Taking Stock of Our Knowledge of Imam Husayn

🌼🔆🌼Husseini Reflections🌼🔆🌼

🌹🔅☘️ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحيمِ ☘️🔅🌹

🔅🌹 « »  « »  « » « »  « » and so on … A summary with an addendum       1403.04.17    Ali Saei (Abdollah Meshkat) 110.141(903)  🌹🔅

🔅🌼A general map and outline for assessing Husseini understanding 🌼🔅

🌼Hussein: love made manifest, a fountain of love, a lover equal to love itself—the lover who made love itself fall in love.

🌼 If we have spent a lifetime saying “Hussein, Hussein” without reflection, we have lost. We must love Hussein thoughtfully and wisely, and with sincerity.

🌼 I must understand why I weep and why my heart burns, and know the cause and purpose of every tear. These drops are the water of life; if shed sincerely, they bring prosperity in this world and the next. Surely, such tears are accepted from the God-conscious.

🌼 Let our show of grief never be for the sake of display; it should be intended to awaken genuine weeping and to honour the sacred gathering of mourning for Hussein.

🌼 Have we come to know the truth of Hussein? Have we learned from him the lesson of freedom and steadfastness in virtue? Have we, too, fallen in love as he did? Does love of God well up in our hearts?

🌼 Love of Hussein should awaken my innate nature. Have we attained divine unity in Hussein’s school?

🌼 When we read the words of Imam Hussein, peace be upon him, does the lamp of divine unity shine within us?

🌼 Hussein is a jewel. Everyone loves jewels, but the one who knows their worth is a true connoisseur.

🌼 Whatever is the object of God’s gaze shines upon the world from that qibla of love.

🌼 Hussein is the sky; we must become Hussein’s earth.

🌼 A follower must be able to express the proof of God, who encompasses all things.

🌼 Whoever turns toward the Kaaba must become like the Kaaba.

🌼 When we raise our hands to seek sustenance, it is because God has placed His provision in the heavens. When we turn toward the wilayah and call upon our God through it, I draw near to God by seeking intercession.

🌼 A Shi‘i is one who is woven into his Imam.

🌼 Whatever happens in the heavens affects the earth as well. The seventh heaven is woven into each of the other heavens; whatever takes place there affects the other heavens and the earths.

🌼 The earth does not stand still; it travels with the heavens, moving at the speed of the galaxy.

🌼 Have we attained an explanation or description of Hussein? However difficult this understanding may be, God instils it in the heart of one who truly loves.

🌼 If I know myself, I will be able to know my God. I attain knowledge of God in proportion to what He has poured into my vessel.

🌼 I must enlarge my vessel. It grows through God and His appointed guide, and its capacity increases. (True servitude to God expands the vessel of one’s being.)

🌼 Without the proof of God, I attain knowledge of God only within the measure and limits of my own self. If I wish to escape those limits, I must enlarge the vessel of my being. I must attain knowledge of the Imam so that my capacity may extend from pre-eternity to eternity. (Thus I must equip myself with Imam Hussein.)

🌼 If God wills greatness, into which treasury does He pour it? If I connect myself to the proof of God, I too will become a keeper of the treasury!

🌼The science of divine unity is the highest of all sciences.

🔅🌼Assessing Husseini Understanding 🌼🔅

🌹Lay out the table of self-assessment in Husseini understanding, and devote yourself to the act of worship called “Husseini Reflection.”

🌹Review the “Husseini lessons,” from the lesson on divine unity through the advanced lessons in worship, servitude, noble character and freedom, and everything that follows, so that you can determine your own “Husseini grade.”

🌹Pay attention to growth and to what nourishes the Husayniyya; consider how richly we have been sustained by its blessings. What have we taken in, and what have we carried away?! Let us examine the traces of light and love for Husayn. If we are moving forward, we are fortunate; if we have stayed the same, we have lost out; and if we are falling behind, we should fear being among those condemned.

