The Esoteric Interpretation of Ablution (Volume I)

Healing, Spiritual Journeying and Discipline—Unveiling the Secrets of the Unseen Kingdom and the Physiological and Spiritual Effects of Purification Through the Teachings of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS)

Contents and Chapter Headings

Chapter One: A Manifesto for the City of Love and the Spiritual Path of Ablution

• The Final Word at the Beginning: The Human Being Is a Land Called the City of Love
• The First Secret and the Last Mystery: Loving the Creator with All One’s Being
• Ablution: The Gateway to Love, Beauty and Light
• Why Are We Unaware of the Truth and Deep Mysteries of Ablution?
• Ablution as a Complete Healing Method and a Key to Abundant Provision
• Poems and Lectures from the Meshkat-e Noor Gathering

Chapter Two: Contemplative Practices Before Ablution and the Mystery of the Call to Prayer

• Honouring the Golden Hours and the Mysteries of the Times for Ablution
• Contemplating the Wait for the Beloved’s Call: The Human Being as a Traveller from the Realm of Alast
• The Muezzin, God’s Special Messenger; the Call to Prayer, the Beloved’s Love-Laden Message
• Cleansing and Purification Before Refinement and Illumination (Clearing Away Comes Before Adornment)
• Clearing the Well of One’s Being and Immediately Removing Spiritual Waste and Sins

Chapter Three: The Well of Divine Authority and the Sewage Pit of Sin

• The Human Being as the Digger of Their Own Well: The Dangers of Accumulating Inner Impurities
• The Well of Divine Authority: The Spring of the Immaculate Imams’ (AS) Pure Knowledge and Unmixed Light
• Only the Pure Water of Divine Authority Can Quench the Lover’s Thirst
• Nourishment for Soul and Body: A Light That Produces No Waste
• The Toilet of Food and the Toilet of Desire in the Architecture of the Body

Chapter Four: Reason, the Sovereign of Love, and the Way to Freedom from Impurity

• Let Us Take Care That the Lamp of Innate Reason Does Not Go Out Within Us
• The Direct Connection Between Inner Impurity and the Failure to Reason
• Doubt and Associating Others with God: Impurities That Defile the Whole Being
• Ali (AS): The Manifestation of Absolute Purity, Pure Light and Unadulterated Devotion
• Reason and Its Forces in Battle Against the Armies of Ignorance and Desire
• Practical Ways to Remove Inner Impurity and Wickedness Through Ablution

Chapter Five: The Physiological, Healing and Biological Effects of Ablution

• The Effect of Cool Water on the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous Systems
• Discharging Static Electricity and Relieving Vascular Blockages
• Strengthening the Aura and Protection from Negative Environmental Waves
• The Remarkable Effects of Remaining in a State of Ablution: Relief from Depression, Lethargy and Poverty

Golden Passages from the Book

The Human Being, the City of Love, and the First Secret of Life
“The human being is a land called the City of Love; unless it is made fruitful by love, it will fall prey to ignorance and inertia. The first secret and final mystery of life is this: whoever loves their Creator becomes the object of the world’s gaze and the beloved of all humanity; and whoever is loved by the Lord will inspire the world and all who dwell in it to passionate longing and restless devotion. Be both the lover and the road of love! Ablution is a step along this endless path: washing away the dust of self-regard so that the Beloved’s beauty may be reflected in the mirror of one’s being.” (p. 2)

Ablution: A Secret Among Secrets, and Drops of Water Transformed into a Garden of the Heavenly Realm
“Ablution is a secret like flowing water: it passes before everyone, yet only those endowed with spiritual insight find the key to unlock it. If the secret of ablution’s water remains undiscovered, it will be no more than passing dampness on the skin. But if its inner truth is unveiled, every drop will transform a person into a garden of mysteries. The water of ablution must penetrate to the depths of the cells and nerves, and into the soul’s chambers; wash away the age-old rust of resentment and heedlessness; and connect the veins of life to the fountainhead of eternal grace.” (p. 7)

Ablution: A Complete, Biological Healing Method That Revitalises the Nervous System
“Ablution is not merely a legal or ritual obligation; it is a complete and miraculous healing method. Contact between water and sensitive points on the head and face, and the joints of the hands and feet, recalibrates the body’s electromagnetic poles, boosts endorphin secretion, eases the pressure and stress accumulated in the arteries, and repairs and brightens the luminous aura that protects life (the aura), damaged by negative waves and sins. Ablution is a free prescription for healing every spiritual and physical ailment.” (p. 7)

Ablution: The Lover’s Reply to the Eternal Beloved’s Passionate Invitation
“When the muezzin raises the melody of the call to prayer, he is the Beloved’s special messenger, and the adhan is an invitation card brimming with eternal longing, addressed to the servant. At that moment, ablution is a written reply that the enamoured wayfarer inscribes upon the tablet of his being with a pen of water. With every washing, the believer murmurs: ‘O my Beloved! I have heard Your call with the ear of my soul, and now, with every fibre of my being, I hasten toward You, to immerse myself in the spring of Your Riḍwān.’” (p. 8)

Cleansing and Purification Before Refinement and Illumination: Clearing the Well of One’s Being
“The inviolable law of the path of divine unity is this: cleansing and purification come before refinement and illumination. Until the sludge of sin and the foul-smelling refuse of moral vices have been dredged from the well of the human being, pouring in the clear water of knowledge will only make it putrefy. The sinner is the well-digger of his own cesspool! Ablution clears away all these impurities, purifying the vessel of the heart to receive the sacred lights of God.” (p. 12)

The Well of the Ahl al-Bayt’s Wilāya: The Sole Source of Life-Giving Water That Quenches the Soul’s Thirst
“The only water that can quench the soul’s burning and eternal thirst is the pure, purifying water that springs from the well of the wilāya of the Immaculate Imams (AS). Pure knowledge, sheer light and everlasting life rain down upon the souls of wayfarers only from the heaven of the wilāya of Muhammad and the Family of Muhammad (AS). To hold fast to wilāya during ablution is to place one’s hand in that of the Infallible, and taste the primordial purity into which no trace of polytheism or hypocrisy can enter.” (p. 16)

Reason: Sovereign of Love’s Realm and Illuminator of the Soul
“Reason is the sovereign of love. If the lamp of reason is kept alight within a person, they will never fall prey to temptations and impurity. Defilement and impurity result from reason being set aside and from falling into the dark well of ignorance. Wiping the head during ablution is the crowning of reason and the enthronement of divine wisdom over every limb and faculty, so that all our powers may serve love and devotion to the Truth.” (p. 33)

Ablution: Wings for the Soul’s Flight, Prosperity in Business and an Opening for Life’s Blessings
“Ablution gives the heart wings to fly toward the highest realm. Those who remain in a state of purity and ablution walk beneath the sheltering canopy of God’s angels. Hardship in livelihood, ill fortune and anxiety flee from a home whose inhabitants remain constantly in a state of ablution, for ablution attunes a person’s being to the treasuries of the unseen, causing blessing and sustenance from unexpected sources to pour into their life.” (p. 7)

Frequently Asked Questions