon him, is the Imam of truth, light, guidance, felicity and mysteries.

🌼The reckoning of all lovers rests in the heart of Imam Kazim, peace be upon him. He is also the reckoning of all the enemies of Islam and the one who crushes all the hypocrites of the world ( وَ مُوسَى بْنُ جَعْفَرٍ مُحْصِي الْمُحِبِّينَ وَ الْمُبْغِضِينَ وَ قَامِعُ الْمُنَافِقِين‏)

🌼To become pure and wholesome, we need the authority of Imam Kazim (وَ مَنْ أَحَبَّ أَنْ يَلْقَى اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ طَاهِراً مُطَهَّراً، فَلْيَتَوَلَّ مُوسَى بْنَ جَعْفَرٍ الْكَاظِم‏)

🌼At every moment, with Hazrat Kazim, we must renew our pledge of allegiance to the proof of Kazimiyya. Our sense of allegiance to Kazimiyya must remain alive and continuous.

🌼We must revive the Ghadir of Kazimiyya; the Ghadir of Alawiyya has certainly passed through the lanes and streets of Kazimiyya too.

🌼Ghadir is a constellation, and Imam Kazim, peace be upon him, is one of its foremost members.

🌼The authority of the divine proofs is a system, completed through each and every Imam.

🌼To forget Imam Kazim is to extinguish the soul. We know ourselves through our Imam; our eyes must remain open to this light.

🌼The verse of wilayah holds many mysteries within it. Giving alms while the Wali of God is bowing has both an outward and an inward dimension. The Master is the very soul of prayer; He never leaves the state of bowing, even for a moment. Each Imam gives alms while bowing.

🌼Have we received the alms of Kazimiyya from the very being of Imam Kazim?

🌼The Imam is God’s proof and the centre of His grace. The Imam’s humility and reverence are where God’s special favours are made manifest.

🌼If we forget Kazim of the Family of Muhammad, we will be deprived of God’s special provision.

🌼The Qur’an without the Ahl al-Bayt is like the sun without radiance, like knowledge without wisdom.

🌼Each of the Imams embodies a particular divine ruling and law.

🌼If a new band is added to the spectrum of light, our sight will be illuminated to perceive things that were previously hidden from us.

🌼With each of the Imams, we will see things we could not see before. We must therefore know God’s proofs and view existence through these new eyes. Our palate must become familiar with this taste (we must revive the Kazimiyya element within our own being).

🌼Imam Kazim has layers and ranks. We must clothe ourselves in Kazimiyya piety and hasten to meet God in this garment, as well as in the garments of each of the Imams.

🌼The Imam’s words have a soul; they are alive, because they issue from a living, integrated system. Each time, they appear in a new flash of insight.

🌼Descent and coming down signify imperfection.

🌼Wherever God’s knowledge, power and majesty are absent, there can be no existence.

🌼Everything needs God both to come into being and to continue to exist.

🌼God was not in a place when He created place.

🌼God’s will alone brings things into being, and His will, too, is His creation.

🌼God did not create time and space within time and space; rather, He created them beyond time and space. Thus none of the dimensions of time and space make any difference to Him.

🌼 From another perspective, distance and proximity are constructs (laws). He encompasses the beginning and end of all things—not through simultaneous awareness, but through an awareness beyond simultaneity. We have no choice but to use the language of sameness and simultaneity. If He did not encompass the beginning and end, no phenomenon would exist at all.

🌼 If He did not apprehend the far and the near simultaneously, neither far nor near would exist.

🌼 We do not know the nature of distance and proximity.

🌼 Every being is confined within its own coordinates.

🌼 We live in the past; we have not yet perceived the present.   When we look at the sky, we are watching the past.

🌼 Time and space are mysteries to us.

🌼 If He wills, He makes the far near and the near far.

🌼 The capacity to increase is a sign of imperfection, for it means that something was lacking and was later acquired.

🌼 Descent and ascent both entail a kind of diminishment and increase.

🌼 Every descent and ascent takes place through motion, and motion itself requires something to set it in motion.   He created distance.   He is the One who joins and separates time.

🔅🌼 The Imam is the embodiment of divine unity 🌼🔅

🌹After professing the oneness of the one God, Allah, and the prophethood of the blessed Prophet, divine unity is realized through professing allegiance to the Imamate. For the Imamate embodies divine unity: unless we are absorbed into its reality, we cannot understand divine unity.