🌷🔆 عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع قَالَ: تَفَكُّرُ سَاعَةٍ خَيْرٌ مِنْ‏ عِبَادَةِ سَنَةٍ إِنَّما يَتَذَكَّرُ أُولُوا الْأَلْباب‏[1]

🔆Imam al-Sadiq, peace be upon him: “An hour of reflection is better than a year of worship.” Only people of insight and understanding know this truth.

🌹Let us reflect on Husayn: on his love and martyrdom, on the causes and consequences of his uprising, and on our duty toward him and his uprising.

🌹Before we weep, make others weep, feign tears, or beat our breasts, let us sit in reflection for an hour—considering our actions and their sincerity, and pondering the greatness, character, path, purpose and spiritual insight of Husayn, peace be upon him.

🔅🌼 Imam Husayn is a gateway to knowing God. 🌼🔅

🌹Let us not forget the goal: Husayn calls us to better and higher worship, to greater swiftness in our devotion, and to hasten toward noble virtues.

🌹Husayn replenishes the oil of devotion in our hearts.

🌹Husayn is a school of knowledge of God.

🌷🔆عَنْ عَبْدِ الْكَرِيمِ بْنِ عُبَيْدِ اللَّهِ عَنْ سَلَمَةَ بْنِ عَطَاءٍ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع قَالَ‏ خَرَجَ الْحُسَيْنُ بْنُ عَلِيٍّ ع عَلَى أَصْحَابِهِ فَقَالَ أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ جَلَّ ذِكْرُهُ مَا خَلَقَ الْعِبَادَ إِلَّا لِيَعْرِفُوهُ فَإِذَا عَرَفُوهُ عَبَدُوهُ فَإِذَا عَبَدُوهُ اسْتَغْنَوْا بِعِبَادَتِهِ عَنْ عِبَادَةِ مَنْ سِوَاهُ فَقَالَ لَهُ رَجُلٌ يَا ابْنَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ بِأَبِي أَنْتَ وَ أُمِّي فَمَا مَعْرِفَةُ اللَّهِ‏ قَالَ مَعْرِفَةُ أَهْلِ كُلِّ زَمَانٍ إِمَامَهُمُ الَّذِي يَجِبُ‏ عَلَيْهِمْ طَاعَتُه‏[2]

Imam Husayn, peace be upon him, said: “O people! God, the Almighty, created His servants for no purpose other than that they might know Him. Once they know Him, they worship Him; and when they worship Him, they no longer need to serve anyone besides Him.” A man asked, “O son of the Messenger of God, may my father and mother be your ransom, what does it mean to know God?” He replied, “It means that people of every age should know their Imam, whose obedience is incumbent upon them.”

🌷🔆 السَّلَامُ عَلَى مَحَالِّ مَعْرِفَةِ اللَّهِ‏ السَّلَامُ عَلَى مَسَاكِنِ ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ

🌷🔆 وَ مَنْ عَرَفَهُمْ‏ فَقَدْ عَرَفَ اللَّهَ وَ مَنْ جَهِلَهُمْ فَقَدْ جَهِلَ اللَّهَ

🔅🌼 Let our souls be connoisseurs of Husayn’s jewels. 🌼🔅

🌹Husayn is a jewel whose inner depths have yet to be revealed, while everyone loves him for what they see on the surface. What would happen if those depths were unveiled! What is the secret to recognizing these divine jewels?!

🔅🌼 We are the earth beneath Husayn’s heaven. 🌼🔅

🌹Every earth has a heaven; every created being has a heaven. The hand of God is above every hand, and God’s proof encompasses all things: that is, all are immersed in God’s mercy and majesty. Husayn is the most delightful path to devotion and the gentlest way to experience divine love.

🌹Changes in heaven are transmitted to earth! Every transformation in the realm of divine authority is transmitted to those who follow it. The one who follows an Imam is shaped by the waves, rhythms and vibrations of that Imam.

