Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Points regarding the Intimate Devotions (Munajat ) of the Month of Sha'ban

Have you said theMunajat of Sha'ban for God, the Blessed and Supreme, a devotion whose recital has been recommended during this month, from the first until the last of the month? Have you benefited from its lofty meanings which teach increased faith and knowledge (ma'rifah ) with regard to the station of the Lord? It is reported with regard to this supplication that it is themunajat of Imam 'Ali-Peace be upon him-and his descendants and all of the immaculate Imams-Peace be upon them-called upon Allah by this devotion.[22] Very few supplications and devotions (du'a wa munajat ) may be found which were recited by all of the Imams ('a) for God.

This devotion is truly a preparatory means to admonish and prepare man to receive the responsibilities of the blessed month of Ramadan, and it is possible that it is also to remind the aware person of the motive for fasting and its valuable fruits.

The immaculate Imams, Peacebe with them, have explained many things by the tongue of supplication. The tongue of supplication is very different from the other tongues by which those greats explained precepts. They have explained most spiritual, metaphysical, and precise divine matters, and that which is related to knowledge of Allah by the tongue of supplication. But we recite supplications to the end and unfortunately pay no attention to their meanings and fail to understand what they really want to say.

In thismunajat we read:

My God, grant that I may be perfectly cut off from all else but Thee, and enlighten the vision of our hearts by the radiance of vision toward Thee, until the visions of the heart tear through the curtains of light and reach the Source of Greatness and our spirits get anchored to the threshold of Thy sanctity.[23]

It is possible that the meaning of the sentence, "O my God! Grant that I may be perfectly cut off from all else but Thee," is that prior to the blessed month of Ramadan, divinely aware people should get ready and prepare themselves for cutting themselves off and avoiding worldly pleasures (and this avoidance is that very being cut off perfectly from all else but Allah). Being perfectly cut off from all else is not something easily obtained. It requires extra hard practice, going to some lengths, spiritual exercises, perseverance, and discipline, until one is able to fix one's attention completely on nothing but God and cut himself off from all else. If someone is able to do this, he has reached a great felicity. However, with the least attention to this world it is impossible to be cut off from all else but Allah. Someone who wants to perform the fast of the blessed month of Ramadan with such manners as he has been asked to, must cut himself off completely from all else so that he can observe the etiquette for the celebration and feast [of Allah], coming to know of the station of the Host, insofar as this is possible.

According to the order of the Noble Apostle (s) (which is related in one of his sermons) all of the servants of God, the Supreme, have been invited by Him to a feast in the blessed month of Ramadan and are to be the guests of the Provider at His feast. There he says:

O you people! The month of Allah is approaching you and you have been invited in it to the feast of Allah.[24]

In these few days until the blessed month of Ramadan, you should reflect, reform yourselves, and pay attention to God the Almighty, seek forgiveness for your unbecomingbehaviour and deeds, and if, God forbid, you have committed a sin, repent for it prior to entering the blessed month of Ramadan. Habituate your tongue tomunajat to God the Almighty. God forbid that in the blessed month of Ramadan you should backbite or slander, or in short, sin, and so become polluted by transgression in the presence of the Lord, the Exalted, at His feast. You have been invited during thishonourable month to the banquet of God the Almighty, "and you have been invited in it to the feast of Allah," so, get yourself ready for the magnificent feast of the Almighty. At least respect the formal and exoteric manners of fasting. (The true manners of fasting are another matter entirely, and require constant care and effort.) The meaning of fasting is not merely refraining from eating and drinking; one must also keep oneself from sin. This is the primary etiquette of fasting for novices. (The etiquette of fasting for divine people who want to reach the Source of Greatness is other than this.) You should at least observe the elementary etiquette of fasting, and in the same way that you refrain from eating and drinking, you should keep your eyes, ears, and tongue from transgression. From now on, keep your tongue from backbiting, slander, speaking bad, and lies, and expel from your hearts all spite, envy, and other ugly Satanic attributes. If you are able, cut yourself off from all but Allah. Perform your deeds sincerely and without ostentation. Cut yourselves off from theSatans among humans and the jinn.

