Written transcript of the lecture
The Meshkat-e Noor teachings series🌼🔆🌼The Fasting Person on the Day of Resurrection🌼🔆🌼
🌹🔅☘️ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحيمِ ☘️🔅🌹
🔅🌹 “Fasting: The Craft of Knowledge and Wisdom” “Five Truths Within Five” “Fasting: Severance for the Sake of Union” “An Opportunity for Transcendent Love” “The Night of the 27th of Ramadan” and … An Abstract with an Addendum 1404.01.08 Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat) 110.141(903) 🌹🔅
🔅🌼The Blessed Month of Ramadan: A Month for the Transcendent Governance of Body and Soul 🌼🔅
☘️🔆🌱اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِهِ، وَ أَلْهِمْنَا مَعْرِفَةَ فَضْلِهِ وَ إِجْلَالَ حُرْمَتِهِ، وَ التَّحَفُّظَ مِمَّا حَظَرْتَ فِيهِ، وَ أَعِنَّا عَلَى صِيَامِهِ بِكَفِّ الْجَوَارِحِ عَنْ مَعَاصِيكَ، وَ اسْتِعْمَالِهَا فِيهِ بِمَا يُرْضِيكَ حَتَّى لَا نُصْغِيَ بِأَسْمَاعِنَا إِلَى لَغْوٍ، وَ لَا نُسْرِعَ بِأَبْصَارِنَا إِلَى لَهْوٍ
☘️🔆🌱 وَ حَتَّى لَا نَبْسُطَ أَيْدِيَنَا إِلَى مَحْظُورٍ، وَ لَا نَخْطُوَ بِأَقْدَامِنَا إِلَى مَحْجُورٍ، وَ حَتَّى لَا تَعِيَ بُطُونُنَا إِلَّا مَا أَحْلَلْتَ، وَ لَا تَنْطِقَ أَلْسِنَتُنَا إِلَّا بِمَا مَثَّلْتَ، وَ لَا نَتَكَلَّفَ إِلَّا مَا يُدْنِي مِنْ ثَوَابِكَ، وَ لَا نَتَعَاطَى إِلَّا الَّذِي يَقِي مِنْ عِقَابِكَ، ثُمَّ خَلِّصْ ذَلِكَ كُلَّهُ مِنْ رِئَاءِ الْمُرَاءِينَ، وَ سُمْعَةِ الْمُسْمِعِينَ، لَا نُشْرِكُ فِيهِ أَحَداً دُونَكَ، وَ لَا نَبْتَغِي فِيهِ مُرَاداً سِوَاكَ.[1]
☘️🔆 O God, bless Muhammad and his Household, and inspire us to recognize the superior merit of this blessed month over the other months, to honor its sanctity and its due (by rising to observe it as we are bound to do), and to refrain from what You have forbidden and made unlawful. Help us to fast during it by restraining our limbs from sin and employing them in ways that please You, so that we do not listen with our ears to idle talk or turn our eyes toward diversion—toward anything that distracts us from our purpose
☘️🔆 and so that we do not stretch out our hands to seek or take what is unlawful, nor walk with our feet toward what You have forbidden. Let our stomachs hold and gather nothing but what You have permitted and made lawful, and let our tongues speak only what You have taught and made clear—the Qur’an and the words of the Noble Prophet and the Infallible Imams, peace be upon them—so that we may draw near to Your reward. Let us do nothing that does not protect us from Your punishment. Then purify all these deeds of ostentation and self-display, and of seeking to be heard and praised by others, so that we associate no one with You in them and seek no aim or desire in them but You[2]
🔅🌼Fasting: The Craft of Wisdom🌼🔅
