Ramadan: The Bustling Marketplace of Devotion

🌼🔆🌼Prayer 44: The Ramadan Treasury🌼🔆🌼

🌹🔅☘️ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحيمِ ☘️🔅🌹

🔅🌹 “A Lofty and True Venture”  “Trading with God”  “Tawhid: The Highest Divine Grace” “The Mystery of Laylat al-Qadr”  “The Night of the 23rd of Ramadan” and more … Summary and supplement       1404.12.21    Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat) 110.141(903)  🌹🔅

🌼🌸☘️🌷🌹🌻 🕋  🤲 🌙 ✳️✅ ❇️ ✨🔆💫🔆

✳️The blessed month: a time of divine transformation

❇️The month of becoming God’s voice

🔸A person must become the embodiment of the Word of God.

💫🔆وَ لَا تَنْطِقَ أَلْسِنَتُنَا إِلَّا بِمَا مَثَّلْت‏

🔆So that our tongues speak of nothing but what You have made them exemplify.

🔸A pure tongue, joined to a pure and sincere heart, becomes God’s voice.

🔸A pure tongue reflects divine inspirations.

🔸A pure person is perfumed with God’s Word, and their tongue scatters God’s pearls.

🔸The blessed month of Ramadan is an extraordinary opportunity to attain the voice of God, the call of God, the station of the divine tongue, and the ability to speak God’s Word.

🔸The month of Ramadan is a month for perfectly modelling the majesty and perfection of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them).

🔸Sincerity is the gateway to wisdom of the heart and tongue, and Ramadan is the furnace of sincerity.

💫🔆 قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ص‏ مَا أَخْلَصَ عَبْدٌ لِلَّهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ أَرْبَعِينَ صَبَاحاً إِلَّا جَرَتْ يَنَابِيعُ الْحِكْمَةِ مِنْ‏ قَلْبِهِ‏ عَلَى‏ لِسَانِهِ.[1]

💫🔆 The Messenger of God (PBUH) said: “No servant devotes forty mornings sincerely to God, the Mighty and Majestic, without springs of wisdom flowing from the heart to the tongue.”

🔸How beautiful it is for a person to undertake forty days of sincerity before the blessed month of Ramadan, enter it with a pure heart, and become a source of divine miracles!

❇️Ramadan: the bustling marketplace of devotion to God

🔸Ramadan is the thriving marketplace of the Most Exalted Lord, and the greatest transaction of a person’s lifetime should take place there.

🔸A person receives their capital from God Himself and trades with Him.

❇️Sincere worship is rewarded directly

💫🔆 قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ص قَالَ تَعَالَى الصَّوْمُ لِي وَ أَنَا أَجْزِي‏ بِهِ‏ وَ الصَّوْمُ يُمِيتُ مُرَادَ النَّفْسِ وَ شَهْوَةَ الطَّبْعِ وَ فِيهِ صَفَاءُ الْقَلْبِ وَ طَهَارَةُ الْجَوَارِحِ وَ عِمَارَةُ الظَّاهِرِ وَ الْبَاطِنِ وَ الشُّكْرُ عَلَى النِّعَمِ وَ الْإِحْسَانُ إِلَى الْفُقَرَاءِ وَ زِيَادَةُ التَّضَرُّعِ وَ الْخُشُوعِ وَ الْبُكَاءِ وَ حَبْلُ الِالْتِجَاءِ إِلَى اللَّهِ تَعَالَى وَ سَبَبُ انْكِسَارِ الْهِمَّةِ وَ تَخْفِيفِ السَّيِّئَاتِ وَ تَضْعِيفِ الْحَسَنَاتِ وَ فِيهِ مِنَ الْفَوَائِدِ مَا لَا يُحْصَى وَ كَفَى بِمَا ذَكَرْنَاهُ مِنْهُ لِمَنْ عَقَلَهُ وَ وُفِّقَ لِاسْتِعْمَالِهِ إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى‏[2]

🔆 The Messenger of God (PBUH) said: “God Most High has said: ‘Fasting is for Me, and I reward it.’ Fasting is the death of the ego’s desires and the appetites of the natural self. It brings clarity to the heart, purity to the limbs, vitality to one’s inner and outer life, gratitude for blessings, kindness to the poor, and an increase in pleading, humility, weeping, and seeking refuge in God Most High. It is a means of breaking pride and diminishing sins, and of strengthening good deeds. Its benefits are beyond counting; what we have mentioned is enough for anyone who understands it and is granted the ability to benefit from it—if God Most High so wills.”

❇️Giving one’s whole being to the Giver of life

🔸From growing weary in the quarter of the reprehensible and sinful, to spending every last ounce of body and soul in the quarter of divine pleasure

💫🔆 وَ لَا نَتَكَلَّفَ إِلَّا مَا يُدْنِي مِنْ ثَوَابِكَ، وَ لَا نَتَعَاطَى إِلَّا الَّذِي يَقِي مِنْ عِقَابِكَ,

🔆 “We do not burden ourselves with anything unless it brings us closer to Your reward, nor pursue anything unless it keeps us safe from Your punishment.”

🔸What have we grown old, tired, worn out and spent our lives on? Let us spend ourselves on none but our God!