🌹We can draw benefit from every state and aspect of the Imam: his prayer and supplication, his ardor and love, his celestial and sovereign realm, his breath, light and knowledge.

🔅🌼 The everlasting bowing 🌼🔅

🌹Prayer without bowing and prostration has no meaning. It is as though the bowing of the Ahl al-Bayt, peace be upon them, is the divine sanctuary of grace, love and generosity. The revered ones are, in truth, the very spirit of bowing and prostration; their bowing continues in every age, beyond the limits of time and place.

🌻🔆Al-Māʾida: 55   إِنَّما وَلِيُّكُمُ اللَّهُ وَ رَسُولُهُ وَ الَّذينَ آمَنُوا الَّذينَ يُقيمُونَ الصَّلاةَ وَ يُؤْتُونَ الزَّكاةَ وَ هُمْ راكِعُونَ

🌻🔆 Your guardian is only Allah, His Messenger, and those who believe—the ones who establish prayer and give alms while bowing.

🌹In the verse «إِنَّمَا وَلِيُّكُمُ اللَّهُ», the word «الَّذِينَ» is used in the plural. In truth, it refers to all the Imams of the Prophet’s Household, peace be upon them, all of whom give alms while bowing!

🌹Have you received alms from Imam al-Kāẓim, peace be upon him? Imam Musa ibn Jaʿfar (al-Kāẓim), peace be upon him, shines in this verse too.

🔅🌼 The Qur’an in the company of the Prophet’s Household 🌼🔅

🌹Knowledge without the Prophet’s Household is meaningless, just as the Qur’an without them is meaningless. The Qur’an is the software, and God’s Proof is its hardware. The Qur’an is light, and each Imam is one of its lamps; each is a blossom of the Qur’an, each with a distinctive radiance and freshness. To be deprived of any one of them is to be deprived of light, knowledge and illumination.

🌹Knowledge without the Prophet’s Household is like knowledge without wisdom. Wealth without them breeds turmoil, as does the Qur’an without them: then every jackal starts pretending to be pious.

🌹A government without the Prophet’s Household is a Dajjāl-like government.

🔅🌼 Imam al-Kāẓim, peace be upon him, is the world’s special salt 🌼🔅

🌹If God Most High were to remove al-Kāẓim from the world, the world would fall apart. If even one law changed, the order of the universe would unravel.

🌹What would become of the world if salt alone were removed from it?! If one element of existence were removed or changed, the beautiful face of the universe would be transformed.

🌹If love for, knowledge of, and allegiance to Imam al-Kāẓim, peace be upon him, were removed from our souls, their order would fall apart. Without al-Kāẓim, we would be al-Kāẓims without salt!

🌹Without the star of al-Kāẓim, without the highest member of al-Kāẓim, we would be a deficient and darkened land.

🔅🌼 The authority of the Prophet’s Household reigns over our souls 🌼🔅

🌹If our hearts are held in the love and guardianship of the Ahl al-Bayt, peace be upon them, they will become vast heavens, with lofty mosques and sanctuaries.

🌹The guardianship of the Prophet’s family governs our souls; we have a duty to feel its presence.

🌹Each of the Imams corresponds to a heavenly age. Though we do not meet them in our material age, from the horizon of “timelessness” we can apprehend their earthly age as well, and remain continually present in their heavenly age.

🌹It is possible—and it should be possible—to connect and communicate with each and every Imam. Our bond with them is like the bond of veins and nerves: the bond of the limbs with the body.

🌹These are limbs not yet grown, which will grow beneath the guardianship of the wilāya; the guardianship of the Prophet’s family is therefore essential to our perfection.

🔅🌼 The Tower of Kāẓimiyya 🌼🔅

🌹We must renew, refresh and strengthen our knowledge of each and every member of the Ahl al-Bayt, peace be upon them. We must continually renew our covenant of allegiance to each of the Imams.

🌹The Kāẓimiyya Ghadir must not be forgotten: in its course, the Alawite Ghadir has passed through the orbit of each of the noble ones!

🌹Imam Musa al-Kazim, peace be upon him, is God’s proof. When we look at the sky, we know it by its constellations; without any one of them, it would no longer be a sky. The heaven of our souls is made complete through the guardianship of each of the noble ones. The Tower of Kāẓimiyya lies in a particular region of the geography of our souls and hearts.

