Written transcript of the lecture
The Meshkat-e Noor teachings series🌻🔆Imam Husayn, the Vessel of Truth🔆🌻
🌼🔆🌼 Husayn, the Iconoclast Who Shattered Idolatry and Doubt 🌼🔆🌼
🌹🔅☘️ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحيمِ ☘️🔅🌹
🔅🌹 “Husayn Is God’s Trust” “The Mystery of the Vessel of Light” “The Mystery of Light and the Beauty of Light” “The Pure Word of Divine Unity” “The Night of Imam Husayn’s Birth” and more … An abridgment with a supplement 1404.11.02 Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat) 110.141(903) 🌹🔅
✳️❇️✅💫✨🔆🌹🌷 🌻
✨Beauty unfolded, and Husayn’s radiance shone forth
The essence of existence distilled, and Husayn became the world’s sweetest taste
May your palate be forever sweetened by the delight of his love 💫
❇️Alive through the life of Husayn
Whoever is not alive through Husayn is dead through Yazid!
Whoever has not experienced the life of Husayn is not truly alive! We must breathe as Husayn breathed, worship as he worshipped, and attain martyrdom as he did!
❇️The Father of Evil
🌸The greatest betrayal and injustice in all existence was the wrong done to the divinely appointed authority of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS).
Neglecting this authority and its due rights goes hand in hand with usurping it.
Those who neglect the rights of divinely appointed authority are accomplices of its usurpers!
Failing to uphold the aims of Husayn on the path of divine unity is to join the ranks of history’s Yazidis.
💫 عَنْ أَبِي بَصِيرٍ قَالَ: سَأَلْتُ أَبَا عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع عَنْ قَوْلِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ- إِنَّا عَرَضْنَا الْأَمانَةَ عَلَى السَّماواتِ وَ الْأَرْضِ وَ الْجِبالِ فَأَبَيْنَ أَنْ يَحْمِلْنَها وَ أَشْفَقْنَ مِنْها وَ حَمَلَهَا الْإِنْسانُ إِنَّهُ كانَ ظَلُوماً جَهُولًا قَالَ الْأَمَانَةُ الْوَلَايَةُ وَ الْإِنْسَانُ أَبُو الشُّرُورِ الْمُنَافِقُ.[1]
💫 Abu Basir relates: I asked Abu Abdullah (AS) about God’s verse: “We offered the Trust to the heavens, the earth, and the mountains, but they refused to bear it and were afraid of it; yet the human being took it upon himself, for he is unjust and ignorant.” He replied: “The Trust is divinely appointed authority, and the human being is the father of evil and hypocrisy.”
❇️Imam Husayn (AS), the Divine Trust
💫 الْإِمَامُ الْمَاءُ الْعَذْبُ عَلَى الظَّمَإِ وَ الدَّالُّ عَلَى الْهُدَى وَ الْمُنْجِي مِنَ الرَّدَى
🔆 The Imam is the refreshing water for the thirsty, the guide to guidance, and the saviour from ruin.
Nothing and no one can take the place of water, bread, or light,
The struggle between divinely appointed authority and those who usurp it was not a struggle for power. It was a struggle between “truth and falsehood,” “light and darkness,” and “the water of life and a black, wretched death.”
💫 عَنِ الْحُسَيْنِ بْنِ خَالِدٍ قَالَ: سَأَلْتُ أَبَا الْحَسَنِ عَلِيَّ بْنَ مُوسَى الرِّضَا ع عَنْ قَوْلِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَ إِنَّا عَرَضْنَا الْأَمانَةَ عَلَى السَّماواتِ وَ الْأَرْضِ وَ الْجِبالِ فَأَبَيْنَ أَنْ يَحْمِلْنَها فَقَالَ الْأَمَانَةُ الْوَلَايَةُ مَنِ ادَّعَاهَا بِغَيْرِ حَقٍ فَقَدْ كَفَرَ.[2]
🔆 Husayn ibn Khalid relates: I asked Abu Ali Hasan ibn Musa al-Rida (AS) about God’s verse: “We offered the Trust to the heavens, the earth, and the mountains, but they refused to bear it.” He replied: “The Trust is divinely appointed authority. Whoever claims it without right has become an unbeliever.”
🌷Among the greatest trusts is the right to the divinely appointed authority of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS).
🌷Whoever seeks to usurp the station of divinely appointed authority has become an unbeliever. This authority is a divine trust belonging to the Ahl al-Bayt (AS); accepting their authority is a trust placed upon us, which we must fulfil in the best possible way.
🌸Failing to recognise the right to divinely appointed authority is one form of betrayal of that authority.
✨Al-Anfāl: 27 O أَيُّهَا الَّذينَ آمَنُوا لا تَخُونُوا اللَّهَ وَ الرَّسُولَ وَ تَخُونُوا أَماناتِكُمْ وَ أَنْتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ
🔆you who believe! Do not betray God and the Messenger, nor betray the trusts placed in your care, knowingly!
🌷Self-examination:
How have we honoured the trust God has placed in us?!
Safeguarding a trust is one of the duties of servitude. We must keep the trust deep within our hearts, without allowing it to be tampered with.
We must not hand it over to Satan or the carnal self!
The trust must remain in the heart, under the constant watch of reason!
Let us entrust what has been placed in our care to God! Let us seek His help in preserving and protecting it, and put our trust in Him!
The trust of wilayah must be brought to life. Any stagnation of wilayah in the heart is an injustice against wilayah! To preserve wilayah does not mean to confine it; it means to fulfil its due.
🌷A subtle reflection on the wilayah of Imam Husayn (peace be upon him):
Have we watered the flowerpot of love for Imam Husayn (peace be upon him), so that we may reach the garden—the paradise—of love for Husayn?
And what of the flowerpots of wilayah belonging to each of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them)?
If we fulfil the rights of wilayah and give thanks for the wilayah of the pure Imams (peace be upon them), the sun of wilayah will rise in our hearts!
The light of wilayah illuminates the road of wilayah and the path of journeying toward God. Let us ask God to bring His light in us to its full completion!
We think we know Husayn: «حسین و ما ادرئک ما حسین»
🌸Gratitude for the blessing of wilayah will herald the immense grace of wilayah.
✨Al-Nisāʾ: 147 What يَفْعَلُ اللَّهُ بِعَذابِكُمْ إِنْ شَكَرْتُمْ وَ آمَنْتُمْ وَ كانَ اللَّهُ شاكِراً عَليماً
🔆need has God to punish you if you are grateful and believe? God is All-Thankful, All-Knowing. (He knows your deeds and intentions, and rewards good deeds with good.)
✨Ibrāhīm: 7 وَ إِذْ تَأَذَّنَ رَبُّكُمْ لَئِنْ شَكَرْتُمْ لَأَزيدَنَّكُمْ وَ لَئِنْ كَفَرْتُمْ إِنَّ عَذابي لَشَديدٌ
🔆And remember when your Lord proclaimed: “If you are grateful, I will surely increase you; but if you are ungrateful, My punishment is severe!”
