Learning to Fly with the Imam of Flight

🌼🔆 “The Ladder of the Ṣaḥīfa al-Sajjādiyya” “A Reappraisal of the Soul and Faith”

🔅🌹 A Summary with Supplementary Reflections: “The Unspoken Secrets of Faith and Certitude,” “The Wings of Faith,” “A Commentary on Supplication 20 of the Ṣaḥīfa al-Sajjādiyya,” “Session 217,” “The Secret of the Miʿrāj,” and more. 1402.09.22 Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat) 110.141(903) 🌹🔅

🌹🔅☘️ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحيمِ ☘️🔅🌹

🔅🌼Sink into the Ṣaḥīfa al-Sajjādiyya, and you will find salvation. 🌼🔅

🔅وَ بَلِّغْ بِإِيمَانِي أَكْمَلَ الْإِيمَانِ🔅

🌷The one who plunges into the surging sea of Supplication 20 of the Ṣaḥīfa al-Sajjādiyya discovers its precious treasure.

🌷The taste of this blessed supplication so completely captivates our hearts that it will not let us turn to the other fruits, the other jewels, of this surging sea.

🌷Let us check in on our faith at every moment, never neglecting the growth of its wings. The mirror of the Ṣaḥīfa al-Sajjādiyya shows the wings of our soul and heart. Do not grow heedless before your faith has come to maturity.

🌷Imam Sajjad, peace be upon him, taught us not to be content with little: we must conquer the summit of faith and raise the banner of servitude atop that mighty peak.

🌷O God, bring my faith to its fullest perfection. That is: O God, make the system of faith within me perfect. This system of faith is rooted in the human heart; the heart must be vast and perfected if faith, too, is to be perfected.

🌷Imam Sajjad, peace be upon him, taught us to strengthen our capacity for servitude. The Imams taught us to absorb all the energy of the universe and offer it in service to God.

I want to nourish the whole world

 🌷To attain the fullest perfection of faith is to reach a station from which one can nourish all existence and offer it all to the Exalted Lord.

🔅🌼There is a journey beyond nourishing all existence. 🌼🔅

🌷Whoever nourishes all existence becomes, in their own being, the whole universe; and they must then offer that entirety to the Exalted Lord in a single intimate prayer.

🌷Once a person has established the greater universe within themselves, they can bring the effects of perfected faith to fruition.

🌷Through fully nourishing all existence, the single, unified body of divine servitude is brought into being.

🔅وَ اجْعَلْ يَقِينِي أَفْضَلَ الْيَقِينِ🔅

🔅🌼Certitude is faith’s most beautiful vista. 🌼🔅

🌷O God, bring my certitude to the highest degree of certitude. Make my being like a tree that bears the finest, sweetest, richest-hued fruit.

🌷Certitude is faith’s eldest child. But if we were to picture them, faith would be the delight we experience, the richness of color; certitude would be like clear sight, like a living sense. We must have both a beautiful vision and a seeing eye: the beauty of that vision comes from faith, and its clarity from certitude.

🌷A person endowed with “the highest certitude” possesses “the highest knowledge.” In other words, the human heart must be wide open and fully awake, so that one may worship God with the utmost clarity of vision.

🔅وَ انْتَهِ بِنِيَّتِي إِلَى أَحْسَنِ النِّيَّاتِ، وَ بِعَمَلِي إِلَى أَحْسَنِ الْأَعْمَالِ🔅

 🔅O God, transform my intention into the finest of intentions, and bring my deeds to the highest excellence.

🔅🌼O Creator of existence, fashion the works of my faith, certitude, intention, and action into works of art. 🌼🔅

🌷First, we ask God Most High to make the systems of faith, certitude, intention, and action within us perfect, superior, and excellent. That is, we ask Allah, Blessed and Exalted, to create within us, in the most beautiful way, the works of art that are faith, certitude, intention, and action.