🌻🔆Al-Burūj: 1  وَ السَّماءِ ذاتِ الْبُرُوجِ

🔆By the heaven adorned with constellations,

🌷🔆رَسُولُ اللَّه ص قَالَ: «أَمَّا السَّمَاءُ فَأَنَا، وَ أَمَّا الْبُرُوجُ فَالْأَئِمَّةُ بَعْدِي، أَوَّلُهُمْ عَلِيٌّ وَ آخِرُهُمْ الْمَهْدِيُّ».^[1]

🔅🌼 The Heavenly Word of the Heavenly Imam 🌼🔅

🌹Journeying through the heavenly realm of Imam Musa al-Kazim’s words is essential to opening the soul and world of Kāẓimiyya. Through Imam Musa al-Kazim, the ultimate conquest will be achieved.

🌹The words of Imam Musa al-Kazim will open doors and windows for us.

🌹The Imam’s words possess spirit and light; they are alive. His words interpret themselves: they are a living, dynamic system of the means of Kāẓimiyya, revealing new dimensions. Each time we return to them, a new revelation unfolds.

🔅🌼 The Oneness of Kāẓimiyya 🌼🔅

🌷🔆عَنْ أَبِي إِبْرَاهِيمَ ع قَالَ: ذُكِرَ عِنْدَهُ قَوْمٌ يَزْعُمُونَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ تَبَارَكَ وَ تَعَالَى يَنْزِلُ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ الدُّنْيَا فَقَالَ إِنَ‏ اللَّهَ‏ لَا يَنْزِلُ‏ وَ لَا يَحْتَاجُ‏ إِلَى أَنْ يَنْزِلَ إِنَّمَا مَنْظَرُهُ‏  فِي الْقُرْبِ وَ الْبُعْدِ سَوَاءٌ لَمْ يَبْعُدْ مِنْهُ قَرِيبٌ وَ لَمْ يَقْرُبْ مِنْهُ بَعِيدٌ- وَ لَمْ يَحْتَجْ إِلَى شَيْ‏ءٍ بَلْ يُحْتَاجُ إِلَيْهِ وَ هُوَ ذُو الطَّوْلِ‏ لا إِلهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ‏ أَمَّا قَوْلُ الْوَاصِفِينَ إِنَّهُ يَنْزِلُ تَبَارَكَ وَ تَعَالَى فَإِنَّمَا يَقُولُ ذَلِكَ مَنْ يَنْسُبُهُ إِلَى نَقْصٍ أَوْ زِيَادَةٍ وَ كُلُّ مُتَحَرِّكٍ مُحْتَاجٌ إِلَى مَنْ يُحَرِّكُهُ أَوْ يَتَحَرَّكُ بِهِ فَمَنْ ظَنَّ بِاللَّهِ الظُّنُونَ هَلَكَ فَاحْذَرُوا فِي صِفَاتِهِ مِنْ أَنْ تَقِفُوا  لَهُ عَلَى حَدٍّ تَحُدُّونَهُ بِنَقْصٍ أَوْ زِيَادَةٍ أَوْ تَحْرِيكٍ أَوْ تَحَرُّكٍ أَوْ زَوَالٍ أَوِ اسْتِنْزَالٍ أَوْ نُهُوضٍ أَوْ قُعُودٍ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ جَلَّ وَ عَزَّ عَنْ صِفَةِ الْوَاصِفِينَ وَ نَعْتِ النَّاعِتِينَ وَ تَوَهُّمِ الْمُتَوَهِّمِينَ‏ وَ تَوَكَّلْ عَلَى الْعَزِيزِ الرَّحِيمِ‏ الَّذِي يَراكَ حِينَ تَقُومُ‏ وَ تَقَلُّبَكَ فِي السَّاجِدِينَ‏.[2]

🔆When Imam Musa al-Kazim, peace be upon him, was told that some people believed God descends to the lowest heaven, he replied: “God does not descend, nor does He need to descend. For, in His sight, far and near are alike: no one near has moved away from Him, and no one far away has drawn close to Him. He has need of nothing; rather, all are in need of Him. He is the Bestower. None is worthy of worship but Him, the Mighty, the Wise.”

