The Capturing of the Will: More Dangerous Than Sorcery

🌻🔆Taking Command of the Will: Beyond Sorcery🔆🌻

🌼🔆🌼The Devil’s Usurpation🌼🔆🌼

🌹🔅☘️ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحيمِ ☘️🔅🌹

🔅🌹 “The Human Being, the World’s Flourishing”   “Sajjadi Secrets for the Struggle Against Satan”   “Safeguarding the Soul” “Taking Command of the Will”   “Passage 13 of Supplication 20” and more… A summary with an addendum        1404.11.16    Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat) 110.141 (903)  🌹🔅

🌸☘️🌷🔆🌹🔆🌻  🤲 🌙 📖 🌴 🕊️  🕋 🕌 ﷺ 🍃 🪴✳️✅ ❇️ ✨💫🔆

💫🔆 اللَّهُمَّ اجْعَلْ مَا يُلْقِي الشَّيْطَانُ فِي رُوعِي مِنَ التَّمَنِّي وَ التَّظَنِّي وَ الْحَسَدِ ذِكْراً لِعَظَمَتِكَ، وَ تَفَكُّراً فِي قُدْرَتِكَ، وَ تَدْبِيراً عَلَى عَدُوِّك‏🔆 💫

❇️Wishful thinking, suspicion, and envy: Satan’s three-pronged poisoned arrow

Beware Satan’s three-pronged poisoned arrow. It strikes straight at the heart, and with this single shot, its three points bring the whole human being under Satan’s sway.

A person dies when their loftiest thoughts die.

 A person becomes small when their great aspirations shrink.

A person is brought down when their pure convictions, elevated thoughts, and sound judgment are brought down.

Remembrance is the fuel of “primordial nature”; reflection nourishes and illuminates the soul and heart, setting the human being’s inner self ablaze; and sound judgment is the “plan, design, and course of action.”

A person should keep their head turned toward the heavens, not bow it toward the world. High aspirations keep us clear of wishful thinking, suspicion, and envy, closing every avenue through which Satan’s arrows might enter.

❇️Human flourishing is the flourishing of the entire world.

When human aspiration is elevated, the world rises with it; wishful thinking and suspicion diminish us.

Human perfection is the perfection of the entire world.

The human being is not confined to the self, but is interwoven with the world.

❇️Be the blossom of creation

The human being is the central core of existence; our perception and desires, too, should be elevated and universal.

Make yourself a beautiful note in creation’s song; become a fragrance that fills the world! Become the beating heart of the cosmos. With the elevated pulse and rhythm of body and soul, set the world in motion!

Become the heart of the world’s communion with God.

Be a butterfly, a flower, a bird, the sea, the sky, a star—and pray.

❇️The Imam, alchemist of souls

Through the language of intimate prayer, the Imam teaches us how to turn crisis into opportunity, fire into a garden, and sewage into pure water.

And how to extract gold from foul earth.

Just as fertile, pure soil turns carrion into wholesome nourishment, a pure human being transforms Satan and all his deceitful schemes into virtues and noble qualities.

❇️Corruption must be cleansed

Illness must be treated. Satan and the lower self’s desires are the corruption that afflicts our souls and our world; they must be cleansed from both, and the world must be delivered from disease.

You do not leave a fire to burn unchecked; you contain it. Nor should corruption be left unchecked.

❇️Imam Sajjad, peace be upon him, teaches us the secrets of cleansing and healing the soul and the world

Imam Sajjad, peace be upon him, teaches us the secret of striking a decisive blow against Satan.

Do not settle for a purely defensive stance against Satan. Take the offensive: go after both the jinn satans and the human satan.

Let your conduct, actions, and responses be a source of regret to the ego and the devils.

❇️Satan is one of the elements that tests us on the path of servitude

The devils are not there merely to harass us and ultimately bring about our defeat. Satan is an opponent on the path of servitude—a weight you must lift and remove from your way. Put him beneath your feet; break his back.

Imagine that without Satan and his temptations, human beings in this worldly life would have no test to pass, no championship to win. The classroom of this world would be incomplete without Satan and his temptations.

True championhood is revealed only in the arena of competition.

So turn crisis into a golden opportunity.

❇️Do not sleep: Satan is awake

Satan has forbidden sleep to himself, and has made wakefulness forbidden to the heedless human being.

A person must awaken while awake, and reach the light while surrounded by brightness.

Seize the enemy’s resources and turn them to your advantage.

Satan is a warning, a reminder not to sleep, not to become heedless.

The hunter is always lying in wait; his trap is spread across your path. His lures are brightly coloured, his chains gleam like gold, and the bait laid out in his trap is tantalising. He wears the mask of a friend and beloved.

❇️The human being is Satan’s master; to obey Satan is a glittering, shameful disgrace

Satan was cast out for refusing to prostrate before Adam. If a human being prostrates before Satan, it is a dark and accursed humiliation.

