Imam Jawad (AS): A Miracle of Knowledge

🌻🔆Imam Jawad (AS), the Miracle of Knowledge🔆🌻

🌼🔆🌼The Language of Divine Unity, the Secret of Oneness🌼🔆🌼

🌹🔅☘️ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحيمِ ☘️🔅🌹

🔅🌹 “The Secret of Innate Nature”  “The Consensus of All Tongues on Divine Unity”  “The Secret of Oneness with the Universe” “The Explosion of Knowledge”  “The Night of Imam Jawad’s Birth” and more … An abstract with an addendum       1404.10.09    Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat) 110.141(903)  🌹🔅

✳️❇️✨💫🔆🔅Knowledge smiled at the birth of Jawad, blossoming; the world’s smile was bound to Jawad’s name.

❇️Imam Jawad (AS), the most blessed of births

💫عَنْ يَحْيَى الصَّنْعَانِيِ‏ قَالَ: دَخَلْتُ عَلَى أَبِي الْحَسَنِ الرِّضَا ع وَ هُوَ بِمَكَّةَ وَ هُوَ يُقَشِّرُ مَوْزاً وَ يُطْعِمُهُ أَبَا جَعْفَرٍ ع فَقُلْتُ لَهُ جُعِلْتُ فِدَاكَ هَذَا الْمَوْلُودُ الْمُبَارَكُ قَالَ نَعَمْ يَا يَحْيَى هَذَا الْمَوْلُودُ الَّذِي لَمْ يُولَدْ فِي الْإِسْلَامِ مِثْلُهُ مَوْلُودٌ أَعْظَمُ‏ بَرَكَةً عَلَى شِيعَتِنَا مِنْهُ.[1]

🔆Yahya al-San‘ani relates: I went in to see Abu al-Hasan, Imam al-Rida (AS), while he was in Mecca. He was peeling a banana and feeding it to Abu Ja‘far (Imam Jawad) (AS). I said to him, “May I be your ransom, is this a blessed child?” He replied, “Yes, O Yahya. No child like him has ever been born in Islam. No child has been more blessed for our Shi‘a.”

❇️An unparalleled birth

The most blessed birth in the world of Islam is that of Imam Jawad (AS). May the great fountain of blessings that is His Eminence bring blessings to all creation!

No one like Jawad has ever appeared in this world. Whoever saw Jawad saw with a Rida-infused eye. In the view of Imam al-Rida (AS), if we gaze upon the beauty of Imam Jawad, we will behold God’s wonders, marvels, and mysteries. From beginning to end, we will witness an explosion of light. Jawad means an explosion of light, an explosion of knowledge, an explosion of wisdom. No one in Islam has been more blessed than Imam Jawad (AS).

❇️The manifestation of divine blessings

Who is this Jawad? This most blessed child, this greatest name of God, this most noble name of God. The secret of God’s immense blessings—the greatest blessing in the city of Muhammad—is Imam Jawad (AS). Jawad is the heaven of God’s blessings; Jawad is the realm of God’s blessings; Jawad is the majesty of God’s blessings.

❇️The light of Jawad (AS) in the hearts of the faithful

The light of Jawad (AS) is in our hearts. The light of Imam Jawad (AS) blazes in the hearts of the faithful. Perhaps his blessed light lies hidden within us; our hearts are repositories of God’s light. The light of al-Jawad (AS) must blaze within the heart if we are to attain certainty in our faith. If this light of God’s blessings springs from our hearts, if we allow Jawad’s light to shine through us, it will illuminate our being—the earth and heavens and the highest realm. With that light, we can behold everything from one end of the universe to the other.

❇️The heart: a wellspring of blessings through love of the Imam

Through love of Imam Jawad (AS), our hearts become a wellspring of God’s blessings. Imam Jawad (AS) is a great source of God, a great source of divine power. Jawad is Muhammad’s nuclear energy. This light works miracles in our hearts and in the heart of the world. What wonders this light works, we cannot know! If it shines, our souls will flourish.

❇️The heart’s state and the need for knowledge

The light goes out in the heedless heart

Perhaps we have extinguished this light in our hearts and driven it away through our deeds, by gazing upon this lowly world. Perhaps we have closed our eyes to God’s light. If only we would take a look inside our hearts, peer within, we would see whether they are a thriving garden or a wasteland: a barren desert, or an expansive plain?

❇️The radiance of the twelve lights

If the Imam’s light is in the heart, then the twelve lights of God must shine within mine. When those twelve lights shine, my heart becomes not a sky but a realm of skies. I am a universe of galaxies; I shall behold thousands upon thousands of galaxies within my heart. If astronomers enter my heart, they will be left in wonder. They will not travel from one end of it to the other before they see that my heart is a land of marvels.

❇️Imam Jawad: Gateway to Mysteries and Key to Sacred Knowledge

Gateway to Mysteries and Fruit of Piety

He is the Gateway to Mysteries. The secret of Imam Jawad (peace be upon him) must take root in our hearts, grow into a mighty tree, and bear fruit. To attain knowledge of the Jawadi path is to have brought that Jawadi supercomputer to life within my heart. Then I can unlock the innermost mysteries, rend the breast of the unknown, and discover mysteries beyond all mysteries.

