The Sovereign of Opening

🌼🔆🌼The Amazing Secrets of Worship in the Words of the Askari🌼🔆🌼

🔹 Sessions on the Commentary and Exegesis of the Sahifa Sajjadiyya: Supplication 20
📅 Date: 1404/07/08 – 07 Rabi al-Thani 1447
✨ Session: Meshkat-e Noor
🎤 Speaker: Master Ali Saei
📝 Some of the topics discussed in the session:

On the night of the birth of the gardener of the young orchard, the sovereign of serenity, the master of the gardens, the Lord of the age—Imam Dhaki al-Askari—our congratulations. Imam Askari (AS), the innate nature of the soul and the world; the Imam of rain, flourishing and joy. Congratulations to the celestial beings of the world, the inhabitants of the realm of divine power, and all creation, accompanied by the sweet melody of blessings upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad. Imam Hasan Askari (AS), this furnace of innate nature.

The Imam of joy and serenity ✨

The Imam of joy and delight; the Imam of happiness, serenity and well-being; the Imam who illuminates hearts: Imam Askari. The Imam who expands the sanctuary of existence; the Imam who opens hearts, and the gates of abundance and wealth; the Imam who unties knots, resolves difficulties and answers questions; the Imam who flows through night and day, the innermost secret of secrets; the Imam who knows the soul of mysteries; the Imam of the people of Paradise; a light for the people of Paradise, the lamp of the people of Paradise; the Imam of Ḥunt; the Imam who renews Paradise; the Imam whose light is ever fresh, bringing vitality to souls and renewing Paradise in every moment, giving it a new radiance. With every flash of light, Paradise comes alive anew and takes on a fresh aspect.

The Light of Lights; sustained by the light of knowledge 🌟

The Imam is the Light of Lights, light upon light; the radiance of Paradise; the very taste of delight, the taste of the mystery of existence. He is the Imam sustained by the light of knowledge and wisdom; the light of hearts; a special radiance for the Shi‘a; the sun of insight, the sun of knowledge, discernment and understanding. Paradise takes on its colour and beauty through his presence; he is God’s radiant arrow cast into the Garden of Refuge, the very foundation of beauty and grace. God has set this sure pillar at the heart of all beauty. Imam Askari is the very excitement of the highest Paradise, the sovereign of water, wind and rain.

The Key to Every Lock; Known to All Creation 🔑

He never came upon a closed door without it opening. Amazing! All creation knows this Imam. Surely even the locks on doors know him: the locks on the doors of Samarra. The darker the surroundings, the brighter the Imam’s light. His light knows no boundaries. The doors of Samarra, and the doors of the whole world, know his presence. His light is the key to every lock; it opens every door: the doors of heaven and earth, the doors of hearts, the knots of every problem. The light of his presence, his blessed beauty—when flowers bloom, the locks guarding their radiance are opened by his light; they have been opened. No one can fail to recognize God’s Proof; all recognize him. In that dark place, the locks on the doors cried out, introducing God’s Proof to those inhuman people: “Imam Hasan al-Askari is God’s Proof; embrace his authority.” God Himself makes His Proof known. When He reveals him, recognition of his presence takes root in the soul of all creation. Nothing and no one remains that does not know him.

Flowers and the breeze of divine authority 🌸

When flowers open, it means they breathe in and perceive his light.

Creation’s response to the breath of God’s Proof 🌬

Everyone knows him, then; they respond to God’s Proof. When his very breath touches them, they respond; when his light shines—by God—they respond as befits God’s Proof. The breeze from his quarter, the dust of his path—indeed, all creation is transformed when it hears his words and intimate prayers, when his supplication reaches it. What wonders unfold! Even our limbs and senses know him. Every lock within us, from head to toe, opens; by God, we are made pure through God’s Proof. Yes, every flower knows him; the angels, every element of the world, every particle of creation. The blessings of earth and heaven open through the grace of his being. This is Imam al-Askari. If his blessed presence—even the sound of his footsteps alone—can open locks in this way, what wonders must his blessed love, affection, following, and wilayah work!