🌷🔆 يَا أَحْمَدُ إِنَ الْعِبَادَةَ عَشَرَةُ أَجْزَاءٍ تِسْعَةٌ مِنْهَا طَلَبُ الْحَلَالِ فَإِنْ أُطِيبَ مَطْعَمُكَ وَ مَشْرَبُكَ فَأَنْتَ فِي حِفْظِي وَ كَنَفِي قَالَ يَا رَبِّ مَا أَوَّلُ الْعِبَادَةِ قَالَ أَوَّلُ الْعِبَادَةِ الصَّمْتُ وَ الصَّوْمُ قَالَ يَا رَبِّ وَ مَا مِيرَاثُ الصَّوْمِ قَالَ الصَّوْمُ يُورِثُ الحِكْمَةَ وَ الحِكْمَةُ تُورِثُ الْمَعْرِفَةَ وَ الْمَعْرِفَةُ تُورِثُ الْيَقِينَ فَإِذَا اسْتَيْقَنَ الْعَبْدُ لَا يُبَالِي كَيْفَ أَصْبَحَ بِعُسْرٍ أَمْ بِيُسْرٍ وَ إِذَا كَانَ الْعَبْدُ فِي حَالَةِ الْمَوْتِ يَقُومُ عَلَى رَأْسِهِ مَلَائِكَةٌ بِيَدِ كُلِّ مَلَكٍ كَأْسٌ مِنْ مَاءِ الْكَوْثَرِ وَ كَأْسٌ مِنَ الْخَمْرِ يَسْقُونَ رُوحَهُ حَتَّى تَذْهَبَ سَكْرَتُهُ وَ مَرَارَتُهُ وَ يُبَشِّرُونَهُ بِالْبِشَارَةِ الْعُظْمَى وَ يَقُولُونَ لَهُ طِبْتَ وَ طَابَ مَثْوَاكَ إِنَّكَ تَقْدَمُ عَلَى الْعَزِيزِ الْكَرِيمِ الْحَبِيبِ الْقَرِيبِ فَتَطِيرُ الرُّوحُ مِنْ أَيْدِي الْمَلَائِكَةِ فَتَصْعَدُ إِلَى اللَّهِ تَعَالَى فِي أَسْرَعَ مِنْ طَرْفَةِ عَيْنٍ ٍ وَ لَا يَبْقَى حِجَابٌ وَ لَا سِتْرٌ بَيْنَهَا وَ بَيْنَ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى وَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ إِلَيْهَا مُشْتَاقٌ وَ يَجْلِسُ عَلَى عَيْنٍ عِنْدَ الْعَرْشِ ثُمَّ يُقَالُ لَهَا كَيْفَ تَرَكْتِ الدُّنْيَا فَيَقُولُ إِلَهِي وَ عِزَّتِكَ وَ جَلَالِكَ لَا عِلْمَ لِي بِالدُّنْيَا أَنَا مُنْذُ خَلَقْتَنِي خَائِفٌ مِنْكَ فَيَقُولُ اللَّهُ صَدَقْتَ عَبْدِي كُنْتَ بِجَسَدِكَ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَ رُوحُكَ مَعِي فَأَنْتَ بِعَيْنِي سِرُّكَ وَ عَلَانِيَتُكَ سَلْ أُعْطِكَ وَ تَمَنَّ عَلَيَّ فَأُكْرِمَكَ هَذِهِ جَنَّتِي مُبَاحٌ So, praise be to God فَتَبَحْبَحْ فِيهَا وَ هَذَا جِوَارِي فَاسْكُنْهُ فَيَقُولُ الرُّوحُ إِلَهِي عَرَّفْتَنِي نَفْسَكَ فَاسْتَغْنَيْتُ بِهَا عَنْ جَمِيعِ خَلْقِكَ وَ عِزَّتِكَ وَ جَلَالِكَ لَوْ كَانَ رِضَاكَ فِي أَنْ أُقَطَّعَ إِرْباً إِرْباً وَ أُقْتَلَ سَبْعِينَ قَتْلَةً بِأَشَدِّ مَا يُقْتَلُ بِهِ النَّاسُ لَكَانَ رِضَاكَ أَحَبَّ إِلَهِي كَيْفَ أُعْجَبُ بِنَفْسِي وَ أَنَا ذَلِيلٌ إِنْ لَمْ تُكْرِمْنِي وَ أَنَا مَغْلُوبٌ إِنْ لَمْ تَنْصُرْنِي وَ أَنَا ضَعِيفٌ إِنْ لَمْ تُقَوِّنِي وَ أَنَا مَيِّتٌ إِنْ لَمْ تُحْيِنِي بِذِكْرِكَ وَ لَوْ لَا سَتْرُكَ لَافْتَضَحْتُ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ عَصَيْتُكَ إِلَهِي كَيْفَ لَا أَطْلُبُ رِضَاكَ وَ قَدْ أَكْمَلْتَ عَقْلِي حَتَّى عَرَفْتُكَ وَ عَرَفْتُ الْحَقَّ مِنَ الْبَاطِلِ وَ الْأَمْرَ مِنَ النَّهْيِ وَ الْعِلْمَ مِنَ الْجَهْلِ وَ النُّورَ مِنَ الظُّلْمَةِ فَقَالَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ وَ عِزَّتِي وَ جَلَالِي لَا أَحْجُبُ بَيْنِي وَ بَيْنَكَ فِي وَقْتٍ مِنَ الْأَوْقَاتِ كَذَلِكَ أَفْعَلُ بِأَحِبَّائِي [3]
🌷🔆 “O Ahmad, worship has ten parts, nine of which consist in seeking lawful sustenance. If you obtain your food and drink through lawful means, you will be under My protection and care.”
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) asked, “O God, what is the foremost and greatest act of worship?” He replied, “The beginning of worship is fasting and silence.”
He asked, “My Lord, what is the effect of fasting?” He replied, “Fasting gives rise to wisdom; wisdom leads to knowledge, and knowledge leads to certainty. Once a servant attains certainty, it makes no difference to them whether life is hard or easy.”
“O Ahmad, worship has ten parts, nine of which consist in seeking lawful sustenance. If your food and drink are lawful, you are in My care and under My protection.”