Though apparently we have lost hopes of reaching such a valuable state of felicity, at least try to see to it thatyour fast is not accompanied by sin. Otherwise, even if your fast is correct from the point of view of Islamic law, it will not ascend to be accepted by God. There is a big difference between the ascension of one's works and their acceptance on the one hand and their religious correctness on the other. If, by the end of the blessed month of Ramadan, there is no change in your works and deeds, and your ways and manners are no different from what they were before the month of fasting, it is evident that the fast which you were expected to perform was not realized; and that which you have done is no more than a vulgar physical fast. In this noble month, in which you have been invited to the divine banquet, if you do not gain insight (ma'rifah ) about God the Almightynor insight into yourself, it means that you have not properly participated in the feast of Allah and failed to observe the etiquette of the feast. You must not forget that if you are not able to reform and refine yourselves in this blessed month, which is the 'month of Allah,' in which the gates of divine mercy are opened to the servants of God and thesatans and devils-according to some reports-are locked in chains,[25] and if you fail to manage and control yournafs eammarah (the 'commanding self'),[26] to subdue your selfish lusts and to cut off your relations and interests with this world and material things, then after the end of the month of fasting it will be difficult for you to be able to accomplish this.

Therefore, take advantage of this opportunity before the magnificent grace of it vanishes, and purify and reformyourselves . Get ready and prepare to perform the duties of the month of fasting. Let it not be that prior to the arrival of the month of Ramadan you are like one who is wound up by the hand of Satan so that in this single month when thesatans are enchained you automatically busy yourselves with sin and deeds opposed to the orders of Islam! Sometimes the rebellious and sinful man, due to his distance from God and the great number of his sins, sinks so low into darkness and ignorance that he does not need Satan to tempt him, but he himself takes on thecolour of Satan.[27] Someone who pursues selfish desires and is obedient to Satan, gradually turns thecolour of Satan. You should decide to control yourselves at least in this one month, and avoid speech andbehaviour which displease God, the Supreme. Right now in this very session make a covenant with God that during the blessed month of Ramadan you will avoid backbiting, slander and speaking ill of others. Bring your tongue, eyes, hands, ears and other organs and limbs under your control. Be watchful of your deeds and your words. It is possible that this same worthy deed will result in God's paying attention to you and blessing you. After the month of fasting, when thesatans are released from their chains, you will have been reformed, and you will no longer listen to the lies of Satan, and you will refine yourselves. I repeat, decide during these thirty days of the blessed month of Ramadan to control your tongue, eyes, ears and all your organs and limbs, and pay constant attention to thejudgement of theShari'ah about the works you intend to do, and the words you intend to speak and the matter you intend to listen to.

This is the elementary and outward manner of keeping a fast. At least keep to this outward manner of fasting! If you observe that someone is about to backbite, prevent him and say to him that we have made a covenant to keep ourselves from prohibited matters during these thirty days of Ramadan. And if you are not able to keep him from backbiting, leave that session. Do not just sit there and listen. The Muslims must be safe from you. Someone from whose hands, tongue and eyes other Muslims are not safe is not truly a Muslim,[28] although he may be outwardly and formally a Muslim who has formally proclaimed: "Laillaha illa Allah" (There is no god but Allah). If, God forbid, you want to offend somebody, to slander him or backbite, you should know that you are in the presence of the Lord; you are the guest of God Almighty, and in the presence of God, the Supreme, you would behave rudely to one of His servants; and to insult one of the servants of God is to insult God. They are the servants of God; especially if they are scholars on the path of knowledge and piety (taqwa ). Sometimes you see that because of such affairs man reaches such a state that he denies God at the moment of his death! He denies the divine signs:

Then evil was the end of those who did evil, because they rejected the signs of Allah and used to mock them. (30:10)

These things occur gradually. Today, an incorrect view; tomorrow, a word of backbiting; and the next day, slander against a Muslim, and . little by little these sins accumulate in the heart, and make the heart black and prevent man from attaining knowledge (ma'rifah ) of Allah, until it reaches the point that he denies everything and rejects the truth.

According to someayat of the Quran as interpreted in some traditions, the deeds of men are presented to the Prophet (s) and the pure Imam's ('a) and are reviewed by them.[29] When the Prophet reviews your deeds and he sees how many errors and sins there are, how upset and distressed will he be? Do not make the Apostle of God become upset and distressed. You would not want to break his heart and make him sad? When he witnesses that the page of your deeds is replete with backbiting, slander, and speaking ill of other Muslims and that all your attention was devoted to this worldly and materialistic affairs and that your heart was overflowing with malice, hatred, spite and suspicion towards each other, it is possible that in the presence of God, the Supreme and Holy, and the angels of Allah, he will be embarrassed that his community and followers were ungrateful for their divine blessings, and they betrayed the trust of God, the Holy and Supreme, in such an unbridled and heedless manner.