Seeking his intercession and the heavens opening 🙏

O God, when we invoke the name of Your Proof, what transformations take place within us! One day, in this land, in this very moment, a door will open. In our time, we speak of God’s Proof, Imam al-Askari: that rare wonder of his age; beautiful of face, fine of stature, perfectly formed; possessed of majesty and awe; harmonious in form, radiant in beauty; master of gracious speech. His presence is the freshness of Paradise; his passing, a sign of the Resurrection; his wilayah, a guarantor of triumph and salvation; his supplication opens the gates of heaven. The rain stands ready to serve him, waiting to pour; it will not stop raining until he says so. If we seek his intercession, will he command the clouds? Let us too seek his intercession: «یا أبا محمد… یابنَ رسولِ الله، یا حجّةَ الله علی خلقه، یا سیدَنا و مولانا، إنّا توجّهنا…» The Imam is light; the Imam is life; the Imam is of earth and heaven. His words are astonishing in their sublimity; they hold layers of meaning. We have not even got beyond the surface of a single word of his—we are as helpless as engineers trying to mine the treasures within him. How can we unravel the secret of his words when their depths are beyond our sight? His heaven reaches to the highest horizon.

The secret of «الله» and the state of divine devotion 📖

الله, هُوَ الذی …
In the interpretation of «بِسمِ اللهِ الرحمنِ الرحیم», Allah is the One toward whom all turn in utter devotion—in times of need, trial, and hardship. All beings turn to Him when hope in everyone else is lost; when every means, in every direction, has failed and all but Allah are beyond reach. Then the mystery of this sacred name, «الله», is unveiled; it shines into the human heart, and a person enters a new state of being: the state of «تألّه». I cannot call it a state of worship, because it is higher than worship—it is a state of adoration. Yes, it is a state beyond all states. A person cannot attain it unless everything within them has been utterly transformed. When will I taste the sweetness of worship? When I reach this state. How? Through the mystery of «الله». It must open up my being, tear it apart; I must even become estranged from myself, so that I can feel that state of «تألّه»—that special state of worship, that pure state of servanthood. Yes, the sacred name «الله» is His own sacred mystery, which can raise me to those heights and bring me to that supreme state. Is this state of «تألّه» only for times of need? What of when I am immersed in blessings? Those who are immersed in blessings and have forgotten God must let go of those blessings and feel their need, so that they may turn to Him. But the one who is utterly sincere does not abandon Him even amid an abundance of blessings. No blessing can draw that person away from the Bestower; nothing can—not even light can come between that person and the One they worship, their Allah. But alas for me: I remember Him only in times of need, when I worship Him sincerely and enter that state of «تألّه». Why have I not sat down…

A child’s university; the taste of a mother’s milk 👶🍼

Why don’t I sit at the feet of the child’s school? This child is God’s great teacher—yes, this child is God’s great teacher, His pure servant. In all the beauty of innocence, the child remembers God. Yes, the child is an engineer, perceptive and wise; the child understands what even the greatest minds cannot grasp. Who can taste a mother’s milk? A mother’s milk is a sign of God. No one—not even the most sophisticated machine—can taste that sweetness at the heart of raw milk. But the child processes it in a way that lets them savor the honey of Paradise, and will not let it go. For it is a special sign of God, and the child knows and understands this. The child will not let go of that milk; they sense the kitchen of their Lord. In the kitchen of the mother, God has prepared food so delicious that the child will not let it go. With that taste, the child flies toward Him and remembers its God. Yes, that child is God’s university. We have all passed through that university—but do we still remember the lessons we learned there? They have faded from our memory, because I have become mixed up with sin; I have turned my knowledge to ashes. If only that knowledge had remained alive in my soul. The child comes to know, through experience, the God who is beyond description; and through its cries and tears, the child confesses this truth. Its crying cries out: I could not know Him; He cannot be known. The child knows this and cries aloud so that our ears, too, might hear—but they do not.