🔅اللَّهُمَّ وَفِّرْ بِلُطْفِكَ نِيَّتِي🔅

🔅O God, by Your grace, make my intention abundant—let it flourish and overflow.

🔅🌼My Beloved, cultivate my intention.🌼🔅

🌷There is a beautiful connection between the passage «وَ انْتَهِ بِنِيَّتِي إِلَى أَحْسَنِ النِّيَّاتِ» and the passage  «اللَّهُمَّ وَفِّرْ بِلُطْفِكَ نِيَّتِي». In the passage «وَ انْتَهِ بِنِيَّتِي إِلَى أَحْسَنِ النِّيَّاتِ», we ask God to make our intention excellent—to perfect the art of intending. And in the passage «اللَّهُمَّ وَفِّرْ بِلُطْفِكَ نِيَّتِي», we ask God, in His grace, to multiply the fruits of this craft, “the finest of intentions,” so that the most beautiful craft may yield the most abundant harvest.

🌷A pure and sound heart is the center of the finest works of the Divine; it is also where those works are produced and from where they spread.

🌷Beautiful intentions shine in the universe like the radiant sun. In other words, we ask God to make our hearts like the sun, then to send the sun’s radiant light from our hearts throughout all creation.

🔅وَ صَحِّحْ بِمَا عِنْدَكَ يَقِينِي🔅

🌷And set right my certainty in what is with You.

🔅🌼My Beloved, refine my certainty.🌼🔅

🌷There is a special connection between the passage «وَ اجْعَلْ يَقِينِي أَفْضَلَ الْيَقِينِ» و «صَحِّحْ بِمَا عِنْدَكَ يَقِينِي».

🌷We ask our Beloved to establish within our hearts the finest form of certainty, and, alongside the great craft of intention and its abundance, to set our certainty right in relation to “what is with God.” To set our intention right is to refine our certainty as it advances toward perfection. We ask God to correct our certainty, to purify and adorn it. We ask God to bring us to the station of being with Him. Through this exalted order and its perfection, attaining the station of being with God means realizing the station of witnessing: witnessing in perfect soundness, with certainty made sublime and excellent.

🌷One must attain the station of witnessing through certainty, behold the Truth, and never for a moment be separated from nearness to God.

O God, bring me to the station of witnessing at every moment. Make me a witness to Your majesty, and let me dwell forever “with You.”

🌷The sign of certainty being set right appears when we have reached the summit of trust in God. From there, we take flight toward the summit of certainty on the wings of oneness and fear of God alone—that is, with God beside us, we fear nothing.

🔆🌹عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع قَالَ: لَيْسَ شَيْ‏ءٌ إِلَّا وَ لَهُ حَدٌّ قَالَ قُلْتُ جُعِلْتُ فِدَاكَ فَمَا حَدُّ التَّوَكُّلِ قَالَ الْيَقِينُ قُلْتُ فَمَا حَدُّ الْيَقِينِ قَالَ أَلَّا تَخَافَ‏ مَعَ‏ اللَّهِ‏ شَيْئاً.[1]

🔆Imam al-Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: “There is nothing without a limit.” The narrator of the hadith said: “May I be your ransom, what is the limit of trust in God?” He replied: “Certainty.” I asked: “And what is the limit of certainty?” He replied: “That you fear nothing when you believe in God.”

🌷May I fear nothing but God—not scarcity or hardship in my provision, the enmity of humans or jinn, disgrace on the Day of Judgment, or the Fire of Hell. May my fear be directed solely to my God, while I remain steadfast in my absolute hope in Him.

🌷How ugly and unbecoming it is for someone to feel no shame before God, yet feel ashamed before God’s creation and dread disgrace before all people on the Day of Judgment. The fear of God must so fill our hearts that no room remains for fear of anyone else.

🔅🌼My Beloved, O my first and last hope, let my fear be for You alone.🌼🔅

🌷O my absolute hope, make me fear You.