🌸The light of wilayah in our hearts must reach its perfection. The perfection of wilayah’s light is the illumination of our worldly life and the Hereafter.
✨🔆Al-Taḥrīm: 8 O أَيُّهَا الَّذينَ آمَنُوا تُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ تَوْبَةً نَصُوحاً عَسى رَبُّكُمْ أَنْ يُكَفِّرَ عَنْكُمْ سَيِّئاتِكُمْ وَ يُدْخِلَكُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْري مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهارُ يَوْمَ لا يُخْزِي اللَّهُ النَّبِيَّ وَ الَّذينَ آمَنُوا مَعَهُ نُورُهُمْ يَسْعى بَيْنَ أَيْديهِمْ وَ بِأَيْمانِهِمْ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنا أَتْمِمْ لَنا نُورَنا وَ اغْفِرْ لَنا إِنَّكَ عَلى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَديرٌ
🔆you who believe, turn to God in sincere repentance. It may be that your Lord will absolve you of your sins and admit you into gardens beneath which rivers flow, on the day when God will not disgrace the Prophet or those who believed with him. Their light will shine before them and to their right, and they will say, “Our Lord, perfect our light for us and forgive us. Surely You have power over all things!”
❇️The silent, invisible killers
How many Yazidis there are who do not think themselves Yazidis, yet are worse than Yazid!
How many invisible Yazidis and Shimrs commit a hundred deeds worse than those of Yazid and Shimr!
We seek refuge in God: Yazid was not a Yazidi from the beginning!
May our hearts never become a place of slaughter!
Let us not hurt Husayn through our words, deeds, poetry, or false, non-monotheistic beliefs!
Tawhid is God’s sanctuary; God is Husayn’s first and last love! Whoever attacks Husayn’s sanctuary—or disregards it—has attacked Husayn.
Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) rose up against idolatry and gave his life for tawhid. The curse of Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) rests upon every idolater, even one who outwardly claims to love him.
🌸Like his grandfather, the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him), Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) disavows the idolaters.
✨At-Tawbah: 114 وَ ما كانَ اسْتِغْفارُ إِبْراهيمَ لِأَبيهِ إِلاَّ عَنْ مَوْعِدَةٍ وَعَدَها إِيَّاهُ فَلَمَّا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُ أَنَّهُ عَدُوٌّ لِلَّهِ تَبَرَّأَ مِنْهُ إِنَّ إِبْراهيمَ لَأَوَّاهٌ حَليمٌ
🔆Abraham’s prayer for his father [his uncle, Azar] was only in fulfilment of a promise he had made to him, hoping to draw him to faith. But when it became clear to him that he was an enemy of God, he disavowed him. Surely Abraham was tender-hearted and forbearing!
Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) disavows the idolaters and those who disobey God.
Husayn loves those who affirm God’s oneness; Husayn loves those who obey and worship God!
Husayn is the meeting place with God, the station of turning one’s attention to Him.
❇️The greatest of divine trusts
“Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) is a trust from God. Husayn is the speaking Quran, the witnessing Quran, the loving Quran, and the martyred Quran.”
Let us regard Husayn and the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) with deep, mystical, responsible, and monotheistic insight, and recognise their station of spiritual authority and their exalted rank.
A trust is not merely property or an object; it is the “reality of guidance” and a “relationship with God.”
When spiritual authority is entrusted to us, our hearts must be “repositories of trust.” If we open these repositories to the commanding self, we betray the trust. “Trust in God” is the way to safeguard it: only by relying on divine power can we withstand Satanic temptations that seek to drive spiritual authority from our hearts.
Gratitude for the trust of spiritual authority means doing good, cherishing love in our hearts, and obeying the Ahl al-Bayt. Such gratitude brings greater love and understanding.
Our understanding of Husayn (peace be upon him) is incomplete and must deepen (“Husayn—and what can make you know what Husayn is?”). Yet striving to give thanks and know him better is a way of drawing closer to the truth of that trust.
Sin, even under the banner of spiritual authority, is a form of disrespect and an injury to the banner of religion. If someone claims to love Husayn but, through their actions, tarnishes the face of religion, they are in effect “hurting Husayn” and betraying the trust. Tawhid and reverence for the Imam are one, for the Imam is the manifestation of tawhid.
Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) rose up at Karbala to make clear the distinction between truth and falsehood. “Husayn disavows the idolaters … Husayn loves those who affirm God’s oneness.” Safeguarding the trust of spiritual authority means more than loving the Ahl al-Bayt: “disavowing their enemies” and “opposing the oppressors” are also part of that trust. Just as the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) disavowed his father once his disbelief became clear, the Shi‘a, too, must take a clear stand on the path of spiritual authority.
🌸A practical call to “safeguard the trust of spiritual authority”
Duties of the heart (keeping it safe within), practical duties (gratitude and obedience), and social duties (disavowing the enemies and not bringing religion into disrepute)
🌟A golden coda: The trust, the precious jewel of existence and the secret of eternity
💫 With his pure blood, Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) wrote the testament of “faithfulness to the trust” in crimson ink across the pages of history, so that humanity might know that keeping one’s covenant with God demands one’s whole “life and love.”
✨ Let Husayn flow through your soul.
Every tear you shed for him with true understanding, together with every good deed you perform and your steadfast commitment to worship with excellence, is a seal confirming the integrity of the trust placed in your care.
🤲 اللّهُمَّ اجعلنا مِنَ المُستَشهَدینَ مَعَ الحُسَینِ، وَ العارِفینَ بِحَقِّهِ، وَ الحافِظینَ لِأَمانَتِهِ.
❇️The Hidden Killer of Imam Husayn (peace be upon him)
Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) has both overt and hidden killers!
Husayn’s Ashura is not over!
The Yazidis and Shimrs have still not left Karbala!
Anyone who wears the mantle of Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) must honour its sanctity!
Anyone who holds love for him in their heart, carries his banner in their hand, and praises him with their tongue must uphold the standards of Husayn!
❇️The uprising of Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) is a trust
If we are entrusted with Imam Husayn’s books and writings, what is our duty toward this trust?
The uprising of Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) is a lofty trust in our hands!
They wronged him because they failed to recognise the right of his divinely appointed authority. Surely, anyone who fails to recognise his true worth will wrong him.
Our first duty is to recognise his true worth, and then to make it known to others. True recognition is attained through following him.
❇️Rise to the aid of Husayn! «In defence of the sanctity of the Qur’an and the Ahl al-Bayt»
What would you do if someone wanted to desecrate Imam Husayn’s prayer niche?
And what if they wanted to desecrate the mosque he built, or the works and art he left behind—or set them on fire? What would you do?
Husayn’s greatest legacy is pure monotheism, for which he sacrificed the very essence of his being, his life, his children, and his pure and faithful companions.
The greatest wrong, betrayal, and crime anyone can commit against Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) is to speak of him in terms of disbelief or to exaggerate his status!
What would you do if someone wanted to kill one of Husayn’s children before your very eyes?
What is the truth for which Husayn sacrificed the dearest thing he had?
🌸Let us learn the red lines Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) set!