But the claim made by those who describe God and say, “God, Blessed and Exalted, descends,” is spoken by one who attributes decrease and increase to God. Moreover, everything that moves must have something to move it, or must move itself. Whoever entertains such notions about God will perish. Beware of setting limits on God’s attributes, or confining Him to decrease or increase, being moved or moving, transferring from place to place, descending, rising, or sitting. God is exalted and glorious beyond the descriptions of those who describe Him, the praise of those who praise Him, and the imaginings of those who imagine…  وَ تَوَكَّلْ عَلَى الْعَزِيزِ الرَّحِيمِ‏ الَّذِي يَراكَ حِينَ تَقُومُ‏ وَ تَقَلُّبَكَ فِي السَّاجِدِينَ

🔅🌼 A deep dive into the words of Imam Musa al-Kazim, peace be upon him 🌼🔅

🌸☘️عَنْ أَبِي إِبْرَاهِيمَ ع قَالَ: ذُكِرَ عِنْدَهُ قَوْمٌ يَزْعُمُونَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ تَبَارَكَ وَ تَعَالَى يَنْزِلُ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ الدُّنْيَا

☘️ When he was told that some people believe God descends to the lowest heaven

🌹Whoever descends to a place is not already there. God is «بالاتر از بودن» wherever He is; He is with «بالاتر از هست» wherever He is;

🌹 God is above «بودن». He is everywhere, and His power, knowledge, and majesty encompass and oversee all things.

🌹Wherever there is a «جا», it is there by His will; «هست» is with Him; He is beyond existence.

🌷🔆 عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع‏ فِي قَوْلِهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ «ما يَكُونُ مِنْ نَجْوى‏ ثَلاثَةٍ إِلَّا هُوَ رابِعُهُمْ وَ لا خَمْسَةٍ إِلَّا هُوَ سادِسُهُمْ وَ لا أَدْنى‏ مِنْ ذلِكَ وَ لا أَكْثَرَ إِلَّا هُوَ مَعَهُمْ أَيْنَ ما كانُوا»  فَقَالَ هُوَ وَاحِدٌ أَحَدِيُّ الذَّاتِ بَائِنٌ مِنْ خَلْقِهِ وَ بِذَاكَ وَصَفَ نَفْسَهُ وَ هُوَ بِكُلِّ شَيْ‏ءٍ مُحِيطٌ بِالْإِشْرَافِ وَ الْإِحَاطَةِ وَ الْقُدْرَةِ «لا يَعْزُبُ عَنْهُ مِثْقالُ ذَرَّةٍ فِي السَّماواتِ وَ لا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَ لا أَصْغَرُ مِنْ ذلِكَ وَ لا أَكْبَرُ» بِالْإِحَاطَةِ وَ الْعِلْمِ لَا بِالذَّاتِ‏ لِأَنَّ الْأَمَاكِنَ مَحْدُودَةٌ تَحْوِيهَا حُدُودٌ أَرْبَعَةٌ فَإِذَا كَانَ بِالذَّاتِ لَزِمَهُ الْحَوَايَةُ..[3]

🔆 It is narrated from Imam Ja‘far al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, regarding the words of God, Exalted is He: «ما يَكُونُ مِنْ نَجْوى‏ ثَلاثَةٍ إِلَّا هُوَ رابِعُهُمْ وَ لا خَمْسَةٍ إِلَّا هُوَ سادِسُهُمْ»—that is, “There is no private conversation among three without God being the fourth of them, nor among five without Him being the sixth.”

The Imam said: “God is One, the unique and indivisible One in His essence, distinct from His creation. He has described Himself as such. God encompasses all things, being fully aware of them through His supremacy, encompassing knowledge, and power. «لا يَعْزُبُ عَنْهُ مِثْقالُ ذَرَّةٍ فِي السَّماواتِ وَ لا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَ لا أَصْغَرُ مِنْ ذلِكَ وَ لا أَكْبَرُ» means: ‘Nothing is hidden from Him—not even the weight of a tiny ant or an atom among the particles of the air, in the heavens or on earth, nor anything smaller or greater than that.’ This is by virtue of His encompassing knowledge, not by His sacred essence being in a place; for places are finite, and the four directions bound them on every side.”

🌻🔆Ṭā Hā: 5   الرَّحْمنُ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ اسْتَوى‏

🔆The All-Merciful is established over the Throne (He is established over all things; no thing is nearer to Him than another)

🌷🔆عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ (عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ)، أَنَّهُ سُئِلَ عَنْ قَوْلِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ: الرَّحْمنُ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ اسْتَوى‏. فَقَالَ: «اسْتَوَى عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْ‏ءٍ، فَلَيْسَ شَيْ‏ءٌ أَقْرَبَ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ شَيْ‏ءٍ».^[4]

Imam al-Sadiq, peace be upon him, was asked about the words of God, Mighty and Glorious: “The All-Merciful is established over the Throne.” He replied: “He is established over all things; no thing is nearer to Him than another.”