❇️Jawad, the Ever-Burning Lamp of the Heart

The light of al-Jawad works wonders. It is God’s lamp; it must burn ever-bright in my heart, shining without cease. Without Jawad, my land is dark, cold, and sick. Without Jawad, my heart is dead and constricted, a land of darkness.

❇️Remembrance of God and the Consequences of Turning Away

If I turn toward this remembrance of God

Jawad means remembrance of God, the furnace of God’s remembrance. Imam Jawad (peace be upon him) brings remembrance of God to its highest pitch in my heart and makes me dwell in that remembrance. Whoever turns away from the remembrance of God—whether deliberately or inadvertently, whether through heedlessness—has turned his back on God’s remembrance and light. His life will become hard, he will sink into darkness, and on the Day of Resurrection he will be raised blind.

✨Ṭā Hā: 124   وَ مَنْ أَعْرَضَ عَنْ ذِكْري فَإِنَّ لَهُ مَعيشَةً ضَنْكاً وَ نَحْشُرُهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيامَةِ أَعْمى‏

🔆But whoever turns away from My remembrance will have a constricted life, and on the Day of Resurrection We will raise him blind!”

❇️The Necessity of Knowing God’s Proof

If I do not know Jawad in this world, I will not find him in the next. This is a mystery. If I do not know the Imam of my time, I will not see his reality. Even if I witness his appearance and behold his blessed stature, I will still be a stranger to him; I will still turn my back on him. The danger is grave. I must know him. If I do not know God’s Proof, I am rejected.

❇️The Light of the Imams on the Day of Resurrection

On the Day of Resurrection, the light of the Pure Imams (peace be upon them) will shine from the right and left of the believers, opening the way for them and guiding them to their homes in Paradise. Yes! If I do not know them, I will be blind. I will beg, “Wait for us, so that we may take some of your light.” We will plead with the believers, but they will say, “Go back to the world.” I must beg for light—each and every one of the Pure Imams’ lights—so that on the Day of Resurrection I may draw upon those mighty lights of God.

✨Al-Ḥadīd: 12   يَوْمَ تَرَى الْمُؤْمِنينَ وَ الْمُؤْمِناتِ يَسْعى‏ نُورُهُمْ بَيْنَ أَيْديهِمْ وَ بِأَيْمانِهِمْ بُشْراكُمُ الْيَوْمَ جَنَّاتٌ تَجْري مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهارُ خالِدينَ فيها ذلِكَ هُوَ الْفَوْزُ الْعَظيمُ

🔆On that Day you will see the believing men and women with their light racing ahead of them and to their right. “Good news for you today: gardens beneath which rivers flow, where you will abide forever. That is the supreme triumph!”

✨Al-Ḥadīd: 13   يَوْمَ يَقُولُ الْمُنافِقُونَ وَ الْمُنافِقاتُ لِلَّذينَ آمَنُوا انْظُرُونا نَقْتَبِسْ مِنْ نُورِكُمْ قيلَ ارْجِعُوا وَراءَكُمْ فَالْتَمِسُوا نُوراً فَضُرِبَ بَيْنَهُمْ بِسُورٍ لَهُ بابٌ باطِنُهُ فيهِ الرَّحْمَةُ وَ ظاهِرُهُ مِنْ قِبَلِهِ الْعَذابُ

🔆On that Day the hypocritical men and women will say to the believers, “Look back at us, so that we may catch some of your light!” They will be told, “Go back and seek light!” Then a wall will be raised between them, with a gate in it: within it is mercy, and outside it, punishment.

💫قَالَ قَالَ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع فِي قَوْلِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى اللَّهُ نُورُ السَّماواتِ وَ الْأَرْضِ مَثَلُ نُورِهِ كَمِشْكاةٍ … نُورٌ عَلى‏ نُورٍ إِمَامٌ مِنْهَا بَعْدَ إِمَامٍ يَهْدِي اللَّهُ لِنُورِهِ مَنْ يَشاءُ يُهْدِي اللَّهُ لِلْأَئِمَّةِ مَنْ يَشَاءُ  …  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 الْجَنَّة[2]

🔆Imam al-Sadiq (AS), commenting on the verse “اللَّهُ نُورُ السَّماواتِ وَ الْأَرْضِ مَثَلُ نُورِهِ كَمِشْكاةٍ,” said:

… Light upon light: an Imam after an Imam, descended from him.

God guides to His light whomever He wills: God guides whomever He wills to the Imams.

… Whoever God has not granted a light—an Imam—from among the descendants of Fatima (SA) will have no light on the Day of Resurrection.

Commenting on the verse “يَسْعَى نُورُهُم بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ,” he also said: On the Day of Resurrection, the Imams will lead the believers, proceeding ahead of them and at their right, until they settle them in their dwellings in Paradise.