What is the beloved for whom the sacrifice was made?
✳️Husayn, the reality of the niche of light; Husayn, the secret of the beauty of light
❇️If Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) is the niche of light, Husayn is its glass
💫🔆روي عن جابر بن عبد الله الأنصاري، قال: دخلت إلى مسجد الكوفة، و أمير المؤمنين (صلوات الله و سلامه عليه) يكتب بإصبعه و يتبسم، فقلت له: يا أمير المؤمنين، ما الذي يضحكك؟ فقال: «عجبت لمن يقرأ هذه الآية و لم يعرفها حق معرفتها». فقلت له: أي آية، يا أمير المؤمنين؟
فقال: «قوله تعالى: اللَّهُ نُورُ السَّماواتِ وَ الْأَرْضِ مَثَلُ نُورِهِ كَمِشْكاةٍ، المشكاة: محمد (صلى الله عليه و آله)، فِيها مِصْباحٌ، أنا المصباح. فِي زُجاجَةٍ الزجاجة الحسن و الحسين (عليهما السلام)، كَأَنَّها كَوْكَبٌ دُرِّيٌ و هو علي بن الحسين (عليه السلام)، يُوقَدُ مِنْ شَجَرَةٍ مُبارَكَةٍ محمد بن علي (عليه السلام)، زَيْتُونَةٍ جعفر بن محمد (عليه السلام) لا شَرْقِيَّةٍ موسى بن جعفر (عليه السلام)، وَ لا غَرْبِيَّةٍ علي بن موسى (عليه السلام)، يَكادُ زَيْتُها يُضِيءُ محمد بن علي (عليه السلام)، وَ لَوْ لَمْ تَمْسَسْهُ نارٌ علي بن محمد (عليه السلام)، نُورٌ عَلى نُورٍ الحسن ابن علي (عليه السلام)، يَهْدِي اللَّهُ لِنُورِهِ مَنْ يَشاءُ القائم المهدي (عليه السلام) وَ يَضْرِبُ اللَّهُ الْأَمْثالَ لِلنَّاسِ وَ اللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ».[3]
🔆 Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī relates: “I entered the Mosque of Kufa and saw the Commander of the Faithful (may God’s blessings and peace be upon him) writing something with his finger and laughing. I said to him, ‘O Commander of the Faithful, what makes you laugh?’ He replied, ‘I marvel at someone who recites this verse but does not know its true meaning.’ I asked, ‘Which verse, O Commander of the Faithful?’
He replied, ‘The saying of God, Exalted is He: الله نور السماوات و الارض مثل نوره کمشکاة؛ “The niche” (the opening in the lamp) is Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family). فیها مصباح؛ “I am the lamp.” فی زجاجة؛ “The glass” (of the lamp) is Hasan and Husayn (peace be upon them). کأنها کواکب دری؛ “It is as though it were a brilliant star”: this is ʿAlī ibn al-Husayn (peace be upon him). یوقد من شجرة مبارکه؛ this is Muhammad ibn ʿAlī (peace be upon him). زیتونة؛ this is Jaʿfar ibn Muhammad (peace be upon him). لا شرقیة؛ this is Mūsā ibn Jaʿfar (peace be upon him). و لا غربیة؛ this is ʿAlī ibn Mūsā (peace be upon him). یکاد زیتها یضی؛ this is Muhammad ibn ʿAlī (peace be upon him). و لو لم تمسه نار؛ this is ʿAlī ibn Muhammad (peace be upon him). نور علی نور؛ this is Hasan ibn ʿAlī (peace be upon him). یهدی الله لنوره من یشاء؛ this is the Awaited Mahdi (peace be upon him). و یضرب الله الأمثال للناس و الله بکل شیء علیم.’”
❇️Hasan’s soul is the lamp; Husayn’s soul, its glass
💫🔆Abū ʿAbd Allāh (peace be upon him), commenting on the words of God, Mighty and Glorious, said: اللَّهُ نُورُ السَّماواتِ وَ الْأَرْضِ مَثَلُ نُورِهِ كَمِشْكاةٍ فِيها مِصْباحٌ, “Hasan (peace be upon him) الْمِصْباحُ فِي زُجاجَةٍ Husayn (peace be upon him), الزُّجاجَةُ كَأَنَّها كَوْكَبٌ دُرِّيٌ Fāṭima (peace be upon her) is a brilliant star among the women of the people of Paradise يُوقَدُ مِنْ شَجَرَةٍ مُبارَكَةٍ Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him), زَيْتُونَةٍ لا شَرْقِيَّةٍ وَ لا غَرْبِيَّةٍ neither Jewish nor Christian.” يَكادُ زَيْتُها يُضِيءُ That is, knowledge is on the verge of bursting forth from her وَ لَوْ لَمْ تَمْسَسْهُ نارٌ نُورٌ عَلى نُورٍ an Imam following another Imam, يَهْدِي اللَّهُ لِنُورِهِ مَنْ يَشاءُ God guides whomever He wills to the Imams (peace be upon them) وَ يَضْرِبُ اللَّهُ الْأَمْثالَ لِلنَّاسِ وَ اللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ”[4]
💫🔆 In his commentary on the words of God, Mighty and Glorious—الله نور السماوات و الارض مثل نوره کمشکاة فیها مصباح—Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq (peace be upon him) said: “Hasan (peace be upon him) is the lamp: فی زجاجة, ‘in a glass’—that is Husayn (peace be upon him). الزجاجة کأنها کواکب دری, ‘the glass as though it were a brilliant star’: this is Fāṭima (peace be upon her), a brilliant star among the women of the people of Paradise. یوقد من شجرة مبارکه, ‘lit from a blessed tree’: that is Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him). زیتونة لا شرقیة و لا غربیة, ‘an olive tree, neither of the east nor of the west’: that is, neither Jewish nor Christian. یکاد زیتها یضی, ‘its oil almost gives light’: that is, knowledge almost wells forth from her. و لو لم تمسه نار؛ نور علی نور, ‘though no fire has touched it; light upon light’: an Imam following another Imam. یهدی الله لنوره من یشاء, ‘God guides whomever He wills to His light’: God guides whomever He wills to the Imams (peace be upon them). و یضرب الله الأمثال للناس و الله بکل شیء علیم.”
