Written transcript of the lecture
The Meshkat-e Noor teachings series🌼🔆🌼Everyone Is a Precious, Peerless Gem🌼🔆🌼
🌹🔅☘️ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحيمِ ☘️🔅🌹
🔅🌹 “The Secrets of the Year and Its Renewal” “The Springtime of Being” “The Tree of Creation” “The Breath of Dawn” “A Commentary on Supplication 6 of al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya” and … An outline with an addendum 1405.01.06 Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat) 110.141(903) 🌹🔅
🌼🌸☘️🌷🌹🌻 🕋 🤲 🌙 ✳️✅ ❇️ ✨🔆💫🔆
(1) الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي خَلَقَ اللَّيْلَ وَ النَّهَارَ بِقُوَّتِهِ (2) وَ مَيَّزَ بَيْنَهُمَا بِقُدْرَتِهِ (3) وَ جَعَلَ لِكُلِّ وَاحِدٍ مِنْهُمَا حَدّاً مَحْدُوداً، وَ أَمَداً مَمْدُوداً (4) يُولِجُ كُلَّ وَاحِدٍ مِنْهُمَا فِي صَاحِبِهِ، وَ يُولِجُ صَاحِبَهُ فِيهِ بِتَقْدِيرٍ مِنْهُ لِلْعِبَادِ فِيمَا يَغْذُوهُمْ بِهِ، وَ يُنْشِئُهُمْ عَلَيْهِ
🤲 🌙 ✳️✅ ❇️ ✨🔆💫🔆 🌼🌸☘️🌷🌹🌻 🕋
(1) Praise be to God, who created night and day by His power,
(2) and by His might set them apart from one another,
(3) appointing each a limit and an appointed span.
(4) He causes each to enter into the other, by His decree, for the sake of His servants—in what He provides for them and by which He sustains them.
(5) He created the night for them so that they might rest from the weariness of striving and toil. He made it a covering, that they might find repose in its calm and sleep, and so that it might bring them comfort and strength, and grant them delight and pleasure.
✅Special, New Guidelines for the Start of the New Year
❇️Each Person’s Code of Creation
🔸You are one of a kind—know your worth. You are God’s peerless gem.
A God who is “كُلَّ يَوْمٍ هُوَ في شَأْن” does nothing repetitively; every person embodies one of God’s matchless attributes!
Each person is a unique number, a singular, matchless act of God’s will!
❇️Assessing Your Readiness to Serve God
🔸As God’s one-of-a-kind servant, you should have extraordinary, one-of-a-kind ways of serving Him!
💫🔆It is related from the Commander of the Faithful (AS), who said: «May God have mercy on the one who prepared for himself, made ready for his grave, and knew from where, in what, and to where.»[1]
🔆This noble hadith is from the Commander of the Faithful (AS), who said:
«May God have mercy on the one who prepared for himself, made ready for his grave, and knew from where, in what, and to where.»
“May God have mercy on the person who made preparations for himself and readied himself for [life in] the grave, and who knew [this soul] has come from where, is now in what place, and will ultimately go where.”
🔸You are one of a kind, and your lifetime is one of a kind too; so your deeds, thoughts, and aspirations should be one of a kind as well!
🔸Take stock of your life: how much has passed, what have you done, how much remains, and what will you do?
🔸What could you have done? What should you have done?
🔸What will you do? What is your firm resolve?
❇️What is your masterpiece of devotion?
What pleasing quality have you brought forth from within yourself?
What have you done to win the heart of your Beloved?
What adornments have you graced yourself with?
✨🔆Al-A‘raf: 31 يا بَني آدَمَ خُذُوا زينَتَكُمْ عِنْدَ كُلِّ مَسْجِدٍ وَ كُلُوا وَ اشْرَبُوا وَ لا تُسْرِفُوا إِنَّهُ لا يُحِبُّ الْمُسْرِفينَ
🔆O children of Adam, wear your finery at every prayer and in every place of worship. Eat and drink of all that God has made lawful, but do not be wasteful; He does not love those who waste.
🔸Let every aspect of your life become a sanctuary devoted to God. Adorn yourself with the finest ornaments, both outward and inward!
❇️Unveiling beauty
What is your form in the mineral, plant, animal, human and angelic realms?
❇️Taking stock
List ten good things you have done!
Ten good thoughts and ten plans for the future!
Examine your self-knowledge!
❇️Practising resurrection
Imagine that you had died and then come back to life. What would you do now? Resolve, then, to make it happen.
If your wishes came true, what would you do? Your hopes for tomorrow are within reach now—so do not let them perish!
❇️Your place, unfilled
If you were a tree!
If you were the world, and the world belonged to you!
If you were the most beautiful!
What would you do?
Do you know what other creatures would do if they had your abilities, your humanity and all that makes you exceptional? So do not fall short!
Everyone longs for your rank and place!
❇️You are the first—so be first
You are God’s peerless jewel!
You are nothing other than yourself!
You must be first, because you are the first! You are unique, with no duplicate; only you are like yourself. You are His creation, brought into being anew!
Think of being first!
Outstrip even the prophets and the angels, for you have the means to forge ahead!
✨🔆Al-Baqarah: 148 وَ لِكُلٍّ وِجْهَةٌ هُوَ مُوَلِّيها فَاسْتَبِقُوا الْخَيْراتِ أَيْنَ ما تَكُونُوا يَأْتِ بِكُمُ اللَّهُ جَميعاً إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَديرٌ
🔆Every community has a direction toward which it turns. So strive to excel in good works. Wherever you may be, God will bring you all together (for the Day of Resurrection and the requital of your deeds). Indeed, God has power over all things.
✨🔆Al-Mu’minun: 61 أُولئِكَ يُسارِعُونَ فِي الْخَيْراتِ وَ هُمْ لَها سابِقُونَ
🔆It is they who hasten to do good in all their deeds, and they are the foremost in doing good.