He asked, “My Lord, what is the first act of worship?” He replied, “The beginning of worship is silence and fasting.” He asked, “What is the reward of fasting?” He replied, “Wisdom. The reward of wisdom is knowledge, and the fruit of knowledge is certainty. Once a servant attains certainty, they are unconcerned whether they live well or poorly. When a servant is at the point of death, angels stand above their head. Each angel holds a cup of water from Kawthar and a cup of pure drink, and they let the servant taste them so that the bitterness of death may leave them. They bring them glad tidings and say, ‘How blessed you are! What a fine abode awaits you. You are indeed coming before the Mighty, Generous Lord.’”
Then the soul leaves the angels’ hands and rises to God Almighty in the blink of an eye. No veil or barrier remains between it and God Almighty, and God, Glorious and Exalted, longs for it too. It sits beside a spring beneath the Throne. Then it is asked, “How did you leave the world?” It replies, “By Your might and majesty, O God, I know nothing of the world. From the day You created me, I have been in awe and fear of You.”
God says, “You speak the truth, My servant. Your body was in the world, but your soul was with Me. You were before My gaze, in secret and in the open. Ask Me for whatever you wish, and I will grant it to you. This is My Paradise, made lawful for you; take your place beside My mercy.”
Then the spirit will say: “My Lord, You made Yourself known to me, and through knowing You I have no need of Your creation. By Your might and majesty, if it pleases You that I be torn to pieces and killed seventy times, each time in the most painful way anyone has ever been killed, Your pleasure would still be dearer to me.”
“My Lord, how could I be proud of myself when, unless You honour me, I am low and disgraced; unless You help me, I am defeated and powerless; unless You give me strength, I am weak; and unless You bring me to life through remembrance of You, I am dead? Had You not concealed my faults, I would surely have been exposed the very first time I disobeyed You and sinned against You. My Lord, how could I not seek Your pleasure, when You gave me reason so that I might know You, and distinguish truth from falsehood, command from prohibition, knowledge from ignorance, and light from darkness?” Then God, mighty and glorious, will say: “By My might and majesty, I will never place a veil or barrier between Myself and you.”
🔅🌼 Choose the right marketplace for your gain 🌼🔅
🌷🔆رُوِيَ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ص أَنَّهُ قَالَ قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى إِنِّي وَضَعْتُ خَمْسَةَ أَشْيَاءَ فِي خَمْسَةٍ وَ النَّاسُ يَطْلُبُونَ فِي خَمْسَةٍ أُخْرَى فَمَتَى يَجِدُونَ إِنِّي وَضَعْتُ الْعِزَّ فِي طَاعَتِي وَ النَّاسُ يَطْلُبُونَ فِي أَبْوَابِ السَّلَاطِينِ فَمَتَى يَجِدُونَ وَ وَضَعْتُ الْعِلْمَ وَ الْحِكْمَةَ فِي الْجُوعِ وَ النَّاسُ يَطْلُبُونَ فِي الشِّبَعِ فَمَتَى يَجِدُونَ وَ وَضَعْتُ الرَّاحَةَ فِي الْجَنَّةِ وَ النَّاسُ يَطْلُبُونَ فِي الدُّنْيَا فَمَتَى يَجِدُونَ وَ إِنِّي وَضَعْتُ الْغِنَى فِي الْقَنَاعَةِ وَ النَّاسُ يَطْلُبُونَ فِي الْمَالِ فَمَتَى يَجِدُونَ وَ وَضَعْتُ رِضَائِي فِي مُخَالَفَةِ الْهَوَى وَ النَّاسُ يَطْلُبُونَ فِي مُخَالَفَتِي فَمَتَى يَجِدُونَ[4]
🔆Among the things God revealed to David was this: God says, “O David, I have placed five things in five things, yet people seek to obtain them by other means—and surely they will not find them. I placed knowledge in hunger and striving, but some seek it through fullness and ease, and cannot find it. I placed honour and nobility in obedience to Me, but they seek to gain them by serving kings, and do not succeed. I placed contentment in freedom from want, but they seek freedom from want in wealth, and will not attain it.”
“I placed My pleasure in people’s displeasure with their own lower selves, yet they seek pleasure by indulging their desires, and do not find it. And I placed rest for people in Paradise, but they want to be at ease in this world—and surely that will not be.”
🌹What is meant here is true knowledge, not worldly information. Knowledge is a light that illuminates and brings flourishing to a person’s life in this world and the next.
🔅🌼 Knowledge and wisdom lie in hunger and striving 🌼🔅
🌷🔆فَفِيمَا أَوْحَى اللَّهُ تَعَالَى إِلَى دَاوُدَ يَا دَاوُدُ إِنِّي وَضَعْتُ خَمْسَةً فِي خَمْسَةٍ- وَ النَّاسُ يَطْلُبُونَهَا فِي خَمْسَةٍ غَيْرِهَا فَلَا يَجِدُونَهَا وَضَعْتُ الْعِلْمَ فِي الْجُوعِ وَ الْجَهْدِ وَ هُمْ يَطْلُبُونَهُ فِي الشِّبَعِ وَ الرَّاحَةِ فَلَا يَجِدُونَهُ وَ وَضَعْتُ الْعِزَّ فِي طَاعَتِي- وَ هُمْ يَطْلُبُونَهُ فِي خِدْمَةِ السُّلْطَانِ فَلَا يَجِدُونَهُ وَ وَضَعْتُ الْغِنَى فِي الْقَنَاعَةِ وَ هُمْ يَطْلُبُونَهُ فِي كَثْرَةِ الْمَالِ فَلَا يَجِدُونَهُ وَ وَضَعْتُ رِضَائِي فِي سَخَطِ النَّفْسِ وَ هُمْ يَطْلُبُونَهُ فِي رِضَى النَّفْسِ فَلَا يَجِدُونَهُ وَ وَضَعْتُ الرَّاحَةَ فِي الْجَنَّةِ وَ هُمْ يَطْلُبُونَهَا فِي الدُّنْيَا فَلَا يَجِدُونَهَا[5]
🔆“O David, I placed five things in five things, but people seek them in five other things and do not find them.”
