notifications_active Weekly Meshkat-e Noor Session: Thursdays at 20:30 at Haj Reza Mosque
Dear Professor,
Why do we offer more than one salām in ziyārah texts instead of just one?
For example, in the ziyārah of Lady Maʿṣūmah, we say salām more than eight times, and in Ziyārat ʿĀshūrāʾ, more than a hundred times.
Is there a particular wisdom or deeper meaning behind this?
Salām is the most beautiful greeting and the finest way to express love and affection. In ziyārah texts, salutations are accompanied by mention of the person being visited—their virtues, rank, and noble qualities. This is, in effect, an acknowledgment of their perfections and enhances the dignity of the ziyārah. The sweetness of salām is like light: the more it shines, the more radiant the ziyārah becomes.
Salām—the greeting of peace—is the most beautiful offering, the finest gift and the best expression of love, affection and tenderness. It is also the noblest opening to a meeting between the pilgrim and the one being visited.
In visitation prayers, salām is accompanied by praise of the one being visited: their virtues, rank and many exalted qualities. In truth, it is a way of acknowledging their perfections, and joining this recognition to the greeting lends it still greater distinction.
The sweetness of salām is like light: the more it shines, the more it enhances the purity of the visitation.
فسلموا على أنفسکم تحیه من عند الله مبارکه طیبه