When someone who is related to us, even if in a menial position, errs, we become embarrassed. You are related to the Apostle of Allah, may the Peace and Blessings of Allah be with him and with his Progeny; by entering the seminary, you have related yourself to the Law of Islam, the most Noble Apostle and the Noble Quran. If you perform ugly deeds, it upsets the Prophet and he cannot bear it, and God forbid, you may be damned. Do not let the Apostle of Allah (s) and the pure Imams become upset and saddened.

The heart of man is like a mirror, clear and bright, and it becomes dark because of too much attention to this world and too many sins. However, if a person at least performs the fast for God the Almighty sincerely and without duplicity (I am not saying that other acts of worship are not to be pure; it is necessary for all of the acts of worship to be performed sincerely and without duplicity), then this worship-which is a turning away from lust, a putting aside of pleasure and cutting oneself off from all but God-if it is performed well in this single month, perhaps the grace of God will be extended to him and the mirror of his heart will be cleaned of its blackness and tarnish, and there is hope that he will change his ways and become dissuaded from this wilderness and worldly pleasures. When the Night ofQadr [30] arrives, one will gain the illumination which is obtained on that night by the friends of God and the believers.

The reward of such a fast is God, as it has been reported:

"The fast is forMe and I grant its reward."[31] Nothing else could be the reward of such a fast. The Gardens of Blessings would not count as a worthy reward for such a fast.

If a man takes fasting to mean closing his mouth to food but opening it for backbiting, and he engages in backbiting untilsahar [32] in the warm and friendly company in the nights when there is opportunity and time, such fasting will be of no benefit and have no effect. Rather, one who fasts in this way has not observed the etiquette of the banquet of God. He has violated the rights of his Benefactor, the Benefactor Who has provided him with all the means and conveniences of life before creating him, and has provided for the means of his development. He sent the prophets to guide him. He sent down the heavenly books. Man has been given the power to approach the source of greatness and the light of felicity, has beenfavoured with intellect and perception, and has been the recipient of His generosity. Now, He has invited His servants to enter His guest house and to sit at the table of His blessings where they are to thank and praise Him to the extent that their tongues and hands are able. Is it right for the servants who partake at the table of His blessings and use the means and conveniences which He has freely provided for them that they should oppose their Master and Host and rebel against Him? Is it right that they should use these things in opposition to Him and against His wishes? Wouldn't this be biting the hand that feeds one, the height of ingratitude to sit at the table of one's Master and audaciously insult one'shonoured Host, Who is his benefactor, with rude and impudentbehaviour and performing ugly and evil deeds before the Host?

The guests must at least know who their Host is, and become aware of His dignity. They should be acquainted with the etiquette and manners of the sessions and try not to perform any deed contrary to virtue and decorum. The guests of the Supreme Lord must know the divine station of the Lord of Majesty, a station of which the Imams, Peacebe upon them, and the great divine prophets were constantly seeking greater knowledge and more perfect awareness, aspiring to reach the Source of light and greatness. "And enlighten the eyes of our hearts with the light of Thy vision, until the vision of the hearts tears through the curtains of light and reaches the Source of Greatness." The banquet of Allah is that very "source of greatness." God, the Blessed and Exalted, has invited His servants to enter the source of light and greatness. However, if the servant is not worthy, he will not be able to enter into such a splendid and sumptuous position. God, the Exalted, has invited his servants to all sorts offavours and boons and to numerous spiritual delights, but if they are not prepared to be present at such lofty positions, they will not be able to enter. How can one enter the presence of the Lord and the guest house of the Lord of lords which is the source of greatness with spiritual pollution, vice, and sins of the body and soul? It requires merit. Preparation is necessary. In indignity and with polluted hearts covered by veils of darkness, one will not be able to understand these spiritual meanings and truths. One must tear these veils and push aside these dark and luminous curtains which cover the heart and are barriers to union with Allah so that one will be able to enter the brilliant and splendid divine company.