“I placed knowledge in hunger, effort and striving, but people seek it in fullness and ease, and do not find it.”
“I placed honour in obedience to Me, but people seek it by serving rulers, and do not find it.”
“I placed freedom from want in contentment, but people seek it in abundant wealth, and do not find it.”
“I placed My pleasure in the lower self’s displeasure, but people seek it in pleasing the lower self, and do not find it.”
I have placed rest and comfort in Paradise, but people seek them in this world and do not find them.
🔅🌼This world is not a place of comfort; it is a place of striving.🌼🔅
🌷🔆قَالَ النَّبِيُّ ص مَنْ طَلَبَ مَا لَمْ يُخْلَقْ أَتْعَبَ نَفْسَهُ وَ لَمْ يُرْزَقْ قِيلَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَ مَا الَّذِي لَمْ يُخْلَقْ قَالَ الرَّاحَةُ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَ قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى مَنْ أَحَبَّنِي فَأَرْزُقُهُ الْكَفَافَ وَ مَنْ أَبْغَضَنِي فَأُكْثِرُ مَالَهُ وَ وُلْدَهُ[6]
🔆The Prophet of Islam, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Whoever seeks something that was never created will wear himself out and never attain it.” They asked, “O Messenger of God, what is it that was never created?” He replied, “Comfort in this world.” God Most High said: “Whoever loves Me, I provide for them enough to meet their needs; and whoever is at odds with Me, I increase their wealth and children.”
🔅🌼A warm welcome to trials and tribulations!🌼🔅
🌹Anyone who becomes too immersed in pleasure and ease should question themselves—as though they have been eliminated from the race.
🌹If you are tested often, and your trials are not meant as punishment, then take heart. Even trials that are punitive are blessed, for they lessen the burden and requital of sin. Trials that are not punitive are blessed, too, for you are about to earn a special distinction: you have entered the final round of the contest, a unique test. A choice and a distinction lie ahead—do not let yourself lose.
🔅🌼Ramadan is the month that softens the heart.🌼🔅
🔅🌼A tender heart is a mind open to understanding.🌼🔅
🌹The blessed month of Ramadan is a time for softening the heart. A tender heart is one that strives to set the heart in motion.
🌹Perhaps a person must sit as a pupil at the school of stone, so that freshness, knowledge, wisdom and awe of God may well up from within.
🌹Everyone, then, is taking part in a race: human beings race alongside electrons and quarks.
🌹Human beings compete with earth and the heavens; alongside inanimate things, plants and all other creatures, they take part in a greater race.
🌻🔆Al-Baqarah: 74 ثُمَّ قَسَتْ قُلُوبُكُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ ذلِكَ فَهِيَ كَالْحِجارَةِ أَوْ أَشَدُّ قَسْوَةً وَ إِنَّ مِنَ الْحِجارَةِ لَما يَتَفَجَّرُ مِنْهُ الْأَنْهارُ وَ إِنَّ مِنْها لَما يَشَّقَّقُ فَيَخْرُجُ مِنْهُ الْماءُ وَ إِنَّ مِنْها لَما يَهْبِطُ مِنْ خَشْيَةِ اللَّهِ وَ مَا اللَّهُ بِغافِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ
🔆Then your hearts hardened after that, becoming like stones, or even harder. For there are stones from which rivers burst forth; others split open and water flows from them; and others fall down in awe of God. God is not unaware of what you do.
🔅🌼The blessed month is a golden opportunity to nurture the heart.🌼🔅
🌹The human digestive system is a vast enterprise that must be restored to its finest order, so that its full potential may become manifest.
🌹To cultivate the heart is to cultivate love and devotion to God.
🌹Let us nurture the stomach of the soul; let us cultivate the heart.
🌹The human gut should produce honey—heavenly honey.
🌹A person should not be a maker of rubbish, much less a maker of filth. Fountains of wholesome water should gush forth from within.
🌹Reflect on two remarkable keys: faith and reason. These two are the foundation of purity, serenity, freshness, knowledge and wisdom.
🌹All our limbs and faculties should be faithful and rational; even our food and drink should be faithful and rational—and so should our education.