✨🔆Al-Hadid: 21 سابِقُوا إِلى مَغْفِرَةٍ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ وَ جَنَّةٍ عَرْضُها كَعَرْضِ السَّماءِ وَ الْأَرْضِ أُعِدَّتْ لِلَّذينَ آمَنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَ رُسُلِهِ ذلِكَ فَضْلُ اللَّهِ يُؤْتيهِ مَنْ يَشاءُ وَ اللَّهُ ذُو الْفَضْلِ الْعَظيمِ
🔆Race to attain forgiveness from your Lord and a Garden as vast as the heavens and the earth, prepared for those who believe in God and His messengers. That is God’s bounty, which He grants to whomever He wills; God is the Possessor of tremendous bounty!
❇️The world is my image, and I am the world’s image
🔸You can do more than create a masterpiece—you can create a master world: cultivate the world within yourself and reap worlds; sow yourself in the world and, from its heart, reap a soul of the world like yourself!
🔸I am in the world, and the world is in me; the world’s forms and vistas are within me, and I am in the world’s image.
🔸My seed is in the soul of the world, and the soul of the world is in me, as a seed; my blossom is in the world, and the world’s blossom is in me.
❇️The Soul’s Springtime
Take stock of your own springtime and fruitfulness.
❇️The Seal of Servitude
Beware that your springtime may have died and your soul be withering away. Beware that you may have fallen to the lowest of the low, and that your pure essence may have been shattered. Beware the sealing of hearts; beware the sealing of life.
❇️A Year of Growth or Decline
In the new year, take stock of the changes within you, within the very essence of your soul.
What has come of this immense system of creation? The whole universe was placed in your service—what came of it?!
What is the likeness of your heavenly realm, your Throne, the imprint of your Most Beautiful Names, your Muhammadan and Ahl al-Bayt nature?
The beauty of the essence cannot be fathomed. The human essence surpasses human existence; all that exists, and all knowledge, are but a digestion of the essence!
Take care lest you become the likeness of the lowest of the low!
The heavens and the earth, and all that exists, have been placed under your command and at your service! Beyond them all, God Most High is your greatest treasure! So what have you done with this boundless wealth—with what lies beyond all wealth and treasure?!
✨🔆Luqman: 20 أَ لَمْ تَرَوْا أَنَّ اللَّهَ سَخَّرَ لَكُمْ ما فِي السَّماواتِ وَ ما فِي الْأَرْضِ وَ أَسْبَغَ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعَمَهُ ظاهِرَةً وَ باطِنَةً وَ مِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يُجادِلُ فِي اللَّهِ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ وَ لا هُدىً وَ لا كِتابٍ مُنيرٍ
🔆Have you not seen that God has subjected to you all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth, and has lavished His manifest and hidden blessings upon you—such as those your bodies enjoy and those that benefit your souls and minds? Yet some people dispute about God without any knowledge, guidance, or illuminating scripture.
✨🔆Al-Jathiyah: 13 وَ سَخَّرَ لَكُمْ ما فِي السَّماواتِ وَ ما فِي الْأَرْضِ جَميعاً مِنْهُ إِنَّ في ذلِكَ لَآياتٍ لِقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ
🔆And He has subjected to your benefit all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth—all of it from Him. Surely in this are signs for people who reflect.
🔸What have we done with this immense treasure?
🔸What has emerged from this treasure, from this vast system?
❇️Coming of Age, Again and Again
What is the state of your quantitative and qualitative change—your mood, your feelings, your inner condition? What change or transformation do you sense?
Every coming of age is accompanied by the birth and blossoming of new faculties of perception!
❇️Is the essence of my singular soul in accord with that Unique One?
Where in the coordinates of creation does the essence of our soul—my “self within myself”—lie?!
At what point in the Word of God, the Beauty of God, the Perfection of God, the Majesty of God do we stand?
What part do we play in the manifestation of the Divine Most Beautiful Names?
❇️Repetition Without Repetition
Repetition makes you sick!
❇️There Is No Repetition!
He is each day in a new affair.
Life does not repeat itself; the world does not repeat itself. The world is made new; it does not repeat itself.
The year does not repeat itself, nor do the days and nights. Every moment is new; each moment differs from the one before. Every moment is a new world, a fresh stage. To imagine that all is the same is a sign of ignorance.
At every moment, God wills something beyond and outside time. Time itself, too, is an act of God’s will—and His will in creating time is beyond time!
❇️How black is not black
Black is not black, and white is not white: these are translations made by our minds, shaped by our processing and our imaginings.
No two colors in the world are alike; every color has its own unique existential number!
The rank, degree, and number willed for each being belong to that being alone. Nothing in the universe is repeated!
Night is not night, nor day, day: what we imagine night and day to be is not their true reality!
To think tonight is the same as last night, or tomorrow’s day the same as yesterday’s, is a sign of our ignorance and limited knowledge!
Nothing in existence is ever repeated!
No color is ever repeated!
And no night is ever repeated!
Night is not what we imagine it to be, nor is day what we conceive it to be.
We apprehend an interpretation of night and an interpretation of day. A year is a comprehensive annual book, a complete cycle.
❇️From the frame of the soul, look upon the world; from the frame of the world, look upon the soul
Unveiling a new image of existence in every moment and throughout the year
Look upon existence through the window of your soul—at the tableau of creation!
From the frame of the soul, behold the beauty of the world!
How far has the tableau of existence come?
Can you read it? Do you know how to read the patterns of existence?!
How far has the blossom of existence spread its wings, and what is the state of the blossom at the core of your soul?
❇️The breath of existence, the breath of servitude
If existence did not breathe, creation would lose its breath.
So it is with the breath of beauty, the breath of splendor, the breath of majesty, the breath of love, and the breath of the Most Beautiful Names.
Every moment is a new year!
The breath of existence’s dawn is the life-giving core of creation. To breathe in unison with that dawn keeps the springtime of the human soul alive!
