Greetings to all members of the group,
There are several questions about Imam Ali’s prayer and the arrow being removed from his foot:
1. In which battle was he wounded in this way? A man whose armor had only one layer, and who had said, “Even if all the Arabs stood against me, I would not turn my back on them” (I would not flee)—where was he struck by the arrow, and is there any definitive source for this account?
2. Why did Imam Ali hear the voice of a poor man and respond to his request, yet not notice the others trying to pull the arrow from his foot? The best possible answer, it seems, is to say that Imam Ali was at every moment in the presence of God: God drew his attention to the poor man, while he was so absorbed in God as the arrow was being removed that he did not notice it. But then we must ask: why was a verse revealed about his giving away a ring, or about his sleeping in the Prophet’s bed, while no verse was revealed about such a great act?
3. Imam Ali was wounded at the Battle of Uhud, but never faltered, and his wounds did nothing to diminish his courage. So how could this arrow have caused him such pain that he could not bear to have it removed?
Perhaps one of the verses not revealed in the Quran concerning Imam Ali is a report in which he describes his certainty, saying that even if the veils were lifted, his faith and certainty would not increase.
My humble question is this: does the report about the arrow being removed from Imam Ali’s foot bring us closer to understanding this hadith?
Some Sufis and others, who generally do not take religious sanctities seriously, have gained insight into certain mysteries of creation. They can sometimes experience such states of trance that they lose awareness of their surroundings—even of their own bodies. Have these people attained Imam Ali’s rank, or come close to it? Is being unaware of others while praying the only condition for nearness to God, or a sign of being wholly absorbed in Him?