🌻🔆Yunus: 100 وَ ما كانَ لِنَفْسٍ أَنْ تُؤْمِنَ إِلاَّ بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ وَ يَجْعَلُ الرِّجْسَ عَلَى الَّذينَ لا يَعْقِلُونَ
🔆(Yet) no one can believe except by God’s permission; and He places defilement upon those who do not reason.
🌻🔆Al-Ahzab: 33 … إِنَّما يُريدُ اللَّهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ وَ يُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهيراً
🔆“Allah only desires to remove all impurity and sin from you, People of the Household, and to purify you completely.”
🌻🔆Al-An’am: 125 فَمَنْ يُرِدِ اللَّهُ أَنْ يَهْدِيَهُ يَشْرَحْ صَدْرَهُ لِلْإِسْلامِ وَ مَنْ يُرِدْ أَنْ يُضِلَّهُ يَجْعَلْ صَدْرَهُ ضَيِّقاً حَرَجاً كَأَنَّما يَصَّعَّدُ فِي السَّماءِ كَذلِكَ يَجْعَلُ اللَّهُ الرِّجْسَ عَلَى الَّذينَ لا يُؤْمِنُونَ
🔆Whomever God wills to guide, He opens their breast to Islam; and whomever He wills to lead astray because of their wrongful deeds, He makes their breast so constricted that it is as though they were climbing up to the sky. Thus does God lay impurity upon those who do not believe!
🌻🔆Al-Waqi’ah: 79 لا يَمَسُّهُ إِلاَّ الْمُطَهَّرُونَ
🔆None but the pure may touch it!
🌹Thought, eating, drinking, enjoyment, learning, aspiration, and every other pursuit must be grounded in faith and reason, so that they yield nothing but milk, honey, sweetness, light, life, and refreshment.
🌹Just as we extract gold from the earth, so too must we draw the gold from water and food.
🌹At the very least, before leaving this world, we must purify ourselves of every outward and inward impurity, and carry our pristine, pure selves to the abode of the Hereafter.
🔅🌼The blessed month of Ramadan is the month of breaking away from all but God🌼🔅
🌷🔆 «كَمَالُ الْإِخْلَاصِ لَهُ نَفْيُ الصِّفَاتِ عَنْه» is the secret of true fasting.
🌹“Perfect severance toward God” leads back to “perfect sincerity” and “negating attributes from the Essence of God.”
🌹Negating attributes is, in truth, traversing the path and reaching its end. The divine attributes are paths to God: they are meant to be passed through to reach Him, not to be lingered in.
🌹Hunger brought to its perfection is the attainment of “perfect severance.”
🌹A hungry heart works miracles—a heart emptied of every love that is not divine.
🌹May the heart not be destroyed by poisoned knowledge.
🔅🌼The blessed month of Ramadan is a month of opportunity for transcendent love🌼🔅
🌹At love’s banquet, one must become a garden of love.
🔅🌼In the blessed month of Ramadan, Abdullah is God’s honored servant🌼🔅
🌹Everyone is welcome at the table of the divine banquet. In His blessed feast, God Most High honors everyone. The crown of divine dignity rests upon every believer’s head at this special banquet of God.
🌷🔆 قَالَ ص: … يَا عَلِيُّ أَكْرِمِ الْجَارَ وَ لَوْ كَانَ كَافِراً وَ أَكْرِمِ الضَّيْفَ وَ لَوْ كَانَ كَافِراً وَ أَطِعِ الْوَالِدَيْنِ وَ لَوْ كَانَا كَافِرَيْنِ وَ لَا تَرُدَّ السَّائِلَ وَ إِنْ كَانَ كَافِرا[7]
🔆O Ali, honor your neighbor, even if he is an unbeliever; honor your guest, even if he is an unbeliever; obey your father and mother, even if they are unbelievers; and do not turn away a beggar, even if he is an unbeliever.
🌼Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat) 110.141(903)🌼
🔅🌼A student’s perspective on “The Month of Knowledge and Wisdom”🌼🔅
🌻🔆The Month of Knowledge and Wisdom🔆🌻
🌼🔆🌼The Fasting Person on the Day of Resurrection🌼🔆🌼
🔹Weekly sessions on the commentary and interpretation of Sahifa Sajjadiya
📅 Date: 1404/01/07 – 26 Ramadan 1446
✨ Session: Meshkat-e Noor
🎤 Speaker: Master Ali Saei
📝 Some of the topics discussed in the session:
### Farewell to the Month of God 🌙
O God, how swiftly the month of fasting, the month of Your fast, the month of Ramadan, slips away from us. Its coming has turned to departure.
O God, Your month is passing, this blessed month—but You remain.
O God, everything in this world comes to an end, but You alone are everlasting.
How beautiful Your month is! In all its beauty, it came to us with mercy, forgiveness, and blessing,
and now, having granted us forgiveness for our sins, it departs from among us.
O God, wretched—truly wretched—is the one who lives through this blessed season, this precious month of Yours,
yet whose sins are not forgiven.
### Taking Stock of the Heart, Weighing the Soul 📜
O God, You planted Your blessings, Your forgiveness, Your mercy in our hearts,
but what have we gathered from what You sowed?
What have we reaped, and what will we reap?