❇️If we remove the glass from the heart, we are denied the beauty of its light
💫قَالَ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع فِي قَوْلِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى- اللَّهُ نُورُ السَّماواتِ وَ الْأَرْضِ مَثَلُ نُورِهِ كَمِشْكاةٍ فَاطِمَةُ ع فِيها مِصْباحٌ الْحَسَنُ- الْمِصْباحُ فِي زُجاجَةٍ الْحُسَيْنُ- الزُّجاجَةُ كَأَنَّها كَوْكَبٌ دُرِّيٌ فَاطِمَةُ كَوْكَبٌ دُرِّيٌّ بَيْنَ نِسَاءِ أَهْلِ الدُّنْيَا- يُوقَدُ مِنْ شَجَرَةٍ مُبارَكَةٍ إِبْرَاهِيمُ ع- زَيْتُونَةٍ لا شَرْقِيَّةٍ وَ لا غَرْبِيَّةٍ لَا يَهُودِيَّةٍ وَ لَا نَصْرَانِيَّةٍ- يَكادُ زَيْتُها يُضِيءُ يَكَادُ الْعِلْمُ يَنْفَجِرُ بِهَا- وَ لَوْ لَمْ تَمْسَسْهُ نارٌ نُورٌ عَلى نُورٍ إِمَامٌ مِنْهَا بَعْدَ إِمَامٍ- يَهْدِي اللَّهُ لِنُورِهِ مَنْ يَشاءُ يَهْدِي اللَّهُ لِلْأَئِمَّةِ مَنْ يَشَاءُ- وَ يَضْرِبُ اللَّهُ الْأَمْثالَ لِلنَّاسِ قُلْتُ أَوْ كَظُلُماتٍ قَالَ الْأَوَّلُ وَ صَاحِبُهُ- يَغْشاهُ مَوْجٌ الثَّالِثُ- مِنْ فَوْقِهِ مَوْجٌ ظُلُمَاتٌ الثَّانِي- بَعْضُها فَوْقَ بَعْضٍ مُعَاوِيَةُ لَعَنَهُ اللَّهُ وَ فِتَنُ بَنِي أُمَيَّةَ- إِذا أَخْرَجَ يَدَهُ الْمُؤْمِنُ فِي ظُلْمَةِ فِتْنَتِهِمْ- لَمْ يَكَدْ يَراها وَ مَنْ لَمْ يَجْعَلِ اللَّهُ لَهُ نُوراً إِمَاماً مِنْ وُلْدِ فَاطِمَةَ ع- فَما لَهُ مِنْ نُورٍ إِمَامٍ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَ قَالَ فِي قَوْلِهِ- يَسْعى نُورُهُمْ بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَ بِأَيْمانِهِمْ أَئِمَّةُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ تَسْعَى بَيْنَ يَدَيِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَ بِأَيْمَانِهِمْ حَتَّى يُنْزِلُوهُمْ مَنَازِلَ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ.[5]
❇️The glass is the cup of the soul, filled with light
The secret of Husayn: the radiance of the glass is God’s light
The glass is familiar with light; light comes to rest in the embrace of its beloved glass.
The glass is the secret of light’s radiance and brilliance!
The glass is a distinctive rendering of light, and light is a distinctive rendering of knowledge.
The embrace of light and glass is the secret behind the wondrous events of existence.
The manifestation of light and its brilliance is one of the great mysteries! The reality of light does not end with its brilliance alone!
❇️Light does not shine without its glass
Brilliance is light smiling upon the face of its glass.
A reality called glass meets a reality called light, and mysteries are revealed.
The glass is the communications hub of light; news of light must be sought in the pages of the glass.
The glass has an individual reality of its own, and a relational aspect through which it benefits others. The glass makes vision possible!
Brightness is one interpretation and rendering of light!
❇️The glass, for itself and for others to behold!
When you look up at the sky, know that you are looking at the glass of existence. Existence has another nature altogether!
To understand the reality of existence, one must reach Meshkat-e Noor.
It is hard to imagine what the world would be like for even a moment without Husayn! Utter blindness!
The glass of light that meets and beholds light itself is not the same as the glass through which we see.
❇️Light is in love with its own glass
The light of God, in the embrace of the glass—its smile is sweet
Light loves the glass, and the glass loves light. The glass is the tablet of the lover, where light clasps the soul of the beloved.
The glass is the beauty of light, light’s kiss upon the illuminated.
The glass is the world made visible! To behold a manifestation is to unveil the beauty of light.
❇️When we draw back the veil from the beauty of light, the beauty of Husayn shines forth
When we look at the sky above us, we are looking at the world reflected through the beauty of the world’s glass: a reflection of light and reality, an interpretation of light and reality, the graceful script of the calligrapher made manifest.
To look upon Husayn is to look upon the realities of existence! It is to see the colours, melodies, and flavours of existence!
If there were no glass, there would be nothing to behold; our eyes would not be illumined, and the beauty of the world would remain unseen!
There could be no understanding of love, affection, greatness, beauty, or the taste and savour of existence.
❇️The flower gathers the sun’s light into its embrace and reflects it back
The flower’s beauty is the glass that reflects light in its own distinctive way, giving beauty form! The flower, like every phenomenon in this world, is a glass set before the light. Without the glasses of light, there would be no beautiful scenes!
The glass has a wide range: the glass of touch and feel, of smell, taste and flavour
The glass of knowledge surpasses all other glasses
❇️The tablet’s clarity is light echoing within light
The glass of light is the publishing house of light.
The glass of light is love mingled with light.
The glass is an embodiment of the enumeration of light and knowledge.
The glass is where “all things are enumerated”: in other words, where “all things” are gathered and reflected, numbered, identified, distinguished, and interpreted.
❇️The glass is the divine attributes, the Most Beautiful Names of God
Everything in a realm has a vessel; attributes have a vessel, and the Names have a vessel as well.
The body is the vessel of the spirit, and the realm of the visible world is the vessel of the realm of the unseen. Each aspect of time is a vessel for its other aspects.
The vessel of the Divine Names of Beauty reflects the beauty of God’s signs and traces.
❇️A world without Husayn is a world without a vessel
Had Husayn not been, all would have been deprived of God’s Most Beautiful Names! The world would have had no beauty; there would have been no perception of beauty or its many forms.
❇️Imam Husayn, peace be upon him, is the sweet taste of servitude to God
Our senses act as vessels for the radiance of knowledge! Sight translates the light of knowledge, interpreting it with a pen of light; hearing translates the sound of knowledge, interpreting it with a pen of sound.
Husayn is a universal sense, interpreting the world of being through familiar realities and truths; he is a pure sense of servitude to God.
Husayn, peace be upon him, makes knowledge, light, beauty, delight and truth perceptible, intelligible and savoured.
❇️Every truth needs a vessel in its realm
A vessel is the splendour of every truth
A vessel of delight
A vessel of love
A vessel of majesty
A vessel of exaltedness
❇️Husayn is the sense of the world’s soul
With Husayn, we are endowed with a sense that encompasses all the senses of the world: a universal perception, a universal taste, a universal delight.
The vessel of the material world reflects the galaxies, particles, beings and laws within it; the Most High Realm of the Unseen, too, reflects its contents through its own vessel.
❇️A vessel reflects the inward in the outward
The vessel of the Qur’an brings to light its inner meanings, marvels and wonders.
The vessel of love brings love’s manifestations into view.
The vessel of martyrdom wafts the fragrance of martyrdom across the world.
The vessel of Imamate reveals the reality of divine authority.
The echo of light is made possible by a pure soul.
❇️The vessel of divine unity,
Imam Husayn’s words are the vessel of Husayn’s pure heart!
