Divine Knowledge: The Way Out of the Impasse of Servitude

### 🌟 A Prayer to Be Adorned with the Garment of Worship and Obedience

O God, adorn me with the garment of service, worship and obedience to You. Beautify me with righteous guidance, and set me on the path of truth and growth in intention, so that I may devote the years of my life to serving You. Let me wear myself out in Your remembrance, obedience and worship, and let the beginning and end of my life be marked by nothing but remembrance of You and servitude to You. 🌼
O Lord, without this, I will become pasture for Satan. God forbid—he will graze upon me and make a rich morsel of my very being. O God, do not leave me to myself; accept me Yourself. Make me one who worships You, and never let me be separated, even for a moment, from remembering and serving You.

### 🌟 The Path to Obedience and Servitude

Anyone who wishes to attain obedience and servitude to God must prove that this is truly what they seek. One means of doing so is obeying God Himself. We cannot attain obedience to God unless we become His servants, and we cannot become His servants unless we come to know Him. 🌟
We must understand our place in servitude and our level of knowledge of God if we are to climb the ladder of knowledge. If we do not know the limits of our understanding, we will remain on the lowest rungs. But if we glimpse the heights of knowledge, we will take steps towards them.

### 🌟 A Beautiful Tradition about Knowledge

A man came to the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) and said, “O Messenger of God, teach me the wonders of knowledge.” The Prophet replied, “What have you learned of its foundations that you now ask about its wonders?” 🌺
The man asked him again, “What is the highest point of knowledge, O Messenger of God?” The Prophet replied, “Knowing God as He truly deserves to be known.”
He went on to say that even when we attain knowledge of God as He deserves to be known, we have not yet reached the summit of knowledge; we have only reached its beginning. We are still at the threshold of knowing and worshipping God; we have not yet entered the heart of servitude.

### 🌟 Reaching the Summit of Knowledge

We must therefore scale the summit of knowledge and then enter into its depths. This path begins with the prelude to knowledge of God: true knowledge of Him, as He deserves to be known. 🌟

### 🌟 Asked about Knowing God as He Deserves

A Bedouin asked the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), “What does it mean to know God as He deserves to be known?” The Prophet replied, “That you know Him in such a way that you know He has no likeness, no semblance and no equal; that He is One, Unique, without peer and without counterpart. This is what it means to know Him as He deserves to be known.” 🌺

Now, if I know that He has no likeness, why would I fashion an image of Him? To point to Him would be to claim that He has a likeness. He has no likeness and cannot be pointed to. He has no representation, for He has no attribute by which we could represent Him. He has no sign by which we could reach Him. Everything that exists in this world is merely a sign or attribute that directs human attention—not His essence.

### 🌟 A Sound Understanding of Divine Oneness

This knowledge does not mean knowing God’s essence. Rather, it means knowing Him in such a way that we understand that He:

• has no likeness.
• has no semblance.
• has no equal.
• has no partner.
• is One, the One, the Unique.
• is the First and the Last.
• is the Manifest and the Hidden.
• has no peer and no equal. 🌟

He has no counterpart or likeness. This is what it means to know Him as He deserves to be known. Have we reached this station? If only we had—or might yet—reach it. This is pure divine oneness: the summit of knowledge, and the beginning of servitude and worship.

### 🌟 Shirk in the End Times

In these end times, shirk is rampant. Some say either that no being exists at all, or that whatever exists is God Himself! (Exalted is He far above that.)
How can we make them understand:

• He has no likeness.
• He has no semblance.
• He has no equal.
• He has no peer.

How can we convince these self-proclaimed scholars that He has no counterpart? Have they plumbed the depths of ignorance? When, then, will they reach the summit of knowledge? 🌼

### 🌟 Preparing for Knowledge of God

How do we attain the station of knowing God? How do we equip ourselves with the means we need to know Him? Did God not teach us to seek refuge in His grace, so that He Himself might bring us to knowledge of Him? Why do we not repeat this supplication at every moment:

اللهم عرفنی نفسک. 🌟

### 🌟 The Great Supplication for Knowledge

The supplication اللهم عرفنی نفسک is one of the most magnificent and profound prayers. However deeply I ponder it, I never reach its end; it is as though this prayer were the innermost secret of all secrets. If this supplication is answered for us, we will have gone beyond the summit of knowledge and attained ultimate recognition. 🌟
The prayer then continues: اللهم عرفنی رسولک و اللهم عرفنی حجتک. It guides us towards knowing God, His Messenger, and His Proof.

### 🌟 Understanding the Station of the Self of God

How can we understand the station of the Self of God? What does this phrase mean? Knowledge of God, the Messenger, and the Proof is, in truth, a single knowledge, for knowing the Messenger and the Proof is tantamount to knowing God.

