Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Provisions for the Journey (Mishkat), Volume 1

This book is corrected and edited by Al-Hassanain (p) Institue for Islamic Heritage and Thought

• Foreword
• Lesson 1: The Quality of Servitude and the Path to Eternal Bliss
• Worship and the perception of Allah
• Worship And Adoration Of Allah Is A Means Of Ascending And Rising Through The Stations Of Perfection For The Believers
• The stages of worship of Allah
• a) Knowledge of Allah
• b) Belief in the Prophet (S) and acknowledgement of his divine mission
• c) Love for the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt (‘a)
• Likening the Ahl al-Bayt to Noah’s (‘a) vessel and the gate of repentance for the Children of Israel
• Notes
• Lesson 2: The Need for Deriving Correct Benefit from Allah’s Blessings
• Health and leisure, two unknown favors
• Youth is a period of Vitality And Liveliness
• The Need For Appreciating Health And Ability
• This World’s Life Is A Ground Of Choices, Growth And Spiritual Ascension 
• Notes
• Lesson 3: Correct Perception of the Realities of Life and Making Optimum Use of [Man’s] Lifespan 
• Making Timely Use Of Opportunities And Keeping Protracted Hopes At Bay 
• The Stages Of Negligence
• Asceticism And Wrong Interpretations
• Asceticism and belief in the primacy of the hereafter
• Discharging Religious Duties And Obligations Promptly
• The Thought Of Death Terminates Protracted Hopes
• The Intermediary Role Of The World
• Notes
• Lesson 4: The Prophet’s (S) Recommendation to Make Good Use of Present Abilities
• The Role Of Meditation Upon Death And The Consequences Of Sin
• The Need For Appreciating Life
• Discharging Duties On Time And Not Being Anxious About The Following Day 
• Notes
• Lesson 5: Castigating the Acquisition of Knowledge for Worldly Goals
• The Consequences Of Not Acting Upon Knowledge And Attaining Social Rank By Means Of It
• The Consequences Of Acquiring Knowledge For The Sake Of Deceiving Others
• Admitting Ignorance is a Quality of the Divine Scholars
• Man’s Biggest Regret On The Day Of Resurrection
• The Categories Of Scholars In The Words Of ‘Ali (‘a)
• Notes
• Lesson 6: The Magnificence and Magnitude of the Rights of Allah’s Blessings and the Need for Attention to Obligations
• The Greatness Of The Rights Of Allah And The Infiniteness Of His Blessings
• The Shortness Of Life And The Immortality Of Good And Bad Works
• a) The embodiment of man’s worldly works on the Day of Resurrection
• b) The Suddenness of Death is A Cause of Vigilance and Wakefulness
• The Pre-Ordination Of Man’s Sustenance And Its Inaccessibility To Others
• The Unity Of Divine Actions And The Source Of Allah’s Beneficence
• Notes
• Lesson 7: The Vigilance and Alertness of a Believer
• Companionship with the Pious and Religious Scholars, and the Difference of Sin in the Perception of a Believer and an Infidel
• The Need For Choosing A Worthy Friend And Perceiving Sin As Great
• The Danger Of Unrestrained Scholars And Unwise And Foolish Ignorant People
• Paying Heed To Sin And Conceiving It As Great Is A Result Of Allah’s Grace And Favor
• The Need For Paying Heed To The Greatness Of The One Who Is Being Disobeyed Not The Smallness Of Sin 
• Lesson 8: The Correspondence of Words with Actions and Guarding the Tongue
• The Effects of the Correspondence and Lack of Correspondence of Words with Actions
• The Role of Sin in Being Deprived of Subsistence
• Sin in the Chain of Causes
• Guarding the Tongue and Keeping Aloof from Vain Pursuits
• Notes of Lessons 7 and 8
• Lesson 9: The Value and Importance of Prayer and the Differences of Status of the Dwellers of Paradise
• Subdividing Some of the Prophet’s (S) Advices
• First section
• Section two
• Third section
• Fourth section
• The Station of Allah’s Devotees and Nocturnal Worshipers
• The Differences in the Gratification Enjoyed by the Dwellers of the Different Stations of Paradise
• The Prophet’s (S) Intense Love for Prayer
• Prayer is the Key to Prosperity and Bliss
• Perceiving the Sweetness of Prayer Is the Secret of Its Continuance
• Notes
• Lesson 10: The Leaders of Heaven and the Status of Some of the Duties and the Levels of Paradise
• The Leaders of Paradise
• Natural Disposition and the Search for Perfection
• The Status and Rank of Some Duties
• a) The Status and Rank of Prayer
• b) The Status and Rank of Fasting
• c) The Status and Rank of Jihad
• The Differences of Believers in Their Enjoying the Different Levels of Paradise
• Notes
• Lesson 11: The Importance and Role of Fear and Sorrow (1)
• Fear and Sorrow and Abstinence from Sin
• Fear and Sorrow and the Spiritual Ascension and Growth of Man
• The Difference between Fear and Sorrow
• The World Is a Prison for a Believer and Paradise for an Infidel
• Meditation about Hell Is a Cause of Fear and Sorrow for a Believer
• Notes
• Lesson 12: The Importance and Role of Fear and Sorrow (2)
• Beneficial and Valuable Knowledge
• Security and Peace in Paradise Are a Product of Fear and Dread of Allah in the World 
• The Forgiveness of Sins Is a Result of Fear of Allah
• Criticizing Dependence on Good Works
• The Role of Paying Heed to Sin in Shunning the Devil
• A Study of the Nature of Fear and Sorrow and the Meaning of Fear of Allah 
