Imam al-Kazim (AS): Beyond Our Very Lives

🌹🔅☘️ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحيمِ ☘️🔅🌹

🌻🌼A Poem on the Mysteries of the Kazimiyya🌼🌻

🌼🔆🌼“The Treasury of the Kazimiyya”  “The Treasuries of Time”🌼🔆🌼

🔅🌹 “The Resting Place of Knowledge”  “The Landing Place of Wisdom”  An abridged text with an addendum: “Time, Interpreter of the Divine Will,” “The Abode of the Divine Will,” “The Exalted Station of Imam Musa al-Kazim (peace be upon him),” and more …       1402.11.16    Ali Sa‘i (Abdullah Meshkat) 110.141(903)  🌹🔅

🔅🌼 Imam al-Kazim (peace be upon him) is the treasury of time🌼🔅

🌹The divine lamp in our hearts will shine brightly only when our devotion and love embrace every member of the immaculate Household.

🌹The verse of God’s Light becomes complete and radiant only in a heart inscribed with every phrase of the blessed verse. Then our heart will become the lamp of the Verse of Light. Imam al-Kazim (peace be upon him) is the “neither eastern” light of God’s verse; Imam al-Kazim is the boundless frontier of divine light.

🌹Human beings are inseparably joined to time and place; time and place are among the limbs and organs of our vast world.

🌹Imam al-Kazim (peace be upon him) is the treasury of the mysteries of his age.

🌹Imam al-Kazim (peace be upon him) was the vessel and keeper of the divine will in his time. Al-Kazim is the special treasury of devotion to God.

🌹Whoever does not know the Imam of their own time and the Imam who preceded him is blind to time and place.

🌹God’s proofs are the keepers of the time of their own age.

🌹Time is part of our being, one of our members.

🌹Time is part of our being, one of our members.

🌹We must not consider ourselves separate from the time of Imam al-Kazim (peace be upon him); such separation is like being severed from a great part of our own being.

🌹Separation from time is a sign of stagnation and petrification.

🌹Indifference to Imam al-Kazim (peace be upon him) is a departure from him—a departure from Kazimi knowledge, life, and delight.

🌹The special knowledge of the Kazimiyya belongs to Imam al-Kazim. Whoever lacks it is ignorant of this distinctive knowledge.

🌹Without al-Kazim, we are destitute and helpless; to be without al-Kazim is to be deprived of the life unique to servanthood.

🌹Turning one’s back on knowledge is to welcome ignorance. To turn one’s back on the teachings and knowledge of Imam al-Kazim is intellectual blindness.

🔅🌼 God’s proof is the landing place of divine knowledge and wisdom🌼🔅

🌹God’s proof is the resting place of knowledge.

🌹The mysteries of every age are stored in the soul of its Imam.

🌹Every page of the Book of God must be recited for the lesson of servanthood to be complete; let us not neglect the Kazimi pages of the Book of God.

🌹Knowledge of the Imam lifts the veil from the face of knowledge.

🌹The Imam interprets the divine will and decree.

🌹God’s proof is the abode of the divine will.

🌹The Imam lets us taste the sweetness of knowledge and love.

🌹The pleasures of this world are but a glimpse of the higher pleasures entrusted to our souls. We must not suppose that worldly pleasures are the only pleasures.

🌹Mysteries lie buried, hidden, and stored in the Imam’s soul; every Imam is a wondrous treasury of God.

🔅🌼 The Imam is the boundless power of the All-Powerful🌼🔅

🌹If the sun released all its power, it would cover and illuminate the entire universe.

🌹If the Kazimi sun were unleashed, the universe would overflow with beauty.

🌹Until the light of the Imams shines from within our hearts, we will not attain true servanthood to God.

🌹The Imam is an indispensable part of our soul.

🌹In the absence of knowledge, the Imam is imprisoned by the people of his age.

🔅🌼 The Imam is a reality beyond time 🌼🔅

🌹The Imam is God’s proof in time and beyond time.

🌹The Imam is a traveler in the realm of knowledge, its bearer and custodian of divine knowledge.

🌹The true nature of time can be felt only through the Imam of the Age.

🌹Time is the unfolding interpretation of the divine will.

🌹To stop, stagnate, and stand still in time is real death.

🌹The Imam of each age interprets that age and its place, and is the storehouse of its knowledge.

🌹Time is the interpretation of the divine will.

🌹The age of Imam Musa al-Kazim, peace be upon him, was borne by the secrets and special knowledge of its time.

🌹Time and place are part of our being; we are constituted by time and place.

🌹We cannot remove any part of time from our being, for then we would be left incomplete.

🌹Time is only one part of the system of God’s proof.