This interpretation traces the course of divine guidance from Abraham (AS) to the Seal of the Saints (AJ) through the “Fatimid light,” and holds that salvation is possible only by following these divine lamps.

❇️The Imam’s Light, the Thread of Spiritual Life

The Imam’s Light and Spiritual Life

Let us allow the light of al-Jawad to shine. If the light of al-Jawad and God’s proofs is extinguished, the way is lost. If the light of al-Jawad, the light of the Imams, is extinguished, our nervous system will cease to function. My spiritual nervous system will no longer work. I will find nothing but dust; I will not perceive the heavens, what lies beyond them, or the highest realm. I will be buried in this earthly plane and will never reach the Throne.

❇️The Inner Faculties Fall Silent

How many faculties do we have within our souls? Countless. Leaving aside the outward faculties, how many inner faculties do I have? They lie silent. Where within me is that Greater World of which people speak? If only my nervous system were connected to God’s Proof, so that I might discover that Greatest World. For I have severed myself from those mighty means of God, and now I have no direction but this world.

❇️Knowledge of the Imam, the Essence of Life

Each of the Infallible Ones is not merely a world, but all worlds; they encompass all knowledge, all that God has reckoned. To be deprived of knowledge of the Imam, to be deprived of love for the Imam, is to be deprived of knowledge and wisdom—and of servitude to God. To be deprived of knowledge of the Imam is like dying, like falling into the dust.

❇️Imam al-Jawad: The Purest Honey of the Shi’a

Imam al-Jawad, this Imam of blessings, is the purest honey of the Shi’a, their immense wealth. We are poor. Al-Jawad is God’s treasure-house for the poor. Its secret lies in knowing al-Jawad. With that key, one can gain access to the wealth of the first and the last. Imam al-Jawad is the lifeblood of my soul. If I sever myself from him, I remain deprived of ثار الله. Yes, it is al-Jawad who will bring the Shi’a to their station. Yes, al-Jawad is one of those immense eruptions of knowledge, one of those mighty fountains reserved especially for God.

❇️Imam al-Jawad: An Eruption of Divine Knowledge

The Nuclear Energy of Knowledge

Knowledge from the family of Muhammad is on the verge of speaking before it is even asked about. Yes, al-Jawad is the nuclear energy of knowledge. That energy has reached the point of explosion. What will happen if that explosion sweeps us up? Imam al-Jawad means knowledge roaring forth, knowledge surging up—knowledge set free, knowledge split open and erupted.

💫وَ عَنِ الْبَاقِرِ ع‏ قَوْلُهُ‏ كَمِشْكاةٍ فِيها مِصْباحٌ‏ هُوَ نُورُ الْعِلْمِ فِي صَدْرِ النَّبِيِّ ص، وَ الزَّجَاجَةُ صَدْرُ عَلِيٍّ ع عَلَّمَهُ النَّبِيُّ ص فَصَارَ صَدْرُهُ كَزُجَاجَةٍ يَكادُ زَيْتُها يُضِي‏ءُ، وَ لَوْ لَمْ تَمْسَسْهُ نارٌ يَكَادُ الْعِلْمُ‏ مِنْ‏ آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ ص يَتَكَلَّمُ الْعِلْمَ قَبْلَ أَنْ يُسْأَلَ، نُورٌ عَلى‏ نُورٍ أَيْ إِمَامٌ مُؤَيَّدٌ بِالْعِلْمِ وَ الْحِكْمَةِ فِي أَثَرِ إِمَامٍ مِنْ آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ ص، وَ ذَلِكَ مِنْ‏ لَدُنْ آدَمَ إِلَى وَقْتِ قِيَامِ السَّاعَةِ هُمْ خُلَفَاءُ اللَّهِ فِي أَرْضِهِ وَ حُجَّةُ اللَّهِ عَلَى خَلْقِهِ، لَا تَخْلُو الْأَرْضُ فِي كُلِّ عَصْرٍ مِنْ وَاحِدٍ مِنْهُم‏[3]

🔆Imam al-Baqir (AS), commenting on the verse «کَمِشْکاةٍ فیها مِصْباحٌ…», said:

“The niche” (the receptacle of light) is the Prophet’s (PBUH) breast.

“The lamp” is the light of knowledge placed in the Prophet’s (PBUH) breast.

“The glass” is the breast of Ali (AS).

The Prophet’s instruction of Ali: The Prophet (PBUH) taught Ali (AS) knowledge, and so his breast became like glass whose oil (his knowledge) is almost alight, even without fire touching it.

“The knowledge of the Household of Muhammad (PBUH) almost speaks before anyone asks”: Their knowledge is such that it seems to speak before anyone asks.

“Light upon light” means that an Imam, supported by knowledge and wisdom, succeeds another Imam from the Household of Muhammad (PBUH).

This line continues from the time of Adam until the Day of Resurrection: they are God’s vicegerents on earth and His proofs before His creation. At no time is the earth without one of them.