The VeilsOf Islam

Attention to other than God covers man with veils of darkness and light. If any worldly affair is a cause for man's attention to be directed toward the world and to neglect God, the Exalted, it raises dark veils. All of the corporeal worlds are dark veils. If the world is a means of directing attention to the Truth and for arriving at the abode of the Hereafter, which is the "abode ofhonour ," then the dark veils are transformed into veils of light."Being perfectly cut off from all else" means tearing and pushing aside all the dark and bright veils, until one is able to enter the divine guest house which is the "source of greatness." Hence, in this intimate devotion (munajat ) there is a request to God, the Exalted, for vision and brightness of the heart so one may tear the veils of light and reach the source of greatness: "Until the vision of the heart tears through the veils of light and reaches the source of greatness."

However, one who has not yet torn the veils of darkness, one who directs all of his attention to the natural world and, God forbid, becomes deviated from Allah, and one who is basically unaware of the world beyond and the spiritual worlds, and has retrogressed to a state of nature, who has never decided to refine himself, to set into motion his spiritual powers, to push aside the curtains of darkness which are a cloud over his heart, he is lodged in 'the deepest of the depths' which is the ultimate veil:

[IndeedWe created man in the fairest structure], then We consigned him to the lowest of the low, (95:4-5)

while the God of the worlds has created man in the most lofty state and station:

IndeedWe created man in the fairest structure.

If one follows the desires of the self and from the day he becomes acquainted with himself pays no attention to anything other than the dark wilderness of nature[33] and who never thinks that it is possible that there exists another place and station aside from this polluted dark world, then he will have sunk into the veil of darkness and have become an instance of: "but he clung to the earth and followed his low desire" (7:176). With such a heart polluted by sin that has been covered by the curtain of darkness and with such a gloomy spirit that due to the effect of numerous sins has receded far from God, the Exalted, after that worship of desire and seeking after the world have blinded the intellect and the vision of truth, he cannot be released from the veils of darkness, let alone to tear the veils of light and detach himself from all but Allah. However convinced he might be that one should not deny the station of the saints (awliya ') of God, and not consider as myths the worlds of thebarzakh , thesirat , the resurrection, the accounting, the book, heaven and hell, yet due to the effects of sins and the attachment of the heart to the world, one comes to gradually deny these truths, to deny the stations of theawliya ' of God, stations which are mentioned in not more than a few lines of prayers and intimate devotions.

Knowledge and Faith

Sometimes you see that one has knowledge of these realities but has no faith. Undertakers are not afraid of the dead, for they have certainty that the corpse cannot harm one. Even when the dead person was alive and had a spirit in his body he could hardly do anything, so of what harm can he be now as an empty frame? However, those who are afraid of the dead are afraid because they do not have faith in this truth. They merely have knowledge.

They know about God and the Day of Retribution, but they lack certainty. The heart is unaware of that which the intellect has understood. They know the proofs for the existence of God and the reality of the Resurrection, but these very same intellectual proofs may be veils covering the heart which do not permit the light of faith to shine in, until God, the Exalted, frees them from thedarknesses and obscurities and leads them to enter the worlds of light and radiances:

Allah is the Guardian (Wali ) of those who believe; He brings them out of thedarknesses into the light. (2:257)

He whose Guardian (Wali ) is God, the Blessed and Exalted, and who is taken by Him out from thedarknesses never commits another sin, never backbites, never slanders others, and he is never vengeful or envious of his brothers in faith. His own heart is filled with a feeling of luminosity and he no longer holds the world or what it contains in high esteem. As Imam 'Ali ('a) said: "If all the world and what it contains were offered to me to cruelly and unjustly take the skin of a grain of barley from the mouth of an ant, I would never accept it."[34] But some of you trample over everything, and youbackbite the great [scholars] of Islam. If others speak ill of the grocers and perfume sellers on the street and backbite them, some of you relate unfair things, insult and are impudent toward the scholars of Islam, because you are not firmly grounded in faith and you do not believe in [divine] retribution for your own deeds.

Infallibility ('ismah ) is nothing but perfect faith. The meaning of the infallibility of the prophets and the Friends of God (awliya ') is not that, for instance, Gabriel took them by the hand. (Of course, if Gabriel had taken the hand ofShimr [35] he would never have committed a sin.) Rather, infallibility is the offspring of faith. If a man had faith in God, the Exalted, and if he saw God Almighty with the eyes of his heart as one sees the sun, it would not be possible for him to commit a sin, just as if one were standing before an armed power, one would find some 'infallibility'. This fear comes from belief in the [divine] presence, which keeps man from committing sin. TheImpeccables (ma'sumun ), Peacebe upon them, after their creation from pure nature (tinah ) because of the effects of their spiritual discipline, and acquisition of radiance and virtuous character traits, always see themselves as being in the presence of God, Who knows all things and encompasses all affairs. They have faith in the meaning of the words, "Laillaha illa Allah" (There is no god but Allah), and they believe that other than God, all persons and all things, are perishing and have no role in determining man's destiny:

