Ethics and Spirituality

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Our sense of time passing in certain emotional states depends on the intensity of our emotional and nervous-system responses, our heart rate, and the focus of our thoughts; it has nothing to do with time itself contracting or expanding. The noble verse «لا تأسوا علی ما فاتکم و لا تفرحوا بما آتاکم» should not be interpreted superficially. It carries particular allusions, including the oppression suffered by the Ahl al-Bayt (AS) and the rule of tyrants.

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

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.

The difference between mediated and immediate perception on the path of divine oneness is that everyone moves from immediate perception to mediated perception. True immediate perception is beyond perception: it does not need to be perceived, and we all abide in it. Seeking knowledge of God’s Proof passes through immediacy, as the supplication for the Age of Appearance states.

To avoid forgetting the Imam of our Time (AJ), even for a moment, we need to develop a heartfelt, loving knowledge of him. This kind of knowledge, like our awareness of our own limbs and senses, endures and inspires us to seek a deeper understanding of him. We must ask God to grant us this knowledge and remain steadfast on its path.

To reconcile the mystic’s experiential understanding of oneness with the philosopher’s demonstrative one, we must recognize that demonstration leads to oneness only when it articulates an innate vision. This innate vision is the vision of authentic reason, the voice of human nature.

The degrees of divine unity correspond to a person’s level of knowledge and understanding. Knowledge is the path to recognizing divine unity, and the extent of one’s understanding determines the degree one attains. The perfection of divine unity lies in sincere devotion to the One worshipped, and the perfection of sincerity lies in denying attributes of God.

Language and expression in knowing the oneness of God are bounded by magnifying and declaring Him transcendent—an approach that is itself the essence of pure tawhid. The conviction that the Lord cannot be described leads one to acknowledge, plainly, one’s inability to describe Him.

The annihilation and abiding of all beings are both signs of the will of the Exalted Lord. The annihilation of beings manifests the Creator’s will that they pass away, while their abiding manifests His will that they endure. In both states—annihilation and abiding—the divine majesty, perfection, and will are manifest at their fullest, and nothing can stand in the way of the manifestation of God’s will.

According to a narration from Imam Ali (AS), urinating in the bathroom is one of the factors associated with a lack of blessing and poverty in life. The narration also mentions other causes of poverty, such as leaving cobwebs in the home and eating while in a state of major ritual impurity. Other narrations, meanwhile, point to ways of increasing one’s provision, including maintaining family ties and seeking forgiveness.

The true delight of divine oneness lies in a mode of understanding that transcends ordinary comprehension and leads us to the divine state beyond all description. This delight surpasses the ordinary pleasures we experience through understanding and thought. The state beyond description is a state beyond pleasure—it lies beyond pleasure itself.

Religious obligations are a means of drawing closer to God, and God does not impose on His servants anything beyond their capacity. The apparent difficulty of fulfilling these obligations is a test, one that reveals who truly loves God; if outward acts of worship were pleasant and easy, there would be no test. Satan and the lower self make even the lighter religious duties seem difficult and distasteful.

Lady Maryam’s (SA) wish for death in the verse «يا ليتني مت قبل هذا وكنت نسيا منسيا» was a heartfelt cry for help and refuge, and a sorrowful plea for the Lord’s special grace. This expression of helplessness was a knocking at the door of divine mercy and a way of seeking His response and special attention—not a sign of weak trust in God or a contradiction of contentment with His decree.