☘️A detailed exposition and illuminating analysis:

1. Comparing the Prophet’s breast to “the niche” (the receptacle of light)

A niche is a place where a lamp is sheltered, and from which its light is focused and spread. The blessed breast of the Prophet (PBUH), as the place where revelation descended and the primary source of divine knowledge, serves this same purpose. This image underscores the Prophet’s purity, capacity and central role in receiving and transmitting the light of guidance.

2. Knowledge as “the lamp”

Here, knowledge is not merely intellectual learning; it is the light of certitude, knowledge of divine unity and the wisdom of revelation that illumines the world. This lamp is kept within the sanctuary of the Prophet’s (PBUH) breast.

3. Comparing Ali’s breast to “clear glass”

The glass that holds a lamp must be perfectly clear and pure, so that it transmits and radiates the light fully, without loss. After the Prophet (PBUH) taught him, Imam Ali’s (AS) breast was so polished and clear that no trace of self-regard or ignorance clouded it. He received, transmitted and disseminated knowledge without loss.

4. “Its oil almost shines, even though no fire has touched it” — a new interpretation

In this interpretation, the olive oil—an image in the verse for the substance of light—is understood as the God-given knowledge of the Household of the Prophet. Their knowledge shines like oil that is luminous in itself and needs no external spark, such as human instruction. The Prophet’s (PBUH) teaching of Imam Ali (AS), however, represents the joining of two sources of light, not instruction in the ordinary sense.

5. “The knowledge of the Household of Muhammad almost speaks before anyone asks”

This passage describes the distinctive breadth and spontaneous effusion of the Imams’ (AS) knowledge:

They do not merely answer questions; they know and disclose truths in advance.

Their knowledge is active and anticipatory, like a spring that flows even before anyone brings a vessel.

This quality stems from their continual connection to God-given knowledge and their station as those who are addressed or inspired.

6. “Light upon light”: the continuity of the Imamate

The light of the Imamate is continuous and cumulative: each Imam bears the light of knowledge of the Imam before him, with that light further unfolding—not quantitatively, but through its manifestation in a new age.

This concentration of light guarantees the uninterrupted guidance of humanity throughout history.

7. “From the time of Adam until the Hour is established”: Imamate as a universal divine law

Imamate is not confined to Islam or to any particular era. Rather, it is a succession of divine proofs extending from the beginning to the end of the world.

8. “The earth is never without one of them”: a guarantee of universal guidance

This statement sets out the principle that the divine proof is ever-present—a principle that is an important foundation of Islamic belief:

In every age, there is a living, present Imam who embodies God’s mercy and guidance.

This presence remains a source of guidance even when hidden, as in the age of Occultation.

☘️This hadith offers an Imami interpretation of the Light Verse, in which:

the Prophet (PBUH) is presented as the primary source of light,

Imam Ali (AS) as its complete and unclouded bearer,

and the other Imams (AS) as those who carry this divine lamp forward until the Day of Resurrection.

☘️The profound point is that the knowledge of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS) is an innate, divinely bestowed knowledge that needs no external stimulus; it is always ready to well forth and shine. This interpretation beautifully depicts the station of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS) and makes clear the duty of believers to follow this ever-present, unfailing light.

☘️This is the everlasting light of which God said:

“They seek to extinguish the light of God with their mouths, but God will bring His light to completion, however much the disbelievers may hate it.”

They seek to extinguish God’s light with their mouths, but God will bring His light to completion, even though the disbelievers may dislike it.

❇️The Shia’s final examination

Muhammad ibn Ali, the ninth of the Imams, will place Imam Jawad on the shoulders of the Shia. I had no idea that the Shia’s final grade was in the hands of Imam Jawad. Yes! My exam paper is in the hands of Imam Jawad. Imam Jawad is God’s reckoner. So, what is my grade? What is my Jawadi grade? How many pages does my record of knowledge about Imam Jawad contain? Or is it blank? How well do I know my Imam Jawad? Or am I deprived of knowing him?

💫عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ص قَالَ‏ أَنَا وَارِدُكُمْ عَلَى الْحَوْضِ وَ أَنْتَ يَا عَلِيُّ السَّاقِي وَ الْحَسَنُ الرَّائِدُ وَ الْحُسَيْنُ الْآمِرُ وَ عَلِيُّ بْنُ الْحُسَيْنِ الْفَارِطُ وَ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عَلِيٍّ النَّاشِرُ وَ جَعْفَرُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ السَّائِقُ وَ مُوسَى بْنُ جَعْفَرٍ مُحْصِي الْمُحِبِّينَ وَ الْمُبْغِضِينَ وَ قَامِعُ الْمُنَافِقِينَ وَ عَلِيُّ بْنُ مُوسَى مُزَيِّنُ‏ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ‏ وَ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عَلِيٍّ مُنْزِلُ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ فِي دَرَجَاتِهِمْ وَ عَلِيُّ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ خَطِيبُ شِيعَتِهِمْ وَ مُزَوِّجُهُمُ الْحُورَ وَ الْحَسَنُ بْنُ عَلِيٍّ سِرَاجُ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ يَسْتَضِيئُونَ[4]