🌷🔆 عَنْ أَبِي الْحَسَنِ الرِّضَا ع‏ قَالَ قُلْتُ لَهُ: أَخْبِرْنِي عَنْ قَوْلِ اللَّهِ‏ وَ السَّماءِ The essence الْحُبُكِ‏، فَقَالَ هِيَ‏: مَحْبُوكَةٌ  إِلَى الْأَرْضِ وَ شَبَّكَ بَيْنَ أَصَابِعِهِ.[3]

🔆Husayn ibn Khalid says: I asked Imam al-Rida, peace be upon him, about the verse: and السَّمَاء ذَاتِ الحُبُکِ . The Imam, peace be upon him, replied, “The heaven and the earth are woven together.” To illustrate this, he interlaced the fingers of his two hands.

🌹Earth translates heaven: what happens in heaven is imprinted on earth, which reflects that same heaven.

🌹A true follower translates the divine proof.

🔅🌼 Husayn is the heaven of love and devotion. 🌼🔅

🌻🔆al-Dhāriyāt: 22   وَ فِي السَّماءِ رِزْقُكُمْ وَ ما تُوعَدُونَ

🔆Your provision is in heaven, as is all that you have been promised.

🌷🔆 قَالَ أَمِيرُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ: إِذَا فَرَغَ أَحَدُكُمْ مِنَ الصَّلَاةِ فَلْيَرْفَعْ يَدَيْهِ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ وَ لْيَنْصَبْ فِي الدُّعَاءِ، فَقَالَ ابْنُ سَبَإٍ:

يَا أَمِيرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَ لَيْسَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ فِي كُلِّ مَكَانٍ؟ قَالَ: بَلَى، قَالَ فَلِمَ يَرْفَعُ يَدَيْهِ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ؟ فَقَالَ: أَ وَ مَا تَقْرَأُ: «وَ فِي السَّماءِ رِزْقُكُمْ وَ ما تُوعَدُونَ» فَمِنْ أَيْنَ تَطْلُبُ الرِّزْقَ إِلَّا مِنْ مَوْضِعِ الرِّزْقِ [وَ مَوْضِعُ الرِّزْقِ‏] وَ مَا وَعَدَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ السَّمَاءُ.^[4]

🔆Imam Ṣādiq, peace be upon him, narrating from his forefathers, related that Imam ʿAlī, peace be upon him, said: “When one of you has finished his prayer, let him raise his hands toward heaven and earnestly make supplication.” ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sabaʾ asked, “Commander of the Faithful, is God not everywhere?” The Imam replied, “Indeed, He is.” He asked, “Then why should a servant raise his hands toward heaven?” The Imam replied, “Have you not read: ‘Your provision is in heaven, as is all that you have been promised’? Should one seek provision anywhere but where it is found?”

🌹Let us seek the draught of love and the sweetness of servitude from the Divine Presence, from its appointed source. Find the qibla of love, and turn that way to ask the Beloved for what you seek.

🔅🌼Husayn is the Kaaba of love and worship🌼🔅

🌹Wilaya is the heaven of hearts, souls, and bodies.

🌷🔆 عَنْ أَبِي حَمْزَةَ قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ أَبَا جَعْفَرٍ ع يَقُولُ‏ … وَ قَوْلُهُ‏ وَ السَّماءِ The Essence الْحُبُكِ‏ قَالَ: السَّمَاءُ رَسُولُ‏ اللَّهِ ص وَ عَلِيٌّ ع ذَاتُ الْحُبُكِ- وَ قَوْلُهُ‏ إِنَّكُمْ لَفِي قَوْلٍ مُخْتَلِفٍ‏ يَعْنِي مُخْتَلِفٍ فِي عَلِيٍّ يَعْنِي اخْتَلَفَتْ هَذِهِ الْأُمَّةُ فِي وَلَايَتِهِ- فَمَنِ اسْتَقَامَ عَلَى وَلَايَةِ عَلِيٍّ ع دَخَلَ الْجَنَّةَ وَ مَنْ خَالَفَ وَلَايَةَ عَلِيٍّ دَخَلَ النَّارَ وَ قَوْلُهُ‏ يُؤْفَكُ عَنْهُ مَنْ أُفِكَ‏ فَإِنَّهُ يَعْنِي عَلِيّاً ع مَنْ أُفِكَ عَنْ وَلَايَتِهِ أُفِكَ عَنِ الْجَنَّة[5]

🔆Imam Bāqir, peace be upon him—Abū Ḥamza al-Thumālī relates from Imam Bāqir, peace be upon him, who said: In the verse: وَ السَّمَاء ذَاتِ الحُبُکِ, “heaven” refers to the Messenger of God, may God bless him and his family, and “woven” refers to Ḥaḍrat ʿAlī, peace be upon him.