🔆🌹 عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع قَالَ: مِنْ صِحَّةِ يَقِينِ الْمَرْءِ الْمُسْلِمِ أَنْ لَا يُرْضِيَ النَّاسَ بِسَخَطِ اللَّهِ‏ وَ لَا يَلُومَهُمْ عَلَى مَا لَمْ يُؤْتِهِ اللَّه‏[2]

🔆One sign that a Muslim’s certainty is sound is that they do not please people at the cost of their Lord’s displeasure, nor blame them for what God has not granted them.

🌷What a foolish and degrading bargain it is to trade the pleasure of God’s creatures for the anger of their Creator.

🔅وَ اسْتَصْلِحْ بِقُدْرَتِكَ مَا فَسَدَ مِنِّي🔅

🌷My God, I ask You, by Your power, to set right whatever in me has fallen into corruption.

🌷O God, mend the ruin within me. From beginning to end, turn all the wrong I have done into good.

🌷O God, I have fallen from the fairest stature to the lowest of the low; so set me right.

🌷O God, I have brought my greater world to ruin and corruption. In Your everlasting power, show me the kindness of making amends for it.

🌷O God, I have no power to mend the crookedness and wrongs of my life—but You have power over all things!

🌷 O God, I have despoiled Your most perfect order, but You are «مبدّل السیئات»; therefore:

🔆🌹صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ وَ أَبْدِلْ سَيِّئَاتِنَا حَسَنَاتٍ‏ وَ اجْعَلْ حَسَنَاتِنَا دَرَجَاتٍ وَ اجْعَلْ دَرَجَاتِنَا غُرُفَاتٍ وَ اجْعَلْ غُرُفَاتِنَا عَالِيَات‏[3]

🔆And bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, and turn our evil deeds into good ones; make our good deeds a means of raising our ranks, our ranks into chambers, and our chambers into the highest stations.

🌻🔆Al-Zumar: 20   لكِنِ الَّذينَ اتَّقَوْا رَبَّهُمْ لَهُمْ غُرَفٌ مِنْ فَوْقِها غُرَفٌ مَبْنِيَّةٌ تَجْري مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهارُ وَعْدَ اللَّهِ لا يُخْلِفُ اللَّهُ الْميعادَ

🔆But those who are mindful of God will have chambers above which are other chambers built, with rivers flowing beneath them. This is God’s promise, and God never fails in His promise!

🌻🔆Ṣād: 75   قالَ يا إِبْليسُ ما مَنَعَكَ أَنْ تَسْجُدَ لِما خَلَقْتُ بِيَدَيَّ أَسْتَكْبَرْتَ أَمْ كُنْتَ مِنَ الْعالينَ

🔆He said, “O Iblis! What prevented you from prostrating to one whom I created with My own power? Were you arrogant, or were you among the exalted?”

🌻🔆الحاقة : 22   في‏ جَنَّةٍ عالِيَةٍ

🔆In a lofty Garden

🌷If only I had remained within Your most perfect order, and You had raised me through its ranks, my ranks into chambers, and my chambers into lofty heights.

🔅اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِهِ، وَ اكْفِنِي مَا يَشْغَلُنِي الِاهْتِمَامُ بِهِ🔅

🌷My God, suffice me against whatever might occupy me with its concerns and distract me from You.

🔅🌼My God, nurture and raise my aspirations.🌼🔅

🌷O God, I fear spending my strength on matters that would take me away from You. I do not want to be heedless of You for even a moment.

🌷O God, I do not want my body and soul to be spent on things that draw me away from You. I want my attention to be directed to You alone.

🌷O God, let not the sorrows and cares of this world overwhelm me so that I am heedless of Your remembrance for even a moment; nor let me become so absorbed in the joys of this world and the next, or so lost in my hopes, that I forget the sweetness of remembering You. My God, be gracious to me, so that nothing comes between You and my attention—not even Your highest Paradise.

🌷O God, drown me in remembrance of You, and in the end transform me into nothing but remembrance of You.