🔸The shrewd trader in commerce with God spends all the divine capital entrusted to him for God Himself.

🔸The month of Ramadan is the most flourishing marketplace in existence; the greatest transaction must take place with the All-Great.

❇️Finding customers

A wise person is a master at finding a market, earning abundant profit through the easiest trade.

God has already purchased the whole of a human being’s enterprise.

God Most High has purchased the burden, the name and the possessions together with their owner.

Do not undo the deal! Do not sell what belongs to God to anyone but God!

All that a person is and owns has been sold to God! We must pay the full price of the sale.

💫🔆At-Tawbah: 111   إِنَّ اللَّهَ اشْتَرى‏ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنينَ أَنْفُسَهُمْ وَ أَمْوالَهُمْ بِأَنَّ لَهُمُ الْجَنَّةَ يُقاتِلُونَ في‏ سَبيلِ اللَّهِ فَيَقْتُلُونَ وَ يُقْتَلُونَ وَعْداً عَلَيْهِ حَقًّا فِي التَّوْراةِ وَ الْإِنْجيلِ وَ الْقُرْآنِ وَ مَنْ أَوْفى‏ بِعَهْدِهِ مِنَ اللَّهِ فَاسْتَبْشِرُوا بِبَيْعِكُمُ الَّذي بايَعْتُمْ بِهِ وَ ذلِكَ هُوَ الْفَوْزُ الْعَظيمُ

Indeed, God has purchased from the believers their lives and their possessions in exchange for Paradise. They fight in the way of God, killing and being killed. This is a true promise He has made, recorded in the Torah, the Gospel and the Quran. And who is more faithful to His covenant than God? So rejoice in the bargain you have made with Him: that is the supreme triumph!

❇️The perfection of purity

💫🔆وَ أَنْزِلْنَا فِيهَا مَنْزِلَةَ الْمُصِيبِينَ لِمَنَازِلِهَا، الْحَافِظِينَ لِأَرْكَانِهَا، الْمُؤَدِّينَ لَهَا فِي أَوْقَاتِهَا عَلَى مَا سَنَّهُ عَبْدُكَ وَ رَسُولُكَ- صَلَوَاتُكَ عَلَيْهِ وَ آلِهِ- فِي رُكُوعِهَا وَ سُجُودِهَا وَ جَمِيعِ فَوَاضِلِهَا عَلَى أَتَمِّ الطَّهُورِ وَ أَسْبَغِهِ، وَ أَبْيَنِ الْخُشُوعِ وَ أَبْلَغِهِ.

🔆And in these prayers, bring us to the station of those who have attained their true ranks: those who uphold the pillars of prayer and perform it at its appointed times, as Your servant and Messenger (may Your blessings be upon him and his family) prescribed—in its bowing and prostration and all its excellences—with the most complete and comprehensive purity, and the clearest and deepest humility.

🔸In the blessed month of Ramadan, let us bring ourselves to the station of prayer.

🔸Where does the road of prayer lead? The pillars of prayer are symbols of breaking free from all but God and drawing near to Him.

🔸The union of fasting and prayer hastens the realization of “complete detachment toward God.”

💫🔆إِلَهِي هَبْ لِي كَمَالَ الِانْقِطَاعِ إِلَيْكَ وَ أَنِرْ أَبْصَارَ قُلُوبِنَا بِضِيَاءِ نَظَرِهَا إِلَيْكَ حَتَّى تَخِرَقَ أَبْصَارُ الْقُلُوبِ حُجُبَ النُّورِ فَتَصِلَ إِلَى مَعْدِنِ الْعَظَمَةِ وَ تَصِيرَ أَرْوَاحُنَا مُعَلَّقَةً بِعِزِّ قُدْسِكَ إِلَهِي وَ اجْعَلْنِي مِمَّنْ نَادَيْتَهُ فَأَجَابَكَ وَ لَاحَظْتَهُ فَصَعِقَ لِجَلَالِكَ فَنَاجَيْتَهُ سِرّاً وَ عَمِلَ لَكَ جَهْرا

🔆 O God, grant me perfect detachment from all but You, and illumine the eyes of our hearts with the radiance of beholding You, so that they may pierce the veils of light and reach the source of majesty, and our spirits may cling to the might of Your holiness. O God, make me one of those whom You called and who answered; upon whom You gazed, and who was overwhelmed by Your majesty; with whom You spoke in secret, and who acted openly for Your sake.

❇️The month of Ramadan: a golden opportunity to master the technology of light and fragrance

🔸The fragrance of devotion should emanate from our very being

🔸We should spread the fragrance of our limbs and faculties, and of our words of remembrance and deeds

🔸A human being should become a hub from which flowers and fragrance are sent out.

🔸The highest technology is the transformation into light.

🔸The peak of speed—the ultimate speed—is not breaking the speed record, but breaking through speed itself.

🔸Divine light lies beyond all speeds: it is the highest wing of flight and the ultimate flight—or rather, the end of flight, where one reaches what lies beyond all flights.

❇️Where does the utmost purity lead?