🔅🌼A word in praise of al-Ḥusayn🌼🔅

🌹Whoever cannot speak of and describe Ḥusayn as he deserves, to the best of their ability, is far from being truly Ḥusayni.

🌹“Whoever knows himself knows his Imam.” We must equip ourselves with the means of spiritual perfection. Once equipped, I am no longer merely myself; I become a vast organization in which the Divine Will is realized. I am wholly acted upon, formed, and fashioned; the sense of being wholly subject to the Lord must be brought to perfection. The Lord is absolute perfection, and «كل يوم به شأن»

🌻🔆al-Māʾidah: 35  O أَيُّهَا الَّذينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَ ابْتَغُوا إِلَيْهِ الْوَسيلَةَ وَ جاهِدُوا في‏ سَبيلِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ

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

🌹Let us be wayfarers, seekers of light, travelers through the heavens, through beauty and delight, and pilgrims on the path of servitude—following in the footsteps of Ḥusayn.

🌹Is Ḥusayn not the path to God? Then how far have we travelled along this path toward Allah? Is Ḥusayn not God’s light? Then how ablaze are we with the light of God?

🔅🌼Let us be nightingales in Ḥusayn’s rose garden🌼🔅

🌹How much joy do beetles, mice, hyenas, vultures, and the like take in a flower? How much delight do they find in the heavens, the nightingale’s song, the breeze, the sight of the sky, reflection and contemplation, knowledge, and divine unity?

🌹Measure the pleasure you take in knowledge against the knowledge of Ḥusayn, and so gauge the quality of your own Ḥusayni spirit!

🔅🌼Ḥusayn’s shrine is a place of arrival at the knowledge of God🌼🔅

🌷🔆 الرِّضَا ع قَالَ: سُئِلَ أَبِي عَنْ إِتْيَانِ قَبْرِ الْحُسَيْنِ ع فَقَالَ صَلُّوا فِي الْمَسَاجِدِ حَوْلَهُ وَ يُجْزِئُ فِي الْمَوَاضِعِ كُلِّهَا أَنْ تَقُولَ- السَّلَامُ عَلَى أَوْلِيَاءِ اللَّهِ وَ أَصْفِيَائِهِ السَّلَامُ عَلَى أُمَنَاءِ اللَّهِ وَ أَحِبَّائِهِ السَّلَامُ عَلَى أَنْصَارِ اللَّهِ وَ خُلَفَائِهِ السَّلَامُ عَلَى مَحَالِّ مَعْرِفَةِ اللَّهِ‏ السَّلَامُ عَلَى مَسَاكِنِ ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ السَّلَامُ عَلَى مُظَاهِرِي أَمْرِ اللَّهِ وَ نَهْيِهِ السَّلَامُ عَلَى الدُّعَاةِ إِلَى اللَّهِ السَّلَامُ عَلَى الْمُسْتَقِرِّينَ فِي مَرْضَاةِ اللَّهِ السَّلَامُ عَلَى الْمُمَحَّصِينَ فِي طَاعَةِ اللَّهِ السَّلَامُ عَلَى الْأَدِلَّاءِ عَلَى اللَّهِ السَّلَامُ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مَنْ وَالاهُمْ فَقَدْ وَالَى اللَّهَ وَ مَنْ عَادَاهُمْ فَقَدْ عَادَى اللَّهَ وَ مَنْ عَرَفَهُمْ‏ فَقَدْ عَرَفَ اللَّهَ وَ مَنْ جَهِلَهُمْ فَقَدْ جَهِلَ اللَّهَ وَ مَنِ اعْتَصَمَ بِهِمْ فَقَدِ اعْتَصَمَ بِاللَّهِ وَ مَنْ تَخَلَّى مِنْهُمْ فَقَدْ تَخَلَّى مِنَ اللَّهِ أُشْهِدُ اللَّهَ أَنِّي سِلْمٌ لِمَنْ سَالَمْتُمْ وَ حَرْبٌ لِمَنْ حَارَبْتُمْ مُؤْمِنٌ بِسِرِّكُمْ وَ عَلَانِيَتِكُمْ مُفَوِّضٌ فِي ذَلِكَ كُلِّهِ إِلَيْكُمْ لَعَنَ اللَّهُ عَدُوَّ آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ مِنَ الْجِنِّ وَ الْإِنْسِ وَ أَبْرَأُ إِلَى اللَّهِ مِنْهُمْ وَ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِهِ هَذَا يُجْزِئُ فِي الزِّيَارَاتِ كُلِّهَا وَ تُكْثِرُ مِنَ الصَّلَاةِ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِهِ وَ تُسَمِّي وَاحِداً وَاحِداً بِأَسْمَائِهِمْ وَ تَبْرَأُ إِلَى اللَّهِ مِنْ أَعْدَائِهِمْ وَ تَخْتَارُ لِنَفْسِكَ مِنَ الدُّعَاءِ مَا أَحْبَبْتَ وَ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَ الْمُؤْمِنَاتِ.[6]