🔆🌹يَا أَحْمَدُ اجْعَلْ‏ هَمَّكَ‏ هَمّاً وَاحِداً فَاجْعَلْ لِسَانَكَ لِسَاناً وَاحِداً وَ اجْعَلْ بَدَنَكَ حَيّاً لَا تَغْفُلُ عَنِّي مَنْ يَغْفُلُ عَنِّي لَا أُبَالِي بِأَيِّ وَادٍ هَلَك‏[4]

🔆O Ahmad! Make your concern one, your tongue one, and keep your body alive; be not heedless of Me. As for one who is heedless of Me, I care not in which valley he perishes.

🌷If our sole concern is serving God, we become “God’s purpose.” If our tongues are wholly absorbed in remembering and invoking God, we become “God’s tongue.” If our spirits are alive with love for God, we become “God’s spirit.” If every part of our being is devoted to our Beloved, we become, in the truest sense, “God’s servant.” If, through His grace and generosity, God connects us to His own cherished one, we may earnestly claim to have reached the threshold of this lofty station.

🌷If we live under the guardianship and leadership of God’s word of divine unity—His Holiness Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him—we will attain the station of “the servant of the One.”

🌷Whoever comes under the shelter of the guardianship of His Holiness Imam Mahdi, peace be upon him, and is immersed in his care will be drawn into harmony with him by the magnetic pull of his being. We will join the song of existence; we will rise with his rising and bow in prostration with his prostration.

🔅🌼My Beloved, I cannot bear to be apart from You.🌼🔅

🌷Let us shape ourselves in the likeness of the Mother of the Faithful, the Lady of all existence, Fatima al-Zahra, until the sweetness of servitude, in all its many flavors, captivates our hearts.

🔆🌹شغلنى‏ عن‏ مسألته لذّة خدمته، لا حاجة لى غير النّظر إلى وجهه الكريم.[5]

🔆In response to Gabriel’s message inviting her to ask for a reward, Fatima al-Zahra, peace be upon her, said: “The joy of serving God has kept me from asking for anything. I have no need except to behold His generous countenance.”

🌷O God, do not leave me to myself. Make me like Your friends, who cannot accept even a moment of heedlessness toward You.

🌷Imam Sajjad, peace be upon him, has placed before us a lofty ladder, so that we may ascend to a station akin to that of the great prophets.

🔅وَ اسْتَعْمِلْنِي بِمَا تَسْأَلُنِي غَداً عَنْهُ🔅

🌷O God, put me to work in the matters about which You will question me tomorrow.

🌷O God, take me into Your service. Make me willing—indeed, compel me—to do the deed about which You will question me tomorrow.

🔆🌹وَ اسْتَعْمِلْنِي بِمَا هُوَ أَسْلَم‏[6]

🔆🌹وَ اسْتَعْمِلْنِي بِالطَّاعَة[7]

🔆🌹وَ اسْتَعْمِلْنِي بِمَا هُوَ أَرْضَى‏[8]

🔆🌹وَ اسْتَعْمِلْنِي بِطَاعَتِكَ فِي أَيَّامِ الْمُهْلَة[9]

🔆🌹وَ اسْتَعْمِلْنِي بِمَا تَسْتَعْمِلُ بِهِ خَالِصَتَك‏[10]

🔆🌹وَ اسْتَعْمِلْنِي فِي مَرْضَاتِك‏[11]

🌷O God, employ me in what is most wholesome, most pleasing, and most sincere. Put me to work; leave me to nothing but obedience to You.

🌷O God, enable me to remain steadfast in obedience to You.

🔅وَ اسْتَفْرِغْ أَيَّامِي فِيمَا خَلَقْتَنِي لَهُ🔅

🌷O God, devote my days to that for which You created me.

🌷O God, make my days easeful. My Beloved, empty my life of all that keeps me from You and distracts me from the purpose of serving You.

🌷O God, do not let my life be consumed by things for which You did not create me.