All things are perishing but His Face. (28:88)

If man is certain and has faith that all the outward and inward worlds are in the presence of the Lord, and that God, the Exalted, is present everywhere and sees everything, in the presence of God and God's blessings there would be no possibility for committing sins. Man is not able to commit sins before a discerning child and does not expose his private parts, so how could he expose his nakedness before God, the Exalted, and not dread to commit a crime? This is because he has faith in the presence of the child; however, with regard to the divine presence, if he has knowledge, he still lacks faith. Due to the multiplicity of his sins which have darkened and blackened his heart, he is totally unable to accept such truths, and may not even consider them to be likely. Actually, man would not recklessly run wild if he considered it at all likely (he need not have certainty) that that which is reported in the Noble Quran is true, the promises and the threats, and that he should amend his ways and deeds.

If you consider it at all likely that ferocious beasts which might harm you are to be found along the path, or that there are armed bandits who might hold you up, you would refrain from taking that path, and you would try to ascertain the correctness or incorrectness of these reports. Is it possible for someone to consider it possible that hell exists and that one may remainfor ever in its fire while at the same time doing wrong? Can it be said that one who considers God the Almighty to be present and watching and who sees himself to be in the presence of the Lord, and who considers it possible that there might be retribution for his words and deeds, a reckoning and chastisement, and that in this world every word he speaks, every step he takes, every deed he does, is recorded by angels of Allah calledRaqib and 'Atid [36] and they carefully record all his words and deeds, and in such a state, could he be fearless of his own wrongdoing? It is painful [to realize] that they do not even consider these truths to be possible. From the manners of some and their way of living it is obvious that they do not even consider the existence of a supernatural world to be likely, since the mere consideration of this likelihood keeps man from committing many wrongs.

The First Step in Refinement

How long do you wish to remain in the sleep of negligence, plunged in corruption? Fear God! Beware of the aftermath of your deeds! Wake up from the sleep of negligence! You have not yet awakened. You have not yet taken the first step. The first step of wayfaring isyaqzah (awakening), but you are still asleep. Your eyes may be open, but your hearts are asleep. If your hearts were not so sleepy and rusted and blackened with the effects of sin, you would not continue your wrongful deeds and words so carelessly and indifferently. If you thought a bit about the affairs of the other world and its terrible path you would give more importance to the heavy duties and responsibilities which rest upon your shoulders.

There is also another world for you, there is also the resurrection. (You are not like other existents for which there is no returning.) Why do you not take warning? Why are you not awake and conscious? Why do you so heedlessly engage in backbiting and speaking ill of your Muslim brothers, or listening to such things? Do you not know that the tongue which wags in backbiting will be trampled under the feet of others on the day of the resurrection? Have you heard that backbiting will be food for the dogs of hell?[37] Have you ever given a thought to how evil are the consequences of these differences, enmities, jealousies, cynicism and selfishness, and arrogance and conceit? Do you know that the repercussion of these wicked forbidden deeds is hell and that it is possible, Godforbid, that they will lead to the everlasting fire?

God does not want man to be afflicted with maladies unaccompanied by I pain, for when an illness is accompanied by pain, it forces man to seek a cure, to consult a doctor or go to a hospital, but an unfelt illness without pain is more dangerous. By the time one becomes aware of it, it is too late. If mental illnesses were accompanied by pain, this would be something for which to be thankful. Ultimately, man would be forced to find a cure or a remedy. But what can be done about such dangerous diseases for which there is no pain? The maladies of arrogance and selfishness are without pain. Other sins corrupt the heart and the spirit without causing any pain. Not only are these maladies unaccompanied by pain, but they also bring apparent pleasure. Meetings and sessions of backbiting are very warm and sweet! Love of the self and love of the world, which are the roots of all sins, are pleasurable.[38] One who is afflicted with dropsy may die from water, but yet he enjoys drinking it until his last breath.[39] Naturally, if one gets pleasure from an illness, and it also has no pain, he will not seek any cure for it. However much he is warned that it is fatal, he will not believe it.