🔆The Noble Prophet (PBUH) said:

“I shall come to you at the Pool (of Kawthar), and you, O Ali, will be its cupbearer;

Hasan will guide the way to Paradise;

Husayn will be the commander of the people of Paradise;

Ali ibn al-Husayn will be the first to enter Paradise;

Muhammad ibn Ali (Imam Baqir) will be its standard-bearer—or the one who spreads its teachings;

Ja‘far ibn Muhammad (Imam Sadiq) will drive the riders of Paradise;

Musa ibn Ja‘far will count those who love and oppose us, and crush the hypocrites;

Ali ibn Musa (Imam Reza) will adorn the believers;

Muhammad ibn Ali (Imam Jawad) will assign the people of Paradise their ranks;

Ali ibn Muhammad (Imam Hadi) will address the Shia and join them in marriage with the houris;

and Hasan ibn Ali (Imam Askari) will be the lamp of the people of Paradise, whose light will illuminate it;

The Guide, the Mahdi (the Imam of the Age), will intercede for them on the Day of Resurrection—a day when no one intercedes except by God’s permission, and only for one whom God wills and approves.

❇️ The Imam’s Explosive Words

Let us turn to his sacred words—the words that begin to resonate of themselves before he even speaks, before our Imam Jawad opens his lips to utter wisdom. Their knowledge bursts forth from his blessed being, from his precious soul. Whoever they reach, they turn upside down and transform, carrying them from the earthly plane to the celestial throne.

A journey into the soul’s deepest secret in the words of Imam Jawad (peace be upon him)

❇️ All tongues unite in affirming His Oneness

✅ The secret of divine unity, revealed in the words of the Imam of Unity

💫 عَنْ أَبِي هَاشِمٍ الْجَعْفَرِيِّ قَالَ: سَأَلْتُ أَبَا جَعْفَرٍ الثَّانِيَ ع مَا مَعْنَى‏ الْوَاحِدِ فَقَالَ إِجْمَاعُ الْأَلْسُنِ عَلَيْهِ بِالْوَحْدَانِيَّةِ كَقَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى‏ وَ لَئِنْ سَأَلْتَهُمْ مَنْ خَلَقَهُمْ لَيَقُولُنَّ اللَّهُ‏.[5]

🔆Abu Hashim Ja‘fari relates: I asked Abu Ja‘far al-Thani, the Imam (Jawad, peace be upon him), “What does ‘One’ mean?” He replied, “The agreement of all tongues in affirming His Oneness,” just as God Most High has said: “If you ask them who created them, they will surely say, ‘God.’

✨ The glorious Name Allah is the deepest of mysteries. Allah, in His sacred essence, is not a mystery; He is the source of all mystery.

In speech, in states of being, in deeds and in their very essence, all call upon Him. All existence, through its innate sense of divine unity and a language shared in affirming Allah’s Oneness, speaks with one voice.

Flowers, and all that is beautiful in the world, invoke Him through the glorious Name Allah, in the language of their beauty and of their effects: through fragrance, colour, delicacy and qualities, and in the music of their own spoken language, they affirm His Oneness. The language of divine unity is the common tongue shared by all realms and all beings.

❇️ Knowledge is the lamp of divine unity

If divine knowledge encompasses everything, then there is nothing in the world but light. Darkness is merely our own unawakened nervous system; polytheism is the failure to see the radiance of the lamp of divine unity.

Knowledge reveals divine unity. All are therefore immersed in it, swimming in it like fish and drawing breath from it.

The knot of divine unity is the umbilical cord of life for every being! Divine unity is woven into the soul of creation.

All creation pulses with the beat of divine unity.

The grammar of divine unity is woven into the soul and essence of every realm. Divine unity is creation’s common language. Through pure divine unity, a being’s understanding reaches its full potential: it can comprehend, translate and interpret everything!

The eye of divine unity sees all; nothing remains hidden from it.

The heart of divine unity is the heart most deeply in love, the centre of every perfection, the most beautiful in form and character, and the source of the world’s sweetest delight.

❇️ Divine unity: a language beyond communication

Through the language of divine unity, let us speak with our limbs and organs, our cells and the particles of body and soul, with the stars and the cosmos … even with all beings beyond this world.

❇️ The greatest delight through the union of tongues

The union of hearts is possible only through divine unity.

The union of tongues embraces every faculty: the tongue of speech, and the languages of the heart, the soul, one’s inner state, one’s words and one’s circumstances.

The language of divine unity holds the secret of feeling wholly at one in worshipping God. Pure divine unity is the secret of sharing fully in the life of the entire universe.

❇️ All my selves are one with me through divine unity

Speaking the same language as divine unity is the secret of speaking with one voice.

Through divine unity, the particles of my body are in harmony and accord with my intentions, thoughts and reasoning.