The question, then, is this: How can we attain knowledge of the Messenger and the Proof? It is a knowledge attained through prophethood and imamate—the very true knowledge we ask God for in this supplication.

When we say اللهم عرفنی نفسک**, we are, in fact, asking God for something exalted. This supplication is a plea for the most precious of all things, because prophethood and imamate are the repositories of knowledge and divine wisdom.

### 🌟 The Faculty of Recognition

Knowledge of God creates within a person a faculty through which alone God can be worshipped. Without this faculty, worship of God has no meaning. We must therefore ask God for it with all our heart and soul. This knowledge is attained through the triad of righteous guidance, the path of truth, and the intention to grow. 🌺

Without these pillars, we will have no capacity to worship God. Knowledge means the ability to obey and serve God. If we do not attain it, we will lack the capacity to worship Him.

### 🌟 The Words of Imam al-Baqir

In an address to Abu Hamza al-Thumali, Imam al-Baqir (peace be upon him) said:
**Only those who know God have worshipped Him. Whoever does not know God has worshipped someone other than God.

Abu Hamza asked, “What is knowledge of God?” The Imam replied:
Knowledge of God means affirming God; affirming Muhammad as the Messenger of God and the reality of his prophethood in one’s heart; affirming the authority of Ali and accepting the imamate of the Imams after him; and, for God’s sake, disavowing their enemies.

### 🌟 The Criterion of True Knowledge

True knowledge of God is knowledge that keeps a person far from every form of associating partners with God or imagining Him to be like anything else. One who has attained this knowledge no longer ascribes to God any equal, likeness, or counterpart. 🌟

### 🌟 Affirming Muhammad as the Messenger of God and the Authority of the Ahl al-Bayt

True knowledge of God begins with affirming the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). To affirm Muhammad as the Messenger of God means to perceive the reality of his prophethood within oneself, and to affirm him by accepting the authority of Ali (peace be upon him) and the imamate of the Imams after him. One must also turn to God in disavowal of their enemies. 🌺

Whoever does not attain this station has not attained true knowledge of God. A clear sign that a person has attained true knowledge of God is that they no longer ascribe to Him any equal, likeness, or counterpart.

### 🌟 The شرط for Attaining the Station of Divine Unity

Until the light of the imamate illuminates a person’s heart, they will not attain the station of pure divine unity. Imam al-Baqir (peace be upon him) was asked:
“What should I do to know that the reality of faith is complete within me?”
The Imam replied:
“Love the friends of God and hate the enemies of God, as God has commanded, and remain with and close to the truthful.” 🌟

When the Imam was asked who the friends of God were, he replied:
“The friends of God are Muhammad, the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), Ali, Hasan, Husayn, and Ali ibn al-Husayn (peace be upon them).”
Then the Imam pointed to himself and said:
“My son Ja‘far (peace be upon him) is also one of the friends of God.”

### 🌟 Signs of True Knowledge

Imam al-Baqir (peace be upon him) said:
“Whoever loves these people and accepts their authority has joined God’s friends and is among the truthful, as God has commanded.” 🌺

Abu Hamza asked:
“Are these the signs of knowing God?”
The Imam replied:
“Yes. When these signs appear in a person, they can be sure they have attained true knowledge of God.”

### 🌟 The Beginning of Worshipping God

Know that worship of God begins only with knowing Him. Without such knowledge, a person reaches a dead end in serving God and cannot truly serve Him. 🌟

### 🌟 The Purpose of Human Creation

How beautifully Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) put it:
“God, exalted is His remembrance, created His servants for no other reason than that they might know Him; once they know Him, they worship Him, and when they worship Him, they are freed from the need to worship anyone else.” 🌺

Whoever does not know God will become captive to what is other than God. A man asked the Imam:
“What does it mean to know God?”
The Imam replied:
“For the people of every age, knowing God means knowing the Imam whose obedience God has made incumbent upon them. This is what it means to know God.”

### 🌟 The Imam: The Spirit of Knowledge and Worship

The Imam is the means by which God is known, the third side of this sacred triangle. Whoever fails to reach the Imam will lose the other two sides as well.

The Imam is the spirit, freshness and flavour of knowledge.
Without the Imam, knowledge is tasteless, colourless and lacking warmth; it has no love in it. It is the Imam who makes love for God flow through the hearts. The Imam is pure knowledge, pure worship and pure devotion. The Imam is the interpretation and inner meaning of knowledge and worship. 🌟

If the knowledge we seek were embodied in human form, it would be the Imam, God’s proof. If worship were embodied, it would take the form of the Imam.