✳️A journey through Imam Husayn’s words on divine unity
❇️An exegesis of al-Ṣamad
🌸Through the Gate of Husayn, peace be upon him, to welcome Husayn
💫قَالَ وَهْبُ بْنُ وَهْبٍ الْقُرَشِيُّ قَالَ زَيْدُ بْنُ عَلِيٍّ زَيْنِ الْعَابِدِينَ ع الصَّمَدُ هُوَ الَّذِي إِذا أَرادَ شَيْئاً قَالَ لَهُ كُنْ فَيَكُونُ وَ الصَّمَدُ الَّذِي أَبْدَعَ الْأَشْيَاءَ فَخَلَقَهَا أَضْدَاداً وَ أَشْكَالًا وَ أَزْوَاجاً وَ تَفَرَّدَ بِالْوَحْدَةِ بِلَا ضِدٍّ وَ لَا شَكْلٍ وَ لَا مِثْلٍ وَ لَا نِدٍّ. [6]
🔆 Wahb ibn Wahb al-Qurashi relates that Zayd ibn ʿAli, Zayn al-ʿAbidin, peace be upon him, said: «The Self-Sufficient is He who, whenever He wills a thing, says to it, “Be,” and it is. The Self-Sufficient is He who created things and fashioned them in contrasting forms, kinds and pairs, while remaining uniquely One, without opposite, form, likeness or equal.»
🌸We will not attain an understanding of al-Ṣamad unless we know that He is the Originator, who brought everything from nonexistence into being. This is the master key to understanding al-Ṣamad; for without this belief, we would seek existence within God’s essence and creatures within His essence—a failing that lies at the heart of today’s quasi-philosophies, their limp and stumbling step!
He is the One, the Unique, the Solitary—without opposite, form, likeness, or equal.
❇️The Complete Book of Divine Oneness
Presenting a vision of divine oneness through the Qur’an and the Ahl al-Bayt
Beware lest associationism find its way into our souls—an infiltration hidden and unseen.
The interpretation of al-Ṣamad is an interpretation of pure divine oneness!
The words of Imam Husayn, peace be upon him, are a ship of salvation in divine oneness.
💫قَالَ وَهْبُ بْنُ وَهْبٍ الْقُرَشِيُّ وَ حَدَّثَنِي الصَّادِقُ جَعْفَرُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ أَبِيهِ الْبَاقِرِ عَنْ أَبِيهِ ع أَنَّ أَهْلَ الْبَصْرَةِ كَتَبُوا إِلَى الْحُسَيْنِ بْنِ عَلِيٍّ ع يَسْأَلُونَهُ عَنِ الصَّمَدِ فَكَتَبَ إِلَيْهِمْ-
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ* أَمَّا بَعْدُ فَلَا تَخُوضُوا فِي الْقُرْآنِ وَ لَا تُجَادِلُوا فِيهِ وَ لَا تَتَكَلَّمُوا فِيهِ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ فَقَدْ سَمِعْتُ جَدِّي رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ص يَقُولُ مَنْ قَالَ فِي الْقُرْآنِ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ فَلْيَتَبَوَّأْ مَقْعَدَهُ مِنَ النَّارِ وَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ سُبْحَانَهُ قَدْ فَسَّرَ الصَّمَدَ فَقَالَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ ثُمَّ فَسَّرَهُ فَقَالَ لَمْ يَلِدْ وَ لَمْ يُولَدْ. وَ لَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ كُفُواً أَحَدٌ لَمْ يَلِدْ لَمْ يَخْرُجْ مِنْهُ شَيْءٌ كَثِيفٌ كَالْوَلَدِ وَ سَائِرِ الْأَشْيَاءِ الْكَثِيفَةِ الَّتِي تَخْرُجُ مِنَ الْمَخْلُوقِينَ وَ لَا شَيْءٌ لَطِيفٌ كَالنَّفْسِ وَ لَا يَتَشَعَّبُ مِنْهُ الْبَدَوَاتُ كَالسِّنَةِ وَ النَّوْمِ وَ الْخَطْرَةِ وَ الْهَمِّ وَ الْحَزَنِ وَ الْبَهْجَةِ وَ الضَّحِكِ وَ الْبُكَاءِ وَ الْخَوْفِ وَ الرَّجَاءِ وَ الرَّغْبَةِ وَ السَّأْمَةِ وَ الْجُوعِ وَ الشِّبَعِ تَعَالَى أَنْ يَخْرُجَ مِنْهُ شَيْءٌ وَ أَنْ يَتَوَلَّدَ مِنْهُ شَيْءٌ كَثِيفٌ أَوْ لَطِيفٌ- وَ لَمْ يُولَدْ لَمْ يَتَوَلَّدْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ وَ لَمْ يَخْرُجْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ كَمَا يَخْرُجُ الْأَشْيَاءُ الْكَثِيفَةُ مِنْ عَنَاصِرِهَا كَالشَّيْءِ مِنَ الشَّيْءِ وَ الدَّابَّةِ مِنَ الدَّابَّةِ وَ النَّبَاتِ مِنَ الْأَرْضِ وَ الْمَاءِ مِنَ الْيَنَابِيعِ وَ الثِّمَارِ مِنَ الْأَشْجَارِ وَ لَا كَمَا يَخْرُجُ الْأَشْيَاءُ اللَّطِيفَةُ مِنْ مَرَاكِزِهَا كَالْبَصَرِ مِنَ الْعَيْنِ وَ السَّمْعِ مِنَ الْأُذُنِ وَ الشَّمِّ مِنَ الْأَنْفِ وَ الذَّوْقِ مِنَ الْفَمِ وَ الْكَلَامِ مِنَ اللِّسَانِ وَ الْمَعْرِفَةِ وَ التَّمَيُّزِ مِنَ الْقَلْبِ وَ كَالنَّارِ مِنَ الْحَجَرِ لَا بَلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ الَّذِي لَا مِنْ شَيْءٍ وَ لَا فِي شَيْءٍ وَ لَا عَلَى شَيْءٍ مُبْدِعُ الْأَشْيَاءِ وَ خَالِقُهَا وَ مُنْشِئُ الْأَشْيَاءِ بِقُدْرَتِهِ يَتَلَاشَى مَا خَلَقَ لِلْفَنَاءِ بِمَشِيَّتِهِ وَ يَبْقَى مَا خَلَقَ لِلْبَقَاءِ بِعِلْمِهِ فَذَلِكُمُ اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ الَّذِي لَمْ يَلِدْ وَ لَمْ يُولَدْ- عالِمُ الْغَيْبِ وَ الشَّهادَةِ الْكَبِيرُ الْمُتَعالِ- وَ لَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ كُفُواً أَحَدٌ.[7]
💫 Wahb ibn Wahb al-Qurashi relates: Ja‘far ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq narrated to me, from his father Muhammad al-Baqir, peace be upon him, from his father [Zayn al-‘Abidin], peace be upon him, that the people of Basra wrote to Husayn ibn Ali, peace be upon him, asking him about “al-Ṣamad.” Husayn, peace be upon him, wrote back to them:
In the name of God, the All-merciful, the Compassionate
To proceed: Do not plunge into the Qur’an, dispute about it, or speak of it without knowledge. I heard my grandfather, the Messenger of God, may God bless him and his family and grant them peace, say: “Whoever speaks about the Qur’an without knowledge prepares his place in the Fire.”