🌹We must not feel that we have no need of the age of Imam Musa al-Kazim, or of his Imamate and guardianship, for a great part of our being would be destroyed.

🌹Every age holds immeasurable knowledge, carried within the soul of the Imam of that age.

🌹We must feel the age of Imam al-Kazim, peace be upon him, through the soul of Imam al-Kazim.

🔅🌼 The Imam’s heart is the seat of God’s will 🌼🔅

🌹The Imam’s heart is the seat of divine laws: natural and supernatural, physical and metaphysical, worldly and otherworldly.

🌷🔆قُلُوبُنَا أَوْعِيَةٌ لِمَشِيَّةِ اللَّهِ‏ فَإِذَا شَاءَ شِئْنَا وَ اللَّهُ يَقُولُ‏ وَ ما تَشاؤُنَ إِلَّا أَنْ يَشاءَ اللَّهُ‏ [1]

🔆Imam Hasan al-Askari, peace be upon him, said: “Our hearts are vessels for God’s will; when He wills, we will,” just as He said وَ ما تَشاؤُنَ إِلَّا أَنْ يَشاءَ اللَّه‏.

🌹History is the setting in which the divine will is manifested. Every part of history is part of our identity, and must be brought to light when it falls into darkness.

🌹Until a person becomes one with the whole world—with all its ages and possibilities—they have not attained even the first stage of perfection. The whole world must, as it were, become the human body.

🌹The first stage of perfection means the beginning of true perfection.

🌹We must regard time as we regard our own limbs and organs.

🌹کل یوم هو فی شان Every moment is a divine affair; each affair is not a world but a manifestation of majesty and beauty.

🔅🌼 The words of al-Kazim give life 🌼🔅

🌹The scholars of jurisprudence are strangers to the realities of their own age.

🌷🔆قَالَ موسی بن جعفر عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ: رَحِمَ اللَّهُ عَبْداً تَفَقَّهَ‏، عَرَفَ النَّاسَ وَ لَا يَعْرِفُونَهُ.[2]

🔆Imam Musa ibn Ja‘far, peace be upon him, said: “May God Most High have mercy on a servant who gains deep understanding of religious matters and knows the people, while they do not know him.”

🌹Tafaqquh means engaging the intellect with all its faculties, in the company of a sound heart, equipped with the Two Weighty Things, entering into a subtle relationship with them, and striving through deep reflection to understand truths precisely.

🌹To be a jurist and remain unknown is a tremendous distinction. When a jurist makes himself known, it is as though a stone has fallen upon the people of his age.

🌹The jurists of an age should be recognised without having to introduce themselves to its people. The flourishing of society depends on recognising its accomplished people, its learned, and its jurists.

🌹Among the duties of the people of every age is to recognise the scholars of their time.

🌹The cause of the Occultation of the Imam of the Age, peace be upon him, is the people’s failure to know him. Had they known him, he would not have been behind the veil of Occultation.

🌹Be like the sun and shine, even if people do not recognize the sun. At all times, be a jurist, even if people do not recognize you. Be like water and pour down, even if people do not recognize water.

🌹Neglect leaves a person blind of heart.

🌹If we neglect the scholar, we neglect knowledge and become subject to the triumph of ignorance.

🌹If the jurist of any age goes unrecognized, the Imam of that age will go unrecognized too.

🌹Let us reclaim, strengthen, and awaken our recognition.

🌹When a jurist remains unknown, it reflects the injustice of the age and the failings of its people. A society attains wisdom through its jurist.

🌹Society needs scholars; scholars do not need society. It is society’s people who should recognize their scholars, not scholars who must introduce themselves to the public. When a scholar has to present himself to society, it shows that society has been struck by intellectual blindness.

🌹God has made the Imams known to us, but our heedlessness and ingratitude have deprived us of that recognition. The effort to know them is, in truth, a return to, recovery of, and reminder of the knowledge already held within us.

🌹The Almighty has made the jurists of every age known to us, just as He has made His proofs known to us.

🌹When we fall short in understanding and recognizing the servants of the Imam of our time, what can we expect when it comes to understanding the Imam himself? The jurists are our guides to the Ahl al-Bayt.