If someone is afflicted with the maladies of hedonism and worshipping the world, and his heart is filled with love of the world, he will grow weary of all else but the world and what is in it. Allah forbid, he will become an enemy of God, the servants of God, the divine prophets andawliya and the angels of Allah. He will have a sense of hatred and loathing for them, and when the angels come at the command of the Glorious God to take his soul, he will have a feeling of repulsion and abhorrence, for he will see that God and His angels want to separate him from his beloved (the world and worldly things). It is possible that he will leave the world with hostility and enmity toward the Presence of the Exalted Truth (God). One of the great men ofQazwin ,may Allah have mercy on him, reported that he was present at the bedside of someone at the moment of his death. During the last moments of his life, he opened his eyes and said: "No one has ever wronged me the way God hasdone.! Now, He wants to separate me from these children whom I have taken such pains to raise. Is there ally greater injustice than this?" If one has not refined oneself, turning away from the world, and has not expelled love of the world from his heart, there is the fear that he will die with a heart overflowing with anger and aversion toward God and Hisawliya '. He will have to contend with an ominous destiny. Is such an unbridled man to be considered as the crown of creation or as the vilest of creatures?

By Time! Surely man is in loss, except for those who believe and do good works and enjoin upon each other truth.and enjoin upon each other patience. (Sura 103, alAsr )

In thissurah , the only exceptions are the believers who perform good works. And a good work is a work which is congruous with the spirit. However, you see that many of man's works are only congruent with the body. "Enjoining" is also notpractised . If you are dominated by love of the world and love of the self, and if this prevents you from perceiving truths and realities, and prevents you from performing deeds purely for God, and if you are kept from enjoining the truth and enjoining patience, and you are thereby obstructed from the way to guidance, then you will he in loss. You will be in loss in this world and in the next, for you will have given up your youth and will be prohibited from the blessings of heaven and otherworldly advantages, and also lack this world. If others have no way to heaven, and if the doors to divine mercy are closed to them, if they are to abide eternally in the fire of hell, at least they will have had the world, they will have enjoyed worldly advantages, but you.

Beware, lest love of the world and love of the self gradually increase within you to the point that Satan is able to take away your faith. It is said that all of the efforts of Satan are for the sake of robbing faith.[40] All of his efforts andlabours , night and day, are for the sake of taking away the faith of men. No one has given you a document to guarantee you a permanent faith. Perhaps one's faith is merely on loan (mustawda ')[41] and in the end Satan will get it, and you will leave this world with enmity for the Blessed and Exalted God and Hisawliya '.

Perhaps one will have enjoyed an entire life of divine blessings, provided for by ImamZaman ('a)[42] and, God forbid, in the end one may give up his life without faith and in enmity toward theBestower of the Blessings. If you have any interest in, relation with, and affection for the world, try to cut it. This world, with all its superficial glamour and glitter is too insignificant to be worthy of love, especially for one who has divested himself of such superficialities of life. What do you have of this world that your heart should be attached to it? You havenought but the mosque, the prayer niche, the seminary, the corner of a room. Is it proper for you to compete for the mosque and the prayer niche? Should this be a cause of disagreement among you, to corrupt the society? Suppose that, like the worldly people, you had a comfortable sumptuous life, and that, God forbid, you spent your life on feasting and drinking. After your life is over, you would see that your life had passed like a pleasant dream, but the requital and liability for it will be with you always. What value does this fleeting and apparently sweet life have (assuming that it is very sweet) in comparison to endless chastisement? The chastisement of worldly people is sometimes endless. The worldly people who imagine that they have acquired the world and benefit from its advantages and boons are remiss and mistaken. Everyone sees the world from the window of his own environment and situation, and imagines that the world is exactly that which he has. The physical world is broader than that which man imagines he hasacquired, discovered and through which he roams. It has been narrated about this world with all its means and ways that: "He has never looked graciously upon it."[43] So, how must the other world be upon which God, the Blessed and Exalted, has looked graciously? What is the 'source of greatness' to which man is called and what is it like? Man is too low to comprehend the source of greatness.

If you purify your intentions, rectify your deeds, expel love of self and position from your hearts, a high station will be prepared for you. The whole world and what exists in it along with its superficial aspects is not worth even a cent in comparison to the station prepared for the righteous servants of God. Try to achieve this lofty station. If you are able, try to make something of yourselves and improve yourselves so that you may pay no heed even to this lofty station. Do not worship God in order to reach this station, but rather call upon Him and prostrate yourselves with your heads upon the earth before Him because He is worthy of worship and magnification.[44] In that case you will have torn through the curtains of light and reached the source of greatness. Can you obtain such a position with these deeds and actions which you perform? Can it be reached by the path you tread? Is there any likelihood of your being saved from divine chastisement and escaping the terrible torment and fire of hell?