✨🔆 At-Takwir: 15 فَلا أُقْسِمُ بِالْخُنَّسِ
✨🔆 At-Takwir: 16 الْجَوارِ الْكُنَّسِ
✨🔆 At-Takwir: 17 وَ اللَّيْلِ إِذا عَسْعَسَ
✨🔆 At-Takwir: 18 وَ الصُّبْحِ إِذا تَنَفَّسَ
🔆 By the stars that return, (15)
🔆 that move along and disappear from sight, (16)
🔆 and by the night as it withdraws and draws to its close, (17)
🔆 and by the morning when it breathes, (18)
(فَلا أُقْسِمُ) means “So I swear”; the لا is an addition. We have already mentioned the scholars’ differing views on the لا in the verse (لا أُقْسِمُ بِيَوْمِ الْقِيامَةِ) (بِالْخُنَّسِ). These are stars that disappear by day and appear at night. (الْجَوارِ) is an attribute of خنّس, since they travel in their orbits and spheres. (الْكُنَّسِ) is also an attribute of these stars: they withdraw and conceal themselves in their constellations, just as gazelles hide in their lairs. Imam ʿAli, peace be upon him, says they are five stars: 1. Saturn, 2. Jupiter, 3. Mars, 4. Venus, 5. Mercury. Some have said that this means they vanish and remain hidden by day, unseen, and withdraw at sunset. This is their خنوس and كنوس. According to Ibn Masʿud, they are wild cattle; according to Ibn Jubayr, they are gazelles.
(وَ اللَّيْلِ إِذا عَسْعَسَ) ʿAlī (peace be upon him), Ibn ʿAbbās, Mujāhid and Qatāda say: “When it turned away into its darkness.” According to Ḥasan, it means: “When it advanced with its darkness.” And according to Jubbāʾī: “When it darkened the world with its veil.”
وَ الصُّبْحِ إِذا تَنَفَّسَ) That is, when morning lifted the veil from its face and brought light; the meaning is that its light spread until it became day.[2]
❇️The dawn of justice will break
💫🔆عَنْ أُمِّ هَانِئٍ، قَالَتْ: سَأَلْتُ أَبَا جَعْفَرٍ مُحَمَّدَ بْنَ عَلِيٍّ (عَلَيْهِمَا السَّلَامُ) عَنْ قَوْلِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ: فَلا أُقْسِمُ بِالْخُنَّسِ* الْجَوارِ الْكُنَّسِ قَالَتْ: فَقَالَ:
«إِمَامٌ يَخْنِسُ سَنَةَ سِتِّينَ وَ مِائَتَيْنِ، ثُمَّ يَظْهَرُ كَالشِّهَابِ يَتَوَقَّدُ فِي اللَّيْلَةِ الظَّلْمَاءِ، وَ إِذَا أَدْرَكْتِ زَمَانَهُ قَرَّتْ عَيْنُكِ».[3]
💫🔆 It is narrated from Umm Hānī (may God be pleased with her) that she said: I asked Abū Jaʿfar, Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī (peace be upon them both), about the saying of God, the Almighty and Glorious: «فَلا أُقْسِمُ بِالْخُنَّسِ * الْجَوارِ الْكُنَّسِ» (“By those that move along and then disappear from sight”—the stars that hide themselves). He replied:
“He is an Imam who will conceal himself for two hundred and sixty years, then shine like a meteor in the dark of night. If you live to see his time, your eyes will be gladdened.”
❇️The blazing meteor will renew the year of existence
💫🔆عَنْ أُمِّ هَانِئٍ، قَالَتْ: قُلْتُ لِأَبِي جَعْفَرٍ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَلِيٍّ الْبَاقِرِ (عَلَيْهِمَا السَّلَامُ):
مَا مَعْنَى قَوْلِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ: فَلا أُقْسِمُ بِالْخُنَّسِ؟ فَقَالَ: «يَا أُمَّ هَانِئٍ، إِمَامٌ يَخْنِسُ نَفْسَهُ حَتَّى يَنْقَطِعَ عَنِ النَّاسِ عِلْمُهُ سَنَةَ سِتِّينَ وَ مِائَتَيْنِ، ثُمَّ يَبْدُو كَالشِّهَابِ الْوَاقِدِ فِي اللَّيْلَةِ الظَّلْمَاءِ، فَإِنْ أَدْرَكْتِ ذَلِكِ الزَّمَانَ قَرَّتْ عَيْنُكِ».[4]
💫🔆 It is narrated from Umm Hānī that she said: I said to Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Bāqir (peace be upon them both):
What is the meaning of the saying of God, the Almighty and Glorious: «فَلا أُقْسِمُ بِالْخُنَّسِ»? He replied: “O Umm Hānī, he is an Imam who conceals himself, so that the people’s knowledge of him is cut off, for two hundred and sixty years. Then he will appear like a blazing meteor in the dark of night. If you live to see that time, your eyes will be gladdened.”
❇️The breath of the dawn of existence heralds knowledge and wisdom
💫🔆عَنِ الْأَصْبَغِ بْنِ نُبَاتَةَ، عَنْ عَلِيٍّ (عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ)، قَالَ: … فَقَالَ: وَ الصُّبْحِ إِذا تَنَفَّسَ؟ قَالَ: «يَعْنِي بِذَلِكَ الْأَوْصِيَاءَ، يَقُولُ: إِنَّ عِلْمَهُمْ أَنْوَرُ وَ أَبْيَنُ مِنَ الصُّبْحِ إِذَا تَنَفَّسَ».[5]
💫🔆 It is narrated from Aṣbagh ibn Nubāta, from ʿAlī (peace be upon him), who said: …
Ibn al-Kawwāʾ asked: What is meant by «وَ الصُّبْحِ إِذا تَنَفَّسَ» (“By the morning when it breathes”)? He replied: “The reference is to the Successors. It means that their knowledge is brighter and more manifest than the morning when it breathes.”
❇️The breath of dawn within us
Until the dawn breathes within us, the sun of our souls will not rise!
The breath of dawn means the life-giving breath of creation, the sixfold creation, the means of connection between earth and heaven: the Remnant of God, the Proof of God, the Friend of God, the means to God.
To behold the full dawn: the dawn of existence, the dawn of truth, the dawn of light, the dawn of serenity, the dawn of justice, the dawn of devotion, the dawn of eternity, the dawn of everlastingness.