O God, You prepared Your feast within our souls,
but what are we reaping, and what will we reap?
Will we turn Your beautiful flowers into pure honey?
But if we remain as we were, we will be just as wretched as before, unworthy of Your grace.
If, instead, we turn away and continue to fall, we will be accursed by You.
If only we were envied for our blessed state, and always drawing nearer to You…
But now it is time for answers. O blessed month, tell me:
What did they do with you? How did they make use of you?
Did they fulfil your due, or did they slay you and bring about your death?
Did they drive you away and leave you a wanderer?
What did they do to you, these servants of Ours?
Now is the time for the report.
From God’s servants to God…
The All-Knowing, the All-Wise, who knows all, asks again so that He may judge His servant with justice and call him to account.
As its blessed witness, the blessed month came so that our hearts might soften,
that this hardness of heart might break, grow tender, and be humbled.
The blessed month came so that our souls might once more be set on the path of servitude to God,
and our innate nature might unfold.
Did we attain this station?
Or did our hearts grow harder than before?
### Apprentices in the School of Stone ⛰
Did our hearts grow tender?
Did we surpass the stone?
Or did we become its equal?
Or harder than it?
The stone that had outstripped us had softened; water gushed from its heart, and streams flowed from it.
That stone, humbled by awe of God, changing from one state to another…
Did we surpass those stones, or are they still ahead of us, with us lagging behind them?
Must I once again sit in the school of stone and learn the discipline of servitude to You?
Must we learn the etiquette of servitude from stone?
You set in motion a vast contest, as great as existence itself, encompassing every particle and the whole of this world.
We are in a contest of servitude with the earth and the heavens.
Yes, we are in a great contest with inanimate things, with plants, with every single created being.
How many birds have surpassed us, how many fish have outstripped us…
Yes, alongside particles, electrons and quarks, we are competing to serve God.
Which of us has come out ahead?
God knows.
—
### Transformation or repetition? 🌌
The sun, the moon and the stars, tireless in their courses, have not made even the slightest mistake…
But alas for us.
The blessed month of Ramadan came so that we might be transformed, changed;
so that every part of our being might be transformed,
each and every one of our limbs,
so that every one of them might reach its fullest growth and its best order—and go beyond even that.
Have we attained this station?
In that blessed month, the time had come to expand our service to God,
to open our hearts and let love of serving God well up within us.
Have we attained this station?
Have our very foundations been transformed?
Or are those same old foundations still leading us down the same wrong path?
Are we once again producing refuse?
Are we making more rubbish?
Are we producing filth and impurity?
Are defilement and impurity coming forth from us?
Then I have not arrived… I have fallen behind.
Our journey has not yet reached that straight path.
Had we not been invited to God’s banquet?
So that we might become people of divine generosity?
Every particle of our being was God’s guest;
the whole universe received its share,
every particle of this universe…
What share did I receive?
Did I show ingratitude at God’s banquet?
I fear that I may have been ungrateful for the blessing of the blessed month of Ramadan…
### God’s banquet was an occasion to meet Him 🤝
The Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, said to Master Ali, the Commander of the Faithful**:
“O Ali, honor your neighbor, even if he is an unbeliever; and honor your guest, even if he is an unbeliever.”
We, too, had been invited to **God’s banquet this month.
Whatever we were, we were God’s guests: believer, *hypocrite or unbeliever.
Our host: the Generous Allah, more generous than every generous one; the Bestower, the Bountiful.
He made us His guests so that we might become people of divine generosity.
So that a servant of God might become one graced with divine generosity.
You have become one of those graced with divine generosity…
God’s banquet was an occasion to meet Him.
But I did not understand…
I did not benefit from the banquet, for I was asleep**,
Because I was **full and had quenched my thirst**,
**I had no appetite for God’s feast, and so I could not become one of those honoured by God.
I was asleep; I did not understand**,
nor did I understand that **your invitation was a pretext for something momentous…
I needed to be transformed**,
so that **nothing but light, beauty and freshness would flow from my being.
The source of the corruption within me was hypocrisy and hidden disbelief, which I had failed to recognise**,
that **ignorance which had crept into my soul**—the root cause of **spiritual impurity and defilement.
I needed to cast it out to attain utter purity,
so that I might touch the truth…
see and understand the Qur’an and the Ahl al-Bayt as they truly are.
—
### Faith Is Granted by God 🌟
Only God can grant permission to believe.
Without that permission, no one can believe in God.
Without permission to believe, no one can fall in love with Ali or with the Qur’an.
And He places defilement upon those who do not reason.
Defilement and corruption belong to those who do not reason.
Those who reason are precisely the ones who hold fast to the Qur’an and the Ahl al-Bayt.
Whoever does not hold fast to the Qur’an and the Ahl al-Bayt**, or holds fast to only one of them **and abandons the other**,
is **among the people of defilement—the very ones who do not reason.
Their being is a breeding ground for spiritual and inward defilement.
—
### Faith and Reason: Keys to Deliverance 🗝
Yes, it is God who opens hearts.
And that same God, for those who are unworthy**,
makes their hearts constrict before **the light of truth.
