Ethics and Spirituality

Being intoxicated by words means allowing the mind and heart to be affected by corrupt speech—a state that Satan brings about through various stratagems. Good and truthful words do not intoxicate the mind and heart; they awaken and guide them. We must guard the mind and heart against corrupt speech, but being enraptured by words of truth is neither wrong nor undesirable.

Sincere seeking of refuge in God and wholehearted surrender to Him are the secret of an intimate retreat with the Beloved, the Comforter of hearts. Love of this world sharpens Satan’s hearing and paves the way for his influence; rising above attachment to the world deafens his ears and blinds his eyes. Call upon God on the frequency of perfect sincerity.

A person’s rights are not discharged except by making amends and obtaining their forgiveness. But if someone is unable to repay what is owed, God, the Absolutely Self-Sufficient, may make restitution on their behalf—provided they have fulfilled all the requirements of repentance. Taking a careless attitude toward the rights of others deprives a person of the grace to repent and the opportunity to make amends.

Old age is a sign of transition and the renewal of one’s garment, while a body worn down by age signals departure and the end of life’s appointed term. For a God-conscious believer who develops dementia, the true time of death is the onset of dementia; the hardships that follow serve as means of purification and refinement, and are governed by divine wisdom and purpose.

Sincere faith, genuine God-consciousness, and following the Imams—that is, living under the Imamate, authority, and guidance of the infallible Imams (peace be upon them)—are among the conditions for receiving divine light and earning the approval of Imam al-Mahdi (AJ). These qualities are emphasised in the Quran and hadith.

Sincere repentance and making amends for unlawful earnings purify a person. Any impurity in their children is their own responsibility; the parent has merely provided the means by which it may have been passed on. If someone has raised children for years on unlawful earnings and then repents, sincere repentance and making amends will purify them.

A deferred need is being nurtured in God’s unseen treasuries, and God knows the best time and way to fulfill it. Impatience reflects a lack of trust in divine wisdom. Expand your capacity to receive this great blessing.

We are unaware of the effects of our actions because “effects” refers to people’s ways, signs, and intentions—things anyone can discern by sharpening their perception. It is possible to attain this degree of awareness in this world, and God records both people’s actions and their effects.

Intellect is the first creation of God and the commander of the seventy-five forces of noble character. A person’s rationality depends on how much they benefit from the light of intellect and distance themselves from ignorance. We should respond with patience and forbearance to those who, in our view, do not act rationally, and try to help them move toward perfection by learning about intellect and its forces and turning away from ignorance. Intellect can be strengthened through practice and understanding.

Understanding this world and the Hereafter, reflecting on creation, and recognizing the meaning of worship and servitude to God make us resilient in the face of hardship and protect us from conceit when we succeed. When our actions are directed toward God’s pleasure, neither failure nor success can halt our upward journey. We must not forget to remember God and put our trust in Him.

Knowing the self leads to knowing the Lord. The unplumbed depths of the human being reflect God’s unknowable realm, which comes to light through the quest to know oneself. A human being is like a book: the more deeply it is read, the more fully one appreciates the greatness of its Author. Yet the Divine Essence remains beyond our knowledge.

If the search for truth is a reflection of the divine will, then the human being is both seeker and sought. For the human will ultimately returns to the divine will, and God has willed that we be able to exercise our own will and pursue the search within that framework.

It is self-evident that a person should reach the point of avoiding sin and fulfilling their obligations simply because God has commanded it; the question is therefore unclear. Obeying God’s commands is one of the first principles of the path of servitude.

The fastest and most effective remedy for freeing ourselves from moral vices and attaining sincere servitude to God is to draw near to Him through the intellect. The intellect is that by which the All-Merciful is worshipped and Paradise is attained; all noble virtues are its soldiers.

The sign that a person has completely rid themselves of a vile trait is an intense aversion to it and a strong inclination toward noble qualities—the opposite of that trait. This state is accompanied by a sense of new life, a renewed experience of being alive, and a particular eagerness to be alone with God, to pray and whisper supplications, to perform the prescribed prayers, fast, give zakat, and do good deeds.

Reason and ignorance, light and darkness, beauty and ugliness, peace and anxiety—all are created by God. Ugliness is inherent in a world that serves as a test, and cannot be something nonexistent or merely relative; in one respect, it is real and existent. God Almighty created both beauty and ugliness, and His original creation was pure beauty. But ugliness came to be classed as beauty through deviation from divine laws.

Each of the Infallible Imams (AS) possesses unique qualities. Imam Hasan’s (AS) role as a guide demonstrates that we need him in order to enter the depths of servitude to God. The emphasis on following his path is because forgetting his authority leaves us trapped and confined in life’s most difficult passes.

At the height of sincerity, the mystic’s silence is the highest expression of God’s perfection, and it holds a place above speech. It comes after one has become certain of God’s majesty, and is itself an inward, wise form of speech.

In particular mystical states, mystics and those who attain a high degree of knowledge and certainty may experience time in different ways, and may undergo experiences that transcend time and are difficult to describe. Knowledge itself occupies a station beyond the timeless.

A near-death experience does not, in itself, indicate timeless perception; rather, it is a form of perception involving different qualities of time.