God, glorified is He, has explained al-Ṣamad, saying: الله أحد، الله الصمد; then He further explains it, saying: لم یلد و لم یولد. و لم یکن له کفوا أحد.
“لم یلد” means that nothing dense has issued from Him, such as a child or other dense things that come into being; nor has anything subtle, such as a spirit, issued from Him. Nor do diverse states branch out from Him, such as years, sleep, passing thoughts, cares, grief, joy, laughter, weeping, fear, hope, desire, restlessness, hunger, and satiety. He is exalted above anything issuing from Him, or anything dense or subtle being born of Him.
“And He was not begotten” means that He was not born from anything and did not emerge from anything, as dense things emerge from their elements—for example, one thing from another, an animal from an animal, a plant from the earth, water from springs, and fruits from trees. Nor is He like subtle things that emerge from their centres—for example, sight from the eye, hearing from the ear, smell from the nose, taste from the mouth, speech from the tongue, understanding and discernment from the heart, or fire from stone.
Rather, He is God, the “Self-Sufficient One,” who is not from anything, in anything, or upon anything. He is the Creator and Maker of things, bringing them into being by His power. Whatever He has created for annihilation, He destroys by His will; whatever He has created to endure, He preserves through His knowledge.
Thus He is God, the “Self-Sufficient One,” who “neither begets nor is begotten,” the Knower of the unseen and the seen, the Most Great, the Most High; “and none is comparable to Him.”
☘️لَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ كُفُواً أَحَدٌ لَمْ يَلِدْ لَمْ يَخْرُجْ مِنْهُ شَيْءٌ كَثِيفٌ كَالْوَلَدِ وَ سَائِرِ الْأَشْيَاءِ الْكَثِيفَةِ الَّتِي تَخْرُجُ مِنَ الْمَخْلُوقِينَ وَ لَا شَيْءٌ لَطِيفٌ كَالنَّفْسِ وَ لَا يَتَشَعَّبُ مِنْهُ الْبَدَوَاتُ كَالسِّنَةِ وَ النَّوْمِ وَ الْخَطْرَةِ وَ الْهَمِّ وَ الْحَزَنِ وَ الْبَهْجَةِ وَ الضَّحِكِ وَ الْبُكَاءِ وَ الْخَوْفِ وَ الرَّجَاءِ وَ الرَّغْبَةِ وَ السَّأْمَةِ وَ الْجُوعِ وَ الشِّبَعِ تَعَالَى أَنْ يَخْرُجَ مِنْهُ شَيْءٌ وَ أَنْ يَتَوَلَّدَ مِنْهُ شَيْءٌ كَثِيفٌ أَوْ لَطِيفٌ
🌸Neither “other-than-one” nor “one” issues from the One Essence. Rather, He creates everything from nothing; He is truly the Originator of all things!
Multiplicity does not issue from the One.
He begets no counterpart.
He Himself has no offspring.
His oneness is oneness in itself; it is not a oneness that contains multiplicity. Rather, all multiplicities are His originated creations, brought into being and created by Him.
He does not create creatures—the multiplicities—from Himself.
He does not breathe; He has no inhalation or exhalation, and no breath or spirit issues from Him.
The breath of His spirit—that is, the breath of the chosen, noble spirit upon the human soul—does not mean that He breathed His own spirit into a human being or that He indwelt a human being!
He knows neither weariness, sleep, nor drowsiness; neither sorrow nor grief, nor delight, joy, laughter, weeping, happiness, distress, contentment, gladness, fear, desire, hope, fatigue, hunger, nor fullness.
❇️He does not shine; He makes things shine.
He does not shine; His Essence does not manifest itself. Rather, He makes things manifest. Grace does not flow forth from His Essence; rather, He creates and causes things to shine. By His will, lights come into being or are split apart, and He creates whatever He wills!
❇️He does not emanate.
He is not like a flower from which fragrance and beauty spread. Rather, He brings fragrances and beauties into being, and is beyond them.
No colour (or frequency) issues from Him—not light, sound, taste, flavour, or speech. Rather, He brings them all into being by His will.
He has no child to be a child to Him; indeed, by virtue of His oneness, not even a single one is born from Him. No “one” issues from Him, even if it were only a little less or a little more than one.
There is no one from the One, no solitary being from the Solitary.
❇️He brings every manifestation into manifestation; He does not shine.
🌸He is not like light emerging “from the luminous,” a spectrum from its source (like a ray from the sun), knowledge issuing from the knower, or creation from the Creator—for He brings things into being from nothing.
Nor is it that objects of knowledge issue from Him as things emerge from memory, or that intelligibles issue from the intellect, sensibles from sensation, perceived things from perception, beauty from the beautiful, acts from potentiality, will from essence, manifestation from that which manifests, or an effect from that which produces it.
It is not that existence and grace emanate from Him, or that degrees of being emerge from Him.
It is not that He “appears, manifests Himself, or radiates”! Rather, He makes things appear, brings them into manifestation, and causes them to shine.
❇️The Self-Sufficient One has no need to emanate
It is not that only one thing emanates from the One; rather, nothing emanates from the One. By His will, He brings into being whatever He wishes.
The Giver does not already possess what He gives; rather, He brings His gift into being and is its owner.
It is not that He is a cause, or that His effects are of the same kind as He is, nor should we confine Him to being the First Cause. Rather, He is the cause of causes and effects, and He has no affinity with the chain of causes and effects.
Neither the noblest nor the basest thing emanates from Him; both are His creation and origination!
It is not that He is all things; rather, all things are among what He has brought into being. He does not create from Himself or within Himself, nor does He have an exterior from which to create outward! That is, “ لَا مِنْ شَيْءٍ وَ لَا فِي شَيْءٍ وَ لَا عَلَى شَيْءٍ ”
It is not that He shares anything with another, or that His unique reality has unity with anything other than Himself. Rather, all that is other than Him is His creation, and He is the originator of it all!
No rank or degree emanates from Him!
☘️وَ لَمْ يُولَدْ لَمْ يَتَوَلَّدْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ وَ لَمْ يَخْرُجْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ كَمَا يَخْرُجُ الْأَشْيَاءُ الْكَثِيفَةُ مِنْ عَنَاصِرِهَا كَالشَّيْءِ مِنَ الشَّيْءِ وَ الدَّابَّةِ مِنَ الدَّابَّةِ وَ النَّبَاتِ مِنَ الْأَرْضِ وَ الْمَاءِ مِنَ الْيَنَابِيعِ وَ الثِّمَارِ مِنَ الْأَشْجَارِ وَ لَا كَمَا يَخْرُجُ الْأَشْيَاءُ اللَّطِيفَةُ مِنْ مَرَاكِزِهَا كَالْبَصَرِ مِنَ الْعَيْنِ وَ السَّمْعِ مِنَ الْأُذُنِ وَ الشَّمِّ مِنَ الْأَنْفِ وَ الذَّوْقِ مِنَ الْفَمِ وَ الْكَلَامِ مِنَ اللِّسَانِ وَ الْمَعْرِفَةِ وَ التَّمَيُّزِ مِنَ الْقَلْبِ وَ كَالنَّارِ مِنَ الْحَجَرِ
❇️He is the source of growth, yet does not grow
🌸It is not that He is a part of a whole,
🌸He was not begotten or born—not from anything, nor from unity, simplicity, or multiplicity.