🌷O God, sweep from my hours the debris that brings heedlessness.

🌷Beloved, cleanse the page of my heart of every idol that would waylay me on Your path. My heart must belong to You; it must be Your sanctuary.

🌷O “God of Love,” dedicate my life to love for You.

🔅وَ أَغْنِنِي وَ أَوْسِعْ عَلَيَّ فِي رِزْقِكَ، وَ لَا تَفْتِنِّي بِالنَّظَرِ🔅

🌷My God, enrich me, expand Your provision for me, and do not expose me to the temptation of looking.

🌷O God, until my heart finds contentment in remembering You, I shall remain a beggar at the gate of those who beg at Your gate.

🔆🌹وَ اجْعَلْ غِنَايَ‏ فِي‏ نَفْسِي وَ اجْعَلْ رَغْبَتِي فِيمَا عِنْدَك‏[12]

🔆Lord, place contentment within my soul, and direct my longing toward what is with You.

🌷O God, the food and drink of Your angels are glorification and sanctification. I do not ask that my food and drink be glorification and sanctification of You; rather, transform me myself into glorification and sanctification of You.

🌷O God, unless I can attain the station of Your servant, the All-Sufficient, I will never be content. O God, if I do not become a beggar at Your door, I will be a beggar at the doors of others.

🌷O God, do not let me be ensnared by the temptation of gazing at Your servants’ hands.

🌷Being tested by temptation is purely a process of refinement: when gold becomes tainted with copper, bronze and dust, it is purified in the furnace of fire!

🌷O God, do not cast me into the furnace of those who fix their gaze on others’ hands; purify me Yourself, without subjecting me to temptation.

🌷O God, to gaze at Your servants’ hands is a scorching fire.

🌷O God, it is a disgrace to look to anyone’s hands but Yours—worse still when one fixes one’s gaze on the hands of atheists and idolaters.

🌷Imam Sajjad, peace be upon him, teaches us the secret of true nobility: whoever is poor before God becomes honoured in both worlds; whoever turns their gaze to anyone but Him is humbled in both.

🔅🌼Closing words of the gathering, 1402.09.23🌼🔅

🔅🌼A Dream with a Translation🔅🌼

🌷Perhaps a person’s dream is a translation of realities from the higher realm; this lower world is a translation of the higher world. The rank of a person’s dream corresponds to the realm in which they attain vision.

🌷We may regard dreaming as a kind of wakefulness, and wakefulness as a kind of dreaming. They differ in degree and quality.

🌷In sleep and wakefulness, the soul’s journey and flight depend on the spirit it accompanies and travels with.

🔆🌹 فَإِنَّ النَّوْمَ أَخُ‏ الْمَوْتِ‏ فَاسْتَدْلِلْ بِهِ عَلَى الْمَوْتِ الَّذِي لَا تَجِدُ السَّبِيلَ إِلَى الِانْتِبَاهِ فِيهِ وَ الرُّجُوعِ إِلَى إِصْلَاحِ مَا فَاتَ عَنْكَ [13]

🌷Those who are alive in this world become more alive through death. That is, whoever has a living heart and soul, with the spirit of faith and intellect settled in their heart, is truly alive; death will be a blessing for them, and they will ascend to a higher life. In sleep, too, they will reach celestial experiences. But whoever is a walking corpse in this world will be deader still after death, and in sleep will fall into the lower levels of the world. In truth, anyone whose spirit of faith has departed is a walking corpse.

🌷Departing from the earth is earthly death.

🌷Taking account of oneself each night and seeking forgiveness in the evening make the spirit light enough to fly through sleep and thought.

🌷Seeking forgiveness at night purifies a person’s heart and soul and gives the spirit room to soar through the heavens.

🌷Modern humanity has lost its wings; it is earthbound. We must regain those wings.

🌷A sinful person pollutes the world: their inner world is tainted, and at the same time they pollute the world outside.