❇️The inhalation and exhalation of dawn
The inhalation and exhalation of dawn means the renewal and continuance of life: with its inhalation, life is kindled; with its exhalation, it breathes life into life.
Material life depends on oxygen, while spiritual life requires its own element. The breath of dawn extends across the whole geography of existence. A human being does not dwell on earth alone; their home is all of existence.
The pure soul’s breathing is beautiful, its every in-breath and out-breath. It gives life and brings serenity! It makes life pure and new.
❇️Falling from a height while still at a height
The world moves forward; it does not turn back.
Withering and decline, too, take place at that same height; the fall, too, happens at that same height. It is a fall in rank!
Time does not turn back.
❇️The fruit of the tree of creation
Everyone belongs to the tree of existence and becomes one of its fruits. One day, the time will come to pick it: sweet, or worm-eaten; a flower, or a weed.
🔅🌼The believer, soul of spring🌼🔅
The believer is like spring. One day, the believer will be revealed in all the fullness of spring.
If spring is the soul of time, then the pure human being is the soul of spring!
💫🔆 السَّلَامُ عَلَى الْقَائِمِ الْمُنْتَظَرِ وَ الْغَائِبِ الْمُشْتَهَرِ السَّلَامُ عَلَى السَّيْفِ الشَّاهِرِ وَ الْقَمَرِ الزَّاهِرِ وَ النُّورِ الْبَاهِرِ السَّلَامُ عَلَى شَمْسِ الظَّلَامِ وَ الْبَدْرِ التَّمَامِ السَّلَامُ عَلَى رَبِيعِ الْأَيْتَامِ وَ نَضْرَةِ الْأَيَّامِ السَّلَامُ عَلَى صَاحِبِ الصَّمْصَامِ وَ فَلَّاقِ الْهَامِ السَّلَامُ عَلَى الدِّينِ الْمَأْثُورِ وَ الْكِتَابِ الْمَسْطُورِ السَّلَامُ عَلَى بَقِيَّةِ اللَّهِ فِي بِلَادِهِ وَ حُجَّتِهِ عَلَى عِبَادِهِ الْمُنْتَهَى إِلَيْهِ مَوَارِيثُ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ وَ لَدَيْهِ مَوْجُودَةٌ آثَارُ الْأَصْفِيَاءِ الْمُؤْتَمَنِ عَلَى السِّرِّ وَ الْوَلِيِّ [الْوَالِي] عَلَى الْأُمَمِ السَّلَامُ عَلَى الْمَهْدِيِّ الَّذِي وَعَدَ اللَّهُ بِهِ الْأُمَمَ أَنْ يَجْمَعَ بِهِ الْكَلِمَ وَ يَلُمَّ بِهِ الشَّعْثَ وَ يَمْلَأَ بِهِ الْأَرْضَ قِسْطاً وَ عَدْلًا وَ يُمَكِّنَ لَهُ وَ يُنْجِزَ لَهُ مَا وَعَدَ الْمُؤْمِنِين[6]
💫🔆 Greetings to the awaited and manifestly absent Qa’im
Greetings to the drawn sword, the shining moon, and the radiant light
Greetings to the sun of darkness and the full moon
Greetings to the spring of orphans and the beauty of the age
Greetings to the bearer of the keen-edged sword, who shatters heads
Greetings to the inherited religion and the inscribed Book
Greetings to God’s remnant upon His earth and His proof to His servants
The inheritance of the prophets ultimately comes to rest with him, and the traces of the pure are held in his keeping
Guardian of the secret and protector of the communities
Greetings to the Mahdi whom God has promised to the communities: through him, He will unite their words, gather their scattered ranks, fill the earth with equity and justice, provide him with support, and bring to pass for him what He has promised the believers.
💫🔆 السَّلَامُ عَلَى رَبِيعِ الْأَنَامِ وَ نَضْرَةِ الْأَيَّام[7]
🔅🌼The splendor of God’s name in God’s blossoms🌼🔅
Every blossom is a beautiful tablet bearing the beauty of God.
Every flower is the beautiful calligraphy of the One who creates beauty, the Most Beautiful.
❇️The springtime of the soul’s spring
A person’s springtime is the soul’s breaking open and blossoming.
Spring signals the fulfilment of God’s promise to bring oppression, darkness, stagnation, and cold to an end.
Spring is a profound transformation into beauty’s depths.
🔅🌼 Spring breathes life into souls 🌼🔅
Spring is when hearts begin to turn green.
Spring marks the beginning and the life of butterflies in flight, of love-struck birds on earth and in the heavens singing their songs, and of hearts stirred from silence and the heedlessness of the unaware.
Become spring, and enter into the hearts.
The universe unfolds in harmony and unity with beauty and purity.
Each person is a movement, a letter, a word, a sentence—or an entire world—in the vast constellation of beauty.
🔅🌼 The springtime renewal 🌼🔅
Spring in the heart is the beginning of the soul’s essential renewal.
The spring of the heavenly realm and the realm of divine majesty rains down upon the spring of the earth.
Spring is a sign of God’s grace, forgiveness and love.
Spring heralds the gardens of Paradise.
Spring is a page revealing the face of Paradise.
Every spring, the earth is born anew into a new life.
At every moment, the call فتبارک الله احسن الخالقین should ring out.
🔅🌼 Spring exposes the ignorant 🌼🔅
The truly ignorant person is one who sees spring yet denies the Resurrection.
Spring is the earth’s loving gaze toward the sky.
🔅🌼 The art of God 🌼🔅
Colours are divine letters, and flowers are living divine words.
🔅🌼 Make spring fall in love with you 🌼🔅
Be spring in the deepest winter; be a shining light in life’s darkest moment.
A heart grown cold will never let the soul experience spring.
Spring carries the fragrance of eternal life.
Winter is spring’s continuation, not its destruction.
Spring breaks the silence.
Spring has come so that you will not fall behind in life and growth.
Spring is a manifestation of المحیی المیت.