🔅🌼Descent implies need 🌼🔅

☘️🌷 فَقَالَ: إِنَ‏ اللَّهَ‏ لَا يَنْزِلُ‏ وَ لَا يَحْتَاجُ‏ إِلَى أَنْ يَنْزِلَ

☘️ He said: “God does not descend, nor does He need to descend.”

🌹Descent is a clear sign of need; it is a sign of deficiency and limitation. He is Allahu Akbar. If His knowledge, power and greatness were not present everywhere, that place would not exist. His knowledge, power and Most Beautiful Names are present in every place and encompass all things absolutely, while His Majestic Essence is beyond all encompassing and all perception.

🌹To exist is one kind of need; to continue to exist is another.

🌹The place that did not exist but was created—He was surely not in a place when He created place. The station before place and spatiality is not of the nature of place, nor of the nature of comprehension. This very earth, this very heaven, and every place, whether in the visible or the unseen realm, did not exist and then came into being. So He created them from neither of those realms—from neither the visible realm nor the unseen. His will alone brought them into being, and His will alone sustains the life of places and the continuance of their existence. His will, then, is ever established over all things and never ceases. Indeed, His will is His creation, a manifestation of His knowledge; yet He is above and beyond all of them, and none of them can describe Him.

🌷🔆عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عِيسَى عَمَّنْ ذَكَرَهُ قَالَ: سُئِلَ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ ع أَ يَجُوزُ أَنْ يُقَالَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ شَيْ‏ءٌ قَالَ نَعَمْ يُخْرِجُهُ مِنَ الْحَدَّيْنِ حَدِّ التَّعْطِيلِ وَ حَدِّ التَّشْبِيهِ.[5]

🌷🔆عَنْ بُكَيْرِ بْنِ أَعْيَنَ قَالَ: قُلْتُ لِأَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع عِلْمُ اللَّهِ وَ مَشِيئَتُهُ هُمَا مُخْتَلِفَانِ أَوْ مُتَّفِقَانِ فَقَالَ الْعِلْمُ لَيْسَ هُوَ الْمَشِيئَةَ أَ لَا تَرَى أَنَّكَ تَقُولُ سَأَفْعَلُ كَذَا إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ وَ لَا تَقُولُ سَأَفْعَلُ‏  كَذَا إِنْ عَلِمَ اللَّهُ فَقَوْلُكَ إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ دَلِيلٌ عَلَى أَنَّهُ لَمْ يَشَأْ فَإِذَا شَاءَ كَانَ الَّذِي شَاءَ كَمَا شَاءَ وَ عِلْمُ اللَّهِ السَّابِقُ لِلْمَشِيئَةِ. [6]

🌷🔆عَنْ صَفْوَانَ بْنِ يَحْيَى قَالَ: قُلْتُ لِأَبِي الْحَسَنِ ع أَخْبِرْنِي عَنِ الْإِرَادَةِ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَ مِنَ الْخَلْقِ قَالَ فَقَالَ الْإِرَادَةُ مِنَ الْخَلْقِ الضَّمِيرُ وَ مَا يَبْدُو لَهُمْ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ مِنَ الْفِعْلِ وَ أَمَّا مِنَ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى فَإِرَادَتُهُ إِحْدَاثُهُ لَا غَيْرُ ذَلِكَ لِأَنَّهُ لَا يُرَوِّي‏  وَ لَا يَهُمُّ وَ لَا يَتَفَكَّرُ وَ هَذِهِ الصِّفَاتُ مَنْفِيَّةٌ عَنْهُ وَ هِيَ صِفَاتُ الْخَلْقِ فَإِرَادَةُ اللَّهِ الْفِعْلُ لَا غَيْرُ ذَلِكَ يَقُولُ لَهُ كُنْ فَيَكُونُ بِلَا لَفْظٍ وَ لَا نُطْقٍ بِلِسَانٍ وَ لَا هِمَّةٍ وَ لَا تَفَكُّرٍ وَ لَا كَيْفَ لِذَلِكَ كَمَا أَنَّهُ لَا كَيْفَ لَهُ. [7]

🌷🔆عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع قَالَ: خَلَقَ اللَّهُ الْمَشِيئَةَ بِنَفْسِهَا ثُمَّ خَلَقَ الْأَشْيَاءَ بِالْمَشِيئَةِ. [8]

🔅🌼 His regard is the same toward all things 🌼🔅

🌸☘️  إِنَّمَا مَنْظَرُهُ‏  فِي الْقُرْبِ وَ الْبُعْدِ سَوَاءٌ

☘️ For what is near and what is far are alike in His sight.