🔅🌼Seeking Forgiveness Gives Life🔅🌼

🌷The seventy-part supplication for forgiveness of our master, Amir al-Mu’minin, peace be upon him, works miracles.

🌷A performative plea for forgiveness is not true repentance. Seeking forgiveness is not mere recitation; it is a search.

🌷A heartfelt and practical plea for forgiveness, in the words of our master Ali, peace be upon him:

🔆🌹وَ قَالَ ع‏ لِقَائِلٍ قَالَ بِحَضْرَتِهِ أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ ثَكِلَتْكَ أُمُّكَ أَ تَدْرِي مَا الِاسْتِغْفَارُ- [إِنَّ لِلِاسْتِغْفَارِ دَرَجَةَ الْعِلِّيِّينَ‏] الِاسْتِغْفَارُ دَرَجَةُ الْعِلِّيِّينَ وَ هُوَ اسْمٌ وَاقِعٌ عَلَى سِتَّةِ مَعَانٍ أَوَّلُهَا النَّدَمُ عَلَى مَا مَضَى وَ الثَّانِي الْعَزْمُ عَلَى تَرْكِ الْعَوْدِ إِلَيْهِ أَبَداً وَ الثَّالِثُ أَنْ تُؤَدِّيَ إِلَى الْمَخْلُوقِينَ حُقُوقَهُمْ حَتَّى تَلْقَى اللَّهَ [عَزَّ وَ جَلَ‏] أَمْلَسَ لَيْسَ عَلَيْكَ تَبِعَةٌ وَ الرَّابِعُ أَنْ تَعْمِدَ إِلَى كُلِّ فَرِيضَةٍ عَلَيْكَ ضَيَّعْتَهَا فَتُؤَدِّيَ حَقَّهَا وَ الْخَامِسُ أَنْ تَعْمِدَ إِلَى اللَّحْمِ‏ الَّذِي نَبَتَ عَلَى السُّحْتِ فَتُذِيبَهُ بِالْأَحْزَانِ حَتَّى تُلْصِقَ الْجِلْدَ بِالْعَظْمِ وَ يَنْشَأَ بَيْنَهُمَا لَحْمٌ جَدِيدٌ وَ السَّادِسُ أَنْ تُذِيقَ الْجِسْمَ أَلَمَ الطَّاعَةِ كَمَا أَذَقْتَهُ حَلَاوَةَ الْمَعْصِيَةِ فَعِنْدَ ذَلِكَ تَقُولُ أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّه‏[14]

🔆Someone said to Imam Amir al-Mu’minin (peace be upon him), “استغفر اللّه.” He replied, “May your mother mourn you! Do you know what seeking forgiveness means? Seeking forgiveness is the station of those who have attained great spiritual rank. It is a word with six meanings: first, remorse for the sin committed; second, the resolve not to sin again; third, restoring people’s rights, so that when you meet God you owe nothing to anyone; fourth, the determination to fulfil every obligatory duty you have neglected and make good what you have failed to do; fifth, the resolve to melt away the flesh grown on your body from what is unlawful, grieving over what has passed, until your skin clings to your bones and new flesh grows between them; and sixth, to make your body taste the hardship of worship, just as you made it taste the sweetness of sin. Only then do you say: استغفر اللّه[15]