It is not that He is like a beam of light, a star in a galaxy, water from a spring, or fruit from a tree.
It is not that He is sight arising from the eye, hearing from the ear, smell from the nose, taste from the mouth, speech from the tongue, or knowledge and discernment from the heart; nor is He a fire from a stone, or a reality from something else.
It is not that He came into being, whether from existence or nonexistence!
It is not that He came into being by Himself.
It is not that He is energy released from bodies, the power of substances, or the pleasure of all pleasures; rather, He created them all.
It is not that there must be a creation for Him to be Creator, or knowledge to appear for Him to be Knowing, or a work for Him to be Maker…
❇️The words of Imam Husayn, peace be upon him, shatter the sorcery of polytheism and doubt
☘️لَا بَلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ الَّذِي لَا مِنْ شَيْءٍ وَ لَا فِي شَيْءٍ وَ لَا عَلَى شَيْءٍ مُبْدِعُ الْأَشْيَاءِ وَ خَالِقُهَا وَ مُنْشِئُ الْأَشْيَاءِ بِقُدْرَتِهِ يَتَلَاشَى مَا خَلَقَ لِلْفَنَاءِ بِمَشِيَّتِهِ وَ يَبْقَى مَا خَلَقَ لِلْبَقَاءِ بِعِلْمِهِ فَذَلِكُمُ اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ الَّذِي لَمْ يَلِدْ وَ لَمْ يُولَدْ- عالِمُ الْغَيْبِ وَ الشَّهادَةِ الْكَبِيرُ الْمُتَعالِ- وَ لَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ كُفُواً أَحَدٌ.
🌸No indeed:
His words are not Moses’ staff, but Husayn’s staff: they break and undo the polytheistic sorcery of sorcerers!
They unravel the scrolls of countless schools claiming a semblance of rationality!
🌸Beware the whirlpools of polytheism.
Pharaoh’s sorcerers stand against the signs of divine unity and the Qur’anic and transmitted staff.
Imam Hussein rose up in the Karbala of divine unity against polytheism.
Let us not leave Imam Hussein alone on the field of divine unity!
With Imam Hussein, each day is a new day of divine unity.
❇️ His knowledge and will encompass all creation
☘️مَا خَلَقَ لِلْفَنَاءِ بِمَشِيَّتِهِ وَ يَبْقَى مَا خَلَقَ لِلْبَقَاءِ بِعِلْمِهِ
☘️ By His will, He brings to an end what He created to perish; by His knowledge, He preserves what He created to endure.
🌿These three are instances of a faculty emerging and manifesting in its own locus, rather than leaving that locus—as the faculty of sight is said, according to the theory of visual rays, to extend beyond the eye. It is also possible that it does extend beyond its locus, though this is not what a person perceives.
🌿 These three—the mouth, the tongue and the heart—are instances of faculties manifesting and emerging within their own locus, not of leaving it; as when the faculty of sight extends beyond the eye, according to the theory of visual rays. It may also be that [they] extend beyond their locus, even though this is not what a person perceives.
🌿 He (AS) attributed the dissolution of what perishes to the will, and the endurance of what endures to knowledge. This is because the created will corresponds to what perishes, while eternal knowledge corresponds to what endures; for, according to the school of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS), the will is created. Otherwise, nothing lies beyond the reach of knowledge and will.
🌿 Imam (AS) explained the destruction of what perishes through the will, and the endurance of what endures through knowledge, because the will—which brings transient things into being—is fittingly associated with what perishes, and eternal knowledge with what endures. This is because, according to the school of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS), the will is created; otherwise, nothing would lie beyond the reach of knowledge and will.
🌼Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat) 110.141(903)🌼
An excerpt from the lecture 🌻🔆Imam Hussein, the Niche of Truth🔆🌻
✨Part One: Congratulations and a Prayer for Gnosis
Blessed be the night of the birth of the foremost of those devoted to worship, the lamp of those who trust in God, and the pride of the Imams, our master Hussein ibn Ali (AS).
He is the light of the Fatimid lineage, the brightest full moon and the greatest purifier of all creation.
On the occasion of this blessed birth, I offer my congratulations to the inhabitants of the celestial realm.
O God, make us know Your Hussein.
O God, show us this radiant niche.
When will we come to know this pearl and coral of Yours?
When will we attain complete servitude to Your Hussein?
When will we taste, through Hussein, the sweetness of worshipping You?
Hussein is the key to waking from sleep and reaching the light.
Hussein is release from darkness and immersion in divine unity.
Is the Imam not the light of God?
Then I must see through Hussein and traverse the frontiers of existence.
Through Hussein, I must grasp the heart of reality.
With Hussein, there should be no mystery in this world of existence that remains unknown to me.
If Imam Hussein is the Imam of twelve thousand worlds, then I must be a bird of the twelve thousand worlds.
Why have I imprisoned Hussein in my mind?
Why have I made Hussein seem small?
By God, Hussein is not small; he is the light of God and God’s servant.
Abu Abdillah is the father of God’s servants.
He nurtures God’s servants and guides them along their way.
✨Part Two: The Need to Accompany the Imam
With Hussein, I must traverse every layer of servitude to God.
With Hussein, I must discover every level of the mysteries.⟦36⟁
With Husayn, I must bring the whole universe into service.
Every act I perform in pure devotion to God reverberates throughout the universe.
Why am I numb? Because I am without the Imam of our time, without Husayn.
Had I been with Husayn, I would have found the feeling of servitude and tasted the sweetness of worship.
The universe feels for Husayn and knows him.
If the water of the sea knows Husayn, why do I not?
I have yet to draw on the power of this vast system of God.
Husayni devotion is the secret of walking and taking flight.
With Husayn, I must soar to the highest heavens and unleash a storm of devotion.
Why have I not done so? Why do I not help the marketplace of devotion thrive?
Had I been Husayni, I would have stirred the very soul of the universe.
If I utter Husayn’s name, I must honour it.
When I wear the mantle of Husayn, I must act as he did.
✨Part Three: Safeguarding the Trust and Divine Authority
I must bring the Yazidis to their knees.
Husayn is the loftiest tower of devotion to God and its mighty tree.
I must draw sustenance from Husayn and find joy in devotion.
Why am I out of the water? A fish out of water is dying.
If Husayn is God’s trust, have I been faithful to it?
Divine authority is God’s trust, and whoever entrusts it to anyone but the rightful one is an unbeliever.
Those usurpers of the trust took the place of water and left the fish thirsty.
Humanity is now on its deathbed, because the trust has been betrayed.
If the Imam were to rule over me, what would he gain? It would only add to his burden.
The Imam is like fresh, sweet water for the thirsty.