✨البقرة : 36   فَأَزَلَّهُمَا الشَّيْطانُ عَنْها فَأَخْرَجَهُما مِمَّا كانا فيهِ وَ قُلْنَا اهْبِطُوا بَعْضُكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ عَدُوٌّ وَ لَكُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ مُسْتَقَرٌّ وَ مَتاعٌ إِلى‏ حينٍ

🔆Then Satan caused them to slip from Paradise and drove them out of what they had been enjoying. And We said, “Go down, all of you, as enemies to one another. On earth you will have a dwelling place and provision for a time.”

❇️The inhabitants of the heavenly realm follow in the footsteps of the exalted human being

If a person follows in Satan’s footsteps, they are debased and cast down, casting the crown of human dignity from their head.

✨البقرة : 168  يا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ كُلُوا مِمَّا فِي الْأَرْضِ حَلالاً طَيِّباً وَ لا تَتَّبِعُوا خُطُواتِ الشَّيْطانِ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُبينٌ

🔆O people! Eat of what is lawful and wholesome on earth, and do not follow in Satan’s footsteps, for he is your avowed enemy!

❇️Stand with all your might against God’s enemy

Arm yourselves with the Qur’an, and strengthen yourselves with the power of God, the zeal of God, and the word of God.

✨الأنفال : 60   وَ أَعِدُّوا لَهُمْ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ مِنْ قُوَّةٍ وَ مِنْ رِباطِ الْخَيْلِ تُرْهِبُونَ بِهِ عَدُوَّ اللَّهِ وَ عَدُوَّكُمْ وَ آخَرينَ مِنْ دُونِهِمْ لا تَعْلَمُونَهُمُ اللَّهُ يَعْلَمُهُمْ وَ ما تُنْفِقُوا مِنْ شَيْ‏ءٍ في‏ سَبيلِ اللَّهِ يُوَفَّ إِلَيْكُمْ وَ أَنْتُمْ لا تُظْلَمُونَ

🔆Make ready against them whatever strength you can muster, and steeds prepared for battle, so that by them you may strike fear into the hearts of God’s enemy and your enemy, and others besides them whom you do not know, but whom God knows. Whatever you spend in God’s cause will be repaid to you in full, and you will not be wronged.

❇️Stay close to God, and even the enemy will become a source of good

If a person keeps the sweet remembrance of God alight in their heart, no enemy can overcome them. The enemy itself becomes a resource, adding to a person’s strength.

✨Ṭā Hā 20:39   أَنِ اقْذِفيهِ فِي التَّابُوتِ فَاقْذِفيهِ فِي الْيَمِّ فَلْيُلْقِهِ الْيَمُّ بِالسَّاحِلِ يَأْخُذْهُ عَدُوٌّ لي‏ وَ عَدُوٌّ لَهُ وَ أَلْقَيْتُ عَلَيْكَ مَحَبَّةً مِنِّي وَ لِتُصْنَعَ عَلى‏ عَيْني‏

🔆“Place him in a chest and cast it into the sea. Let the sea wash it ashore, where an enemy of Mine and an enemy of his will take him up.” And I bestowed My love upon you, so that you might be brought up under My watchful eye.

❇️Do not forget God’s covenant

✨Yā Sīn 36:60   أَ لَمْ أَعْهَدْ إِلَيْكُمْ يا بَني‏ آدَمَ أَنْ لا تَعْبُدُوا الشَّيْطانَ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُبينٌ

🔆“Did I not charge you, children of Adam, not to worship Satan—for he is your manifest enemy?!”

✨Al-Zukhruf 43:62   وَ لا يَصُدَّنَّكُمُ الشَّيْطانُ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُبينٌ

🔆“And do not let Satan turn you away; he is indeed your manifest enemy!”

❇️Do not choose your enemy as your master

Satan is not even worthy of being humanity’s servant, let alone its guardian!

✨🔆Al-Naḥl 16:100   إِنَّما سُلْطانُهُ عَلَى الَّذينَ يَتَوَلَّوْنَهُ وَ الَّذينَ هُمْ بِهِ مُشْرِكُونَ

🔆His authority extends only over those who have chosen him as their guardian, and those who associate others with God by obeying Satan instead of God.

What a wretched fate—to dismiss reason and put Satan in its place!

Just look at the world today, where people with satanic natures occupy the highest offices on the global stage!

❇️When the innermost core of a person is conquered, the fortress of humanity collapses

The core of a person’s inner being lies at its very centre. When Satan penetrates it, he has made it through every outer layer and taken control of the person’s will!

To conquer the will goes beyond bewitchment.

Is this not the state of humanity today?!

Has Satan’s final battle not begun?!

If a person loses their inner self, what else is there left to lose?!