✨🔆النور : 35   اللَّهُ نُورُ السَّماواتِ وَ الْأَرْضِ مَثَلُ نُورِهِ كَمِشْكاةٍ فيها مِصْباحٌ الْمِصْباحُ في‏ زُجاجَةٍ الزُّجاجَةُ كَأَنَّها كَوْكَبٌ دُرِّيٌّ يُوقَدُ مِنْ شَجَرَةٍ مُبارَكَةٍ زَيْتُونَةٍ لا شَرْقِيَّةٍ وَ لا غَرْبِيَّةٍ يَكادُ زَيْتُها يُضي‏ءُ وَ لَوْ لَمْ تَمْسَسْهُ نارٌ نُورٌ عَلى‏ نُورٍ يَهْدِي اللَّهُ لِنُورِهِ مَنْ يَشاءُ وَ يَضْرِبُ اللَّهُ الْأَمْثالَ لِلنَّاسِ وَ اللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْ‏ءٍ عَليمٌ

🔆God is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The likeness of His light is that of a niche containing a lamp; the lamp is enclosed in glass, and the glass shines like a brilliant star. It is lit from the oil of a blessed olive tree, neither of the east nor of the west. Its oil would almost glow even without being touched by fire. Light upon light. God guides to His light whomever He wills, and God has knowledge of all things.

🔸The Verse of Light is the comprehensive blueprint of the Perfect Human; it is the blueprint of the greater universe.

❇️Stewardship of kinship ties

💫🔆وَ وَفِّقْنَا فِيهِ لِأَنْ نَصِلَ أَرْحَامَنَا بِالْبِرِّ وَ الصِّلَةِ، وَ أَنْ نَتَعَاهَدَ جِيرَانَنَا بِالْإِفْضَالِ وَ الْعَطِيَّةِ, …

🔆Grant us success in this month in sustaining ties with our relatives through kindness and generosity, and in caring for our neighbors with goodness and gifts; in purifying our wealth of its due rights, obligatory and voluntary, and cleansing it by giving zakat; in reconnecting with those who have cut us off, acting fairly toward those who have wronged us, and making peace with those who have shown enmity toward us—except those with whom enmity has arisen for Your sake and in Your cause, for they are enemies whom we do not love, and a people with whom we do not form close bonds.

🔸Maintaining kinship ties is the secret to experiencing wholeness. It is the secret of putting all our capacities to work, the experience of a unified essence,

🔸from ties of kinship by blood and marriage to the bonds that unite all existence.

🔸from individual and social responsibility to cosmic responsibility

❇️Establishing a purified economy

💫🔆 وَ أَنْ نُطَهِّرَهَا بِإِخْرَاجِ الزَّكَوَاتِ,

🔆and purifying our wealth of its due rights, obligatory and voluntary, and cleansing it by giving zakat,

🔸By purifying their wealth, people make God Most High their agent; He becomes their accountant and auditor.

❇️The month of Ramadan and cosmic peace

🔸The month of Ramadan is a month for discerning the enemy with wisdom.

🔸It is a month of competing with the angels in the beauty of devotion.

❇️Purity from shirk and doubt

🔸Ramadan is an opportunity to attain complete purity

💫🔆 اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِهِ، وَ جَنِّبْنَا الْإِلْحَادَ فِي تَوْحِيدِكَ، وَ الْتَّقْصِيرَ فِي تَمْجِيدِكَ، وَ الشَّكَّ فِي دِينِكَ، وَ الْعَمَى عَنْ سَبِيلِكَ، وَ الْإِغْفَالَ لِحُرْمَتِكَ، وَ الِانْخِدَاعَ لِعَدُوِّكَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيم‏

🔆 Keep us far from straying from Your oneness, falling short in revering You, doubting Your religion, losing sight of Your path, being heedless of what is sacred to You, and being deceived by Your enemy, Satan, the accursed.

❇️A path of divine oneness

🔸God’s Proof has raised the banner of divine oneness over his soul. Holding fast to his *wilāya* is possible only with a spirit grounded in divine oneness.

💫🔆  وَ وَسِيلَتِي إِلَيْكَ التَّوْحِيدُ، وَ ذَرِيعَتِي‏ أَنِّي لَمْ أُشْرِكْ بِكَ شَيْئاً، وَ لَمْ أَتَّخِذْ مَعَكَ إِلَهاً، وَ قَدْ فَرَرْتُ إِلَيْكَ بِنَفْسِي، وَ إِلَيْكَ مَفَرُّ الْمُسي‏ءِ، وَ مَفْزَعُ الْمُضَيِّعِ لِحَظِّ نَفْسِهِ الْمُلْتَجِئِ.[3]

🔆 “My means of approach to You is divine oneness, and my way of drawing near to You is that I have set up no partner beside You and have taken no deity other than You. With my very soul I seek refuge in You. You are the refuge for one whose deeds have gone awry, and the shelter of one who, having been heedless of his own soul for a moment, now turns to You for refuge.”

🔸God’s Proof bears the banner of divine oneness.

🔸Oneness is the condition for union with God’s Proof. It is the ticket and the code for flight.

🔸The golden secret of exalted intercession is divine oneness.

🔸The oneness-centered practice of intercession is the secret to benefiting from the greatest of divine systems.