🔅🌼 Spring: a showcase of life restored 🌼🔅
✨🔆البقرة : 164 إِنَّ في خَلْقِ السَّماواتِ وَ الْأَرْضِ وَ اخْتِلافِ اللَّيْلِ وَ النَّهارِ وَ الْفُلْكِ الَّتي تَجْري فِي الْبَحْرِ بِما يَنْفَعُ النَّاسَ وَ ما أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ مِنَ السَّماءِ مِنْ ماءٍ فَأَحْيا بِهِ الْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِها وَ بَثَّ فيها مِنْ كُلِّ دابَّةٍ وَ تَصْريفِ الرِّياحِ وَ السَّحابِ الْمُسَخَّرِ بَيْنَ السَّماءِ وَ الْأَرْضِ لَآياتٍ لِقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ
🔆In the creation of the heavens and the earth; in the succession of night and day; in the ships that sail the sea for the benefit of humankind; in the water God sends down from the sky, reviving the earth after its death and spreading across it every kind of creature; and in the changing courses of the winds and the clouds, held in service between heaven and earth—surely there are signs of God’s pure essence and oneness for people who reason and reflect.
🔸This magnificent design, this unparalleled order, this peerless law—all bear His incomparable seal.
🔅🌼 Spring calls for a beautiful gaze and an awakened heart 🌼🔅
✨🔆Al-Baqarah: 259 أَوْ كَالَّذي مَرَّ عَلى قَرْيَةٍ وَ هِيَ خاوِيَةٌ عَلى عُرُوشِها قالَ أَنَّى يُحْيي هذِهِ اللَّهُ بَعْدَ مَوْتِها فَأَماتَهُ اللَّهُ مِائَةَ عامٍ ثُمَّ بَعَثَهُ قالَ كَمْ لَبِثْتَ قالَ لَبِثْتُ يَوْماً أَوْ بَعْضَ يَوْمٍ قالَ بَلْ لَبِثْتَ مِائَةَ عامٍ فَانْظُرْ إِلى طَعامِكَ وَ شَرابِكَ لَمْ يَتَسَنَّهْ وَ انْظُرْ إِلى حِمارِكَ وَ لِنَجْعَلَكَ آيَةً لِلنَّاسِ وَ انْظُرْ إِلَى الْعِظامِ كَيْفَ نُنْشِزُها ثُمَّ نَكْسُوها لَحْماً فَلَمَّا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُ قالَ أَعْلَمُ أَنَّ اللَّهَ عَلى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَديرٌ
🔆Or consider the one who passed by a town in ruins, its walls collapsed upon its roofs, its inhabitants’ bodies and bones scattered all around. He said, “How will God bring these people back to life after their death?” So God caused him to die for a hundred years, then brought him back to life and asked, “How long have you remained?” He replied, “A day, or part of a day.” He said, “No, you have remained a hundred years! Look at your food and drink: they have not changed at all, despite all these years. (The God who has preserved such perishable things for so long has power over all things!) But look at your donkey, how it has fallen apart. We have made this a sign for people—and your being brought back to life after death is both to reassure you and to make you a sign for them concerning the Resurrection. Now look at the bones of your mount: see how We raise them and fit them together, then clothe them with flesh.” When the truth became clear to him, he said, “I know that God has power over all things.”
🔸God’s miracle is before our eyes at every moment! From sticky clay, from foul-smelling earth, He brings forth the finest of His creation!
He turns lifeless soil into a flourishing, joyful tree.
✨🔆Al-Saffat: 11 فَاسْتَفْتِهِمْ أَ هُمْ أَشَدُّ خَلْقاً أَمْ مَنْ خَلَقْنا إِنَّا خَلَقْناهُمْ مِنْ طينٍ لازِبٍ
🔆Ask them—these Meccan idolaters—whether they are stronger in creation or those We have created, such as the angels, the heavens and the earth. We created them from clinging clay; their creation is weak, yet their defiance is great.
❇️“Guidance for Beginning the New Year”
1. Recognize the worth of your existence: Know that you are one of a kind, and recognize your own worth.
2. Take stock and prepare for the Hereafter: Assess your life—how much has passed and how much remains. Reflect on what you have done and what you will do, and always be ready for the journey to the Hereafter and the grave.
3. Adorn yourself with devotion and grace: To win God’s favor, adorn yourself with good character and righteous deeds. At every prayer and in every mosque, beautify both your outward and inward self.
4. Evaluate yourself and keep a record: List ten good deeds, ten good thoughts and ten plans for the future, then assess your situation.
5. Practice the Resurrection: Sometimes imagine that you had died and been brought back to life. Consider what you would do with this second chance, and what your “if onlys” would be.
6. Find your place and set your priorities: Know that your place in the universe is empty without you. Strive to be first, and in the path of devotion and perfection, even to surpass the prophets and angels in your aims of serving God.
7. Become one with the universe: See yourself as part of the universe, with the universe within you and you within the universe—like a seed whose blossom is in the world, and in which the blossom of the world resides.
8. The breath of being and life: Do not think of breathing as merely physical; breathe spiritually and beautifully, so that the “morning of truth” may dawn within your soul.
9. Avoid assuming everything is the same: Know that no moment, day or year is repeated. The universe is renewed and made anew at every instant, and to imagine that it simply repeats itself is a sign of ignorance.
10. Be springlike: A believer should be like spring, bringing hearts to life and offering light and hope in the harshest conditions—the winters of life.
11. Make use of the wealth of existence: God has placed all of existence at your disposal. Consider what you have done with this immense treasure and what fruit has grown on the tree of your being.
12. Hope for the advent and transformation: Spring symbolizes the return of life and God’s promise that oppression will be vanquished and the saviour will appear (the Mahdi, peace be upon him). Let this vision give you hope for the future.
13. Moving beyond repetition into eternal renewal
In the universe, “repetition” is an illusion of the mind. God is the “best of creators,” renewing creation at every moment in a new mode. The new year is not a repetition of the last; it is an entirely new “manifestation” of divine mercy and power. You, too, must shed your old skin, like nature. Let go of stale, mechanical habits and enter the year with a “new mindset”—as though you were setting foot in this world for the very first time.