🌷The True State of One Who Seeks Forgiveness in Imam Sajjad’s Supplication

🔆🌹يَا إِلَهِي لَوْ بَكَيْتُ إِلَيْكَ حَتَّى تَسْقُطَ أَشْفَارُ عَيْنَيَّ، وَ انْتَحَبْتُ حَتَّى يَنْقَطِعَ صَوْتِي، وَ قُمْتُ لَكَ حَتَّى تَتَنَشَّرَ قَدَمَايَ، وَ رَكَعْتُ لَكَ حَتَّى يَنْخَلِعَ صُلْبِي، وَ سَجَدْتُ لَكَ حَتَّى تَتَفَقَّأَ حَدَقَتَايَ، وَ أَكَلْتُ تُرَابَ الْأَرْضِ طُولَ عُمُرِي، وَ شَرِبْتُ مَاءَ الرَّمَادِ آخِرَ دَهْرِي، وَ ذَكَرْتُكَ فِي خِلَالِ ذَلِكَ حَتَّى يَكِلَّ لِسَانِي، ثُمَّ لَمْ أَرْفَعْ طَرْفِي إِلَى آفَاقِ السَّمَاءِ اسْتِحْيَاءً مِنْكَ مَا اسْتَوْجَبْتُ بِذَلِكَ مَحْوَ سَيِّئَةٍ وَاحِدَةٍ مِنْ سَيِّئَاتِي.[16]

🔆O God, even if I wept until my eyelashes fell out, lamented until my voice gave way, stood at the threshold of Your majesty until my feet swelled, bowed until the bones of my back slipped out of place, and prostrated until my eyes fell from their sockets; even if, for the rest of my life, I ate nothing but the earth’s dust and drank nothing but ash-water, and during all that time invoked You until my tongue could speak no more, and, out of shame before You, never once lifted my eyes to the sky—even then, I would not deserve to have so much as one of my sins erased from my record.[17]

🌷A person should feel such shame before God that all thought of being embarrassed before other people vanishes from the mind.

🌷How beautiful it is for God’s servant to ask the All-Forgiving to erase and obliterate their evil deeds. Purification is another matter.

🌻🔆الطارق : 9   يَوْمَ تُبْلَى السَّرائِرُ

🌻🔆البقرة : 40   يا بَني‏ إِسْرائيلَ اذْكُرُوا نِعْمَتِيَ الَّتي‏ أَنْعَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَ أَوْفُوا بِعَهْدي أُوفِ بِعَهْدِكُمْ وَ إِيَّايَ فَارْهَبُونِ

🌷On the Day when what lies hidden within a person is brought to light, one must understand that unseen secrets will be revealed—secrets of which the All-Knowing has always been aware.

🔅🌼The Fifteen Munajat: fifteen wings of Sajjadī supplication for soaring into the highest realm🔅🌼

🌷The Fifteen Munajat are a ladder for the spiritual journey of mystics and lovers of God, ascending through the many ranks of divine servitude.

🌷In the Fifteen Munajat, Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him) gently guides his followers along the path of servitude to God.

🌷Whoever remembers God, God remembers them. What, do you think, is God’s reply in the munajat “May my soul be your ransom”?!

🌷Reading aloud is not the same as reciting or chanting. Recitation is a heartfelt reading that engages every dimension of one’s being.

🌷The difference between the Speaking Qur’an and the recitation of the Speaking Qur’an is the relationship between the Word of God and its utterance.

🔅🌼 Truth has no front or back. 🔅🌼

🌷The sacred realm knows no boundaries; from pre-eternity to eternity, it is a sanctuary of holiness. From the earth below to the Throne above lies beneath the feet of the Messenger, Mustafa. Were he to place his head upon the Throne, his blessed feet would still reach the earth, and his pure heart would beat to « َ قابَ‏ قَوْسَيْنِ‏ أَوْ أَدْنی». This is the secret of the Mi‘raj.

🌷Our distance from the highest heavenly realm is not a matter of space, but of rank.

🌷On the Mi‘raj of the Noble Messenger, peace be upon him, his blessed physical body, too, dwelt at «the distance of two bow-lengths, or nearer». Every aspect of his being was in harmony with the station of absolute nearness. His blessed spirit trembled in resonance with that exalted vision.

🌷Not sensing a journey does not mean that no journey is taking place. Our journey through existence and our presence in the heart of the highest heavenly realm are certain, even if we do not perceive them.

🌷Seeking a divine gift comes at a cost, just as the disciples’ request for a table spread with food did!