Do you imagine that the lamentations of the Pure Imams and the cries of ImamSajjad ('a) were merely for education's sake, and that they wanted to instruct others about how to cry? With all that spirituality and the lofty position they hold, they wept for fear of God! They understood how difficult and dangerous it is to advance along the way before them. They were aware of the difficulties, hardships and problems of crossing theSirat , which has this world at one end and the next world at the other and which passes through hell. They were aware of the worlds of the grave, of thebarzakh , and of the resurrection, and of their terrible torments, and hence they were never complacent and always took refuge in God from the intense chastisements of the other world.

What thought have you given to these terrible devastating torments, and what way have you found to deliverance from them? When are you going to decide to reform and refine yourselves? Now, while you are young and have the strength of youth and the power over your faculties, and physical weakness has not yet overtaken you, if you do not think of refinement and of making something of yourselves, then how will you be able to do it when you become old, when your bodies and souls are in the grip of weakness and feebleness, and you have lost your will power, your decisiveness and your resistance, and when the burden of your sins has blackened your hearts? With every breath and every step you take, and with each passing moment of your life, reform becomes more difficult, and it is possible for darkness and corruption to increase. The more one's age advances, the more the things which conflict with human felicity multiply and the more one's powers are weakened. Thus, when old age arrives, it is difficult to be successful at refinement and the acquisition of the virtues and piety (taqwa '). One is unable to repent, for repentance is not merely the verbal expression, "I repent before Allah," rather, contrition and the resolve to abandon one's sin are also necessary.[45] Such contrition and resolve are not to be obtained by one who has engaged in backbiting and lying for fifty or seventy years, whose beard has become white with sin and transgression. Such a person is afflicted with sin to the end of his life.

Youths should not sit still until the dust of age turns them grey. (I have reached old age and am aware of its misfortunes and difficulties.) While you are young, you are able to accomplish something. While you enjoy the strength and determination of youth you can expel selfish desires, worldly attractions and animal desires from yourselves. However, if you do not think about reform and making something of yourselves while you are young, it will be too late when you become old. Think, while you are young, before you become old and exhausted. A young heart is subtle and celestial, and within it the motivation for corruption is weak. However, the older one gets the stronger and firmer is the source of sin implanted in the heart, until it can no longer be uprooted, as it is reported: "The heart of man is clear and shining like a mirror; with each sin a man commits, another black mark is added to the heart, until it becomes black, so that it is possible that a night and day cannot pass without the commission of a sin against the Lord.[46] When old age arrives, it is difficult to restore one's heart to its original form and state.

If, God forbid, you have not reformed yourself when you leave the world, in what manner do you expect to meet God, when your heart is black and your eyes, ears and tongue are polluted by sin? How can you restore that with which you have been entrusted by God when it has become polluted and wicked, while it was given to you in perfect purity and cleanliness? These eyes and ears which are under your control, this hand and tongue which are at your command, these organs and limbs with which you live, all have been entrusted to you by God, the Almighty, and were given to you in perfect purity and righteousness. If they are afflicted with sin, they become polluted. If, God forbid, they are polluted with that which is forbidden, wickedness results. When the time comes to return this trust, it is possible that you will be asked if this is the right way to protect the trust which was given you. When the trust was placed under your control, was it like this? Was the heart which you were given, like this? Were the eyes which were bestowed upon you, like this? Were the other organs and limbs which were placed at your will this polluted and dirty? What will be your answer to these questions? How will you meet God when you have committed such treachery with regard to that with which you have been entrusted?

You are young. You have spent your youth in such a way that from a worldly perspective you have given up many benefits. If you use this valuable time and the spring of your youth in the way of God and with a specific sacred purpose, then it has not been wasted, but rather this world and the next have been secured for you. However, if yourbehaviour is of such a manner as is currently witnessed, then you have wasted your youth and the prime of your life has been passed in vain. In the other world, before God, you will be questioned and reproached, while the penalty for your perfidious deeds and acts will not only be limited to the other world. In this world also, various severe difficulties, calamities and troubles will grab you by the neck, and you will fall into the whirlpool of misfortune and disaster.