🌻🔆Conquering the will: beyond bewitchment🔆🌻—in a lecture

💫🔆Reflection: drawing nourishment from the divine source

Reflection means nourishing oneself from divine blessings.

Reflection means kindling the inner self and bringing light within.

Reflection means devising a plan for fulfilling our higher duties.

💫🔆Elevating our being through the remembrance of God’s majesty

When people become captive to their desires and illusions, their heads bow and their eyes turn downwards.

But when they occupy themselves with remembering their Lord’s majesty, they lift their heads towards what is exalted and majestic.

The more deeply they immerse themselves in divine majesty, the more their own being is elevated; they grow in stature and greatness.

A person of majesty bestows majesty upon all existence. The perfected human being brings the world to perfection.

💫🔆The human being: the flower of creation and the centre of beauty

The human being should become creation’s flower, so radiant that all the world’s flowers are left gazing in wonder.

The tenderness and freshness of the perfected human being are such that all the world’s beauties are drawn towards them.

We should give voice to the remembrance of our Lord’s majesty in a beautiful song across the world, and pray in intimate communion with our Beloved so that all creation is stirred with joy and longing.

Through the fervour of intimate prayer, a person should become the beating heart of this world, bringing joy and beauty to existence with the pulse and rhythm of the remembrance of God.

💫🔆Imam al-Sajjad (AS): The Master Craftsman of the Soul

Imam al-Sajjad (AS) is the master goldsmith. Through the language of intimate prayer, he teaches the subtlest mysteries of creation.

He has woven that lofty wisdom into the melodies of his own prayers.

The prayers of al-Sajjad possess a mighty spirit and breathe a higher life into the human being.

In a few passages, the Imam (AS) stirs such fervour and longing that crisis becomes a golden opportunity, fire turns to a garden, and sewage to clear water.

💫🔆Turning Filth into Purity: The Goldsmith’s Lesson from the Soil

Imam al-Sajjad (AS) teaches us how to extract gold and diamonds from foul soil.

He shows us how to be like pure, fertile soil, transforming the dead and the vile into noble things.

He teaches the secret of escaping impurity and how to turn it into purity.

Every illness can be treated. Satan and the lower self are the most prevalent sicknesses of our souls and our world, and they must be healed.

💫🔆The Human Mission: Crowned with Dignity

What is my share of the work, O human being crowned with God’s dignity?

Have you succeeded in your mission to cleanse the world?

Have you been able to wash away the impurities of Satan and the lower self, and heal the ailing soul of the world?

Or have you left their fire unchecked, letting it consume your soul and set the world ablaze?

Impurity, illness and fire must not be left unattended.

💫🔆The Battle with Satan: From Defence to Offence

Imam al-Sajjad (AS) teaches the secrets of cleansing and healing the soul and the world.

He teaches us how to strike Satan a decisive blow.

Satan targets our spirit and our faculty of perception. We must target his entire evil being and destroy it.

We must not remain on the defensive against Satan; we must take the fight to him, leaving him disheartened and regretful over his mischief, until he wishes for death.

💫🔆Satan: A Weight by Which to Test Our Devotion

Satan is one of the trials on the path of devotion to God.

God, All-Knowing and All-Wise, has turned Satan’s mischief to the world’s advantage and made it part of the test of His servants.

Satan, then, has not come merely to cause trouble; he is an opponent in the arena of devotion, against whom a person can test their strength.

He is a weight to be lifted, cleared from the path and trampled underfoot—proof that one is fit for the arena of devotion to God.

Without Satan, how would the champions of this arena be recognised? The school of devotion would be incomplete.

A person must turn the crisis of Satan’s mischief into a golden opportunity for growth.

💫🔆Satan: A Warning to Awaken the Heart

Satan is a grave warning that tells us not to sleep.

Even if the body sleeps, the heart must remain awake for ever. It must not doze for even a moment; rather, as it wakes, it must grow ever more alert.

The more awake and expansive it becomes, the more it will resemble the seven heavens—and beyond. It will contain God’s Throne within itself and become the command centre of divine love.

💫🔆Satan’s Colourful, Golden Schemes

Satan is ever lying in wait. He sets traps, dons colourful disguises and forges golden chains.

He lays out more tempting delicacies to whet the appetites of the lower self. He puts on a mask and appears in the guise of a friend.

If a person fails to foil his schemes, they are lost. Satan is contemptible before humanity; he is not even worthy of serving us.

💫🔆Falling from the Heights of Honour

A person should become Satan’s master—disciplining him and even urging him to repent.

Satan was cast out for refusing to bow before Adam. What, then, of a human being who bows before Satan and worships him?

This is a fall from the heights of honour to the depths of humiliation and darkness.

💫🔆Preparing for the Inner and Outer Battle

We must therefore arm ourselves—with strength, zeal and the word of God—so that we may make this wretch even more abject.