❇️Divine oneness: a tremendous grace

💫🔆 الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي يَجُودُ فَلَا يَبْخَلُ وَ يَحْلُمُ فَلَا يَعْجَلُ الَّذِي مَنَّ عَلَيَّ مِنْ تَوْحِيدِهِ بِأَعْظَمِ الْمِنَّةِ … وَ عَجَّلَ مَعُونَتِي فَزَادَنِي خُبْرَةً بِقُدْرَتِهِ وَ عِلْماً بِنُفُوذِ مَشِيَّتِهِ اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّ كُلَّ مَا جُدْتَ عَلَيَّ بِهِ‏ بَعْدَ التَّوْحِيدِ دُونَهُ وَ إِنْ كَثُرَ وَ غَيْرُ مُوَازٍ لَهُ وَ إِنْ كَبُرَ لِأَنَّ جَمِيعَهُ نِعَمُ دَارِ الْفَنَاءِ الْمُرْتَجِعَةِ وَ هُوَ النِّعْمَةُ لِدَارِ الْبَقَاءِ الَّتِي لَيْسَتْ بِمُنْقَطِعَةٍ … وَ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِهِ وَ سَلَّمَ تَسْلِيماً كَثِيرا[4]

💫🔆 Praise belongs to God, who gives generously and is never miserly, who is wise and never hasty. He bestowed His grace upon me by granting me the greatest blessing: attainment of His oneness.

He hastened to aid me, increasing my awareness of His power and my knowledge of how His will takes effect.

O God, every blessing You have bestowed upon me after the blessing of divine oneness, however abundant and great, is small and of no worth by comparison. For all other blessings belong to this world, which will one day vanish and pass away; but the blessing of divine oneness is a blessing for the Hereafter, one that will never cease.

May God send blessings and peace upon Muhammad and his family.

❇️The heart of intercession is divine oneness

🔸The secret of an exalted bond with the Ahl al-Bayt, peace be upon them, is divine oneness.

🔸Exalted intercession and seeking a means of access to God are rooted in divine oneness.

✨🔆al-Māʾida: 35   يا أَيُّهَا الَّذينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَ ابْتَغُوا إِلَيْهِ الْوَسيلَةَ وَ جاهِدُوا في‏ سَبيلِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ

🔆O you who believe! Be mindful of God, seek a means of drawing near to Him, and strive in His cause, so that you may prosper!

🔸This means that until we attain the rank of faith and God-consciousness, seeking a means of drawing near to God is impossible.

🔸Faith and God-consciousness reveal themselves through tawhid—the oneness of God.

❇️Tawhid is the first condition of servitude to God

Tawhid is the first condition of religion.

Without tawhid, nothing has any worth or effect.

✳️A lofty perspective on Laylat al-Qadr

❇️The roots of Laylat al-Qadr

🔶Laylat al-Qadr has a basis in knowledge; it holds a mystery of knowledge, divine will and volition!

🔶From Laylat al-Qadr, we must proceed to Laylat al-‘Ilm, the Night of Knowledge.

🔶The progression of the divine Night: Laylat al-‘Ilm (the Night of Knowledge), Laylat al-Mashī’ah (the Night of Will), Laylat al-Irādah (the Night of Volition), Laylat al-Taqdīr (the Night of Determining), Laylat al-Qaḍā’ (al-Ibrām, the Night of Decree), Laylat al-Imḍā’ (the Night of Ratification)

✅This hadith allows us to glimpse the true beauty of Laylat al-Qadr.

💫🔆 لْحُسَيْنُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ مُعَلَّى بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ قَالَ سُئِلَ الْعَالِمُ ع كَيْفَ عِلْمُ اللَّهِ

Husayn ibn Muhammad narrates from Mu‘alla ibn Muhammad, who said: Imam (AS)—the Knower—was asked, “What is the nature of God’s knowledge?”

قَالَ عَلِمَ وَ شَاءَ وَ أَرَادَ وَ قَدَّرَ وَ قَضَى وَ أَمْضَى

He replied: “He knew, willed, determined, ordained, decreed and ratified.”

فَأَمْضَى مَا قَضَى وَ قَضَى مَا قَدَّرَ وَ قَدَّرَ مَا أَرَادَ

He ratified what He had decreed, decreed what He had determined, and determined what He had willed.

فَبِعِلْمِهِ كَانَتِ الْمَشِيئَةُ وَ بِمَشِيئَتِهِ كَانَتِ الْإِرَادَةُ وَ بِإِرَادَتِهِ كَانَ التَّقْدِيرُ وَ بِتَقْدِيرِهِ كَانَ الْقَضَاءُ وَ بِقَضَائِهِ كَانَ الْإِمْضَاءُ

Thus, through His knowledge, will came to be; through His will, volition came into being; through His volition, determination took shape; through His determination, decree came to pass; and through His decree, ratification was accomplished.

وَ الْعِلْمُ مُتَقَدِّمٌ عَلَى الْمَشِيئَةِ وَ الْمَشِيئَةُ ثَانِيَةٌ وَ الْإِرَادَةُ ثَالِثَةٌ

Knowledge precedes will; will is in the second rank, and volition in the third.

وَ التَّقْدِيرُ وَاقِعٌ عَلَى الْقَضَاءِ بِالْإِمْضَاءِ

Determination precedes decree, which takes effect through ratification.

