Ethics and Spirituality

To help people see the beauty and great value of divine religion, and to encourage people of different persuasions to become more receptive to it, we should follow the guidance in the Sermon of the Pious and Letter 31 of Nahj al-Balagha. These texts offer valuable guidance for every age and era.

In this supplication, suspicion, like weakness of faith, concerns one’s devotion to God and must not be allowed to take hold of a person. It leaves no room for reconciliation with one’s beloved. Such mistrust stands in the way of peace and harmony between a person and God.

Divine religion is like a tree whose root is certainty, and certainty itself is a manifestation of a special divine light. This light is expressed in a particular way at each stage of servitude to God, bringing joy. Certainty has a distinct station at each stage of Islam, faith, and God-consciousness.

Satanic deception and embellishment in eulogies and religious chants occur when surface-level beauty—such as rhyme, refrain, graceful expression, and an emotionally charged melody—distracts from the underlying meaning and leads listeners to overlook it or interpret it incorrectly.

The Muhammadan community is an ordered, cohesive society with clear aims—a kind of order also found in the honeybee. When believers’ hearts come together under the Prophet’s guidance and love, a true Muhammadan community is formed.

When oil ignites without fire reaching it, this points to the coming together of light, water, and heat—a force that eclipses every law, whether natural or beyond nature, and becomes the governing principle of every phenomenon. This applies to the Infallible Imams (AS), who are radiant light, life-giving water, and guiding fire.

Self-knowledge is the most important form of knowledge: it opens the way to love, worship, and nearness to God. Whoever knows themselves understands others better and recognises their own standing and the greatness of their being as a sign of God. This knowledge is a ladder to discovering other signs and walking the path toward God.

God Most High has bestowed on every human being the potential to attain the highest spiritual states. All that is needed is to set our great human being—endowed with capacities beyond the earthly and heavenly realms—on the path toward its goal, guided by the divinely drawn map and equipped with the provisions and fuel bestowed by the Lord of Majesty. Then it can emerge from dormancy and benefit from God’s gifts.

If a believer becomes obsessed with women, he is stripped of the robe of faith and clothed in the garment of disbelief—in other words, he is no longer a believer. Such an obsession arises when a man takes a woman as his god, disobeys God in order to obey her, or incurs God’s anger in pursuit of her approval. A man’s love and respect for a woman, when in keeping with religious principles and good character, are among the beautiful expressions of his responsibility toward her. But excessive deference becomes undesirable when it prevents him from fulfilling his religious duties.

Letting God’s blessings show in our clothing, food, and devotion to the Qur’an and the Prophet’s Household is a sign of gratitude that deepens our worship and strengthens our faith. Wearing one’s best clothes for prayer and keeping one’s home pleasant are examples of the hadith’s teaching that God loves to see the effect of His blessings in His servants.

Interpreting Hafez’s verses calls for particular care. His poetry stands on its own and should not be subjected to strained readings designed to rehabilitate his character. The common explanations of this verse also have serious flaws and do not fit the text: fasting for three months cannot make one more observant during the other months.

Someone who has not learned divine etiquette is unable to cultivate either themselves or others, and doing so can have harmful consequences. The Noble Prophet (PBUH) said: «خدا مرا ادب نمود و من مؤمنان را ادب می‌کنم». Whoever is not reformed through divine etiquette will not be reformed through the discipline of the soul.

To guide self-discipline and avoid excess and deficiency, the faculties of the soul must be in perfect balance and governed by reason and noble character. The path of the Two Weighty Things and the pillar of justice in faith—grounded in understanding, knowledge, wisdom, and forbearance—safeguard this balance and keep us from straying from the straight path of servitude to God.

According to authentic hadiths, kissing the hand is permissible only when it is done for the Messenger of God (PBUH) or for someone as a means of honouring him. Kissing anyone else’s hand is like performing a prayer for them. A mother is to be kissed on the lips, a sister on the cheeks, and an imam between the eyes.

We can manage our inner inclinations through choice and free will, by seeking God’s guidance, and through supplication based on the Ṣaḥīfa Sajjadiyya. Supplication that combines knowledge and action can illuminate the way forward, helping us submit to God’s will and choose what He loves.

Breaking free from the commanding self requires reason to hold authority over the self, as a father has authority over his child. By nourishing the reproaching and tranquil selves, curbing attachment to worldly life, and following reason by strengthening its forces, one can bring the commanding self under control. And by seeking refuge in God, one can be protected from its harm.

Genuine aversion to sin means turning away from it and feeling no attraction to it. If you feel fear and anxiety about sin, this is not a sign of genuine aversion; it may stem from obsessive thoughts or hidden inclinations. A clearer understanding of the nature of sin, together with trust in God and seeking refuge in Him, can help resolve this difficulty and make abstaining from sin a source of peace.

The soul’s ascent to higher realms, such as Jabarut and Lahut, depends on the growth of a person’s spiritual and divine wings. The purer one’s devotion and the more faithfully one follows the school of the Two Weighty Things, the higher one’s flight. The structure of the soul is complex, and the health of the inner self enables all its faculties to take flight. The body, too, is capable of ascending to the highest heavenly realm, just as the Prophet (PBUH) journeyed on the Mi‘raj. *Tayy al-arḍ* likewise means traversing hidden dimensions.

The intellect may be understood as the form and spiritual identity of Muhammad, leading to self-knowledge and, in turn, knowledge of the Lord. As this knowledge deepens, a person may reach a station from which they can say, «أنا محمد و محمد أنا»—“I am Muhammad, and Muhammad is I”—and thus become part of the very essence of the Muhammadan Light.

Praying for others and asking God to help resolve their problems without expecting a gift is a very good thing, and it pleases God. But if someone brings you a gift because you prayed for them, accepting it also pleases God and is perfectly fine.