🌻🔆The Table: 112   إِذْ قالَ الْحَوارِيُّونَ يا عيسَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ هَلْ يَسْتَطيعُ رَبُّكَ أَنْ يُنَزِّلَ عَلَيْنا مائِدَةً مِنَ السَّماءِ قالَ اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُؤْمِنينَ

🔆Jesus son of Mary said, “O God, our Lord, send down to us a table spread with food from heaven, to be a festival for the first and the last of us, and a sign from You. Provide for us, for You are the best of providers!”

🌻🔆The Table: 115   قالَ اللَّهُ إِنِّي مُنَزِّلُها عَلَيْكُمْ فَمَنْ يَكْفُرْ بَعْدُ مِنْكُمْ فَإِنِّي أُعَذِّبُهُ عَذاباً لا أُعَذِّبُهُ أَحَداً مِنَ الْعالَمينَ

🔆God said, “I shall indeed send it down to you. But whoever among you disbelieves thereafter and denies the truth, I shall punish him with a punishment such as I have never inflicted on anyone in all the worlds!”

🌷The ascetic disciplines practised by mystics and the extraordinary events they bring about have no spiritual value, for what they accomplish can easily be achieved by material means.

🌷Spiritual disciplines undertaken in devotion to God bring about events of the heavenly realm. The power of the Shi‘a to nullify sorcerers’ magic is like the effect of Moses’ staff.

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

[1] Al-Kafi (Islamic edition), vol. 2, p. 57  Kulayni, Muhammad ibn Ya‘qub ibn Ishaq, Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyya, Tehran, 4th printing, 1407 AH.

[2] Al-Kafi (Islamic edition), vol. 2, p. 57 Kulayni, Muhammad ibn Ya‘qub ibn Ishaq, Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyya, Tehran, 4th printing, 1407 AH.

[3] Tahdhib al-Ahkam (Khursan edition), vol. 3, p. 93  Tusi, Muhammad ibn al-Hasan, Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyya, Tehran, 4th printing, 1407 AH.

[4] Bihar al-Anwar (Beirut edition), vol. 74, p. 29  Majlisi, Muhammad Baqir ibn Muhammad Taqi, Dar Ihya al-Turath al-‘Arabi, Beirut, 2nd printing, 1403 AH.

[5] The Life of Fatima, peace be upon her (translation of vol. 43 of Bihar al-Anwar), translated by Ruhani, p. 923  Majlisi, Muhammad Baqir ibn Muhammad Taqi; Ruhani Aliabadi, Muhammad, Maham Publications, Tehran, 1st printing, 1379 Solar Hijri.

[6]An excerpt from Supplication 14 of al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya

[7]An excerpt from Supplication 16 of al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya

[8]An excerpt from Supplication 20 of al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya

[9]An excerpt from Supplication 20 of al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya

[10]An excerpt from Supplication 47 of al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya

[11]A passage from Supplication 54 of al-Ṣaḥīfa al-Sajjādiyya

[12] Miṣbāḥ al-mutahajjid wa-silāḥ al-mutaʿabbid, vol. 1, p. 143Al-Ṭūsī, Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan, Muʾassasat Fiqh al-Shīʿa, Beirut, first edition, 1411 AH.

[13] Biḥār al-anwār (Beirut edition), vol. 73, p. 189 Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir ibn Muḥammad Taqī, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, Beirut, second edition, 1403 AH.

[14] Nahj al-balāgha (Ṣubḥī Ṣāliḥ edition), p. 549 Al-Sharīf al-Raḍī, Muḥammad ibn Ḥusayn, Hijrat, Qom, first edition, 1414 AH.

[15]Nahj al-balāgha, translated by Anṣāriyān, p. 879

[16] Al-Ṣaḥīfa al-Sajjādiyya, p. 82 ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn (peace be upon him), the fourth Imam, Daftar Nashr al-Hādī, Qom, first edition, 1376 SH.

[17]Al-Ṣaḥīfa al-Sajjādiyya, translated by Āyatī, p. 107