فَلِلَّهِ تَبَارَكَ وَ تَعَالَى الْبَدَاءُ فِيمَا عَلِمَ مَتَى شَاءَ وَ فِيمَا أَرَادَ لِتَقْدِيرِ الْأَشْيَاءِ

Thus, with regard to what God, Blessed and Exalted, knows, whenever He wills, and with regard to what He wills in determining things, there is *badā’*—a fresh determination, or an apparent change.

فَإِذَا وَقَعَ الْقَضَاءُ بِالْإِمْضَاءِ فَلَا بَدَاءَ

But once a decree takes effect through ratification, there is no longer any *badā’*.

فَالْعِلْمُ فِي الْمَعْلُومِ قَبْلَ كَوْنِهِ

Knowledge of that which is to exist precedes its coming into being.

وَ الْمَشِيئَةُ فِي الْمُنْشَإِ قَبْلَ عَيْنِهِ

Will concerning that which is in the process of being created precedes its taking visible form.

وَ الْإِرَادَةُ فِي الْمُرَادِ قَبْلَ قِيَامِهِ

And volition concerning that which is willed precedes its coming to stand.

وَ التَّقْدِيرُ لِهَذِهِ الْمَعْلُومَاتِ قَبْلَ تَفْصِيلِهَا وَ تَوْصِيلِهَا عِيَاناً وَ وَقْتاً

Predestination (taqdīr) pertains to these forms of knowledge before they are detailed and connected in concrete, temporal form.

وَ الْقَضَاءُ بِالْإِمْضَاءِ هُوَ الْمُبْرَمُ مِنَ الْمَفْعُولَاتِ

Decree (qaḍāʾ), together with its ratification, is what has become firm and established among things brought into being.

ذَوَاتِ الْأَجْسَامِ الْمُدْرَكَاتِ بِالْحَوَاسِّ مِنْ ذَوِي لَوْنٍ وَ رِيحٍ وَ وَزْنٍ وَ كَيْلٍ

Things with bodies perceptible to the senses, such as those possessing color, scent, weight, and measure.

وَ مَا دَبَّ وَ دَرَجَ مِنْ إِنْسٍ وَ جِنٍّ وَ طَيْرٍ وَ سِبَاعٍ وَ غَيْرِ ذَلِكَ مِمَّا يُدْرَكُ بِالْحَوَاسِّ

And every creature that crawls or walks—human beings, jinn, birds, beasts of prey, and all else perceived by the senses.

فَلِلَّهِ تَبَارَكَ وَ تَعَالَى فِيهِ الْبَدَاءُ مِمَّا لَا عَيْنَ لَهُ

With respect to these things, God, Blessed and Exalted, may bring about a change before they acquire an outward form or appearance.

فَإِذَا وَقَعَ الْعَيْنُ الْمَفْهُومُ الْمُدْرَكُ فَلَا بَدَاءَ

But once that conceptual and perceptible form comes into being, there is no longer any change.

وَ اللَّهُ يَفْعَلُ ما يَشاءُ

And God does whatever He wills.

فَبِالْعِلْمِ عَلِمَ الْأَشْيَاءَ قَبْلَ كَوْنِهَا

Through His knowledge, He knew things before they came to be.

وَ بِالْمَشِيئَةِ عَرَّفَ صِفَاتِهَا وَ حُدُودَهَا وَ أَنْشَأَهَا قَبْلَ إِظْهَارِهَا

Through His will, He determined their attributes and limits, and created them before bringing them forth.

وَ بِالْإِرَادَةِ مَيَّزَ أَنْفُسَهَا فِي أَلْوَانِهَا وَ صِفَاتِهَا

Through His volition, He distinguished their essences by their colors and attributes.

وَ بِالتَّقْدِيرِ قَدَّرَ أَقْوَاتَهَا وَ عَرَّفَ أَوَّلَهَا وَ آخِرَهَا

Through predestination, He measured their capacities and determined their beginnings and ends.

وَ بِالْقَضَاءِ أَبَانَ لِلنَّاسِ أَمَاكِنَهَا وَ دَلَّهُمْ عَلَيْهَا

Through His decree, He made their stations known to people and guided them to them.

وَ بِالْإِمْضَاءِ شَرَحَ عِلَلَهَا وَ أَبَانَ أَمْرَهَا

Through ratification, He explained their causes and made their affairs clear.

وَ ذلِكَ تَقْدِيرُ الْعَزِيزِ الْعَلِيمِ

This is the predestination of God, the Almighty, the All-Knowing.[5]

❇️The Night of Decree in the Horizons of the Divine Proofs

✅Reflecting on the Reality of the Night of Decree

🔶The Night of Decree in the Horizon of the Imam of the Age, of Each Imam, and of the Qur’an

🔶A Reading of the Qur’an through the Night of Decree

🔶A Reading of the Qur’an as an Integrated Whole

🔶A Theological Reading of the Qur’an

🔶An Exegetical Reading of the Qur’an

🔶The Wise Reading

🔶A Reading of Distinction

🔶The One Who Affirms God’s Oneness and the Key to Integration

🔶The Night of Decree in the Horizon of Pre-Eternity

❇️The Night of Decree: The Bestowal of Goodness

💫🔆وَ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ الْمَذْكُورِ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ص أَنَّهُ قَالَ: مَنْ أَحْيَا لَيْلَةَ الْقَدْرِ حُوِّلَ عَنْهُ الْعَذَابُ إِلَى السَّنَةِ الْقَابِلَةِ. [6]

💫🔆 The same book also relates from the Messenger of God (PBUH) that he said: “Whoever keeps vigil on the Night of Decree will be spared punishment until the following year.