❇️A Conversation with the Body

It is possible to experience harmony and unity with the body and the entire universe through a state of being and a language rooted in divine unity.

Have we ever reflected on how we communicate with our limbs and organs—what language we use to convey our intentions to them and to receive theirs?

❇️Turning Away from Our Innate Nature Is Impossible

Keep the nerve of your innate nature alive, and you will always be immersed in light and radiance!

Why have we become strangers to our own limbs?

✨Al-Hashr: 19   وَ لا تَكُونُوا كَالَّذينَ نَسُوا اللَّهَ فَأَنْساهُمْ أَنْفُسَهُمْ أُولئِكَ هُمُ الْفاسِقُونَ

🔆Do not be like those who forgot God, so He caused them to forget themselves. They are the disobedient.

The utmost form of forgetting God is associating partners with Him.

Let us converse with the angels in the language of divine unity.

By holding fast to the Two Weighty Things, the innate nature will remain forever active. With our monotheistic nature awakened, we will stay attuned to the universe; we will be present at the moment new innate truths emerge, and new insights will be stored within it. Then human beings will understand the true meaning of growth.

❇️Escaping Our Innate Nature Is Impossible

The center of divine religion lies in the human heart.

✨Al-Hajj: 31   حُنَفاءَ لِلَّهِ غَيْرَ مُشْرِكينَ بِهِ وَ مَنْ يُشْرِكْ بِاللَّهِ فَكَأَنَّما خَرَّ مِنَ السَّماءِ فَتَخْطَفُهُ الطَّيْرُ أَوْ تَهْوي بِهِ الرِّيحُ في‏ مَكانٍ سَحيقٍ

🔆(Fulfil the rites of Hajj) devoting yourselves wholly to God and associating nothing with Him. Whoever associates anything with God is like one who falls from the sky, then is snatched away by birds—or swept by a gust of wind to some far-off place.

💫عَنْ أَبِي جَعْفَرٍ (عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ)، قَالَ: سَأَلْتُهُ عَنْ قَوْلِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ: حُنَفاءَ لِلَّهِ غَيْرَ مُشْرِكِينَ بِهِ‏، قَالَ: «الْحَنِيفِيَّةُ مِنَ الْفِطْرَةِ الَّتِي فَطَرَ اللَّهُ النَّاسَ عَلَيْهَا، لَا تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ، قَالَ: فَطَرَهُمْ عَلَى الْمَعْرِفَةِ بِهِ».[6]

🔆Imam al-Baqir (peace be upon him)—Zurarah relates: I asked Imam al-Baqir (peace be upon him) about these words of God, Mighty and Majestic: “Turn to God.” He replied: “Hanifiyyah is part of the innate nature upon which God created humankind, and God’s creation cannot be changed. He created them with an innate knowledge of Himself.”

❇️The Hanif Nature Within Us

🌹Innate nature is the language of unity among all worlds.

🌹Everyone knows this language; it is the common tongue from the beginning to the end of the universe.

🌹To be hanif is to be devoted to, attached to and follow the truth; to cling to one’s innate nature, to be nourished by it and sustained through it. It means the spirit of divine unity coursing through the soul.

🌹A hanif is free from every crookedness, always steadfast, upright and true; the flame of divine unity burns continually within.

🌹The hanif rides upon innate nature. Separation from it is impossible, just as separation from creation is impossible; separation from servitude to God is impossible. Separation from divine unity is impossible—we need only put it into practice.

🌹It is as though the Prophet’s innate nature accompanies us; the Book of divine unity is our supreme innate nature.

❇️In the World of Pre-Existence, everyone’s navel was bound to the innate nature of divine unity

💫قالَ زُرَارَةُ: وَ سَأَلْتُهُ عَنْ قَوْلِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ: وَ إِذْ أَخَذَ رَبُّكَ مِنْ بَنِي آدَمَ مِنْ ظُهُورِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ وَ أَشْهَدَهُمْ عَلى‏ أَنْفُسِهِمْ أَ لَسْتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ قالُوا بَلى‏ الْآيَةَ، قَالَ: «أَخْرَجَ مِنْ ظَهْرِ آدَمَ ذُرِّيَّتَهُ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ، فَخَرَجُوا كَالذَّرِّ، فَعَرَّفَهُمْ وَ أَرَاهُمْ نَفْسَهُ، وَ لَوْ لَا ذَلِكَ لَمْ يَعْرِفْ أَحَدٌ رَبَّهُ».

🔆I asked him about the words of God, the Mighty and Exalted: “And your Lord brought forth from the loins of the children of Adam their offspring, and made them bear witness against themselves, asking, ‘Am I not your Lord?’ They said, ‘Yes.’” He replied: “He brought forth from Adam’s back the descendants who would live until the Day of Resurrection, like particles of dust. Then He made them know who they were and showed Himself to them. Had He not done so, no one would have known their Lord.”

☘️Every particle of dust carries immense divine knowledge. Through awakening our innate nature, let us keep pure knowledge alive within our souls, and bring it fully into action.