And He places defilement upon those who do not believe**,
These two are the way forward: **faith and reason**—
they are **our path and our guiding light
towards the truth…
and a means of escaping all defilement, impurity and corruption.
### The Secret of Salvation: The Ahl al-Bayt of Infallibility and Purity 🔑
The key lies with the Ahl al-Bayt of Infallibility and Purity.
If we accompany them and share in their secrets**, **we will understand the truth and attain it.
Only through purity and cleanliness can we understand and touch the unadulterated truth.
Until we reach this station, we will perish amid the impurities of the soul.
This is the way.
This world began so that we might save ourselves from corruption.
The Creator of the month sent the blessed month of Ramadan to us
so that we might be saved**,
be **freed from ignorance**,
and **turn away from every form of corruption.
—
### True Worship and Lawful Sustenance 🍽
O Ahmad, worship has ten parts; nine of them lie in seeking what is lawful.
How remarkable!
Worship has ten parts**, **and nine of them lie in seeking what is lawful.
Yes. If what is forbidden enters our being**,
our whole being is overtaken by **impurities, corruption and filth.
Ignorance takes hold of our souls.
The way to truth is then closed to us.
If your food and drink are made pure**,
then you will always be **in my care and protection**,
**under my shelter.
If I want God to protect me**,
I must **set right and purify my food, my drink and all that I consume,**
so that I may be under the protection and shelter of my Exalted Lord.
—
### The Legacy of Fasting: From Silence to Certainty 🕊
The Prophet addressed Allah, Lord Most High, and said:
“My Lord, what is the first act of worship?”
He replied, “The first act of worship is to fast and keep silent.”
He asked:
“My Lord, what is the legacy of fasting?”
Allah replied:
“Fasting gives rise to wisdom.
Wisdom gives rise to knowledge.
Knowledge leads a person to certainty.
And the possessor of knowledge becomes an heir to certainty.
When a servant attains certainty**,
**it no longer matters to them whether life is hard or easy.
And when such a servant is on the brink of death**,
**the angels stand over their head.
Angels come, each carrying a bowl of water from Kawthar and a bowl of wine—that special wine.
They give the soul to drink,
and it is quenched by the water of Kawthar and the wine**,⦁32⟧**so that the pain and bitterness of the death throes pass away.
They bring the servant glad tidings—tidings of the greatest kind**,⦁34⟧and say:
“Your resting place is pure, pleasant and peaceful.”**
—
### The Moment of Flight, the Moment of Union 🕊
Now is the time to set out toward Allah, the Mighty, the Generous, the Beloved who is near.
The time has come to meet Allah, the Mighty, the Generous, the Near.
The angels speak to the servant and give them glad tidings**,⦁41⟧and **tell them the time of the meeting.
As the servant stands among them,
that very soul suddenly takes flight**,⦁44⟧**rising up**, ascending from among the angels;
**longing to meet its Lord sends the soul soaring.
So it ascends, rising toward Allah, Exalted is He**,⦁47⟧
**Faster than the blink of an eye,**
it **soars at full speed, rising toward Allah, Exalted is He…
until no veil remains**,
and no **barrier remains between that spirit and Allah.
The spirit soars with such longing**,
and **Allah looks upon His servant with even greater longing.
Then, beside the Throne of God,**
it sits beside **a spring at the Throne of God…
It is asked:
How did you leave the world?
Listen to this…
That man, that woman, that person… that spirit, which has no gender, is asked:
“How did you leave the world?”
It says:
My God, by Your might, I know nothing of the world.
I never even saw the world. What is the world?! I know nothing about it.
Those people whom the world sought to deceive**
had never even **seen that world, so they could not be deceived by it.
From the moment You created me,**
I **was always in awe of You, always in fear.
Then Allah says:
“You have spoken the truth, My servant.
Your body was in the world, but **your spirit was with Me.
Your body was engaged with the world, but your spirit stayed close to Me—to My remembrance, to My love.
Your inner and outer self are under My watch.
Ask of Me, and I will give to you.
Entreat Me, and I will honor you.
This is My Paradise, My freely bestowed Paradise.
So enjoy it to the full.
And this is My nearness. Dwell here.”
But the spirit says:
“What do I want with Paradise?
You made Yourself known to me.
And for that reason, I have no need of any of Your creation…”
—
### Mad for Your pleasure, not Your Paradise ❤️🔥
By Your might! By Your majesty!
If it pleased You for me to be torn apart, piece by piece, limb from limb**,
and **killed seventy times in the most agonizing way anyone could be killed…
By Your might and majesty!
That would be dearer to me…
In other words:
My God, it was only Your love
that made me so madly, passionately devoted to You.
What do I want with Paradise?
I seek only Your pleasure.
—
### Amazed by myself? Never… It is only Your grace 🙇♂️
My God, how could I marvel at myself?
How could I become enamoured of myself?
How could I be amazed by myself?
How could I become conceited**, when I am **abased?
Had You not honoured me**, that is, I **would have lost my way.
I would have perished through the grace of Your servanthood…
And I am overcome,
if You did not help me**,
I **would have been defeated.