🌹He created time and space; He did not create them within time and space. Rather, He cannot be described or comprehended in terms of “timelessness and spacelessness” or “beyond time and space.” By His will, He creates all the coordinates of “time and space” from beyond time and space. Thus, none of time and space’s coordinates—near or far—can be different for Him.

🌹He is the one who established what is near and what is far. Nearness and distance are among His ordinances, part of His laws.

🌹By His power, He encompasses and beholds the beginning and end of all things. God knows the beginning and end of every phenomenon, and He beholds the beginning and end of time, and of every moment—not through “simultaneity,” but from beyond simultaneity.

🌹Were He not aware of the beginning and end of phenomena, nothing would come into being. He does not think things over or examine the successive units of time and space; rather, by His will alone, He creates beyond time. It is we who wait; He has no need of time, waiting or delay. He is aware of everything not in an “instant,” but beyond the instant.

🔅🌼 Nothing draws near to Him, nor does He draw near to anything 🌼🔅

🌸☘️ لَمْ يَبْعُدْ مِنْهُ قَرِيبٌ وَ لَمْ يَقْرُبْ مِنْهُ بَعِيدٌ

☘️No one who is near has moved far from Him, and no one who is far has drawn near to Him;

🌹nothing moves nearer to Him, nor does He move nearer to anything. Rather, His power and knowledge encompass all things equally, in every dimension.

🌹Were He not to apprehend what is near and far in a “simultaneous” way, there would be no nearness or distance. What is near is near to Him; what is far is far from Him. Nearness and distance belong to created beings, who perceive their own limitations and become certain of their need.

🌹Beyond the reality they possess, nearness and distance are also a kind of sensation and perception, a kind of intellectual analysis—though their true nature remains undisclosed to us. For us, however, they attest to our poverty and limitations.

🌹Every being is bounded and confined by its own coordinates and cannot go beyond them. Near and far, past and future, belong to created beings, enabling them to recognise the boundaries of their own realm.

🌹We are still living in the past, observing its account and interpretation. All we need do is lift our heads toward the sky.

🌹Even the present is not present for us. Time and space themselves are mysteries to us; for us, nearness and distance are like past and future! We do not even know what time is, or what space is.

🔅🌼The effort to draw near is an effort to overcome need🌼🔅

🌸☘️ وَ لَمْ يَحْتَجْ إِلَى شَيْ‏ءٍ بَلْ يُحْتَاجُ إِلَيْهِ

☘️He has no need of anything; rather, all are in need of Him. He is the Giver;

🌹what is far is far from Him, and what is near is near to Him. It is He who makes us near or far; it is He who takes us down and raises us up.

🌹If He so wills, He makes what is far near and what is near far, just as He can make fire cold and cold turn to fire.

🔅🌼He is Mighty and Wise🌼🔅

🌸☘️ وَ هُوَ ذُو الطَّوْلِ‏ لا إِلهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ

☘️None is worthy of worship but Him. He is Mighty and Wise.

🔅🌼Increase is a clear sign of deficiency🌼🔅

‏ 🌸☘️  أَمَّا قَوْلُ الْوَاصِفِينَ إِنَّهُ يَنْزِلُ تَبَارَكَ وَ تَعَالَى فَإِنَّمَا يَقُولُ ذَلِكَ مَنْ يَنْسُبُهُ إِلَى نَقْصٍ أَوْ زِيَادَةٍ

☘️As for the claim made by those who say, “God, Blessed and Exalted, descends,” it is made by one who attributes decrease and increase to God.

🌹That which can increase is deficient, for it acquires what it does not possess. The absence of something from a place makes its descent into that place necessary, whereas every place endures by His will. The existence of places at every coordinate proclaims the presence of His will, knowledge, and power.