❇️The Manifestation of Prayer’s Greatness on the Night of Decree

💫🔆وَ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ الْمَذْكُورِ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ص أَنَّهُ قَالَ: يُفَتَّحُ‏ أَبْوَابُ‏ السَّمَاوَاتِ فِي لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ فَمَا مِنْ عَبْدٍ يُصَلِّي فِيهَا إِلَّا كَتَبَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى لَهُ بِكُلِّ سَجْدَةٍ شَجَرَةً فِي الْجَنَّةِ لَوْ يَسِيرُ الرَّاكِبُ فِي ظِلِّهَا مِائَةَ عَامٍ لَا يَقْطَعُهَا وَ بِكُلِّ رَكْعَةٍ بَيْتاً فِي الْجَنَّةِ مِنْ دُرٍّ وَ يَاقُوتٍ وَ زَبَرْجَدٍ وَ لُؤْلُؤٍ وَ بِكُلِّ آيَةٍ تَاجاً مِنْ تِيجَانِ الْجَنَّةِ وَ بِكُلِّ تَسْبِيحَةٍ طَائِراً مِنَ الْعَجْبِ وَ بِكُلِّ جَلْسَةٍ دَرَجَةً مِنْ دَرَجَاتِ الْجَنَّةِ وَ بِكُلِّ تَشَهُّدٍ غُرْفَةً مِنْ غُرُفَاتِ الْجَنَّةِ وَ بِكُلِّ تَسْلِيمَةٍ حُلَّةً مِنْ حُلَلِ الْجَنَّةِ فَإِذَا انْفَجَرَ عَمُودُ الصُّبْحِ أَعْطَاهُ اللَّهُ مِنَ الْكَوَاعِبِ الْمُآلِفَاتِ‏ وَ الْجَوَارِي الْمُهَذَّبَاتِ وَ الْغِلْمَانِ الْمُخَلَّدِينَ وَ النَّجَائِبِ الْمُطَيَّرَاتِ وَ الرَّيَاحِينِ الْمُعَطَّرَاتِ وَ الْأَنْهَارِ الْجَارِيَاتِ وَ النَّعِيمِ الرَّاضِيَاتِ وَ التُّحَفِ وَ الْهَدِيَّاتِ وَ الْخِلَعِ وَ الْكَرَامَاتِ وَ مَا تَشْتَهِي‏ الْأَنْفُسُ وَ تَلَذُّ الْأَعْيُنُ وَ أَنْتُمْ فِيها خالِدُون‏[7]

💫🔆 The same book also relates from the Messenger of God (PBUH) that he said: “The gates of the heavens are opened on the Night of Decree. No servant prays on that night without God, the Exalted, assigning him a tree in Paradise for every prostration—so vast that a horseman could ride in its shade for a hundred years without reaching its end; a house in Paradise, made of doors, ruby, emerald, and pearl, for every unit of prayer; a crown from among the crowns of Paradise for every verse; a wondrous bird for every glorification; a rank among the ranks of Paradise for every sitting; a chamber among the chambers of Paradise for every testimony of faith; and a robe from among the robes of Paradise for every greeting of peace. When the dawn’s pillar breaks, God bestows on him familiar companions among the houris, immaculate maidservants, everlasting youths, swift camels, fragrant flowers, flowing rivers, delights that bring contentment, gifts and presents, garments, honors, and all that souls desire and eyes take delight in. And there you will abide forever.

❇️A Special Prayer for the Night of Decree

💫🔆فِي الْكِتَابِ الْمَذْكُورِ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ص قَالَ: مَنْ صَلَّى رَكْعَتَيْنِ فِي لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ فَيَقْرَأُ فِي كُلِّ رَكْعَةٍ فَاتِحَةَ الْكِتَابِ مَرَّةً وَ قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ سَبْعَ‏ مَرَّاتٍ فَإِذَا فَرَغَ يَسْتَغْفِرُ سَبْعِينَ مَرَّةً فَمَا دَامَ لَا يَقُومُ مِنْ مَقَامِهِ حَتَّى يَغْفِرَ اللَّهُ لَهُ وَ لِأَبَوَيْهِ وَ بَعَثَ اللَّهُ مَلَائِكَةً يَكْتُبُونَ لَهُ الْحَسَنَاتِ إِلَى سَنَةٍ أُخْرَى وَ بَعَثَ اللَّهُ مَلَائِكَةً إِلَى الْجِنَانِ يَغْرِسُونَ لَهُ الْأَشْجَارَ وَ يَبْنُونَ لَهُ الْقُصُورَ وَ يُجْرُونَ لَهُ الْأَنْهَارَ وَ لَا يَخْرُجُ مِنَ الدُّنْيَا حَتَّى يَرَى ذَلِكَ كُلَّهُ. [8]

🔆 The aforementioned book relates from the Messenger of God (PBUH) that he said: “Whoever performs two units of prayer on the Night of Decree, reciting Sūrat al-Fātiḥa once and Sūrat al-Tawḥīd seven times in each unit, and then, upon completing the prayer, seeks God’s forgiveness seventy times, will be granted forgiveness by God for himself and his parents before he rises from his place. God will send angels to record good deeds for him until the following year, and angels to Paradise to plant trees, build palaces, and make rivers flow for him. He will not leave this world before seeing all of these things.