### 🌟 God’s Proof: The Lifeline of Devotion

God’s proof is the lifeline of devotion to God. If we stray from it, we are spiritually dead in our service of God. Worship has value when it comes to fruition and its spirit is adorned with knowledge of God. Worship without knowledge is no worship at all. 🌺

### 🌟 Worship as the Manifestation of God’s Will

Worship manifests God’s will. Through worship, a person becomes a screen upon which God’s will is displayed. Worship is beautiful and worthy only when adorned with the diamond of knowledge.

When a person connects to the system of worship and devotion to God, the sense of servitude begins to flow within them. If this connection is strengthened and maintained, the state of worship endures; but if it is broken, the lifeline of devotion is severed.

Our worship, then, must have spirit and knowledge if it is to come to fruition: it must be worship in which God’s will alone is made manifest. 🌟

### 🌟 The Taste of Worship and Its Highest Delight

When we attain true worship of God, we will understand its real feeling and flavour. But what is the sign of worship? We must see and experience it with the eye of the heart. 🌺

Obedience cannot attain delight unless we reach its highest degree. At that summit, we will understand what lies beyond delight and what place it holds. That which lies beyond delight is worship: an experience beyond description, with no how or what. We must simply reach it, understand it, know it and experience it. True devotion to God is beyond love, nearness and every form of beauty.

To devote ourselves to God, we must fall in love; and in this devotion, we must experience a state beyond love. Love is a means of attaining the station of devotion, and devotion is the beginning of an experience higher than worship. 🌟

### 🌟 Knowing the Imam and Knowing God

Knowing the Imam is tantamount to knowing God. Knowledge alone is not enough; obedience to the Imam is also essential, for obedience to the Imam is the manifestation of knowledge of God within us.

When we attain this station and connect to the vast realm of knowledge, we will become true servants of God. Our acts of worship will become instruments through which God displays His artistry—and what wonders He will create!

Let us recognise the station of God’s Proofs: they are the very essence of knowledge of God and an embodiment of worship. When we greet God’s Proofs, we are, in reality, greeting the knowledge of God. They are the abodes of knowledge of God and the dwelling places of divine remembrance. 🌺
Whoever fails to recognise God’s Proofs is ignorant of God’s majesty and has become distant from Him.

### 🌟 The Means of Knowing God

God, in His grace, created for us a means called knowledge—a means by which we turn our attention towards Him. The three aspects of knowledge of God set out in the noble supplication are these:
اللهم عرفنی نفسک، نبیک و حجتک.

We have learned that knowledge is attainable only through God Himself. Through knowledge, we seek knowledge: direct knowledge, the very knowledge attained by the saints and God’s Proofs. This supplication teaches us to seek God’s help in attaining complete detachment from all but Him. 🌟

### 🌟 A Supplication for the End Times

The noble supplication “اللهم عرفنی نفسک” is much like “الهی هب لی کمال الانقطاع الیک”. It is as though, in both supplications, we ask God to connect us to the source of His majesty. These supplications are like mirrors reflecting one another.

Knowledge of God is possible through God Himself. It is direct, beyond every veil; a knowledge that brings us close to divine reality without any name or attribute. 🌺

### 🌟 Concluding Remarks

What I have offered is only a limited understanding and interpretation. The reality of knowing God is far beyond this. We can take steps along this path only through prayer and continual supplication: اللهم عرفنی نفسک. 🌟

### 🌟 Knowledge Beyond Names and Attributes

Once we attain the true station of knowledge, we must then come to know the Names. Yet this knowledge transcends names and attributes: it is knowledge that requires none of them. We need only ask; it is God who brings us to this station. 🌺

At this station, prophethood and God’s Proof make the interpretation of this pure knowledge clear to us.

### 🌟 The Station of the Divine Essence and Prophethood

The station of the Essence is beyond prophethood. Prophethood is the seat of knowledge and the wisdom of spiritual knowing. It is like seeing and tasting: with each sense, the horizon of knowledge rises higher. The three faculties of “اللهم عرفنی نفسک، نبیک و حجتک**” provide complete senses for knowing God and lead us to deeper understanding. 🌟

### 🌟 The Inability to Comprehend the Divine Essence

We must know and accept that we cannot comprehend God. He cannot be attained through knowledge. He cannot be seen, heard or known; He is beyond all of these.

Everything that can be seen or heard is a sign of Him. These signs guide us towards Him, but the divine Essence transcends them and is apprehended through God Himself.

### 🌟 The Relationship Between Creator and Creation

How does God establish His relationship with us as Creator? How do we sense, when in truth we do not sense?
He alone knows how to bring this connection within our grasp. So we must recognise our place and level of understanding if we are to make a true request—the very request we may never have known how to make properly. 🌺

### 🌟 Creating a Name and a Sign

God created a name and made a sign. But what was at the heart of this sign? Something that was not, yet is; something that exists before every name and sign, and is what it is. This is the pure reality, the exalted station that lies beyond every form of understanding and perception.

“اللهم عرفنی نفسک.” 🌟