Observing Body and Soul — Part One

The University of Spiritual Wayfaring

Mystical Wayfaring in the Light of the Qur’an and the Ahl al-Bayt

Wayfarer’s Path 47

Observing Body and Soul (No. 1)

• Examine yourself. Do not leave the virtues and flaws of your being beyond the reach of the heart’s and mind’s scrutiny!
• Strive to observe the countenance of your soul!
• Do you have a human face? What is your human form like? Are you beautiful, captivating? Do you fall in love with yourself as a sign of love?

• Do you have an angelic face? If so, that is certainly a cause for joy—but you have not yet gone far enough! Angelic nature and celestial beauty are only one aspect and one capacity of yours, not the whole of you.

• God forbid—far be it from your perfection and presence—but is your face bestial, like that of the four-legged creatures: a cow, a sheep or a camel? Or like a many-legged creature, with all manner of traits?

• What kind of animal? Beasts are better than venomous and predatory creatures! Woe to those who resemble pigs: ruled by their bellies and appetites, and in an ugly, repulsive way, indulging in what is forbidden. Or are they like venomous creatures—snakes, scorpions, tarantulas … or predators—lions, wolves, jackals … or like crows?

• It is enough to review some of the traits of the spirit and psyche for a person’s true countenance to become clear. Do not fear the mirror; do not break it! That will only worsen the state of your soul and psyche. Keep Satan at bay, for he makes ugliness appear beautiful and urges a person to move in the opposite direction from the human path. He will not rest until he has dragged that person to the lowest of the low! Keep your conscience awake and clear. Do not, God forbid, silence it; let your true face come to light!

• Healing, correcting and reshaping the face, and restoring its beauty, are easy: we need only turn to God, the Compassionate, the Merciful, the Ever-Returning. He will restore our beauty, enhance it, and come to love us.

• Would that the beauty of lovely fish, the virtues of beautiful birds, the graces of angels, and the goodness of every beautiful creature were imprinted upon your soul, so that once again it might hear the call, «فتبارک الله احسن الخالقین»!
• Consider the following hadith carefully. I hope you belong to none of its six categories! Remember: a believer who is a Shi‘i is like a honeybee!

أحْمَدُ بْنُ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ الْبَرْقِيُّ عَنْ أَبِيهِ يَرْفَعُهُ إِلَى زُرَارَةَ بْنِ أَوْفَى‏ قَالَ: دَخَلْتُ عَلَى عَلِيِّ بْنِ الْحُسَيْنِ ع فَقَالَ يَا زُرَارَةُ النَّاسُ فِي زَمَانِنَا عَلَى سِتِّ طَبَقَاتٍ أَسَدٍ وَ ذِئْبٍ وَ ثَعْلَبٍ وَ كَلْبٍ وَ خِنْزِيرٍ وَ شَاةٍ فَأَمَّا الْأَسَدُ فَمُلُوكُ الدُّنْيَا يُحِبُّ كُلُّ وَاحِدٍ مِنْهُمْ أَنْ يَغْلِبَ وَ لَا يُغْلَبَ وَ أَمَّا الذِّئْبُ فَتُجَّارُكُمْ يَذُمُّونَ إِذَا اشْتَرَوْا وَ يَمْدَحُونَ إِذَا بَاعُوا وَ أَمَّا الثَّعْلَبُ فَهَؤُلَاءِ الَّذِينَ يَأْكُلُونَ بِأَدْيَانِهِمْ وَ لَا يَكُونُ فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ مَا يَصِفُونَ بِأَلْسِنَتِهِمْ وَ أَمَّا الْكَلْبُ يَهِرُّ عَلَى النَّاسِ بِلِسَانِهِ وَ يُكْرِمُهُ النَّاسُ مِنْ شَرِّ لِسَانِهِ وَ أَمَّا الْخِنْزِيرُ فَهَؤُلَاءِ الْمُخَنَّثُونَ وَ أَشْبَاهُهُمْ لَا يُدْعَوْنَ إِلَى فَاحِشَةٍ إِلَّا أَجَابُوا وَ أَمَّا الشَّاةُ فَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ الَّذِينَ تُجَزُّ شُعُورُهُمْ وَ يُؤْكَلُ لُحُومُهُمْ وَ يُكْسَرُ عَظْمُهُمْ فَكَيْفَ تَصْنَعُ الشَّاةُ بَيْنَ أَسَدٍ وَ ذِئْبٍ وَ ثَعْلَبٍ وَ كَلْبٍ وَ خِنْزِيرٍ.

Al-Khiṣāl, vol. 2, p. 339

• Ja‘far ibn Muhammad ibn Surur related to us, saying: Muhammad ibn Ja‘far ibn Battah related to us, saying: Ahmad ibn Abi ‘Abd Allah al-Barqi transmitted the hadith on the authority of his father, who traced it to Zurarah ibn Awfa, who said: I came into the presence of the Fourth Imam, and he said to me, “O Zurarah, in our time people fall into six classes: lions, wolves, foxes, dogs, pigs, sheep, and rulers. Rulers are like lions: each one wants to prevail and not be overcome. Your merchants are like wolves: when they buy, they disparage the goods; when they sell, they praise them. The foxes are those who make their living in the name of religion, though they do not believe in their hearts what they explain with their tongues.

• The dogs are foul-mouthed and abusive people who bite others with their tongues, like dogs; people show them respect for fear of their sharp tongues.

• The pigs are those with effeminate dispositions and ways, who accept any indecency or disgrace to which they are invited.
• The sheep are the suffering believers: their wool is shorn, their flesh eaten, and their bones crushed. What can a sheep do among the claws of a lion, a wolf, a fox, a dog, and a pig?”

Al-Khiṣāl / translated by Kamare’i, vol. 1, p. 302

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