And I was weak,
if You had not made me strong.
I was dead**, ⦅12⟧if You had not brought me to life through **Your remembrance…
My God!
If… this is a strange confession…
My God, I know what is going on!
You lavish such tenderness on me…
I know…
Had it not been for Your veil**, I **would have been exposed at the very first moment of committing a sin.
I would have become a byword.
You brought my intellect to perfection**,
so that I **came to know You**,
**and to know what is due to You.
You brought my intellect to perfection**, until I came to know You,
**to distinguish truth from falsehood,
command from prohibition,
knowledge from ignorance,
light from darkness…
And Allah says…
—
### Five Hidden Treasures in Five Vessels 💎
A sacred hadith, offered as a gift in your gracious presence…
Allah, Lord of Might, says:
“I placed five things within five things, while people seek them in five other things… So how will they ever attain them?”
– I placed honour in obedience to Me**,
while people seek it **at the courts of kings.
How will they ever attain such honour?
I planted it in the very heart of obedience to Me**,
but these people search for it **within the walls and palaces of kings**,
**begging them for it.
Another hadith relates:
They seek it by serving the ruler.
They ask who holds the favour, so they can go to his door and beg from him,
hoping to attain honour…
But not only do they fail to attain honour**,
they attain **abasement.
—
– I placed knowledge and wisdom in hunger**,
but people seek them **in fullness…
How can they attain them?
Another hadith relates:
In hunger and striving…
I speak of knowledge, not ignorance**—
not knowledge of the belly**,
but the light of knowledge, the light of wisdom.
I speak of heavenly knowledge, knowledge of the unseen realm.
I placed knowledge and wisdom in hunger and striving**,
but people seek them in **fullness and ease…
And when will they attain them?
They will not.
They will attain ignorance**—
**they will become famous, but leave this world ignorant.
They will never attain knowledge.
—
– I placed ease and comfort in Paradise**,
but people seek them in **this world**;
they want to **find ease** in this world,
when I have placed **that ease in Paradise.
Who can say that life in this world is easy?
God did not create it to be so.
The perfect peace we seek
is not found in this world**—
by God… **God did not create it here.
Blessed are the people of piety**,
who **dwell forever in Paradise…
> “وَهُم فی جَنَّهٍ کَمَن قَد رَآها”
—
– I placed wealth in contentment**,
while people seek it in **possessions.
When will they attain it?
—
– I placed My approval in resisting the desires of the self**,
but people seek it by **defying Me.
And how will they find it?
—
### A special trial, a special contest 🏁
If our trials are many**,
if **we face hardship after hardship**,
if **our troubles are not because of our sins…
Even if they are because of our sins, they are still a blessing.
For we are being taught humility**,
and **our burden is being lightened…
That, too, is a blessing.
But when these trials
come upon us without any sin on our part,
when life becomes tangled…
Take heart!
You are in a special contest.
A prize is about to be awarded…
The contest is nearing its end.
It is hard, but this is the final stretch.
Something extraordinary is about to happen, a great elevation…
if we do not lose heart**,
We will attain that **supreme success.
—
### This world: a training ground for worship, not a playground 💪
This world is a training ground, not a playground.
God created this world so that we might worship Him.
It is meant to **strengthen the arm of our worship**,
not to bring us **comfort**,
nor to let us **seek and savor pleasure.
Anyone who is too deeply immersed in worldly ease**
**should be wary…
lest it be a gradual enticement, a hidden trial…
—
### Ramadan’s feast: a practice in pure love ❤️🔥
Lest one has failed and does not even know it…
The blessed month of Ramadan is a practice in “complete detachment from all but God.”
A practice in reaching the negation of attributes.
A practice in worshipping God with perfect devotion.
Whatever it may be, it is a path… to be traveled.
At this feast of love**, at **the feast of the blessed month of Ramadan**,
we must **become a city of love…
so that our very being may bring the whole world to life.
🎥 Watch the full lecture at the link below:
🔗 Jame Jan website
🌍 jamejan.com
🟠 Jame Jan Eitaa channel
🌼Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat) 110.141(903)🌼
[1] An excerpt from Supplication 44 of al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya
[2]Al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya / translated and annotated by Fayz al-Islam, p. 285
[3] Irshad al-Qulub ila al-Sawab (by al-Daylami), vol. 1, p. 203 Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Daylami, al-Sharif al-Radi Press, Qom, first edition, 1412 AH.
[4] Jami‘ al-Akhbar (by al-Sha‘iri), p. 184 Al-Sha‘iri, Haydari Press, Najaf, first edition, n.d.
[5] ‘Uddat al-Da‘i wa Najah al-Sa‘i, p. 179 Ibn Fahd al-Hilli, Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyya, first edition, 1407 AH.
[6] Jami‘ al-Akhbar (by al-Sha‘iri), p. 184 Al-Sha‘iri, Haydari Press, Najaf, first edition, n.d.
[7] Jami‘ al-Akhbar (by al-Sha‘iri), p. 84 Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Sha‘iri, Haydari Press, Najaf, first edition, n.d.