❇️God is beyond apprehension, from the sight of the eyes to the imaginings of the heart

💫مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ عَمَّنْ ذَكَرَهُ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عِيسَى عَنْ دَاوُدَ بْنِ الْقَاسِمِ أَبِي هَاشِمٍ الْجَعْفَرِيِّ قَالَ: قُلْتُ لِأَبِي جَعْفَرٍ ع- No تُدْرِكُهُ الْأَبْصارُ وَ هُوَ يُدْرِكُ الْأَبْصارَ فَقَالَ يَا أَبَا هَاشِمٍ أَوْهَامُ الْقُلُوبِ أَدَقُّ مِنْ أَبْصَارِ الْعُيُونِ أَنْتَ قَدْ تُدْرِكُ بِوَهْمِكَ السِّنْدَ وَ الْهِنْدَ وَ الْبُلْدَانَ الَّتِي لَمْ تَدْخُلْهَا وَ لَا تُدْرِكُهَا بِبَصَرِكَ وَ أَوْهَامُ الْقُلُوبِ لَا تُدْرِكُهُ فَكَيْفَ أَبْصَارُ الْعُيُونِ.[7]

🔆Abu Hashim said: I recited the verse “No تُدْرِكُهُ الْأَبْصارُ وَ هُوَ يُدْرِكُ الْأَبْصارَ” to Imam al-Jawad (AS). He said: “O Abu Hashim, the mind’s imaginings are more subtle than the eyes’ sight. At times, through the mind’s imaginings, you apprehend Sind, Hind, and cities you have never visited; yet your eyes cannot apprehend them. The mind’s imaginings cannot apprehend God—how much less, then, can the eyes’ sight?”

💫رَوَى أَبُو دَاوُدَ بْنُ الْقَاسِمِ الْجَعْفَرِيُ‏  قَالَ‏: قُلْتُ لِأَبِي جَعْفَرٍ الثَّانِي ع‏ قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ‏ أَحَدٌ مَا مَعْنَى الْأَحَدِ؟

قَالَ الْمُجْمَعُ عَلَيْهِ بِالْوَحْدَانِيَّةِ أَ مَا سَمِعْتَهُ يَقُولُ‏ «وَ لَئِنْ سَأَلْتَهُمْ مَنْ خَلَقَ السَّماواتِ وَ الْأَرْضَ وَ سَخَّرَ الشَّمْسَ وَ الْقَمَرَ لَيَقُولُنَّ اللَّهُ‏»  ثُمَّ يَقُولُونَ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ لَهُ شَرِيكٌ وَ صَاحِبَةٌ فَقُلْتُ قَوْلُهُ‏ لا تُدْرِكُهُ الْأَبْصارُ  قَالَ يَا أَبَا هَاشِمٍ أَوْهَامُ الْقُلُوبِ أَدَقُّ مِنْ أَبْصَارِ الْعُيُونِ أَنْتَ قَدْ تُدْرِكُ بِوَهْمِكَ السِّنْدَ وَ الْهِنْدَ وَ الْبُلْدَانَ الَّتِي لَمْ تَدْخُلْهَا- وَ لَمْ تُدْرِكْ بِبَصَرِكَ ذَلِكَ فَأَوْهَامُ الْقُلُوبِ لَا تُدْرِكُهُ فَكَيْفَ تُدْرِكُهُ الْأَبْصَارُ-؟ وَ سُئِلَ ع أَ يَجُوزُ أَنْ يُقَالَ لِلَّهِ إِنَّهُ شَيْ‏ءٌ-؟ فَقَالَ نَعَمْ تُخْرِجُهُ مِنَ الْحَدَّيْنِ حَدِّ الْإِبْطَالِ وَ حَدِّ التَّشْبِيهِ‏[8]

🔆Abu Hashim Dawud ibn Qasim al-Ja‘fari said: I asked Abu Ja‘far II, Imam al-Jawad (AS): What does “One” mean in the blessed verse “Say: He is Allah, One”? He replied: “Everyone’s agreement that He is One. Have you not heard Him say, ‘If you ask them who created the heavens and the earth and subjected the sun and the moon, they will say, “Allah”’? Yet afterward they claim that He has a partner and companion.” I asked: What does God Most High mean when He says, “Eyes do not see Him”?

He replied: “O Abu Hashim, the heart’s imagining is more subtle than the eyes’ sight. Thus, at times you imagine Sind, Hind, and cities you have neither visited nor seen. God Most High cannot be apprehended or known through the heart’s imaginings; how, then, could eyes apprehend Him?”

Imam al-Jawad (AS) was asked: “Is it permissible to say of God that He is a thing?”

He replied: “Yes. By doing so, you distinguish Him from the limits of negation (the doctrine that God is inactive or nonexistent) and of anthropomorphism (likening Him to created beings).”

☘️The imaginings of the heart—that is, the most precise rational proofs—cannot reach the Divine Essence. In other words, the heart’s faculty of understanding, with all its powers and capacities, is helpless before the truth of the Majestic Essence.