💫🔆مِنْ هَذَا الْكِتَابِ عَنِ الْبَاقِرِ ع‏ مَنْ أَحْيَا لَيْلَةَ الْقَدْرِ غُفِرَتْ لَهُ ذُنُوبُهُ وَ لَوْ كَانَتْ ذُنُوبُهُ عَدَدَ نُجُومِ السَّمَاءِ وَ مَثَاقِيلَ الْجِبَالِ وَ مَكَايِيلَ الْبِحَارِ. [9]

💫🔆 This book relates from Imam al-Bāqir (AS): “Whoever keeps vigil on the Night of Decree will have their sins forgiven, even if they number as many as the stars in the sky, or weigh as much as the mountains, or measure as much as the seas.”

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

💫A “business-minded” and “transactional” view of servitude

﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا هَلْ أَدُلُّكُمْ عَلى تِجارَةٍ تُنْجِيكُمْ مِنْ عَذابٍ أَلِيمٍ﴾ is in keeping with (Surah al-Saff, verse 10). The author explains the concept of “God’s sale” with clarity, noting that God has purchased the human being’s capital (Surah al-Tawbah, verse 11).

 Worship is not a rigid, mechanical state, but an intelligent and purposeful activity.

A person must invest their “entire capital” in this market,

The special place of “tawhid” as the foundation of the transaction

Tawhid is the “first condition of servitude” and a “means” of drawing close to God.

“Tawhid is the highest divine grace,” and freedom from doubt and idolatry forms the backbone of the divine transaction.

Without tawhid, no act—not even prayer or fasting—has any effect.

Tawhid is an “everlasting blessing,” unlike the fleeting blessings of this world: a profound way of seeing that gives priority to true knowledge.

💫“The night journey” and the stages of divine ordainment (the scholarly-philosophical dimension)

The narration from Imam Kazim (AS) on the stages of knowledge, will, intention, ordainment, decree and ratification,

Laylat al-Qadr is not merely a night of worship; it is the point at which “divine will” becomes “ordainment.”

This perspective acquaints us with a cosmic system of governance in which the fate of the coming year is determined on that night.

💫Religion is more than individual rituals;

“Ramadan: the bustling marketplace of servitude,”

“Authentic teachings” and “artful expression” come together in an effort to begin a spiritual journey.

Ramadan is not a month of deprivation, but a “golden opportunity” for the greatest transaction of a person’s lifetime.

Those seeking the true meaning of servitude and practical ways to cultivate themselves in Ramadan should discover Meshkat-e Noor.

💫Sacred wisdom and the language of ontology

Tracing the hidden dimensions of the Ramadan transaction through the deepest layers of being and the cosmos.

🔆🌻A striking supplement: the alchemists of the market of light and the physics of the heavenly transaction🌻🔆

❇️The market of “no time” and “no place”: entering the exchange of eternity

Ramadan is not a market set up in any particular place or closed after a limited time. It is an “unknown inverse void”: a point at which the pull of matter collapses and the pull of light prevails.

🔶 A transaction beyond physics: In earthly markets, you pay “money” and receive “goods.” But in Ramadan’s market, you give your “mortal self” and receive “eternity.” This transaction violates the law of conservation of energy in the material world, but confirms the law of “abundant mercy” in the realm of the unseen. Here, one unit of “sincerity” is worth mountains of “obedience.”

🔶 Ramadan’s currency: The currency in this market is neither cash nor coins, but “a moment of awareness.” Each moment in this month when a person breaks free from the cycle of heedlessness, they mint a pure coin of light that no earthly bank can store.

❇️“Speaking with God’s tongue”: the transmitter antenna of the word of Truth

“Becoming God’s spokesperson”: It should now be said that this station is a “complete frequency connection.”

🔶 The soul’s modem: The ordinary person’s tongue is an antenna transmitting the waves of worldly needs and desires. But the Ramadan person’s tongue connects to a “modem of light.” When such a person speaks, their sound waves carry a divine code.

🔶 The sound of silence: Sometimes “speaking with the tongue of God” does not mean speaking at all; it means “communicating the silence of wisdom.” In Ramadan, the perfect human being can sometimes quiet a storm in others’ hearts simply by remaining silent. They act like a “sonic mirror”: whatever strikes them, they reflect in the voice of truth, not their own.

❇️The cycle of “economic purification”: from the zakat of wealth to the zakat of being

“Laying the foundations of a purified economy”: This concept should be extended to the layer of “quantum economics.”

🔶 Toxic wealth, toxic energy: Wealth on which zakat has not been paid is like poisoned food injected into society’s bloodstream. It leads to empty excess and social disease. Zakat is, in effect, “the filtration of the economy’s blood.”