Childlike knowing; the embrace of mercy 🧠❤️

Yes, childlike knowing—what extraordinary knowledge it is. God brought forth the child, establishing a childlike university to lead us to special forms of knowledge. The child knows that embrace of mercy; it knows God’s mercy. Yes, a mother’s embrace is the very ground of God’s sign of mercy, and the child will not let it go. The child knows the sound of its mother’s heartbeat; it translates its letters, understands them, and responds. When it is taken away from that sound, it grows restless. The child knows the truth of peace and love, and understands that love and peace are His beautiful signs. And the child, from that very place… Yes, at different times, the human being turns toward Him; the heart is stirred within, toward the One it worships. The believer is like this in every circumstance and state. But I experience that special state only when I am in need… when a person reaches utter need, when they attain the lofty experience of knowing. Yes, the child’s experience is a unique example of the human being’s state of being in the new university, wherever and whenever they may be. God transforms the child and infuses it with new knowledge. When the time comes to descend from that place, the old table must be cleared and a new one laid—a table spread as wide as eternity. The human being must be nourished by everything on that table to attain divine knowledge, and worship and devote themselves to God through His immense treasure.

Need: the capital of our being and the fuel for movement 💞

O God, when will we experience that state of turning wholly toward You? That detachment which directs us toward Allah? Every moment of our lives should be a new state of detachment; nothing should occupy us with itself. Should we remember God only when we are in free fall? Are we not falling at every moment? At every moment we are in that state of falling, on the verge of drowning. Must we be submerged, must our breath fail, before we break free of everything, turn toward Him, devote ourselves to Him and worship Him? Must we turn to Him only when we are burning—during severe illness, when we feel death before our eyes? Is that the time for turning wholly toward God? Should we not reach that state before then? Does such a state have any worth at all? Whenever we fall into it only to keep our worldly means from being taken away, we do not remember Him in true devotion. Must I be afraid before I remember Him? Must the death of my loved ones make me turn to Him? Must my ship and possessions be wrecked, must I be broken and my heart shattered, before I devote myself to Him? Woe is me, for I remember Him only when I am in need. Yet I should be in need: need itself is a kind of wealth. I did not know that need and want are themselves a great treasure from Allah, bestowed upon us. What a remarkable thought! Could there be any need in this world of existence before the All-Rich? Could any need exist at all? No. Need is God’s creation; it is a treasure He bestows. It is both wealth and capital. Need and want are the means to knowledge, awareness and attention. He created need to awaken feeling within us, to set us in motion, so that we might seek, turn our attention, gain insight, and feel our appetite stir. Without need, we are dead; our sense of taste is dead. Without need, we cannot experience detachment. Why must it be this way? Yes, need is the capital of our existence—the initial investment in the economy of the human soul. The greater the need, the more intense a person’s need, the greater their capital and the higher the returns. Is thirst not a need? Yet it is precisely thirst that drives us toward the water of life; without it, no one would seek water.

The Thirst to Behold and the Power of Love 🔥

Our whole being thirsts for God. We are servants; this servanthood is nothing but a need for God, created by God so that we may leap toward Him, find the One we worship, and reach our Allah. Without the longing to see, could anyone behold the sights of God? It is the longing to see that opens a person’s eyes. Without love—love itself is a need, like thirst, and its water is the Beloved, whom a person must reach—how could we make our way toward God? God has given us a motive force called “love” so that we may move toward the Exalted One, the All-Rich, the Praiseworthy.

Knowledge and the Growth of Need 🎓

Yes, knowledge itself is also a need. God grants us knowledge; the more knowledge He grants, does our need not grow? That is, our sense of need, our understanding of it, expands; our seeking and thirst intensify. Thus God, through all His means, calls us toward Himself. We are discussing the words of Imam Hasan al-Askari (AS), who explains the meaning of the blessed name “Allah.” The aim, then, is to uncover through “devotion” the secret of the sacred name “Allah,” so that we may gain some understanding of that state of worship; so that we may know what I experience when I worship God. We have arrived at “need” and “want,” which Almighty God has brought into being to direct me toward Himself, so that I may experience the state of worship. Every opening that appears before a person is a “need” that they come to feel, and that need grows. The more the openings of the human soul multiply, the greater its need becomes. My senses add to the scope of my needs; the stronger they become, the more keenly I feel my need. Our nervous system is a thirst of the senses; our senses are cups filled with the thirst of our being, searching for the water of their own sensations. If new senses arise within us, our need grows and our attention becomes more powerful. A scholarly stimulus, an injection of knowledge, sets us searching—and that search is directed toward Him. Thus “need” is a driving force in this world of existence, a dynamic force in this dynamic, creative world—not a static, negative deficiency. It is God’s grace. It is the very “fuel”; “need” is the wing that enables us to fly; this need and poverty are the force of divine attraction.