The Imam guides us to salvation and saves us from ruin.
It was we who needed the Imam to let us drink from the water of his life.
We took the path of darkness, and now everything is dying.
The trust of divine authority lies in our hearts; we must safeguard it.
Was safeguarding the trust not one of the duties of devotion?
Why did we entrust our hearts to Satan and forget the trust?
Did we water the pot of love for Husayn?
Had we watered it, we would have reached the paradise of love for Husayn.
✨Part Four: Gratitude and Hidden Enemies
How much have we thanked God for the immense blessing of Husayn?
Do we count the fruits of our Husayni devotion?
How much have we gained from Husayn’s wealth?
Ingratitude is a grave sin, punished with severe torment.
We did not merely fail to give thanks; we were ungrateful and caused harm.
Husayn has silent, unseen killers.
Many a Zaydi may not think of himself as Yazidi, yet be worse.
Many a hidden Shimr commits a hundred acts worse than Shimr’s.
Our hearts may become Husayn’s place of slaughter, and we do not even know it.
Divine unity is God’s sanctuary, and God is Husayn’s first and last love.
To attack Husayn’s sanctuary is to attack Husayn himself.
Imam Husayn rose up against polytheism and sacrificed his life for the oneness of God.
God’s curse falls upon every polytheist, even one who outwardly professes love for Husayn.
Husayn is the son of Abraham and is free of the polytheists.
Husayn loves those who affirm God’s oneness and obey Him.
Husayn is the appointed meeting place with God, the station of turning towards Him.
The greatest trust God has placed with us is Husayn, for he is a pillar of divine oneness.
Divine oneness is a martyr, and a martyr lives forever.
Husayn makes this world of being shine more brightly with the light of divine oneness.
✨Part Five: An Exegesis of Divine Oneness (The Hadith of al-Ṣamad)
Imam Husayn (AS) was asked to explain the meaning of “al-Ṣamad.”
If we fail to grasp the Imam’s words, we will doubt our faith and our affirmation of God’s oneness.
Failing to understand them is a sign of being trapped in polytheism and swept into the whirlpool of falsehood.
The Imam’s words unravel every philosophical doubt.
God, glorified is He, explained “al-Ṣamad” Himself: «الله احد، الله صمد».
«لم یلد و لم یولد»; that is, He neither begets nor is begotten.
«لم یکن له کفواً أحد»; none is His equal.
Nothing, whether subtle or dense, issues from the Most Holy Essence of God.
No child is born of Him, nor does He undergo states such as sleep, grief, joy or weariness.
He was not born of anything, and nothing comes forth from Him.
Things do not well up from within Him; rather, He is the Originator of things.
He brought things into being from absolute nonexistence.
He is neither within anything nor upon anything; He is the Originator and Creator.
Some pseudo-philosophers claim that “the many” proceed from “the One.”
Imam Husayn proclaims that nothing other than Him proceeds from Him.
He is the Originator of things, bringing them into being from nonexistence, not from Himself.
His oneness is absolute, and all multiplicities are His creations.
He does not breathe; He has neither inhalation nor exhalation.
He has no deficiency, grief, sorrow, weariness or hunger.
God’s pleasure and anger do not mean that His Essence changes.
He brings all lights into being and is Himself exalted above them all.
No colour, vibration, sound or taste issues from His Essence.
All effusions, qualities and creations are brought into being by His will.
He has no child, and “the One” does not proceed from “the One.”
Were one to proceed from the One, there would be two ones, and oneness would be lost.
The emergence of light from a source, or of knowledge from an essence, cannot be ascribed to God.
No intelligible thing, perceptible thing or action issues from His all-conquering Essence.
He admits of no degrees and bears no likeness to cause and effect.
He is not the sum of all things; rather, all things are among His creations.
He is not a ray, water, fruit or released energy.
The words of Imam Husayn are Moses’ staff, swallowing the sorcery of pseudo-philosophers.
Beware the whirlpools of polytheism, lest you be led astray.
✨Part Six: Husayn as the Niche of Light
So long as we have Husayn, we carry within our souls the staff above all staffs.
Imam Husayn rose up at the Karbala of divine unity, and his uprising has not yet come to an end.
Let us not leave Imam Husayn alone on the field of divine unity.
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) said: “I am astonished by anyone who recites the verse ‘Allah is the Light of the heavens…’ yet does not know the Imam.”
I want to test myself: how well do I know Imam Husayn?
Can I summon an inward vision of Imam Husayn in my heart?
This niche is Muhammad (PBUH), and I am the lamp.
If there were no glass around a lantern, what would its light be like?
It is the bubble of glass (zujaja) that embraces the light and gives it form.
What we see in the heavens is, in reality, the spectacle of heaven’s glass.
The glass is familiar with the light; within it lies the secret of the light’s radiance.
Without this veil, communion with the light and apprehension of it would be impossible.
The glass translates knowledge and makes gnosis manifest.
The glass is the light clasping hands with the loving soul.
The glass unveils the beauty of the light and makes the world available to sight.
Husayn has made this boundlessness possible and translated infinity.
Husayn is the glass through which realities appear in this world of being.
Every beauty and delight in the world is the light reflected in the glass.
Husayn translates beauty, delight, touch—everything—for us.
If the glass of Husayn does not shine upon our eyes, we will have neither sight nor anything to taste.
Everything in the world of being has a glass that reflects the realm of the unseen for us.
Husayn encompasses all these glasses and makes them shine forth.
A world without Husayn is a world without glass, a world in darkness.
Imam Husayn is the sweet taste of servitude to God.
Husayn is a universal sensibility that interprets the world of being in a way that brings it into awareness of realities.
Husayn is the glass that reveals the majesty of every reality and is the sensibility of our world of being.
🌼Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat) 110.141(903)🌼
[1] Meanings of Reports; text; p. 110 Ibn Babawayh, Islamic Publications Office affiliated with the Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom — Qom, first edition, 1403 AH.
[2] Uyūn Akhbār al-Riḍā (AS); vol. 1; p. 306 Ibn Babawayh, Jahan Publishing — Tehran, first edition, 1378 AH.
[3] Al-Burhān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān; vol. 4; p. 72 Bahrani, Sayyid Hashim ibn Sulayman, Baʿthat Institute — Qom, first edition, 1374 SH.
[4] Al-Burhān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān; vol. 4; p. 71 Bahrani, Baʿthat Institute — Qom, first edition, 1374 SH.
[5] Al-Kāfī (Islamic edition); vol. 1; p. 195 Kulayni, Muhammad ibn Yaʿqub ibn Ishaq, Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyya — Tehran, fourth edition, 1407 AH.
[6] Al-Tawḥīd (by al-Ṣadūq); p. 90 Ibn Babawayh, Muhammad ibn Ali, Society of Seminary Teachers — Iran, Qom, first edition, 1398 AH.
[7] Al-Tawḥīd (by al-Ṣadūq); p. 90 Ibn Babawayh, Muhammad ibn Ali, Society of Seminary Teachers — Iran, Qom, first edition, 1398 AH.