🌹Likewise, when a being descends from one place to another, it leaves the former and comes to be present in the new one. Thus, both descent and ascent entail the possibility of deficiency and increase.

🔅🌼Movement is a sign of need🌼🔅

🌸☘️   وَ كُلُّ مُتَحَرِّكٍ مُحْتَاجٌ إِلَى مَنْ يُحَرِّكُهُ أَوْ يَتَحَرَّكُ بِهِ

☘️Moreover, everything that moves needs a mover, or something to set it in motion;

🌹every descent and ascent takes place through movement. Movement is undertaken to arrive, to attain awareness and understanding, and to grow. Surely, whoever needs movement is even more in need of one who sets them in motion!

🌹He is the Joiner and the Separator of time and space: He joins the units of time and space together and separates them from one another.

🌹He is the One who joins and separates. “Distance,” too, is His creation. He created both space and its inhabitants.

🌹If He were separated from “distance,” “distance” would no longer exist.

🔅🌼Take care how you describe Him🌼🔅

🌸☘️    فَمَنْ ظَنَّ بِاللَّهِ الظُّنُونَ هَلَكَ فَاحْذَرُوا فِي صِفَاتِهِ مِنْ أَنْ تَقِفُوا  لَهُ عَلَى حَدٍّ تَحُدُّونَهُ بِنَقْصٍ أَوْ زِيَادَةٍ أَوْ تَحْرِيكٍ أَوْ تَحَرُّكٍ أَوْ زَوَالٍ أَوِ اسْتِنْزَالٍ أَوْ نُهُوضٍ أَوْ قُعُودٍ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ جَلَّ وَ عَزَّ عَنْ صِفَةِ الْوَاصِفِينَ وَ نَعْتِ النَّاعِتِينَ وَ تَوَهُّمِ الْمُتَوَهِّمِينَ‏ وَ تَوَكَّلْ عَلَى الْعَزِيزِ الرَّحِيمِ‏ الَّذِي يَراكَ حِينَ تَقُومُ‏ وَ تَقَلُّبَكَ فِي السَّاجِدِينَ‏.[9]

☘️    Whoever entertains such notions about God will perish. Beware of setting limits to God’s attributes, or of confining Him to diminution or increase, being acted upon or moving, changing location, descending, rising, or sitting. God is exalted and too majestic for the descriptions of those who describe Him, the praise of those who praise Him, and the imaginings of those who imagine…  وَ تَوَكَّلْ عَلَى الْعَزِيزِ الرَّحِيمِ‏ الَّذِي يَراكَ حِينَ تَقُومُ‏ وَ تَقَلُّبَكَ فِي السَّاجِدِينَ

🌼Ali Sa‘i (Abdullah Mishkat) 110.141 (903)🌼

[1] البرهان في تفسير القرآن    vol. 5    622  Bahrani, Hashim ibn Sulayman, Mu’assasat al-Bi‘thah, Department of Islamic Studies—Iran, Qom, 1st ed., 1415 AH.

[2] الكافي (ط – الإسلامية) ؛ ج‏1 ؛ ص125  Kulayni, Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyyah—Tehran, 4th ed., 1407 AH.

[3] التوحيد (للصدوق) ؛ ؛ ص131  Ibn Babawayh, Muhammad ibn Ali, Society of Seminary Teachers—Iran, Qom, 1st ed., 1398 AH.

[4] البرهان في تفسير القرآن    vol. 3    750  Bahrani, Hashim ibn Sulayman, Mu’assasat al-Bi‘thah, Department of Islamic Studies—Iran, Qom, 1st ed., 1415 AH.

[5] الكافي (ط – الإسلامية) ؛ ج‏1 ؛ ص84   Kulayni, Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyyah—Tehran, 4th ed., 1407 AH.

[6] الكافي (ط – الإسلامية) ؛ ج‏1 ؛ ص109   Kulayni, Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyyah—Tehran, 4th ed., 1407 AH.

[7] الكافي (ط – الإسلامية) ؛ ج‏1 ؛ ص109   Kulayni, Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyyah—Tehran, 4th ed., 1407 AH.

[8] الكافي (ط – الإسلامية) ؛ ج‏1 ؛ ص110   Kulayni, Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyyah—Tehran, 4th ed., 1407 AH.

[9] الكافي (ط – الإسلامية) ؛ ج‏1 ؛ ص125  Kulayni, Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyyah—Tehran, 4th ed., 1407 AH.