14. The diplomacy of existence and the role of “fruit” in the tree of being
Human beings are like fruit on the tree of existence, the Blessed Tree. If you are sweet and fruitful, the universe—things, thoughts and people—will serve your sweetness. But if you are worm-eaten or bitter, that same universe will become an instrument of torment and bitterness for you. In the new year, take responsibility for the “flavour” of your life. Changing the world around you depends on changing the quality of the fruit borne by the tree of your being.
15. The breath of dawn and spiritual oxygen
Until your soul breathes the “oxygen” of divine unity, love and knowledge, the sun of truth will not rise within you. The slumber of heedlessness prevents this breathing. Make the new year a year of “dawn-time awakening.” Try to oxygenate your soul through supplication and remembrance before becoming caught up in the world’s clamour, so that you do not suffocate spiritually during the day.
16. Falling at the summit: embracing qualitative change
The world moves forward and does not turn back. At times, what we call a “fall” or “failure” is in fact a fall at the summit: the shedding of old shells so that the inner core can grow. In the new year, do not fear change. If your mood shifts or your material circumstances are transformed, understand that these are signs of “movement.” Stagnation is deadly, even when it seems safe. Seek qualitative transformation, not the preservation of the status quo.
17. The art of reading the tableau of existence
“Can you read it?” The universe is like a vast, living painting to which a new colour is added at every moment. The new year is a year of “right reading.” Learn to understand the language of existence. In every event, seek a message of God’s beauty and perfection. Elevate your vision beyond material appearances to perceive inner mysteries.
18. The inner spring and the disgrace of the ignorant
Spring in the natural world is a symbol of spring in the believer’s heart. But the ignorant are those who see this beauty and order yet deny the Resurrection and the Creator. In the new year, count yourself among the “wise”—those who see a single petal and are led to its Creator. Keep your heart so alive and in bloom that even life’s harshest winters cannot overcome its warmth. You must be the “spring around you”.
19. Taking Responsibility for the Blessings Placed at Our Disposal
Everything in the heavens and the earth has been placed at humanity’s disposal. “What have we done with this immense capital?” The new year is a time for personal accountability. Take stock of how you have used your time, health, wealth and talents. Have you spent these resources on selfish pursuits, or devoted them to serving God and serving His creation?
20. Connecting with “Rabīʿ al-Anām” (the True Spring)
Ultimately, every earthly spring is but a reflection of the true spring: Imam Mahdi (AJ). Begin the new year with hope for his advent and for transformation across the world. Just as the dead earth is brought back to life, God’s promise that justice will be revived throughout the world is certain. Shape your yearly plans around this broad vision: let every step you take, however small, help prepare the earth for that great spring.
21. A Practical Exercise: A List of “If Onlys Fulfilled”
Instead of grieving over the past, try imagining that your “if onlys”—the things you wanted to do but never did—had come to pass. How would you feel, and what would you do? Begin today to cultivate that feeling and take that action.
🌼Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat) 110.141(903)🌼
1. The Reality of Time and the Eternity of the Moment
In the sixth supplication of al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya, Imam Sajjad (AS) introduces us to a profound truth: every moment is a new year, a fresh turning point in a person’s life. From this perspective, each moment is a complete lifetime, a whole act of devotion in which a person can journey from pre-eternity to eternity. This is because every moment is a particular manifestation of God’s will—a will that transcends the boundaries of time and space and is free of every limitation. In this arena of existence, every being – from a particle to a galaxy, and from a human being to the celestial realm – has its own “existential number,” a unique code from the Lord that expresses its singularity and irreplaceability. God’s creations reflect His incomparable acts of will, and every particle in this world is singular, ever-new and unique.
2. The Dawn of Existence and the Breath of Life
By the swift-moving stars, by the night as it retreats, and by the dawn as it breathes: these unveil the secret of life. If dawn did not breathe, there would be no rising or radiance in the world, and the breath of all creation would cease. That breathing dawn is a blessed presence that gives life, beauty and love to creation, scattering light and illumination. This dawn is the radiant light of God and His transcendent majesty, manifested in the form of “dawn.” This truth applies to the exalted being of the promised master, Hujjat ibn al-Hasan (AJ). He is the dawn of existence, breathing oxygen and enduring life into the whole world, and breathing devotion to God into the soul of existence. If our connection to that breath were severed for even a moment, death would overtake us.
3. The Great Capital of Existence and the Place of the Human Being
We must understand that God Most High has placed the whole universe at our service so that we may reach maturity and follow the path of servitude to Him. We are not merely the owners of our own bodies; the ownership of the entire universe has been entrusted to us, so that we may benefit from it. God, who is utterly truthful, has said: «He has subjected to you all that is in the heavens and all that is on the earth, and bestowed upon you His manifest and hidden blessings.» Above all these things is a God named “Allah,” Knower of the unseen and the seen, the Sovereign, the Holy. With this immense wealth as our means, the human being must soar beyond the world and cleave open the breast of existence, bringing forth a new life and a fresh manifestation—just as God is the One who cleaves, and wishes to cleave open the human being.
4. The Uniqueness of One’s Essence and Self-Knowledge
Every person on the tree of existence is a singular fruit. No essence or particle in this world has an equal, for God does not repeat His work: He has created every essence with the quality of being one of a kind. A person must know their own essence in order to find a sign of God. They bear countless images of the Most Beautiful Names, and even images of Muhammad and the Family of Muhammad (PBUH). But if a person casts themselves down to the lowest of the low, they have squandered the wealth of their existence. Recognising this uniqueness calls a person to serve God—a service that is, in truth, an act of kindness to oneself, by which one may attain divine grace and mercy. We must know where we have come from, where we are, and where we are going, so that we may prepare for the mission of our existence.
5. Outstripping Others in Devotion and Rehearsing the Resurrection
Since the human being is a unique will of God, they must do something unique and always strive to outstrip others in serving God – even the prophets and angels –, for this is God’s command, and falling short of it is a sin. We must prepare ourselves for God. We should ask: if one day we were asked to present the masterpiece of our lives, what would we have to show? Do we have ten good deeds, ten pure thoughts, and ten plans for the future? Or have worldly appetites swallowed up all our thoughts? We must rehearse the Resurrection, as though we had died and been brought back to life, so that we may grasp the worth of each moment and consider our “if onlys” now—not on a day when wailing and lamenting will avail us nothing.