• 1) Fear of Divine Retribution In Hell
• 2) Fear of Losing The Gifts Of Paradise
• 3) Fear Of Being Deprived Of The Beatific Presence And Vision Of Allah [Liqa’ Allah]
• The Simultaneous Appearance of Opposing and Conflicting States
• Notes
• Lesson 13: The Insignificance and Minuteness of the World and the Importance of Perceiving the Hereafter
• The Differences of Perception and Conduct between an Intelligent and an Unintelligent Person 
• Trustworthiness and Humility
• a) The Function of Trustworthiness
• b) The Function of Humility
• A) In speech
• B) In the eyes
• C) In the face
• D) In prostration
• E) In supplication and prayer
• F) In the heart
• The Insignificance and Minuteness of the World in Allah’s View
• Notes
• Lesson 14: Extolling Pursuit of the Hereafter, Asceticism and Spiritual Discernment in Religion and Reproaching Materialism
• Reproaching Materialism and Elucidating the Highness of Faith
• The Need for Loving the Hereafter
• Allah’s Benevolence and Awareness of Religion and Asceticism in the World 
• Notes
• Lesson 15: Wisdom, Foresight and an Angle of the Prophet’s (S) Way of Life
• Wisdom and Foresight Are the Products of Asceticism
• Signs of the Most Ascetic People
• 1. Whoever does not Forget Graves And Decomposed Corpses
• 2. And Renounces The Adornments Of The World
• 3. He Prefers What Is Eternal Over What Is Ephemeral
• 4. And He Does Not Look Forward To Tomorrow
• 5. And Considers Himself Among The Dead
• Protracted Hopes and Procrastination of Obligations Is a Sign of Weakness of Faith and Weakness of Confidence in Allah
• An Angle of the Prophet’s (S) Way of Life
• Notes
• Lesson 16: The Danger of Loving Wealth and Position and Praising Contentment and Simple Living 
• The World, a Goal or a Means
• The Reproached World
• Poor Believers Are Light-burdened on the Day of Resurrection
• Praising Contentment and Simple Living and Reproaching Covetousness
• Recommending Detachment from the World and Disinclination to It
• Notes
• Lesson 17: The Effects of Crying for the Hereafter, the Broadness of a Believer’s Heart and Piousness
• The Effects of Crying for the Hereafter
• The Broadness of a Believer’s Heart and Its Signs
• Piousness and Fleeing from Sanctimony and Hypocrisy
• The Intention and Its Role in the Evaluation of Works
• Notes
• Lesson 18: Honoring the Divine Majesty and Splendor of Allah
• The Status of Invocation of Allah in the Qur’an and the Hadiths
• The Quantity and Quality of Invocation of Allah
• The Relationship between Invocation with Words and Invocation with the Heart
• Two Benefits of Invocation with Words
• Notes
• Lesson 19: The Greatness of Allah’s Status in the Viewpoint of the Angels
• The Role of Arousing Hope and Fear
• The Essence of Fear and Dread of Allah
• The Benefit and Status of Fear of Allah
• The Status of the Fear of the Leaders and Saints [Awliya’] of Allah
• The Perfection of Man and the Feeling of Humility and Lowliness in Regard to Allah 
• Fear of Allah and Fleeing from Sin and Obsession with Popularity and Position 
• The Role of Perceiving the Status of the Fear of the Lovers of Allah and the Angels
• Notes
• Lesson 20: The Prophet’s (S) Description of Heaven and Hell
• Meditation about the Greatness of Creatures
• The Indescribable Greatness of the Resurrection
• Describing a Section of the Tortures of Hell
• The Reaction of People and Angels in Face of the Clamor and Roar of Hell
• Heaven Is the Eternal Abode of the Believers and Righteous
• Notes
• Lesson 21: The Importance of Meditation and the Need for Preserving Factors which Ward off Negligence
• The Three Recommendations of the Prophet (S)
• A) Speaking Softly At The Time Of Escorting A Funeral
• B) Speaking Softly At The Time Of War
• C) Speaking Softly At The Time Of Reciting The Qur’an
• The Consequences of Inattention to the Causes of Spiritual Wakefulness
• Reproaching Laziness and Vain Laughing
• The Role of Meditation in Worship
• Notes
• Lesson 22: The Realm of Right and Falsehood
• Right and Falsehood and the Instances of Their Application
• The Visible Appearance of Right and Falsehood
• Man and His Free Will, Volition and Allah’s Temptations
• Man and the Two Inclinations towards Right and Falsehood
• The General Inclination to Sensual and Worldly Pleasures
• Notes
• Lesson 23: The Perfect Scholar and the Practical Appearance of Belief in the Unity of Divine Actions
• Abraham and Belief in the Unity of Divine Actions
• Reliance on Everything Else Other than Allah Is a Result of Lack of Belief in the Unity of Divine Actions
• Shaykh Ansari and His Flight from the Devil’s Trap
• Humility Is an Agent of Dignity and Honor
• Imam al-Sajjad (‘a) and the Perception of Spiritual Deficiency and Poverty
• The Fruits of True Faith in the Words of the Noble Prophet (S)
• Notes
• Lesson 24: The Importance of Self-examination, Comparing Works and Shame for Allah 
• Self-examination Is an Unavoidable Need
• Preconditioning, Watching over the Soul and Self-examination
• a) Preconditioning [musharitah]
• b) Watching over the Soul [muraqibah]
• c) Self-examination [muhasibah]
• The Benefit of Self-examining the Soul
• Shame as a Result of the Ugliness of Works
• The Concept and Domain of Shame and Shyness
• The Causes of Propagating Wrong Manners and False Customs
• Notes