🌷🔆وَ قَالَ الامام موسی بن جعفرعلیه السلام:‏ تَفَقَّهُوا فِي دِينِ اللَّهِ فَإِنَّ الْفِقْهَ‏ مِفْتَاحُ‏ الْبَصِيرَةِ وَ تَمَامُ الْعِبَادَةِ وَ السَّبَبُ إِلَى الْمَنَازِلِ الرَّفِيعَةِ وَ الرُّتَبِ الْجَلِيلَةِ فِي الدِّينِ وَ الدُّنْيَا وَ فَضْلُ الْفَقِيهِ عَلَى الْعَابِدِ كَفَضْلِ الشَّمْسِ عَلَى الْكَوَاكِبِ وَ مَنْ لَمْ يَتَفَقَّهْ فِي دِينِهِ لَمْ يَرْضَ اللَّهُ لَهُ عَمَلا[3]

🔆Imam al-Kazim, peace be upon him, said: “Gain deep understanding of God’s religion, for understanding religion is the key to insight, the completion of worship, and a way—and a means—to the lofty stations and exalted ranks of religion, the Hereafter, and this world. The superiority and merit of a jurist over a worshipper are like the superiority of the sun over the stars. God will not be pleased with the deeds of one who lacks understanding and insight into religious matters.”

🌷🔆تَعَلَّمْ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ مَا جَهِلْتَ وَ عَلِّمِ الْجَاهِلَ مِمَّا عُلِّمْتَ عَظِّمِ‏ الْعَالِمَ‏ لِعِلْمِهِ‏ وَ دَعْ مُنَازَعَتَهُ وَ صَغِّرِ الْجَاهِلَ لِجَهْلِهِ وَ لَا تَطْرُدْهُ وَ لَكِنْ قَرِّبْهُ وَ عَلِّمْه‏[4]

🔆Imam al-Kazim, peace be upon him, said: “Learn what you do not know, and teach the ignorant what you know. Honor the scholar for his knowledge, and regard the ignorant as lesser for his ignorance. Yet do not drive him away; instead, invite him to your side and teach him.”

🔅🌼 The Imams, peace be upon them, are the most unrecognized of mystics.🌼🔅

🌹The Imam knows his followers—their bodies, their households, and their character!

🌷🔆عَنْ جَابِرٍ عَنْ أَبِي جَعْفَرٍ ع قَالَ: إِنَّ اللَّهَ أَخَذَ مِيثَاقَ شِيعَتِنَا مِنْ صُلْبِ آدَمَ فَنَعْرِفُ بِذَلِكَ حُبَّ الْمُحِبِّ وَ إِنْ أَظْهَرَ خِلَافَ ذَلِكَ بِلِسَانِهِ وَ نَعْرِفُ‏ بُغْضَ الْمُبْغِضِ وَ إِنْ أَظْهَرَ حُبَّنَا أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ.[5]

🔆Imam al-Baqir, peace be upon him, said: “When God took a covenant from our followers in Adam’s loins, through that covenant we came to recognize those who love us, even if their words say otherwise; and we came to recognize our enemies, even if they profess love for us, the Ahl al-Bayt.”

🔅🌼 The Imams, peace be upon them, know their followers better than their parents do.🌼🔅

🌷🔆قَالَ كَانَ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ ع يَقُولُ‏ إِنَّ اللَّهَ أَخَذَ مِيثَاقَ شِيعَتِنَا بِالْوَلَايَةِ لَنَا وَ هُمْ ذَرٌّ يَوْمَ أَخَذَ الْمِيثَاقَ عَلَى الذَّرِّ وَ الْإِقْرَارَ لَهُ بِالرُّبُوبِيَّةِ وَ لِمُحَمَّدٍ ص بِالنُّبُوَّةِ وَ عَرَضَ اللَّهُ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ أُمَّتَهُ فِي الطِّينِ وَ هُمْ أَظِلَّةٌ وَ خَلَقَهُمْ مِنَ الطِّينَةِ الَّتِي خُلِقَ مِنْهَا آدَمُ وَ خَلَقَ اللَّهُ أَرْوَاحَ شِيعَتِنَا قَبْلَ أَبْدَانِهِمْ بِأَلْفَيْ عَامٍ وَ عَرَضَهُمْ عَلَيْهِ وَ عَرَّفَهُمْ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَ عَرَّفَهُمْ عَلِيّاً وَ نَحْنُ نَعْرِفُهُمْ‏ فِي‏ لَحْنِ الْقَوْل‏[6]

🔆Imam al-Baqir, peace be upon him, said: God took a covenant from our Shia concerning loyalty to us while they were in the world of ذر. On the day He took that covenant, they pledged to His divinity and to the prophethood of Muhammad, peace be upon him. God showed the community of Muhammad to him while they were still clay and their forms were but shadows. He created their bodies from the same clay from which He had created Adam. He created the spirits of our Shia two thousand years before creating their bodies. He presented them to the Messenger of God, and then presented the Messenger of God to them. He then presented Ali, peace be upon him, to them. We recognize them—our Shia—by the tone of their voices.

🔅🌼 To worship God, we must turn towards the Kaaba of God. 🌼🔅

🌹Those who do not set their sights on God’s Kaaba will lose their way on the path of worshipping God.