6. Adorning Ourselves in the Mosque and Examining Our Being
God commands us to adorn ourselves in every mosque – or, more broadly, at every moment and with every heartbeat –. Our entire lives, every moment and every state , must become a mosque of God. One day the veil will be lifted from our true beauty. We must ask ourselves: if we were stone, would we be ruby and coral, or mere earth? If we were a plant, would we be a tulip, or a weed? We must examine our faces and see whether we have grown or declined over the past year. Do we sense changes in ourselves, in either quantity or quality? At every moment we must be readying and adorning ourselves for God, so that when the veil is lifted, we will appear beautiful and adorned.
7. The Springtime of the Spirit and Harmony with the Dawn of Existence
The true believer is the springtime of hearts. We must attune our own breath to the breath of the dawn of existence, so that we may feel true life. To be springtime within means to bring hearts to life through remembrance of God, not to destroy them through forgetfulness. The believer must learn the art of reading the world’s tableau and connecting with the “Spring of All Creation,” so as to remain in springtime forever. Spring is the blossoming of the human soul, the beginning of hearts turning green, and the passionate cry of those who love God. True spring is a sign of God’s generosity and love, and a herald of the highest Paradise. Even in the darkest moments and the coldest of winters, a person must be springtime and the world’s radiant light, for spring is God’s loving gaze upon the people of the earth, and the pure human being is the spirit of spring.
🌼Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat) 110.141(903)🌼
Expanding, developing, and deepening certain themes in “The Code of Creation”: “All are unique pearls.”
An explanation of some hidden dimensions of this idea
🔆 First Supplement: The Philosophy of the “Unique Pearl” and the Dimensions of Human Existence
The title “All Are Unique Pearls” may seem sorrowful at first glance, but in the culture of mysticism and the Quran, being an orphan in relation to God is the height of dignity.
✨Orphanhood is rooted in freedom
🔸A unique pearl is a jewel that has no owner but its Creator. If a person depends on anything other than God—money, status, or other people—they become its servant. But when they are God’s “orphan,” they are free of every bond and constraint that is not divine. This orphanhood means “needing nothing from creation” so as to “need the Creator”.
🔸You are a unique pearl, so no one has the power to buy you. Neither the world nor Satan can buy you. You have no price because you are “one of a kind.” This awareness protects you from the temptations of expediency and social flattery.
✨ The dignity of being one of a kind
🔸God is “کُلَّ یَوْمٍ هُوَ فِی شَأْنٍ.” This means that at every moment, God’s will is manifesting in a new form. Since the locus of God’s will is unique, its manifestation in you, too, will be unique.
🔸No two people throughout history have ever had the same “servitude.” Although your prayer may look outwardly the same as the Prophet’s (PBUH), its inner reality and “code of being” are different. God is not looking for “copies”; He is looking for “new creators of knowledge”.
🔆 “The Breath of Dawn” and the mechanics of celestial life
“وَ الصُّبْحِ إِذا تَنَفَّسَ.” This breath is not merely the rising of the sun; it is the “infusion of life” into the body of the world.
✨Material oxygen and celestial oxygen
🔸Human beings need oxygen for bodily life. But the human soul needs nourishment of a far higher order: “the light of the dawn of being”.
🔸To elaborate: when dawn breaks, it is not merely physical light that appears; “waves of mercy” and “showers of blessings” descend. If a person is “awake of heart” at that hour, they absorb these waves, like a battery being charged. But if they are asleep in heedlessness, this wealth goes to waste.
🔸A practical exercise: Try to stay awake after daybreak and spend a few moments in silence and reflection, speaking with God alone. These moments are “the breath of the spirit”.
✨Dawn as a symbol of the uprising of the Qa’im (AJ)
🔸As the narrations relate, “the breath of dawn” points to the dawning of the light of truth—the Imam Mahdi (AJ). The world has sunk into the “long night of oppression and heedlessness.” The break of dawn shatters this darkness.
🔸To go deeper: to be truly awaiting the Imam means becoming a “dawn” yourself. In the heart of society’s darkness, you must shine so brightly that others can draw warmth from you. You must feel “the breath of dawn” within yourself in order to understand the coming of the Savior.
🔆“Nothing repeats” and the Quranic philosophy of time
✨Every moment is a new creation
🔸The Quran says: “كُلَّ يَوْمٍ هُوَ فِي شَأْنٍ.” This means that the world is not “static.” It is being “renewed” at every moment. The apparent stability of stone and tree is the result of God’s creation being renewed at great speed—like a fan blade whose rotation makes it appear whole.
🔸Elaboration: The you of the previous moment is not the same as the you of this moment. You are in a state of “becoming,” not “being.” So grieving over the past and worrying about the future make no sense: that “you” no longer exists, or has yet to be created.
✨The Colors and Numbers of Existence
🔸No two colors in nature are ever exactly alike. No two leaves are precisely the same. This “infinite variety” is a sign of the “boundless will of the Creator”.
🔸An ethical conclusion: If God does not favor repetition in nature, He does not favor it in your worship either. Repeating mechanical acts—such as praying without presence of heart—runs counter to the law of creation. Your worship should be “creative”.
🔆 “A Masterpiece of Worship” and Islamic Aesthetics
“What is your masterpiece of worship?” This question challenges us.
✨Religion Is Beauty
🔸The verse “يا بَني آدَمَ خُذُوا زينَتَكُمْ عِنْدَ كُلِّ مَسْجِدٍ” shows that God loves beauty. But this beauty is not merely outward.
🔸Further reflection: The finest adornment is “the adornment of character” and “the adornment of knowledge.” When you go among people with kindness, humility, and knowledge, you have, in effect, adorned the “mosque of your being.” Your masterpiece of worship is when others remember God upon seeing you.