☘️How astonishing that people who believe beyond all doubt in God’s oneness should associate partners with Him! Every part of the soul and the world bears witness to His oneness. Yet, with all their powers and faculties crying out to affirm it, they contrive proofs of His having partners; they would use light to bring forth darkness!

Apart from true mystics and philosophers, no misguided mystic or philosopher considers himself a polytheist. And yet, despite bearing witness to His oneness, they contrive proofs that He has partners.

☘️It is permissible to call Him a “thing,” but He transcends all things. «لیس کمثله شیء» (no negation): affirming that He transcends thinghood is affirming His sovereignty over things.

But because we do not know what lies beyond things, we imagine that what transcends them is nothingness. So, lest we become stalled and to set us on our way, we are permitted to call Him a thing, so that we may join the caravan of divine oneness. That is, after journeying through the stations of «لا تعطیل و لا تشبیه», we may reach the heart of pure tawhid: «کمال الاخلاص له نفی الصفات عنه». Negating thinghood affirms that Reality which lies beyond description.

He is the originator of all things;

☘️Let the Imam speak to you of mysteries without dissimulation. The limit of the words of God’s friends

is the limit of our own reason.🌹Human beings wander between negation and anthropomorphism; wherever they cross a boundary, they will be consumed.

«حد التعطیل و حد التشبیه»—a limit is something to cross, not a place to stop, stay, or settle!

A vehicle is for travelling towards a destination, not for treating the vehicle itself as the destination.

🌹When a person can free themselves from this field, they will attain perfection.

🌹The realm of negation and anthropomorphism is a prison for the human being, from which they must set themselves free. In truth, the human being is in a field of solving riddles. The realm of negation and anthropomorphism is one of limitation.

🌹A person must come to understand that they should not compare Reality with themselves. A human being’s possessions, capacities, and knowledge are limited in every dimension; therefore, they should not compare Reality with themselves. Human reason, thought, power, and capacity cannot go beyond their own bounds and borders.

🌹A person cannot go beyond themselves! They cannot leave themselves behind.

🌹It is enough for a person to know that they have limits, boundaries, and constraints. The bounded cannot comprehend «what lies beyond bounds».

Names and attributes are staffs for the human mind and heart, enabling them to move onward.

Addendum:

Remaining true to one’s primordial nature lies in holding fast to the Two Weighty Things. If I hold fast to them, my primordial nature will be at the height of its glory and flourishing. It will continually be set on its way through divine majesty, and will grow through divine majesty. My primordial nature will ever be renewed, keeping pace with the renewal of existence itself and with the Highest Realm. «کل یوم هو فی شان». With every moment, it will grow in its primordial nature—by the Creator of the heavens and the earth.

Primordial nature: the clear-sighted prophet within

It seems that our primordial nature is the clear-sighted prophet present within us. It is never severed from us, not for an instant: a messenger ever stationed in our souls, in constant communication with God. Even if the prophets and messengers arrive, if that primordial nature is silent, we will see no image of them. It is through that nature that we know the souls of the prophets. All the heavenly books are disclosed to us through it. It is through that bundle of primordial nature that we believe in the existence of angels, in the prophets and messengers, in the heavenly books, and in the signs. Without it, we are dead.

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

[1] الكافي (ط – الإسلامية) ؛ ج‏6 ؛ ص360 Al-Kulaynī, Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb ibn Isḥāq, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, Tehran, 4th edition, 1407 AH.

[2] مسائل علي بن جعفر و مستدركاتها ؛ ؛ ص317 Al-ʿUrayḍī, ʿAlī ibn Jaʿfar, Muʾassasat Āl al-Bayt (peace be upon them), Qom, 1st edition, 1409 AH.

[3] Majmaʿ al-Baḥrayn, vol. 3, p. 504  Ṭurayḥī, Fakhr al-Dīn ibn Muḥammad, Murtazavi — Tehran, 3rd edition, 1375 SH.

[4] Manāqib Āl Abī Ṭālib (by Ibn Shahrāshūb), vol. 1, p. 292  Ibn Shahrāshūb Māzandarānī, Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī, ʿAllāma — Qom, 1st edition, 1379 AH.

[5] Al-Kāfī (Islamic edition), vol. 1, p. 118  Kulaynī, Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb ibn Isḥāq, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya — Tehran, 4th edition, 1407 AH.

[6] Al-Burhān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān    vol. 4    p. 712 Baḥrānī, Hāshim ibn Sulaymān, Muʾassasat al-Biʿtha, Department of Islamic Studies — Iran, Qom, 1st edition, 1415 AH.

[7] Al-Kāfī (Islamic edition), vol. 1, p. 99  Kulaynī, Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb ibn Isḥāq, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya — Tehran, 4th edition, 1407 AH.

[8] Al-Iḥtijāj ʿalā Ahl al-Lijāj (by al-Ṭabrisī), vol. 2, p. 441  Ṭabrisī, Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī, Nashr-e Murtaḍā — Mashhad, 1st edition, 1403 AH.