Devotion: the Most Intense Longing and the Final Severance 🎯

So what is “theosis”? Is it an intense longing and desire that must arise within us? When I say, “I worship my God,” I mean that an extraordinary longing wells up inside me, stills my soul, and draws me towards Him. That “أشدّ المحبّة»، آن «أشدّ vision” takes place; that state comes into being within me. I enter the arc of severance: no taste, light, sound or sensation can occupy me; I turn my attention to Him alone.

My God, when will I attain this state? When the final severance comes, we will be cut off from everything in this world of being. When the severance of death comes, I will attain perfect certainty. At the time of death—when I am cut off from everything that keeps me from God—even doubt will be severed from me. I will reach pure illumination—but in disgrace. The severance of death cuts every bond; it brings me to certainty. “وَاعْبُدْ رَبَّکَ حَتّی یَأْتِیَکَ الْیَقِینُ”—What certainty is this? The certainty of the moment of death. I will experience it when I die; I will no longer have any doubt, and everything will become clear to me. Before then, I must attain certainty upon certainty, and prove that I am God’s servant—a servant grounded in “certainty”; that is, in the state of “theosis,” severed from everything apart from God.

Plumbing al-Askari’s words: a rare state 🤲

One day, we will reach that station. How do we reach that state? What will we do when we are in it? Let us experience “theosis” within ourselves.

I say again: we are in the vast ocean of these words of al-Askari; we are diving into their depths. I am immersed in the words of His Eminence. I do not claim to have uncovered the secret of the words of God’s Proof, Imam al-Askari—no, I make no such claim. I will say again what I sensed: Is “theosis” this—to find God as One and call upon Him; to find Him uniquely One; to turn to Him without any means; and to make a rare movement towards Him, one I have shown to no one? The state of mind I have shown to others is something I have already spent on them. What, then, should I do now? I must find a new state—one I have shown to no one. What is “my rare state”? Until I reach it, I have not worshipped my God.

I have come to this certainty: something utterly unparalleled must emerge from me if I am to attain “theosis,” to reach that “state of bewilderment”—a bewilderment I have never felt before. What should I do now? Have I reached this state? Does that mean I have come to know my God? Can I come to know God? He is beyond knowledge and understanding. So what should I do when I wish to worship Him? I cannot… So I make a show of it: all I can do is make an expression of devotion and flatter Him. That is, I cannot, but I want to offer some words of my own and claim that I am His servant. This is the “greatest bewilderment”: I know I cannot, yet I want to make an expression of it. I have come to know my own incapacity and ignorance. Even so, I turn to Him; even so, I say: “I turn to You; I have given myself wholly to You alone, yet I do not know what to do.”

A display of servitude and unparalleled longing 💠

All I can show is a “display of servitude.” For the state of theosis to arise, something loftier and more extraordinary must emerge—a longing, yearning and love; words and an expression of love unlike any other, the finest and most unparalleled.

When words fail, and “إنا لله…” 🕯

Whenever an extraordinary state emerges, its name and character change—let it be, until its secrets are revealed. Yes, one such state is when the tongue falls silent. It searches for a means, something with which to turn to Him, but finds nothing to use except itself—nothing but “الله” to turn towards “الله”. The mystery of “إِنّا للهِ وَ إِنّا إِلَیهِ راجِعُونَ”. It reaches that state beyond all states; it knows that even its response will now be involuntary. When it reaches this absolute state—the absolute state of being apprehended—the state of theosis is felt within it.

So let us say: «إلهی هَبْ لی کَمالَ الانقطاعِ إلیک»—that we may receive from Him the grace to sever ourselves from all else, and the grace to worship Him. My God, turn my eyes away from every radiance that is not Yours, until no radiance remains; let us find our way to You alone, and turn only to You. “I have made my severance towards You pure; with my whole being—with every part of me—I have turned to You. My God, لا تَکِلْنی إلی خَلقِک …”

A Confession, Drowning in the Words of the Proof 🤍

My Lord, I confess: I was immersed in the words of Your Proof; I sank, I was submerged—but I grasped nothing. I could not do justice to his words. Only You can bring me to their true meaning.