On both the inner and outer fronts, we must equip ourselves with every kind of formidable weapon against the human and jinn devils.

💫🔆Grasping the Spirit of the Verses

When reciting the verses, we must move beyond their words and grasp the spirit of their expressions.

Let us equip ourselves with the subtle meanings and truths of the Quran so that we may prevail over the accursed enemy.

Any laxity or weakness on this front will bring irreparable loss.

💫🔆Remembrance of God’s Majesty: An Impenetrable Fortress

Let us remain with God so that we may overcome His enemy.

Let us keep the remembrance of God’s majesty burning brightly in our hearts, leaving no enemy a way in.

The moment of heedlessness is precisely when Satan’s barbed arrow pierces the human heart.

💫🔆The All-Wise God: Turning the Enemy’s Schemes Against Him

The All-Wise God disciplines the enemy so artfully that he ensnares himself with his own hands.

He said to Moses’ mother, “Place him in a chest and cast it into the sea; the sea will carry him to shore, where My enemy and his enemy will take him in. And I bestowed on you love from Myself.” (Ta Ha: 39)

So let us remain with God, that we too may artfully discipline His enemy.

💫🔆The Sajjadi Supplications: A Key to Relief

This is the secret of Imam Sajjad’s (AS) supplications: how can I devise a beautiful strategy against God’s enemy?

All I need do is remember my God beautifully. How can I gain strength?

All I need do is reflect on God’s power. When I am at a loss to solve a problem, it is enough to contemplate the majesty of creation and divine wisdom.

Then I will see God’s power, strength and wisdom welling up within me, and I will solve problems that seemed impossible to resolve.

💫🔆Worshipping Satan: Breaking the Primordial Covenant

“Did I not make a covenant with you, children of Adam, that you should not worship Satan, for he is your manifest enemy?” (Ya Sin: 60)

A person who sins is, in reality, worshipping Satan—whether the Satan is a jinn or the satanic lower self.

The human lower self is more satanic than the external Satan. Our greatest enemy is this very carnal desire.

💫🔆Seizing the Command Centre: The Human Rūʿ

Let us guard our rūʿ (the centre of perception and decision-making).

If a person’s rūʿ is taken over by Satan, their entire being has been conquered.

Satan is cunning. If he can find even a crack in this command centre, he will pour in his poison and bring a person under his sway.

Taking control of the will is more dangerous than sorcery, and harder to cure. This is the affliction of people today.

💫🔆The Consequences of Being Taken Over: Existential Bankruptcy

Once a person’s rūʿ has been taken over, there is nothing left for them to lose.

Whatever he possesses, he will put in Satan’s service. He will use every last part of himself for evil.

💫🔆Wishful thinking: Satan’s point of entry

“Wishful thinking”—worldly, false desires—is the very opening through which Satan gains entry.

A poisoned, ignorant appetite overlooks the joy of the heavenly realm and goes searching for pleasure in evil.

Such an appetite becomes bestial and parasitic, blinding a person to the heavenly vision.

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

❇️ Excerpt from *The Subjugation of the Will Beyond Sorcery*

💫Satan attacks with three poison-tipped arrows: endless desires (*tamanni*), destructive suspicions (*tazanni*), and ruinous envy (*hasad*). His aim is to capture your *ru‘*—the command centre of your being.

💫Your *ru‘* is where your “true self” resides. If Satan takes control of it, you no longer see sin as a “mistake”; you imagine it to be “right” or “legitimate pleasure.” This is the deepest defeat.

💫The remedy for this invasion is a threefold strategy: reflection (understanding the self and Satan), remembrance (tuning the heart to the greatness of God), and practical planning (devising concrete ways to turn temptation into good action).

💫Remembrance alone is not enough; you must also act wisely. When envy finds its way into your heart, the wise response is to pray for that person. This is how you “seize Satan’s capital” and put it to work for your own good.

💫Reflection means drawing nourishment from God’s light, remembrance means kindling the inner self, and practical planning means mapping out a life of purity. Together, these form your heart’s intelligent defence system.

💫Turn a crisis of temptation into a golden opportunity for growth. Satan is a weight you must lift to prove yourself a champion in the field of serving God.

💫Be vigilant! In the digital age, algorithms and screens amplify the arrows of *tamanni* and envy. Stay alert, do not forget remembrance, and plan wisely how you use them.

💫Imam Sajjad (AS) teaches us how to turn the fire of temptation, through remembrance of God, into a garden of sincerity—and to make gold of the dust of our being.

💫The supplication “اللهم اجعل ما یلقی الشیطان…” is more than a whispered prayer; it is a request for an advanced operating system for mind and heart, so that every attack becomes building material for our being.

💫The struggle against Satan is a mission to transform the self and the world. A pure person is like pure earth, turning carrion into flowers. You, too, can transform the world around you.