🔅🌼 With Husayn, we must experience divine love 🌼🔅

🌷🔆الْحُسَيْنُ بْنُ عَلِيٍّ ع قَالَ: قَالَ لِي يَا بِشْرَ بْنَ غَالِبٍ مَنْ‏ أَحَبَّنَا لَا يُحِبُّنَا إِلَّا لِلَّهِ جِئْنَا نَحْنُ وَ هُوَ كَهَاتَيْنِ وَ قَدَّرَ بَيْنَ سَبَّابَتَيْهِ وَ مَنْ‏ أَحَبَّنَا لَا يُحِبُّنَا إِلَّا لِلدُّنْيَا فَإِنَّهُ إِذَا قَامَ قَائِمُ الْعَدْلِ وَسَّعَ عَدْلَهُ الْبَرَّ وَ الْفَاجِر[7]

🔆Imam Husayn, peace be upon him, said: “Whoever loves us, and loves us for no reason other than God, will enter [on the Day of Resurrection] alongside us, like these two”—he held his two index fingers parallel to each other—“and whoever loves us for no reason other than worldly gain, then when the one who establishes justice rises, his justice and fairness will extend to the righteous and the wicked alike.”

🌹Whoever loves the Ahl al-Bayt, peace be upon them, for worldly gain is no different from a profligate.

🌹Let us make our hearts a home for Husayn. The heedless person is buried beneath Yazid; whoever delights in sin is like Yazid.

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

[1] Bihar al-Anwar (Beirut edition), vol. 68, p. 327  Majlisi, Dar Ihya al-Turath al-Arabi, Beirut, 2nd ed., 1403 AH.

[2] Ilal al-Shara’i, vol. 1, p. 9  Ibn Babawayh, Davari Bookshop, Qom, 1st ed., 1385 SH / 1966 CE.

[3] Tafsir al-Qummi, vol. 2, p. 328  Qummi, Dar al-Kitab, Qom, 3rd ed., 1404 AH.

[4] Tafsir Nur al-Thaqalayn    vol. 5    p. 124 Huwaizi, Ismailian, Iran, Qom, 4th ed., 1415 AH.

[5] Tafsir al-Qummi, vol. 2, p. 329  Qummi, Dar al-Kitab, Qom, 3rd ed., 1404 AH.

[6] Al-Kafi (Islamic edition), vol. 4, p. 579  Kulayni, Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyya, Tehran, 4th ed., 1407 AH.

[7] Al-Mahasin, vol. 1, p. 61  Barqi, Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khalid, Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyya, Qom, 2nd ed., 1371 AH.