✨The Art of Living
🔸A person of faith is an artist. With the pen of their will, they write the story of their life.
🔸Practice: Write a list of ten good things you have done, not as completed tasks, but as “works of art.” A smile offered to a sorrowful face, for instance, is a masterpiece. A prayer performed at its proper time amid the busyness of work is a masterpiece. This perspective gives life meaning.
🔆 “The World Is My Image, and I Am the Image of the World”
This section explores the relationship between human beings and the world.
✨The Human Being, the Greater World
🔸Deepening the reflection: If order and beauty prevail in the universe, then order and beauty should prevail within you as well. If the world is moving and evolving, you too should be growing. Human stagnation runs counter to the law of existence.
✨Attraction and Repulsion
🔸The law of “the blossom of the world within me, and me within the world” is the law of vibration.
🔸Elaboration: If you become “spring,” spring will come toward you from the world. If autumn settles in your heart, the world will turn dark for you. Changing the outer world depends on changing the inner world. This is the meaning of the hadith “مَنْ عَرَفَ نَفْسَهُ فَقَدْ عَرَفَ رَبَّهُ”.
🔆 In conclusion: A Call to “Be First”
🔸“You are first, so be first.” This is not a call to compete with others, but to compete with the “you of yesterday”.
🔸Final message: In the new year, and at every moment of your life, strive to become a “better” and “newer” version of yourself. Avoid mechanical repetition; renew your soul with the “dawn-breath of knowing.” You are a “precious pearl”—let your radiance light up the world.
“وَ سَيَعْلَمُ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا أَيَّ مُنْقَلَبٍ يَنْقَلِبُونَ”
(And those who did wrong—to themselves and others—will soon know to what end they will return.)
✅Ten Statements and Choices
💫1. “You are one of a kind. Know your worth; you are God’s peerless pearl.”
Without accepting this “uniqueness” and “intrinsic worth,” no effort toward worship or self-cultivation can have meaning. This is the starting point on the path to perfection.
💫2. “A God who is ‘كُلَّ يَوْمٍ هُوَ في شَأْن’ does nothing repetitively; each person is a unique aspect of God’s attributes!”
This statement sets out the text’s philosophy of being. It frees us from the monotony of daily life and repetition, and helps us understand why we are “one of a kind”: God’s will is never repetitive, and its manifestation in each person is unique.
💫3. «رحم الله امرءً أعدّ لنفسه واستعدّ لرمسه، و علم من أين؟ وفي أين؟ وإلى أين؟»
This noble hadith offers a practical roadmap for human life. Its three questions—“From where? Where are you? And where are you going?”—are the clearest measure of a person’s devotion and awareness at every moment of life.
💫4. “If existence draws no breath, creation will lose its breath.”
This statement expresses the idea of the “dawn-breath” beautifully. It makes it a universal principle, true not only of the natural dawn but also of a person’s spiritual and celestial life. Life without a “new breath” is death.
💫5. “There is no repetition! Every day, He is engaged in a new affair.”
This statement transforms our perception of time. Humanity’s great heedlessness lies in imagining that time repeats itself. It urges us to “gather the spoils of each moment” and recognise the worth of every instant.
💫6. “You can create not just a masterpiece, but a master-world: sow the world within yourself and reap worlds…”
This statement breaks through the boundaries of human existence. It shows the believer that the summit of perfection is to have the world unfold within, and to become a mirror for all divine beauty.
💫7. “God’s uniquely created servant ought to have uniquely wondrous ways of worshipping Him!”
This statement sets the standard for worship. Imitative, blind worship is rejected; the worship of a person who is one of a kind must be creative and original.
💫8. “Imagine you had died and come back to life! What would you do now?! Then resolve firmly to make it happen.”
This sentence is a powerful exercise in resurrection. Through a simple image, it frees a person from material constraints and brings them face to face with their true goals and deepest aspirations.
💫9. “Fear that your spring has died, that your soul is wasting away…”
This sentence is the text’s warning and alarm bell. Amid all its hopeful words, it alerts us to the danger of “sealed hearts” and spiritual stagnation, and inspires us to keep striving.
💫10. “A believer is like spring; a day will come when the believer will be revealed as spring.”
This sentence offers the text’s ultimate vision and beautiful promise. It calls us to hope and shows that the fruit of all this striving and self-cultivation is to become springtime in a world of darkness.
🌼Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat) 110.141(903)🌼
[1] Al-Wafi, vol. 1, p. 116 Fayz Kashani, Muhammad Muhsin ibn Shah Murtada, Imam Amir al-Mu’minin Ali (peace be upon him) Library, Isfahan, first edition, 1406 AH.
[2] Translation of the Commentary on Majmaʿ al-Bayan vol. 26 336 Tabarsi, Fadl ibn Hasan, Translation of the Commentary on Majmaʿ al-Bayan, 27 volumes, Farahani, Iran, Tehran, first edition.
[3] Al-Burhan fi Tafsir al-Qur’an vol. 5 595 Bahrani, Hashim ibn Sulayman, Mu’assasat al-Biʿtha, Department of Islamic Studies, Iran, Qom, first edition, 1415 AH.
[4] Al-Burhan fi Tafsir al-Qur’an vol. 5 595 Bahrani, Hashim ibn Sulayman, Mu’assasat al-Biʿtha, Department of Islamic Studies, Iran, Qom, first edition, 1415 AH.
[5] Al-Burhan fi Tafsir al-Qur’an vol. 5 595 Bahrani, Hashim ibn Sulayman, Mu’assasat al-Biʿtha, Department of Islamic Studies, Iran, Qom, first edition, 1415 AH.
[6] Al-Balad al-Amin wa al-Dirʿ al-Hasin, text, p. 286 Kafʿami, Ibrahim ibn Ali Amili, Al-Aʿlami Publications, Beirut, first edition, 1418 AH.
[7] Bihar al-Anwar (Beirut edition), vol. 99, p. 101 Majlisi, Muhammad Baqir ibn Muhammad Taqi, Dar Ihya al-Turath al-Arabi, Beirut, second edition, 1403 AH.