🔶 Zakat of the limbs: But in Ramadan’s marketplace, people give more than zakat on their wealth: they also pay the “zakat of the eyes” (by not looking at what is forbidden), the “zakat of the ears” (by not listening to backbiting), and the “zakat of the tongue.” These inward forms of zakat cleanse a person’s “existential capital” of hardship and tarnish, making it capable of transmitting immense divine energies.

❇️The cosmic journey from “Laylat al-ʿIlm” to “Laylat al-Imḍāʾ”

Consider the stages of knowledge, will and decree: together, they form a “production line of existence.”

🔶 Design, production and execution:

1. Laylat al-ʿIlm (initial design): In God’s knowledge, the plan for all existence is already known to Allah.

2. Laylat al-Mashīʾa wa-l-Irāda (approval and production order): The divine will issues the command for creation.

3. Laylat al-Taqdīr (scheduling in time and space): On the Night of Decree, these plans are put into effect in “our time.” That is, the decree for the coming year of our lives is written on this night.

4. Laylat al-Qaḍāʾ wa-l-Imḍāʾ (execution and finalization): The flawless execution of this decree throughout the year.

🔶 The human role in the production line: On the Night of Decree, a person is an “intelligent operator.” They cannot change the overall plan (God’s knowledge), but they can change the “quality settings” of their life. Prayer and worship on the Night of Decree are a request to change the “raw materials” used in existence’s workshop to shape our future.

❇️The technology of “superluminal light”

“Breaking the speed limit”: This concept can be explained through “spiritual general relativity.”

🔶 Light has no limits: In physics, nothing can travel faster than light. But in the realm of meaning, the “believing soul” surpasses even the speed of light. Why? Because physical light needs time to cross space, whereas spiritual light (the heart’s connection with God) does away with “time.”

🔶 Motionless flight: In Ramadan, a person’s body may be in the mosque while their soul is at the Throne. This is “flight without physical movement.” The pinnacle of light technology is reached when the distance between “servant” and “Worshipped One” becomes zero. In this state, the person becomes “God’s abode.”

❇️Tawhid, the “operating system” of being

🔶 Installing tawhid: If a person’s being were hardware, “tawhid” would be its operating system. Without tawhid, all the beautiful software (worship, ethics, prayer) either fails to run on this being or continually freezes.

🔶 The virus of shirk: Shirk (even hidden shirk) is destructive malware that severs a person’s connection with the central server (God). Ramadan is an opportunity to “write antivirus software” and cleanse the system of one’s being of the viruses of heedlessness, ostentation and selfishness.

❇️Laylat al-Qadr: “the night of downloading immense packets of light”

Ultimately, Laylat al-Qadr can be imagined as “the great update night of existence.”

🔶 The heart’s bandwidth: The purer a person’s heart is—the greater its bandwidth—the larger the packets of light it downloads on Laylat al-Qadr: knowledge, blessings and felicity. Those whose hearts are constricted, with limited bandwidth, may receive only a little on this night.

🔶 Activating latent capacities: On this night, the human capacities that have lain dormant throughout the year awaken. After Laylat al-Qadr, a person should not be the same as before; they should be an “upgraded version” of themselves.

🔶 The thriving marketplace of servitude is not a market in which you lose something. It is one in which you give up your “empty shell” to gain the “core of being.” Ramadan is an opportunity to transform ourselves from “physical human beings” into “trans-quantum human beings,” and then into “beings of light.” It is a transaction in which all your loss is profit, and every ending is a beginning.

🌼🔆 اللَّهُمَّ اجْعَلْنَا مِمَّنْ بَاعَ نَفْسَهُ لَكَ، فَاشْتَرَيْتَهُ مِنْهُ Your love and good pleasure 🔆🌼

---

[1] Uyūn Akhbār al-Riḍā; vol. 2, p. 69Ibn Bābawayh, Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī, Jahan Publishing, Tehran, first edition, 1378 AH.

[2] Miṣbāḥ al-Sharīʿa; p. 136Attributed to Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad, Aʿlamī, Beirut, first edition, 1400 AH.

[3] Al-Ṣaḥīfa al-Sajjādiyya; p. 242. ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn, the fourth Imam, Hādī Publishing House, Qom, first edition, 1376 SH.

[4] Iqbal al-Aʿmāl (old – edition) ; vol.1 ; p.143Ibn Ṭāwūs, ʿAlī ibn Mūsā, Islamic Books Publishing House, Tehran, second edition, 1409 AH.

[5] Al-Kāfī (Islamic edition); vol. 1, p. 148Kulaynī, Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb ibn Isḥāq, Islamic Books Publishing House, Tehran, fourth edition, 1407 AH.

[6] Biḥār al-Anwār (edition – Beirut) ; vol.95 ; p.145Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir ibn Muḥammad Taqī, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, Beirut, second edition, 1403 AH.

[7] Biḥār al-Anwār (edition – Beirut) ; vol.95 ; p.145Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir ibn Muḥammad Taqī, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, Beirut, second edition, 1403 AH.

[8] Biḥār al-Anwār (edition – Beirut) ; vol.95 ; p.144Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir ibn Muḥammad Taqī, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, Beirut, second edition, 1403 AH.

[9] Biḥār al-Anwār (edition – Beirut) ; vol. 95 ; p. 146  Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir ibn Muḥammad Taqī, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī – Beirut, second edition, 1403 AH.