Another Warning

Your future is dark: numerous enemies are surrounding you on every side and from all strata; dangerous fiendish plans are ready to be enacted which will destroy you and the seminaries. The colonialists dream about what they will do with you, they have deep dreams about what they will do with Islam and the Muslims. With the pretence of Islam, they have drawn up dangerous plans for you. Only in the shade of refinement, preparation, and the proper arrangement and order will you be able to push away these corruptions and difficulties, and frustrate the plans of the colonialists.

I am now living the last days of my life. Sooner or later I will leave you. But I see before me dark black days ahead for you. If you do not reform and prepare your-selves, and if you do not manage your studies and your lives with order and discipline, then, God forbid, you will be doomed to annihilation.

Before you lose the chance, before you fall into the hands of the enemy with regard to every religious and scholarly affair, think! Wake up! Arise! The first stage is to decide to refine and purify your souls and to reform yourselves. Prepare and organize yourselves. Establish some order and discipline in the seminaries. Do not let others come to arrange [the affairsof ] the seminaries. Do not let others take hold of the seminaries with the excuse that 'these people are not capable of it; it is not their sort of work; they are just a group of loafers who have gathered in the seminaries,' and then in the name of organization and reform, to spoil the seminaries and take you under their own control. Do not give them an excuse. If you are organized, purified, and well ordered and arranged in every respect, others will not be able to aspire to control you. There will then be no way to penetrate into the seminaries and the clerical society. Prepare and purify yourselves. Get ready to prevent the mischief with which you will be faced. Prepare your seminaries for resistance against the events which are to come

God forbid, black days lie ahead of you. The conditions are ripe for bad days to come. The colonialists want to destroy all aspects of Islam, and you must stand up against them.

With love of self and position, with arrogance and pride, you cannot mount any resistance. An evil scholar, a scholar who inclines toward the world, a scholar who thinks of preserving his position and administrative post, will not be able to combat the enemies of Islam. He will be more harmful than others. Take a step for the sake of God. Dispel the love of the world from your hearts. Then you will be able to engage in combat. From this moment on, develop and raise this point in your hearts, that I must be an armed soldier of Islam, and sacrifice myself for Islam. I must work for Islam until I am destroyed. Do not make excuses for yourself that today is inappropriate. Try to be useful for the future of Islam. In short, become a human being!

The colonialists are afraid of human beings. They are afraid of man. The colonialists, who want to plunder all we have, will not allow the training of human beings in religious and scholarly universities. They are afraid of man. If a man is found in a country, it bothers them, and endangers their interests. It is your duty to make something of yourselves, to become perfect men, and to stand up against the vicious plans of the enemies of Islam. If you are not organized and prepared, if you do not resist and combat the lashes which whip the body of Islam every day, not only will you yourselves be destroyed, but also the precepts and laws of Islam will be annihilated and you will be responsible! You 'ulama '! You scholars! You Muslims! You will be responsibleFirst you 'ulama ' and seminary students and then the rest of the Muslims will be responsible: "All of you are shepherds, and all of you are responsible for tending the flock."[47] You young people must strengthen your wills so that you can stand up against every oppression and injustice. Other than this there is no alternative: your dignity, the dignity of Islam, and the dignity of the Islamic countries depend upon your resistance and opposition.

God Almighty! Protect Islam, the Muslims and the Islamic countries from foreign evils. Cut the hands of the colonialists and traitors to Islam in the Islamic countries and in the seminaries. Grant success and help to the Islamic 'ulama ' and to the greatmaraji [ 48] in theirdefence of the sacred laws of tile Noble Quran and their advancement of the holy ideals of Islam. Make the clergy of Islam aware of their weighty duties and important responsibilities in the present epoch. Protect and keep safe the seminaries and clericalcentres from the thievery and influence of the enemies of Islam and the hands of the colonialists. Grant the success of making something of themselves and purifying and refining the soul to the young generation of clerics and university students and to the entire Muslim community. Free the people of Islam from the sleep of negligence, from frailty, from apathy and inflexibility of thought, so that with the lustrous revolutionary teachings of theQura'n they may come to themselves, rise up, and in the shade of unity and oneness they may cut the hands of the colonialists and the inveterate enemies of Islam from the Islamic countries, and so that they may regain the freedom, independence, nobility and greatness which they have lost.

Our Lord, pour down upon us patience and make our steps firm and assist us against the unbelieving people. (2:250)