🌷🔆عَنْ عَلِيٍّ ع قَالَ:: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ (ص): يَا عَلِيُّ أَنْتَ بِمَنْزِلَةِ الْكَعْبَةِ يُؤْتَى إِلَيْهَا وَ لَا تَأْتِي‏[7]

🔆O Ali, you are like the Kaaba. The people must come to you; you must not go to the people.

🌷🔆 عَنْ عِيسَى بْنِ السَّرِيِّ أَبِي الْيَسَعِ قَالَ: قُلْتُ لِأَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ص مَنْ مَاتَ لَا يَعْرِفُ إِمَامَهُ مَاتَ‏ مِيتَةً جَاهِلِيَّةً قَالَ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع أَحْوَجُ مَا يَكُونُ الْعَبْدُ إِلَى مَعْرِفَتِهِ إِذَا بَلَغَ نَفْسُهُ هَذِهِ وَ أَشَارَ إِلَى صَدْرِهِ يَقُولُ لَقَدْ كُنْتُ عَلَى أَمْرٍ حَسَن‏[8]

🔆Whoever dies without knowing the Imam of their time has died a death of ignorance.

🌹Those who recite the Ziyarat Ashura affirm, within the supplication itself, that they have recognized the proofs of God and the companions of those proofs.

🌷🔆فَأَسْأَلُ اللَّهَ الَّذِي أَكْرَمَنِي بِمَعْرِفَتِكُمْ- وَ مَعْرِفَةِ أَوْلِيَائِكُمْ‏ وَ رَزَقَنِي الْبَرَاءَةَ مِنْ أَعْدَائِكُمْ أَنْ يَجْعَلَنِي مَعَكُمْ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَ الْآخِرَةِ وَ أَنْ يُثَبِّتَ لِي عِنْدَكُمْ قَدَمَ صِدْقٍ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَ الْآخِرَةِ- وَ أَسْأَلُهُ أَنْ يُبَلِّغَنِي الْمَقَامَ الْمَحْمُودَ لَكُمْ عِنْدَ اللَّه‏[9]

🌷🔆And I ask God, who has honoured me through knowledge of you and of your friends, and granted me the blessing of disavowing your enemies, to place me with you in this world and the next, to keep me steadfast in both worlds in a station of truthfulness and sincerity with you, and to bring me to your station of “the Praised Station” before God.

🔆Who, truly, is a pilgrim to Imam Husayn and to the Ashura of Imam Husayn, peace be upon him? Only those who have attained knowledge of Imam Husayn, peace be upon him, and of his companions, friends, and true servants.

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

[1]Kitāb al-Ghayba, by al-Tusi, p. 247. Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Tusi, Dar al-Maʿarif al-Islamiyya, Iran, Qom, first edition, 1411 AH.

[2] Nuzhat al-Nāẓir wa-Tanbīh al-Khāṭir, p. 122.Al-Halawani, Imam al-Mahdi School, may God hasten his noble reappearance, Qom, first edition, 1408 AH.

[3] Biḥār al-Anwār (Beirut edition), vol.10, p.247. Muhammad Baqir ibn Muhammad Taqi al-Majlisi, Dar Ihya al-Turath al-Arabi, Beirut, second edition, 1403 AH.

[4] Biḥār al-Anwār (Beirut edition), vol. 75, p. 309  Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir ibn Muḥammad Taqī, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, Beirut, second edition, 1403 AH.

[5] Baṣāʾir al-Darajāt fī Faḍāʾil Āl Muḥammad صلى الله عليهم, vol. 1, p. 90  Ṣaffār, Muḥammad ibn Ḥasan, Āyatullāh Marʿashī Najafī Library, Iran, Qom, second edition, 1404 AH.

[6] Baṣāʾir al-Darajāt fī Faḍāʾil Āl Muḥammad صلى الله عليهم, vol. 1, p. 89  Ṣaffār, Muḥammad ibn Ḥasan, Āyatullāh Marʿashī Najafī Library, Iran, Qom, second edition, 1404 AH.

[7] Al-Mustarshid fī Imāmat ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib عليه السلام, p. 387 Ṭabarī Āmulī al-Kabīr, Muḥammad ibn Jarīr ibn Rustam, Kūshānpūr, Iran, Qom, first edition, 1415 AH.

[8] Al-Maḥāsin, vol. 1, p. 92  Barqī, Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Khālid, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyyah, Qom, second edition, 1371 AH.

[9] Kāmil al-Ziyārāt, text, p. 177  Ibn Qūlawayh, Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad, Dār al-Murtaḍawiyyah, Najaf al-Ashraf, first edition, 1356 SH.