Question No. 2895 31 August 2022 Official answer by Master Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat) verified Content level: Intermediate

Should We Ask the Master for Knowledge, or Entreat God by the Master’s Honor?

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Dear questioner, Master Ali Saei

Tracking code: #Q-2895

In your talk last Friday, you said that when someone goes to Najaf to visit the Master, they should say: “My master, please infuse my heart with knowledge as well.”

My question is: Should we ask the Master Himself for knowledge, or should we invoke God by the honor and standing of His Eminence and ask God for knowledge? We know that the knowledge is imparted through the Master, who is the Gate of the City of Knowledge, and that this is what God has ordained.

I realize that these topics have been addressed many times in previous sessions, but because I have limited understanding in this area, I would be grateful if you could explain it further.

Thank you.

Subject category: Ahl al-Bayt and Islamic History Epistemological

The essence and first answer at a glance (60-word summary)

By “infusing knowledge” in the Najaf visitation, what is meant is the imparting of divinely bestowed and distinctive knowledge. This should be sought from God, while the Master, Imam Ali (AS), is the means through which it is imparted. It is like Moses asking Khidr (AS) for instruction: Moses sought knowledge from God, but received his teaching through Khidr.

Answer by Master Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat)

Teacher and researcher in the intellectual tradition of wisdom and the Ahl al-Bayt | Soroush Bamdadān Cultural Center

By my humble request for an infusion of knowledge, I meant to ask for the particular and special instruction of the Lord’s sciences—to drink in, with heart and soul, drops, sips and goblets from those immeasurable sciences that the Creator had placed within him.

It was like the request Moses, peace be upon him, made of Khidr, peace be upon him:

الکهف : 65 فوجدا عبدا من عبادنا آتیناه رحمه من عندنا و علمناه من لدنا علما

There they found a servant of Ours, whom We had granted mercy from Us and taught knowledge from Our presence.

الکهف : 66 قال له موسى‏ هل أتبعک على‏ أن تعلمن مما علمت رشدا

Moses said to him, “May I follow you, so that you may teach me some of the right guidance you have been taught?”

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Should We Ask the Master for Knowledge, or Entreat God by the Master’s Honor?

The essence and first answer at a glance (60-word summary)

Answer by Master Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat)

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